Snowbound Security. Beverly Long

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ better long-term solution. Hannah was chattering to her doll in the back, oblivious that they were once again on the run.

      She wondered what Rico’s story was. No wedding ring. She’d noticed that when he was making his tea. It surprised her because he was very handsome with his dark hair, olive skin and very dark eyes. The image of him, only in swim trunks, holding on to a ski line, was very appealing.

      How long would he wait before coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t coming back? To knowing that it hadn’t been an honest mistake but that she’d been a mere squatter who’d had the bad luck to get caught?

      How many lies was she going to have to tell? How many people was she going to have to deceive?

      What would she stoop to?

      She glanced in her rearview mirror. Hannah caught her eye and smiled.

      There was her answer. She would bend, stoop, even crawl. Go as low as she needed to. For Hannah.

      She drove for an hour before she got to the outskirts of the town. It took another ten minutes to find a hotel. It was two stories with the rooms all having exterior doors.

      She parked in front of the office and shut off the car. She opened her purse and pulled cash out. Then tossed her purse onto the floor and covered it up with a Colorado map. “We have to go inside here,” she said to Hannah.

      “Can I take Ja-Ja?”

      “No, sorry.” While it should not, a little boy with a doll might garner attention they didn’t need. “Pretend that she’s sleeping.”

      “Okay.” Hannah kissed Ja-Ja’s forehead and laid her down on the seat.

      It made Laura’s eyes fill with tears. Hannah was such a sweet child. She unbuckled her seat belt, got out, did the same for Hannah. Tugged at the little girl’s baseball cap to make sure it would stay on.

      A bell jingled when she opened the door. A woman was behind the counter, reading a newspaper. Her face was lined and she was very thin. She stood and set aside the paper. “Morning.”

      “Good morning,” Laura said. There was an old couch with two chairs. She gave Hannah’s shoulder a gentle push toward the furniture. “You can sit over there while I do this. Here’s a pen and paper.” Hannah loved to draw and, most of the time, tuned everything else out while she was doing so.

      Laura waited until she got up on the couch before turning back to the woman. “I’d like to rent a room.”

      “How many nights.”

      “Three,” she said. She had to have a plan by then.

      “How many people?”

      “Just the two of us,” Laura said, waving in Hannah’s direction.

      The woman nodded and started tapping keys on what appeared to be an ancient computer. “License and credit card?”

      Laura smiled. “I’ve had the worst luck,” she said. “My purse was stolen. I’d be happy to pay in cash in advance.”

      The woman studied her. “We need the credit card in case there are damages to the room.”

      “How about I give you an extra hundred to cover that? When I leave, you can give it back once you’ve checked the room.”

      The woman sighed, glanced over at Hannah. Looked back at Laura. “That’ll do,” she said. She gave Laura a plastic card. “Upstairs. Room 204.”

      “Thank you,” Laura said. She walked over to Hannah. “Time to go. You can finish these upstairs.” She gathered the paper and pen.

      Was almost out the door when the woman said, “O’Grady’s on the corner serves up a nice breakfast and lunch for a reasonable price. And Pastor Rome, he’s got the church a block down on the right, has been known to be helpful to folks, too. Plus there’s some swings and a slide on the playground next door to the church.”

      Laura swallowed hard. “Again, thank you.” She grabbed Hannah’s hand and pulled her out the door.

      “I want to see the playground.”

      “Maybe later. Let’s get Ja-Ja and your clothes and see our room.”

      “I liked the room we had. Why did we have to leave?”

      “We just had to,” Laura said. “Come on.”

      “I liked Lucky,” Hannah said, obviously not willing to let it go.

      “Yeah. Nice dog. But you’ll meet other nice dogs.”

      “I will?”

      “Of course.” Wasn’t that what people said when one thing ended and you were waiting for the next thing to begin? It certainly had been when she and Will had split up. You’ll meet another guy. That’s what her friends had said. Her hairdresser. Her landlord who got used to seeing Will around.

      Had that happened last night? Had she met a nice guy last night? Had it been an error to run from him this morning? Could she have told him the truth?

      No. Because the risk of others judging her actions too harshly was too big. So it didn’t matter how nice he might be. She was on her own. For the foreseeable future.

      She got their things out of the car, stuffing her purse into her already-full backpack at the last minute so the woman in the office wouldn’t see it if she happened to be watching them. They got to the concrete exterior stairs and Hannah reached up and put her hand in Laura’s. The little girl’s skin was soft and warm.

      No, not alone. She had Hannah. Blood of her blood.

      It was more than enough.

      She inserted the key card into the door and when the light flicked green, she turned the handle. And her heart sank. It wasn’t horrible, but compared to the beautiful sunny cabin that they’d left behind, the dark room, with its dark green and purple carpet and its brown bedspread and matching curtains, was like a tomb.

      Hannah spied the television. “Can I watch?” she asked.

      Laura nodded, grateful for the respite. “Sure. For a little while.” She turned it on, found an appropriate show and got Hannah settled on the bed, with her arm around her doll. She made sure the bolt lock on the door was engaged and the chain hooked.

      Then she went into the bathroom, shut the door, turned on the faucet in the sink and started to cry.

       Chapter 3

      One thing about mountain roads, they made it relatively easy to follow somebody without having to get too close. He was able to stay a nice comfortable mile behind the Mustang without losing it as she covered the steep inclines and declines that the Rockies were known for.

      Felt justified when he saw her breeze past the grocery store that was on the edge of town. He’d been right. Shopping wasn’t her priority. But then he quickly got frustrated СКАЧАТЬ