Hide From Evil (17 page)

“Your parents are close?” she asked.

“They’re about five miles farther up the road. They still live on the ranch my great-grandfather started when he moved over here.”

Within a few yards the wooded drive opened up to reveal a sleek, modern-style house featuring a lot of heavy wood beams, natural stone, and glass. Though it wasn’t overly large, it was architecturally stunning, designed to blend in with the mountain scenery even as it was built to take advantage of the natural beauty of the surroundings.

Sean had mentioned something about Ibarra being off the grid, and she noted the solar panels that lined the south-facing slope of the roof. “So you’re able to power the whole house on solar?” she asked through chattering teeth.

Ibarra nodded as he led them up the front stairs and typed a code into another keypad to unlock the front door. “Mostly. Part of the reason I always had my eye on this property is the geothermal activity in this area. What the solar panels don’t collect, the hot springs and hydroelectric power make up for.”

A hot spring sounded heavenly right now, Krista thought as her body gave another violent shudder.

“Can we skip the alternative-energy lesson for the time being and get a cup of coffee into her before she turns into a Popsicle?” Sean snapped as he guided Krista through the door.

“You should be grateful for the fact that all that alternative energy means this place is virtually untraceable,” Ibarra said with the bare hint of an edge to his voice.

Nevertheless, within minutes Krista was huddled in front of a woodstove, soaking in the heat it was throwing off. She heard heavy footsteps and looked up to see Sean next to her with a cup of coffee. “Thanks,” she said, sighing in pleasure as she wrapped her hands around the hot mug.

Sean grunted something indistinguishable and stomped back into the kitchen. She focused on Ibarra, who was giving her a look that made her feel like a bug under a microscope. Something about his attitude bothered her, an unflappable confidence that danced a little too close to arrogance for her taste. She lifted her chin, hoping a dose of attitude might throw him off his game. “It’s great you can use natural resources to fuel the house, but unless you’re a full-on survivalist, which you’re clearly not, there’s no such thing as untraceable. What about property records, taxes, stuff like that? And even without electricity, you’re running your own business here. There’s no way to do that without phones, Internet, all the other utilities.”

Ibarra handed Sean a cup of coffee and poured one for himself. If he was annoyed by her questions, he didn’t show it. “The property is registered under an anonymous LLC and as for the other stuff…let’s just say it’s my business to find ways to work around traditional communication systems.” He paused and took a sip of his coffee. “Look, anyone who lives around here knows who I am and where I live, but on the unlikely chance someone tries to connect me to Sean, they’re going to have a hell of a lot harder time finding me than most people.”

“And we appreciate the fact that you’re helping us,” Sean said, challenging her with his stare.

“I’m sorry if I sound ungrateful,” Krista said, feeling a hot sting of shame. “I do appreciate that you’re willing to help us, especially considering that I got us all into this mess and have no idea where this ends.”

She hated the pathetic tone in her voice. She had learned early not to show weakness to anyone. But she’d never been through anything like the last twenty-four hours.

How the hell had she ended up here, on the run from the police and God knew who else, her life in the hands of two men she barely knew? One of whom had every reason to hate her.

What happened back in that hotel room notwithstanding.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the sting of tears.

Strong. She had to be strong. Spine straight, chin up, show no weakness or they’ll go in for the kill.

Quiet footsteps approached and a heavy hand squeezed her shoulder. She knew it was Sean even before she opened her eyes, recognized the woodsy scent of him even as her body heated at his touch. She looked up, her stomach flipping over as her eyes met his.

The angry unease that had clouded his gaze all day had disappeared. In one look she saw that he knew exactly what she was feeling. As she met his steady stare, she felt a sense of calm flow through her, as though he was transferring some of his strength and composure to her body.

Krista gave Sean a tiny smile of thanks and he moved away to take a seat in a leather armchair across from the woodstove.

Ibarra flipped on the flat-panel TV mounted on the opposite wall. He gave a low whistle. “Damn, they just can’t get enough of you two. You’re still the lead story on the local news,” Ibarra said.

