Behind the Lies (Montgomery Justice #2)(18)

A loud rumble sounded from out front.

His truck.

He ran around the cabin. A woman’s very curvy backside stuck out from the door. A small boy’s face peered at him from the backseat.

The woman rose. When she spotted him, her face turned milky pale. He knew her. He’d recognize those emerald eyes anywhere. She sucked in a breath, dove into the truck, and slammed the door.

He raced toward her, but she ground the gears and peeled out down the road. He skidded to a halt and stared in stunned disbelief.

Jenna Walters had just hot-wired his truck.




Jenna clung to the steering wheel of the large vehicle. Her knuckles whitened when she squeezed tighter, forcing her shaking hands to still. The truck’s powerful engine rumbled beneath her and she pressed down on the gas.

One glance over her shoulder had her swallowing back a lump. Zach Montgomery looked stunned…then really, really pissed.

Her internal alarm rang, making her hands shake. Zach could have been a mirror to Brad when his frustration built to the point where he would burst into a yelling fit. Maybe all men but her dad were the same, ready to explode at the first challenge instead of finding a way around the problem. Well, she refused to live in a state of constant tiptoeing. Not anymore.

“You took his truck without asking, Mommy,” Sam said. “That’s bad.”

And how did she explain this to a five-year-old? “Sometimes—”

He frowned at her. “You stole from the Dark Avenger.” Sam crossed his arms, his lips tightening in a stubborn line, his eyes glaring at her from the backseat.

Jenna couldn’t answer, but she could distract him. “Put on your seat belt, Sam.”

With a grunt he did as she asked. At least her son knew right from wrong—unlike his father.

She’d make it up to him. Once they were safe. She’d lost the luxury of choice once she’d made her deal with the FBI. Now she had to live with the mistake she’d made. Jenna focused on maneuvering the large truck. She turned out of the long driveway and headed down the mountain road.

She used all her strength to force the vehicle into the middle of the road. The winding stretch and tight hairpin turns made her want to stop and walk. She stared unblinking at the white line down the center of the asphalt.

Another turn and she caught a glimpse of the true danger she found herself in. The trees on the driver’s side melted away revealing a sheer drop down. She gasped. It had to be a thousand feet. No guardrail to protect her. Her stomach rebelled. Now she understood why she’d nearly lost it during the last hour of being stuck in the hot bed of the pickup. Each turn had sent her insides roiling.

Bile rose in her throat, though not just from the twists on the road. She glanced at her son, still mutinously silent behind her. She’d jumped out of Brad’s dangerous life into a mountainous torture chamber. What had she done in the name of protecting Sam?

A loud honking sounded from behind her.

A Range Rover ate the distance between them. As the black vehicle drew closer, the windshield framed Zach Montgomery’s determined face.

This couldn’t be happening.

She pressed down the gas pedal as much as she dared. She hadn’t expected him to care if she took his vehicle. After the small car lot she’d found in his garage, she knew the man owned more than any person needed and could have called for help to get down the mountain.

Why had he followed her? Where was the spoiled actor she’d expected who wouldn’t fight for something as mundane as a car?

She had to get away from Zach. She had no doubt that if he found her he’d turn her in to the cops. If that happened, she was dead. And Sam, no telling what Brad would do to her son. At one time, she’d thought her husband loved them—or at least loved Sam—but that man had vanished eighteen months ago.

With a firm grip on the black leather steering wheel, Jenna refocused. She recognized the unwavering resolve. It mirrored the backbone she’d found when she decided to turn Brad in. She pressed down on the gas. The truck sped up and headed toward the mountainside. She turned. The tires squealed beneath them.

Sam whimpered in the seat behind her.

A glance in the mirror revealed the truth. She’d taken the risk for nothing. Zach Montgomery knew how to drive. He’d picked up speed and had closed the distance between them, tailgating her. His face livid, he rode the horn for all it was worth.

Her heart raced as the next turn approached. She had no choice. She had to slow down. Her foot mashed in the brakes. The car veered toward the rock face.

The truck’s side scraped against the jagged rocks jutting out, riding the granite. Metal sparks flew, and her hands shook in her effort to control the wheel. A lump of terror closed off her throat. This couldn’t be happening.

Another sharp turn.

The nose of the truck edged down, racing toward a huge boulder that blocked the middle of the road.

Oh God.

On the way up the mountain in the dark back of the truck, there’d been that sudden jerk causing Sam to slide into her. Now she knew why.

She yanked the steering wheel, but too late. The right side of the truck shoved at the boulder. The tire blew and she barreled toward the tree line.

Jenna fought against the wheels, forcing them toward the rock face, but the truck wouldn’t veer.

She’d lost control.

“Mommy!”