No Place to Hide (8 page)

“All right. Thanks, Ron. I’ll be in touch.”

Jackie hung up and powered the phone down, stunned at the direction her life had taken in less than twenty-four hours.

Ian’s hand covered hers, jerking her from her thoughts. “I’m sorry, Jac—”

She cut him off with a finger to his lips and a glance at the bus driver. She reached for his hand and squeezed. “It’s okay. I’m here for a reason.”

“I don’t know what God’s doing, but I’m glad he sent you to help me through this.” He frowned. “Although I’m sorry it’s gotten you into such a mess.”

Jackie snorted. “God? I don’t think he’s involved in this.”

Ian shot her a sad smile. “Still the skeptic?”

She sighed and caught the driver watching them again. “You know the saying that there are no atheists in foxholes?”

“Yes.”

“That’s true to some extent. I’ve found myself in some pretty extreme situations and tried to pray my way out of them, but . . .” She shrugged and swallowed, the nightmare coming back full force. “God seems to have abandoned me. If he doesn’t want anything to do with me, why should I force myself on him by praying?”

Jackie found herself wrapped in a hug tighter than she’d ever experienced. “My word, that’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard.”

Tears surfaced for the first time in a long time. She shut them off and broke out of Ian’s embrace. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get sappy.” She sniffed and looked at her watch. “We’ve got to get off this bus.”

ATF Explosives Enforcement Officer Leo Fox glanced at his watch. He’d been called in to assist in the arrest of Ian Lockwood and Jackie Sellers.

And to ensure that there weren’t any explosives on the bus. He’d sat in on the rundown of the type of explosives found in Lockwood’s home. He knew what to look for and he knew how to take care of it. He’d been with the ATF for twelve years. He loved his job, but . . .

“How’s it going, Leo?”

He looked up to find Chris Hall dressed in full gear. “Just waiting. You?”

Chris sat beside him. “Good.” He pulled out a piece of beef jerky and bit off a hunk. “You think there’s a bomb on that bus?” he asked around the bite.

“Dunno. Guess we’ll find out.”

“You think the dude’s guilty of this terrorist stuff?”

“Probably.”

“Yeah.” Chris shook his head. “Man, this country’s just going from bad to worse.”

“Which is why we do what we do.”

Chris snorted. “Well, it sure ain’t for the pay.”

Leo thought about his wife and son. Everything he did was for them. It was why he took precautions and made sure he didn’t get himself blown up. It was why he was so careful with every penny he made. He had to secure a future for his family.

Just in case.

“Hey, your mother-in-law making any of her famous pound cake?”

Leo barked a laugh. “She’s got you hooked on that stuff.”

“Provides a better high than any drug out there.”

“I’ll ask her.”

“No, you married her daughter. She doesn’t like you. I’ll call her.”

“I helped give her a grandson. She loves me. You got her number?”

“She gave it to me the last time she came to the office with her pound cake. She told me to call anytime to make a request.”

And no doubt Chris would. Naomi Hunter loved to bake almost as much as she loved her daughter and grandson. And the agents in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms New York office loved her. Most specifically her pound cake. And anything else she made. The way the guys hounded him to bring something in, one would think he didn’t have anything better to do.

But he did.

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture. Maria, Lewis, and himself. Smiling. He shoved the photo back into his pocket and vowed to make sure they kept on smiling.

12:30 P.M.
MOONACHIE

Maria held the heavy-duty paint sprayer and went over the dinosaur one more time, careful to get every crease, every spot covered. She wanted to enjoy the work, but she kept picturing her son’s face. Lewis had cried when she’d sent him off to school this morning, but at least she’d been there to put him on the bus. She hadn’t seen her husband in almost three days. Then again, Lewis’s tears had dried quickly when his friend, Lucy, had taken his hand and told him she would sit with him on the bus.

