Shannon set the glass on the night stand, her hand trembling. She bent over the carrier to check Bailey. The baby slept soundly, her chest rising and falling rhythmically. She lightly pressed her fingers to the baby’s cheek and smiled. This was her love. Her life. Nothing else mattered and she’d be damned if she’d let anyone take Bailey away from her.
She wrapped her arms together over her chest. What was she going to do? She had no one to call for help. Her cell phone lay somewhere at the bottom of the Missouri River where she’d tossed it once she realized she could be tracked through its GPS. She couldn’t use her credit cards and had a limited amount of cash on hand—as much as she’d been able to withdraw from an ATM. If she used her debit card, her location could be traced. She couldn’t take that risk. There was the other cash—the blood money. She shook her head. Using that money made her feel dirty.
And now the damned car was destroyed. Probably just as well. It would only be a matter of time before it was spotted and the license plate traced. The car registration was the last piece of Heather Carlson she had brought with her.
She needed paperwork to substantiate her new identity. She also needed a new job, a new place to live. She needed a new life. How to accomplish that became the question. When she looked up Washington State at an internet café in Salt Lake City, she’d ruled out Seattle because of its size. Lynden looked perfect—close enough to the Canadian border, should she need to move fast. She hadn’t thought out any other details, just loaded the car and began to drive.
Her thoughts turned to Jake, her rescuer. For all she knew, she had just taken herself and her daughter from one dangerous situation to another. She didn’t know this man who lived in seclusion in the back woods of Washington. For all she knew, he could be an ax murderer.
Shannon shook her head, a motion that caused a painful thrumming above her left eye. The last thing she needed was to let her imagination run away with her. She had to keep a clear head and figure out what to do next. A yawn made her aware of her exhaustion. Her head pounded and she padded down the hall to the bathroom hoping to find ibuprofen. The small wall-mounted medicine cabinet above the sink was sparsely and neatly arranged. Toothpaste and a brush occupied one narrow glass shelf. The other shelf held a metal hand razor, a can of shaving cream and, yes, a bottle of Aleve. That would work. She removed one of the blue tablets and popped it into her mouth, followed by handfuls of water until she’d downed the pill. A thin trace of blood crusted her hairline at her temple. She bent forward to splash water on her face, but the motion made her head throb harder. Removing a few tissues from a box on the counter, she dampened them and dabbed away the blood. A large knot had formed above her left eyebrow and the skin around her eye was puffy and turning black. She’d have a shiner by morning.
She washed her hands and returned to her room after pausing briefly to glance across the hall at Jake’s closed door. The thought of being alone in this house at the mercy of a strange man gave her unease. But the thought of being out in the night alone with her baby while she was being hunted made her stomach twist with panic. At least this remote cabin offered protection. For now.
Moonlight sent a bluish glow through the window and across the quilt at the foot of the bed. Bailey had begun to stir and would waken in minutes, ready for a diaper change and feeding. Shannon sat up, propped against two plush pillows. She ran a hand over the soft floral-patterned sheets that had to be Egyptian cotton and at least eight hundred thread count. The sheets, along with the rest of the cabin’s décor, hinted at a woman’s touch, yet there was no evidence a woman lived here.
Bailey began to whimper. Shannon picked her up and laid her on a towel on top of the bed to change her diaper, shushing her so as not to waken Jake. She snapped up the one-piece sleeper and lifted the baby, heading for the stairs. After preparing the bottle, and with Bailey’s demands growing louder, Shannon settled into the large comfy leather recliner. Bailey grabbed the nipple and sucked hungrily, staring up at her wide-eyed.
This was really all that mattered. She let the chair wrap her in an embrace, and watched her baby drain the bottle. With Bailey lying on her chest, asleep again, Shannon lifted the footrest and stretched out in the over-sized chair, closing her eyes.
She startled when something covered her. A man hovered over her, reaching for Bailey. Instinctively Shannon reacted, swinging her right foot up hard, directly into his crotch. The man groaned, fell back onto the floor, and curled into a fetal position. Not until the light streaming from the kitchen shone on his face did she recognize her host.
“What are you doing?”
Jake groaned. “Covering you.”
Bailey whimpered and Shannon struggled to her feet, soothing the infant. She stared down at Jake. “You scared the life out of me. Are you okay?”
He grimaced, his face ashen. “I will be,” he choked. “Just…give me a…minute.”
She watched as he gasped and fought to get his breathing under control.
Jake rolled over and struggled to get to his feet. Once standing, he bent, palms on his knees, breathing deeply.
“I’m really sorry. I woke up and you were standing over me. I forgot where I was.”
He straightened slowly. “I was just covering the two of you with a blanket. It gets chilly at night.”
“I came downstairs to feed her and we both dozed off. Something I should not do when holding her.”
Jake nodded. “I guess I don’t have to worry about you being able to protect yourself.” He walked gingerly toward the kitchen. “I came down to see if you found everything you needed. I think I’ll have a drink since I’m down here. I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I’ll see what I can do with your car.”
“Thank you.” She headed for the stairs. “I feel terrible.”
“Don’t. I’ll be fine. You need anything?”
“No. Thanks.” She climbed the stairs, feeling like a total idiot.
Shannon tugged her nightgown from the overnight bag and laid it on the bed. She pulled her tee shirt over her head and removed her bra, then slid her jeans down and kicked them free. The nightgown slipped over her head and down her body. After checking Bailey once more, Shannon slid in between the soft sheets, sinking into the pillows.
She had just kicked a complete stranger in the groin for trying to help her. All of her life, she had been trusting, never in a situation where she had to question everyone’s motives. Now she could trust no one and had to keep an eye behind her at all times. She wondered how far would be far enough to run before she would start to feel safe again.
~ * ~
Jake removed a bottle of bourbon from the cabinet above the refrigerator and filled a small juice glass. Pain still radiated in his nether region and he gingerly adjusted himself. He took a gulp of the whiskey and felt its burn in his stomach. He’d only been kicked in the nuts once before and that was by his nephew while they were wrestling. His heart became heavy, as it usually did when a memory of his former life rose to the surface. Charlie would be ten years old now. Jake wondered if the boy was playing baseball. It had been his passion the last time Jake saw him. But that was three years ago.
Downing the rest of the whiskey, Jake rinsed the glass and set it in the sink. He wondered if his sister and brother-in-law had the second baby they were planning at the time. He wondered if his father had finally moved out of his house and into a senior apartment. They had discussed the matter just a few months before his life as Steve Avery shattered and Jake Garber came into being.
Jake had lived in this secluded cabin in the Snoqualmie, Washington for the past two years. He’d come here with a new name, a new history, and a new vocation—carpenter. This was his one link to his past, a trade taught him by his father and grandfather. It was the only skill he had that he could use in the program and still maintain a low profile.
He dragged fingers through his too-long dark locks. Some days he itched for a neat haircut, but knew that wouldn’t be wise. He still sometimes had to take a second look in the mirror in the morning to remember who he was now. A glance at the clock told him the sun would be rising in a few hours. He switched off the lights and headed up the stairs. He’d have to deal with Shannon tomorrow.
Hell. This would complicate things if she had nowhere to go. He couldn’t just toss her and the baby out. Besides, her car was going to require a lot of work to get it running again, if that was even possible.
What was Shannon’s story? And there had to be a story. A single woman traveling with a three month old in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. She’d been vague about where she was headed and offered nothing about where she was coming from. Maybe he wasn’t the only one in this house with secrets.