Chasing a Dream (17 page)

Justin bucked harder as he came, and she grabbed for a hand-hold to steady herself on top of him. The car horn blasted when she clutched the steering wheel, and she gasped, startled.

Justin shuddered and went limp then grinned at her.

“I’ve heard of women screaming during orgasm, but horn honking . . . that’s a new one for me.” He sat up enough to kiss her soundly then added, “I kinda like your enthusiasm. How about seconds?”

“You’re insatiable,” she whispered, her throat tight with emotion.

Justin captured her face between his hands and met her eyes with a penetrating blue gaze. “I could easily fall in love with you, Tess.”

Her heart lurched. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not, for God’s sake? It’s the truth. You’re an incredible woman.”

“I’m a marked woman. I’m a noose around the neck of anyone who is close to me.” She didn’t bother to mention the other thoughts that filtered through her mind—that Justin deserved better than the woman Randall had created, that even if she didn’t have a killer after her, her history made her a poor choice for a girlfriend, much less a wife. She was tainted by Randall’s evil, and she could never let her baggage weigh Justin down. He had a bright future. She had only the determination to survive, despite her past.

She tried to move off him, battling the tears that welled in her eyes and burned her throat, but he held her arms and pulled her back.

“Look at me, Tess.” She refused with a shake of her head, and he caught her chin. “I can call my brother. Remember, I told you he was a lawyer? He can help us get a restraining order against Randall. You can be free of him and his threat.”

Sweet, optimistic Justin, she thought sadly and shook her head again. Her tears streamed down her cheeks, and she swiped at them. “A restraining order isn’t going to stop Randall. He’d send one of his henchmen to do his dirty work. Don’t you understand? I can run from him, but I’ll never really be free of him.”

“We’ll find a way, Tess. Trust me to take care of you. Trust me to get you out of this somehow. I promised to protect you and can’t give up until I know you are safe. Not just for you, but for Rebecca too. It’s something I have to do.”

Tess crumpled against Justin’s wide, warm chest and wept for all that she would lose when she left him.

“If we have to, we’ll go back to San Antonio and face Randall. We’ll hire a lawyer, go to the police, and have the law on our side. We can’t let him get away with this. We won’t give him any choice in the matter. We’ll tell the cops everything we know. We can do this, Tess. Don’t give up on me.”

His pep talk only cut her deeper. His idealism was one of the things she loved most about him, and she wouldn’t taint his optimism with denials. Soon enough, he’d understand their futures were on separate roads.

He held her for precious minutes, until the sound of another car’s motor brought their attention back to the country road.

Tess peeked out the window and gasped. “Oh no! It’s a cop!”

Clambering off Justin’s lap, she snatched for her shorts while Justin struggled to zip his jeans. She pulled Justin’s T-shirt over her head, finding it before she found her own, and tugged her bra into place as the policeman tapped on the driver’s window.

“You folks all right? Is there a problem with the car?” The officer cast a curious glance at Tess. Her heart thundered in her chest.

“No, sir,” Justin said. “No problem. Just taking a short break from driving.”

“Well, you can’t park here. You need to move the car.”

Justin bobbed his head. “Yes, sir. Thanks.”

As Justin rolled the window up, Tess watched the officer walk away. “Do you think he knew we were—”

“Oh, hell, yeah. Look at us! Half dressed, hair rumpled. He knew.” Justin raked his fingers through his hair as he chuckled. “He knew.”

Her cheeks heated. “How embarrassing.”

Brushing her cheek with the back of his hand, he cranked the engine. “Can I have my shirt back?”

With a glance to make sure the policeman wasn’t watching, she gave him his shirt. “Ready for me to drive?”

“Sure.” He climbed out and circled the vehicle while she struggled over the gearshift to slide behind the wheel. She headed out to the highway, knowing all too well that in a few hundred miles she would have to leave the man she couldn’t let herself love.

***

“I’m ready for another pit stop to stretch my legs,” Tess told Justin, who’d been scribbling in a small notebook for the last two hours or so. “I’m gonna take the next exit.”

“Hm? Oh, okay.” He flipped the notebook closed and twisted around to stick it in his backpack.

“What were you doing?” she asked.

“Working on a song. For you.”

