Page 14 of Shadow of Doubt
“It was nice meeting you.” She didn’t wait for Colin but rushed to the door and outside. She should probably be more aware of her surroundings, but for the first time in years she had a moment where she felt safe, and she wanted to embrace it before she left the compound.
She drew clear, crisp air into her lungs and admired the fluffy white clouds in the blue sky. Though in the low fifties at the moment, forecasters said they were in for a sunny day in the mid-seventies. A typical June day after a long, rainy spring, and the warmth of the sun on her face gave her hope.
Could she really find Kane, along with a reason that would stick for him to be arrested and convicted? To get her life back where she could follow her interest in a man like Colin or a friendship with a woman like Eryn?
Not as long as Kane was stalking her. Hunting her. But?—
“The black SUV is mine.” Colin’s voice came from behind.
She jumped.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He clicked the remote for his vehicle, and the device beeped as it unlocked the doors.
“No worries,” she said but hated that her brief moment of hope had ended so abruptly.
He strode ahead and opened the hatch for her suitcases and the passenger door for her, then walked around to the other side. She slid in, enjoying the soft buttery seats warmed by the morning sun.
Colin didn’t speak but quickly got them out of the locked gate and on the road. When they were cruising on the highway, he glanced at her. “Sit back and relax. We have about an hour’s drive.”
She shifted to get more comfortable. “Tell me more about your mother.”
“Are you familiar with lupus?”
“Not really.”
He clicked on the cruise control, and the vehicle held a steady speed over the two-lane highway. “It’s an autoimmune disease with no cure. In people with lupus, their body’s immune system attacks their own tissues and organs. Causes inflammation that affects many things in the body.”
“Things like what, specifically?” she asked, very interested now as she had no idea what parts of the body the disease impacted. She would need to know as she cared for his mom.
“Joints, skin, kidneys. Even blood cells. Heart, lungs. Brain.” He took a long breath. “One telltale sign of the disease is a red rash over the nose and cheeks in the shape of a butterfly. The doctor who first diagnosed it thought it looked like a wolf’s bite and named it lupus—the Latin word for wolf.”
She had no idea. “I’ve heard of it. I think most people have, but I never knew it involved so much of the body. It sounds awful.”
A deep frown marred this handsome man’s face. “It really can be if the medicines don’t control it. Mom had a long run of good health when they did work, but then her insurance refused to pay for the one that was working.”
“How awful.”
He gripped the wheel tighter, and even in the sunlight streaming through the window, his fingers looked white. “Her doctor is appealing the decision, but we haven’t heard anything yet. Anyway, she’s been tired a lot and has pretty severe joint pain. She’s on high doses of steroids to make up for the loss of meds. That’s worked in the past, but for the first time it’s not working well.”
Brooklyn couldn’t even imagine seeing her mama suffer from a chronic disease. She was sure she would feel helpless as she suspected Colin did. Like she had felt with her granny. “I’ll pray for her for sure, but specifically what kind of help does she need?”
“She needs assistance with anything that involves using her hands, which is pretty much everything. So dressing, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etcetera. Dev and I work odd hours sometimes—taking groups out camping for days—and we need to get back to doing that full-time. Our teammates are picking up the slack for us, and that has to stop.”
She had no idea they’d be gone for days. “Exactly what is it that you do?”
“We train people how to live off-grid. So how to live off the land. Things like hunting, fishing, gardening, foraging. Also building fires and shelters. First aid and weapon usage.” He glanced at her. “As you heard this morning, I teach participants how to eliminate their electronic footprints and keep them gone, but I also do the basic introduction class and camping trip.”
Interesting. “So these are people who have had it with society and think they’re better off alone?”
“Yes. Some are die-hard preppers, thinking Armageddon is coming, and others just want a simpler life where they don’t have to depend on anyone else.”
Sounded exactly like what she needed right now. “I can see the appeal.”
He glanced at her again. She didn’t meet his gaze. No way she would encourage him to press her for additional details. She couldn’t tell him living off-grid would be the only way to completely hide from Kane, and even then, he could potentially track her to the property she moved to if it belonged to her or a relative.
“What did your mom like to do before she got so sick?” she asked, in order to change the subject.
“She was a big baker. Spoiled us rotten with baked goods.” He grinned and rubbed his hand over his belly. “She was an avid photographer too. She continued to bake until the past few months but had to give up photography sooner when she lost her steady hand.” He sounded so sad for his mom.
