Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(75)

Please, Alex, please be right on the street somewhere.

She’d been hoping Alex and Souze weren’t far. He’d said to text him when she was ready to go back, so he hadn’t intended to leave her behind completely, regardless of how angry he was. But there was no sign of him.

Despair crashed down on her, and her vision blurred as tears threatened.

“No need to be frustrated, dear.” Joseph leaned in to murmur in her ear again. “Our driver had to go some blocks away to park. He’ll join us shortly. You won’t be waiting long.”

“I parked around the corner.” Julie flipped her curls over her shoulder. “I’ll meet you at the airport.”

Joseph nodded. “Your flight information will be sent to your phone.”

Julie batted her lashes. “I thought I was riding in the private jet with you.”

“Speed is not a concern in your return home.” Joseph’s tone was dismissive. Of course. He was done with her. “You can take a commercial flight.”

“That’s f*cking ridiculous.” Julie’s face twisted in anger. “I did everything you asked me to and you’re going to ditch me on the way back to DC?”

As Julie proceeded to give Joseph a piece of her mind, Elisa pulled her thoughts together. Okay, so Alex wasn’t nearby and wasn’t going to save her. She had very little time to save herself because once she was in Joseph’s car, she’d be enfolded in the layers of security he maintained. There’d be a driver for now and maybe a bodyguard. Once they arrived at the airport, there’d be another bodyguard or two. They’d be in private lounges until their flight was ready and then the private jet would transport them to wherever he had in mind, whether it was back to the DC area or someplace else. When she’d been running from Joseph, distance hadn’t been important because he could chase her anywhere. It’d been the randomness of the location she’d depended on to hide from him.

And random was what would help her now. She needed to behave as he expected and create a chance for herself.

What would Boom do?

Julie stormed off with an ear-splitting screech. Joseph muttered a curse and tugged Elisa across the street.

“Where—”

“That entitled bitch Julie thinks she’s going to cause a fuss, going off to catch the attention of the authorities.” His lips pressed into a thin line, and the muscles in his jaw jumped as he ground his teeth. “Her temper tantrums are an excellent asset on occasion, but the timing is currently less than perfect. I’ll have to consider her punishment later. Perhaps a few choice photographs will leak out to the modeling agencies she was hoping to sign with. She has rather delusional aspirations, unfortunately. Attractive charms, yes, but she is not striking. She really is unwise about sending images via phone.”

Elisa could only imagine. “Julie often criticized me for being too conservative and not sexy at all when texting with you. I felt it was unwise to have images out there when so many celebrities have their privacy invaded. You don’t like scandals.”

One corner of his mouth lifted. “You were always considerate, dear. Until you decided to leave. But everyone has second thoughts and I didn’t mind letting you go off to experience a modicum of freedom within limits. I’m relieved you did nothing to embarrass me during your adventures.”

They reached the other side of the street and he hustled her toward a set of stone stairs by the quaint old bridge. Its stone and wood construction made it perfect for pictures in the daylight but with the fading light, it cast shadows across the adjacent stairs. In the gloom, there were too many ways to be overlooked.

The stairs led downward, toward a water-filled canal and a dirt running trail. Away from people and the regular foot traffic on the main shopping strip. New Hope was a small historic town; high traffic here did not mean the same thing as it would in the city, even on a Saturday night. The trail was almost deserted.

Oh, she had to do something. Quick. Her chances of finding help, of catching anyone’s attention, had gone from decent to close to zero.

You’re not trying to win a fight. You want to hit once and run. Give yourself enough time to get away.

She tried to take in her surroundings. Think. She could do this. She didn’t have to wait for someone else to do it for her.

They reached the bottom of the stone steps and, sure enough, there wasn’t anyone on the dirt trail or even in sight up and down the river. The banks on either side of the canal were steep. Too steep for her to hope to climb. Other than the occasional steps near bridges like the one they’d come down, there wasn’t any quick way back up to the houses and streets that she could see. And it wasn’t likely for someone in one of the houses to see down into the canal at the moment. Sounds from the street were muffled on the trail running next to the canal. She wondered if shouts from down here would be similarly muffled to people up in the houses or the street beyond.

Calling for help wasn’t going to do her much good if Joseph still had his hands on her.

“Come along.” Joseph tugged at her until she stumbled into a faster walking pace. “There’s a parking lot at the end of this godforsaken little hiking trail. I’m going to need to change my shoes after this.”

It was a good thing she was wearing low heels. Otherwise, she’d have had a lot more trouble catching up. As it was, these were comfortable and broken in. If she had to, she could run in them. Looking at the odd stones in the well-worn trail, it might be better for her feet if she kept her shoes on. Plus the other parking lot she’d seen, where Alex had parked, had been gravel. She wouldn’t be able to run far on gravel in bare feet if they reached a similar parking lot. So the shoes stayed.