Tell Me No Spies (20 page)

“Aw, darlin’.”
Hellhound’s powerful arms closed around me, and I buried my face in
his shoulder. “That can’t be right. We’ll figure out what really
happened.” His rough-edged voice caressed my ear. “Don’t worry,
it’ll be okay.”

The exact promise I’d
made to Nichele. I choked and wrapped my arms around him, huddling
into his reassuring bulk. “I just want to make sure Nichele’s okay
before they kill me. There’s nothing I can do about the rest of
it,” I mumbled.

“Aydan, nobody’s gonna
kill ya. They gotta come through me first.”

“Thanks, Arnie, but
you know what I’m up against. Don’t put yourself in the line of
fire. All that’ll do is get you dead. It won’t change anything
else.”

“Lemme worry about
that. You just concentrate on stayin’ alive, an’ it’ll all work out
in the end.” He leaned down to kiss me, and even though I knew
otherwise, I let his words comfort me.

Fatigue descended like
a lead blanket, and I steered Arnie into an about-face to retrace
our steps. By the time the truck loomed up in the moonlight, I
could barely keep my eyes open.

A buzzing sound made
us pause outside the passenger door.

“Shit, he snores.”
Hellhound blew out a sigh and climbed up.

“So do you.” I
followed him into the cab.

“Not like that. He
sounds like fuckin’ ruptured bagpipes or somethin’.”

I stifled a giggle.
The rattling drone did sound a lot like bagpipes, punctuated by a
staccato snort at the end of each breath.

Some time later, my
urge to giggle was a distant memory while I squirmed in the
passenger’s seat, trying to find a comfortable position. Dave was
still sawing logs in the sleeper, and Hellhound contributed his
usual quiet, rhythmic thrumming from the driver’s seat.

At last I blew out a
frustrated breath and gave up on the seat entirely. I tiptoed into
the sleeper and stretched out on the cold, hard floor. Dave’s
snoring was only marginally louder there, and at least my legs
weren’t cramped. I stuffed my backpack under my head and drifted
into a miserable doze.

I woke in the early
grey half-light, aching and shivering. The duet of snores continued
unabated, and I scowled at the two sleeping men with the particular
brand of caustic irritation that can only be achieved while
freezing one’s ass off at oh-dark-thirty.

I curled into a ball
and wrapped my arms around myself, but the penetrating chill of the
floor sucked every vestige of heat from my body.

Fuck this.

I eyed Dave. He was on
his side. There was a little space at the edge of the narrow bed.
And he had blankets.

I eased the blankets
up and insinuated myself onto the few inches of bed as slowly and
smoothly as I could. I was clinging to the edge and wondering
whether it was worth the trouble when Dave erupted in a huge snort
and a sigh. His arm fell heavily over my waist, and he pulled me
against him spoon-fashion.

I froze, but his
snoring continued, ruffling my hair. Blissful warmth enveloped
me.

I woke to a weight on
my chest and a suspiciously hard something jammed against my butt.
My eyes flew open. Dave was still spooning me, his snoring heavy
and regular.

Awkward.

I was easing his inert
hand off my left boob when I caught sight of Hellhound’s grinning
face in the dawn light. I shook my head at him in warning.

The movement roused
Dave, who let out a snort. There was a second of silence as his
hand cupped my breast, and then he yelped and recoiled against the
back wall of the berth with a thud. I tumbled off the edge of the
bed and turned to look back at him while he pressed wide-eyed
against the wall, the blanket bunched protectively in front of his
crotch.

“Sorry,” he stammered.
“Sorry… Uh. What…?”

Hellhound guffawed.
“Funny, that ain’t my reaction when I find a hot chick in my
bed.”

Dave glared at him, a
dark flush climbing his neck.

I hastened to
intervene. “Dave, I’m sorry, I got cold in the night and I needed a
blanket. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Uh, no… it’s okay.”
His gaze darted around the sleeper as if seeking a place to perch.
He released his grip on the blanket with a convulsive movement, his
face still red.

“I’m going to go out
and stretch my legs.” I made for the door.

By the time I
returned, Dave had recovered his composure except for a tendency to
avoid meeting my eyes. We took turns going for “walks” outside the
truck to allow each other a modicum of privacy to use the tiny
bathroom, and at last reconvened for a planning session.

“We’ve got to get back
into Calgary,” I said. “We’ve got to find Nichele.”

