Page 58 of Risk of a Lifetime
“Yeah.” JB learned in training, no one was above suspicion. Who, though? Who’d he missed? He couldn’t think any more, his brain was tired. His body ached from the past few days of blows and bruises. A fog settled around his thoughts… There was a clue…there had to be…one clue was all he needed. Tired, so tired…there was always a clue…someplace…where was the damn clue?
“Get some sleep, buddy. No telling when you’ll be able to rest again.” Cain turned the radio on low. “I’ll drive up to Jefferson City. Nurse a beer in one of the bars for an hour or so. You two can sleep back there. With the tinted windows on this truck, no one will be able to see you. Should still give us time to get you where you’re going.”
“Appreciate it.” JB angled his head as close to Marcy as he could, holding her hand. “You know, right before we left the house, she told me she never signed the divorce papers. Never filed them.”
“That’s some mighty heavy news to have dropped.” Cain paused, clearing his throat. “How you feel about that? About still being married?”
“I don’t know…I honestly don’t know.” He’d think about that later. Right now, staying alive was top priority. His eyes drifted shut.
Ten .38 bullets. Why thirty-eights? Why ten? Why…?
Chapter Nineteen
She was awake, but Marcy didn’t want to open her eyes. Instead, she wanted to lay there with JB just a touch away and pretend they were home in their own bed. Tucked beneath a nice, warm blanket with a shared glass of wine on the night table. They’d have nothing to do but make sure each other was happy.
“Wake up, sugar.” JB nudged her shoulder.
She stretched, smiled, then elbowed up on one arm and caressed his cheek. Reality slammed full force as the past twenty-four hours flashed through her mind. She jerked to sit up.
His hand pulled her back down. “Be careful. Someone might be following.”
“Where are we?” Her insides felt fueled by fear. Her outsides hurt and ached from the bulldoze effect of brush and trees slamming against her as they ran through the woods earlier. “How long have I been asleep?”
“About four hours. Cain’s been taking us on a road trip around the county.” He shared his cup of coffee with her. Handed her a sack. “Even bought us a couple of sandwiches at the bar in Jefferson City.”
Famished, she scrounged inside and came up with a hamburger. “You don’t know how much I need this.”
Cain kept his eyes glued to the road ahead. “My pleasure. By the way, I swung by the cabin and upped the heat. Plus there’s plenty of food stocked up.”
“Thanks.” Marcy swallowed a bite of burger. “And thanks for helping us. I doubt you ever planned on being part of a good-guy-bad-guy scenario.”
“You’re right about that. I’m just a nice, peaceful kind of guy.” Cain glanced at JB, and the two men shared a like-hell expression.
Someday, she’d ask what that was about, but for now, she was content to know she and JB had a friend willing to help.
Every so often, Cain glanced in his mirrors. “About twenty more minutes to drop off.”
“Eat up, Marcy.” JB straightened. Checked his gun. Reached under his sweater, readjusting the Kevlar vest. “As soon as you’re finished, I want you to start stretching your arms and legs. You need to be able to run the minute we hit the ground.”
She swallowed the last bite before finishing off the coffee. “Did you sleep? Eat?”
He nodded. “Always thinking about how I am, aren’t you? How’d I get so lucky?”
“You were the best-looking jock in high school.” She longed to feel his arms around her like the times they parked at Crayton’s lookout point, cuddling to the sound of soft music. They’d even gone there a couple times after they were married.
Cain cleared his throat in mock gruffness. “I beg to disagree about him being the best jock in school.”
“Well, you were always a really close second.”
For a moment, the three of them laughed at memories. Then the quiet consumed them.
“Get your gloves and hat on, Marcy.” JB worked his legs in a pedaling motion, stretched his arms forward, and bent his back.
She followed his lead and gradually got into her own rhythm. “What time is it?”
“About three. We should be to the cabin by four, four-thirty, at the latest.”
“Won’t it be light by then?” Her hand checked to make sure the gun still rode in her pocket.
