Behind the Lies (A Montgomery Justice Novel) (18 page)

She wished she could just fly off this mountain instead of driving down again. At least it would be for the last time.

Her surreptitious glance swept Zach’s cold and calculating expression. So devoid of emotion since they’d left Hidden Springs, so much like Brad; a quiver prickled the base of her spine. She couldn’t get over the change in his demeanor. As if he were another person entirely.

Too much like her husband.

She missed the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Jenna shoved aside the regret, the might-have-beens. She glanced at Sam. Her normally talkative son hadn’t said a word the entire drive.

The vehicle pulled in front of Zach’s cabin. A haven, she’d hoped. Now, just another place to say good-bye to on their road to oblivion.

He turned off the engine and rotated in his seat. “Let’s get you guys packed.” Zach circled the vehicle to the tailgate.

She unbuckled her belt and slid to the ground. The nip of chill stung her cheeks. How could snow lace the air in June? Weird.

She stared at the mound of purchases. Guilt overcame her. It was hundreds of dollars, but could have been millions. “I may never be able to pay you back.”

Overladen with bags, he simply shrugged. “Just keep yourself safe.”

Zach hauled the loot into the house. Jenna opened the back door of the Range Rover.

Her son sat mutinous on the backseat. “What’s going on, Sam?”

He thrust out a stubborn chin—a lot like hers. “I don’t wanna go. I wanna stay here.”

His small legs swung against the seat.

“I know, but Zach has to leave, and we do, too.”

“Make him come with us. Please, Mommy.” He worried his T-shirt, twisting the material until she wouldn’t have been surprised if he wore a hole in it.

She gripped his small hands. “What’s the matter?”

The haunted look in his eyes tore at her heart. “Those bad men came after us. We need the Dark Avenger to keep us safe.”

“I can protect us.” Zach had given her the tools. She had to believe she could use them on her own.

“That man was going to shoot me, Mommy. He knocked you down. We
need
the Dark Avenger.”

Her son’s lack of faith tore at her confidence. How could she argue? “We can’t take him with us, Sam,” she said, finally. “He has other business.” An utterly lame excuse.

“Then I want to go home. Daddy can take care of us. He’s big like the Dark Avenger. And then I can go to the baseball game, too.” Sam crossed his arms in front of him and stuck out his lower lip.

She shouldn’t be surprised. He hadn’t had a lot of sleep, he’d been in a car accident, he’d slept in a strange place. She couldn’t reason with Sam when he was like this.

The burden of her choices sank on her shoulders. She sagged with its weight. “Go inside, Sam. Now.” She used the mom tone on him. It usually worked.

Indecision screwed up her son’s face, deciding how far to push her. Jenna didn’t possess the reserves to deal with him. “I mean it.”

He shoved his foot into the back of the leather seat and hopped out. He ran through the front entrance with a slam.

Zach stood inside the screen door and watched her son vanish down the hallway.

“I take it the conversation didn’t go well?”

The tension in Zach’s body had dissipated. The chill in his eyes had warmed a bit—in sympathy at least. Maybe because he was getting rid of them.

“Temper tantrum. He doesn’t know where to put all the emotions.” She scratched the heel of her palm. “He misses his dad.” Jenna raised her gaze to Zach. “How am I supposed to explain to him that he’s never going to see Brad again? He won’t understand.”

Her words trailed off as she rubbed her still-sore wrist. All she’d wanted to do was protect her son, and by doing so she’d made it impossible for him to comprehend the hard choices she’d had to make. “Am I doing the right thing?”

Zach pulled her hand in his and gentled away the ache with his touch. Jenna’s pulse skipped, then raced.

“The Chameleon is a cold-blooded bastard who kills for money. No one’s been close to identifying him as long as he’s been on my radar. I’ve seen the sheet on him, Jenna. He can’t afford to be caught. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect himself. No matter who gets hurt.”

Zach’s gaze followed Sam’s path.

The certainty in her bones when she’d packed her bags—was it only forty-eight hours ago?—returned. Jenna clasped his forearm. “Thank you for that.”

He studied her hand on his warm skin. The cobalt flecks in the depths of Zach’s eyes flared with something Jenna hadn’t recognized in far too long. Desire.

