Nowhere to Run (15 page)

 

Marie was shaking so badly she couldn't even pretend to hold still. It wasn't merely because she was soaked and chilly. It was also shock. She knew the signs from the first aid training she'd been given when she'd worked at the preschool in Baton Rouge.

Finally, she gave in and tugged the blanket out from behind the seat, unfolded it, and used it to wrap around herself and Patty, trying to tuck it in to isolate the child from the clamminess of her damp jeans and sneakers.

She was secretly glad that Seth hadn't said another word to her since his disclosure about his criminal record. That revelation had floored her, had left her so befuddled she didn't know what to think, let alone what to say to him.

How foolish she'd been. How gullible. She'd run from one liar and landed in the arms of another. She sure could pick the wrong men, couldn't she? Compared with Seth, Roy had been a Boy Scout.

Yet, the signs had all been there if she'd chosen to heed them, Marie concluded. She'd sensed that Seth was different right from their first meeting. She'd even asked him about it in a roundabout way. Of course he hadn't leveled with her. Now that she was aware of the truth—at least she thought she was—she could clearly see why he had not told her. They had been strangers then.

And now? Now, they had gone far beyond mere acquaintance, though she didn't like to admit it, even to herself. For him to have disclosed everything the way he just had meant that he trusted her. With his life and with his future. Could she do less for him? If she hadn't had Patty's well-being to consider, she might have been more willing to speak up and discuss it.

Through chattering teeth, Marie managed to ask, “How much farther can we go on this road?”

“A mile. Maybe two. Then we'll have to make a run for it on foot.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“Are you up to it?”

She shook her head in the negative, but said, “Sure. I can do anything when somebody is shooting at me.”

“If I could be sure how many men were after us and that they'd follow me, instead of you and Patty, I'd suggest we split up. Unfortunately, there's no way to predict that.”

“I'm not much of a country girl, either,” Marie said. “I not only wouldn't know how to survive out here by myself, I'd probably wind up getting lost.”

“And Patty may need to be carried,” Seth added. “She's not going to be able to run as far or as fast as the rest of us.”

“What about Babe?”

“She'll be fine. I take her on hikes in the woods all the time. If she gets lost, she just heads cross-country and goes home. We're not as far from my place as it seems by road.”

“I wish…” Marie bit her lower lip. “Never mind.”

Ahead she caught a glimpse of a square block building and a sign indicating that they had arrived at the isolated campground.

“Here we are,” Seth said, turning the truck in an arc so his headlights would illuminate the entire area. “Thankfully, there's no one else camped up here, so we won't have to worry about collateral damage.”

That was the kind of reference that had tipped her off to his unusual background in the first place. If she were honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she'd had plenty of clues to Seth's past. If only she'd listened to those niggling warnings.

Seth pulled into the farthest campsite, then doused his headlights and killed the engine. “We hike from here on,” he said.

Marie wondered if her wobbly, freezing legs and feet would support her when she stepped out.

Seth had circled the truck, had called to Babe and was already opening Marie's door. She handed Patty to him before gathering up the unfolded blanket.

“Can you make it by yourself?” Seth asked.

“Yes. I'm coming. Just take her and go.”

“Not on your life,” he countered. “We all stick together.”

In the distance, Marie could hear the steady grind of an engine, but she couldn't tell how far away, or how close, it might be. Wide-eyed, she stared at Seth, barely able to read his expression in the moonlight.

“That's him. He's getting closer,” Seth said, confirming her fears. “Come on. And bring the blanket.”

Balling it up in her arms, Marie staggered after him. Her feet tingled with needles of pain and her body shook more with every step, yet she kept pace with him.

“I—I wish we had a gun,” she said, slightly breathless already.

To her shock, Seth answered, “We do. A rifle with a scope would be better than my .38, but at least we're not totally defenseless.”

Of course he'd be armed, Marie reasoned. After all, he wasn't just a regular guy from a little Ozark town. He was a former spy.

That notion made her tremble anew.
Aspy.
Here she was, running for her life through a trackless wilderness, and her guide was the kind of dangerous man most people only saw in movies or read about in thrillers.

At that moment, Marie realized she was less concerned about whoever was after them than she was for Seth's ultimate safety. He had been leading a double life, staying out of harm's way, until he had chosen to risk his anonymity to help her. If he hadn't given her that phone, and if she hadn't disobeyed his orders and used it, perhaps his enemies wouldn't be on their trail at all. If anything bad happened to him, she'd never be able to forgive herself.

And if anything bad happened to Patty, she added, fists clenching, she would never forgive Seth.

S
eth wasn't familiar with the area around the campground, so he simply headed away from it and plunged into the densest portion of the forest. Behind him, he could hear Marie's rapid breathing, sense her fear.

Holding Patty close, bending down, and protecting her head with his hand, he forged through a thicket of hickory. The trees weren't large but they were flexible and resilient and thus more likely to spring back into place and mask their passage.

“You couldn't have found a worse trail, could you?” Marie complained in a hoarse whisper.

