AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He looked at her, trying to reconcile her reasoning with her actions, when he suddenly realized he’d veered onto the shoulder of the road. Jerking back, he squealed around a turn, dodged an oncoming car, and knew he had to gain some control over his emotions.
’Twasfear,he grudgingly admitted.The gut-raw fear of losing Tait had both shocked him and sparked his anger wi’ her. He probably needed to explain his own actions, if he could, but he needed to pry his bowels from his throat first.
And get them somewhere a lot safer than this open road.
He kenned full well, the next time Elliot and his partner encountered them, they’d pick a time and place wi’out any onlookers and the results would be far more deadly. And much easier, now that Tait’s disguise had been blown.
Silence hung between them as she folded and unfolded her hands. “I realize I’ve ruined everything you’ve done to help me,” she finally murmured. “You’ve been there for me without question from the start.”
Her glance at him was quick and fleeting, turning her attention back to her hands. “And so much money spent on those airline ticketsand this van! Though I’d do the same thing again—if the situation warranted it—I want you to know I’m sorry for wasting both your time and money. I’ll pay you back. I promise. Somehow, someway, I’ll make it right.”
Marcus’ knuckles were white from his grip on the steering wheel. “We talked about this, this morning, Tait. I told ye then it wasnae about money.” He dinnae bother to hide the hurt when he looked at her. “Do ye ken I’ve been keepin’ a tab and tally all this time? Is that what ye think o’ me?”
She winced, her mouth agape. “No. No, not at all,” she cried, shaking her head. “It’s just that you’ve sacrificed so much for me when you don’t even know me.”
His throat tightened, remembering the devastation he’d felt when he saw her moving toward the Camaro. “I know ye well enough.”
How could he not? She’d settled inside his head and heart until she he couldnae think of anything but her.
“There it is,” Tait said, pointing to the sign that read Madison Junction. “Go left.” She picked up the map and studied it as he made the turn. “The next exit is Norris. But it goes north to Mammoth. There’s no turning back that way and few places to hide. But if we go past there and take the Canyon Village exit, there are several roads we might try. Some are dead ends, though. They’d have to guess which one we took. At the very least, it will slow them down if they check them all out.”
Lifting a hand, she made an exasperated gesture. “That is, of course, if they don’t turn right at Madison and head straight south since that’s the quickest way out of the Park from here. They might assume that’s the choice we’d make.” She looked at him, her expression a mixture of doubt and concern. “So if we take the long way around, it’s possible we could end up behind them.”
Setting the map aside, she laid back against the headrest and shoved her curls from her face. “I guess I don’t make a very good Shotgun rider after all. I don’t know what to do or where to go. You decide, Marcus. It’s all a shot in the dark, anyway.”
Marcus glanced at her, far more worried about the defeat in her voice than anything else. She was right, of course, about any choice they made being a shot in the dark, but he needed her to care, to fight.
He reached out to brush his knuckles along her cheek before taking her hand to cradle in his. “ ’Twill be naught but hours of driving ahead. Get some rest, lass. Ye’ll feel better. I’ll wake ye if I need to.”
* * *
With her lefthand firmly anchored in Marcus’s, Tait turned to the window, blinking at the flashes of sunlight between the wall of trees as they raced past. Suddenly, irrationally, tears burned her eyes. Just fatigue, she reasoned, not knowing what prompted them. Whatever it was, she didn’t want Marcus to see them. She’d already burdened him enough.
Propping her right elbow on the door’s armrest, she toyed with her locket. Inside was the tiny picture of Hannah and her—her single source of comfort in a life gone terribly wrong—she tried to focus on a different time, when two sisters wiled away days of endless joy, together. But their joyhadended. When Hannah died, the world Tait knew died with her.
And now she was running for a life she didn’t belong to; in a world she didn’t recognize.
Sighing, she stared out the window, mesmerized by the shifting waves of endless green forest and suddenly felt so weary she could barely hold her eyes open. The past hours and days had blended into one long torturous bout of endurance.
If only she could fall asleep and wake up as the eight-year-old in the picture where the people you loved didn’t die.
Despite her efforts not to, she cared about Marcus. So, for both their sakes, she should try to find a way to let him go before another incident like today took a terrible toll.
With a sigh and an aching heart, she let her weighty eyelids close.
* * *
“Tait.Tait!”Marcus reached over to shake her awake.
“Wh—what?” she moaned, jerking upright to glance around as adrenalin spiked her heartbeat. “Are they here? Did they find us?”
“Nae, lass. Ye were havin’ a nightmare. I wanted tae let ye sleep, but whatever ye were dreamin’ of couldnae have been restful.”
Blinking several times, Tait dropped back against the seat, recalling the lingering images of her dream. “No. It wasn’t.”
“Will it help tae talk about it?”
She studied him for a moment, wondering how much to reveal. Maybe it was time to put all her cards on the table, after all. “Possibly, since it was about you.” She paused, waiting for his reaction. “Earlier, I explainedmymotivations for what happened back there. But I still don’t understand yours. Whatever possessed you to take such a dangerous risk?”
