Broken Ties (8 page)

“Levi, I’m—” She stopped herself. She couldn’t apologize or let him see her waver. It was best for both of them that she had driven that wedge between them. She was sorry it hurt him so much, but at least he would live to see another day.

They rode in silence until it became unbearable, and she racked her brain for a topic of conversation that wouldn’t lead back to the danger they were in.

“Teddy told me you were engaged when you were younger. Does your fiancée still live in Gulfview?”

“Morgan hasn’t been my fiancée in a long time, but yes, she does still live in Gulfview. She’s in the Ladies’ Auxiliary with my mom. So I run into her every time I go home.”

His voice was cold and distant, but she bit back the lingering apology and pushed forward with the conversation she’d started.

“Was your breakup amicable?”

“Yes, and it was a long time ago. We got engaged our senior year of high school. We were young and dumb and thought we had the kind of love that would last forever. It turns out it only lasted until the end of the semester, when she met someone else and I moved away.”

“And you’ve never met anyone else you wanted to marry?”

“No.” He glanced toward her. “What about you? Has there ever been anyone you were serious about?”

“No. I’ve never been very good at long-term relationships. According to the last boy I dated in college, I always had one foot out the door so I could claim to be the first to leave. He thought I had issues from being abandoned as a child. And I thought he was a nosy, interfering crackpot. Of course, if I didn’t want to be analyzed, I probably shouldn’t have gotten involved with a psych student.”

Coda barked softly as if in agreement, and Levi chuckled.

“My parents married right out of high school,” he told her. “They’ve been married forty years, and my younger sister has been married for seven. None of them can figure out what Teddy and I are waiting for.”

“Sometimes it takes a while for the right person to come along.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Sometimes it takes a while to accept it when they do.”

Before she could respond, Coda barked again, this time louder and more demanding.

“I think she needs to stop. We should get off at the next exit and let her out for a while. Maybe we can find somewhere to eat. I’m famished.”

“That sounds like a plan.” He looked at the clock on the dash. “Teddy will be sending out the cavalry soon. I’ll call him again when we stop.”

They parked in front of Tiny’s Roadhouse, a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant separated from the gas station and convenience store by an ice cream counter and souvenir shop. They walked Coda in the grassy area on the other side of the parking lot, then returned her to the car, where Sidra cracked the windows so the crisp, cool air could blow through.

She followed Levi inside, and as they walked past the displays of chintzy souvenirs and postcards, Sidra stopped and picked up a small silver spoon. An alligator was engraved in the bowl and a palm tree formed the top of the handle, and she smiled.

“I had one of these,” she said softly. “I remember carrying it in my bag from house to house.”

“Where did it come from?”

She had a vague recollection of a woman holding the spoon out to her and promising her in a soft, soothing voice that everything was going to turn out fine.

“I don’t know. Probably a place just like this.” There was no use sharing something that might be a memory and might be nothing more than her imagination. She placed the spoon back on the shelf. “I guess we’d better eat and hit the road.”

“Will you order for me?” she asked, once the waitress had placed their drinks on the table and gone away to give them time to look over the menu. “I’ll have a cheeseburger.”

“Where are you going?”

“The restroom.”

He looked around, and she stood up.

“You don’t have to keep me safe in the restroom, Levi. I’ve been using it on my own for a while now.”

“Where is it?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing.

“I saw one by the souvenirs.”

When it was obvious he was considering following her out and waiting for her, she sighed in exasperation.

“I am going to the restroom, and you are going to stay here and order our food. It will take way too much time for you to follow me, when it’s just right on the other side of the door.”

“Fine.” He grabbed her by the hand before she left. “Straight there and straight back, and keep your eyes open, Sidra. I don’t think anyone followed us, but it’s always possible.”

