Morgan Read online

  Straightening, he took his gun back. “Very good, Snowbird. I saw the shutter come down on your expression. You know how to manage your emotions.”

  “Some of them,” she admitted. “My sister’s missing, I’ve been living in hell for the better part of a year, ever since the FBI asked for my help, and for all I know, you’re one of Fixx’s clever traps. He’s full of those, as I discovered. You say you work for a man my WPP emergency contact trusts, and you had all the right answers to the questions I asked, but how do I know I can trust you all the way?”

  Smiling, he stuffed the gun in his waistband, strolled closer to regard the prostrate pair. “You don’t. But you either come with me or stay with your new friends. Odds are part of your business. You decide.” He nudged the young man’s ankle, received a mumbled response. “It’s either them and a pumpkin carving contest in Diggerton, or me and a dash for the Canadian border.”

  She brought her eyes up. “That’s not what I…”

  “Doesn’t matter what you want,” he interrupted. “You’ve got two options, right here, right now. Three if you want to go solo. Not the best choice in my opinion.”

  Their gazes remained locked until Amber’s brain stopped scrambling through the wild possibilities and settled down to the more logical probabilities.

  “Why Canada?” she asked.

  His smile widened. “I like maple syrup and changing leaves. We’ll go by way of Vermont. Fixx won’t expect that.”

  She glanced away, then back. “Is it too soon for me to say I hate you?”

  “It’s never too soon for that.” He motioned her away from the glowering man and his still-whimpering companion. “But I wouldn’t expend too much of my hatred at this early date. ’Cause, honey…” Wrapping a hand around her ponytail, he gave it a warning tug. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  …

  “I want to talk to Owen.” Rachel fussed with the rope that bound her wrists. “You can’t keep me in this skanky motel room forever. The owner’s not stupid enough to believe anybody would stay here for more than a couple of nights.”

  The man by the door grinned broadly and kept chewing his gum.

  “I’ll scream,” she warned him. “I’m good at it.”

  “You scream, you die,” her captor drawled. “Up to you where you go with that.”

  Rachel opened her mouth, fully intending to follow through, but she snapped it shut when the man produced a gun. She lifted her chin instead. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  He shrugged and kept on chewing his gum. “We’re waiting for my boss, sugar plum. Your sister’s too smart for her own good. Two of my men got burned real bad. Unlike everyone else who scrammed out of there, they walked into the fire to find her. Sorry to say, they never did, so now the search is on.”

  Rachel stomped her tied feet. “I want to talk to Owen,” she demanded. “Nothing that happened in Las Vegas was my fault. I didn’t want a divorce. I don’t even know how I wound up getting one. Owen will understand, he’ll listen.”

  The man began to whistle around his gum “I ain’t saying he will, I ain’t saying he won’t. All I’m saying is I got orders and we’re waiting for my boss to get here before we do anything.”

  “Fine.” Rachel wanted to punch that wad of gum right down the bastard’s throat. “I’m screaming.”

  However, once again, the sound died in her throat.

  Ahead of her, the motel room door opened, and a man walked in. Danger rippled the air around him. But that was only part of what stopped the scream. The real shock was the unexpected sight of someone she knew. Someone who hadn’t been a threat in her past life.

  Someone whose current facial expression terrified the living hell out of her.

  …

  “So, no Vermont, no Canada, no maple syrup,” Amber remarked.

  She wondered if the lake-sized potholes on these back roads might swallow Gage’s truck and solve her problem that way. Except that Rachel was still out there and in danger. Alive, she hoped, but probably half expecting her ex-husband to help her.

  Gage had retrieved her backpack and ditched her stolen truck before they’d left the amusement park. She had to assume he’d known what he was doing. Still…

  “This is the worst nightmare ever,” she said through gritted teeth. “And the longest. I can see where the concept of Limbo might come into things.”

  “You’re quick on the uptake, Snowbird. It could save your life.”