“If it's hard for us, it'll be just as hard for whoever is following,” Seth replied. He halted to give her a chance to catch up. “Stay real close and let me break trail for you.”

“Do you want me to carry Patty for a while?”

He snorted derisively. “You're kidding, right? You don't look like you can hardly hold yourself up, let alone carry a five-year-old.”

“I can do anything if I have to,” Marie countered, her temper obviously getting the better of her.

Seth eyed the wool blanket she still carried. The dark color was barely visible in the moonlight. “Tell you what,” he said. “Bring that and we'll find a place for you to hide under it. If I cover you both with leaves, then make noise as I keep running, our enemy will pass you right by.”

“No. I won't leave you.”

“Don't be an idiot.”

She huffed. “Hey, no name calling, mister. I know it's my fault you're in this awful mess, but it wouldn't be if I'd had all the facts in the first place. Besides, I already told you how inept I am in the woods. Even if you drew the bad guys away from us, chances are I'd get so lost we'd either starve or freeze to death out here before we were found.”

“You probably wouldn't freeze this time of year,” Seth said flatly. “But I do see your point. All right. We'll keep going for a little while longer.”

He stiffened, pointing back the way they'd come. “Look. He's got a flashlight. That's to our advantage because I only see one beam. Since he's not following standard Corp. Inc. procedures, he's probably from the same bunch who wanted me out of the way in the first place.”

“Is that good?”

“Yes. Because I think I know who it is,” Seth answered. “And if it is Eccles, I won't hesitate to shoot him the second I get the chance.”

“Kill him?” Marie's voice was barely audible.

“No.” Seth shook his head. “I want him alive. He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to clear me with the law before all this is over. And when he does, I'm going to get back to Serenity as fast as I can and try to put all this behind me.”

“Really? The way you talked earlier, it sounded as if you wanted to go back to spying.”

“I used to think I did,” Seth said. “But lately I've been toying with the idea of being just a regular guy doing a regular job.”

“Would you…Would you consider taking Patty back to Serenity and looking after her for me. I don't have anyone else.”

“Why would you need someone to do that?”

“Because of Roy. If the police believe I was involved in his crimes, the way you first thought I was, I'll probably go to jail.”

“No, you won't. God willing, maybe neither of us will. Not if I have anything to say about it,” Seth insisted, starting to believe his own words for the first time. He glanced past her at the erratic jerks of the distant flashlight. “But we have more pressing concerns right now. He's the last domino in the chain. Knocking him down has to come first. Later, we'll talk about the future.”

“We will?”

“Yes. We will.”

“Are you giving me orders again?”

This time, he could tell she wasn't speaking from anger. “Sure am. Now get moving, woman. I want to be on high ground and set up a good defensive position before Eccles, or anyone else, catches up to us.”

“We're going to let him
catch
us?”

“Yes.” Seth felt the .38 in his belt to assure himself he was still armed. He didn't want to tell Marie that he had only the ammunition that was already loaded in the revolver. He wasn't going to have many shots with which to end this pursuit in their favor. He had to make sure he didn't waste them.

Seth's jaw clenched. He knew what a man like Eccles was capable of. He'd seen it firsthand when he'd discovered Alice's body. Only this time, no one was going to get past him and hurt those he loved.

His pulse hammered. He did love these two innocents, didn't he? Those feelings had sneaked up on his heart more subtly than any purveyor of espionage ever had. He'd been blindsided, pure and simple.

It quickly occurred to him that since Marie had asked him to look after Patty for her, she must have at least a mild affection for him, as well. That was enough to build on.

Seth gritted his teeth. If they survived.

 

The rocky outcropping rose out of the forest floor like a stack of colossal black pancakes, dropped there at an angle by a careless giant.

“There,” Seth hissed, pointing to the rocks. “Get down behind the thickest place.”

Marie complied, gladly. Her legs ached and she had been trembling so badly that every muscle in her body ached. As Seth placed Patty beside her, she covered them both, head to foot, with the blanket and hunkered down. There was no more strength or fight left in her, not even enough to question his orders the way she was usually so prone to do.

“Mama?”

“Shush,” Marie warned. “We have to be real quiet.”

“Where's Babe?” the child asked. “I want Babe.”

“We might not be able to keep her from barking so it's better if she's outside, helping Seth,” Marie replied. “Now do as he said. Hold very still.”

The little girl was sniffling but didn't argue. For that, Marie was doubly thankful. She wouldn't have known how to explain their situation if she'd had to, nor was she sure just exactly what that situation now was.

What would she do if something bad happened to Seth? That unacceptable question sat in her heart like a glacier, cold and oh, so heavy. Pulling her daughter closer, she began to silently pray with all the faith she could muster.

Outside the makeshift tent she could hear the rustling of fallen leaves from the previous winter. She hadn't noticed that much noise as the three of them had fled through the woods, so she could only imagine that Seth was purposely creating a diversion.

“Bless him, Father,” she prayed in a whisper. “And keep him safe. Keep us all safe. Please, Lord.”