It broke her heart that Lewis missed her so much, but she and her husband had come into the marriage with a pile of debt that had only worsened after Lewis was born early and spent three months in NICU.

Lewis would have to adjust. And besides, once the parade was over, her hours would settle back into something resembling a more normal schedule.

At least until the next parade.

She eyed her work and felt a surge of pride. Lewis would love the final result. She’d have to bring him by and show it to him.

She turned the sprayer off. Henry had called in sick today,
so Maria had taken it upon herself to do the body of the dinosaur. Now she would let it dry for a bit before tackling the head and face.

“Need any help?”

Maria turned to see Christine Bridges, another talented artist, coming from the office. “Just trying to get some of this painting done.”

“Let me grab a sprayer and I’ll do this area.”

“Thanks.”

Christine returned and they got to work. “It’s hard to believe it’s already time for the parade. It seems like this year just flew by.”

“I know.” Maria smiled. This was her first year to work the parade. To her surprise, Leo had finagled the job for her and she loved it. She loved the steady income and the easing of some of the financial stress. They were actually getting some debt paid. “I’m eager to see it all come together.”

“It’s a sight, that’s for sure.”

Soon volunteers and other workers would swarm the float, covering every last piece of metal and burlap with greenery. They would help add the fine details to make the float a work of perfection. Maria couldn’t wait to see it roll down the street.

“Leo’s coming,” she said.

“Really?” Christine paused in her painting and looked up. “Are you two working things out between you?”

“Trying to. He promised to come so we could enjoy the parade as a family.” Once the painting was finished, her job was basically done. “We’re keeping it as a surprise for Lewis.”

“He’ll be so excited, you’ll have to sit on him to keep him still.”

Maria laughed. “I know.” But a wave of sadness hit her. She knew they’d agreed on the surprise aspect because they both wondered if it would really happen.

“What about your mother?”

Maria shrugged. “I asked her, but she just talks about how she’s an old woman and doesn’t have any business being in a crowd of people standing in the cold for hours.” She sighed. “I guess I don’t blame her, but it would be fun to have her here.” An idea hit her. “Hey, Christine?”

“Yes?”

“This float is all about attracting kids to the client’s toy store, right?”

“Sure. Dinosaurs, airplanes, toy soldiers—they’re all on here. Why?”

“What if we had real children ride in the float, playing with some of the toys, screaming their delight, et cetera?”

Christine raised a brow and her eyes lit up. “What a fabulous idea.”

“You think I should talk to the boss about it?”

“Absolutely.”

Maria nodded. “Okay. I’ll do that.” She played it cool on the outside, but on the inside she was dancing. She didn’t think it would be a stretch to go from having children on the float to having Lewis’s class be the lucky kids to actually ride on it.

And this could be one thing that she could do to surprise Leo. She’d keep it a secret until the morning of the parade. He’d be so proud.

Jackie heard the
whomp-whomp
-whomp
of the law enforcement helicopter above and knew it was time. “Get ready.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Not sure, just go with it.”

“Ah! Oh no! Help . . .”

Jackie swiveled in her seat to find the man who’d tipped his
hat to her in the bus station gripping his left arm and leaning forward in his seat. She jumped up and slid into the aisle.

“Sir, what is it?” She reached for him, but another man pushed her aside.

“I’m a doctor. Let me see him.”

Sweat dripped from the passenger’s brow, his breathing sounded labored.

“Is it a heart attack?” she asked.

“Driver! Stop this bus immediately!”

Jackie blinked at the doctor’s order.

But knew what the plan was now. She started to back up when the heart attack victim caught her eye. And winked.

She dropped to her knees beside him, nudging the doctor aside. The aisle didn’t make for much room, but she grabbed his hand when he lifted it toward her.

“Be careful,” he whispered. His palm scraped hers and she curled her fingers around a paper he’d left behind.

She scooted back as the driver slowed the bus to a stop on the shoulder of the highway. The driver was on his microphone and the other passengers muttered amongst themselves.

