Page 23 of Saving Scarlett

Something passed across his eyes – some truth he wasn’t sharing — but it passed quickly.

I couldn’t say for sure I wouldn’t hold some resentment against Bane if he took Joshua’s life. I knew that seemed silly. I realized Bane was a killer, but I had never seen him kill anyone, and I didn’t know anyone he’d killed. If he took the life of my husband, however, it was something I didn’t know I could forgive, and I didn’t want that to come between us. I guessed, in some way, I cared about him too much to have Joshua’s blood on his hands, no matter how many others he’d washed off.

With no hesitation on his face, he nodded. “I do think that will be the case, but I have to be prepared for any outcome. As of now, we will play this card. Phantom is getting a video together that will be fed onto local news channels during prime time later today. Then, we will wait a day or two so we can see what card Joshua plays in return, or if he has a chance to play one at all.”

A cool breeze ruffled my hair as I looked at him, thinking more about how he’d held my hand as I had fallen asleep the night before, than thinking about my husband being killed. There was no love left between Joshua and me. I knew that, but it still hit my chest hard to admit to myself my marriage was over. I’d always thought I would be sad, but at that moment, I was numb more than anything else. Even in the numbness, however, there was an underlying excitement at the idea of finally being free.

“So, what do we do for now?”

Standing, Bane stretched his back. “We should probably go to the market, so we can get more food and the ingredients to make s’mores. Well…after I cover all the wood I seem to have chopped.” He chuckled, his gaze turning to look at the enormous pile of wood still sitting outside the shed where he housed it to keep it dry. “Apparently, I got carried away.”

Chapter 21

The Savior

After speaking to Phantom and my sister, I’d admittedly taken my frustrations out on several logs on my property. What I hadn’t expected was the way Scarlett looked at me when she ventured onto the deck. The sooner we went our separate ways, the better. I knew that. But my need to be close to her was undeniable. In such a short period of time, I felt myself becoming addicted to her. She was like a drug, whether I wanted it or not.

Telling her about the plan had gone smoother than I’d expected, but I still couldn’t find it in myself to tell her about her father. I really didn’t think she knew the truth, and although I knew she would find out eventually, I didn’t want to pile too much on her at once. Especially not after her breakdown the night before. Seeing Phantom’s broadcast would be difficult enough for her.

When our conversation on the deck was finished, I moved the chopped wood into the woodshed, a task she insisted on helping me with. Only when I couldn’t find another pair of gloves did I manage to talk her out of it. The warning of splinters and spider bites had been enough for her to stay on the deck while I worked. She was tough, but she was still healing.

Once the wood was put away, I slipped inside for a quick shower while she read her book. Afterwards, we returned outside together so we could head to the store.

Part of me knew it was a bad idea to take her anywhere, that once she was at the cabin, I needed to keep her out of sight, but we needed more food, and I didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone. With the way her eyes had lit up at the mention of s’mores, I didn’t want to let her down.

Instead of taking my car, since the last thing I wanted was to stand out in a town so small it had no stoplights, I pulled open the doors to the barn in the back of the property, revealing my father’s old Chevy pickup truck. With limited parking in the city, I kept it at the cottage. It blended into the small town better than the big city anyway.

“You keep surprising me.” Scarlett’s smile was stunning as she circled the beat-up red truck, seeming to be in awe of the relic. “Is this so we will fit in? If so, then I think it’s going to work.”

Chuckling, I opened the passenger door for her, the hinges squealing and piercing the silent mountain air. “I’ll be surprised if it starts up, but yes. That is the idea. Once I park my car in the barn and put the cover over it, I don’t usually drive it again until I’m ready to leave town.”

She nodded and slid onto the bench seat, closing the door behind her. “That makes sense. Are there a lot of people in this town who know you?”

Something I realized about Scarlett early on, was that she loved to dig for more information. Maybe that was the reader in her. I certainly couldn’t blame her for trying, although there wasn’t much I was willing to tell her that I hadn’t already.

“The short answer would be no. It was why I bought a place in a town like this. When you escape to a random microscopic dot on a map, you’re less likely to be found.”

What I didn’t bother saying out loud, because we both knew that no matter where we escaped to, there was always the chance of being found. When I pulled two baseball caps out from the glove compartment, popping one on my head and handing her the other, it was the one thought sitting stagnant in my mind. I hoped the old truck, old caps, and fishing gear in the back of the truck would make us look like nothing more than a local couple heading to the river to go fishing, but there was never any guarantee we wouldn’t be recognized. Especially not when she was a missing person who was all over the news in New Orleans, as well as some of the national news channels.

Pulling up to the small, rundown market closest to my cottage, there were only two vehicles parked in the gravel parking lot. Both were covered in dust, as though they’d been driving on the unpaved roads and driveways common in the area. Nothing about either vehicle led me to think they were from out of town.

As I put the truck into park, I scanned the parking lot one more time, making sure there was no one lingering in either of the vehicles, or in the tree line surrounding the store. I already knew the store had no working security cameras, at least not from what I’d seen before, but if anything caught my eye that would put Scarlett at risk, I intended to put the truck back into gear and drive away. Everything, however, seemed to be calm outside the store. I was always on guard—always would be—but I was reasonably confident that our quick grocery stop wouldn’t endanger her.

Powering off the engine, I turned to look at her. “Are you ready?” I had to admit the baseball cap on her head only made her more attractive. I kept reminding myself that the sooner we went our separate ways, the better, but the more I said it, the less I believed it. “Everything seems quiet outside the store, but we should get a game plan together.”

Without waiting for her response, I opened the glove compartment and pulled out a small knife, handing it to her. Scarlett’s eyes went wide, as though she was surprised I was giving her a weapon and wasn’t sure if she should take it. After a moment of hesitation, she did, slipping it into her boot.

“Just in case something goes wrong, I want you to be able to protect yourself. You can keep that from now on.”

She nodded, grazing her fingers over the sheath one more time, as though to make sure it was still there. “What about you?”

Lifting the hem of my shirt, I showed her the handgun and two knives attached to my waist. I never went anywhere unarmed, not if I could help it. “I’m going to leave the keys in the truck. If something goes wrong—if you need to get out of here, and for some reason I can’t—I want you to take the truck and head back to the cottage. There is a safe room in the basement. That’s where I’ll find you.”

The fear in her eyes tugged at something inside my chest. Before I could stop myself, before I could talk myself out of it, I reached for her hand, interlacing our fingers together. “You’re going to be safe. I promise.” Even as I said the words, I knew I was crossing the line again, but touching her was becoming more and more impossible to resist.

Her breath hitched as she watched our joint hands in the center of the seat between us. “Can we hold hands in the store… just so I don’t have to worry about losing track of you?” The thought of holding her hand in a public place created a warmth in my chest that I didn’t dare question.

With a nod, I opened the door and slid off the seat before reaching back in to help her to the ground. “That’s not a bad idea, actually, it’ll just further sell our story of being a couple going fishing.”

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