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But Alison’s conviction that her apprehension wasn’t misplaced only added to Bri’s unease.
Because if Travis was out there somewhere, waiting and watching, how could she not worry that his next move would damage far more than her bank balance?
TRAVISSLUNK LOWERIN HIS CAR,pulled down the brim of his baseball cap, and adjusted his shades as Bri left the ice-cream shop behind and struck out for her car.
Finding an ideal spot to take his shot was going to be a challenge, and his blackmailer’s suggestion about the park tomorrow morning was fishy. What if it was a setup?
It would be safer if he picked his own location.
He gave the small shopping mall a slow scan. Somewhere busy like this would be less risky than a park with few people around. In an area with more activity, it would be harder to pinpoint the source of the shot, and in the mass confusion that followed, it would be far simpler to slip away unnoticed.
Bri stopped beside her car and pulled the door open. As she slid behind the wheel, he twisted the key in his ignition, his nerves kicking in.
He had to get this done fast.
Marcia hadn’t been happy that his Saturday plans didn’t include her. She’d expected him to devote his weekend to her. If he took off again tomorrow, she could get suspicious.
But it all depended on where Bri went from here. If she headed home and shut herself in her duplex, he was sunk. He might have to use the park as a fallback and come up with another excuse to ditch Marcia tomorrow morning.
Which would tick her off.
All he could do was hope Bri went somewhere today where a fair amount of people were gathered. A place that would offer him a clear line of sight and allow him to vanish as soon as the job was done.
Luck, however, hadn’t been on his side in the past couple of days.
And if he blew this assignment, he’d be in a heap more trouble than the mess he’d left in Idaho.
Thanks to Bri. Again.
Rage began to simmer in his gut, but he reined it in. He had a lot more discipline than his old man. Except for the day Bri had warned him to back off and keep his distance.
His loss of control then had been a mistake.
One he wouldn’t make again.
While he was livid that an anonymous person was pulling the strings at the moment and manipulating his behavior, giving in to anger could lead to slipups that would put him at even higher risk.
So he’d follow Bri, wait for an optimal setting in which to follow the instructions he’d been given—and hope the potential second assignment the blackmailer had mentioned never materialized.
FIFTEEN
WAS THATBRI?
Nan’s shopping list in hand, Marc paused midstride as he approached the grocery store and squinted at the woman who was trundling her cart under the shadowed overhang outside the entrance.
The instant she stepped into the light, his question was answered.
It was Bri.
His lips curved up.
After all the hours he’d spent at the fire scene today, she was a welcome sight. A reward for keeping his promise to Nan that he’d stop on his way home to get the items on her grocery list, despite his fatigue and desperate need for a shower.
Chatting with Bri for a few minutes would revive his waning energy.
He picked up his pace as she gave the parking lot a slow, deliberate one-eighty. The kind he often did in potentially dangerous situations, when he was on high alert for threats.
Odd.
