Valley of Shadows

FOUR

“Did the phone call not go the way you wanted?” Hawke broke into Miranda’s thoughts, his voice gravely and harsh.

“You knew it wouldn’t.”

“I knew that it would give you a truth you might not have accepted from me.”

“What truth? That I’m wanted for accessory to murder?”

“That returning home isn’t the answer to your troubles.”

“And staying with you is?”

“It’s better than the alternative.”

“Which is?”

“Your body rotting in a shallow grave somewhere.”

“You act like it’s a done deal.”

“Walk away from me and it is. Stay with me and we’ll find what we need to prove our innocence. Once Liam and Green are behind bars, you can safely return to your family.”

What family?

As much as Miranda loved Max, he had a life completely separate from hers, his Chicago apartment too small to offer guest quarters, his accounting firm busy enough to make vacationing nearly impossible. Lauren was the opposite, traveling the world as a runway model and only stopping to visit Justin when she couldn’t put it off any longer. Or that’s what she’d done before. Now that her son was gone, Lauren would probably never return to Maryland. Which meant Miranda would be returning to an empty house, a business and memories.

She shoved the thought aside, forcing back the sorrow that came with it. “How long will it take?”

“I don’t know.”

“I need to be home tomorrow.” For Justin’s funeral. She didn’t add the last, knowing the words would mean nothing to the cold-eyed man beside her.

“Sorry, babe. That’s not going to happen.”

She’d known it, but she’d hoped anyway, the small part of herself that refused to believe that things were as bad as they seemed telling her that everything would be okay in the morning. A few more hours of darkness and she’d wake from the nightmare. Wasn’t that what she’d told herself when she’d been a kid, the darkness pressing in around her, filled with monsters? “Then what? A few days? A week? I’ve got a business to run. I can’t be away from it for long.”

“Will your business matter if you’re dead?”

There was nothing to say to that, so she remained silent, turning away from Hawke and staring out the car window.

Outside, life continued as always, people traveling home from restaurants, friends and parties, making plans for the next day as they ended this one. A week ago, Miranda had been doing the same, leaving home on Friday evening to attend a bridal shower on the eastern shore. With Lauren committed to caring for Justin until the following night, Miranda had imagined hours spent window shopping, sampling pastries from local bakeries, enjoying the simple pleasure of no responsibility for the first time in way too many months.

And in one moment of senseless tragedy it had all changed.

Even if she made it home in one piece, life would never be what it had once been. Hot tears filled Miranda’s eyes, but she forced them away. Crying couldn’t bring her nephew back. Nor would it change her situation. Only God could do that, and she wasn’t sure He would. Watching Justin die while she prayed for him to be healed had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. In the dark hours after his death, she’d wondered if God heard her frantic pleading or if He even cared. Now, she wanted desperately to grasp her tattered faith, to believe that He would work everything out for the best.

“You’re crying.” The gritty texture of Hawke’s voice matched the rough callus on the finger he swept down her cheek.

Her skin heated in the wake of his touch and she brushed her hand down the same path his finger had traced, wiping away tears she hadn’t realized she was shedding. “No, I’m not.”

“I suppose the moisture on your cheeks is nothing.”

“A few tears on my cheeks doesn’t mean I’m crying.”

“No? Then what does it mean?”

“That I’m releasing some pent-up emotion.”

Hawke chuckled, a deep rumble that was a soothing balm against her frazzled nerves. “You’re an interesting lady, Miranda.”

Interesting? Quiet, sweet, helpful, those were the words most often used to describe her. Never interesting.

Before she had a chance to respond, Hawke’s cell phone rang and he lifted it to his ear.

“What’s up?” The words were his only greeting, his scowl deepening as the caller spoke. “What time? We’ll be there.” He dropped the phone onto the console, pulled the car onto a side road, then another and another until Miranda wasn’t sure where they were or which direction they were headed. Finally, he pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store and turned to face her.

“We’ve got a decision to make.”

“We?” He acted as if they were a team, working together toward a common goal. And maybe they were, but it didn’t feel that way. Not when Hawke knew so much more about what was going on then she did. And not when he seemed so determined to keep it that way.

“We.” He winced, putting a hand up to the back of his head and bringing it down again, something shiny and moist staining his fingers.

“You’re bleeding.” Miranda reached out, wanting to help, but Hawke’s quick, hard glance froze her in place.

“I’ll live.” His hand fisted around the steering wheel, his knuckles white. “We have more important things to worry about. We’ve got six hours to make it to Lakeview, Virginia. Do you know it?”

“No.”

He nodded. “We’ll map it out in a minute. My friend will have transportation waiting for us there. If we’re late, we may not have a second chance.”

“A second chance at what?”

“Someone set me up, Miranda. Planned everything that happened tonight to make me look guilty of a crime I didn’t commit. Do you believe that?”

“I don’t know what I believe.”

“You’re honest, at least.”

“And you haven’t answered my question. What won’t we have a second chance at?”

“Getting out of the state. Out of the country.”

“Out of the country?” She tried out the words, found them bitter on her tongue. “No.”

“If we stay here, we’ll be caught. I’ve got few friends that I can turn to. No one that I’m willing to drag into this mess. My home is in Thailand. The DEA recruited me there. They hired me to come to the States and bring down a drug trafficker named Green.”

“Harold Green?” He owned several businesses in Essex. A moving company, a local grocery store. The funeral home.