Courage Under Fire (Silver Creek #2) - Lindsay McKenna Page 0,5
a plan, Cari. What if they don’t capture him? I know in my soul he’s going after you first, and I’m tied in knots worrying about it.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. “Yes . . . he will. I feel so helpless. What can I do? I hate guns with a passion. I don’t want to learn how to carry or shoot one. I couldn’t kill anything, you know that. God, I’ve had such a wonderful life since graduating. I have a dream job, something I love. Everything was going so well . . .”
Nalani sighed loudly. “Blake and I were talking about that just now. If Dirk isn’t caught in two weeks, we both think you need to leave the state, get another job where Dirk won’t find you. That way, you can at least have some peace. I know how much this is going to affect you daily, Cari. You’re not the kind of person to deal with this type of situation long term. If they don’t apprehend Dirk, we don’t have a hundred thousand dollars a year to pay for one bodyguard, much less two of them, to protect you and me.”
“Is that how much it costs?”
“Actually, most bodyguards get around a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and upward, a year. We don’t have that kind of money.”
“And I don’t either,” she whispered wearily.
“His hatred is aimed at you, darling girl, and we’re sick over this. We’ll be fine. Blake is a hunter and we have guns in the house. He also can get both of us a concealed carry permit to have a weapon on us, which would make me feel much safer. I know you would not go that route.”
“No, never . . . I saw him fire his gun at Denise . . . it’s something I’ll never forget, Mom. I-I just can’t . . .”
“Which is why we think you should look for another job, Cari. My sense tells me Dirk isn’t going to be recaptured very soon, and we need to keep you safe. We need a long-range plan in case he isn’t in custody in the next two weeks. Also? We’d like you to vacate your townhouse for now. Blake would like to see you go on vacation. Dirk could wait for you when you leave to go to work, too.”
“I’ve already thought of that . . .”
“Would you do that for us? We don’t trust the authorities to know your whereabouts. Computer information gets hacked out of sheriffs’ departments, too. We want to wipe your footprints clear of your job and where you live.”
“To tell you the truth, I hadn’t thought of these things. Yes, I think what I’ll do is take my car and go to Muir Woods and the redwoods. I can get an extended motel room rental in nearby Mill Valley. I would feel safe there because I know the area well. I can do a lot of hiking. The redwoods always give me a profound sense of peace, and it’s so calming and healing an area for me.”
“Plus, you didn’t start going there until after Dirk was in prison. He doesn’t know your haunts, where you love to go.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Did you ever mention my love of Muir Woods to him when you visited him in prison?”
“No, he never asked about you and we purposely didn’t talk about anything regarding you in any way.”
“Dirk never liked Nature. He was a city person. He liked the nightlife, the excitement, noise and lights,” Cari murmured, feeling her heart rate begin to slowly stop racing. The adrenaline in her bloodstream made her feel shaky, a reaction to the fight-or-flight response, she supposed.
“I can call the sheriff ’s department and tell them they don’t need to watch your townhouse twenty-four hours a day, then. We aren’t going to tell them where you are, as I said.”
“Good plan.” She looked up at the clock. It was early May, a beautiful month to be in San Francisco, one of her favorite times of the year. “We’ll know in two weeks,” she said, more to herself than her mother.
“Knowing Dirk? I don’t think they’ll capture him. He’s elusive, like a wild animal.”
Animal was right, but Cari wouldn’t even want to compare Dirk to any other living thing. “He’s a monster without a heart. Soulless. I don’t care what anyone says.”
“He is all of that,” her mother sadly agreed. “You need to get on the computer and look for another job,