Page 21 of Nicole's Shelter

He shrugged a shoulder as if any risk to him wasn’t worth mentioning. “Why the train station?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t play dumb,” he snapped. “You had a plan. The cabbie at the airport—the first time—he mentioned the train station.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I was going to ask a friend for a favor.”

“To hide you or get you on a train?”

“Both if necessary.”

“That’s likely burned now. Or will be shortly.”

“As soon as the authorities track down the cabbie.”

“Yup.”

“Should I warn my friend?”

“Does he know anything about why you might run away?”

“Nothing at all. I was taking pictures for him. He has an extensive personal collection of model trains.”

Thinking about it now, a chill slid down her spine. Most of those pictures were stored on the cloud, but she’d edited a few on her work computer during lunch. If whoever hacked her computer was after her, rather than Allie, the train station stash might very well be compromised. Good grief she was in a mess.

“Was that some line to get you into his apartment?”

“Well, it worked.” She was startled, and more than a little amused by the rigid set of his shoulders. “Are you jealous?”

“Yeah, I am.” He looked at her, a sheepish grin on his lips. “How weird is that?”

“Pretty weird,” she teased. “You can relax. Arnold is almost eighty, still handsome as the devil though. The pictures were for his insurance company.”

“Uh-huh. What about after that?”

She knew what he was asking and she didn’t want to answer. He could get her to her next destination, had promised to do so. The part of her that still hoped they could go their separate ways at that point was growing smaller with every moment she remained in his presence. Still, it wasn’t fair to drag a good man into her bad situation.

“After the train station depended on which train was leaving first.”

“So you’ve planted stashes both north and south.”

“H-how can you know that?”

“It’s not a big leap. You’re smart, methodical, and it seems you’ve had time to think things through. You staged a kidnapping, knowing it wouldn’t hold up long, but you didn’t care because you only needed a short head start.”

She folded her arms. “You’re right. Irritating,” she added, “but right.”

“The good news is I’m quicker on the uptake than the feds.”

“Feds? How did you leap to that conclusion?”

“Criminals dress well, but the subdued suits around your car screamed federal agent. They really don’t know how to blend in.”

She laughed, a moment made richer when he joined in. Her emotions were on the upswing, even though they had nowhere to spend the night.

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