Fugitive Heart - By Bonnie Dee Page 0,30

my father unsuccessfully tried to call it quits, I broke away completely. I went to school full-time, worked a lot. I’d left that life behind. For good, I believed.”

“Until my brother.”

“Until your brother.”

“Oh, Elliot,” she muttered under her breath, and it sounded like both a prayer and a curse.

Chapter Nine

Ames slipped into the back door of the diner and headed to the break room—fast. She wished she had an invisibility cloak to shield her from curious eyes, but she didn’t, and so of course Marty spotted her and trailed after her.

“What the heck happened to you? You look like you’ve been wallowing in dirt.”

“Took a long hike in the woods. Got a little sweaty. No time to talk.” Ames grabbed her extra uniform out of her locker.

“No time to shower either? What’s up?”

“Nothing. I’m in a hurry, that’s all.” She stripped off her top and skirt and shimmied into the brown dress.

“Too much of a hurry to go home and get some clothes.” Marty stood in the doorway, arms folded, barring her way. “This has something to do with that Sam guy, doesn’t it? First you go to the movie with him, then today you go out and…what? Mud wrestle?”

Ames faced her. “Look, if anybody, any stranger comes around here asking about Elliot or me, do me a huge favor and say nothing.”

“Say nothing,” Marty repeated. “What the hell is going on? You’re starting to scare me. Is this about Elliot? Have you tracked that fool down yet?”

God, she never could keep anything from Marty, but she was going to do her best to keep the facts to a minimum. “You know Elliot. Always in hot water. Seems he may have dived in really deep this time. The less you know the better.”

“Jesus. Is this something you need to go to the police about?” Marty reached out and grasped her upper arms. “Ames?”

Good question. “No. I promise I will as soon as I can. I don’t have anything concrete to tell them, just speculation. Forget I said anything.” Before she spilled everything to Marty, she pulled away and nudged past her.

“By the way, would you be willing to cover early shift tomorrow? Or if you can’t, call Donna or Jillian for me. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Sure, I can do it. What are you going to be up—”

“I’m sorry to impose, but it’s important.” Ames hurried out the door before Marty could ask any more questions.

Nick had pulled the car around back and leaned against the side. He looked criminally hot in the jacket that emphasized his broad shoulders. He didn’t look like the guys in Arnesdale, that was for sure. More cosmopolitan or something. She gave herself a mental kick in the pants for taking even a second to think about Nick’s hotness in the middle of a crisis.

“Sexy uniform. I’ve always had a thing for waitresses.” He smirked, and she gave him a quick punch as she walked past on her way to the passenger side of the car. Okay, so they could distract each other.

The sky had darkened to a purple dusk by the time they pulled up in front of the Greely’s house. Her stomach growled at too many missed meals.

“I still think it would be better if you waited in the car. It’s not like somebody’s going to shoot me in Mrs. Greely’s kitchen.” Ames tried once more to convince Nick, but he was as stubborn as…well, as stubborn as she was. This new, very determined side of her nature seemed directly related to the strange new dangerous world he’d brought to Arnesdale—or maybe it was Nick who brought it out.

“I can play it cool. I’m new in town, so you’re being nice and introducing me to some people. Plus, I think Mrs. Greely liked me when we met last night.”

“Fine. Whatever.” She got out of the car and shut the door harder than she needed to. The problem was that she intended to flirt with Jake a little if necessary to learn whatever she could from him, and she didn’t really want to do that in front of Nick. Why was that? Did she like him a little too much?

Ames didn’t want to think about the reasons, so she stalked to the front door and stabbed the bell with her finger.

By the time Nick caught up with her, Alice Greely was framed in the doorway. “Ames! What a surprise to see you two nights in a row. What brings you here?”

“Actually, I was hoping to