Hunted (5 page)

Emma stood in a dark forest, a bonfire roaring in front of her. The cool, damp air clung to her back, contrasting with the heat of the blaze that warmed the front of her. Her breath came in shallow pants, her chest rising and falling while her heart beat savagely against her ribs. An undercurrent of electricity flowed along the surface of her skin, causing a tingle that rippled across her body. She wasn’t frightened. She was more alive than she had ever been and she felt power, unimaginable power. Her excitement mingled with the electrical current, causing an unexpected pleasurable sensation to spread through her. She gasped in surprise and delight.

The fire called to her. Every part of her shivered with anticipation. Emma felt a presence approach from behind. It lifted the hair off the side of her neck. A soft breeze blew and the leaves of the trees rustled, whispering in the night. Stray hairs tickled her face, leaving tiny electrical jolts in their wake. Warm, soft lips moved to her neck, kissing lightly and moving up to her ear. Warm breath fanned her damp skin and a slow burn began to ignite in her gut. Emma tilted her head, looking up into the leaves of the trees above her before closing her eyes.

“You are not bound to destiny.” A warm, husky voice filled her ear as the mouth that spoke the words kissed her neck below her earlobe. Waves of pleasure washed through her. Every part of her yearned for more.

She didn’t know who made her feel this way. She only knew it wasn’t Will.

***

The next morning Will drove as Emma watched the endless sand and scrub brush. The barren land looked like her future, bleak and hopeless. The memory of her dream rushed back and she tried to stuff it back in the recesses of her mind where it belonged. It was a dream, just a dream.

Will shifted his hand on the steering wheel. “Emma, I need to know more about your mother.”

She tensed out of reflex. Thinking of her mother only added to her anxiety. “And?”

“Where did she work?”

“I’m sure she works at the same place she worked at the last twenty-five years. In housekeeping, at the hospital. My mother may have a revolving door for men, but she’s a creature of habit with her job.”

“So she couldn’t have gotten remarried?”

Emma laughed with a snort. “No, not that she was ever married to begin with. She always said she was too much woman for just one man.”

“Someone might be watching her house. It might be safer to visit her at work. What shift did she used to work?”

“Days. No weekends. Mom likes to keep her weekends free.” Emma’s eyes remained fixed on the passing landscape, squashing the familiar feelings of helplessness that crept in whenever she was around her mother. “What are you going to ask her?”

“About your childhood. About your father.”

“What if she won’t answer you?”

“There’s always ways to make people tell you want you want to know.”

She turned her head toward him with a blank stare. “Because that’s what you used to do in the military. Find people and get information out of them.” It wasn’t a question, more of a statement. He told her this almost word for word what seemed like a lifetime ago. The day she was shot.

He glanced at her with guarded eyes before answering. “One of the many things I used to do. You don’t need to worry about your mother. I won’t hurt her. Most people don’t need much coercion. You just need to find out what motivates them.”

She turned back to the landscape. “Men and beer.”

“What?”

“That’s what motivates my mother, in that order.”

Will shifted in his seat. “Then maybe we’re going about this wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“If she likes men and beer, does she hang out in bars a lot?”

“Yes. She said she worked hard all week. She deserved some fun on the weekends. Once I was old enough to stay home alone, she’d go out every Friday and Saturday night.”

“What was her pattern? Did she go home after work and go out later?”

Emma nodded.

“Okay, then that’s our plan.”

Common sense told her that seeing her mother was the best course of action, yet she couldn’t shake the dread.

The little control she had left seemed to be slipping away. She wasn’t in control of anything. She couldn’t even get her son back on her own. The fact she didn’t know anything about Will, the man whom she’d pinned all hope of finding her son on, only made her feel worse. “What did you really do before I met you?” Her words were bitter.

Will turned to her with wary eyes. “What difference does it make?”

“Because I’m trusting you with my life and I know nothing about you. Answer the question. You were a bounty hunter?”

He took a deep breath then released it. “Not exactly.”

She waited and when he said nothing more, she pressed on. “Then what
exactly
did you do?”

“This and that. I used my military background for different jobs. Sometimes I escorted people to places. Sometimes they weren’t so willing to go.”

“Like me?”

He looked back at her and flashed the cocky smile he used when she first met him. “I don’t remember you being unwilling.”

She wasn’t about to let him off that easy. “Only because of Jake. I never would have agreed to go with you if Jake hadn’t insisted that I needed you.”

The mention of Jake sobered them both. They were traveling the opposite direction of the last place he’d last been seen with no real clues to follow. Emma felt as though they were pedaling backwards.

Chapter Five

The next evening Will and Emma pulled down a narrow road lined with older homes.

“That one, the brown one on the left.” Emma pointed to a bungalow several houses down. The yard needed mowing and landscape was overgrown. Paint flaked off the weathered siding. An old Buick was parked in the driveway.

A woman with bleached-blonde hair emerged from the front door. She wore a pair of too-tight jeans and an equally tight red knit shirt. Hitching her purse on her shoulder, she slid into the front seat of the Buick.

“Speak of the devil.” Emma muttered under her breath. Just the sight of her brought all the feelings of insecurity and inferiority rushing back.

“That’s her?”

Emma bit her lip. “Yeah, that’s her.”

The car backed out of the driveway and headed the opposite direction they were parked. They followed the Buick a couple of miles before it turned into crowded parking lot. Will drove past, around the block and pulled into a space in the back.

Will turned to Emma. “You hang back and let me talk to her first.”

“I know. We’ve been over it already.”

