Wrong Number (16 page)

Aubree whirled around and dug her hand into her purse, searching frantically for her cell phone. She pushed the speed dial and backed up slowly, straining her ears for any sound. There was nothing out of place in the kitchen or living room, and Aubree couldn’t see any sign of movement down the hallway. Her heart was pounding, and she gasped when Jason answered.

“Jaybird, I just got home from the store, and there was a window open in my living room,” she whispered.

“Has your alarm been deactivated?” Jason’s voice rose slightly, and it made her all the more nervous.

She walked back through the kitchen toward the alarm panel. “I entered the code when I got home.” She fished in her purse and pulled her pepper spray out, trying to ignore the blood beating in her ears.

“I can check from here to see when the code was entered last.” Jason said. “It’ll take a few minutes. Are you sure you didn’t leave the window open?”

Aubree squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t remember opening it.”

“Do you see any sign of an intruder?”

“No, but I’m scared.”

“I’ll send an officer over there for you. I want you to get back in your car and drive around the block.”

“Scarlett’s asleep in the car,” Aubree said. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid. I think if someone were here they would’ve come out by now.”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, but I’ve got dispatch sending an officer over,” Jason said. “Are you heading back to your car?”

Aubree glanced down the hallway and frowned. “Yes.”

“I’m glad you called me. I’ll have the alarm information for you soon to double check. We should be able to see when that window was opened.”

“I don’t remember opening it, and something didn’t feel right when I came home,” Aubree tried to explain. She took a few steps down the hall, noting that her bedroom door was closed as she had left it.

“I know it’s hard not to worry, but you’re hidden,” Jason said. “No one even has a picture of what you look like right now. There’s no record of the changes we made to your appearance.”

“But what about the one in my file?”

“What? That doesn’t look like you now. That’s from when you were seven months pregnant with blonde hair,” Jason said.

Aubree stopped near the front room, her breath catching in her throat at the memory of something that now exploded in her worried mind. “No, the one Miranda—Agent Olsen—took of me right after they dyed and cut my hair.” Aubree heard a choking sound from the other end of the phone. “Jason?”

“Jaybird says leave the nest! Get out! Get out now!” Jason shouted.

The room seemed to tilt, and Aubree couldn’t concentrate. Jason’s voice was echoing in her ears as she tried to remember what she was supposed to do next. She stepped back and looked at the open window in the living room again. A thousand different thoughts buzzed through her mind. She looked at the pepper spray in her hand at the same instant the front door burst open.

Aubree screamed as a man barreled toward her. She raised the pepper spray and shot it directly at his face.

Her attacker hollered and stopped, but Aubree rapidly came alive. She ran at the man with all her might and pushed him. He was already backing away because of the pepper spray, and her momentum sent him
flying. He tripped off the front steps and landed in the pile of rose clippings with jagged thorns, howling in agony.

Aubree didn’t hesitate. She slammed the door and ran back through the house into the garage, coughing on the pepper spray that lingered in the air. She closed the hatch on the car and jumped inside, locking the doors. She put on her seat belt and opened the garage door. Behind her, Scarlett was still sleeping soundly. Aubree put the car into reverse and jammed her foot on the gas pedal.

She saw a flash of the dark jacket the man wore and heard a thump from the side of her vehicle. The tires screeched as she pulled onto the street and shifted the car into drive. The man lay unmoving on her driveway, and at first Aubree wondered if she’d run him over, but then she figured he’d run into the side of her car while trying to stop her. She sped down the street looking constantly in her rearview mirror.

During one glance, she noticed her own reflection. Mascara ran down her face, and she wiped at it, not even realizing she’d been crying. Her hands shook, and she gripped the steering wheel tighter. She willed herself to slow down as she headed for the nearest freeway entrance.

A buzzing sound from her purse made her heart jump. She fished out her cell phone and saw that Jason had just been trying to reach her. She glanced in her rearview mirror again as she pulled onto the freeway and dialed Jason’s number.

“Aubree, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I think so,” she stammered. “A man came through my front door. He was going to attack me—I used my pepper spray. I got away, and I’m driving on the freeway now,” she said.

“The local police are on their way. I need a description to relay to them.” Jason said.

“He was wearing a dark jacket. He was around six feet tall, maybe two hundred and twenty pounds,” Aubree said. “I don’t know. It happened so fast. I think he had dark hair and a mustache.”

“That’s good. Can you think of anything else that might make him stand out in a crowd?” Jason said.

“Not right now.” Aubree tapped the steering wheel. “I’ll keep thinking.”

“Hold on a minute,” he said. Aubree heard him give out the description and then he came back on the line. “Are you headed for the safe house?”

“Yes,” she answered, but then hesitated. “How did they find me?”

“I’m trying to figure that out. It doesn’t make sense. Something’s wrong. They bypassed the security system.”

She pursed her lips and then blew out her breath in a huff. “I don’t think I’ll go to the safe house after all.”

“What? Aubree, you have to. It’s the only way we can protect you.”

“Maybe you’d better see who Agent Olsen shared her pictures with before I do that.” Aubree felt her anger rise to the surface as she realized how close she’d come to losing her life.

“We’ve already got her in custody,” Jason said. “We’ll find out what she was up to. I’m sorry. I had no idea she’d taken your picture. Why didn’t you say so before?”

“Because I trusted her. She had what seemed a legitimate reason to take my picture, and then I forgot about it.”

“That was too close. You’ve got to come in, and we’ll make sure you’re safe,” Jason said.

Aubree glanced at Scarlett in the back, still sleeping peacefully. She was headed to the safe house, but as the mile markers on the freeway whizzed past, she shook her head. “I’m not coming back in to be guarded day and night under house arrest, Jason.”

She heard him swear in frustration. “It’s the only way we can keep you alive.”

