Midnight Exposure (Midnight #1)(57)

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Her forehead dropped onto the steering wheel, and she smacked a palm on the dashboard. “I know you’re old and I haven’t always treated you right. But did you have to die on me today?” Unless her car had been sabotaged. Could someone have broken into the garage and tampered with it?

Regardless, her plan had just been erased.

Jayne raised her head and looked out the windshield. A green highway marker rose from the roadside about a quarter mile away. She squinted. Did it say the ramp was two miles ahead? That put her maybe three miles from town. Walking distance. She scanned the ice-covered landscape. In the summer. In this weather, the distance would feel like an eternity.

A quick call to the auto shop netted her a promise that the tow truck, out on another call, would retrieve her car in an hour or so.

This was what she got for working for a tabloid paper, her just desserts served up as a long walk in dirty roadside slush.

She kicked open the door and retrieved her duffel bag from the backseat. The bright winter sun glared at her from over the trees. She could call Reed. He would come and get her. No. Not until she heard from Jason.

She’d better move it if she wanted to be in town before dark. She zipped up her borrowed jacket and started walking. Icy water invaded her mesh running shoes in the first ten strides. She tucked her hands inside the coat pockets.

She’d walked for ten minutes when an engine purred. Jayne stopped; her heart bumped. A small speck appeared on the horizon, coming from the direction of town.

Jayne scanned her surroundings. The forest edge was about twenty yards away. Should she run for the woods and hide? She’d have to slog through several feet of snow. She’d never make it. And her trail would be too visible for her to hide anyway.

What were the chances that was her stalker? It could be anybody. Huntsville had over a thousand residents. Unless, of course, he’d followed her.

The vehicle sped closer. It was a truck, a large dark SUV.

It slowed as it approached.

Jayne held her breath. She removed the shoulder strap of her duffel and gripped the hand straps to make the bag easier to drop if she needed both hands free. Or if she needed to run. The truck pulled over. Sunlight glittered off the windshield. The door opened.

Nathan Hall climbed out.

Jayne’s breath whooshed out in one quick exhalation.

“Having some car trouble?”

“It overheated. Can you believe my luck?” Jayne waved a hand at the disabled Jeep. “Do you know anything about cars?”

“A little.”

“Could you take a look? Maybe it’s something minor.”

His eyes widened at the mushroom cloud issuing from under the Jeep’s hood. “That’s not something minor. And you shouldn’t open the hood until the engine cools. I could drive you back into town.”

Jayne chewed her lip.

Nathan tilted his head and flashed a smile. His clothes were rumpled but clean. No sign of the soot that had streaked Reed from head to toe. Nathan hadn’t run into a burning building to save a friend.

“It’s a long walk,” he said.

How many options did she have? It would take her a half hour to walk to town. A lot could happen to a girl in that span of time, especially in an isolated spot like this one. The road wasn’t highly traveled. Nathan’s was the only car she’d seen so far. Once again, Jayne was smack between a rock and a slab of granite. But could she trust him? And if she didn’t, who might come along next?

“OK.”

Her cell phone rang as Nathan reached for her bag. She reached into her pocket. “Excuse me for a minute.”



Reed shifted into park and looked up. He was sitting in front of his house. Numb, he climbed from the vehicle. The phone pealed just as he opened the front door. A tiny spark of hope was immediately extinguished when he read the display. Scott. Not Jayne. His next breath was a lonely shudder.

“Dad?” Scott’s voice came over the line. “Can I stay at Brandon’s tonight? School’s closed tomorrow. Some issue with the heat or something.”

Perfect. “It’s fine with me. Is Mrs. Griffin OK with that?”

“Yeah. She has to work at the bar tonight. You’re feelin’ OK and all, right?”

“Right.” Reed had talked to Scott shortly after the fire. “I’ll drop off a change of clothes.”

“Cool. Me and Brandon are taking the boys sledding, and we still need to dig out her back porch.”

“All right,” Reed said. “I’ll bring pizza, too.” Becca worked two jobs and still could barely feed her boys, let alone an extra mouth.

“’Kay.” Scott’s tone perked up. “I’ll tell Mrs. Griffin.”

Numb, Reed fed Sheba and called in a pickup order at Tony’s. He peeled off his smoky clothes and tossed them directly into the washer before walking into the bathroom to wash off the soot. As he turned on the shower, the flowery scent of the hotel shampoo Jayne had used smacked him in the face. He closed his eyes and leaned on the vanity while the scent of her overwhelmed him.

How could he have let her go? How could he have stopped her?

Damn Doug. Reed’s head dropped forward. Hell, it was his own fault. He’d been living a lie for years. The truth was bound to come out eventually.

Reed went through the motions of washing and dressing in slow motion. His body moved heavily, as if he were underwater. Grabbing his keys, he left the empty house. He coughed as the cold night air hit his abused lungs. Sheba trotted behind him to the Yukon.