alone would forever keep her out of the category of “in need.”
She rolled one shoulder. “I had to lay low for a bit.” Rather than expound on that, she went back to explaining the setup. “So Wayne has these two big Victorians and a bunch of people stay there on a temporary basis. Homeless guys, alcoholics, a few addicts. Mostly men, but there was this older prostitute too. She helped me get away because, according to her, she didn’t like the competition of having another female around. Guess she had a thing for Wayne. He’s the only one who paid much attention to me.”
“He bought you clothes?”
“The coat and boots, yeah. See, we all had to take turns keeping up the property. Clearing the front walk and driveway and stuff like that. I was the youngest and healthiest one there, so I volunteered to help the others. Only I didn’t have the proper shoes and my coat was cloth and often got damp, so Wayne took it upon himself to replace them.” She worried her fingers over the zipper of her coat. “He took a lot for granted, trying to give me gifts and getting enraged when I refused them. I’m not sure what he expected...well, I assume he eventually expected sex. I mean, that’s obvious, right?”
Leese resisted the urge to look her over. “Probably a safe bet.”
“But why he’d expect me to be into it...I couldn’t figure that out. I never flirted, never led him on, not until I decided I couldn’t stay there anymore. Then I acted interested only so I could put him off until after dinner.”
“That’s when you left?”
“Out a window, yeah. See, tonight he was planning for me to join him in his room for a late dinner instead of in the dining hall with everyone else. So I figured I had to go.” She wrinkled her nose, which wasn’t quite so pink anymore. “I was mean, telling him how I was looking forward to it and that I’d see him at seven. I told him I wanted to primp and make myself pretty for him.”
She was already pretty, but as far as he could tell, she hadn’t primped in a while.
“He liked that idea, so he wasn’t hovering around me so much. It gave me an opportunity to sneak away. I dodged around for a while, figuring that was safer than making a beeline for the bus station, since Wayne would go there first to look for me, right?” Without waiting for Leese to reply, she continued, “But I guess he hadn’t given up because he was watching the station all the same, knowing I’d show up there sooner or later.”
Was the bus her only option? Her family was old money. Leese doubted any of them had ever stepped foot on a bus, much less made it their preferred mode of transportation.
That made about as much sense as her rooming in a shelter with a letch supervising.
“On principle alone, I’d have left the coat and boots, but when he gave them to me, he also swiped my old stuff. I didn’t have anything else and I didn’t want to freeze, so...” She slumped farther in the seat. “It was a gift, after all. And turns out, they are pretty warm.”
Leese rubbed his jaw. When the headlights behind them drove closer, he looked over the seat to check it out. The car cut away and went down a side street to the right.
Gone, and yet his instincts sharpened with the probable threat. “Turn left here,” he told Justice. If the other car had been following, hoping to circle ahead of them, he’d have to disappoint them.
The road was short and led back into a business district. New lights appeared behind them. There shouldn’t be anything alarming in that, and yet, warning bells went off in his head.
Checking a map on his phone, he said, “Go through this parking lot, then left again. About five miles down you’ll find an on-ramp for 75 north. We’ll try that for a bit.”
Catalina chewed her bottom lip, her arms folded around her.
She looked exhausted, apparently with good reason. He needed to make up his mind about what to do with her now, but there were too many unanswered questions.
Questions that would have to be answered later.
Hoping she’d have a suggestion, he asked, “Where would you like to go?”
Thinking about it, she inhaled and said, “If you want to find another bus station—”
“Not an option.” Leese reached over, took her chin, and turned her face toward him. “Like it or not, I was hired to keep you safe. I can’t do that if I can’t see you.”
“You also can’t keep me safe indefinitely.”
She sounded so sure about that. Did she really believe someone planned to do her harm? All he’d been told was that her father wanted her protected while she was out of reach, but he didn’t know anything about a specific threat to her.
Was there a chance Mr. Nicholson had hired a bodyguard because his daughter was confused, maybe a little irrational...even delusional? She wouldn’t be the first person to imagine a bizarre conspiracy theory.
As if she’d read his thoughts, she smiled sadly. “Bus station, after all?”
“No.” Until he knew what was going on, he planned to keep her very close. “Do some weaving until you hit the highway,” he told Justice, “then find us a place to stay for the night.”
“Swanky or low-key?”
Leese thought about it, then asked her, “Preference?”
Her gaze traveled over his face, his shoulders, down his body. “Most would assume you’d go low-key, thinking that’s what I’d want. But if we can afford swankier...?”
“We can.” He had an alternate credit card to use, without any ties to the agency, just in case Catalina wasn’t imagining anything. “It’ll just take a little longer to reach.”
Justice said, “We going to make her wait to get room service?”
Again, Leese deferred to her.
“I’d kill for a burger,” Catalina said. “Loaded. With fries. And a malt.” She made a sound of pleasure. “Man, that sounds good.”
“I just fell in love,” Justice said.
Ignoring Justice, Leese said, “A burger is doable, but we’ll pick it up and take it to the hotel to eat. Okay?”
“You two might be my new favorite people.” She curled into the corner, snuggling for a comfortable position. “At least for a little while.” After a yawn, she said, “Wake me when we’re there.”
Leese watched her fall asleep.
A whole lot of things weren’t adding up. For one, despite all the research he’d done on her, Catalina wasn’t quite what he’d expected.
The situation, too, was off. He’d planned to keep her safe, but now he had to wonder: from what?
“She’s out?” Justice asked with disbelief.
A soft snore was his answer.
Leese smiled, until she shifted, turning toward him and stretching out on the seat, her head on his thigh.