“No!” Aubree slammed her hand against the steering wheel. “You can keep me alive by figuring out who is behind all this and putting them in prison. Until that happens, I’ll never be safe. Your own agents have turned against you. Maybe you should look at what’s happening right under your nose.”

Jason swore again, but then he said, “Please. I’ve hardly slept since last week. I’ve been trying to find something on Governor Ferrin. I think we’re closer than we know—we must be for them to come after you like this.”

“I need time to think about what to do. I’ll let you know.”

“Please. Don’t do something stupid.”

“I won’t,” Aubree said, and she ended the call. Jason was sure the FBI
could keep her safe, but she wasn’t anymore. Whoever was behind this was too powerful. She approached the exit to the safe house. She glanced in her rearview mirror again and pressed on the gas pedal.

F
IFTEEN

A
S SHE PASSED THE
exit sign, Aubree’s chest constricted, but she sucked in a breath of air and kept driving. Her attacker’s face kept flashing before her eyes. She prayed silently as she drove and tried to think of a plan to stay alive. She had already lost Devin; she was determined to be there for Scarlett. The shock was wearing off, and her tremors subsided, but she kept the needle on the speedometer as high as she dared to get away from Omaha as fast as possible.

Aubree felt tired and hungry, but she kept driving for more than two hours as Scarlett slept. Around four in the afternoon, Scarlett woke up.

“I know you’re hungry, sweetie. We’ll stop soon, and I’ll feed you.” She tried to soothe Scarlett by singing softly. They had been heading south from Omaha, and the next city coming up was a small town called Aurora. The signs on the interstate indicated Aurora had hotels and restaurants, and yet she wondered if they should stop.

Scarlett wailed louder as Aubree slowed the car and exited the freeway. She pulled into the lot of the first grocery store she found and parked the car. Climbing into the backseat, she unbuckled Scarlett. Feeling grateful for tinted windows, she fed her baby and tried to think what to do next.

The air conditioner blew on her and rustled the grocery sacks in the back. Aubree said a quick prayer of thanks that she still had her groceries. She had just purchased new diapers, wipes, and baby food for Scarlett that afternoon. She had a good stock of food on hand. With a few other essentials, a cooler, and some ice, she could make it for several days on
her own. Aubree’s head snapped up as a thought came into her mind. She remembered all the fun experiences she’d had camping with her parents when she was young. She’d loved being outdoors where things were so secluded, away from anything and everyone.

By the time she finished feeding Scarlett, her mind was racing with the details of her new plan. If it worked, Aubree felt sure she could keep them safe until things settled down with the FBI. She reached over the backseat and pulled out a bag of bagels. Ripping pieces off a blueberry bagel, she chewed slowly while she thought of where to go next. Scarlett was content again for the time being, but she’d also need some solid baby food within an hour.

“I think we’ll have to go shopping later for some more supplies,” Aubree said to her baby. Scarlett just babbled in reply. Aubree drove slowly through the small town of Aurora until a sign caught her eye. She’d been looking for an outdoor supply store, but a small billboard announced, “Revolutionize your summer vacation! Buy your RV, trailer, SUV, in under an hour!”

She scanned the lot and then pulled into a parking space across the street. There were camping trailers, motor homes, pickups, and SUVs of all kinds for sale in a small lot. Aubree gazed out at the parking lot, her anxiety building as she considered how dangerous it might be to get out of the car.

After taking a few deep breaths, she climbed out of her car and retrieved her emergency bag from the back. She brought it around to the front seat and climbed back inside, locking the door. She looked around the parking lot again, but didn’t notice anything suspicious.

She tugged on the zipper and pulled out a smaller bag. The bag contained several hundred-dollar bills, and Aubree flipped through them, checking the amount. It was more cash than she’d ever held in her life. Ten thousand dollars—the money came from Devin’s life insurance policy. It wasn’t a large policy, but it had covered burial expenses, and Aubree had put some in a special savings account under Scarlett’s name. She had taken the rest with her.

Jason had given strict instructions on how she should pack her emergency bag, complete with a passport for Jolynn Dobson and money in case he decided she should leave the country. But she wasn’t going to leave the country—that might be expected. Instead she was going somewhere
no one would expect a city girl from San Diego to hide out. Aubree put the bag of money inside her purse’s zipper compartment.

“You ready to go shopping?” She smiled at Scarlett and carefully draped a blanket over her head. Scarlett snuggled against her chest, and Aubree walked across the street to the RV lot. She stepped around several potholes in the cracked asphalt and eyed a dingy trailer positioned near the road.

This was a small town business, but if it could get her outfitted in an hour like the billboard said, it was worth a shot. Within a few seconds, a salesman with red hair and a gold hoop in one ear came out of the building.

“Are you looking for a vacation vehicle?” he asked and flashed a bleached smile.

“Yes,” Aubree said. “I’m looking for a camping trailer and a pickup to pull it.”

His eyes lit up, and he ran a hand through his curly hair. “Let me show you what we have.” His cowboy boots crunched along the asphalt, and he pointed toward a group of used trailers.

She followed him around the lot as he showed her a few different models. She stopped in front of a fifteen-foot trailer and read the specs on a paper hanging from an inside window: Twelve years old and in good condition. “I’d like to look inside.”

“Sure. This one’s an older model, but it has all the amenities.” He opened the door and motioned for her to step inside.

Scarlett cooed and reached out to grab the blue curtains hanging over the sink. Aubree shifted her to the other hip and opened a few of the cupboards. “There are dishes in here.” She smiled in surprise.

“Yeah, we just acquired this, and it comes with pots and pans and the works.” He opened another cupboard and pointed at a heap of old camping supplies. “The owners bought a brand new RV and said they were buying everything new to furnish it.”