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Canaan bolted up in bed, confused. It took him a few seconds to realize that the sound of his ringing phone had woken him. He grabbed it from the bedside table and clicked on the call. “Wilder, do you know how late it is?”
“Canaan?” a soft female voice asked.
He recognized it immediately. “Elizabeth, what’s happened?”
“I’m in trouble. I went to get some groceries, and when I came back to my place, there were strange cars parked across the street.”
“Strange how?” he asked.
“I mean big black SUVs that look like something right out of a movie. It’s all very FBI-looking with a side of X-Files.”
He grinned despite the seriousness of the moment. Whoever this woman was, she was definitely exactly his kind of woman. “Where are you now?”
“I ditched my car with my phone in it. I’m calling you from a hotel room, but before you go all conspiracy on me, no. I didn’t pay with a credit card. I’m not a complete noob. I paid cash.”
“Good. Which hotel are you in?”
“It’s some small inn outside of town in Hunter. I biked here, committing my very first crime ever.”
“Huh?”
“I stole a bike in the last small town I passed through. I took the address down, so I will totally return the bike or pay for it.”
“Elizabeth, take a breath.”
“I don’t think I ever took a bike ride that long, especially in the dark,” she continued with a voice that was more and more high-pitched. His heart clenched for her.Poor, Queenie.She was really going through some stuff. “I haven’t dared to do anything for the last few hours. I kept thinking they would find me,” she continued, on the verge of tears.
“I’m glad you called.”
“I don’t knowwhyI called. I had no one else to turn to, and youdidmake me promise I should call ….”
“You did good, Queenie. I’m actually really pleased with all the steps you took. It’s what I would have suggested.” He would have preferred if she had called him before she did all that, but he was a stranger. He understood her reluctance.
“Honestly, if it hadn’t been for you going all superhero on me last night, I never would have gone through all this trouble, but you put the fear of god in me.”
“Good. Well, no. Not good. I didn’t want to scare you, but something weird is going on. I’ve been involved in a lot of corporate espionage cases, but an army of black SUVs doesn’t sit well with me. Not really commonplace.”
“I know. If it wasn’t for one of the guys with a weird earpiece in his ear peeing by the side of the car, I never would’ve noticed the SUVs. I’m not being paranoid. One of the guys was hiding behind my apartment complex.”
He gritted his teeth. “I know you’re not paranoid, Queenie. It sounds scary.”
“My life has suddenly turned into an action movie,” she whispered, her words wobbly with unshed tears.
“I can help you. We just need to get you someplace safe.”
“Iamat this hotel, and I don’t think they can find me here. If they could, they would already be here. I still have a few hundred dollars. I can’t believe that keeping a stack of cash for emergencies actually paid off.”
“Proud of you, Queenie. You’re doing great. It’s okay if you’re terrified.”
“Of course, I’m terrified. I’m brave, not an idiot. You mentioned that you could help, but how? Can you investigate this for me? I need to hire your sister now, I guess.” She was talking a million miles a minute again.
Canaan wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in his arms and make all of this go away. The protective instinct was new to him, but he didn’t pay it much attention. Elizabeth was more important than his feelings.
“I can do one better,” he replied. “Come to my compound. I’ll help you find a solution.”And you’ll be safe and not a lone sitting duck.
Her breath caught. “What? No. You can’t just take me in.”
“Sure I can.”
