Nowhere to Run

“That’s enough, Patty,” Marie said, purposely interrupting. “You and I will go get an ice cream while this man works on our car. How does that sound?”

“Chocolate,” the five-year-old said. “Two scoops.”

“Fine.” She turned back to the mechanic. “I’ll trust you to do whatever the car needs, within reason. Can you have it running soon?”

“I can try,” Seth answered. He pointed. “There’s a café on the square that has good food. And Hickory Station, about half a block that way, sells ice cream and snacks.”

“Thanks.”

Hesitant to leave her belongings unattended, Marie nevertheless grabbed her purse from the front seat and walked off. She figured it was best to get Patty away from the service station before the child revealed too much. She knew it was wrong to lie, let alone to ask an innocent child to do so, but in this situation she was certain the good Lord would forgive them. After all, He was the one who now had their lives in His hands, the one who had promised to look after His children.

Marie started to smile in spite of all her worries. If that rough-looking guy with the sandy-gray hair was supposed to be a Heaven-sent guardian in disguise, his masquerade was working. He surely didn’t look the part.

He’d had nice eyes, though, she mused. Blue, like the summer sky, with tinges of gray to match his hair and little smile wrinkles at the outer corners. He didn’t appear to be very old, but she supposed it was possible for a man to be turning gray in his thirties, which was roughly what she estimated his age to be.

Pausing and waiting for passing cars before crossing the peaceful, tree-lined street, she glanced back at the service station.

Instead of working on her car as he’d promised, the man was standing beside it with his hands fisted on his hips. His eyes were shaded by his ball cap, but she could tell he was looking directly at her.

She stared back at him. He didn’t flinch. His intense, unwavering concentration gave her the shivers from her nape to her toes.

Grabbing Patty’s hand, she half dragged the little girl as she hurried across the street. The sooner they were back on the road and heading for parts unknown, the happier she’d be.

The only question now was how she could either change cars or find another license plate that wouldn’t reveal her origin. If she’d been a thief like Roy, she’d have simply stolen one. Being an honest person could be difficult at times, couldn’t it?

She glanced Heavenward. “Father, how about leaving a discarded license plate along the road somewhere, huh? I know it’s a lot to ask, but…”

“Mama?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Are you praying?”

“Yes, Patty,” Marie said with a nod. “I sure am.”

“Good,” the little girl answered, hurrying to keep pace with her mother’s rapid strides, “’cause you lied and I don’t want God to be mad at you.”

TWO

Seth frowned. He had an uneasy feeling about that woman. Oh, she’d seemed innocent enough at first, but she’d definitely wanted to hide where she’d come from, so there was no telling what else about her story was false.

The real question was, why not tell the truth? Was she the stranded motorist she pretended to be, or was there a more sinister reason for her supposed breakdown? He hadn’t thought his enemies would use a child to get to him, but that woman looked enough like his late wife to be her younger sister. Same light reddish-brown hair, same few freckles, same long lashes and beautiful brown eyes.

That uncanny resemblance gave him pause. If someone was trying to send him a message or make sure his real identity was exposed, what better way to do it than through a pretty woman pretending to be in distress?

He turned back to the car. If she was a planted informant and he let her go, there was no telling how long it would be before someone else followed. Perhaps someone more lethal. If he kept her in town for a few more days and checked her background, however, he’d have a better idea whether or not his real identity had been discovered.

It made sense to know his foes up front, he told himself. And it looked as if it wasn’t going to be easy to repair the woman’s car without disassembling the fuel system, so that would give him overnight, at least.

He slipped into the passenger’s seat and popped open the glove box. The car was registered to a Marie Parnell. If the driver had actually borrowed this vehicle from a friend, that friend must be named Parnell. That, or the woman had fibbed about where she’d gotten the car.

Either way, it looked as if he’d offered to be a good Samaritan for a bald-faced liar. He just hoped he hadn’t made a big, big mistake. Then again, it wouldn’t be his first.

He huffed in self-disgust. One mistake had cost him dearly. He just wished he’d recognized the looming danger in time to have saved Alice’s life. Perhaps, if he hadn’t been so caught up in his work, he’d have realized that she was planning to file for divorce and he could have made the news public. Then, the men who were trying to frame him might have changed their minds about eliminating her.

Or, they might have gone ahead and killed her anyway so they’d have even more to blame him for, he argued. Corporate espionage could be just as dirty and just as deadly as covert government operations. In his case, he had been pegged as the fall guy because he’d been doing deep undercover work for Corp. Inc. and hadn’t been able to prove his innocence. If he hadn’t had friends who had warned him, he’d probably either be buried beside poor Alice or serving time for her murder, along with a conviction for corporate theft.

Seth shuddered at the thought, then turned back to the car he’d been working on. Reliving the past was counterproductive. As long as he kept his guard up and didn’t let a good-looking woman like this car’s driver get too close to him, he’d survive. At this point in his life, that was all he could ask for.

By the time Marie and Patty returned from their ice cream quest, Seth had put the compact car up on a rack in the garage and was poking around under it.

“What do you think?” Marie asked, holding tightly to her daughter’s hand.

He shrugged as he continued to work. “Beats me. I disconnected a plugged fuel line, and it looked as if somebody had dumped sawdust into your gas tank. Did you tick someone off?”

“No, I…” The memory of the incident in the fast-food restaurant parking lot flashed into her mind. If anyone had been tampering with her car, she couldn’t have seen the individual doing it because the van had blocked her view. And if that was where her gas tank had been fouled, that meant her instincts had been correct: she hadn’t shaken her pursuers after all. The conclusion made her shiver in spite of the warmth of the afternoon.

Seth turned to look at her as he pushed a button that lowered the car to the ground. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Nothing. I have no idea who might have done such a thing.”

“Well, it won’t be an easy fix. The fuel filter is inside your gas tank. That means I’ll have to drain the gas and drop the tank in order to flush it out, clean the lines and change filters.”

“How long will that take?” She noted the lack of his usually warm smile.

“Depends. If I can pick up a new filter here in town, probably a day or two. If I have to wait for parts, maybe a week or more.”

“No. That’s impossible. I can’t stay here that long.”

“You don’t really have much choice,” he said. “I’m good at my job, but if you don’t let me replace the filter, I can’t guarantee that you’ll get very far.”

She peered past him at the quaint little town. “I don’t even know where I am. Is this Missouri?”

“Not yet. You’re about twenty miles shy of the border.” He pointed north. “Missouri’s that way. This is Serenity, Arkansas.”

“Where can I rent a car?”

Seth laughed. “Here? Lady, you’re lucky there’s any place that can even repair your car, let alone rent you another one. I suppose if you’ve got enough money, you might be able to trade for a different vehicle down at Tony’s sales lot.”

“I’d love to,” Marie replied. “Unfortunately, I’m not rich.” She gave a wry chuckle. “But I guess you figured that out from the car I’m driving.”

“Never can tell about folks around here,” Seth said. “Some of the people who look as if they can’t even afford their next meal could buy and sell this garage and have change left over.”

“Are you the owner?”

“Nope. I just work here. You’ll need a place to stay. We have a nice family motel close by. Maybe you noticed it when you drove past.”

“I’m afraid not. I was too concerned about the way my car was running. Or I should say, not running.”