Hellhound frowned.
“Are ya sure we hafta? Don’t ya think that’s a job for the police?
Or for Kane?”

“We can’t call the
police. And Spider’s been looking for Nichele for two days
now.”

“Darlin’, let them
deal with it,” Arnie advised gently. “Ya need to figure out how
you’re gonna save your own ass, never mind anybody else’s.”

“I think my ass is
past saving. I just want to make sure Nichele’s okay. That’s why I
wanted to talk to you in the first place. I thought you might know
how James thinks, and where he might be holding Nichele. But I
wasn’t planning for you to end up on the run with me.”

Arnie eyed me and
sighed. “Ya ain’t gonna let this go, are ya?”

“No. And we need to
get back into town so we can start looking.” I smothered a sigh of
my own, internally cursing Dave’s initiative. If he’d just listened
to Hellhound last night and driven to Forest Lawn…

As if reading my mind,
Dave turned an apologetic face in my direction. “Sorry. I screwed
up. Should’ve stayed in town last night.”

“No, it’s okay, Dave.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

We all fell silent. It
was just too risky to take Dave’s truck back to Calgary. And we
needed wheels no matter what we planned to do. Wheels. Hmmm.

“What?” Dave demanded
eagerly.

I looked up to
discover both men eyeing me with hope. I grinned. “I think I have
an idea. Lucky it’s Saturday.”

“What’s that got to do
with it?” Hellhound asked.

“Hey, Arnie, did you
ever mention Kelly’s to Kane?”

He stared into space
for a few moments, and I knew he was flipping through the mental
file cards of his phenomenal memory.

“Nah.”

“Thank God. Neither
did I. I think I can get us a car. And once we have a car, we can
get back into the city.”

“What’s Kelly’s?” Dave
asked.

“A bar.”

“Oh.” Dave regarded me
uncertainly, but apparently decided not to pursue the subject.

“Uh, Aydan, ya gotta
get back
into
the city to get to Kelly’s,” Hellhound pointed
out.

“I have an idea for
that, too. I think I can do it if I go by myself. Then I can get
the car and come back and pick you guys up.” I turned to Dave.
“Where’s the best place to hitch a ride with a trucker? Besides a
truck stop?”

He considered for a
few minutes, his brow furrowed. “There’s a pullout off the number
two highway where a lot of the guys stop.”

“Good. Because you’re
going to get me a ride.”

“Don’t know if that’ll
work. Most of the guys aren’t allowed to carry anybody.”

“Could they be
persuaded?”

Dave hesitated and
flushed slightly. “Maybe. There are some lonely guys out
there.”

I grabbed my backpack
and stepped into the tiny bathroom. When I emerged, I took stock of
Dave’s stunned face. Yeah, that’s right, he’d only seen me in baggy
sweatshirts.

“Do you think this
would be persuasive enough?” I asked.

Hellhound gave my
tight leather and half-exposed boobs a slow, lascivious once-over
and leered. “It’s doin’ it for me, darlin’.”

I grinned. “Yeah, but
you’ll screw anything that moves.”

He straightened with
an affronted expression. “Ow. That ain’t true. Ya know it’s gotta
be female. An’ human.”

“Picky, picky.”

He grinned. “Ya got me
all wrong, darlin’. I ain’t gonna screw any ol’ skank that crawls
up on my doorstep. I’m a man of taste. I just happen to have varied
tastes.”

Dave had been
following our exchange open-mouthed. “You’re nuts,” he blurted out.
“You’d sleep around when…” His gaze teetered precariously on my
cleavage, struggled up to my chin, and then flitted up to the
corner of the sleeper as his face reddened. He cleared his throat.
“Yeah, I think you’ll get a ride. Let’s go.”

He made his way
stiffly to the driver’s seat and eased himself into it with only a
quiet in-drawing of breath through his teeth. Apparently my massage
had helped.

As we approached the
highway, I scanned anxiously for any sign of police cars. By the
time we pulled off behind three other tractor-trailer units, I was
perched on the edge of my seat, heart pounding.

Dave eyed me
unhappily. “You sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s the only idea
I’ve got.”

“Okay, we need this to
work the first time,” I said. “I don’t want to be seen by any more
people than absolutely necessary.” I turned to Dave. “You need to
convince one of these guys to take me into Calgary.”

He shifted
uncomfortably in his seat. “What should I say?”

