He tossed a smile in her direction.
She strapped the watch on her wrist and held her arm out, admiring the sparkle of the brass case and ignoring what his dimpled grin did to her insides. “While we’re there, I’ll thank him for it, but he may not even know exactly what he sent. He probably had an assistant choose it and mail it.”
“Still, though, it was a thoughtful gesture.”
He was right, of course. Hannah stared out the window as they rode the next several miles in silence. Freshly plowed and planted fields shone in the evening sun, and Hannah inhaled deeply of Derek’s scent, a mingling of fresh laundry detergent and spicy aftershave. It was aromatherapy, a healing oil that brought peace and calm.
That calm disappeared when Derek spoke again, a huskiness creeping into his voice. “So are we going to talk about us? About this awkwardness?”
Oh, no. “No. I’d rather keep the awkwardness than dredge up the past. It doesn’t matter anyway right now, does it?” He’d left once. She wasn’t going to let him get close enough to hurt her again.
“It wasn’t what you thought.”
How could he possibly know what she thought? And why did he have to bring it up now? Did he really think she needed this, too, today? “It’s fine, Derek. Whatever. It’s in the past.”
“I just think you should know...”
A vehicle in her side mirror grabbed her attention and jolted her heart until she clutched at her shoulder belt as it looped across her chest. Was that the same truck as before?
She stared into the mirror, the sound of Derek’s voice drowned out by the drumming of her pulse.
“Hannah? What is it?”
She spun to look out the back window, crouching low behind the headrest. “I think that’s the same truck that followed me earlier, on the way to the interview. Is that a badge-shaped decal in the front window?”
“Yes. It’s been following us for a couple of miles now. I think we need to lose it.”
“We’re almost to Lafayette.” She turned back to face front, clutching and twisting the hem of her shirt. “Are we going to lead him right to Father and Mother?”
“Not if I can help it.” Still peering into the rearview mirror, Derek grabbed the steering wheel with both hands. “Hold on.”
Hannah grasped the door handle with her right hand and the edge of the seat with her left as he pulled hard on the wheel. The little SUV cut across two lanes of traffic and veered down the exit ramp toward South Street. A whiff of exhaust and warm rubber assaulted her as she fought to stay upright in her seat. Multiple car horns protested the rudeness of the truck’s driver as a blur of black followed them down the ramp.
“He’s still tailing us. Now what?” Her palm slicked against the handle. She dried it on her skirt and prayed silently for safety and security.
“We keep going.” Derek was so focused on the road that he didn’t even glance at her. “Remember, we’re in the lead, deciding where to go. He has to react. That gives us the advantage.”
At the bottom of the ramp, he turned west. The evening sun was just above the horizon, blinding in its intensity. Hannah slapped down the visor, but it didn’t reach low enough. The truck squealed through a yellow light to follow them.
“How can you see? Shouldn’t we turn out of the sun? An accident won’t help us now.”
“Affirmative. Hold on.” At the next thoroughfare, he made a fast and hard right. Hannah barely had a chance to glance at the street sign. Sagamore Parkway. The name seemed familiar, but the surroundings did not. Her parents had moved to Lafayette after she had graduated high school, so although it had been her legal domicile through college and law school, she wasn’t familiar enough with the city to know where they were. Truth be told, she had barely wandered any farther from her parents’ mansion than to the local branch of the library and the mall.
The black truck followed, but Hannah noted with satisfaction that two cars separated them and more traffic traveled just ahead of them. She couldn’t quite see the face of the driver, to make visual confirmation that it was the same man as before, especially in the gathering gloom of evening and with that distance between them. But the truck was the same, so the driver was mostly likely the same as well.
Derek screeched the SUV left, again into the sun, on Union Street.
A shiver threatened as Hannah read the road signs. “We’re in a school zone.” She pointed to the left, and he swiveled for a quick glance. “Multiple school zones. We can’t do that slow speed. What is it, twenty miles per hour? Look at all those buildings. He’ll catch up for sure.”
“It’s late. School’s out.” He released a hand from his grip on the wheel long enough to squeeze her hand as it clutched the seat. “No need to slow down.”
His hand radiated warmth and gave her a sense of security, but a glance in the side mirror revealed the truck still barreling down on them. “So now what? Could you take him?”
“I’d rather not find out. Not by myself.” Derek jerked the steering wheel, turning them south onto North 18th Street. Houses flew by on the right, and the school zone ended at what the sign said was Murdock Park. It looked like it could be a good place to hide, but there were no roads.
“So where do we go? Drive on the sidewalk?” She pointed to the park and the wide walking path that entered into a wooded area.
The truck blared its horn and crossed into oncoming traffic to blow past a blue sedan. It was now only one car behind. Derek glanced in the mirror again and gritted his teeth. “No. This isn’t an action movie. That wouldn’t be safe for pedestrians, and it would draw too much attention to us.” He pulled the car onto a small residential road. “Here.”
“So we keep turning until he can’t catch up? Like how when a crocodile attacks, you’re supposed to run in a zigzag pattern because they can’t turn that well?” Law was supposed to be safe. Free from physical harm. She hadn’t joined the police force or the CIA. There had been no training in law school for outrunning bad guys.
“That’s a myth. Not true.”
“What? That’s not what we’re doing?”
“Not true about crocodiles. For us, yes. We’re eluding capture.”
The SUV bumped through an intersection and exited the residential area for a commercial zone. Instead of houses, there were passing businesses and strip malls, with only two or three separate shops dotting the sides of the street.
“We’ll be fine. I see something up ahead. Hopefully, this is the last time I’ll have to tell you to hold on.”
Hannah dug her feet into the floorboard as Derek bounced the vehicle over the curb and into the parking lot of a funeral home. Great. Well, at least they were in the right place if the shooter did catch up to them. She shot up a prayer as they turned around back. Lord, I love You, but I’m not ready to meet my maker.
He tore through the parking lot and around the side of the two-story brick structure that looked like it used to be a fine, older home. A detached garage with an
