Meeting Danger (Danger #1) (23 page)

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In the early morning hours, Autumn opened the guest room door. Its hinges squeaked, causing her to stop in her tracks, but the master bedroom remained quiet.

She slipped on her old jacket, and carrying her shoes and the bag she’d packed, Autumn tiptoed down the hallway and moved down the staircase. She didn’t have much, just the clothes Camden had bought her and the ones she’d been wearing when she helped Camden escape.

When she reached the kitchen, she turned on the light and carefully wrote out the note she’d worded inside her head, needing to use the limited vocabulary she’d learned so far.

Waning moonlight streamed through the windows as she moved to the entryway and quickly put her shoes on before opening the front door as silently as she could.

A pang of sadness hit her low and sharp when she stepped outside. Would she ever come back here? Would she ever see Camden again?

The thought that she might not sent misery spiraling through her. The last thing she wanted was to leave. But she’d thought of her brother constantly over the years. She couldn’t wait a minute more to reconnect with him, to assure herself that he was okay.

She also needed to prove—to herself, mainly—that Camden’s theory was incorrect. But the irony of the situation didn’t escape her. If it weren’t for Camden, she wouldn’t even be able to make this trip. Because of him, she knew how to read a little now. Because of him, she felt confident enough to travel alone.

She sighed. And because of him, she had a credit card. A few days ago, he’d given her a card on his account. It was the same day he’d let her know she now had a Social Security number. As she walked down the driveway, she vowed to herself to pay him back every penny for the bus ticket to Saint Louis she’d need to buy.

When she reached the road, she gazed into the darkness. It was going to take a long time to walk into Shavertown, and from there, she needed to find her way to the bus station in Wilkes-Barre, about eight miles away. Now that she could read enough to navigate the phone book she’d found in a drawer in Camden’s kitchen, the information wasn’t too hard to find.

Since there were a couple of hours left until dawn, she’d be walking in the dark. Steeling herself, she clutched the strap of her duffel bag tightly and started down the road, keeping close to the shoulder.

She’d been walking for nearly two miles when a car approached from behind on the highway. As brakes squealed, Autumn turned her head. Headlights from a pickup truck momentarily blinded her.

The truck rolled up beside her and Autumn tensed. She gave the man inside a sidelong gaze and continued walking.

“You headed to town?”

The driver had rolled down the passenger window and was keeping pace with her in his truck. As he rolled under a streetlight, it illuminated his profile. He was older, his hair and beard gray and neatly trimmed, and his tone and expression were friendly, almost grandfatherly.

Autumn hadn’t answered, so he raised his voice and called out, “Let me give you a lift, sweetheart. It’s cold out here.”

She pulled up the collar of her jacket and looked straight ahead. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t need to be afraid of me.”

When Autumn stopped walking abruptly, the man slammed on his brakes, stopping beside her. She debated for another moment before reaching for the door handle of the truck.

“Where you headed?” the man asked as she settled herself into the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt.

“The bus terminal in Wilkes-Barre.”

The man looked over his shoulder and pulled back onto the road. “Bus terminal it is.” His curious gaze returned to her a few seconds later. “What are you doing walking by yourself in the dark?”

“I don’t have a car, and I need to get to the bus station so I can go visit a relative.”

The answer seemed to satisfy the man. He spent the next few minutes chatting amicably about his grandchildren. They lived outside of Scranton. He had some work to do, but was then going to get an early start on visiting them for the weekend.

“You’re not going to Scranton, are you?”

“No. I’m going to Missouri.”

Ten minutes later, the man pulled into the parking lot of the bus station in Wilkes-Barre. A group of men loitered outside, some smoking and others simply standing in the darkness, their hands pushed deep into their pockets.

The man gazed at the group with a frown before looking back at Autumn. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Yes.” She thanked him profusely for the ride, gathered up her bag, and got out of his truck.

“Glad I could help you, sweetheart.”

Autumn held up her hand in a wave after she shut the door. She walked past the men and through the terminal’s revolving glass doors. Gripping the credit card Camden had given her, she stepped up to the ticket counter.