“And no flirting with dirty old men like the last time we were in a bar,” he said, bringing up the night they met.

Emma snorted. “Yeah, I think you’re safe as long as you don’t go flirting with waitresses with their cleavage hanging out.”

“Deal.” He leaned over and kissed her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, let’s get this over with.”

They walked to the entrance side by side. Will stopped on the sidewalk outside the door.

“If you aren’t inside within two minutes I’m coming out to get you.”

“Got it.”

He paused outside the entrance, hesitating. She knew he hated leaving her out here, but they couldn’t risk Emma’s mother seeing her yet. He leaned down and kissed her, his mouth hard and insistent. She paused before she kissed him back, matching his ardor. When he reluctantly pulled back, she searched his face, breathless.

“What was that?”

“I just wanted you to remember who you were leaving with tonight.” He let go of her and winked before walking through the entrance.

She took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart.

“Hey baby, you waitin’ for someone?”

A thin greasy-haired man sauntered toward her from the parking lot. He looked like a frequent patron, thin and pasty from too much alcohol and cigarettes and not enough food and sunlight.

Emma raised her eyebrows. “Not you,” she answered, her voice hard.

“Then what are you doing out here all alone?” He moved next to her and leaned close, smelling her hair.

She narrowed her eyes in disgust and took a step away from him. “I don’t think you heard me.
Not interested.
” She turned her back to him and started for the door.

His hand grabbed her shoulder in a firm grip. Emma stiffened.

“I think the lady said she wasn’t interested,” a deep male voice growled behind her.

Emma turned to see a dark haired man shove the drunk against the wall. The new man wasn’t nearly as large as Will, but to Emma’s surprise, he shoved the drunk with little effort.

“I think you owe the lady an apology,” he snarled.

“That’s okay, I don’t need one…” Emma said, backing up slowly to the door.

The slimy guy watched her, his bulging eyes pleading for help.

“Well, I think you do,” the dark-haired man said in a calm voice dripping with indifference. His lack of emotion scared her. He slammed the man again. The drunk’s head bounced off the brick wall with a dull thud.

“I’m..m..m sorry,” he stammered.

The dark-haired man released him, literally tossing him to the side. “Get the hell out of here.”

He slunk off into the parking lot, limping past the parked cars and disappearing into an alley.

“Are you all right?” The dark-haired man’s voice was low and his eyes softened as he looked her over.

Emma’s heart pounded, not sure what had just happened, but sure hanging around with this guy was a bad idea.“Yeah...”

“You’re sure?”

Something about him seemed familiar, yet she couldn’t place him.

“Are you coming or going?” His eyes were dark and piercing, as dark as his black hair.

Where did she know him from? It was there, bobbing below the surface. “I’m sorry, what?”

He laughed. “Maybe you’re not all right after all. I asked if you were leaving or going inside.”

She shrugged off a fuzziness that had bled into her brain. “Just because you think you rescued me doesn’t mean I owe you anything.” She started for the door.

He fell in step beside her. “Since you’re going in, I’ll escort you and make sure you aren’t accosted again.”

Emma could only imagine Will’s reaction to her walking in with another man, especially this man. Even in the dark parking lot, she could tell he was gorgeous. She gave him a withering glare. “That’s not necessary. My boyfriend is waiting for me inside.”

He moved closer. “Then your boyfriend is foolish leaving you alone.” In a fluid movement, he slowly moved past her and leaned into her ear. “He should be more careful.” His voice was mesmerizing. He opened the door, his eyes fixed on her.

Emma walked past him, her senses dulled by the fuzziness again. She stood in the entrance and scanned the room for Will, hoping the man didn’t follow behind her.

Will sat at a table in the opposite corner, a beer bottle in his hand. A woman with blond frizzy hair, leaned over the table, rubbing Will’s arm.
Her mother
. Emma found a vacant table and slipped into a seat swallowing the rising unease. Will cast a quick look in her direction then gave his full attention to the woman in front of him. She knew her mother’s interest in Will was all part of the plan, but seeing her draped over him made her skin crawl.

A country song droned in the background as her mother wove her magic. Will played his part well. His face serious, he bent over in what looked to be an intense discussion.

“Either you got stood up or you gave me the brushoff. I’m guessing the former since you don’t have a drink in front of you.”

Emma looked up, surprised to see her rescuer from outside standing next to her, now blocking her view of Will’s table.

“Uh… it’s complicated,” She said, irritated she felt the need to explain.

He moved gracefully and sat in the chair opposite her. “I like a good story.” His dark eyes twinkled.

Will’s eyes widened then narrowed when he glanced her direction.

Emma peered at the man across from her. Again, she had that sense of familiarity. His slightly wavy black hair, dark eyes, and his five o’clock shadow gave him an exotic look. He was average height and slender, smaller than Will.

“Have we met before?” She tilted her head as she studied him, her voice stern.

His nearly black eyes flashed surprise and he smiled. “No, I’m quite certain I would have remembered meeting you.”

Will looked in her direction again, his gaze cold. He’d begun paying more attention to Emma than her mother. She had to get rid of this guy before he ruined everything.

“Look, I know you think I owe you something because of what happened outside, but you’re wrong. I don’t.”

He laughed. “That’s harsh.”

“It’s the truth. Besides, my complicated story is none of your business. So if you don’t mind…” She raised her eyebrows as her voice trailed off.

He rested his elbow on the table and leaned closer. “Okay, I can take a hint. I’ll leave on one condition.”

“What?” she asked, immediately regretting it. She should have just sent him away.

“Tell me your name.”