Full of secrets.
A loud rapping noise jerked her upright. Jane snapped her eyes open, squinting against the glare, and almost wilted with relief when she saw Doris Bradleys warm eyes looking at her through the truck window.
Doris stepped back, giving her room to open the door of the truck. Jane hugged the older woman, grateful for a friendly face. Thank you so much for this, Doris. I dont know how Ill ever repay you.
Doris handed her the small white bag. Inside, Jane could hear pills rattling. I wish you could tell me whats going on, Doris said.
I promise, one day Ill tell you everything. Jane put the bag in the truck and turned back to Doris. How much did this cost you?
Doris waved it off. Not enough to worry yourself about. Youre not hurt, are you? Or sick?
Jane shook her head, averting her gaze from Doriss.
She could see the curious questions in Doriss eyes, but to her relief, the older woman didnt ask them aloud. Jane couldnt have answered them, anyway. Shed already put Doris in enough danger as it was.
Doris gave Jane another swift hug. Call me if you need anything, okay?
I will, Jane said, although she knew she couldnt put Doris in the middle of her mess again. Listen-you be careful driving back, okay? And be careful who you talk to, she added silently, watching Doris drive away with a sinking heart.
There were so few things in her life that felt familiar or comfortable, and watching one of them drive away felt like the ground shifting beneath her feet.
She climbed into the truck and buckled her seat belt, looking at the pharmacy bag on the seat beside her. She hoped it was worth the effort Doris had made-and the hell shed catch from Joe when she returned to the cabin.
THE DOOR to the cabin swept open before she even stepped onto the porch. Joe filled the doorway, his hair mussed and his eyes blazing. I suppose I should be glad you left the gun behind this time.
She stopped on the top step, gauging his mood. Angry but not spitting fire. It could be worse. Didnt want to leave you unprotected.
THE DOOR to the cabin swept open before she even stepped onto the porch. Joe filled the doorway, his hair mussed and his eyes blazing. I suppose I should be glad you left the gun behind this time.
She stopped on the top step, gauging his mood. Angry but not spitting fire. It could be worse. Didnt want to leave you unprotected.
He looked at the plastic bags she held in both hands. Shopping couldnt wait?
No, she said seriously. It couldnt.
He held her gaze for a long moment, his eyes narrowed and dark with tension. Then he stepped back, beckoning her to enter the cabin.
A shudder of awareness tingled through her as she slipped past him in the tight confines of the doorway and entered the great room. He led her to the long leather sofa near the fireplace and sat, his gray gaze watching her as she settled beside him and gave him a quick once-over. He looked pale and feverish, but at least he was awake and relatively alert. She deposited her purchases on the coffee table and reached up to test his temperature.
He caught her hand, trapping it against his face. You didnt have to sneak out.
Her hand tingled where it lay trapped between his rough palm and his beard-stubbled jaw. You wouldnt have let me go alone, and you needed your rest.
I wouldnt have let you go at all, he corrected with a wry grimace. He released her hand, and she dropped it to her lap, curling her fist against the lingering sensation still buzzing through her fingertips.
Maybe thats why I had to sneak, she murmured.
Fair enough, he admitted. Did you get some ibuprofen?
Yes. And something better. She reached into one of the plastic bags and retrieved the small paper sack with the bottle of antibiotics. Amoxicillin. Youre not allergic to penicillin or anything like that, are you?
His brow furrowed, his gray eyes dark with alarm. Where did you get those?
Does it matter?
He grabbed the bottle and looked at the label. Doris? Your friend at the diner?
She has chronic ear infections-all she has to do is call her doctor and he calls her in a prescription because it happens so often.
And now she knows where we are.
No-I met her on Route Five at a gas station. She doesnt know where I went from there.
He raked his fingers through his hair. You shouldnt have risked it.
She placed her palms on either side of his face, worried at how hot he felt. You have a high fever. Your wound may be getting infected. Im not even sure the amoxicillin is going to work, but it was worth the risk to find out. So shut up and take it.
He pressed his lips together, his eyes flashing with irritation, but he opened the prescription bottle and shook out a tablet.
Jane opened a bottle of water and handed it to him. Reading the directions on the label, she said, You need to take two now, then one in the morning and one in the evening until theyre gone.
He added another tablet to his palm and put them in his mouth, washing them down with the water. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and met her concerned gaze. What else did you get?
