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“No, Blake. I’d go crazy sitting here alone, wondering where you were and when you’d be back. Wondering if the next knock on the door would be you...or a man with a gun. Wherever you’re going, I want to go with you.”
He sighed. “I can’t blame you, really. I wouldn’t want to be left behind, either.”
Relieved, she nodded. “So, what next?”
He glanced at his watch. “It’s still early. Maybe we can catch the Spider before he gets busy.”
“The...Spider?” she repeated, hoping she hadn’t heard him correctly.
He gave her a wry smile. “That’s what they call him.”
“And what’s his real name?”
“I’m not sure anyone knows that...including him.”
“Oh.” She swallowed, then firmed her chin. “All right. Let’s go find this Spider person.”
He chuckled. “Let me finish getting dressed. Spider’s pad is one place I definitely wouldn’t want to go into barefoot.”
She pictured a dark, deadly web and almost shuddered, then chided herself for letting her imagination get away from her. She sat on the end of her bed and watched from the corner of her eye while Blake dried his hair, brushed his teeth, buttoned and tucked in his shirt. It was a small room, she reminded herself. She had no choice but to watch him.
He sat on the edge of his own bed, and opened the drawer to the tiny nightstand. He pulled out an oddlooking leather sheath with straps. And then he rolled up the right leg of his jeans.
Tara watched in open curiosity as Blake strapped the thin leather sheath to his leg. “Is that a...knife?” she asked, staring at the black handle nestled into the holder.
Without immediately answering, Blake pulled on his boots, making sure the knife handle was still accessible above the right one, then smoothed his loose, straight-cut jeans down over them, completely concealing the sheath. And then he looked at Tara.
“It never hurts to be prepared,” he said, confirming her guess.
Tara had to remind herself that she’d insisted he take her along.
Blake carefully gathered every article they’d brought into the motel with them and shoved them into the duffel bag. Everything that didn’t fit went into the plastic bags he’d carried in earlier. By the time he’d loaded everything into the truck, there was no evidence that they’d been there except for the trash in the wastebaskets.
“We won’t be coming back here?” Tara asked.
He shook his head. “No. Even if we have to spend another night in a motel, I’d rather be in a different one.”
She glanced somewhat wistfully around the tiny room as she followed Blake out. Maybe it had been small and dingy, but it had been safe. And all of a sudden, she wasn’t in such a hurry to leave.
5
THE ATLANTA NEIGHBORHOOD Blake drove through was one that Tara usually avoided. Crumbling, abandoned buildings and trash-filled empty lots surrounded them. It was still early enough that there was little traffic on
the streets, and few people on the broken sidewalks. The heavily clouded skies overhead emphasized the grim hopelessness of the area.
Blake drove the truck into a particularly dark, ugly alley, and parked in front of a couple of broken, rusted Dumpsters. He nodded toward a metal door almost hidden in the shadows. The building appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. “Spider’s usually in there this early in the day.”
“This is where he lives?” Tara’s voice sounded a bit shaky even to her own ears.
“On and off. You coming in with me or waiting out here?”
She reached immediately for the door handle. “I’m staying close to you.”
He flashed her a quick grin. “I like the sound of that.”
She gave him a chiding look—how could he be flirting when their lives were on the line? But she still couldn’t help smiling back at him.
Blake paused with one hand on the door latch. “I’d, er, better warn you that Spider’s a bit...well, odd.”
