Page 26 of Edge of Danger

On Brax’s arm?

Another dangerous train of thought that also tended to visit her in the night.

She turned away from the window and checked her phone for the millionth time since leaving the house. No calls from Brax. Walker didn’t need her.

She couldn’t be separated from him again. Even a trip to the mall was too much time spent apart from her baby. Especially after what Robert had done.

Brax wasn’t expecting her for at least another hour or two, but that didn’t matter. She couldn’t bear to be away from Walker for another minute.

It was getting dark by then. Time had slipped by while she’d wandered the mall. Was it possible for Walker to be afraid she’d left him—again? No, he was too young, wasn’t he?

She wandered through a nearly empty parking lot and silently cursed herself for not parking under a light. Relieved to finally open the car door, something slammed into her from behind and sent her sprawling across the driver’s side of Brax’s car.

Not something. Someone.

Someone yanked her out of the car by her hair, pushed her against the door and pressed a gun against her back. “Quiet,” a man rasped close to her ear, “or I’ll blow a hole through you. You’ve already been more trouble than you’re worth.”

Bile rose in her throat. There was nobody to help her. Not a soul anywhere nearby.

“Where is Robert?”

“I don’t know.” She could barely hear herself, so she tried again. “I don’t know where he is. I swear it.”

“Where’ve you been for almost three weeks now? Is he out here? Is that why you came all this way?”

“I’m telling you. I don’t have the first idea where he is. You’re wasting your time.”

That only earned her a jab in the back as he pressed the gun harder. “Where’s the kid? You hiding him too?”

She swallowed against her rising horror, then gritted her teeth. How dare he even speak of her son?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know any kid.” She turned her head just slightly, enough to make out part of the man’s pockmarked face. “I’m telling you. Robert didn’t exactly leave things on good terms between us. I might kill him myself if I ever see him again.”

At least that part was true.

“Then who are you out here with? You ain’t got no family. We know that much about you.”

But they didn’t know whether or not she was the mother of Robert’s baby or where Walker was. They weren’t as smart as they thought.

And they didn’t know about Brax either. Otherwise, this thug would’ve mentioned him, if not by name, at least by description.

“It’s none of your business. I already knew I made a mistake hooking up with Robert. I didn’t know that mistake would haunt me this long.” Also not a lie.

“Listen up.” His body pressed her tighter against the car—the keys, wedged between her body and the door, dug into her ribs, but she didn’t dare shift her weight or even breathe too deeply. “You better find out where Robert is and fast. We’ll be watching you from now on, and we won’t be so gentle next time.”

He had her purse before she could think to react, shoving her against the car one last time. Her ribs screamed in protest as the breath left her lungs in a single rush and the world went slightly gray.

The squealing tires weren’t loud enough to drown out the rush of blood in her ears.

Her purse. Her phone. All that money she’d been carrying around in case she needed to make a getaway. Everything she had in the world. Gone. Again.

But she was alive. And she had the car keys in her fist.

Once she was sure the other car was out of the lot, she opened the door and slid behind the wheel as gingerly as she could. Her ribs would hurt for a day or two, but that was fine compared to what might’ve happened.

“Breathe,” she whispered, doing everything she could to drive normally. To not attract attention. It wouldn’t do her any good to get pulled over when she’d just lost her license to a thug with a gun.

Somehow, she made it to the house without anyone following her there. With such light traffic, it would be difficult for anyone to follow her without being noticed. Another pair of headlights would stick out like a sore thumb, and no way could anybody drive that dirt road in the dark without flipping on their lights.

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