Chapter 11

After another fantastic breakfast and lunch, where Jace and I somehow manage to chat about everything and at the same time nothing at all, I notice that I"m becoming incredibly comfortable with him. Yet every time he casually touches me, I feel electrified. Is this the beginning of twinges of love? I have no way of knowing, no frame of reference. But it feels like maybe it is.

We walk along one of his private trails deep in the forest, holding our coffee flasks. Even the silence is companionable with Jace. He"s clearly not a naturally chatty person. Sometimes I feel like he"s forcing himself to speak more, in order to make things comfortable for me. I appreciate the effort, but I don"t want him to change himself on my account.

We reach a breathtaking, picturesque lookout point that showcases the entire valley. Clouds are gathering, and the mountaintops are far closer than I expected. Jace stops, pulls out his phone, and turns it on.

He thumbs through his texts, nodding. "The bridge is open again. Do you want to drive down and get your car? I can search it for tracking devices. You can leave your phone off and follow me up the mountain. Then we"ll hide your car in my garage."

I love that he takes my paranoia so seriously. "Perfect. Thanks."

"It sounds like you left your car near Spring Grove. If that"s the case, we have no choice. We have to pop into the bakery for pie."

I laugh at the way he waggles his eyebrows. "Sure."

"First we"ll go into Old Hemlock Valley to fuel up the truck and get road snacks for us." He pauses, watching my eyes carefully. "What about my earlier idea of bringing my laptop and you using the library Wi-Fi to email your friends and let them know you"re okay?"

I instinctively grab his hand and squeeze it. "Thank you. That"s a great suggestion. Amber and Kate will be worried since I skipped our weekly video chat."

He wraps an arm around me, holding me close. "Good. Let"s just breathe in the mountain air for a moment, then we can get going."

After staring out at the lush rolling hills in silence for a few more minutes, we both nod decisively at the same time, then walk back to the house.

On the drive into town, we take the bridge that had been washed out. Just a few days ago it would have been impossible for me to imagine living so far from a city. Just the thought of it would have scared me to pieces. But Jace seems prepared for any emergency. He"s a true mountain man, strong and capable. Such a force of nature himself that he"s totally at one with nature.

As we drive through Old Hemlock Valley, I grab a worn gray baseball cap from the seat between us, jamming it low over my eyes as I scrunch down in my seat. Jace grins, squeezing my knee. "Do whatever you need to do to feel comfortable, baby. Even though there aren"t a lot of cameras around here."

"Yeah, but didn"t you say that there"s a small hotel?"

He glances at me sharply, then frowns. "You"re right. Stay down. Although, really, would this guy come up the mountain and start searching door to door for you?"

I shrug noncommittally, looking out at the beautiful, quaint streets of the town, just like an old-fashioned, timeless village. I find myself idly wondering what it would look like all lit up and blanketed in snow at Christmas-time. And I notice that over half of the people we pass, whether on the sidewalk or in other vehicles, give Jace a nod and wave as we go by. "Everyone really does know you here."

"Yup. One of those nice Wolfe boys."

There"s something in his tone that makes me think he"s almost embarrassed that his family is so well-known. Strange. I"ll have to ask him about that someday.

Jace parks around the back of the lovely stone library, then hurries me in via the side door. The librarian gives him a bright smile, and nods when he gestures inquisitively at the corner. He sets up his laptop in a small side conference room for about six people.

"Once in a while, my internet gets knocked out during storms, and it takes a while to fix it," he explains. "Mrs. Honeywell lets me work here whenever I need to. Plus, the printer is a lot better than mine."

He launches a browser with a VPN running that makes it look like we"re somewhere in Canada. I log into my email and send a quick message to a few select friends without telling them where I am, simply making a vague reference to having "gone out west for a while". I hate lying to them, but I have to be cautious.

Once that"s done, I take a deep breath and skim the subject lines of the emails Brad has sent me over the past week.

"What is it?" Jace asks, obviously seeing my pained expression.

"I don"t know whether I should read Brad"s emails or not." My voice sounds weak, and I hate that this stupid ex-business partner is making me feel positively sick to my stomach, even from a safe distance.

"Don"t," Jace says quickly. "It"s just going to make you feel like shit. If you want, I can skim through them and give you the highlights. Does that work?"

