Nowhere To Run (To Protect And Serve) (15 page)

Riley ignored that. “We’ll get him.
We’re close. I promise we will—“

Her bitter laugh interrupted the rest of what he’d been about to say. “If that were true, he’d be in jail by now.” She waited for him to deny it. He couldn’t.

“You don’t have enough to hold him, do you?”

“Not yet
,” he told her carefully. “But we will. Give me a little more time.” She dropped the sandwich on her plate, wiped her hands on her napkin, then got to her feet.

He reached for her hand. “Jordan, don’t do it.”

She shook her. “Let me go, Riley, I have to go.”

“Whatever your thinking about doing,
I asking you not to.”

She didn’t answer. She simply turned on her heel and left him sitting alone, staring after her and wondering if he’d ever see her again.
And if he did, praying it wouldn’t be in the morgue.

***

“Where are your bags?” Mariah slipped into the bathroom stall next to Jordan’s at LaGuardia.

“I
don’t have any. I couldn’t risk raising suspicions.” She hadn’t returned to Caesar’s place since the night he’d told her about his plans for their wedding. She’d used the excuse of one of the Peds doctors being on vacation to pull double shifts and avoid being alone with him.

Each second that passed while she waited to escape felt like a lifetime.
Her nerves were shot. She no longer trusted anyone or anything around her including her own judgment.

Mariah slipped a large yellow envelope under the stall
. “This should be everything you need. I’ve reserved a car for you under the name Jayne Sinclair.”

She opened the envelope. Credit cards, passport, social security card
, and a new driver’s license spilled into her hand. Mariah’s contacts had come through big.

“Thank you.” Jordan slipped
Mariah her purse containing all the information from her former life. “You’ll need these to pass through customs.”

“Of course
,” Mariah confirmed. From this moment forward, Jordan Scott didn’t exist for her.

“You should go first. I’ll stay here for a while until I know it’s safe. Please be careful.” The risks were huge for Mariah as well
, but her friend hadn’t even hesitated before agreeing. “You know the plan?”

“
Yes. I have a first class ticket booked to Moscow under your name. With this wig and a little makeup, I hope we look enough alike for me to pass for you in customs. My flight lands around ten tonight. My friend will meet me and get me safely to France. From there I’ll travel to London and in a few days. I’ll return to New York using my own passport.”

“You’ll make sure no one is following you
, won’t you?”

“Of course. And you’ll do the same?”

“Yes. You’ll call the second Blake has any news?” For the first time since Jeremy’s funeral, Jordan felt close to tears.

“
You know I will. Can I at least give you a hug?”

S
he couldn’t leave her friend for what might be the final time without holding her.

“Just for a second and then you should go.” Jordan stepped from the stall and waited for Mariah. “I can’t say goodbye to you.” She reached for Mariah and held her close.

“Good, because this isn’t goodbye,” Mariah managed through tears of her own.

Jordan was the
one who finally pulled away. “You brought the other things?”

“Oh, yes.” Mariah unzipped her carry
-on and removed a beige velour tracksuit, white tee and white running shoes. “The pants may be a little long for you, but they’re about as plain as I could find.”

Jordan
changed quickly and stuffed the disguise she’d worn from the hospital into the garbage. She removed the baseball cap and twisted her newly dyed, golden- blond hair up into a clip.

“Nice hair color. It looks good on you.
How’d you manage it?”

“
I stopped in at a salon not far from the airport. I always wanted to be a blond.” Jordan slipped on a pair of black rimmed glasses, which accentuated the smudges beneath each eye that hinted at the long sleepless nights she’d spent. She looked ten years older than thirty. She could easily pass for the thirty-eight-year-old woman on her new driver’s license.

She
slipped the phone and papers into her purse then glanced at herself in the mirror. She looked about as inconspicuous as it got. No one looking for Jordan Scott would ever give her a second glance.

“I brought you one more thing.” Mariah reached inside her shoulder bag and withdrew a weapon.

“No – I couldn’t.” Jordan pushed the gun back to Mariah. She despised the things. “Besides, I wouldn’t have any idea how to use it.”

“It’s easy.
Just make sure the clip is in, keep your arm steady and whatever you do, don’t draw it unless you plan on using it.”

Jordan
took the gun and shoved it inside her bag. “You should go first. Someday soon this will all be over. Until then take care of yourself.”

Their eyes locked for a moment. A thousand things went unspoken. Mariah nodded then kissed her cheek and turned and left the room
.

Jordan
slipped back into the stall, waited another fifteen minutes before leaving the restroom. She headed for the Budget Car Rental pavilion located at the far end of the terminal.

“
May I help you?” The young woman behind the counter didn’t bother looking at Jordan.

“
Yes, I have a car reserved.”

“What name, please
?” 

She
hesitated only a second. “Sinclair. My name is Jayne Sinclair.”

***

After their last conversation, Riley’d been expecting this move and yet part of him still hoped she’d prove him wrong. That was the part that had nothing to do with his cop’s instinct, which now told him Jordan Scott was clearly on the run.

T
he amount of detailed thought she’d put into her escape surprised the hell out of him. She’d been planning her escape for a while.

To anyone else, the woman dressed in baggy jeans
and faded jacket, a large canvas tote strapped to her arm and a New York Yankees baseball cap covering half of her face probably wouldn’t have drawn even the slightest bit of attention.

