“Right, tell that to the guy he put into a coma for six months. Cade’s a pussycat. But I’ve seen cats fight. They’re vicious, like Cade. I’m not doing it, Elijah. I’ll even tell the board you lied, if you keep pushing me.”
Elijah rose, took a long inhale of the cigarette, and flicked it away.
“No, you won’t.” He planted himself in front of Jess. “It’s your fault he’s in prison anyway. He never would have busted up that bar if you hadn’t walked out on him.”
Jess’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Cade couldn’t reach me to beat up so he beat up someone else, and that’s my fault?”
Cade had tried that argument before, but Jess had more self-possession than to believe Cade’s attack on other bikers was her responsibility. He’d been involved in a high-dollar drug deal with another gang and had done something with the money—put it who the hell knew where instead of sharing out. The bikers wanted their cut, and Cade had decided not to give it to them. He’d even met them to teach them a lesson when they demanded he pay up, and he’d been busted when the fight had turned lethal.
His own damn fault for cheating them—for dealing meth in the first place, the idiot.
The fight had been Cade’s choice. As had resisting arrest so hard. It had taken five cops to wrestle him down.
“Yes,” Elijah said without blinking. “You got him thrown in prison, and you are going to play along that you want him out again.”
“Does he think I’m going to take him back?” Jess demanded. “The answer is no. He’s not coming near me, or Dominic.”
“He’s calmed down a lot,” Elijah said. “Five years will do that to a man. He knows he doesn’t have a chance at winning you back, but he just wants to see you again. I didn’t tell you he was up for parole before, because he didn’t want to give you a chance to run off before he could talk to you. And see his son.”
“He tried to throw Dominic across a room because he was crying,” Jess snapped. “He was four years old! It’s why I took Dominic and left.”
“And Cade’s real sorry about that.” When Elijah tried to soften his voice to a reasonable tone it was even scarier than when he yelled. “You’ll see.”
“No,” Jess said firmly. “If I go to El Paso, it will be to tell everyone I can all the things he did to me and tried to do to me. He even beat the shit out of you for losing a deal for him. He never told you where he stashed all that money before he was arrested, did he? What kind of a best friend is that?”
Elijah shrugged. “I deserved it when he got mad at me. I let him down. And it’s his business what he did with the money he made.” He started to reach for Jess but dropped his hand at the last second. “I know you hate him and won’t do anything for his sake, but you’ll do it for your son’s sake. And for your own.”
Jess took a step toward him. “If you even threaten Dominic, I’ll have the cops on you so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
Elijah’s cajoling vanished, and he became the nasty, dangerous man he was. “Don’t even think about threatening me. I’ll cut you off. You need me, and my money—”
“—Which you shove down my throat every chance you get.”
“Shut up, bitch. I get sick of your yapping. I’m taking care of you for him, and your damned son. I can pull that plug any time.”
He could. While Cade legally had to pay child support even from prison, what Elijah did was extra and she needed it, and he made her know it.
Jess shuddered to think what Cade and Elijah would do if they paired up again. It wouldn’t be having a few beers while they swapped stories about the last five years. The two of them were evil incarnate. Elijah, if anything, had his wings clipped without Cade.
Jess could not let Cade near Dominic. No matter what.
Elijah must have seen the determination in her eyes, because he put heavy hands on her shoulders, biting through her thin T-shirt.
“You’ll do this, Jess. You owe him. And don’t try to get out of it—I’ll tie you up and drag you out there if I have to. Dominic will come with us, and stay with me until you greet Cade like a wife happy to see her husband.”
Jess flooded with chill fear. Elijah would do it. He’d hold Dominic hostage for Jess’s good behavior. If she resisted anymore tonight, he might storm to her house right now and take Dominic, or plant himself inside it until they left for El Paso.
She’d fight him, but there was no telling what Elijah would do before she could stop him. He was always armed, and he had buddies in the police force. He might not shoot Dominic, because he’d have to answer to Cade, but he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Mrs. Alvarez or Jess herself.
And who knew how Cade really felt about Dominic? He’d never tried to see him or communicate with him—or even to send a message to him through Elijah. Not that Jess wanted him to, but if Cade truly cared for his son, he’d have shown that somehow. So, Elijah might not hesitate to hurt Dominic in order to impel Jess’s cooperation.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Fine,” Jess said, tight-lipped. “But you don’t need Dominic. I’ll go.” She mentally crossed her fingers as she spoke, having no intention of going anywhere near Cade’s prison.