"Could you?" I spin the laptop toward him, angling the screen so I don"t have to look.

"Of course." His warm, firm palm cups my cheek. "And, for the record, it means a lot to me that you would just hand me your email like this," he says gently. "I love that you trust me this much, Kara."

I grin. "It"s the least I can do for you, letting me be queen of your entire kitchen."

He leans over to kiss my forehead, then angles the laptop even further away. I watch nervously as his eyes track back and forth. Jace is doing an admirable job of keeping his expression relatively neutral but there"s a subtle tightening in his jaw and wrists, and a stiffness comes into his shoulders. Whatever he"s reading is clearly filling him with barely contained rage.

"What an arrogant, ignorant piece of shit," he finally mutters through clenched teeth. "This little worm took your entire app — something that was supposed to promote artists and help the average person discover fine art that they liked — and turned it into a money laundering device for the mafia." Jace looks at me with an eyebrow cocked. "At least, that"s what he"s claiming. He"s yammering on about his friends and a couple of cousins who are apparently well-connected, blah blah fucking blah. I wouldn"t be surprised if he"s just exaggerating for the sake of dramatic effect."

"Yeah, sounds about right." I hesitate. "So he"s screaming that he"s going to hunt me down?"

Jace nods, glowering. "Yup. He sounds like a snot-nosed little prick who"s been spoiled rotten his entire life." Jace is seething. "I can"t stand that he made you so many promises, baby. That he lied to you."

"It was partly my fault. I was an idiot for trusting someone I didn"t know very well," I say. "I should have checked out his credentials."

Jace shakes his head. "Nah. Credentials can be faked. You don"t really know someone until you look them in the eye, shake their hand, and have a coffee with them. It"s not your fault, Kara." He snaps the laptop shut and grasps my hands. "None of this is."

I can feel my bottom lip trembling. I have no idea how scared I should be, and ironically that makes it even more terrifying. My hands are trembling, my knees are shaking. It even feels like this little meeting room is closing in on me. "Did it sound like he"s coming after me?"

His gorgeous lips press into a firm line. "That"s what he"s threatening, yes. But he clearly doesn"t have any idea where to start. I wouldn"t be surprised if he asks your friends and any other connections he can find online."

"That"s why I just told my friends that I headed west." I wink.

His eyes light up. "I love that my girl is a smart cookie."

His girl. My heart actually flutters.

"Hey." Jace kisses my forehead softly, then takes my hand as we leave the room. "Are you ready to go down to Spring Grove? I have to stop and ask Mrs. Honeywell if my books are in, then we can grab a coffee next door and get going."

"Sure. Can I use the bathroom here first?"

He points to the back corner of the building. "I"ll meet you at the front in a minute."

After I"m done, I meander slowly through the library, relishing the calmness that always floods me when surrounded by endless books. By the time I get to the front door, I see that a beam of sunlight is illuminating the whole front entrance. Amazing.

I step outside, staying in the entryway, enjoying the warmth on my face on what up till now has been such a cloudy day. An old man gives me a friendly nod from his spot on the bench a few feet away. Across the street, a woman laughs with her toddler as he pushes his own stroller for half a block.

There aren"t a lot of vehicles parked around town in the middle of the day, but I do note three slightly dirty pickup trucks that are obviously owned by farmers, and a midsize blue SUV with car seats in the back.

There"s a glint of silver down the street, then the sun disappears behind a cloud. Leaning forward, I peer around the corner and see the rest of the Mercedes.

Then I see an all too familiar figure coming out of the hardware store across the street.

Brad.

I jump back into the doorway. My heart leaps into my throat as white hot panic floods my system.

He"s going to see me if I stay here. But if I go back into the library, I"ll be trapped.

What can I do?

Run.

Brad is ridiculously fussy and hates getting dirty. He"d be reluctant to follow me into the woods.

Still as a statue, barely breathing, I wait until he turns in the opposite direction. Then I dart down the street, running past two buildings until I find an alley to duck into.

Racing blindly toward a forested area two blocks away, all I can do is hope I know the way back to Jace"s house.

And that Brad hasn"t seen me. Won"t catch me. Won"t ever scream at me like that again.

Or do…whatever he plans to do to get those passwords.