Run, Hide - By Carol Ericson Page 0,55
his father was dying.
As the pale, wintry sun said its farewell to the day and dark blue night suffused the sky, they sped through Tucson. They were able to shed their parkas and gloves again. Jenna was right. They’d been speeding back and forth across the Southwest so many times that Cade felt like a yo-yo.
He’d taken over the driving duties again, and Jenna was on the lookout for a hotel.
She squinted out the window. “So, we want to be close to the meeting place, but not too close.”
“That’s right. Anyplace around here should do it. Extra points for finding a place with a pool.”
Jenna put her finger to her lips and glanced over her shoulder at Gavin pressing his nose against the window, oblivious to their conversation. “Don’t get him started.”
They found a hotel with an indoor pool. Because they had a few hours before their meeting, Cade took Gavin into the pool while Jenna watched from the deck.
“I’d join you, but I don’t have any shorts, and I think I’d get arrested if wore my underwear in the pool like Gavin.”
Cade wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “I wouldn’t arrest you.”
Gavin squealed and splashed as Cade held on to his arms and pulled him around the pool. “See? He’s a natural.”
“Looks like a natural splasher to me.”
“Your mom doesn’t understand the finer points of swimming.” He launched Gavin into the air, and he splashed Jenna when he landed.
“Flying.” Gavin’s screech echoed in the enclosed area.
“You like flying?” Cade tossed him up a few more times until Jenna interrupted.
“We’d better get going. Don’t want to keep—” she looked both ways at two bunches of families in the pool and cupped her hand around her mouth “—Prospero waiting.”
Cade pulled Gavin onto his shoulders and swam to the edge of the pool. Whatever happened tonight, wherever Prospero sent them, he’d turn this life with his family into a reality.
Back in the room after a quick shower, Cade yanked a black beanie over his ears, and Jenna crept up behind him and ran her finger between the cap and his head. “You look...stealthy.”
“Habit. I want to blend into the night.”
She hugged herself and hunched her shoulders. “Will we come in with you or wait in the car?”
“Wait in the car at first, but you’ll have to come inside the warehouse. They’ll need pictures for the new IDs.”
She caught his eye in the mirror. “What happens if it’s some sort of trap for you?”
“Even if Prospero does suspect me of having the plans and this is a trap, they’ll still do right by you and Gavin and get you settled.”
“Without you.”
“I can convince them I don’t have the plans if that’s what they believe. Once I do that, they’ll release me and I’ll join you and Gavin.” He turned and kissed the lines forming between her brows. “Don’t worry. This is going to be a piece of cake.”
Jenna pulled a sweatshirt over Gavin’s head, and they packed their bags and loaded them in the car in case Prospero wanted them to leave Arizona immediately.
Cade’s neck tightened as he drove across town to an industrial area. He’d rather be meeting in a hotel room, but at least he could enter this abandoned warehouse with his weapon drawn. No chance of doing that in a hotel.
Not that he believed he’d need his weapon. Not against Prospero.
He pulled around a corner housing several warehouses plunked in the middle of a semi-lit parking lot, deserted except for a rusty car in the front and a truck along the side. Must be Curson’s truck.
“This is it?” Jenna’s voice quavered and she cleared her throat. “This is it?”
“This is the place.” He pulled into a parking space several feet away from the truck. A sliver of light razored across the asphalt where a door to the warehouse had been propped open.
That was a good sign, wasn’t it?
“They must be in there. Looks like some kind of office attached to the warehouse.”
A noisy sigh escaped Jenna’s lips. “Okay, you first.”
“Do me a favor.” He cut the engine and reached for his weapon beneath his seat. “Get Gavin out of his car seat and duck down with him.”
“To dodge the bullets?”
“Just to be on the safe side.” He flicked the keys still hanging in the ignition. “I’m leaving these here, too.”
“Just to be on the safe side.”
“That’s right.” He pinched her chin, opened the car door and then leaned back in to kiss her. Just to be on the safe side.
He