style="font-size:15px;"> The red-faced man hung up the phone and walked away. Claire took a gulp of her wine, screwed up her resolve, stood and crossed to the telephone. She deposited some change, dialed Susan’s number, then said a silent prayer that her friend was home.
The phone rang once, twice, then three times. Answer, Susan. Please answer. And then she did, her voice thick with sleep.
“Susan, it’s me.”
“Madeline?” Claire could almost hear her come awake. “What’s wrong?”
Claire took a deep breath, dangerously close to tears. “I need your help.”
“You’ve got it.”
Claire glanced over her shoulder, then turned her back to the crowded room, hunching over the phone’s mouthpiece. “Pierce has found us. He’ll be here…soon. He means to take my…he means to take—”
Her tears spilled over so violently she couldn’t speak. Her friend waited out her tears, allowing her time to compose herself enough to finish. “He means to take Skye away from me. He means to see to it that I go to…jail. He said I would never see her again.”
“My God, Maddie, what can I do?”
“I need you to come get Skye. I need you to keep her for me, for a little while. I’ll give them the slip. I’m their only link to her.”
“I’ll leave now, Maddie. Don’t worry, your daughter will be safe with me. I’d die before I’d let that bastard get his hands on her.”
Chapter Fifteen
Chance opened his eyes. Claire stood in front of him, dripping wet, visibly shaking. He blinked, realizing that he must have fallen asleep. “Claire?” he said, glancing around the trailer, dark save for the intermittent flashes of lightning from outside. “What time is it?”
“I need your help,” she said, ignoring his question, squatting in front of him, taking his hands. Hers were as damp and as cold as death. “Please, Chance.”
He straightened, fully awake now. He searched her gaze, a sinking sensation in the pit of his gut. Something terrible had happened. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I need you to watch Skye for…for a while longer. Please, I—” Her words dissolved into tears. She bent her head to their joined hands, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs.
“My God, Claire, what’s—” He drew in a ragged breath. “Of course I’ll watch Skye. Go do what you have to do. I’ll stay.”
“You don’t understand.” She lifted her tear-streaked face to his. “You don’t understand. He’s coming. He’s almost…I have to go.”
She looked lost. Devastated. Chance closed his fingers around hers. “Who’s coming? Where do you have to go?”
“There are some people after us. They mean us harm. They mean Skye harm.” She struggled, he saw, to compose herself. “Tonight I learned that they’re close.”
“I don’t understand…what do you mean they’ll hurt Skye? Who?” He sucked in a sharp breath, alarmed. “Claire, this sounds a little nuts. You’re exaggerating, right?”
She shook her head, her teeth chattering. “If they…find us…I might never see Skye again. They’ll take her away from me. And they’ll…there’s someone who’ll hurt…he’s hurt her before.”
“How close are they?”
“Very close. I don’t know what I…what I—”
Tears choked her, and she released his hands, stood and went to the window. Outside, the storm raged, vivid jags of lightning ripping through the night sky. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms as if to ward off the cold.
She turned to face him once more, her expression bleak. “They could be here tomorrow night. I’m hoping the weather slows them up. I need to put as much distance between us as I can.”
“Jesus, Claire.” He crossed to her. “Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you.” She caught his hands again, begging. “You’re safer not knowing. Skye’s safer. You have to trust me on this. Please?”
He nodded, and after drawing in a shaky breath, she continued, “I have to go away. Now. Tonight. I have to go as far and as fast as I can. And I—” She tightened her fingers on his. “I have to go without Skye.”
“Without Skye,” he repeated. “I don’t understand how—” But then he did, and he took a step backward, shaking his head. “Oh, no. You’re not leaving her with me. No way.”
“It would only be for the rest of the night and a few hours tomorrow morning. A friend’s coming for her. Someone I trust completely. She’s already on her way. She’ll be here by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. Maybe sooner. Please, Chance. I have no one else to turn to.”
“I still don’t understand. Why not take Skye with you? Or meet this woman halfway?”
“These people have pictures of me. But not of Skye. And it’s Skye they want. It’s Skye they’ll hurt.”
“Son of a bitch. Claire, I…this isn’t a small thing. This isn’t—” He swung away from her, wishing he could think straight. Wishing he could block out her desperation, block out the way she looked at him, like if he didn’t help her she would be lost. “You can’t be serious about this, you can’t mean to go…without her. You can’t.”
“Skye’s all I have. She’s in danger. I have to protect her, even if it means—”
Her throat closed over the words, choking them off. She cleared it and took a step toward him. “I’m begging you, Chance. I have no one else to turn to. Skye has no one else. They’re almost here.”
He brought the heels of his hands to his eyes. This felt wrong, somewhere, deep down, in the pit of his gut. But he didn’t know what to tell her to do instead. He didn’t see what other choice she had.
He sighed and faced her once more. “What’s your plan?”
“I leave now, tonight. I slip out during the storm, tomorrow my friend Susan comes for Skye. I’ll rendezvous with them later, when I know it’s safe. It’ll probably only be a couple of weeks.”
“What if something goes wrong? What if this Susan doesn’t show up? What if these people show up before she does?”
New fear shot into her eyes. She shook her head, as if denying the possibility. “They won’t. They can’t. And I trust Susan completely. I’ve known her all my life, she won’t let me down.” Claire drew in a deep, uneven breath, catching his hands once more. “Will you do this for me, Chance? Will you do it for Skye?”
He looked into her eyes, knowing he couldn’t refuse her. She needed him; she had no one else. It would be for only a few hours.
He nodded and her breath caught on a sob. She brought his hands to her mouth.