Beside her, she heard a childish “Amen.” Sweet Patty was praying, too, and, in Marie's opinion the child was probably far more deserving of an answer than were any of the adults. There was something special about the pure faith of a child, wasn't there? Children weren't so liable to overthink things. They simply trusted.

I want to trust like that, too,
Marie thought, directing her mind toward the heavenly Father she had so recently come to know.
I want to. I just don't know how.

As suddenly as that thought came to her, it was followed by an assurance that she had all the faith she needed. Learning to employ and understand it might be another matter, but the faith was there. The Bible promised that she'd never have to face life's trials alone again, no matter how difficult her situation might seem. She did believe that. The hard part was wanting to know ahead of time how everything was going to end.

And to help,
she added, chagrined. It was part of her nature to want to work things out herself, to fix other people's problems.

Her eyes popped open, seeing nothing in the darkness. Was that what God had been trying to teach her all along? Had she gotten into this mess because she'd been trying to manipulate her life, and the lives of others, and had failed to trust the Lord? The notion was chilling.

Could that also be why she'd been so attracted to Seth? she asked herself with a shiver of awareness. Her arms tightened around her little girl as she whispered, “Dear Lord, forgive me. And keep us safe. Please.”

She listened to the stillness, hearing nothing. Her vivid imagination kept picturing Seth doing battle while she fervently prayed for his safety. Was the sense that he'd needed someone's help what had drawn her to him in the first place?

I didn't know he had problems when we met,
Marie countered.
That can't be it.

But I did sense his uneasiness and decide he had to be hiding something.

Setting her jaw, she made a face, seeing herself as gullible and foolish. She had done it again. She'd been subconsciously attracted to the same kind of man that Roy had been, and she'd fallen for her own form of personal subterfuge. It wasn't merely that Seth had kept things from her; it was more. She had refused to listen to her inner warnings, and here she was, in worse trouble than ever before.

The notion that she didn't know how to pick good men was more than true; it had just been proven for the second time. Was she never going to learn?

“If—when—we get out of this, I'll know better, God,” she vowed in a barely audible whisper. “I'm better off staying single than letting myself get tangled up with this kind of guy, again. I may be a slow learner but I finally do understand.”

Marie knew she should thank the Lord for that new enlightenment, but the idea of bidding Seth a final goodbye made her too sad to be truly grateful. If this was what the answer to her prayer was to be, she almost wished she hadn't prayed it.

 

Seth had taken up a defensive position twenty yards to the west of where Marie and Patty were hidden. He tried to control his breathing as he waited for Eccles, or whoever it was, to draw closer.

The beam of the flashlight seemed to be losing strength as the batteries ran down. “Come on,” Seth murmured. “Just a little farther.”

The light paused. A man called out, “That you, buddy?”

Seth remained mute.

“Come on. You can ID me, can't you? It's Jonathan.”

For an instant, Seth hoped his pursuer was telling the truth. Then, he realized he had recognized the voice all right, and it wasn't that of his old friend.

Out of the corner of his eye, Seth thought he saw the blanket move. He had not intended to answer and thereby reveal his position, but if there was a chance that Marie was planning to show herself because she'd been fooled, he'd have to intervene.

“It's not Jonathan,” Seth shouted. “It's Eccles.”

All movement ceased. Someone laughed hoarsely.

“Good for you, Seth, or whatever you're calling yourself these days. Long time, no see. We've missed you. Where've you been hiding?”

Still, Seth remained silent. He'd thought about moving to another vantage point, but the woods was too quiet for that. One snap of a twig or rustle of leaves and Eccles would have his position. If his voice had not echoed so well across the hilly terrain, it would already be too late.

The light began to move again. Seth stiffened, leaned his arm against the trunk of a sturdy oak and took aim. Almost close enough for a shot. Just a few more yards.

The light stopped. Seth's eyes narrowed. Tensing, he peered into the dimness of the forest.

Although little moonlight got through the leafy canopy, he was still able to see movement, manlike shadows, or so he thought. In a situation like this it was common for a person's imagination to take over and lead him to see things that weren't really there. During training it didn't matter. In this case, he couldn't afford to make a mistake.

Assessing the light beam, Seth soon came to the conclusion that it was too still, too stationary. Eccles was no fool. Chances were good that he had propped it in the crook of a tree branch and left it there as a diversion.

That meant he could be anywhere, creeping closer. And probably was.

 

Time passed at a crawl. Marie wanted to look out so badly that she could hardly contain herself. If it hadn't been for Patty, she'd have peeked as soon as someone had yelled. And if Seth hadn't broadcast that their adversary was the same man he'd predicted it would be, she might have made a serious tactical error.

She was about to change her mind for the umpteenth time and peek anyway, when she heard noise of a scuffle begin. Instead of being far away, it sounded as if it was taking place right there, next to their hiding place.

Pushing Patty behind her, closer to the rocky overhang, she shushed her. “Get back. Stay put, no matter what. Understand?”

“Uh-huh.”

The frightened child was tugging on the back of her mother's jacket and whimpering.

Outside, men were clearly coming to blows. Marie could tell because the sounds of the punches connecting and the resulting grunts and groans were all too audible.