[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Then she’d think about her son.If all she ever did in this life was create him and a few good bouquets of flowers, she’d have to call her life successful.He was without a doubt the best thing she’d ever done.Maybe it was just melancholy or the aftershock of thinking she was going to die, but right now she missed that little boy so much that breathing hurt.And just as soon as she was away from all this mess, she was calling Tom and insisting he bring her son home.Screw Paris.Screw the education her son would get from traveling, the hell with trying to make a life for herself outside of being a mom.Look where her little adventure today had landed her! Nope, she didn’t need anything in her life but Tommy.“You okay?”Not-Stan’s voice pulled her from the hazy place between sleep and panic.Not-Stan? What was his real name, even? Was she an idiot to trust him? Should she attempt to jump out of the moving van? Should she…? She opened her eyes, and the vision of him without a shirt had her brain misfiring with all sorts of messages and questions.“I’m great,” she said, her tone so thick with sarcasm that she could barely get the words out.She spotted her phone in his lap.She recalled him talking to someone, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember anything that had been said.“Did you talk to the person you needed to talk to?” she asked.“He’s not answering.I left a message.” A flash of concern pinched his brow, right before he refocused on the road.“Why do you suppose that is?”“I don’t know.”“Can’t you call someone else?”“It doesn’t work that way.”Bam! The image of the hairy man, blood pooling around his head, flashed again in her mind’s eye.“Do you think I killed him?” she asked.“Killed who?”“The man on your bathroom floor.”Not-Stan turned his head and stared right at her.“No.”“How can you be so sure?” She wrung her hands in her lap.In spite of being cold, her palms were slick with sweat.“Because he was the one shooting at us as I pulled away.”“Are you sure?” She wiped her hand on her jeans.“Positive.You heard the bullets, remember?”“But wasn’t there someone else with him?”“Yeah, but I hit my guy harder than you hit yours.He couldn’t get up so quickly.” He smiled.“Of course, your guy was bigger, so I guess you should get points for that.”Somehow she sensed his attempt at humor was to make her feel better.Too bad it failed.“You’re one hundred percent sure?”His smile faded, and only concern etched his face.“Seriously, I saw him in the side mirror as I pulled away.”She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself as a chill snaked through her body.It wasn’t cold in the van, but that didn’t stop her from feeling an unnatural iciness all the way to her bones.Goose bumps crawled on her skin and a drop of sweat slipped between her breasts.Of course, she knew what was happening; this wasn’t her first walk in this park.These were all the effects of shock.She remembered the same symptoms from when she was eight: the cold, the flashing images, the sweating.At least she’d mostly stopped trembling.If it was like the last time, it might take a while before the images stopped.Of course, maybe this go-round wasn’t as bad as the last.No one had died.Or had they?She looked out the window again at the mirror and remembered the sound of the car crashing behind them.“What about the guys in the wreck? Do you think…?”“I don’t know,” he answered.“But we didn’t cause that wreck.They just lost control of the car.” His gaze focused on her again.“It wasn’t our fault.Stop worrying.”She nodded; but even though she knew he was right, it didn’t change a dang thing.Just running over a possum ruined her spirits for a week.Being responsible for another person’s death might possibly ruin her life—though that hadn’t stopped her from smashing the guy’s head in.She supposed she could blame it on panic or maybe self-preservation.Perhaps if a possum was after her, gun blazing, she could run it over.She saw a road sign pass in a blur.“Where are we?”“A couple miles off Cypress Springs.”“Shouldn’t we be farther than that? I mean…I thought we were leaving town.”“They’ll expect us to leave.I’m hoping they leave looking for us.”“So…where are we going?”“First, I’ve to get some clothes.”Her gaze shifted to his chest again.“Clothes would be good.Maybe then I could think straight.” Did I say that out loud?He didn’t look at her, but he smiled.“I guess I wouldn’t think well if you had your shirt off.”She ignored the flirtatious remark and asked one of the questions that had been zipping around her confused mind: “What’s your real name?”She forced her gaze to stay on his face.In spite of the shock buzzing through her body, the man still looked good
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]