Page 14 of Allie's Shelter

She shook her head, kept paging through the call history on his phone, inordinately relieved she didn’t recognize any names or numbers. Maybe Ross wasn’t working for Bradley after all. “Is Eva the woman from this morning?”

“Yes.” He glanced at her, then back to his mirrors. “What did you do, Allie?”

“So you’ve known her since before breakfast. Are the two of you together? An item?”

“Quit trying to change the subject.”

“Fine. To quote you, I was doing my job. I created a special account for a new division focused on local charitable efforts. It was my idea to create the division, a public service campaign kind of thing. Months went by before I realized it was a slush fund for laundering kickbacks for my boss.”

“Thank you.”

His sincerity startled her. “For what?”

“For finally telling me something useful. My team keeps up with arrest warrants and APBs for the general area. We saw a report that you were wanted for questioning regarding the theft of sensitive, proprietary data from your employer. This settles the question of guilt.”

“It does? Wait. I’m wanted for questioning?” More questions bounced around like popping corn in her mind and she couldn’t get them out in the order that felt most relevant. “You thought I was guilty?”

“I thought it was possible. But I know you.” The look he shot her was intimate enough to give her goose bumps. “You’d never steal money.”

Her stomach pitched. Of course she’d been counting on having the benefit of the doubt here in her hometown, but Ross’s certainty meant so much more. She ought to tell him everything. She cleared her throat, trying to decide where to start.

“There’s sensitive data all right.” Watching him closely for any reaction, she saw his gaze moving from mirror to road to dash to road to mirror. The cycle continued, consuming all of his attention. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re being followed.”

She glanced at her side mirror, twisted to look out the back window. They were alone out here as far as she could tell. “I don’t see anyone. You’re trying to scare me.”

“Would you trust me? Besides, why would I bother? You’re scared enough already.”

Being framed, tailed, shot at, and nearly zapped with a Taser would do that to any girl.

“So what’s your plan?”

“Use my phone.” He was frowning at the rearview mirror again. “Call Sheriff Cochran and tell him you have more to add to your statement.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. “Do it.”

Allie dialed. After exchanging the typical small town greetings with the receptionist while Ross grumbled some nonsense about prodigal daughters, she relayed her message directly to the sheriff. “He’s expecting us,” she said to Ross when she disconnected.

“Good. We’ll either meet him or we won’t.”

“I beg your pardon?” What did that mean?

“Whatever evidence you’ve got about that money laundering, no expense has been spared to retrieve it. They’re worse than sharks.” His big palm landed on her shoulder as he tugged her sideways and down to the seat. “Stay low.”

She felt him gun the engine and barely resisted the urge to peek at whatever was going on.

“Damn trucks.”

The car swayed as Ross looked for a way around the eighteen wheeler blocking his path on the two lane road. He jerked the car left, stomping on the accelerator. Seconds later, he jerked the car back to the right lane again.

“I’m going to roll down the window,” he said. “I want you to take the battery out of my phone and throw it.”

She didn’t bother mentioning the strict littering laws or that the battery was a biohazard.

Less than a minute later, Ross slowed to a speed closer to legal and told her to sit up. “That’s good news.”

“What do you mean?” Everything he said and did emphasized how little she knew about handling her horrible situation. Tears threatened again, but she couldn’t indulge the emotion. She had to be sharp, had to find her way out of this.

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