Darwin's Natural Selection (29 page)
“Yeah,” he said, looking at Darwin as they backed out and carefully drove through the lot, merging into the line of cars driven by other shoppers. It was a relief to blend in with the other vehicles. He’d never felt so exposed before. “I hijacked a family.”
“I saw that, mad genius,” Darwin said, switching lanes so he could turn right onto the main road. “Quick thinking.”
Tom gave a semi-hysterical laugh. His legs were shaking against the seat. “That’s what Angela said.”
“Who?”
“My temporary beard. She was talking about me grabbing her wayward kid though.”
“Saw that too—very nice.” Although Darwin’s tone was light, he was still pale and his face was held in tight, severe lines.
“She asked me to have coffee with her,”
Tom said with a laugh. It was as though he and Angela were in separate universes, where she was hoping for a date and Tom was hoping to not get killed.
“Bitch,” Darwin said. “Find your own man.”
Tom laughed.
“Must’ve been the mustache. It makes me irresistible.” As they got farther and farther from the store with no black SUV behind them, relief was oozing through his stomach, making him almost giddy. Darwin must have felt the same, since color had started returning to his cheeks.
“What’d you tell her?” Darwin asked.
“What d’you think?” Tom scoffed. “Sure, how about tomorrow? Oh wait, I’ll be in another state since I’m on the run from evil government thugs.”
Darwin just waited.
“Told her I couldn’t because my boyfriend was waiting,” Tom finally admitted.
“Damn straight.”
Tom grinned but it faded quickly. His euphoria from the adrenaline rush was wearing off and reality was intruding.
“How’d they figure out where we were?”
“No idea.” Darwin gave a short shake of his head. “I went over this whole damn truck twice—yesterday and again this morning. We’ve been in it since we left the courthouse. There’s no way they could’ve been near it…”
Tom looked at Darwin. “Except for the clinging monkey agent.”
“There’s no way…” Darwin started but then trailed off. His mouth set, he swung into the parking lot of a gas station and pulled around behind the building. Without saying anything, both of them got out and went around to the rear of the truck.
It only took Darwin fifteen seconds to find the tracking device in the corner of the truck bed.
“Motherfucker.”
Tom looked at the small black rectangle Darwin was examining. “Looks a little worse for wear.”
With a nod, Darwin squeezed it in his fist. “Bastard probably tossed it in before he went flying. It could’ve been damaged when he threw it or as it bounced around back there. That might’ve been why it took them so long to actually catch up to us.” He opened his hand to show the crumbled remains of the tracker.
“Wow.” Tom stared for a second. “You’re really
strong.”
“Yeah.” Darwin didn’t sound too excited about that. “Let’s get back on the road.
Would you mind driving for a while?”
Tom’s head swiveled around so he could stare at the other man. “What? You’re going to let me drive your precious truck?”
“I should call the guys and check in. The lab goons know our general area now. We can take the back roads west into Minnesota and then go farther north than we’d planned, right up close to the Canadian border. It’ll take longer but it’ll be safer.”
“Sure, I’ll drive,” Tom said, grinning as he wasted no time climbing into the driver’s seat. “I’ve been dying to drive this truck since I first saw it.”
Darwin hopped in on the other side. “As well you should.”
“Nice,” Tom said, one hand stroking across the steering wheel as the other reached for the seat belt. Darwin watched him with a thoughtful expression, flipping one of the new cell phones over and over in his hand.
“What?” Tom asked.
“Don’t think I’ve actually told you this yet, but I
do
love you, you know.”
Tom felt heat flush his face and he concentrated harder than necessary as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Yeah, I know.
You let me drive your truck.”
Darwin laughed. “Must be true love then.”
“Must be.” Tom smiled.
At the next intersection, he turned the truck west. The sun was setting, the snow-heavy gray clouds sitting on a bright line of pink sky at the horizon.
Tom laughed.
“What’s funny?” Darwin asked, lips curling in anticipation of being in on the joke.
“We’re actually driving off into the sunset.”
Darwin joined in the laughter, reaching for Tom’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “And in an old pickup, to boot.”
Tom squeezed his hand and then disentangled his so he could shift gears.
“Wonder how this old western is going to end. A shoot-out?”
“I prefer to think we’ll live happily ever after,” Darwin said.
“Think that’s fairytales,” Tom corrected.
“Old westerns don’t usually have a happily-ever-after.”
“Guess we’ll just have to change that.”
Tom looked at the other man and smiled.
“Guess so.”
About Katie Allen
Katie Allen grew up in the Midwest with a horde of sisters (five) and one beleaguered brother. After an enjoyable four years working on her creative writing/art degree, and two not-so-pleasant years struggling toward her MBA, Katie somehow ended up as a mechanical engineer in Denver, Colorado. When her job disappeared during the recession, it was the kick in the rear she needed to head back to Minnesota and jump into writing full-time.
When she’s not writing (many books are necessary to pay for her unfortunate equine addiction), Katie rides horses, reads (of course), does gymnastics and looks for new (and occasionally insane) ways to research her books (cop school, anyone?).
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Breaking the Silence
Chasing Her Tail
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Darwin’s Natural Selection
ISBN 9781419928888
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Darwin’s Natural Selection Copyright © 2012 Katie Allen
Edited by Kelli Collins
Cover design by Dar Albert Photos: andreuice88 & wtamas/foltolia.com
Electronic book publication October 2012
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