Out of the Storm (Buckhorn, Montana #1) - B.J. Daniels Page 0,68

light bar and was gone. “Something you wanted to say, Kate?”

She heard the edge to his voice as he pulled out the piece of paper the man had given him. Even from where she sat, she could see that it had an address on it.

“That’s right, Kate,” Collin said, grinning. “Think about what you just saw, if you decide to speak up again,” he said as he read the note and, tearing it into tiny pieces, put down his window and tossed it out into the freezing night air. “You really don’t know who you can trust.”

Kate felt hot tears burn her eyes. She looked away, unable to stand Collin’s cocky grin as he started the SUV and pulled back onto the highway.

In the headlights, this part of Canada seemed very similar to what she’d seen of Montana. Except Saskatchewan was flat and barren-looking and much colder. The road signs were different, and so were the license plates on the vehicles that passed, but otherwise the same, she thought. She wondered about the prisons and court systems.

They had been driving for hours. She had no idea where he was taking her. Or, worse, what he was involving her in. She hated what might be ahead. She just wanted it over.

“How much farther?” she asked, her body feeling weary of sitting for so long. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She saw what looked like a filling station ahead. Collin glanced over at her as if she were trying to trick him. “It’s been hours.”

He slowly nodded as if acknowledging it was true and slowed. “You can get out after I fill up with gas, then we can both go inside.”

She rolled her eyes, climbing out when he did, but merely standing next to the SUV stretching her legs as he filled the tank. She ignored the warning look he gave her. What did he think she was going to do? Run into the small convenience store and tell the clerk to call the cops? She hadn’t forgotten about the patrolman who’d passed Collin the note. Nor about the man with the gun who was with Danielle.

Once he finished filling up the SUV, they both went inside. She headed straight for the ladies’ restroom and wasn’t surprised when she came out to find him standing outside the door waiting for her.

“You want something to eat or drink?” he asked.

She hadn’t realized until he said it that she was starving. He got them both a hot dog and a cola to go. At the register, he fumbled for his wallet before asking quietly if she had any money. She’d hesitated only a moment before she pulled a hundred out of her purse for the gas and the food and drink. The clerk gave her Canadian money for change. She didn’t bother concerning herself with the exchange rate under the circumstances.

Once in the SUV again, Collin handed her one of the hot dogs and a cola, and without looking at her said, “I’m afraid I’m going to need you to pay for everything from here on out.” She could hear the embarrassment, the anger, the disappointment and resentment in his voice.

Kate had wanted to howl with laughter. She’d basically been kidnapped, forced into crossing an international border and would soon be forced into a criminal act—and her abductor wanted her to foot the bill for all of it?

She kept her expression from showing the roiling emotions bubbling up in her. She couldn’t look at him, could hardly form the words. “I figured as much.”

Collin sat for a few moments longer before he started the engine and pulled away from the pump. She could feel waves of resentment coming off him. Add that to his anxiety and fear and whatever else made Collin Matthews tick, and he was a man close to the edge. She tried not to breathe too loudly, afraid of how little it might take to set him off.

It wasn’t until he’d eaten part of his hot dog and tossed the rest out the window before he spoke. “I know you despise me right now.” She said nothing, not wanting to lie, half-afraid it would make matters worse if she did. “I wish things were different. Staying in Buckhorn as long as we did depleted my resources. I thought I’d have enough money for the trip. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Kate looked over at him then. She’d gulped down her hot dog and now reached for her cola. She was