Page 31 of Crimson Storm

“I know, and I’m still mad at him over all of it. But he’s my uncle, and he was desperate. He and my aunt gave me a place to live. I can’t let him die alone—and that’s a possibility.”

“Where’s your aunt now?”

“She lives in Davis, too, but they’re separated.”

“You’ll just have to call her and ask her to look after him for a few days. Or she can hire a home health care nurse or something. You’ll be gone three days at the most. When we get where we’re going, I’ll release you.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. And then you locked me in a bathroom.”

“I’m sorry. I’m telling you the truth though. You can drop us off and drive straight to an airport to fly home. We have no one else to ask.”

“Areyou asking?” Shane shot a wary look at the twisted blob of metal that used to be the doorknob. “Or are you telling?”

“Which one will get you into that truck?”

He let out a long breath. “Fine. But I have no idea how to drive a trailer truck.”

Kelly stepped into the bedroom, obviously having overheard the conversation. “I do. I’ve got lots of truckers in my family. My uncles used to let me practice out on my granddad’s land in West Virginia. It’s not that hard once you get the hang of it.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll call my aunt while we wait for your friend to bring the truck,” Shane said. “Wait—you killed my phone.”

“There’s a land line. You can use that.”

I led him to the living room and took a seat on the sofa beside the phone, making it obvious I’d be listening in to ensure he didn’t say anything about our current location or destination.

Shane shook his head. “Abigail... if I was going to turn you in, I would have done it already. I could have rear-ended a car on the way here, caused a fender bender and a traffic jam on the highway. I could have dialed 9-1-1 on my phone when you were in the back seat with a blanket draped over your head. I told you... Iwantto help you.”

“Well... I guess now you’ll have your chance.”

* * *

About forty minutes later,Curtis called Larkin’s apartment phone to let us know he was outside the building with the truck.

“I’m double parked so be quick about it,” he said.

“We’ll be right down,” I assured him.

Apologizing once again, I placed the handcuffs around Shane’s wrists and locked them, pulling the sleeves of his jacket down to hide them as much as possible.

“You know you don’t need these,” he complained.

When we stepped out of the apartment building, a group of four men stood just outside the doors, smoking. They gave us appreciative glances. One let out a long wolf-whistle.

“Looks like the disguises work,” Kelly said in a low, amused voice.

At the very least they kept the men from paying any notice to our human captive.

We ignored them and climbed into the rig’s cab, where I exchanged hugs with Curtis. A teddy bear of a man, he had a ready smile and a deep laugh.

“Abigail. It’s good to see you.”

“You too. Thank you for coming. You’re a literal lifesaver. These are my friends Heather and Kelly. And this is Shane,” I said. “He’s going to help us out with the border situation.”

The older man looked from my face to Shane’s and back again. “I see. So are you two—”

“No,” I interrupted. “He’s... a friend.”

Shane rolled his eyes and lifted his arms, stretching them out to display his cuffed wrists. “Friends don’t cuff friends.”

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