  She glanced at Gage in the driver’s seat beside her. Dark hair—too long. Green eyes—too mesmerizing. Lean build, sexy stubble, amazing profile… He was so not what she’d anticipated in terms of help. Couldn’t McCabe have sent someone who looked like Sydney Greenstreet?

  He glanced at her, and for a moment, she thought he’d read her mind. She wouldn’t blush, she promised herself. She’d passed that stage in her life years ago—and what in God’s name was she doing anyway? So the man was hot as hell. It was hardly the time for her to be noticing that.

  Banking her frustration, which wasn’t a hard thing to do in the face of her still-mounting terror, she asked, “I understand the double-talk and the distance back at the amusement park, but do you really think Fixx’s trackers are close enough behind us that they might intercept and interrogate a couple of junkies?”

  “I think his people could be anywhere from here to the Mississippi delta. But given the fact that McCabe said your sister ran off with a Black Creek farmer and no mention of him was made when the guy holding Rachel threatened you, it’s a good bet that farmer’s not likely to be plowing the lower forty come next spring. So to answer your question, I think his trackers could be anywhere.”

  Guilt shattered the outer layer of Amber’s fear. “In other words, odds are Jess is dead.”

  “Yep.”

  “I hate that this sounds completely self-serving, but do you also think he talked before he died? Told whoever where he lived?”

  “That, or whoever caught up with him traced him to Black Creek. Either way, once a location was established, his usefulness would have been at an end. And you’re allowed to care about your own life, Amber. The FBI approached you, not the other way around.”

  “They didn’t approach Jess Murkle, though, did they? He had no part in any of this.”

  “Don’t count on that. He was a drinker. So is your sister. Liquor loosens tongues. You have no idea what she might have said to him, or what he might have done if what she said sounded profitable. And you can lose the disgusted look. People get jaded in my world. As a wannabe shrink, you should understand that.”

  Unfortunately, she did, or she was starting to. “Okay, fine,” she allowed. “Circling back to the pair in the amusement park, will it always be necessary for us to talk in code around strangers?”

  Gage checked the rearview mirror. “What any stranger hears that isn’t true can’t hurt us. False trails. We create as many as we can between where we were and our actual destination.”

  “Which is?”

  “Hidden Valley.”

  A headache loomed, possibly a migraine, but pain merely heightened Amber’s mistrust, to say nothing of her confusion. “We’re going where salad dressing’s made?”

  Gage grinned. “Is that Hidden Valley still around?”

  “Who knows?” She blew out a breath. “Talk to me, Gage. Tell me something that’s true, something that makes sense. What’s in Hidden Valley? And don’t say ‘us, when we get there.’”

  “I’m not big on clever quips, though it sounds like someone in your life is or was.” Gage worked his way around a large, potentially deep puddle. “Hidden Valley’s a retreat. I know the people who run it.”

  Amber’s suspicion doubled. “Are we talking commune?”

  “Yes and no. For us, it’s a quiet and sequestered sanctuary. One road in, same road out. There’s Pepsi on the seat behind us and a bottle of Advil in the glove box. If Fixx’s people did follow you to Diggerton, the junkies in the park will point them toward Ca
nada.”

  “What if they’re following us right now?”

  “Bridges, Amber. We’ll cross them when we get to them.”

  He hit the high beams, but that only made the surrounding landscape seem more macabre.

  “Sleepy Hollow,” she murmured as the eerie atmosphere seeped into her bones. “I’d say Frankenstein, but the Smoky Mountains don’t have enough European flavor for that.”

  “Have you been to Europe?” he asked.

  “What? Yes.” She dragged her gaze away from the skeletal trees, set it on his face. Which only confused her more considering her earlier mixed feelings about him. “I worked in the casino at Monte Carlo for two years. It was a fascinating experience, but not a great fit.” She slanted him a shrewd look. “Why would you ask that question when I’m ninety-nine percent sure you already knew the answer?”

  “I prefer to hear certain facts firsthand. Plus, I’m trying to distract you. I sense your mind’s on overload. I was told Rachel worked in a boutique in Fixx’s Las Vegas hotel. Apparently, she caught the main man’s eye.”

