Page 22 of Blind Trust
“He can have more than one friend. Doesn’t matter.”
Lyla’s words echoed back at her, and the sound of them was just as ridiculous as the reason why she should care. Her eyes flashed to her reflection in the rearview mirror, and it was like catching someone in a lie.
It mattered because in the four years she’d worked with Nicolás, she’d grown close to the cautious, quiet, reliable man who sometimes let his guard down, giving her a glimpse of his humor and thoughtfulness, and it had left her impatient to know more.
Lyla started to take the exit toward Rock Hill, the town where her parents lived, and noticed for the third time a red car behind her change lanes when she did. She’d spotted the conspicuous vehicle as it followed when she left the Acacia Building in DC, but her concern had felt silly. Commuters had few choices as far asroutes to leave the city, leading most to choose I-295. If the driver in the car was tailing her, he wasn’t trying to hide it. Which made her think it was just coincidence. Until now.
The odds of someone leaving from the same place in DC and changing lanes when she did and taking the same exit were slim. And even if all that was by chance, even if the driver in the red car did live in Rock Hill, he would’ve taken the first exit and not the one that bypassed most of the neighborhoods. The only people who took the back road to Rock Hill Terrace were residents.
Too coincidental to be chance.
Changing lanes, Lyla let her thoughts about Nicolás fade in light of her concern about the red car. When the red car did the same, Lyla’s evasive driving training kicked in.Don’t lead them to your home.
Accelerating, she weaved her way between cars and put some distance between her and her tail. She took the next exit that would lead them back into Rock Hill’s historic downtown. The city was designed in a grid pattern, but if a driver wasn’t familiar with the layout, they wouldn’t know that one wrong turn would lead to a dead end or a one-way street. Tourists were constantly getting caught up in them, and Lyla knew she could lose the person following her...except part of her wanted to know who it was.
Was it the person who threw a brick through her windshield? Was that only a warning, and now they were back to finish fulfilling Jerry’s final wishes?
She eyed the car in her rearview mirror, her adrenaline spiking. “You picked the wrong day.”
After turning right onto Carrington, she changed lanes and took another right, catching sight of the red car just as it entered the street. Lyla slowed enough to be sure the driver would see her turn.
Ahead of her was a white SUV. Lyla sped up. It was a Lexus, and her rental was a white Mazda CX-5—close enough to work. She changed lanes, using the mirror to keep the red car in view, andthen changed lanes again, putting her back behind the Lexus. Lyla sent up another quick prayer, and when the Lexus driver flipped their blinker to turn right onto Pickett, she laughed. “Thank you, Lord.”
“There are no what-ifs, only God.”Her mother’s voice repeated the words of Corrie ten Boom, words she’d offered to Lyla whenever life seemed to shift on her. Good or bad. A gentle reminder that God was always in control no matter the circumstances.
The Lexus turned left, and Lyla turned right, in the opposite direction down Barrows. She smiled.Barrows the narrows. When Lyla’s father was teaching her how to drive, he made up rhymes to help her remember the nuances of the street layouts. This was a one-way with a narrow alley on one side. Most people missed it unless they were looking for it or managed to get stuck down the road and needed to use it to turn around.
Lyla slowed and then quickly threw her rental into reverse, backing into the alley. The tall buildings on either side of her provided just enough shadow to give her cover. She turned off her driving lights and held her breath, waiting for the red car. If they had followed the Lexus, then she’d lost them. But if—
The red car passed in front of her and Lyla smiled. Ha!
Waiting a few seconds, Lyla edged out of the side alley, glancing to her right to see the red car’s brake lights as the driver realized his mistake.
“Leave. Get out of there.”Nicolás’s voice echoed in her ear. Leaving was the smart choice. Probably the right choice. But if she left now, she wouldn’t know who was following her or why.
Lyla peered at the back of the car again, trying to make out the license plate number. She wouldn’t leave without that, at least. Kekoa could look up the car’s owner. The driver’s-side door opened, and Lyla’s pulse picked up. A woman stepped out and looked directly at Lyla.Move, Lyla. Get out of there.
Before Lyla could heed her own internal voice, the woman raised both hands in the air as if to surrender. Or maybe to showshe was unarmed? Her lips moved, but Lyla couldn’t hear her, so she rolled down the passenger window.
“Please, I just need to talk to you for a second.”
“Who are you and why were you following me?”
“I need to give you something,” the woman yelled back.
Lyla frowned. “What?”
“Um, can I...” The woman looked around her. “Can I come over there?”
Not a good idea, but curiosity was thumping almost as loudly as the warning to leave. Lyla eyed the woman. She was wearing a pair of jeans, worn tennis shoes, and a thin leather jacket. Her hair was tousled but not in a way that said it was purposeful, more like the hasty way Lyla’s looked when she was in a hurry.
“Tell me who you are first.”
“Genevieve. Genevieve Miller.” The woman dropped her hands to her side. “I’m Jerry Miller’s sister.”
Lyla was out of there. She twisted the steering wheel to leave when the woman shouted again.
“No, wait! Please!” Genevieve ran a few feet toward Lyla’s car and then stopped. “I have something for you.”