Her nerves were on edge as she hurried past the bathroom and out the front door of the convenience store. She had to act fast if she intended to leave him behind. She searched the parking lot, dismissing a young couple getting into a car decorated with shaving cream and crepe paper, as well as the white-haired grandparents buckling two small children into their car seats. Her eyes fell on a woman alone, dressed in a charcoal gray pantsuit and black heels. A small, compact purse was clutched to her side, and she walked with a quick, determined gait that told Sidra she wouldn’t abide any nonsense but would sympathize with another woman put in a difficult position by a man.

If life had taught her nothing else, it was how to pick the person who would be in her corner and make the best of the situation by befriending them. She grabbed her bag and raised her hand in greeting.

“Excuse me, miss!” she called, grimacing when the woman turned around. “My boss and I were on our way to Tallahassee, but he’s in the Roadhouse, drunk as a skunk, and I can’t get him out of there. I’d take the car and leave him, but he won’t give me the keys.”

The woman looked uninterested for a moment, and Sidra pushed on.

“I have to give a huge presentation tomorrow morning at Frasier and Sons. We were supposed to be at the hotel in Orlando long before dark so I could go over my PowerPoint presentation and speech tonight.” Her eyes darted around. “The only hotel I see here is shoddy, to say the least, and I just don’t feel comfortable staying there. Especially with him.”

She added a small shudder that softened the woman’s face with sympathy. Seeing her opening, she pressed on.

“If we’re not there in time to give the presentation, he’ll blame me, and I can’t afford to lose my job.”

The woman frowned for a second, but in the end, her face softened and she smiled.

“I’m only going halfway there, but I can give you a ride that far.”

Chapter Nine

She climbed into the passenger’s seat and the woman backed out of the space. They were pulling out of the parking lot when she looked in the rearview mirror and saw Levi barreling through the roadhouse doors.

“I think your boss just realized you left him.” The woman said as a conspiratorial smile spread across her face. “I’m Jess, by the way.”

An hour later, Jess exited the interstate and pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall.

“Good luck with the presentation, Sidra,” she chirped as Sidra opened the door.

“Thank you so much, Jess. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Headlights illuminated the inside of the car, and Jess looked in the rearview mirror.

“You know, your boss drives pretty good for a drunk guy,” she said with a grin.

Sidra’s stomach dropped.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s been on our tail since we got on the highway.”

Sidra tried to cover her fear with a sheepish smile.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I was afraid you wouldn’t buy how much I wanted to get rid of him if I just said it outright.”

Jess grinned and dismissed Sidra’s apology with a wave of her hand.

“No problem. I enjoyed the company, and the thrill of trying to lose him. It kept my mind occupied.”

Sidra glanced around them as she stepped out of the car. Levi’s dark blue SUV was nowhere in sight. The lights shining on them belonged to a silver luxury car incongruously parked in front of a darkened cash advance store and a pizza parlor.

“Are you sure you saw him?”

“Of course, he’s parked right behind us.” Worry creased her smooth brow. “Isn’t he?”

Sidra felt herself pale as she stared at the tinted windows of the silver car. She was tempted to get back in Jess’s car and demand the woman drive, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk Jess getting hurt in whatever was about to happen.

“Oh, yes, there he is,” she lied, her voice shakier than she would have liked. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Will you be okay with him?” Jess asked, as if sensing her nervousness.

“Sure. We’re nearly there now. I’ll just insist we drive the rest of the way. Thanks again.” She shut the car door, praying the woman would pull away, even while she hoped she wouldn’t.

Fighting the desire to run as fast and as far as she could she turned away from the unfamiliar car and walked sedately down the sidewalk in the opposite direction.

They will stop at nothing to find you. And when they do, they will kill you.

Carlotta’s words whispered through her mind. Why in the world had she left Levi?
They will torture your lover, pluck out his eyes, and take his tongue.
She took a shuddering breath. She had no choice but to leave him. She couldn’t let him die, not for her.