  Although an analysis of Rachel’s life wasn’t Amber’s topic of choice, he’d been right about the overload factor. She breathed in and slowly out. “Okay, fine. Rachel’s beautiful and flamboyant. She loves glitter and all the nightlife she can get. Black Creek smothered her. I had a feeling she’d bail.”

  “She likes men.”

  “They’re drawn to her.”

  “Like flies to sugar?”

  Amber smiled. “More like honey in this case.”

  “What about you?”

  “Men aren’t as drawn to me. I put up barriers, deliberate ones. It goes back to college. Some professors have different agendas than their students. Authority carries a certain amount of power, or so some men think.”

  “In other words, you avoid the Owen Fixxes of the world.”

  “In as much as I can.” She thought about Owen’s son and pressed on her throbbing temple. “On the rare occasions I can’t, I suck it up and go to a quiet place in my mind.”

  “So, astonishingly beautiful with a touch of Zen.” He regarded the side mirror.

  Amber’s eyes narrowed instantly. “Something?” she asked.

  “I saw a light. It’s gone now. What was your first impression of the great and powerful Owen Fixx?”

  Now there was a question, she reflected. A complex one that took her on a winding journey back to a more innocent time. Or so she’d believed back then. “I met his son Gareth before I met him,” she revealed.

  “Met his son where? In Monte Carlo?”

  “No, on a flight from Chicago to Las Vegas. We were seat mates. We played blackjack. I won every game. Numbers and odds,” she added with a smile. “Gareth’s not as perfect or as polished as his father. We had a drink when we landed in Las Vegas, and he asked me if I’d heard of the Moroccan Hotel. He said his father owned it and he was looking for a manager.”

  “So, to answer my original question…”

  “I thought Fixx was a prick. But he paid well, and I knew I wouldn’t have much contact with him. Rachel came to Nevada a few months later and got a job in the same hotel. When she and Owen started seeing each other, I did what I could to revise my opinion.”

  “Did you succeed?”

  “Not really.”

  “Making you and Rachel different on a number of levels.”

  “On every level.” Amber glanced at her own side mirror. “I love her. She’s family. She drives me crazy, but I don’t want anything to happen to her. Fixx was an aberration. He’s a snake who can act. He fools a lot of people.”

  “He didn’t fool you.”

  “He wasn’t trying to, not in the same way as Rachel. I saw a light, Gage, maybe a mile behind us. Should we be worried?”

  He maneuvered the truck around another long puddle “There’s no way to speed on this road. We’ll be all right for a while.” He arched a dark brow at her. “Were you ever involved with Gareth Fixx?”

  “You really like loaded questions, don’t you?” Releasing her ponytail, Amber shook out her long hair. “The short answer is not right away. He was interested, but I had doubts. I worked for his father; Rachel was dating his father. The situation was awkward, or it could have been if…” She folded her arms. It was a telling gesture, but how could she not feel uncomfortable after using someone as shamelessly as she’d used Gareth? “Move on, okay?”

  “If you want. Word is Fixx has two sons.”

  “Word’s wrong. Gareth’s his only son. If you’re putting Luka in the number two position, he’s Fixx’s nephew. Fixx took him in when his sister died. Luka was ten, Gareth was eight. There’s always been a strong rivalry between them. Fixx also has a brother, Tony, who comes and goes and makes everyone he meets think of Indiana Jones.”

  “Is Tony part of his brother’s business?”

  Amber gave in and reached for the Advil. “I never found anything to connect him to Owen’s criminal activities. On the other hand, there’s nothing to connect Luka or Gareth, either, but I know they’re involved.”

  “Between the son and the nephew, who’s the better actor?”

  “Gareth, definitely.” She twisted the top off a Pepsi. “He’s a part-time musician. It’s very seductive when a man can sing and play the guitar. But truth be told, Gareth’s up to his ears in Daddy’s bad business. Luka’s his polar opposite. He doesn’t bother with pretense. He’s plain old in-your-face bad. It might sound weird, but I like that about him. You get what you see, end of story.”