“I don’t know. Tell
them whatever they want to hear. Tell them I’m a trucker groupie
and a great lay, I don’t know, whatever it takes.”

Dave flushed. “I ain’t
gonna say that.”

“Would it work?”

“Probably,” he
muttered. “But I ain’t gonna say that about you. It ain’t
respectful.”

“Hell, Dave, I don’t
care. Do you have any other ideas?”

He scowled at the
floor. “No.”

“Then let’s do it.
Make sure you pick an older guy without a wedding ring.”

Hellhound laughed.
“Trust me, darlin’, the way you’re bustin’ outta that top, it ain’t
gonna matter.”

We left Hellhound
hiding in the sleeper and wandered across the asphalt, covertly
surveying the other truckers.

I nudged Dave. “What
about that guy?” He was practically a clone of Dave, but with a
little less gut and a lot less hair. Same nondescript jeans and
T-shirt, but his elaborately tooled cowboy boots made a strong
fashion statement.

“Okay,” Dave mumbled.
“Hey,” he greeted the other man as we approached.

“Hey,” Cowboy
responded. His face brightened as his eyes veered in my direction.
His gaze travelled up, down, up, and reluctantly back over to Dave
when he spoke.

“This is Jane. She
needs a ride to Calgary.”

Cowboy stuck his
thumbs in his belt loops and rocked back on his heels. “Would if I
could, but you know, regs.”

I shot Dave a look and
drifted away, watching out of the corner of my eye. He leaned
confidentially toward the other man, his face reddening as he
spoke. Cowboy gave a bark of laughter and punched Dave on the
shoulder, eyeing me with interest. A few minutes of conversation
later, Dave shrugged and turned away. “Your loss,” he threw over
his shoulder.

Shit. Time for
desperate measures.

I oozed up to Dave,
giving him my best sultry smile. I captured his hand in both of my
own. “Dave, you’re such a sweetie,” I purred. “And I’m so sorry I
put your back out last night, but you were just sooo good, I got
carried away.”

I pressed his hand
into my cleavage and pulled him into a hungry kiss. Lots of
tongue.

He froze and I
tightened my hold on him, transferring my lips to his ear to
whisper. “Come on, Dave, work with me here.”

“Urgh,” he said. I
pulled back a fraction to look into his paralyzed face.

Shit.

I kissed him again and
he finally reacted, his free arm closing around me while he removed
his hand from my chest to run his fingers through my hair instead.
His stiff lips relaxed, and he took the initiative on the next
kiss. A plain vanilla kiss, but at least he didn’t look so
terrified.

At the sound of the
throat clearing behind him, Dave turned, still holding me.

“Yeah?”

“Uh.” Cowboy rubbed
the back of his neck. He tore his avid gaze away from me to meet
Dave’s eyes. “I could take her. It’s only a few miles. Nobody’d
ever know, right?”

I gave him a hungry
smile, blatantly looking him up and down. “Would you?” I breathed.
“That would be… wonderful.”

“Yeah.” He bobbed his
head and his ears turned scarlet. “Yeah, I could do that.
Jane.”

“Oh, thank you!” I
turned back to Dave. “Dave, sweetie, you take care of that back of
yours, and save up your strength. Call me next time you’re in town,
you hear? We’ll go for another little ride.”

“You bet I will, Jane,
honey.” He pulled me closer and kissed me again. The merest touch
of his tongue, quickly withdrawn. He was blushing when he stepped
away. “See you soon.”

I watched him walk
away before turning to Cowboy. “What’s your name?”

“Rick.”

It took only a little
persuasion to get Rick to agree to drop me off near Kelly’s. I
wasn’t sure what Dave had said to him, so I babbled for most of the
drive about how wonderful Dave was. By the time we arrived in
Calgary, Rick had apparently figured out that whatever Dave might
or might not have gotten from me, it wasn’t being offered to him.
He looked thoroughly disappointed when I thanked him profusely and
hopped down from his cab.

As soon as his truck
was out of sight, I pulled my baggy sweatshirt on again. No need to
attract any more attention than necessary.

I checked my watch and
made for the back door of Kelly’s. I was light-headed with hunger
and adrenaline, and my hands trembled finely despite my best
efforts to still them.

Please let this
work.

Inside, I stood for a
few seconds, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dingy corridor.
Then I moved quietly toward the bar and peeked around the corner.
At the sight of the group sprawled on the broken-down couches in
the corner, I drew a huge breath of relief.