Sealed With a Kiss (34 page)

Authors: Leeanna Morgan

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BOOK: Sealed With a Kiss

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“Yes, ma’am.”

She passed Ryan her folder of notes. “At
least promise me that you’ll read the other ideas. You’re not the
first musician to be blackmailed by an ex-wife.”

Ryan didn’t bother replying.

Dorothy sighed. “Why do I get the feeling
that as soon as you leave the café, you’re going to put my notes on
the floor of your truck and leave them there?”

“I guess we’re both learning something new
about each other. Cindy’s not going to get her hands on any of my
money or ruin my reputation. I’ll read your ideas and let you know
what I think.”

Dorothy left the café as quickly as she’d
arrived.

Ryan looked down at the folder and frowned.
Some days, being a country music superstar sucked.

***

Sophie Elliott lifted one of her suitcases
out of the trunk of her car. In both directions the road was as
straight as an arrow, stretching into forever for as far as her
eyes could see. Ten minutes ago she’d run out of gas. She knew she
would have been lucky to reach Bozeman, but over the last two weeks
she’d been in more difficult situations than a blinking fuel
indicator. This time, she’d pushed her luck too far. About two
miles too far.

She locked her car and pulled the handle of
her suitcase high. Bozeman couldn’t be more than a thirty-minute
walk from here. She’d buy more gas, walk back to her car, and keep
looking for somewhere safe to stay.

As she started walking, she wondered how many
people drove down this stretch of the interstate. In the last ten
minutes, the only living thing she’d seen had been a hawk.

She’d driven from Chicago to Montana out of
desperation. A friend who’d worked with her in the Department of
Microbiology and Immunology at Chicago University had lived in
Montana for six years. She’d told Sophie it was the prettiest place
on earth. It was so quiet you could hear the wind whispering
through the trees and, in the summertime, it was so hot you could
fry an egg on the asphalt. Even knowing all of that, Sophie wasn’t
used to feeling as though she was the last person on earth.

Her suitcase bumped over the stones behind
her, jarring her arm and slowing her down. At this rate, she’d
never make Bozeman by nightfall. She pushed the handle back into
the suitcase and carried it beside her. She kept reminding herself
that she was doing the right thing, that she could do more good by
disappearing. Sharing what she knew with the wrong people could be
deadly, not only for herself but for her mom and sister.

A brown pickup truck drove toward her. Sophie
put her head down and kept walking. The truck slowed to a crawl,
and the driver rolled down his window.

“Looks like you could do with a ride?”

Sophie glanced at the cowboy. “Thanks for the
offer, but you’re going in the wrong direction.”

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

Sophie didn’t think her Chicago accent was
that different from his, but she wasn’t about to start a
conversation with a stranger. She pushed a strand of hair off her
face and kept walking. It must have been ninety-five degrees, and
it was barely eleven o’clock in the morning.

The cowboy turned his truck around and
followed her down the road. “That suitcase seems mighty heavy,” he
said with a smile. “Looking at that tiny blue car on the side of
the road, I’d say you’ve run out of gas. I can easily drive you
into town and bring you back here.”

Sophie stopped walking. The cowboy’s hat
covered most of his face. She had no idea what he looked like, but
there couldn’t be many mass murderers and trained killers who wore
plaid shirts.

His truck was covered in dirt. It had enough
bumps and scrapes to pass for the real thing. “I don’t want to be
too much trouble. You’ve just come from Bozeman.”

“Ma’am, there isn’t a woman alive that’s not
trouble. But if it’s just gas you need, then I can help you
out.”

Sophie looked down the road once more before
deciding what to do. It was hot and she was desperate. After two
weeks of running like a scared rabbit, she was tired of
second-guessing everyone. It probably wasn’t the most logical thing
to do, but logic didn’t work so well when you were alone and
thousands of miles from home.

“Thank you. I’d be grateful for a ride into
town.” She waited beside his truck while he got out. He was taller
than she imagined. Taller and wider. The man had muscles that would
have put her male colleagues in the science lab to shame.

Sophie looked into his deep brown eyes. “I
appreciate you stopping.”

“Happy to be of help,” he said with a smile.
He opened the back door and took her case out of her hand. “Were
you planning on staying a while or just passing through?”