“We’ll take him with us, just in case,” Elijah said, his smile snakelike. “He’ll have fun. It will be a road trip.”
Jess’s shivers returned, but she kept her voice strong. “I can’t pull him out of school. I’ll have to set things up with Mrs. Alvarez—she’ll take care of him while we’re gone.”
Elijah shoved his face toward hers, exhaling stale-smoke breath. “No, Jess. Dominic’s coming with us so you don’t do something stupid. I’ll give you time to pack and tell his teachers he’ll be out. They’re letting Cade go Tuesday. I’ll come and get you Monday morning.”
This was Thursday. Three days for planning. Crap on a crutch.
“Fine,” she repeated, her voice stony but resigned. “I’ll be ready, and we’ll get it over with. And hey, they might change their minds and not let him out. No telling what trouble Cade can get into by Tuesday.”
“Don’t count on it,” Elijah returned.
Jess scowled at him. “My break’s over. Don’t get me fired on top of everything else.”
Elijah studied her, as though gauging her honesty, then stepped away, giving her a satisfied nod. He might not believe she wanted to cooperate, but from his look, he believed he’d cowed her.
Jess tried to act exasperated and fearful, just as she would if she’d truly decided to obey him.
The card Tyler had given her burned through the wallet in her pocket. Elijah hadn’t mentioned Tyler or the fight. No one had talked about him at all in the last couple weeks except for a few times when the guys who’d been there congratulated themselves on schooling a wise-ass cowboy.
Then they forgot about him. No one had seen Jess leave with Tyler, except Buddy, and he wouldn’t say a word. He didn’t like Elijah, and besides, he had no way of knowing she’d stayed with Tyler, slept with him, had lunch with his family …
Jess stepped past Elijah and walked toward the bar, pretending she only wanted to get on with work. The biker who’d come out for a smoke was already at the door and held it open for her. So polite. Too bad his politeness, like Elijah’s claim that he took care of her, was all a sham.
* * *
On Sunday afternoon, Jess, Dominic, and Mrs. Alvarez got into Jessica’s car. Mrs. Alvarez offered to drive, and Jess let her—Mrs. Alvarez often drove when they all went out together, considering it one of her duties as Dominic’s caretaker. They headed out of the neighborhood to Dominic’s favorite pizza parlor; at least, that’s what Dominic yelled to the neighbors as they pulled out.
Jessica’s motorcycle looked forlorn in the carport as they backed out, breaking her heart. If all went well, she’d see it again, she tried to reassure herself. But Dominic was more important. Always would be.
A small bag and backpack rested in Jess’s trunk, which she’d put there late the night before. Jess knew E
lijah had someone watching her house—the girlfriend of one of his guys—but if she saw Jess packing and loading her car, she wouldn’t think much about it. Jess and Dominic and luggage couldn’t go all the way to El Paso on Elijah’s bike, so she’d already won the fight that she’d drive.
Jess had asked Buddy for the time off, starting Sunday, so she’d have time to pack and clean up her house. Buddy agreed, but told Jess it would be time off without pay. Jess said she understood.
Jess had called the lawyer she’d used to get the restraining order on Cade, asking him why she hadn’t been informed of Cade’s parole. The lawyer explained, in his clinical way, that the board was only required to tell the victim and his family as well as the lawyers at Cade’s trial. Jess hadn’t been involved in any way in his court case or been the victim in this particular crime, so informing her was optional.
It would have been nice, she’d snapped, but the lawyer had remained cool. No one had told him either, but from what he’d been able to find out, Cade had been a model prisoner lately, and when the parole board had interviewed him, he’d come across as repentant and ready to walk the straight and narrow path. He’d bamboozled them, Jess thought silently. Cade was always good at that—he’d certainly bamboozled her.
Now as Mrs. Alvarez took the car carefully down the road, Jess used her phone to look up the directions to Riverbend, Texas.
She didn’t worry that Elijah or any of his gang would hack into her phone and figure out where she was going. Elijah was strictly low tech. Computers only messed you up, he said. Even his cell phone was painfully simple.
