Hidden (Nicole Jones #1)(72)

The door closes and he is gone.





THIRTY-FIVE


I begin to shake, my knees give out and I sink to the floor, hyperventilating. I bring my hand out from behind me and stare at the gun that I have lifted from Ian’s waistband.

I don’t want to use it, but the familiar heaviness of it, its solidness, feels comfortable in my hand. Despite everything that happened.

In one swift movement, I drop down to the floor and pull the backpack out from under the bed. Cash spills out of it. I need to find a way to make it less conspicuous. I spot the towels Lillian has left for me on the dresser, and I go get them. Carefully and slowly, as if I have all the time in the world, I wrap the cash up in the soft, plush towels. I leave a little out that I put in the front pocket for easy access. I slide the laptop inside as well, tucking the towels around it. The gun lay on the floor next to me. What to do with that? I am wearing yoga pants and a fleece jacket with small pockets. Nowhere to hide it. It has to go in the backpack, too. I tuck it between the towels. It won’t be easy to get to if I need it, but I have no choice.

I sit on the floor for a few minutes after the backpack is ready. I look around the room and think about where I was last week, having my weekly Friday dinner with Steve at Club Soda.

I get up and sling the backpack around my shoulder. I have already paid Lillian for the room, but I leave a little more for her on the dresser, just because she’s going to make breakfast in the morning but I won’t be here to eat it and she will have wasted her time.

I know when I get outside that Steve will be there, waiting for me. I wish that he weren’t, but I need him and I am grateful for him. He watches me as I walk around the front of the Explorer and climb into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut behind me. I reach around for the seatbelt before he speaks.

‘You OK?’

I nod.

‘Where are we going?’

I think about that duffel bag and how much I have lost. ‘Did you see him leave?’

He knows whom I am talking about. He cocks his head toward the road in front of us. ‘There.’

‘Let’s see if we can’t find him. He’s got something I need.’

‘The duffel bag?’ Steve doesn’t wait for an answer, he just starts the SUV and we begin to move forward. I strain my eyes to try to see Ian somewhere ahead of us, but I see nothing but darkness beyond the headlights. Until …

I point. ‘There.’

‘One step ahead of you, Nicole.’ Steve cuts out the lights and we are now relying on the moon to guide us. Ian is just ahead, sauntering along the side of the road, the duffel swinging. I lean over and reach inside the backpack, pulling out the gun. I feel the SUV lurch.

‘What’s that, Nicole?’

‘What do you think?’ I try not to sound belligerent, but I am not successful. I just want it all to be over.

‘You’re not really going to use it, are you?’ The worry in his voice makes me feel guilty. He had no idea that I was a criminal, and now that I have a gun, I am even worse than he thought. I don’t want to keep disappointing him.

‘I just want to scare him. I need that duffel.’

‘What’s in it?’

I can feel his eyes on me, and I turn to stare him down. ‘Money. Money that I’ve earned, not stolen.’

‘Why don’t you just let it go?’

Why not? I have ways to get more, but I don’t want to do it that way anymore. I want the money that I earned by working, giving my tours, money that I made when I was happy. And I need all of it, so I can get the documents I need in Chinatown on Friday. I can’t tell him this though, so I just say, ‘I can’t.’

‘Nicole, you could stop this right now. You could go to Frank Cooper and tell him everything. Isn’t there some sort of statute of limitations on what you did? Do you have enough money to start paying back what you stole?’

‘It’s not that easy, Steve. And anyway, Frank isn’t the only one here. The FBI is here, too, looking for me, and no one is going to help me. I only have one alternative. I get that duffel and I leave.’

‘If what you say is true, how do you think you’re going to get on the ferry tomorrow morning?’

‘I’m not.’

Steve stops the Explorer and shifts around in his seat so he can look at me.

‘Come on, Steve, let’s catch up to Ian and get that bag.’

‘Not until you tell me what you’re going to do.’

‘It’s better if you don’t know.’

‘No, it’s not.’ He watches me for a few seconds and then a broad smile takes over his face. ‘You don’t know, do you? You don’t know how you’re getting off the island.’

I shrug.

‘I know you better than you know yourself, Nicole.’

That’s what he thinks.

‘One step at a time, Steve, OK?’ I indicate Ian, who is become merely a tiny shadow ahead of us.

‘Sure, Nicole.’ The Explorer starts moving again, faster and faster until we pull up right next to Ian.

He stops short, sees me and frowns. He reaches around and realizes now that his gun is missing. I wave it in front of the window before I open the door and jump out. ‘Looking for this?’

He lunges for me, but Steve is faster than either of us expects. He grabs Ian from behind, locking his arms behind his back. In his surprise, Ian has dropped the duffel.