“Driver! Where’s the AED device?”

“I’ll get it, I’m coming.” The driver grabbed it from the console at the front of the bus and shoved his way past Jackie and Ian.

“Open the door and get the man some air. You people move back!” The doctor shouted orders and people obeyed.

Jackie opened the door. She grabbed Ian’s hand and together, they slipped off the bus, Gus at their heels.

“Where are we going?”

“Wherever we can find shelter and regroup.”

The helicopter roared overhead. Sirens sounded, getting closer by the second. “Stay under cover of the trees,” she panted.

Ian didn’t let go of her hand or Gus’s leash. They leapt over the guardrail and headed down the sloping hill. Jackie swept her gaze left. Then to the right and up above. Had the chopper spotted them racing from the stopped bus?

Once in the midst of a copse of trees that backed up to a field she could see just beyond, she stopped to assess the situation. Ian and Gus came to a halt beside her.

“Did we really just do that?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“So now what?” He glanced around. “They’ll be coming. We need to find some shelter and figure out our next step.”

Jackie nudged him. “That barn over there. Let’s get inside and hope no one’s there.”

He looked up at the clouds hovering above them. “It looks like it’s going to snow.” He breathed deep. “Smells like it too.”

“That would just be our luck right now,” she muttered.

They headed for the barn and Ian opened the door for her. She slipped inside, relieved to be out of the wind. “It’s still cold, but at least we can sit and think for a minute.”

“Maybe there’s an office with some heat.”

“Good idea.” She inhaled the scent of hay and horses. “Hello? Anyone here?” Her only answer came in the form of a nicker from the nearest stall. “Hello?”

“I think we’re good,” Ian said.

It took only a minute to scope out the barn and find what they were looking for. The office was dusty, but one flick of the heater on the wall had warmth pouring through the vents. Jackie sat in the cracked vinyl chair behind the desk and pulled out the piece of paper the “heart attack victim” had slipped into her hand.

Ian sat across from her in the wooden straight-backed chair. Gus settled on the floor at his feet and put his head on his paws.

“What is it?” Ian asked.

“The man on the bus who faked the heart attack gave me this.”

“Faked?”

“He winked at me. The doctor was probably bogus too. Ron set it all up, I’m sure. Just in case.”

Ian blinked. “Wow. That was sharp thinking.”

She gave him a thin smile. “See why I wanted to call in reinforcements?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice soft. “I see.”

“Ron’s coming for us, we’ve just got to get there.”

“Where?”

“To an abandoned gas station not too far away. He gave me the address.”

“All right, then. Let’s get going.”

“Are you forgetting that everyone is looking for us?”

He shot her a sour look. “Not likely. In fact they’re going to be looking for us around here, probably going house to house to make sure we haven’t holed up somewhere.” He looked around, then let his eyes come back to meet hers. “Like in a barn.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “I know. And we need to get moving before they get here, but we also need to take a moment to plan.”

Gus’s head lifted and he turned his attention to the door. Jackie stiffened. A loud screech disturbed the air. Ian slapped the off button of the heater and pulled Gus with him to press his back against the wall. Jackie joined him. Whoever opened the door wouldn’t see them at first, leaving them with the element of surprise.

Footsteps sounded just outside the office. Jackie kept herself pressed against Ian’s side and his warmth wrapped itself around her, making her wish for different circumstances. Gus shifted and sat.

She swallowed and focused on listening. The footsteps stopped, followed by a thud.

“Hey, Jojo boy, you ready for a ride?” The voice sounded like it belonged to a young girl. Jackie relaxed a fraction. Maybe she was just going to take the horse for a ride and wouldn’t come into the office. After several tense moments, the doorknob turned, dashing Jackie’s short-lived hope.

The door opened and the girl stepped into the office and walked over to the heater. Jackie held her breath and could sense Ian doing the same.

Because when the girl turned, there was no way she would miss them.