Krista grimaced as yet another reporter regurgitated the cop killer kidnapping angle, and then she felt her stomach flip as the newscaster announced, “Members of Flynn’s family refused to comment, but earlier today, Kimberly Stevens from our Seattle affiliate was able to speak to Slater’s father, renowned defense attorney John Slater, as well as her colleague, Seattle prosecuting attorney Mark Benson.”

Krista’s chest squeezed as her father and Mark appeared together on screen. Mark looked exhausted, his face deeply lined, his eyes red-rimmed as though he hadn’t slept in days. “We are of course incredibly worried about Krista. All we want is to get her home, safe and unharmed.” Guilt assaulted her at the thought of what Mark must be going through. He would be out of his mind with worry. To Krista, the idea of Sean hurting her was preposterous. But as far as Mark knew, she’d been kidnapped by a former convict with a serious grudge.

She watched as Mark stepped aside so her father could speak. His appearance shocked her. In her entire lifetime, she’d never seen him less than perfectly dressed and put together. But today his suit was rumpled as though he’d slept in it, and his eyes, like Mark’s, were red-rimmed. And, she realized as she took a closer look, damp? With tears?

“Krista,” he said, his voice choking on her name. “If you can see this, know that we love you so much. And we’re praying for you to get home safe. And Flynn, if you’re watching, I know she seems tough, but she’s still my little girl.” He broke off and held his hand to his mouth as though he couldn’t go on.

There was a queer twisting in her stomach. A cynical part of her wanted to dismiss it as grandstanding for the cameras—Lord knew her father could put on a show for the courtroom—but the grayish cast to his skin and the deep lines carved in his face told her this wasn’t purely for show. And to be fair, they didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but she knew deep down her father loved her. As much as he was capable of loving anyone, anyway.

“I need to get in touch with them,” she said to Ibarra. “Just to let them know I’m okay.” She looked to Sean, who was staring at the TV screen, which now displayed his mug shot, his face hard and unreadable. “And to tell them they’re wrong about Sean.”

Sean’s gaze flicked first to her and then to Ibarra. “Do you have a way to call out that won’t be traced?”

“Why don’t we go in my office,” Ibarra said, rising from his chair and motioning them to follow him down a short hallway. The room was all windows on one side, showcasing the view of the mountains and capitalizing on the natural light. A sleek desk dominated the center of the room and three high-definition flat-panel screens were mounted on one wall. One was a news feed, the other a satellite map of the region, and the third was dark.

Several phones were lined up on the desk like an arsenal. Ibarra picked one up, switched it on, and handed it to Sean.

“It’s a COMSAT Planet-1,” Ibarra explained. “Totally secure, totally untraceable, so well encrypted even the CIA can’t hack into it,” Ibarra said.

Krista didn’t know him that well, but she thought she heard a hint of boastfulness in his tone. Boys and their toys.

Krista nodded politely, trying not to glaze over as Ibarra went through a detailed description of all the tweaks he’d done on the sat phone to boost the connectivity.

Sean’s voice jerked her out of her daze. “If your goal is to get into her pants, I don’t think the high-tech nerd talk is going to do it.”

Krista shot him a glare and felt her face heat with embarrassment. With her pale skin, dark under-eye circles, and librarian glasses she didn’t kid herself she was getting second looks from anyone.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Ibarra replied.

Flustered, Krista quickly dialed her father at home, relieved when no one answered. “Dad, it’s me, Krista. I just want you to know I’m okay, and I’m not in any danger from Sean.” Not physical anyway, but that was another can of worms she didn’t want to open right now.

Mark answered his cell on the second ring.

“It’s Krista,” she said. Even his cautious hello was enough to offer a small degree of comfort as her life spun out of control.

“My God! Where are you? Are you safe?”

“I’m okay. I’m with Sean. We’re—” She stopped short as Sean jerked the phone out of her hand and covered the mouthpiece.

“Don’t you fucking dare tell him where we are.”

The ferocity in Sean’s tone made her take a step back. “What if he can help us?”

“What if he’s in on it?” Sean countered. “Until we know whom we’re up against, the only person in law enforcement we trust is my brother-in-law. Is that clear?”

