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“Until?”
“One day I looked up and saw someone who looked like he might be Kevin. It terrified me. I didn’t think twice. I left in the middle of my shift, went to the nearest ATM, and pulled out the max amount of money allowed out of all of my accounts. I had fourin-case-of-emergencyaccounts. Using my second identity, I then got on one bus after another, changing routes, buying and dumping phones, getting strangers to buy my tickets, and more. Five days later, I landed in Asheville, North Carolina, on Penny’s doorstep. I simply told her I was trying to stay ahead of a stalker, needed a change of scenery, and she got me a job at the hospital. I was too scared to work as a paramedic because I’d talked to Kevin about wanting to do that, so I worked inhousekeeping. Then I decided to take a chance, contacted John, and he got all my paperwork transferred to my new name. When the paramedic position came available, Dr. K already knew who I was and hired me to work on the chopper. My rappelling experience put me slightly ahead of the competition.”
“Where’d you get the rappelling experience?”
“My stepdad loved to hike and go rappelling. He taught me.”
“He sounds like a good man.”
“He is.” Sadness flickered deep in her soul. She’d stuffed those memories away because they were just too painful to visit. It made her miss her parents almost more than she could bear.
“Penny and the others didn’t ask about the name change?”
“They did. But once I told them about the stalker and decided changing my name was the best way to start over, they were good with that. We haven’t talked about it since, and that’s the way I prefer it. Thankfully, they respect that.”
“And this Kevin guy doesn’t know about Penny and the others?”
She laughed. A hard sound that held no humor. “No. I was too ashamed to tell him how I met them—which worked in my favor, obviously.” Vince knew they’d all met in juvie, so she had no qualms about sharing that bit.
“Why don’t you let me see if I can find him without involving the Harrisons first?”
She hesitated. “You think you could when so many others failed? I mean, this is still an ongoing thing. If I could tell authorities where Kevin is, they’d arrest him.” But then there would be facing him once that happened.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
“Wow. Thanks. Iama US Marshal, remember? I know how to find people. I mean, I obviously can’t make any guarantees, but, yes. Maybe.”
She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “It’s been almost fourteen years. I’m a very different person than I was back then.” Saying the words out loud seemed to help her somehow. Give her strength. She met his gaze once more. “IthinkI could handle you finding him. I just...”
“Don’t want to?”
A small smile curved her full lips. “More like don’t want to have to find out if I can.”
“You can,” he said, his voice low and soft. “I have complete faith in that.”
She went silent, then sighed. “Well, that makes one of us.” She peered out the window. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story about when we landed the chopper on the mountain with Darius Rabor on the loose.”
“The serial killer? Yeah, I heard.”
“When we finally got away, we had to leave Penny behind.” She shuddered. “But Holt was there and they managed to getaway safely.” She waved a hand. “You know the details. When they finally made it back to base, the media was waiting on them.”
“Because of Penny’s mother, right?”
“Well, not so much because of Penny’s mother, but mostly because we had a terrible supervisor who thought he could use the fact that Penny’s mother was Geneva Queen to provide a distraction from his incompetence—while getting the hospital in front of the public in a good light.”
“Geneva Queen. The famous actress, known to every person in America,” he murmured. “It still blows me away that she’s Penny’s mother.”
“You’re not the only one. Anyway, Penny was so mad, she risked her job to call that supervisor out and he was let go.” She turned and shot him a small smile. “I had been terrified for her and Holt. We all had. And there she was, safe, fighting mad, and willing to accept the consequences for doing the right thing. And you know what I did?”
He frowned, confused. “No. What?”
“I hid. I was subtle about it, but I made sure I wasn’t in the line of sight of the cameras. Because with Geneva Queen around, you can better believe there are going to be cameras and a national news report. I couldn’t take a chance...”
“Of course you couldn’t. You did the right thing.”
“Then why do I still cringe when I think about it?” She scrubbed a hand over her face. “Penny didn’t run,” she whispered. “She faced down a serial killer, her mother, and the possibility of losing her job—without seeming to flinch.”
