Run, Hide - By Carol Ericson Page 0,30
does that mean?”
She pulled out a chair next to Gavin and dropped into it. “I always stuck to smaller towns, but maybe blending into a big city would work better.”
“I don’t know.” He leaned a shoulder against the fridge. “I think your instincts were right. Strangers stand out more in small towns. In a big city, anyone could move in and out of the neighborhood and you wouldn’t be able to keep track. Beth will have it figured out.”
Scooting her chair back, she rested her head against Gavin’s, light against dark. “I’m tired of thinking about stuff like that.”
He shrugged off the refrigerator and squatted between his wife and son, wrapping an arm around each of them. “I know. This is going to end soon. I can feel it. And then...”
She turned and pinned him with her blue gaze. “And then what?”
He fell forward on his knees and cupped her face in his hands. “And then we’ll be together, like we were always meant to be.”
He kissed her mouth harder than he’d intended, but she didn’t back away. When had Jenna ever backed away from anything?
She returned his kiss with a fire that he’d felt only in his dreams. Sliding from her chair, she perched half on its edge, half on his knee. Her unexpected weight toppled him backward and he sprawled on the linoleum floor with his wife on top of him.
They both laughed, and Jenna’s smile brightened his whole world. Right in that instant, he knew he’d move mountains to be with her again—move mountains and relentlessly pursue an arms dealer to the ends of the earth.
The door to the kitchen swung open and Jim cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
Jenna rolled from Cade’s body, leaving a burning ache in his belly. “Don’t mind us. We’re just testing out the cleanliness of the place.”
Jim narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. The guy had a buttoned-down personality that suited his environment. No wonder Prospero had placed him out here.
Cade hopped to his feet. “She’s just kidding.”
“Yeah, yeah. We have to live here, so we try to keep it clean. Did you find anything to eat?”
“We ate on the road.” Cade chugged down some more beer. “But this sure hits the spot.”
“That’s Miyata’s. I don’t drink here on the job.”
Cade shrugged. “Like you said, you have to live here.”
“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Jim tugged open the refrigerator and pulled out a bowl of what looked like pasta. “We have some leftovers. Sonia’s a pretty good cook.”
“Sure, you let the little lady do the cooking.” Jenna winked at Cade.
This joke went straight over Jim’s head, too. “Sonia likes to cook, but Miyata and I have our specialties, too. Sonia is our language specialist. She’s fluent in Spanish, but she knows Arabic, French and Italian, too. She does more than cooking.”
“That was a joke, Jim.”
“Can’t be too careful with all the sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits flying around.”
“I’m sure you’re a model of decorum out here.” Jenna had a smirk in her voice that she kept off her face, but Cade could recognize because she’d aimed it at him enough times.
Jim popped the lid on the plastic bowl of leftover pasta. “It’ll take two minutes in the microwave.”
Cade held up his hands. Jimbo was relentless. “That’s okay. We’re good.”
“Your son? He probably won’t like the pasta, but we have a couple of frozen pizzas.”
Jenna balanced her chin on Gavin’s shoulder and kissed his cheek. “He’s sleeping.”
“Sleeping quarters outside to the left, Jim?” Cade leaned forward and scooped Gavin from the chair. Gavin nestled his head in the hollow between Cade’s neck and shoulder, and Cade felt as if he could hold his son like this all night.
Zendaris had a lot to answer for.
“To the left.” Jim scurried forward and pushed open the kitchen door.
Jenna followed Cade out of the kitchen and opened the door Jim indicated.
Two made-up beds were positioned on either side of the room. Unless Jenna insisted on sleeping in Gavin’s bed, it looked as if Cade was going to spend the night in the same bed with his wife for the first time in three years. The floor of the cabin didn’t count.
Cade tucked Gavin into the bed away from the door and placed his little boots on the floor at the foot of the bed. “Probably should’ve brushed his teeth first.”
Jenna tugged the covers more securely around Gavin’s shoulders. “It happens sometimes. I think our circumstances warrant a disruption in his schedule.”
Cade dimmed the lights, propped open the