Chapter Four

“No!”

Claire threw her hand out toward Julia, but it was no use. The other woman slumped against the floor, her eyes open but lifeless.

A force on her waist pulled Claire backward. She screamed and thrashed but it did no good. She couldn’t get away from what was dragging her down.

“Mee...rrow.”

Claire froze. Meow ?

In an instant, Julia was gone. Claire opened her eyes. The pressure on her waist was Khan, pawing at her in concern, nothing more. She was in the bed of the motel room Luke had left her in hours ago.

Pressing her palm to her forehead, she found her skin slicked with sweat. Another nightmare. It had happened every time she’d closed her eyes. Sleeping shouldn’t be this hard when she was this exhausted.

She’d barely slept since the moment Julia’s lifeless eyes had looked out at her from where she’d hit the floor.

Three days since Julia’s death, and the terror eating Claire from the inside was only getting worse.

She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, washing off the last of the nightmare.

The water, as hot as she could stand, washed over her. She was alive, and that was the most important thing.

She had rushed home after fleeing Passage Digital. She knew it wouldn’t take them long to figure out she was the one Julia had been communicating with.

She’d parked down the street and sneaked into her house. She needed to run, but there was no way she was leaving without Khan.

She’d thrown what she could in a bag and grabbed any cash she’d had squirreled around the house. She’d been just about to slip out the back door when two of Ballard’s men broke in through the front.

“Remember, no guns. When she comes in here, we’ve got to make it look like an accident.”

“Mr. Ballard said the best plan will be to put her with the other body and run a car off a ravine. Won’t raise many red flags.”

Claire had stuffed her fist up to her lips, so frozen with fear it had taken all her strength to move. They were really going to kill her. Somehow, she got herself and Khan back out through the side kitchen door and down the block to her car, although not without bumping into a neighbor’s fence and taking a spill that resulted in a bruised face.

From there, she hadn’t known what to do other than drive around aimlessly. Nightfall found her outside of Austin, a couple of hours from San Antonio. Wanting to see if Ballard was tracking her, she paid for a room with a credit card, then hid behind the fast-food joint across the street and watched.

Sure enough, it hadn’t taken long before the same men who’d broken into her house appeared. They’d gone inside the hotel and Claire had no doubt they knew what room she’d been given—it would be easy for Ballard to hack a computer system.

Claire had gotten back into her car, once again parked down the road, and left. Her little experiment had proven just what she thought it would. Ballard would trace her any time she used a credit or debit card.

She’d slept in her car at a rest area that night—as much as she could sleep, which wasn’t much at all.

Not knowing who to trust and being down to her last few dollars, she’d gone to her last foster family’s house. The Romeros had cared for Claire through the tail end of high school and still checked in with Claire every once in a while to see how she was doing.

She was running out of money and soon wouldn’t be able to feed herself or Khan. Popping into the Romeros’ and getting a meal—and maybe a bed that wasn’t her car—had seemed like the perfect plan. They’d definitely take her in for a day or two. Give her a chance to rest and figure out a plan.

She’d parked down at the end of the block and had been walking toward their house, rehearsing her story in her head, when she’d realized there was a car at the curb across from the Romeros’ house.

They were being watched.

She’d immediately turned to make it look like she was going to a neighbor’s house, then as soon as she was out of sight of the car, had jumped a fence—leading to more scratches and bruises—and run to her car in a panic.

Her entire body had been shaking. Ballard had figured out where she would go before she had. He had resources she hadn’t even dreamed about.

He was going to hunt her down wherever she went. There was nowhere she could go where he wouldn’t find her. And going to the police without evidence was just going to make it her word against Ballard’s.

He was a millionaire businessman with huge ties to the community. He had friends everywhere and was highly influential.

She was...nobody. No friends. No family.

She’d spent another night in her car, in a random apartment complex parking lot, nearly out of gas and hope. When she’d watched the sun come up, trying to keep from having a complete breakdown, a last-ditch plan had come to her.

Luke.

It had been his voice in her mind telling her to get out of Passage Digital.

She’d never forgotten him. Had wondered what had happened to him.

Then she’d seen him on the news a few weeks back, stoic and handsome. The same Luke, but all grown up. Obviously successful and...