But Riley
knew what was coming next. It was only a matter of time. Call it gut instinct or cop’s intuition. He’d known all that time spent tailing her would eventually pay off.

And it wasn’t as if he didn’t have plenty of time on his hands
.

Agent Thomas had followed through with his threat. By the time Riley’d gotten back to the
precinct that day he was on desk duty. Instead of waiting out his two-week suspension, filing paperwork and making coffee, he opted for vacation. The LT had been only too happy to approve.

Rather than
going south as he’d told Frank he would be doing, he’d gone undercover. Tailing Jordan.

Protocol demanded
that he call his superior officer and alert him to the possible flight risk of a federal witness. But after the way Thomas had reacted and Riley’s own growing suspensions, he couldn’t help but believe that the rat on the force might be a Fed. Either way, whether NYPD of Bureau, he wasn’t willing to take that chance.

So, he’d waited outside Santiago’s
place and followed Jordan to work, careful to keep a respectful amount of distance between Santiago’s vehicle and his truck.

He’d just found a decent parking spot that allowed him a generous view of the hospital’s staff entrance and parking when she emerged. Santiago barely had time
to round the corner out of sight.

Dressed as she was, it wouldn’t have mattered. She certainly wouldn’t have made a blip on Santiago’s radar. She must’ve hidden the disguise in the ladies room and changed in record time
.

She
got into a cab that had obviously been waiting for her and switched taxis three times before ending up at LaGuardia. Her last stop before the airport – an out-of-the-way beauty parlor. Not only was she running, she was making sure no one could identify her.

Instead of heading for the United Airlines counter to retrieve the ticket he’d traced to her Visa, she threw him another curve
ball and ducked into the ladies room.

She’d been inside the restroom
for almost half an hour when another woman appeared. He recognized her right away even though she’d done her best to disguise her appearance. It was the woman from the restaurant a few days earlier.

It had taken a
great deal of digging on his part, but he’d managed to uncover the woman’s identity as well as her connection to Jordan.

M
ariah Jennings. PI extraordinaire. She and Jordan grew up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood.

Instead of leaving the terminal, Mariah the PI headed in the direction of the United Airlines counter. He made a mental not
e to check with his contact and find out where the woman was heading. But for now, his main concern was for Jordan.

Riley purchased
a copy of
The Times
and waited a respectable distance from the restroom entrance to keep from calling undo attention to himself.

A
nother fifteen minutes passed before Jordan emerged. Riley barely recognized her. Along with the new hair color, she’d changed yet again. She wasn’t taking any chances.

Riley held the paper up over his face in case she glanced his way. Once
she was a safe distance, he fell into step behind her, keeping the paper handy just in case.

She headed away from the
airline booths at the opposite end of the airport, toward the rental car section. He had a decision to make. If he didn’t call this in soon, he could be in big trouble.

He debated just long enough for her to pay for the car before making
that decision. God help him if it turned out to be the wrong one.

The rented white Ford Focus was southward bound. She clicked through the miles and cities without showing any sign of slowing down.

She’d been at it for almost five hours without stopping for even a bathroom break.

Riley’s pickup had been sitting on empty for the last two miles. Whether or not she needed to stop, the truck wasn’t going much farther and neither was he. He was just getting ready to exit when the Focus’s blinker turned on. Riley breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to stretch his legs, refill on coffee, and consider how far he was willing to take this thing.

Jordan
pulled into one of the convenient stores, which served food-food inside. Hoping not to be spotted, Riley picked the station across the street from Jordan so he could keep an eye on her.

She didn’t seem to be in any
real hurry now that she was away from the city. Maybe she’d put enough miles between herself and Santiago to finally feel safe.

He hit the cash button on the
pump and watched her do the same. She seemed unaware of her surroundings. Big mistake for someone on the run.

Riley filled the tank then pretended to clean the windshield
, waiting for her next move. She hurried inside the store, paid for the gas then went to the fast food stand and ordered something before taking a seat close to the window.

Unfortunately,
just his back that the store he’d chosen didn’t serve hot food. He settled for a sandwich that had probably been there for weeks and a tub of coffee that all but guaranteed he’d have to stop a dozen times or more.

Riley pulled the car around to the side of Jordan’s convenien
ce store where he could keep an eye on her without being in her line of sight. He’d finished the sandwich and chips and started on the cookies when she emerged, climbed in the rental car, and never looked back.

Chapter Eleven

“Now, what be you looking for out there, Doctor Jayne?” Momma Lizbeth, the head nurse on call at the hospital suddenly appeared beside Jordan.

It never ceased to unnerve Jordan the way a woman as sturdy
-built as Momma Lizbeth managed to be so stealthy.

And yet the
woman had become her salvation over the past couple of weeks.

When Jordan arrived on the island
, her only thought was to blend into the tropical scenery.

She’d barely been
here a few days when she found herself back in a hospital. The last place Jordan ever expected to be.

The accident happened so quickly
. The child darted out in front of an unsuspecting driver. Jordan didn’t think twice about acting on her medical training to save the boy’s life.

Hours later, still covered in blood Jordan
realized she’d done the one thing that she couldn’t afford to do. She’d called unnecessary attention to herself.