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The Moving Target
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“HOW ABOUT THAT ONE?” Nathanial cruised past the dark Mercedes for the second time, signaling with his head in its direction. “It’s large enough for us all and will throw the authorities off the scent for a while.”
We turned to look at the vehicle in the half-empty parking lot. We’d been driving for a few hours and had already put a couple of hundred miles between us and the rental home when Nathanial had insisted it was time to change vehicles. Even though I had no desire to abandon the remnant of my old life, I had begrudgingly agreed.
“That’s a brand-new car.” Laurel sounded bewildered. “It’ll be keyless, Ewan. How can we get into it?”
“It’s Nathanial, Laurel.” Slowing the car to a virtual halt, he glanced behind and grinned.
“Oh, yes.” Laurel cringed sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” His chuckle danced throughout the car. “I’m the one who should be apologizing for lying to you all at the start.”
“Why did you do that?” Laurel’s gaze flitted between me and the driver’s seat, and I tensed as I awaited his reply. “Or is that complicated as well?”
“Very.” He twisted to look at Laurel. “But here’s the abridged version. I was undercover and used an alias. Nathanial is the real me.”
“Undercover?” Laurel mouthed the word at me, clearly shocked by his reply.
“I know,” I whispered back. “Nathanial’s a detective.”
“What about the car?” Sally prompted. “Laurel’s right. How do we get into a car like that?”
“Leave that to me.” He drove on a few hundred feet and swung the car into a parking space. “I have a gadget that’ll get into most cars these days. I keep it about my person at all times.”
Well, of course he does.
I might have laughed at his predictable answer had the atmosphere in the vehicle not been so uptight. Even in the short time I’d known him, Nathanial had a history of getting us out of scrapes. He’d picked the lock on the platform, demonstrated confidence when he’d driven the ambulance, and knew how to handle a gun. Looking back, I supposed I should have guessed his undercover status before.
“You realize this place is probably covered by closed-circuit television?” We were the most surveyed country in the whole of Europe. “There’s probably someone who can identify us leaving this car and getting into the new one.”
Sitting there, it all seemed so depressingly obvious. We were never going to get away. Whether Wilson was Laurel’s father or not, he knew who we were and was clearly inclined to go to great lengths to stop us. Hell, if the fog didn’t illustrate that, I didn’t know what did. Ryan was prepared to shut down half the country just to get me into custody and cover up what he’d done.
“I already checked that.” Nathanial twisted to look at me. “There are no obvious cameras, although ultimately, you’re right. They’ll track us down in the end, but changing cars will buy us some time.”
“Oh, God.” Laurel’s breaths sped up. “You’re starting to sound like this is one of those dystopian novels from English class.”
I pulled her in for a hug, not wanting to say what was no doubt swirling in everyone’s heads. This was like one of those books. The information and power governments had over their citizens in the modern age was downright scary.
“Let’s not worry about that now.” Regret tugged at my heart strings. I should never have said anything to cause Laurel more unease. She’d already been through enough. “Nathanial’s the expert and he doesn’t think this place is being watched.”
Deep down, I doubted that was true. Possibly, there were private cameras that belonged to the company that owned the parking lot and not the government. That would slow down Wilson’s ability to track us, but it wouldn’t stop him.
“Can you ladies grab the bags from the trunk and join me at the Mercedes?” Nathanial’s gaze scanned the three of us.
“Sure,” I answered on everyone’s behalf. “We’ll bring what we have. Go and do your thing.”
His attention lingered on me for a few seconds before he nodded and opened the driver’s door. Sally waited until he was out of earshot before she spoke.
“There’s some serious electricity flowing between you two, Em.” Kindness danced in her eyes as she met my stare.
“Maybe.” There was no ‘maybe’ about it, but going on the run from the state and having to leave our house and car had taken precedence over whatever fledgling passion had formed between me and Nathanial.
Fighting for our lives was more important.
“You’re fooling no one, Mum.” Laurel sniggered as she climbed out of the car and flung her bag over her shoulder. “He might be the one good thing you can take out of all of this.”
“Perhaps.” I joined the two of them at the trunk and helped with the bags, trying not to dwell on the fact one of them contained the gun Nathanial had taken from the house. A cold chill washed over me as I realized it could be in the one over my daughter’s shoulder. “I have bigger things to think about than my love life.”
“We all do.” Sally’s voice wavered as we started the short walk toward the Mercedes. As we rounded the nearest line of cars, I noticed Nathanial had already managed to get into the driver’s seat. His skillset seemed endless, but I was no longer surprised by his abilities. “Who knows what will happen now.”
“We’ll be okay.” Instinctively, I reached for Sally’s hand. “We’ll get through this together.”
“Thanks.” Sally forced a smile. “It’s nice to have companionship as the world falls down.”
“It sure is.” Squeezing Sally’s hand, I turned to Laurel. Female friendship had been sorely lacking in my life, but the last few hours had taught me a lesson about how important it could be.
“Get in, everyone.” Nathanial opened the back seat for Laurel as she placed her bags into the trunk. “The good news is there’s half a tank of fuel.”
That was positive since we had no way of knowing where the next gas station would be.
