I wait for the mother and her son to drive away before I can move. Slowly, I take my wallet out. I pull out a tattered old business card, one I have carried for so many years. Her name, Marci Simmons, has faded but can still be read. I place it on the dashboard, carefully, before turning to Lauren. I pull the gun out from behind my back as I speak to her.
“I’m going to get out first. If you do anything stupid, I’ll kill you. Don’t think I won’t.”
“Jesus, Liam,” she says, looking at me like I’m a child. “Aren’t you listening to me?”
“Just do what I tell you to do and everything will be fine.”
I get out of the truck and drop the key onto the pavement. Then I walk around and open her door. She gets right out, like she’s on my team.
“Where are we going?”
I nod toward a worn path that crosses to the parking lot of the next office complex. We cross it and I head to the farthest building and lead her around the corner. A silver Mazda is parked all by itself in the last spot.
“Get in,” I tell her.
She looks at me, her eyes clear and raised. All the fear and uncertainty I saw during the chase with the police seems to have vanished. It unnerves me. So once she is in the seat, I hurry around and get into the driver’s side. The keys are under the visor, just as I knew they would be.
“You have this all figured out, don’t you?” she asks.
I ignore her, backing out of the spot. It’s time to return to the cabin. To face our demons.
“Seriously?”
I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Then hear paper crinkling. I turn and see she is holding a rental agreement. Slamming on the brakes, I rip it from her hands.
“You rented the car in your name? Are you kidding?”
“No,” I say, the word sounding lame even to me.
“I saw it on the agreement.”
“You did not.”
“I saw ‘Brennan.’” She laughs. “And I doubt Drew would rent the car for you.”
I just look at her. For a second, I see the uncertainty. She’s wondering if Drew would. If there is more to all of this. Finally, she might be starting to get it. I jam the agreement into my front pocket and drive. But I know she’s not done. She has more talking to do.
“Why go see him? Why take that chance?”
Back to Drew. Like she can get into my head. She doesn’t understand the game. I wanted him to see me. It was my idea. I was in charge. I wanted him to wonder how I had the guts to show up after all of that. And I knew he couldn’t do anything. Not without knowing he could get his hands on Lauren before anyone else.
But then Bob showed up and mentioned the girl in my truck. That was enough of a clue. Drew knows something is up. He thinks I’ve gone rogue. Although him finding that out has always been a part of the plan, it’s too early. Drew has decided he can cut bait. He pushed all in, getting the police on our tail. I’m surprised he released the description of my truck. I hadn’t expected that, not yet. That decision hinted at things being off-balance. The thought gave me just a sliver of hope.
For the moment at least, I am still one step ahead of him. That has to be enough. But it doesn’t help her. Lauren can’t understand what’s happening. Why her charms aren’t working on me. She can’t know how deep this runs. But there’s not much I can do about that.
“Talk to me!” she suddenly screams.
I startle. When she punches my shoulder, I can barely believe it. She does it again, though.
“Talk to me!”
I don’t acknowledge her. Instead, I merge back onto the highway leading to the apartment complex. When I speak, my answer is simple and clear.
“No.”