NaturesBounty(31)

Nate spotted his car a few blocks away, and he zoomed up to follow her from a couple car lengths behind. She pulled off for gas, and he considered confronting her then and there. He could re-cuff her and strap her in for the ride, and then demand that she tell him where they were going. But somehow, he knew she would find a way around accepting his help. He’d have to give it to her without her knowing.

The Toyota he’d swiped had only a third of a tank of gas, so he couldn’t follow her for long before fuel became a problem. Still, if his instincts were right, she wouldn’t be headed out of town just yet. He knew what her next stop would be after this.

She came out of the mini-mart with his new cell phone pressed to her ear. She looked worried as she spoke, not to mention guilty as hell. Her eyes flicked all around, as if she expected a SWAT team to jump her at any moment. Or maybe for Nate to pop up.

Judging from the look on her face when she hung up, he had a fair guess who she’d been talking to. She’d made contact with Andrew about a deal. Nate slipped out of the stolen car while she was gassing up, and he kept a low profile while he picked out a blue Neon.

The ignition cap was trickier on this model, and he was still fucking with it when he saw Lydia hang up the pump nozzle and get in the car.

“Shit,” he said while she pulled away. Maybe he should have stowed away in the back while she’d gone inside.

A screwdriver in the glove compartment came in handy, and he popped the ignition with it and roared off to do his version of casual tailing in midmorning traffic. A glance at the dashboard told Nate it was eleven a.m., and the gas gauge was encouragingly close to the Full mark. He wondered how long it would take Lydia to drive to wherever she’d hidden the evidence, which was somewhere in Flagstaff. He had no doubt that was her destination.

When she pulled up at a bus station, he parked and dashed inside the adjacent mini-mart for a caffeine boost and another disposable phone. This one was a cheap flip job with no bells and whistles, but he wanted it on hand just in case.

He was back behind the wheel by the time Lydia emerged, clutching a manila envelope and a coffee to go. This was it. Nate wasn’t entirely sure where she had arranged to meet the guy who had put a major cramp in Nate’s life as well as hers, but he was fairly certain the meeting wouldn’t take place in Arizona. They were most likely headed back to some point between here and the place where this odyssey had all begun. What the hell he would do, exactly, once he followed her there was another story. He had no weapon, save the screwdriver, no fun little spy gadgets, and little idea as to what kind of muscle the guy had on hand.

Maybe Lydia was right about working a deal to make all this go away, but Nate doubted it. As she got on the highway, he stayed a couple of cars behind and spent a good half hour spitting out profanities while he fought to open the ass-cheap cell phone package and get the thing working. Another ten minutes was spent trying to pull the number he needed from his memory.

Several wrong numbers later, he heard a suspicious and familiar, “Yeah?”

“Benny, it’s me. Nate.”

“Nate? Is that you? Fuck, boy, word has it that you’ve landed yourself in ten kinds of shit.”

“Twelve kinds. That’s why I’m calling.” He blew out a breath. “I hate to ask, but I need someone to watch my back while I’m watching someone else’s. I need your help. A shitload of it.”





Chapter Five




Lydia got out in front of the address she’d been given and closed her car door. Nate’s car door, rather. Another wave of guilt washed on top of her anxiety. As she looked at the building jutting up against the night sky, she wondered what Nate was doing right then. He would be long out of the handcuffs by now. If nothing else, the maid would have come by and discovered him. If he’d been smart, he’d stayed put at the motel to lie low until this was all over. She hoped he was doing exactly that, and that he wasn’t hating her too much in the process.

No doubt he was pissed as hell at her for stealing from him, but she had every intention of giving him the car back after this was done. Hopefully he realized she had no choice, and that she had to do this without him. If Nate had come along loaded for bear, Andrew would know they’d teamed up. He might be a lot less likely to make a deal with her if he knew she’d already told others the truth.

The office building was abandoned, but it wasn’t locked. She clutched the envelope in her hand as she entered, wondering why it hadn’t dawned on her to bring a flashlight. It was pitch black inside.

Blinking furiously against the darkness, she took a few tentative steps on shaky legs. A bright beam of light pierced the night, hitting her square in the face.