He smiled, and her insides melted. She stopped at a small gas station at the edge of a town south of Memphis. Except for a rusted-out Dodge Dart, parked near the door to the building, theirs was the only vehicle in sight.

“Are they open?” She craned her neck to look for people inside.

“I think so. I’ll pump.” Justin hopped out and circled the Jimmy to fill the tank while Tess fished on the floor for her purse.

She climbed out and stretched her back. “I’ll go pay. Want anything to drink?”

“A Coke sounds good. Thanks.” As she started across the pavement, Justin called to her, “And some M&M’s.”

She waved to say she’d heard him and smiled to herself over Justin’s penchant for sweets. Inside the gas station, she stopped at the glass doors of the refrigerated display and took out two cans of Coke. As she wandered back up the candy aisle to get Justin’s M&M’s, she passed a man wearing ripped, oil-stained jeans and dark sunglasses. At the checkout, she deposited her purchases on the counter.

A moment later, the man in dirty jeans brought his selections up front to pay. A second man, with a scruffy beard and a black, sleeveless denim jacket, joined the first man. Tess shivered when the bearded man gave her a leer.

“Will that be all?” the woman at the checkout asked.

“Yes,” Tess answered quickly, eager to get away from the bearded man’s gaze. “Uh, I mean, no. I’m paying for the gas too. For the Jimmy.” She pointed out at the car with a nervous flick of her hand and saw the bearded man move up close behind her. His hand bumped her buttocks and lingered there. Recoiling from his touch with a jerk, Tess tipped over her purse, spilling her bundled stacks of cash on the counter.

“Oh, my God!” the checkout woman cried. “Is that money real? That must be thousands! What’d you do? Rob a bank?”

Tess glanced over her shoulder at the men as she scooped the money back into her purse as fast as she could, her heart hammering. “No. Nothing like that.”

Her money had the bearded man’s attention, along with his buddy’s. Pulling out a bill at random, she thrust it at the clerk. “Keep the change.”

With that, she ran out of the shop and hurried back to the truck, where Justin waited for her in the passenger seat. She opened his door and dropped the Cokes and candy in his lap before tossing her purse on the floor as if it were something vile.

Justin caught her hand. “Are you all right, Tess? You’re white as a sheet.”

“I will be. Some creepy guy in there was ogling me, and then I spilled my purse, and—”

“Have you seen the guy before?” he interrupted, his expression alarmed. “Did he say anything to you?”

“No. But he saw my money. They all did.”

Justin wrinkled his brow. “So?”

She sighed. “Look in my purse.”

He did, and his face blanched. “Holy shit, Tess! How much is this? Where did you get it?”

“It’s my money. Mine and Randall’s from our bank account. I didn’t want to use a credit card that he could trace.”

“You’ve been carrying all this money around the whole time?” “Yes.” “Dear God, Tess.” Expelling a long, slow breath through pursed lips, Justin rubbed his temple.

He stared at her, his face unreadable, and Tess fretted over his reaction. What difference did it make? The money was rightfully hers. “I still have to use the restroom,” she said. “Will you watch things at the car till I get back?” Justin gave her a short, not altogether humored laugh. “Damn straight I will.” He turned to push the purse under the backseat. She spun away and hurried to the restroom at the side of the building. She puzzled over Justin’s reaction while she used the bathroom and washed her hands. Was he mad at her or just shocked at the sum she was carrying?

She squared her shoulders then studied her reflection in the cracked mirror over the sink. She looked like hell. Combing her hair back from her face with her fingers did little to help. But what did it really matter? With a sigh, she pulled open the bathroom door and started back toward the truck.

Halfway across the parking lot, she stopped short. Her chest tightened, and she swung around, scanning the parking lot once. Twice. “No,” she whispered. “No!” Justin and the Jimmy were gone.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Justin struggled to draw a breath. A beefy arm clamped his neck, cutting off his airflow. The goon who’d jumped into the truck behind him aimed a blade at Justin’s jugular vein. As if to demonstrate his readiness to use the knife, the goon pricked Justin’s neck with the sharp tip. The warm trickle on his skin told Justin the knife had drawn blood.

“Just do what we say, and you’ll live to see tomorrow,” his captor growled.