Sophie walked around the truck and opened the
passenger door. She thought about the different things she could
say; the half-truths and downright lies she could use to keep
herself safe. “I’m not sure yet.”

The stranger got into the truck and started
the ignition. “Montana’s a good place to work out what you need to
do. Have you been here before?”

“No, but I’ve heard some great things about
Bozeman. Do you live here?”

He looked in his rearview mirror and moved
onto the highway. “I move around a lot. I’ve got family living in
Bozeman.”

She waited for him to say something more, but
he kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. “I’m Sophie.” She held
her hand out, wanting to keep the ride into town as professional as
possible.

The cowboy glanced across the cab. He held
his hand out. “Hi, Sophie. I’m Ryan.”

Their hands barely touched, but Sophie felt
the strength of his grip like a warning along her spine. “I don’t
usually run out of gas. I thought I’d have enough to get me into
town. I guess I didn’t pay too much attention to how quickly the
fuel gauge was going down.” Sophie closed her mouth. She was
rambling. He probably thought she was a ditzy woman who didn’t know
one end of a car from the other.

“You must have a lot on your mind.”

If Ryan knew what she had on her mind, he
wouldn’t have stopped to help. Sophie glanced out of the cab,
suddenly feeling nervous. It was a bit late for that. She’d jumped
into the truck with a total stranger, she was heading toward a town
that she’d never seen and had ninety dollars in her wallet.

As they drove closer to Bozeman, she thought
about what she had to do next. After she’d refilled her gas tank,
she’d need to look for a job. It wasn’t what she’d planned on
doing, but nothing over the last two weeks had been part of her
plans.

Ryan glanced across the cab. “Where do you
normally live?”

Sophie didn’t have to think hard about her
answer. Before she left Chicago, she’d decided to invent another
life in a different city. “San Francisco.”

“It’s a big city. I’ve stayed there a few
times. Did you ever go to Tony’s Pizza Place? It’s on Stockton
Street.”

Sophie felt her cheeks grow hot. “No, I don’t
think I went there.”

“It’s opposite Washington Square Park. It’s
well worth a visit.”

Sophie kept her eyes on the passing scenery,
hoping Ryan got the message and didn’t ask her any more
questions.

“How long have you been living in San
Francisco?”

“About three years.” Sophie crossed her
fingers, hoping the story she dreamed up sounded real. “I work in
retail.”

“What do you sell?”

She tried to look confident, as if his
questions were the most natural thing in the world to answer.
“Shoes. Ladies shoes.”

Ryan looked down at her feet. He didn’t need
to say anything about her choice of footwear. Her sneakers were the
most comfortable pair of shoes she owned. They definitely weren’t
the type of shoes that a fashion-conscious twenty-nine-year-old
would have worn.

She pulled her feet closer to the edge of her
seat. “I wore my old sneakers today. They’re a good pair of shoes
to wear when you’re driving.”

Ryan nodded. “Makes sense.”

As the first buildings in Bozeman came into
view, she breathed a sigh of relief. The commercial properties were
a mix of old red-brick buildings and newer retail outlets. The wide
streets and almost empty parking lots were so different from
Chicago. She felt as though she’d stepped back in time.

“There’s a gas station not far from here.
They’ll have a gas can we can use. When you get back to town, just
drop it off to them.”

When they pulled into the station, Sophie
looked at the cars and trucks parked at the pumps. Everyone was
going about their own business. They weren’t worried about the
brown truck that had parked at the side of the building.

As soon as Ryan stopped the truck she had her
hand on the door handle. “Thanks for giving me a ride into town. I
really appreciate it.”

Ryan looked amused. “Anytime. It’s nice
helping a damsel in distress. But I haven’t finished yet. I’ll take
you back to your car once we’ve got a full can of gas.”

Her eyes widened. She’d been in such a hurry
to leave that she’d forgotten about getting back to her car.

“Just in case you need rescuing again, here’s
my phone number.” He took a piece of paper out of a folder on the
floor and scribbled a number on it. Now let’s get some gas for your
car.”

Sophie didn’t need to be told twice. She
jumped out of the truck and walked across to one of the people
working at the station. The sooner she got what she needed, the
sooner she could start working on her other problems.

Running out of gas wasn’t the best start to
her arrival in Bozeman, but it was better than not getting there at
all.