Valley of Shadows

“You’re telling me not to kill the person who set me up.” A few years ago, he might have. Hawke had changed since then. Stone was part of the reason for that, though Hawke doubted he knew it.

“Taking the law into your hands won’t solve anything, and it’ll only make more trouble for you.”

“This isn’t just about me anymore, Stone.” He glanced at Miranda, saw that she was watching with wide, dark eyes. “You’ve been pulled into it. So has the woman who’s with me. I won’t risk either of you for revenge. I give you my word on that.”

“One hour, then.” Noah disconnected and Hawke tossed the phone into Miranda’s lap.

Now that he had the means to get her out of harms way, he’d make sure she had reason to cooperate. Flying halfway around the world with someone determined to escape was low on Hawke’s lists of ways to keep from being noticed.

She stared down at the phone, but didn’t reach for it, her hands fisted at her side, her jaw set.

“Is there someone you want to call? Someone who might be worried?

“Yes.”

“Then call.” And if news was spreading as fast as Noah claimed, Miranda would hear just how much trouble she was in from someone she trusted.

Call? Miranda was sure Hawke would pull the phone from her hands as she lifted it, but he looked relaxed. Much more relaxed than he’d been before his phone call. He’d mentioned leaving the country. Maybe he planned to drop her off and let her return home. Miranda refused to contemplate anything else. She dialed, pressing the phone to her ear, her heart thrumming a frantic beat. Please, Lauren, pick up. For once be there for me.

“Hello?” Lauren’s voice filled the line, high-pitched and breathless.

“Lauren, it’s me. I—”

“Miranda! Thank goodness! Where are you?”

Miranda glanced at a road sign, almost gave her sister the exit number, but hesitated. There was an edge of hysteria in Lauren’s voice, a breathless quality to it that didn’t fit. It wasn’t like her to be overly concerned with anyone but herself. That she was so upset could only mean bad news. “What’s wrong, Lauren?”

“Wrong? You attack a police officer and you’re asking me what’s wrong?”

Miranda went cold at her words, her back rigid with mounting tension. “How did you hear about that?”

“How do you think I heard about it? The police are here. They don’t take kindly to having one of their own knocked unconscious.”

“I didn’t have a choice. Liam—”

“Don’t say anything else, sis.” Her brother Max cut in, his voice such a welcome relief Miranda’s eyes burned with threatening tears.

“Max. I thought your plane wasn’t coming in until the morning.”

“I took an earlier flight. It’s a good thing I did. You’re in a lot of trouble, kid.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Max. This is all some kind of misunderstanding. I—”

“We’ll talk when you get home. The line is being monitored by the police. I don’t want you to say anything else until we’re face to face.”

“I don’t have anything to hide.” But her palms were sweaty, her breath hitching with fear.

“You need to come home, Randa. Max and I are here for you. We’ll support you. No matter what. Max has found you a great lawyer. The best. I’ve already paid a retainer fee. It’s the least I could do.” Lauren’s words caught on a sob. “After all, this is my fault. The past few years…all your time spent caring for Justin. I should have known you needed more than that.”

“Your fault? What are you talking about? I went for a walk and—”

“Don’t say anything.” Max nearly shouted the words, his panic scaring Miranda more than all Lauren’s sobs could. Older than her by fifteen years, Max had been more father than brother to Miranda, a calm steadying influence in a chaotic, unstable home.

“Tell me what’s happening. Tell me what you think I did.” Miranda’s panic rose with Max’s.

“I don’t think you did anything. It’s the police who are accusing you.” Max bit out the words, his anger preferable to panic. “According to them, you’ve been dating a felon. The two of you plotted to steal fifty-thousand dollars from a DEA agent. The agent was found dead an hour ago.”

Miranda’s gaze leaped to Hawke. He’d said nothing about a murdered DEA agent. But then, he hadn’t said much about anything.

“Miranda? Are you still there?” Max’s words pulled her from her thoughts and she took a deep breath, trying to force a calm to her voice that she didn’t feel.

“I’m here. I haven’t been dating anyone, haven’t stolen anything. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve got plenty of friends who will verify that. All my time has been spent with Justin. You know that.”

“It isn’t about what I know or what I believe or even what you tell me is going on. It’s about proof. And right now the police have witnesses willing to testify that they saw you and their suspect together on more than one occasion.”

“What witnesses? What are you talking about?”

“Coworkers and friends. Add to that Sergeant Jefferson’s testimony—”

Miranda stiffened, her muscles so taut she thought they might shatter. “About what?”

“About seeing you and the suspect together at your bakery.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Yeah? Well right now, it’s his word against yours. He’s a police officer and here. You’re on the run with some guy who’s got a record a mile long. Who do you think seems more believable?”

“Max—”

“Tell me where you are, Miranda. I’ll come get you and we’ll work things out. I promise.” His tone was persuasive, the same one he’d used so often to try to convince Lauren to do the right thing. He’d never had to convince Miranda.

Even now, she wanted to respond, to tell him what he wanted to hear, but the words died on her tongue, her mind shouting a warning that she couldn’t ignore. Liam had already told his side of the story. The police believed him, Miranda’s family seemed to believe him and, as much as she’d like to believe that people would step forward to defend her, Miranda knew the truth was much more grim. Her friends knew too little about her life to say with any certainty how she spent her days. Taking care of Justin had required most of her time and energy. She’d had little of either left for friendship. If she returned home now, she’d be arrested.

Or worse.

And if that happened, Max would go after whoever had hurt her.

An image of Liam pointing a gun at Hawke flashed through her mind and she imagined Max on the other end of the barrel, imagined the loud crack of gunfire and her brother falling lifeless to the ground. She couldn’t risk it, couldn’t allow him to be pulled into danger with her.

“Miranda? Are you still there?”

“I’m here, but I can’t come home yet, Max. Not until I can prove that I’m innocent.”

“We’ll find the proof together.” The pain in his voice was palpable, stretching across the phone line and wrapping around her heart.

“I love you, Max. Thanks for being such a great big brother.”

With that she hung up the phone, her pulse pounding, her mind racing, the truth of what she’d just done a hard, cold knot in her stomach. She’d cut her ties with home, turned her back on Max and put her life in the hands of a man she didn’t know and wasn’t sure she trusted. She could only pray she hadn’t made a terrible mistake, because she was sure there would be no turning back. Only moving forward into the terrifying unknown.