She swayed toward him, but he closed off his expression and held her shoulders. “I wish we had more time,” he whispered.

She reached up and placed her hand against his face.

“Or maybe I’m relieved we don’t. You could tempt a saint, Jenna Walters.”

“McMann,” she whispered. “Walters belongs to an assassin. My name is McMann as of today.”

“Well, then, Jenna McMann. You go inside and pack. I left a couple of suitcases besides the bags. Raid the kitchen. Take anything you need. I doubt I’ll be returning here anytime soon.” He glanced at his watch. “I want you and Sam down the mountain before dark.”

With a sigh she entered the house behind him. He veered to the stairs and she walked down the hall to the bedrooms. Sam had flopped onto the lower bunk where he’d slept, his head buried.

She touched his back. “Sam.”

He stiffened, attempting to feign sleep. She knew better. She sat on the bed next to him and drew his stiff little body into her arms. “I know this is hard. I know you’re scared.”

“If we can’t stay here, why can’t we go home? Daddy can be nice to you. I’ll ask him.”

She pushed away the hair on his forehead. “Sometimes we can’t—”

“Have what we want.” He turned away from her and huddled in the bed. “Go away.”

She sighed and rubbed his shoulder. “I’ll come get you when we’re ready. Everything will be fine. I promise.”

She left the room and went into the kitchen where the sacks were piled high next to two suitcases, just as Zach had said.

He’d thought of everything.

She unpacked the shopping bags, stunned at the items Zach had filled the cart with when she hadn’t been looking. Clothes,
toiletries, even toys and a portable DVD player for Sam, along with copies of a dozen movies for Sam and several books for her. Jenna’s eyes burned as she organized the items in the suitcases.

How could one man be so thoughtful? This would last her months. Long enough until she found a way to generate an income.

Hiding for the rest of her life wasn’t the future she wanted for Sam, but perhaps she could contact a different FBI office. Maybe—

A shadow crossed her plane of vision. She whirled around, her fist clinched.

“Pretty good reaction time,” Zach said. He clutched a white packet in his hand. He sat it on the table and opened the clasp. Two familiar blue booklets, several cards, and two pieces of paper slid out, along with a rubber-banded stack of documents.

Hand shaking, Jenna shifted through the papers. Her entire being stilled.

Social security cards and birth certificates with new names. Gennita and Zan McMann. She opened the authentic-looking passport. A photo of her stared back. She couldn’t tell when it had been taken. It resembled her driver’s license a bit. Same quality, but something…then she recognized the shirt. The one she wore today.

Her mind tried to wrap itself around the quality of the documents. “How?”

“I tried to keep them close to your real names without being obvious,” he said.

Emotion shut off her air passage. She swallowed past the realization of Zach’s gift. He’d provided them a lifeline to a future.

He tucked the items back into the envelope. “There’s a deed to a house in Georgia, paid for free and clear. A bank account with enough money to see you through a few years, I’d think.” He handed her a second envelope. “This is five thousand dollars, proof of ownership, insurance for the Range Rover, and a New Jersey driver’s license.”

Jenna’s legs shook at the magnitude of what he’d done. She sank into the oak chair before she passed out. She opened the envelope and pulled out the driver’s license. Perfect. Just like everything else he’d done for her. “I…I don’t know what to say.” She stared open-mouthed at him.

“It wasn’t hard. I just changed a few names on the forms.” He nodded toward the suitcases. “Those ready?”

Her mind awhirl, she nodded. He walked over to the bags, and the truth slapped her in the face. Everything she’d seen. The high-tech room, the gadgets, his ability to fight, his secretiveness. She seen enough of his heart to know he wasn’t like Brad. But he did hide his true job. Maybe he was a spy or a secret agent. But he was in danger. That much she knew. And he’d created a new identity to keep himself safe. He’d sacrificed his plans for her and Sam.

“If you give me all this, how will you disappear, Zach? How will you protect yourself?”

He shrugged and crossed to her, dragging his knuckle down her cheek. “I’ll land on my feet, Jenna. I always do. I still have resources I can tap.”

She sucked in a slow breath and leaned into his cheek. “Are you certain?”

