Fortune

Pierce had put an end to that. She and Susan had fought over Claire’s decision to marry Pierce; Susan had warned her about Pierce, she had said awful, ugly things about him, things Claire hadn’t been able to accept. Hurt and feeling betrayed, Claire had accused her friend of being jealous and bitter.

Susan had been right, of course. Claire should have known. Susan had always been right. Where she, Claire, had struggled through school and made one poor choice after another, Susan had sailed through both school and life.

Pride had kept Claire from calling her friend when she had realized the truth about her husband and marriage, it had kept her from calling her for help when she ran with Skye.

Until about a year ago. Claire had awakened one morning to realize that pride was a silly, stupid thing and that she needed her friend, that she wanted to talk to her. She had located Susan through her parents, and called. It had been like nothing had ever happened between them. They had both cried, so happy to talk to each other.

Claire had told her everything. Everything. About Pierce’s abuse and threats. About Griffen’s obsession with his half sister and the horror she had witnessed. She had told her about Adam’s nearly strangling her, and of how she’d escaped. Susan was the only person in the world who knew who Claire and Skye Dearborn really were.

It had been so good to talk to her again, so good to have someone she could share her fears with. Since then, they had spoken several times. Each time, Susan had begged Claire to come live with her. She was an English professor at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. She would help her, she promised. And if Pierce found them, she would help Claire fight him.

Claire had declined each invitation. She had been too afraid. Susan didn’t understand the power of the Monarch family. She didn’t understand the lengths they would go to have their girl back.

And her friend didn’t understand the depths of Griffen’s dark obsession. No one did but Claire.

“Lady, you paying rent on that stool, or what? I gotta use the phone.”

She looked over her shoulder at the dripping-wet, red-faced man who stood behind her. “Sorry,” she murmured, sliding off the stool. “It’s all yours.”

Claire made her way to the bar, got a glass of wine then returned to the phone. The man was still talking, so she took a seat at the empty booth adjacent to it. She sipped the slightly sharp cabernet, her hand shaking so badly some of the wine sloshed over the side. She sipped again, then sagged against the booth’s ripped vinyl back. She couldn’t do what she was contemplating. Leave Skye? Even if only for a few weeks? How could she bear to be without her?

What other option did she have?

Claire closed her eyes, thinking again of Susan. Susan was the one person she knew well enough, the one person she trusted enough, to leave her precious baby with.

Susan would help her. If she asked her to come for Skye, if she asked her to keep her—hide her—for a while, she would. Claire could give Pierce and his private investigator the slip. She could run tonight, in the height of the storm’s fury; she had already laid the groundwork for her and Skye’s disappearance. Everyone would think that they had gone together. Of course they would. When Pierce’s P.I. showed up, Chance could point them in whatever direction she had asked him to.

She dropped her head into her hands. If Pierce caught them, he would take Skye away from her. He would take Skye back to that dark, joyless place. Skye would be at Griffen’s mercy.

The monstrous dark beast was almost upon them.

The red-faced man hung up the phone and walked away. Claire took a gulp of her wine, screwed up her resolve, stood and crossed to the telephone. She deposited some change, dialed Susan’s number, then said a silent prayer that her friend was home.

The phone rang once, twice, then three times. Answer, Susan. Please answer. And then she did, her voice thick with sleep.

“Susan, it’s me.”

“Madeline?” Claire could almost hear her come awake. “What’s wrong?”

Claire took a deep breath, dangerously close to tears. “I need your help.”

“You’ve got it.”

Claire glanced over her shoulder, then turned her back to the crowded room, hunching over the phone’s mouthpiece. “Pierce has found us. He’ll be here…soon. He means to take my…he means to take—”

Her tears spilled over so violently she couldn’t speak. Her friend waited out her tears, allowing her time to compose herself enough to finish. “He means to take Skye away from me. He means to see to it that I go to…jail. He said I would never see her again.”

“My God, Maddie, what can I do?”

“I need you to come get Skye. I need you to keep her for me, for a little while. I’ll give them the slip. I’m their only link to her.”

“I’ll leave now, Maddie. Don’t worry, your daughter will be safe with me. I’d die before I’d let that bastard get his hands on her.”

Chapter Fifteen

Chance opened his eyes. Claire stood in front of him, dripping wet, visibly shaking. He blinked, realizing that he must have fallen asleep. “Claire?” he said, glancing around the trailer, dark save for the intermittent flashes of lightning from outside. “What time is it?”

“I need your help,” she said, ignoring his question, squatting in front of him, taking his hands. Hers were as damp and as cold as death. “Please, Chance.”

He straightened, fully awake now. He searched her gaze, a sinking sensation in the pit of his gut. Something terrible had happened. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I need you to watch Skye for…for a while longer. Please, I—” Her words dissolved into tears. She bent her head to their joined hands, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs.

“My God, Claire, what’s—” He drew in a ragged breath. “Of course I’ll watch Skye. Go do what you have to do. I’ll stay.”

“You don’t understand.” She lifted her tear-streaked face to his. “You don’t understand. He’s coming. He’s almost…I have to go.”

She looked lost. Devastated. Chance closed his fingers around hers. “Who’s coming? Where do you have to go?”

“There are some people after us. They mean us harm. They mean Skye harm.” She struggled, he saw, to compose herself. “Tonight I learned that they’re close.”

“I don’t understand…what do you mean they’ll hurt Skye? Who?” He sucked in a sharp breath, alarmed. “Claire, this sounds a little nuts. You’re exaggerating, right?”

She shook her head, her teeth chattering. “If they…find us…I might never see Skye again. They’ll take her away from me. And they’ll…there’s someone who’ll hurt…he’s hurt her before.”

“How close are they?”

“Very close. I don’t know what I…what I—”

Tears choked her, and she released his hands, stood and went to the window. Outside, the storm raged, vivid jags of lightning ripping through the night sky. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms as if to ward off the cold.

She turned to face him once more, her expression bleak. “They could be here tomorrow night. I’m hoping the weather slows them up. I need to put as much distance between us as I can.”

“Jesus, Claire.” He crossed to her. “Who are they?”

“I can’t tell you.” She caught his hands again, begging. “You’re safer not knowing. Skye’s safer. You have to trust me on this. Please?”

He nodded, and after drawing in a shaky breath, she continued, “I have to go away. Now. Tonight. I have to go as far and as fast as I can. And I—” She tightened her fingers on his. “I have to go without Skye.”

“Without Skye,” he repeated. “I don’t understand how—” But then he did, and he took a step backward, shaking his head. “Oh, no. You’re not leaving her with me. No way.”

“It would only be for the rest of the night and a few hours tomorrow morning. A friend’s coming for her. Someone I trust completely. She’s already on her way. She’ll be here by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. Maybe sooner. Please, Chance. I have no one else to turn to.”

“I still don’t understand. Why not take Skye with you? Or meet this woman halfway?”

“These people have pictures of me. But not of Skye. And it’s Skye they want. It’s Skye they’ll hurt.”

“Son of a bitch. Claire, I…this isn’t a small thing. This isn’t—” He swung away from her, wishing he could think straight. Wishing he could block out her desperation, block out the way she looked at him, like if he didn’t help her she would be lost. “You can’t be serious about this, you can’t mean to go…without her. You can’t.”