No longer Luke Baldwin, like when she’d known him. He was Luke Patterson now.

Of San Antonio Security.

Protection was definitely what she needed, and she prayed maybe he could help her. Protect her like he had when they were kids.

That was, if he even remembered her.

But she hadn’t had any other options, so she’d looked up San Antonio Security’s office and driven there. She sat in the parking lot across the street for three hours before finally going inside.

He’d remembered her.

He’d helped her.

He’d somehow heated the female parts of her she wasn’t even sure worked correctly. Despite her fear and exhaustion, a few minutes in Luke’s presence had her more wound up than any of the guys she’d had relationships with during college—all two of them.

She turned off the water and towel-dried her body, getting dressed in one of the two sets of clothes she had left to her name. Then she lay down on the bed, rubbing Khan’s gray fur, stretching as she thought of Luke.

No matter how uncharacteristically revved up he’d gotten her, she still hadn’t been able to tell him the truth. What if he didn’t believe her?

Even if he did buy her story, he couldn’t protect her from Ballard. No one could. But he’d bought her a little time.

Khan meowed again and climbed up next to her head on the pillow.

“It’s okay, buddy.” She scratched the magic spot behind his ears.

A loud purr filled the room.

“You like it here?”

After Luke left, she’d taken Khan outside to do his business and seen the sliding glass door in the adjacent room. With that, Khan would be able to go in and out as he pleased.

All it took was telling the guy at the front desk that her room had a musty smell. He’d traded her key, barely looking away from the TV.

After three days trapped in a car, her precious dog-cat was thrilled to have space and freedom.

“We won’t be able to stay long. Sorry. But we’ll find a safe place. Somewhere.” She didn’t know how, but they would.

Claire nestled deeper into the pillows and Khan was finally feeling comfortable. Her eyelids grew heavy, and before she knew it, they couldn’t stay open.

Bang!

Gasping, Claire sat straight up in bed. Khan hissed, his fluffy tail swishing against her face.

Had that been a gunshot?

“Police.” More banging. “Open the door.”

Not a gunshot, the cops knocking on her door. She felt like all the oxygen had been sucked from the planet.

More banging.

But wait... The voice had been too muffled. The police weren’t at her motel room; they were at the one next door.

The first room she’d checked into.

That wasn’t good, either. These “police officers” hadn’t gone to the front desk like real ones would. If they had, they’d have known she switched rooms.

That meant they’d gotten her room info via a computer search—the Vance Ballard way.

Unless Luke had turned her in.

No, she couldn’t think like that. Not if she wanted to keep it together and not get arrested.

“Ma’am, we’re going to need you to open the door.”

Claire threw the blankets off her legs. She needed to get out of there.

Grabbing Khan, she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her small purse with the computer drive. The bit of money she still had was in it, along with her car keys.

Not that she could make it to her car, which sat in the front parking lot.

As quietly as possible, Claire opened the sliding door. Thick woods separated the motel and the interstate. She could hide there.

The loud crack of wood made her cringe. They’d broken the door to the room next door. Muffled male voices barked at each other.

It wouldn’t be long before they figured out that they had the wrong room.

Holding Khan for dear life, Claire bolted for the woods at an angle away from her predators, in case they looked out the window and spotted her.

She ran as fast as she could, not daring to look back. Cursing at how much time she spent at a computer instead of getting exercise, she was gasping for breath before she even hit the tree line.

Were they behind her? She didn’t know. She couldn’t hear anything anymore and it was getting dark. The dark would work in her favor.

She had to keep going, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Khan was so damn heavy in her arms, but she didn’t dare let him down. If he decided to go after some critter, she might not have time to find him again. That was an unacceptable option.

She tucked the squirmy cat up against her and she stepped around a big tree, almost sobbing in relief at the sight of a bridge visible through the woods. If she could get to that, it would take her over the interstate.

She heard sounds behind her. Men talking. They’d figured out she’d come this way. She gulped in a couple of deep breaths, then forced herself to run again.

She’d only gone a few steps before she was stopped mid-stride. Terror engulfed her as an arm wrapped around her waist from behind, lifting her up. A hand pressed hard against her mouth, muffling her scream.

It was just like in her dream earlier, except this nightmare was a reality.

There would be no waking up from this.