Snowbound Security. Beverly Long

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      She deliberately glanced at Hannah. “I’d be happy to tell you but it’s naptime right now. If you want to wait a few minutes, we can talk then.”

      “Sure,” he said, as if he had nothing better to do. But she didn’t buy it. He’d followed her for an hour. He was asking questions about her and Hannah’s relationship. She wasn’t going to be able to shake him, so she needed to give him an explanation that he’d believe.

      She opened the door and got her and Hannah out. She didn’t look back as they walked up the stairs to their room. Once inside, she had the little girl go potty, washed her hands and face, and tucked her in, with Ja-Ja at her side. “Sleep tight,” she said, and kissed her on her nose.

      Hannah was tired from the park and she didn’t even offer a token protest. Just stuck her thumb in her mouth and rolled onto her side. She was asleep in minutes.

      When Laura opened the door, she saw that Rico was out of his SUV and sitting at the picnic table near the office area. His crutches were leaning against the table. Lucky was on a leash, sitting next to his right leg.

      He’d seemed to buy the explanation that the cabin was open. There was no way that she was burning her friend Melissa. The woman needed her job more than ever since her husband had found somewhere new to take off his boots.

      She closed the door and made sure it was locked. Then walked down the stairs and toward him, pretending that she had nothing to hide. She wrapped her arms around herself, thinking that it was much colder than it had been when she and Hannah had walked to the park. And the sun had disappeared behind the clouds.

      “Already asleep?” he asked.

      “Went down easy. Being outside and running around the park does that.” She sat across from him, where she could see her room.

      He nodded. “Works the same for Lucky.”

      She smiled. “I suppose it does.” She stared at her hands.

      “I think you were just about to tell me why you ran when you saw the cop looking at your car.”

      “It’s sort of a long story,” she said.

      “I’ve got some time,” he said easily.

      She pulled up her sleeve, showed him her elbow. Where her scar was still pretty fresh looking. “Six months ago I was running and I fell.” True. “I had to have surgery.” True. “I unfortunately developed an addiction to pain medication and after a while, my doctor wouldn’t prescribe any more.” True as well, just not her story. But she knew the details. Had confronted the patient about his addiction. “I broke into my friend’s house, because I knew she had some, and I stole them. She blamed her teenage stepson.”

      She stopped. He said nothing.

      “Because I’d gotten away with it once, I went back a second time. But she came home early and I got caught. I begged her not to call the police but she was so angry. I was arrested, ultimately posted bond, and I had a court date. But I...failed to appear in court. There’s a warrant out for my arrest. That’s why I don’t really want to do a meet and greet with the police.”

      He studied her. “Where are you getting your pills from now?” he asked.

      “The experience scared the hell out of me. I kicked the habit. It’s been a couple months now. It was a stupid thing to do and I felt like a fool. Before all this happened, my good friends had asked me if I could watch their child when they went to Asia on business. They don’t really have anybody else that they trust. I intend to go back to court, but I couldn’t risk doing it before their trip in case it would mess up my ability to babysit.”

      “Failing to appear in court doesn’t endear you to the judge.”

      “I know. And when they are back, I’m going to take care of it. I’m going to do the right thing.”

      Right now she was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

      He looked up at the sky. “Did you happen to check the weather before driving from Tennessee?”

      She shook her head. There’d been no time for that.

      “Are you familiar with Colorado weather?”

      Again, a shake.

      “Winter can come early. Almost every year, we’ll get an early snow in late October. Sometimes it’s just a couple inches and sometimes, like what we’re expecting now, it snows a couple feet.”

      “Feet?” she repeated.

      “Supposed to roll in within the next few hours. Trust me on this—you’re not going to want to be on the road.”

      “We’re staying here for a couple days,” she said. “We’ll be fine.”

      “You got a stove and refrigerator in your room?” he asked.

      “No. But there’s a restaurant close by.”

      “If they’re open. It’s going to be blizzard conditions. Not great for taking out a child. Not that I’m trying to scare you or anything, but I wouldn’t want you to be caught unaware.”

      Well, she’d stepped in a pile of it, as her dad would have said. And then he’d have helped her find a solution. But he and Mom weren’t here anymore. Robbed, absolutely robbed of their lives, by a drunk. And she’d lost not just her parents; their deaths had been the divide that had separated her and her brother for so many years.

      Hannah didn’t have boots or a winter coat. She had a fall jacket, but that likely wasn’t going to cut it. She needed to find a store, get the right clothes for both of them and get some food in case they couldn’t leave the room.

      The idea of staying in that hotel room was a bleak one, but it beat being on the road. The mountain passes were scary enough on dry roads on a clear day.

      “I appreciate the heads-up,” she said. “And...and I’m hoping that you don’t feel compelled to report me to the police. I know you don’t have any reason to feel kindly toward me. After all, I shouldn’t have slept at your cabin. I should have immediately told you the truth. But I did leave as soon as I could. I intended to get and stay out of your hair.”

      “I’m not interested in turning you in. There’s no reward, right?”

      It took her a minute to realize that he was teasing. “I’m pretty sure there isn’t. But thank you. Again.” It seemed she’d stumbled upon a really nice guy. “Do you happen to know this town? Is there an area where I can find a few stores?”

      “You passed them on the way in,” he said.

      She felt her face heat up. “Great.” She stood. “I should get back up to the room. It was a...pleasure to meet you, Rico.” It was true. Bad circumstances and all, but he’d been very decent.

      She got about two steps before he said, “I think you should come back to the cabin.”

      She turned. “What?”

      “It’s going to be a hell of a storm with heavy snow and high СКАЧАТЬ