The car crept up behind her, slowly trailing her down the sidewalk. Her heart pounded in her chest and a sob escaped her, as she braced herself for whatever was about to happen. Would they shoot her in the back? Abduct her? She sped up, they sped up, she slowed down, they slowed down, until she was ready to scream with anxiety. Finally, she could stand it no more, and she stopped and turned. It was time to face whoever was following her. Although her knees threatened to give way at any moment, she stood her ground as the back passenger-side door opened and a shiny black shoe appeared. She swallowed hard. If this man wanted to kill her out in the open, he could have done that on a number of occasions. He had ransacked her apartment, so there must be something he suspected she had. Something that he needed before he killed her. At least Levi wasn’t here. She had made certain he was out of danger. Unless there was more than one of them, she thought. The thought made her waver where she stood. Had someone hung back to take care of him while this man followed her? Were they torturing him at this very moment, demanding he tell them her whereabouts? Would he be killed because he didn’t know the answer to their questions?

Heart pounding, she waited for the dark brawny man who tried to kidnap her to appear. He didn’t materialize, however, and the man who stepped from the car was the farthest thing removed from him she could imagine. Tall and blond, with chiseled bronzed features and a lean athletic build, he looked far too noble and debonair to be a kidnapper of women. Was he the mastermind? The one who sent the other to do his bidding?

He stopped a few feet away from her, bending at his waist with a grand flourish of his hand.

“Your Highness,” he said in a deeply accented voice. “I am so glad to have found you at last.”

Headlights blazed to life behind her, and his gaze darted over her shoulder. Before she could run, he was on top of her, knocking her to the ground as a bullet whizzed past her ear and buried itself in the concrete post beside her.

The man cupped his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming as the second bullet shattered the window of his car.

A dizzying wave of shock rushed over her, and she fought to maintain control of her mind and body. She couldn’t faint. She had no idea if he was friend or foe, but she wasn’t willing to take any chances. She had to be alert so she could act on any opportunity to escape.

Any hope of escape died when he pulled a gun and began firing in the direction of the unknown shooter. Gunfire rang in her ears, mixing with the cries of alarm coming from the businesses along the sidewalk.

The shooting stopped, leaving the parking lot in utter silence except for the faint sound of a siren in the distance. Through a billowing wave of darkness, she saw a familiar SUV pull to the curb. Levi flung the door open before he had come to complete stop.

“Get in!” he roared and the man pushed her inside, leaping in behind her as the vehicle surged forward.

The shooter had time to fire only one more time before jumping out of the way of the vehicle intent on mowing him down. The bullet struck the passenger-side mirror, leaving a gaping hole that Sidra couldn’t pull her eyes away from. She had come a hair’s breadth away from having just such a hole in her.

“Did I injure you, Princessa?” The blond man asked as he turned toward her.

“No,” she whispered, his piercing green gaze the last thing she saw as oblivion claimed her and she slumped in her seat.

****

“She’s fainted,” the man announced in a heavily accented voice.

“Are you sure she’s not hurt?” Levi’s heart dropped. “She wasn’t shot?”

“I’m certain. I had no choice but to knock her down. She would have been killed otherwise.”

“Who the hell are you?” He had come into the parking lot just in time to see the man tackle Sidra. It had taken him only seconds to realize the lay of the land and ascertain that this man had saved her life. Although he couldn’t think of a reason someone who wanted her dead would save her, he wasn’t ready to trust the man, either.

“Philippe Beauchene. I am Princess Sidra’s fiancé.” At Levi’s dubious glare, he continued. “We were promised to one another as infants, and I have been raised knowing she would be my bride.”

“I don’t think she can say the same,” Levi said, darting a glance behind him. When he was certain no one was following, he pulled the SUV onto a narrow, wooded lane.

“We shouldn’t stop,” Philippe protested. “The assailants could be just behind us.”

“They aren’t,” Levi barked as he got out and opened the back door.

He leaned inside, relieved to see that Sidra appeared to be rousing. He smoothed her hair from her face, watching her closely as her eyes fluttered open.

“What the hell were you thinking, running away like that?” He wanted to sound angry, but his words came out rough with emotion. “You could have been killed.”

“I don’t want you endangering your life,” she told him as he helped her sit up, a steadying hand on her arm. “I thought if I disappeared, they would leave you alone.”