A pang of sadness hit Camden when he woke and remembered why Autumn wasn’t in bed beside him. He could try to justify what he’d done until he was blue in the face, but it wouldn’t change anything. He’d done the wrong thing by keeping information from her. And when she’d confronted him, he hadn’t even been honest.

Yes, he’d kept the information a secret to protect her. But he’d also kept it a secret because he’d been afraid she would leave.

He was going to make things right, though. He’d apologize again, and if she wanted to visit Wade, he’d take her there. His mind made up, he showered and dressed before heading down to the kitchen.

Autumn wasn’t in the kitchen or living room, even though Camden was sure the upstairs rooms had been empty since the doors were all open. Could she be outside?

He searched the backyard. Trying to keep his dread at bay, he ran back to the house. He must have missed her upstairs. But as he ran up the staircase, he knew in the pit of his stomach that he wouldn’t find her there.

He gripped the railing after he searched the upper level and trudged back down the stairs. When had she left?

Back in the kitchen, he caught sight of her note.

Camden,

Thank you for everything. I’ll never forget it, but I need to go to my brother now.

I’ll call when I can.

Autumn

Camden sucked air into his lungs as he tried to think, rather than panic. How would she get to her brother? The train station made sense, but the bus station was closer. He’d try there first.

Grabbing his keys from the hallway table, he raced out to his SUV. Fifteen minutes later, he was speeding into the bus station’s lot. His tires squealed as he turned into the first available space.

“If someone wanted to get to Missouri, which bus would they take?” Camden shifted from foot to foot as he waited for a reply from the ticket agent.

The clerk pointed to a schedule taped onto the counter. “They’d take that first one.”

“Has it left yet?”

“Hours ago.”

Damn it
. Camden pulled out his phone and swiped his finger across the screen. An image of Autumn appeared, one he’d asked the waitress to take of them together at dinner in Allentown.

He turned the screen toward the man. “Have you seen her this morning?”

The man frowned. “Why are you asking?”

Camden clenched his teeth, well aware he wasn’t even thinking straight. He fished his credentials from his pocket and held them up. “Have you seen her?”

The man’s gaze went back to Autumn’s picture. “Yeah, I helped her a few hours ago. She bought a ticket to Saint Louis, just like you said.”

“I need to know everywhere that bus stops.”

Turning, the attendant retrieved a paper from a shelf and pushed it through the opening at the bottom of the window. “That’ll show you the stops. It’s got a decent lead on you, though.”

Camden thought of asking the man for a dispatcher and then dismissed the idea. He had the exact address where Autumn was headed; there was no need to have the bus stopped.

Saint Louis, Missouri

Autumn sat up as the bus pulled into the station in Saint Louis twenty-four hours later. Despite only having one quick meal during one of the bus’s stops, she wasn’t hungry.

The driver braked and she was sent forward. She grabbed hold of the seat in front of her as the woman beside her smiled in sympathy. The bus’s brake released with a loud burst of air, and its thirty passengers rose from their seats, some chattering loudly as they gathered their belongings.

For the entire trip, Autumn’s mind had been on Camden. She shouldn’t have left the way she had. She and Camden had grown close; at least, they had been until she’d accused him of being like Butch. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard. There was no turning back now. Even though things with Camden had been left in an awful place, she couldn’t regret her decision to leave.

For years, she’d longed to reconnect with her brother. She’d do that, and then focus on Camden. Maybe they’d somehow be able to get past what had happened.

Fishing out the scrap of paper where she’d written Wade’s address, she turned to the woman beside her. “Excuse me?”

The woman was rummaging through her purse. She stopped and met Autumn’s gaze. “Yes?”

“Do you know where Stone Street is?” Autumn tilted the scrap of paper toward her.

The woman nodded. “It’s just a few blocks down. I can show you once we get outside.”

“Thank you.”

After they’d collected their luggage and exited the building, the woman pointed out the way. “You’ll see Pine about five blocks down. Make a right, and it’ll take you to Stone.”