  Gage’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror. “What did Rachel think of her newly acquired relatives?”

  “She liked and trusted both Gareth and Luka. And Tony was her big brother from the moment she met him. I told you, Rachel and I are different on every level. Our perception of Fixx and his family was just another case of that.”

  “Talk about some of your other differences,” he suggested.

  “Yeah, right, where to start with that long list.” And how far back should she take it? “It probably won’t surprise you to hear that I was cynical and suspicious as a child. When I was five, my best friend talked me into swapping my really cool Raggedy Ann doll for an old hand-knitted piglet that smelled like mothballs. I cried all night, then I stopped crying and promised myself I’d never be an easy mark again. Rachel preferred to live in a Barbie doll world. She got married in a blingy princess ball gown and wore a tiara.”

  “Which you never would have worn.”

  Amber felt her inner feline rising and offered him a slow smile. “Do I look like a princess to you?”

  “No, you’re a siren. Beautiful, dangerous, and scary as hell to any man with functioning genitalia.”

  Her smile faded. “That light behind us is creeping closer.”

  “Road’s improving.”

  “Not that I’ve noticed.” Amber turned in her seat and almost bit her tongue off when the front tires struck a rock. “Can we lose him?”

  “Oh, we can do a lot better than that.” Reaching back, he grabbed her pack and dropped it in her lap. “We’re on a high point of land. Narrow road, no guardrails. There’s a canyon on our left. I’m going to slow down at the next bend. When I tell you to jump, tuck and roll. When you stop, head for the trees. Take this.” He handed her what looked like a small cell phone. “It’s a comm link. It has a one-mile radius. Keep it switched on, and I’ll find you.”

  Never in her life could Amber recall having so many instructions fired at her in under fifteen seconds. “Are you sure—” she began.

  But he cut her off with a firm, “This is as slow as it gets, Snowbird. Go. Now.”

  It must have been his tone. Either that, or she’d gone as crazy as he obviously was. Amber grabbed the link and her pack, shoved the door open, and jumped.

  Her martial arts classes had taught her how to fall without injuring herself. However, when she factored in the momentum of a moving vehicle, everything she’d learned about a safe landing flew
from her head. She hit hard, tumbled, and wound up on her stomach with her face buried in a patch of wet leaves.

  “Ouch,” she mumbled.

  She struggled to slow her spinning mind as she rolled over. A series of crashes reached her from the road ahead. The sound penetrated her mental haze. It also got her moving.

  Head for the trees, Gage had said. Which trees? There were an awful lot of them on this side of the road.

  Working herself into a crouch, Amber switched on the link and waited for the light to blink green. When it did, she zipped it inside her pocket, hoisted her pack, and struck out for the woods.

  She heard a final crunch of metal on rock and knew exactly what Gage had done. He’d shot his truck over the edge of the cliff into a fathomless canyon where no one in their right mind would dare venture at night. If there happened to be a lake at the bottom, so much the better.

  How long would the diversion last, Amber wondered as she ran. Two or three hours? Until morning?

  A horrible thought suddenly occurred to her. Halting, she spun to look back. Gage’s truck had gone into the canyon. But what if it hadn’t been empty when it left the road?

  Chapter Five

  Gage waited in the bushes, well concealed from oncoming headlights. He rubbed his sore right knee as he shifted position. He was out of practice. Jumping from a moving vehicle required timing and finesse. He’d almost slammed his head into a boulder before he’d stopped rolling. He only hoped he’d done a better job of directing Amber or all of this would be for nothing.

  The truck shadowing them approached with caution. It came complete with a double set of high beam headlights and a row of powerful fog lamps on the roof. Gage spotted two people inside as it crept past.

  Could be Fixx’s men, but not necessarily. Poachers were rampant in these mountains. If that’s what these two were, they wouldn’t be reporting any accident they might have happened to notice to the local sheriff.

  The driver braked. The taillights glowed red. A window slid down. Gage heard voices, but he couldn’t tell what was being said. All he knew was that one of the men inside had a distinct Southern drawl.