“Oh, this is nice!” Sally sounded more upbeat as she leaned in to the passenger seat. “Leather interior and lots of fancy gadgets.”
Loading my bag into the trunk, I watched as she and Laurel climbed into the car and closed their respective doors. It was strange taking what didn’t belong to us and knowing that someone else would go without because of our selfishness, but our needs dictated how we acted, and I tried not to dwell on the law-breaking. After all, I’d taken the ambulance without remorse, so why linger on guilt over the Mercedes?
“Are you okay?” Nathanial’s hand rose to lower the trunk.
“I don’t know.” Given everything that had happened, how the hell should I be? “Trying to focus on the positives for Laurel, but secretly shitting it.”
“Sounds fair.” He inched closer. “This must all seem so insane to you.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” I craned my neck to take in his handsome face. “Thanks for everything you’ve done to help us.”
Despite all the deception we’d both thrown the other’s way, we did seem to have a good thing going. It was just a shame the connection we’d discovered was forged from such trauma. He’d been sent as an undercover cop to find evidence against me, and I, for my part, had been slow to trust anyone, let alone the best-looking guy I’d stumbled into since leaving Sam. I supposed that was one legacy of the brute I’d be forced to endure. It wasn’t easy to trust anyone, but the panic at the station had forced me to form alliances, and having faith in Sally and Nathanial had paid dividends.
“You’re welcome.” A line appeared in his brow. “I know this is all messed up, but I meant what I said at the house. I do have feelings for you, Em, and I will take care of you.”
Was that what he’d told me at the house? Staring into his green eyes, I struggled to recall, though I certainly remembered the passionate kiss we’d shared and the hours of pleasure we’d snatched in the still of the night.
“I appreciate it.” Rising to my tiptoes, I grazed a caress over his chin. “Maybe one day when all of this is over, we can see where this thing goes, but right now, I need to think about—”
“Laurel.” He cut me off with a smile, his free hand rising to cradle the side of my face. My eyes fluttered closed at the intimacy, time protracting as we stood there in the near-deserted lot. “I understand. I’ll look after her as if she was mine.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.” Turning my face, I kissed the palm of his hand.
Sadly, Nathanial wasn’t her father. The real candidate was either dead at my hand after years of abuse, or a man determined to pulverize me. It wasn’t much of a choice.
“Then don’t.” His expression was serious as I glanced back at him. “I’m going to do it anyway. She deserves a decent male role-model in her life.”
I couldn’t disagree with him there. Life had seriously short-changed Laurel.
“Thanks.” I murmured the praise as he pulled me into an embrace. “I really don’t know how I’d have got through this without you.”
“You’ll never have to.” He kissed the crown of my head. “I’m going to keep you safe until we can figure this shit out.”
My lips tugged into a smile at his consoling words. I couldn’t see any realistic way the ‘shit’ he referred to could be resolved. The man who’d hurt me and now seemed intent on my destruction was in charge of the country, after all, but I was more thankful for Nathanial’s support than he’d ever know.
Neither of us knew how the next few days would pan out, but aside from protecting Laurel, all that mattered was the burgeoning trust we’d found in each other and the friendship Sally offered. The three people getting in the Mercedes with me were all I had.
“We’d better get back on the road.” I breathed in the spicy scent of him, the aroma triggering a myriad of unhelpful flashbacks of the passion we’d shared. “It’ll be getting dark soon and we still don’t know where we’re headed.”
“We’ll find a roadside motel,” he promised. “It’s better we stay out of city centers for the foreseeable. I suggest we keep travelling north. The farther away from London we go, the better.”
“Makes sense.” Westminster was the seat of parliamentary power in the country, and it was where Wilson’s primary residence was located. I couldn’t think of anywhere I wanted to be less than near the man who’d taken advantage of me in such a degrading way.
Suddenly, I was almost grateful for the way Sam had kept me away from the news for all those years. Having to see the face of yet another tormentor on a daily basis and manage the humiliation of what he and my so-called husband had done might have topped me.
“Why don’t you take the bag with the snacks with you and share them out?” Nathanial broke the train of my grim internal thought. “Laurel must be hungry by now.”
“Good idea.” Moving back to the trunk, I unzipped the nearest bag in pursuit of the items Sally had packed, but to my horror, my gaze landed on the gun. “What about that?”
My heart galloped faster as I gestured to the evil-looking thing. Guns had done enough damage for one day.
“What?” He edged closer, glancing down at what I’d discovered.
“I hate having one of those things around Laurel.” I lifted my hand to my temple and rubbed at the growing pressure there.
“I know.” He pulled the gun from the bag and ensured the safety was switched on. “But this might keep you and Laurel alive, Em. The men we’re dealing with will have no problem handling guns. It’s a necessary evil for the time being.”
He’s right.
Pressing my lips into a hard line, I compelled my hands to accept the weapon as he passed it to me. I pushed away the sense of revulsion that rose as I handled the thing, knowing I had to be practical. I had to do this for Laurel. She was depending on me.
“Fine.” I blew out a breath, intentionally striving to compose my breathing. “Show me how this works.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Nathanial winked as he feigned a salute. “One crash course in firearms training coming right up.”