Like I said, I got some ibuprofen, too. She opened the bottle and shook out a couple of caplets. He downed them with the rest of the water and set the empty water bottle on the table.
I dont suppose you got any real bandages this time, did you? He picked up one of the plastic bags from the coffee table and started going through the contents.
As a matter of fact, I did. She took the bag back and pulled out a box of gauze pads shed found at the convenience store. Lets see how that wound is doing.
He followed her to the bedroom, close enough that she could feel the heat of him washing over her back. He sat on the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt, wincing as the movements jarred his injury.
Easy, she murmured, moving his hands away from the buttons and taking over. Her fingers shook a bit as she finished unbuttoning the shirt, especially with Joes smoldering gaze fixed on her face.
Heat flooded her cheeks, making them burn, but she focused on keeping her trembling fingers steady enough to guide the buttons through the holes until his shirt lay open, baring his lean, muscular chest and flat stomach.
She stepped back, licking her dry lips. I think you can take it from there.
The corners of his mouth quirked slightly as he eased out of the shirt and laid it on the bed beside him. He slanted a look at her. Whyd you come back here?
The question caught her by surprise. What?
His gaze followed her as she pulled the chair up next to his bed and sat. You had the truck, the cell phones. All the money. You couldve left me here and gotten away. Nobody couldve stopped you, not for a while.
That he was asking such a question at all made her stomach hurt. Thats what you think of me?
He didnt answer aloud, but the wariness in his eyes, darkened by something that looked very much like pain, told her the answer to her question. She looked away, sickened.
The image of a dark-haired man flickered through her mind-the same handsome face, same silver-flecked sideburns shed remembered before when she was waiting outside the food mart for Doris.
She was watching him, somewhere in the midst of a crowd. She felt small and scared. Scared of him. Scared of what he wanted from her.
His green eyes met hers in the crowd and he gave a nod. Her stomach clenched, but she moved forward into the crowd, following his gaze until it settled on a heavy-set man in the front row. The man with the sideburns blinked twice and looked away. She bit her lip and bumped into the heavy man. Sorry, mister.
He spared her a half glance and returned his attention to the dark-haired man and his busy hands as they dealt a new hand of three-card monte. He never felt her small hand slip into his back pocket and remove his wallet.
Lets get this bandage changed. Okay? Joes voice pulled her out of the memory.
She forced herself into action, trying not to give in to the hot tears pooling behind her eyes as she gathered her supplies and went to work. The redness around the ragged edges of the bullet wound hadnt increased since the last bandage change, to her relief. She cleaned it as gently as she could, reapplied some antibiotic ointment and taped the new gauze in place. Hows that feel?
Better, he said, his voice tight. Thank you.
She couldnt meet his gaze. Youre welcome.
No, I mean thank you for everything. The antibiotics-that was resourceful. I appreciate the trouble you went to. She still heard anger and distrust in his voice, but apparently he was too much of a straight-shooting cowboy not to express gratitude where gratitude was due.
I just hope they help, she said.
Me, too, because we need to get out of here soon.
I told you, Doris doesnt know where I went.
All she has to do is let it slip that she saw you at a gas station halfway to here and people will know we didnt keep going to Boise. People know you were Angela Carlyles roommate. Somebody may even remember she brought you here once. We need to move on as soon as we can.
Maybe tomorrow. But I want to give the antibiotics some time to work before we try to make another long drive in the truck. Okay?
He considered her words with a slight frown but nodded. Okay.
Good. She stood. Ill go make soup for dinner. We have chicken noodle and chicken noodle.
He considered her words with a slight frown but nodded. Okay.
Good. She stood. Ill go make soup for dinner. We have chicken noodle and chicken noodle.
Actually, I think Id like to have some chicken noodle if thats okay, he said with a half smile that faded quickly. His gaze grew serious and wary, and her heart sank.
Chicken noodle soup it is, she murmured, heading back to the kitchen before the tears shed been fighting all day escaped her eyes.
She heated the soup in a saucepan, waiting on a stool at the breakfast bar while it came to a simmer. Angrily knuckling away the tears under her eyes, she thought about her most recent memory. So, a murder suspect, a con artists henchwoman and now a pickpocket, too.
What other hidden sins would come back to haunt her before this was all over?