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Chapter 23
Someone was following her. There was no doubt in Miranda’s mind as she drove from the big-box store to Jimmy’s house on Sunday afternoon. She’d told Ethan he could invite his friend to the beach with them, thinking it would be good for Ethan not to have Tad all to himself. It would be a chance to repay Jimmy’s family’s hospitality, as well, without having the boy running around their home.
She wasn’t ready for that yet. There was nothing for him to find there that would alert anyone to the fact that she wasn’t who they thought she was. But the idea of him going home to tell his parents about her house, or their private lives, or anything he found different from his... Nope, she just wasn’t ready.
Turning two blocks before Jimmy’s street, she noticed the black sedan doing the same. She couldn’t be positive it was the same car she’d seen in the clinic’s parking lot on Friday. Couldn’t tell, from surreptitious glances in the rearview mirror, if the driver was male or female.
Didn’t see a gray baseball cap.
But she was definitely being followed.
Watched.
It wasn’t her first time. Or even her tenth. She had no way of knowing when it had started. But she’d first been aware of it when she was only sixteen, and out after dark for the first time. Scared, but unwilling to admit that to her father, she’d been paying extreme attention to everything around her and had noticed the car turning whenever she turned.
Not knowing what to do, she’d hurried home, found her father there waiting for her. Sober for once, and in a good mood. She’d never told him that someone had been watching her.
She’d been afraid it was him. That he’d hired someone. And hadn’t dared bring down his wrath by saying anything.
And now, heart pounding, she went over her car in her mind. Told herself to stay calm. Hyperventilating could get them killed. The roll of bills under the spare tire would last for at least a week. If she was careful. A duffel bag holding clothes and food rations was in the back, beneath the duffel that held her jumper cables and medical kit. She had an extra phone charger in her purse, and in the console, too, not that she’d use her phone if she ran. Too easy to trace.
“You know what? I’m not feeling very well,” she told Ethan, turning again. And again, ending up on a main thoroughfare. A couple of seconds later, she saw the black sedan turn, too, far enough away that she couldn’t make out a license plate. “I think I’m going to have to cancel today, sweetie. I’m sorry,” she told Ethan.
“You sure?” His brow was creased. “Maybe you just have to go poop and then you’ll feel better.”
Because in his world, life was usually that simple. Thank God.
“Maybe, but we can’t take that chance, not with other people involved.” She glanced in the mirror again, not seeing the car. “Will you get my phone out of my purse and dial Jimmy for me?” she asked him. The car’s Bluetooth system picked up when he’d done as she asked, and she spoke to Jimmy’s mom, asking if they could do the beach trip another day.
The car was there, several vehicles back, when she got off the phone.
* * *
Heading slowly back to his place from the gym on Sunday, Tad tried to relax, still coming down from the weekend’s events. But he couldn’t lose the sense of unease that had been slowly building where Miranda and her dad were concerned.
He was falling in love with her. He saw that now. Didn’t like it. But knew there was no way he could stop it, either.
And chances were good that when she heard he’d been on her father’s payroll all along, she’d want nothing to do with him.
He’d still have it that way, though, if it meant she was happy and able to live free from fear.
He’d just pulled into his complex when his phone rang. Putting the SUV in Par
k, he grabbed it by the second ring.
“Would it be okay with you if we just stayed home tonight? I can cook the steaks under the broiler...”
“Of course.” His standard answer with her these days. “Or you two could come here. We’ve got community grills at every building...”
She hesitated, and he thought she might accept the invitation, but in the end, she said, “It’s probably better if we do it here,” she said, sounding disappointed enough that he smiled. She’d wanted to come to his place. That was satisfactory for now. “Ethan’s got all his things here, and that gives us time for adult conversation.”
Even knowing that with her son at home, she just meant conversation, Tad was still wearing a full-on smile as he climbed the steps to his place. He was obviously growing on her as much as she was growing on him.
And that boded well for the possibility of a future.
Even after he dumped the big secret...
* * *
