Page 93 of Hero Unbound

“Are you going to get fired?” she whispered back. “Tarred and feathered? Do we need to run away together in the car I’m buying from you?”

He winked at her. “Tempting, although I’m sure my wife would not be thrilled.”

He reached back behind the counter and pulled out a medium-sized box. “Here they are. All ten thousand of them in their glory. Well, minus the five hundred I took out that I was supposed to have ordered. I was wondering if you would mind taking these outside around back. There’s a steel ladder that leads up to the second-floor storage…hole.”

“A hole?”

“That’s what we call it.We only use that for stuff we won’t need for a long time, ahem, or maybe ever again.”

Putting a box up in a storage unit was much better than having to show proof of insurance. She gave the older man a smile. “Sure, Mr. Collier. No problem.”

She didn’t like the thought of a seventy-year-old going up a ladder like that anyway.

He smiled back. “There’re plenty of my coworkers who would do it, but then I’d have to admit what I did.”

“Well, as someone who’s done stupid things to someone else who’s done stupid things…it’ll be our secret.”

He reached down into a drawer and set some keys on top of the box. “Also, while you’re out there, there’s a vehicle parked in the alley you might want to have a closer look at. You could even take it around for a spin. Drive it for the rest of the day if you want to.”

She stared at him, realizing this wasn’t about putting a box in storage at all. This was about a kind man doing something nice for her without being too obvious about it.

“Maybe I will. Thank you.” She reached across the counter and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Don’t mention it. You can go out the back door.” He opened the counter divider so she could come through. She grabbed the box and walked outside, feeling both better and worse.

Better because she now had a car. She didn’t need to drive it around—she trusted Mr. Collier when he said it ran well. But maybe she would anyway. It was a huge relief, and getting it for less than what she’d thought she’d have to pay was even better.

But worse because having the car meant there was no reason for her to stay in Oak Creek any longer. All she needed to do was pack up and go.

The door closed behind her, and she immediately shivered, caught off guard at this crazy weather again. If anything, the fog had gotten worse. It wasn’t quite dark outside, but it was definitely not the beautiful Wyoming sunshine she’d gotten spoiled by.

She saw Mr. Collier’s car parked a little bit farther down the alley. She set the box down and walked over to it. She didn’t know much about cars, but it looked relatively nice to her. Which was good since it would probably be her and the dogs’ home for a little while until she could save up some more money again.

She opened the door and got behind the wheel and cranked the engine. It started with no problem, not that she’d expected anything less.

She stared out the window into the eerie fog. Here she was again in a car that she could barely afford, with no insurance, no home, no plan, no money.

Seemed like she had come full circle from when she’d pulled into town a few weeks ago.

She sat like that for a long time, trying not to let the sense of loss overwhelm her. It was only when she started to feel like someone was watching her that she got back out of the car. The last thing she needed was for someone to report her to the sheriff because it looked like she was trying to hot-wire a vehicle.

She shook off all her sadness and paranoia and walked back over to grab the box. She would have plenty of time to grieve, and be scared and alone, later.

The ladder Mr. Collier had mentioned was an old-fashioned fire-escape-style. She reached up and pulled it down so she could climb. She balanced the lightweight box on her hip and started the awkward one-armed climb up the ten feet to the opening, glad once again that it wasn’t Mr. Collier trying to do this.

She got to the top and pushed open the storage door with a grimace. He was right, this was a hole—the place things were put, never to be seen or heard from again. By the time Mr. Collier used up his five hundred cups in the pharmacy, he probably would have long forgotten that he’d ordered the rest.

She was standing on the top rung, stuffing the box to the side when she heard it.

“It’s always going to be you and me, baby. You have to learn that.”

Gareth.

She looked down with a gasp but didn’t see him. Had she heard correctly? It wasn’t so dark that shecouldn’tsee anything, but there was no sign of him.

“Leave me alone, Gareth.”

Nothing.

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