Fortune

“Skye’s all I have. She’s in danger. I have to protect her, even if it means—”

Her throat closed over the words, choking them off. She cleared it and took a step toward him. “I’m begging you, Chance. I have no one else to turn to. Skye has no one else. They’re almost here.”

He brought the heels of his hands to his eyes. This felt wrong, somewhere, deep down, in the pit of his gut. But he didn’t know what to tell her to do instead. He didn’t see what other choice she had.

He sighed and faced her once more. “What’s your plan?”

“I leave now, tonight. I slip out during the storm, tomorrow my friend Susan comes for Skye. I’ll rendezvous with them later, when I know it’s safe. It’ll probably only be a couple of weeks.”

“What if something goes wrong? What if this Susan doesn’t show up? What if these people show up before she does?”

New fear shot into her eyes. She shook her head, as if denying the possibility. “They won’t. They can’t. And I trust Susan completely. I’ve known her all my life, she won’t let me down.” Claire drew in a deep, uneven breath, catching his hands once more. “Will you do this for me, Chance? Will you do it for Skye?”

He looked into her eyes, knowing he couldn’t refuse her. She needed him; she had no one else. It would be for only a few hours.

He nodded and her breath caught on a sob. She brought his hands to her mouth. “Thank you, Chance. Thank you, I—” She drew away from him, looking almost frantically around her. “I have to pack now. I have to go as soon as I…I have to go.”

“Wait.” He caught her arm. “What about Skye? When are you going to tell her?”

She wasn’t going to. Even as Claire’s eyes flooded with tears, he shook his head. “You can’t do this. You can’t leave without telling Skye. I won’t let you.”

“I have to. If I wake her, I won’t leave without her. I won’t be able to, and she…she won’t let me. I have to do this, Chance. I have to. For Skye.”

He saw how close to falling apart she was. One nudge and she wouldn’t be able to go. One nudge and she would take Skye with her.

He couldn’t give her that nudge. Claire’s desperation was real; her terror was real. He was afraid for Skye.

Feeling helpless, he watched as she took an empty duffel from the storage space above the dinette, then went to the wardrobe, located right outside Skye’s closed door. She quietly and quickly took out her clothes, folded them and shoved them into the bag. From there she went to the bathroom for her toiletries, then the built-in chest for some folded clothing items. It took her less than ten minutes to pack.

“I have a couple of boxes in the outside storage,” she said, fastening the clasps on her bag. “I’ll get them on my way out.”

She scrawled a name and phone number on a piece of paper and handed it to him. “It’s Susan’s number, just in case you…need to reach her. She’ll always know where I am.”

She carried the duffel to the door, dropped it and turned to him. Her eyes were bright with tears, and when she spoke, her voice shook. “Don’t tell anyone what’s going on. Not anyone. I’ve already told Abner that Skye and I were waiting out the storm with a friend. I had to have an explanation for unhitching my car. I told him you were watching our trailer through the storm.”