Autumn thanked her again before walking briskly into the early morning sunlight. There were a number of large brick houses on the block. Many had been converted into apartment buildings.

A group of teens was sitting on the front stoop of one. When they began making catcalls in her direction, Autumn picked up her pace.

By the time she reached Stone Street, she was breathing heavily. Shifting her duffel bag’s strap to her other shoulder, she stopped in front of a three-story building. Her heart raced as she took in the facade. Trim that had once been white was now a dingy gray and peeling from the eaves. A chain-link fence surrounded the property. Like the house, it had seen better days.

She pushed open the gate and walked up a broken concrete walkway choked with weeds. The building’s concrete steps were cracked as well, and the lock on the foyer door was broken. Inside the building, the smell of mildew was strong. Autumn rubbed a finger against her nose as she looked at the building’s directory.

Apartment 3E was on the third floor, down a long hallway. When she reached the door, she took several deep breaths and knocked.

She held her breath while she waited. As the seconds ticked by, her disappointment rose, and after knocking again with no answer, she realized Wade wasn’t home. With no other choice but to wait, she glanced up and down the hallway before taking a seat on the worn carpeting.

She’d been sitting for fifteen minutes when her stomach began growling. The 7-Eleven she’d passed came to mind.

Twenty minutes later she was back, holding a bag of trail mix and a Diet Coke as she resumed her place by Wade’s door. She’d eaten a handful of the trail mix when the elevator dinged.

An elderly man stepped off. He shuffled to an apartment two doors down from Wade’s and gave her a smile. Autumn smiled back.

Another ten minutes passed before the elevator dinged again. She quickly stood when a young man got off. He was the right age, and had light hair and a build similar to Wade’s. But he wasn’t her brother.

The man’s gaze raked over Autumn as he walked down the hallway and stopped in front of Wade’s door. “Hello there.”

Confused, she scrambled to her feet as he unlocked the door to 3E. “Do you live here?”

“Yeah.”

Wade’s roommate, maybe?

“I’m looking for my brother, Wade Mason.”

“Never heard of him.”

Autumn swallowed her disappointment. “Have you lived here long?”

“Why? You lookin’ for a place?” He grinned. “Maybe I can help you out, beautiful.”

Just a few seconds with this man and her skin was already crawling. She took a step backward.

“No. I’m fine.”

Not sure what to do, she glanced toward the elevator. It was before business hours, not even nine a.m. yet. Would she even be able to find a building manager?

When the man made a second offer to come inside, Autumn declined again and started down the hallway. She paused as she reached the elderly neighbor’s apartment and glanced over her shoulder to find the guy from Wade’s old apartment still watching.

With a shiver, Autumn turned back to the door and knocked hard.

Thankfully the old man answered quickly. Through strong bifocals, he peered at her. “May I help you?”

“I think my brother used to live down the hall from you. Wade Mason? I’m trying to find him.”

“You’re Wade’s sister?”

Relief pooled inside her. “Yes. Do you know him?”

“I do, indeed. Please come in.”

The man shuffled backward, allowing Autumn to enter a dimly lit apartment. At least the air was clean in here, with no trace of the mildew smell that hung heavy in the hallway.

One wall was lined with bookshelves, but there weren’t enough to hold the man’s vast book collection. Stacks of books lined the other walls as well.

A confused expression crossed the man’s face. Did he need a reminder of why she was here?

“My brother, Wade . . .”

The old man’s eyes lit up again. “Ah, yes. Wade was evicted about two months back. I let him know about a place on Juniper. Used to live there myself.”

“Juniper. Is it here in Saint Louis?”

The old man nodded. “On the other side of the city.”

Autumn committed to memory the address he provided.

“Was Wade evicted because he wasn’t able to pay his rent?”

Pity flickered over the man’s face. “That was it.”

“Do you know him well?”

“No. We’ve spoken only a few times.”

“Do you happen to know where he works?” Autumn’s gut twisted as she thought of her brother’s criminal record. Did he have a legitimate job now, or was he working outside the law?