The Stranger and I. Carol Ericson

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СКАЧАТЬ gear he always kept there, he ordered Lila to climb in the cab and wait. He stole out to Chad’s car, keeping his weapon ready, and grabbed the gear from the open trunk. He swept the contents of the glove compartment into a bag and then loaded everything into his truck.

      Lila sat in the passenger seat staring ahead at nothing, her face pale beneath sun-kissed skin. Justin cursed Chad and his lust, not for the first time. It was, however, the last. His breath hitched in his throat.

      Starting the engine, he looked at his silent companion. “You ready?”

      She closed her eyes and nodded. He expelled a breath, relaxing the muscles of his face. The eyes were supposed to be windows to the soul, and she seemed to peer right into his. The clear blue light from her eyes probed his inner depths, peeling back one layer of his defenses at a time. From the moment she appeared on his doorstep, he felt transparent under her gaze. And worse, she seemed to understand his defects and pity him for them.

      Did she realize Chad’s death lay at his door? Justin should’ve been a better mentor, should’ve been more forceful in telling Chad to hold tight until he got down there. He failed Chad just when Chad needed him most. That thought burned behind his eyes until he doused it. Better not go down that road.

      After an hour’s sleep, Lila stirred. Those impossible golden curls shielded one half of her face. Her long lashes with their dark tips lay like a curve of velvet on her cheek. Her lips, even in repose, turned up at the corners.

      A Pollyanna, that fit her perfectly, trusting, gullible. Fortunately this experience would cure her of that fatal flaw. Better to be on your guard.

      She shoved her hair back from her face, blinking rapidly. Looking out the window, she asked, “Where are we?”

      He answered, “Heading north on the I-15.”

      Turning her head toward him, she said, “The desert?”

      “That’s right. Do you mind driving for a while? I need to make a phone call and sort through Chad’s stuff.”

      “I can drive, but can we pull over at a rest stop or something? I feel like I’ve just run a marathon, barefoot, and with wild beasts in pursuit.”

      His eyes roamed over her lithe body, and his hands itched to follow. He shook his head and laughed. “Looks like one of those wild beasts caught up with you.”

      She cocked her head at him. “You have a nice laugh. You should use it more often.”

      He gripped the steering wheel. “Not much to laugh at these days.”

      “You’re wrong. The world holds a lot of laughter.”

      Not his world. He cut off her homily. “There’s a rest area two miles ahead.”

      He maneuvered the car off the interstate and pulled in to the parking lot. While Lila slung a small bag over her shoulder and headed for the restrooms, he leaned against the truck facing the highway.

      The flat desert landscape offered safety. An occasional Joshua tree reached up to the sky, proclaiming its indomitability against the suffocating desert heat, but most of the plant life crouched in the hot sand, allowing the naked eye to see for miles.

      A couple of truckers hogged several parking spaces between them, and a family with three kids ducked in and out of a large cooler, pulling out sandwiches and drinks. Justin’s chest contracted as the father swung the youngest boy up on his shoulders for a trip to the vending machines.

      Lila emerged from the restroom, her dusty denim shorts and wrinkled T-shirt replaced by a pair of khaki hiking shorts and a blue tank top, which exposed her toned arms. A tortoiseshell headband swept her hair off her face, although a few of those riotous curls found freedom. As she stood in front of him, he suppressed an urge to capture one of those ringlets and wrap it around his finger.

      She held out her hand. “Keys?” He dropped them into her palm and tossed her bag in the back of the truck. He brought his laptop and the bag containing the contents of Chad’s glove compartment into the front.

      Adjusting the seat and starting the engine, she asked, “Same direction for a while?”

      He nodded and flipped open his cell phone. Someone picked up after two rings.

      He recited, “This is Lone Wolf 58634.” Those searching blue eyes skimmed his profile, so he turned to look out the window at the lunarlike landscape.

      The voice on the other end responded, “Hi, Justin, this is Prasad. I mean, Warrior Sheikh 28221. What’s the word, my man? When are you going to Mexico?”

      Justin took a deep breath. “Sooner than I planned. Chad’s dead.”

      Prasad choked out, “How’d it happen?”

      “They shot him. Thank God they didn’t do worse. I think he might’ve discovered something. Can’t think why else he’d plow ahead like that without me.”

      “Where was Molina?”

      “Following a lead in Costa Rica.”

      Justin could hear Prasad measuring his words. “Nobody’s going to blame you. We all know how impulsive he is…was. How’d you find out? We haven’t heard a word here.”

      Justin slid his eyes over to Lila, concentrating on the road in front of her. She didn’t fool him. She’d been soaking up every word. “He picked up a woman. She witnessed the murder, then hightailed it out of there.”

      Prasad gasped and then chuckled. “Figures there’d be a woman in the mix. Is she hot?”

      Justin avoided taking inventory of the lovely lady in the driver’s seat and grunted, “Yeah.” He turned up the air-conditioning.

      Prasad continued, “How’d she find you?”

      “Chad left her a note with my name and address.”

      Prasad exclaimed, “And she actually came straight to you instead of the Federales? Wow, Chad must’ve really done a number on her. You gotta admire the guy. I’m glad he went out in a blaze of glory. We should all be so lucky.”

      Shifting in his seat, Justin redirected the conversation, telling Prasad the rest of the story about the two Mexicans who arrived on the scene, the missing body in the trunk and the shoot-out in the street.

      Prasad whistled. “You’ve had a busy morning, and all I’ve been doing is monitoring a couple of databases. What do you think happened to the guy in the trunk?”

      “Not sure. I think he may have been Chad’s informant. They probably met and got ambushed. If he walked away from that trunk, I have to track him down.”

      “Yeah, good luck with that. Do you think the Mexicans who showed up on the scene were working with Chad? Did they kill his murderers?”

      “Probably and maybe. The witness claims she wasn’t followed, which only makes sense if the killers are dead.”

      “Then how’d their associates find your place?”

      “They made Chad’s car and picked it up at the border. She’s lucky…” СКАЧАТЬ