Everything in her rebelled at the idea of Mark’s involvement. Yet she knew if she went against Sean on this, he’d take it as a betrayal. And since she’d dragged him into this quagmire with him, she owed him her allegiance at the very least. She nodded and reached for the phone. “I’m okay, Mark. That’s all I can tell you right now. And Sean didn’t kill that deputy, and he didn’t kidnap me.” Her gaze locked with Sean, who was staring at her through slitted green eyes. “In fact, he’s the only reason I’m alive right now.”

Krista’s words and that steady look in her eyes sent a weird, twisty feeling into Sean’s chest. There was gratitude there, and trust. And though he told himself he shouldn’t give a shit, something about the idea that Krista truly trusted him to keep her safe, and not just because she had no one else to turn to, mattered. Mattered a hell of a lot more than it should.

Everything about her drew him in as though she had a gravitational pull that worked only on him. He looked at her, searching for a flaw, a glitch, something to turn him off, and came up empty. Even pale and drawn, her face wiped clean of any trace of makeup, the creaminess of her skin and the clean lines of her bone structure couldn’t be concealed.

He even liked the heavy-framed glasses perched on her delicate nose.

As he watched, she lifted her hand to stifle a yawn. She had to be exhausted after hardly sleeping the night before. He knew because he hadn’t slept either.

Which didn’t make any goddamn sense, since his years in the military had trained him to catch sleep whenever he could, regardless of the circumstances. In his lifetime, he’d fallen asleep with mortar fire and gunshots wailing in the background and dozed against a rock as they waited to intercept the enemy.

He’d even managed to sleep in the hell of his twenty-by-twenty cell, despite the harsh twenty-four/seven illumination provided by the fluorescent panels in the ceiling.

But put Krista Slater in a bed three feet away from him and he started at every creak of a bedspring, every shift of the sheets. He’d lain there hoping the deep, even breaths he forced himself to take would cool his overheated blood.

He lay as still as a statue, afraid if he moved so much as a muscle he’d launch himself across the short span separating them and finish what he’d started.

The release that had been so powerful it nearly blew the top of his head off had offered no relief. Even though the thought of how he’d come in her hand like a thirteen-year-old getting his first hand job made him sick with humiliation, his body clearly viewed it as an appetizer, something to take the edge off before he indulged in the main course. Which he craved so fiercely he’d spent most of the night shaking and sweating and reminding himself of all the reasons he couldn’t let his irrational attraction to Krista go any further.

Something in his wiring had gotten seriously fucked up.

He shook it off and reached to take the phone from Krista. “I want to call Cole,” he said. “By now he and Megan have to have seen the news, too, and at this point someone’s going to have to lock her up to keep her from trying to come after me herself.”

His fingers clenched around the phone as he hesitated. Up until now he hadn’t let himself think too hard about what his sister might be going through, knowing he couldn’t afford the distraction.

Now his gut roiled with anxiety and guilt over the thought of how stressed out Megan must be. They were already overprotective of each other. Him, because he was her big brother and had taken it on as his personal mission to look after her after their parents died when Sean was thirteen and Megan only eleven. Though their maternal grandparents had taken them in, loved them, and provided for them, their old age and grief over losing their youngest child meant that Sean and Megan felt like outsiders, always aware that their grandparents’ house wasn’t really their home.

Always close, Sean and Megan had bonded even closer together, realizing that after all they’d been through, no one else on the planet would ever know them or understand them like each other, and no matter how close you got to your friends, you could never trust anyone to have your back like a brother or sister.

Yeah, Sean had learned in the most brutal way possible that no matter how much you loved and trusted your friends, no one ever had your back like family.

Megan had been the only one who’d stood by him, publicly proclaiming his innocence and doing everything she could to prove Sean hadn’t murdered Evangeline Gordon.

Now in one of life’s odd twists, Megan was engaged to Detective Cole Williams, the cop who had originally arrested Sean for murder.

But Sean couldn’t really hold that against the man, not when the detective had saved Megan from a brutal killer.