Without moving his head, Justin cut his gaze to the bearded man who’d slid into the driver’s seat and cranked the car before Justin could finish rasping, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Before Justin could assimilate what was happening, the bearded man had sent the Jimmy screeching out of the parking lot.

Breathing became Justin’s first priority. He tried to turn his head slowly to the side to lessen the pressure of the ape’s arm on his windpipe. He filled his burning lungs and focused on his second priority, figuring out how to escape.

Cautiously, he eyed the keys that jangled from the ignition. Why had Tess left the keys?

Simple. Because he was staying with the car. Why not leave them?
Sonofabitch! He’d screwed up again.

The man driving looked over at him with a leering grin. “That hot little brunette your wife?”

Justin glared back.

“Too bad we couldn’ta waited on her. I wouldn’ta minded having a piece of her.” The bearded man smirked and licked his lips. Justin would have traded his soul for one good shot at the bastard.

The bearded driver chortled as he cast sidelong glances at Justin. Finally, the driver took his gaze off the road a second too long. A truck pulled out in front of the Jimmy. As the bearded man swerved hard to avoid a collision, he let a string of obscenities fly. The Jimmy careened left then hard to the right, and the goon in the backseat lost his balance. The arm around Justin’s neck fell away, and Justin grabbed for the keys.

“Not a chance, asshole!” The driver knocked Justin’s hand away as his partner lunged over the front seat and grabbed Justin by the shirt.

Justin had never been much of a fighter. He’d gotten by on wits and his low-key attitude. But he let it fly with both barrels now. He sent an elbow crashing hard into the driver’s ribs. When the backseat goon grabbed a fistful of his hair, Justin dove toward the backseat. He swung his fist at the ape’s face. He landed one good shot before the man’s knife struck Justin’s gut with a force that knocked the wind from his lungs.

“Pull over!” the man with the knife shouted. “Time to dump some dead weight.”

His assailant opened the passenger-side door and shoved Justin out of the car before it even stopped. Excruciating pain ripped through Justin’s stomach and chest as he hit the pavement and rolled into the tall grass at the side of the desolate road. He clutched the bleeding wound and raised his head in time to see the Jimmy race down the country road and out of sight.

Stranded and bleeding, he thought of Tess. Thanks to his screwup, she was alone. If he’d been paying more attention . . .

Guilt and self-censure riddled him with a pain greater than the gash in his side.

Tess was vulnerable. Penniless. A sitting duck for Randall’s henchmen.

He had to find a way to get back to her.

***

Tess’s knees buckled, and she slumped to the pavement.

Justin had abandoned her.

He’d stolen her car, her money, all her possessions and left her stranded in the middle of nowhere. He’d seen her stash of cash, and greed had gotten the best of him.

Unless he’d been conning her all along.

She’d heard of con men who preyed on women by seducing them then stealing their money. Why hadn’t she seen through Justin’s act? Of course, she hadn’t seen through Randall until it was too late. Why should she think she’d be any smarter with Justin?

Bitter pain assailed her heart, but she choked down her grief and assessed her situation. She couldn’t panic, couldn’t afford to wallow in self-pity. She had to think.

Justin had all her money, her only transportation, all of her clothes. Damn him! She had to figure out how to get enough money to survive until—when? She’d have to get some kind of job.

She rubbed her temple. Suddenly she had a ferocious headache. Whom could she call? Who wouldn’t betray her to Randall? Only one person came to mind. The secretary in the marketing department where she’d worked for Randall was the closet thing she had to a friend. Randall had seen to it that her social relationships never developed. Although she didn’t know Nancy Hindridge well, the woman might be her only hope.

Tess knew her office phone number from memory but didn’t have money to place the call. Did a collect call cost anything? Tess didn’t know. She’d never had a reason to know. But she was about to find out.

***

Justin tried to stand, but moving caused blood to gush from his wound faster. He grew increasingly light-headed. If he didn’t get help soon, he could die, and then what would happen to Tess? The rumble of a car engine filtered through the buzzing in his ears, and he struggled to his knees to flag down the passing vehicle. A man in a sport coat jumped from his car and hurried over. “What happened to you, man? You’re bleeding.” “My truck was stolen,” Justin gasped. The effort it took to speak surprised him. “I’ve been stabbed. Tess—” “Hang on, man. I’ll call 9-1-1. Lie down!”