“Of course.”

His gaze was steady. She couldn’t tell if he was lying.

He ran his hands up and down her arms. She shivered under his touch. What might have been.

Zach stared down at her with a gaze so intense, her entire being felt the pull toward him.

He shook his head as if to clear the electricity sparking between them. “Well…” His touch lingered for a last moment, then he straightened. “Let’s get you on the road.”

He loaded the suitcases and returned to the kitchen. “What else do you have?”

“That’s it. That’s enough.”

He cursed under his breath, disappeared down a hall, and returned with a box topped with a folded quilt and two pillows. He stalked out of the kitchen and shoved it into the back end of the car. She followed, moved the bedding to one side, and peered into the cardboard container. Food, lights, tools, first aid.

“An emergency kit,” he said.

She’d lose it completely if he kept doing this. She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

He paused and took out a piece of paper with a phone number written down. “I can’t give you a number to reach me, but if you get in real trouble…this is my brother’s number. Seth. He has connections—”

“No! I can’t risk involving your family.”

“Call from a pay phone or a prepaid cell. He can help.”

She nodded, knowing full well she’d never use it. Zach had done enough. He’d given her a new start. Now she had to learn to stand on her own two feet. She’d have to listen to the stories she told Sam. She’d have to be her own hero. Not rely on anyone else. It was the only way to protect them both.

Zach folded the note into her hand. “I can see in your eyes you want to throw it away. Don’t. Keep it. You never know when you might need help. For you. Or for Sam.”

Reluctantly, she shoved the paper into her pocket.

With finality, Zach slammed closed the back of the vehicle. He stood, staring at her, silent, watchful. Then his control slipped just a tad. Sadness laced his expression.

She wiped her hands on her jeans. “I guess this is it.”

“I guess so.” Zach looked down at her and smiled. “You’ll be fine, Jenna. Don’t forget, eyes—”

“Throat, groin.” She shoved her hands in her pockets, then leaned up and pecked him on the cheek. “Thank you, Dark Avenger,” she whispered. “You really are a hero.”

She turned to the house, tears burning behind her eyes. Why couldn’t she have met Zach some other time, some other place?

She glanced back, and his intense gaze followed her. Her steps faltered.

Slowly she faced him. She couldn’t stop herself. She ran back to him and into his arms, hugging him tightly. “I wish…”

“Things were different,” he finished.

She gazed into his eyes and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I know I shouldn’t,” she said softly. “But I’ll always wonder…”

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. He groaned, his mouth still against hers. Finally, with a harsh curse, he took her lips.

His arms enfolded her and she felt safe. She wanted to burrow herself inside of him and just be warm and cared for and, dare she think it, loved. Zach pressed her mouth open and tasted her. A hint of coffee tingled on her tongue. Her belly flipped, her
legs turned to noodles. She moaned under the welcome assault. He tasted of peppermint and something more, something that lit a fire deep inside her heart.

She pressed closer. She wanted more. And she could never have it.

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, lifted his lips, and gently set her away from him.

“You pack one hell of a wallop, Gennita McMann.”

The blue depths of Zach’s eyes turned deep cobalt. Her breathing came fast. Her chest rose and fell. She wanted more.

“Now I know how it feels,” she said softly.

“Now we both know,” Zach agreed, his gaze hooded.

“Maybe that’s not such a good thing.” An unarguable melancholy settled over her. Maybe it was better if she didn’t know what he tasted like, that they fit together, that he had the willpower to stop them from doing something they’d both regret.

“You have to go,” he said, looking at the sky where the sun had dropped lower, just over the mountain range to the west.

She touched his lips then disappeared inside the house. He was right. Jenna walked down the hall to Sam’s room. She knocked softly and opened the door. “Time to go, baby.”

The bunk bed was empty. She tried the bathroom door. “Sam!”

Nothing.

“Sam. No more games. It’s time to leave.”

Zach opened the screen door.

“Sam’s not answering,” she said, frustration warring with an underlying fear.
Where was he?

“I’ll try the basement. He liked my communication center.”

Zach bounded down the stairs, returning in less than a minute, his forehead creased in a worried frown. “He’s not there.”

They searched from room to room.

Nothing.