The pizza place was near the I-35. Mrs. Alvarez parked in its full lot—the restaurant was popular—and they went inside to order. Dominic played his favorite video games on the machines across the room. As far as he knew, they were going back home after this, and heading to El Paso with Elijah tomorrow. He didn’t want to go, but he’d understood they had no choice.
Mrs. Alvarez remained at the restaurant when they left. She was meeting friends there, and they would take her home.
Jess had asked Mrs. Alvarez to come to Riverbend with them, fearing what Elijah would do when he realized Jess was gone. Mrs. Alvarez had argued her down. If she disappeared, her friends would scour the state for her, and inadvertently lead the bikers to Jess.
Those same friends would protect her, Mrs. Alvarez assured Jess, if Elijah tried to interrogate her. Middle-aged women were far more formidable than anyone thought.
Jess had a lump in her throat as she gave Mrs. Alvarez a brief hug and kiss on the cheek, telling her to have fun with her friends. Mrs. Alvarez had tears in her eyes, but only gave Jess a quick hug in return and a cheerful wave as Jess steered Dominic out of the restaurant.
Jess’s heart thumped as she started up the car. Her hands were so slick with sweat they slipped off the steering wheel as she was backing up. She had to jam on the brakes and start again.
The car had a full tank of gas, as Jess had filled it up Saturday before work. She’d insisted Dominic use the bathroom at the pizza place, and she had too, so there would be no emergency stops too close to Dallas.
Her chest was tight, her breathing shallow as she eased onto the 35. She saw no bikers around her, not even the girlfriend who kept an eye on her house.
Jess headed south. By the time she was on the outskirts of town, her head was spinning. She prayed she wouldn’t have to pull over and quietly pass out.
But this was the tricky part. If Elijah caught her within the city limits, Jess could claim she was doing last-minute shopping. Once she left town, it would be clear she was running.
The demarcation between Dallas and the countryside was fairly sharp. Within twenty minutes of leaving the city, they were in farmland, the ribbon of freeway cutting a swath through it.
No one followed her. Jess glued her gaze to the rearview mirror, so much so that she nearly ran into the back of a slow-moving pickup before she swerved to avoid it. But so far, she saw no familiar bikes with Elijah and his men hunkered over them.
Dominic looked up from the game he was playing, noticed where they were, and then stared at her.
“Um, Mom? Where are we going?”
“For a drive,” Jess said. “To visit friends.”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed. Jess didn’t think low-tech Elijah would bug her car, but he could have thought of something simple like leaving a cell phone on under her seat. She’d checked for that and found nothing, but she might have missed something. In her paranoid state, she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Sure,” Dominic said. He took in Jess’s nervousness, glanced behind them, then sank down in his seat. “Will you tell me when we get there?”
“Of course,” Jess said brightly. “It won’t be long.”
Dominic gave her a sideways glance and returned to his game. Her son might be only nine, but he was no fool—he’d had to grow up far too fast. He knew something was up but he took his cue from her and said nothing more.
“I love you, Dominic,” Jess said.
“Yeah,” Dominic said. “Love you too, Mom.” The unspoken Whatever was loud and clear, which only bolstered her courage. Dominic wasn’t afraid.
They made it through Waco and continued southward. Jess didn’t relax though. When she failed to return home this evening, the woman watching her house would alert Elijah. Jess figured she had about a four hours’ start, at which time she could be in Riverbend.
She hadn’t thought much about what she’d do once she got there. Tyler might want nothing to do with her—he might not even be in town. He and his brothers could be traveling with their stunt show.
Didn’t matter. Jess would find a place to stay and start over. Riverbend was a name, a haven that called to her. Whether Tyler Campbell would be happy to see her in it or not made no difference.
There was no sign showing a turnoff to Riverbend. All the better. Jess knew which highways went there, and the GPS voice that had spoken from her phone since Waco led her on.
“In twenty miles, turn south on state highway 29,” the voice droned.
Otherwise, all was quiet. Dominic had shut off his device, grown bored with looking out the window—not much to see from the interstate—and dozed off.
Jess took the turnoff, following directions for the next thirty miles, bearing left, then right, then making a sharp turn to the next highway. Texas road systems could never be straightforward. Dominic woke up as the narrow road started up and down hills.
Farmland eased away and trees thickened on the hills. There were the inevitable mesquites, which grew like weeds everywhere, but also live oaks and ash trees, their limbs full of summer green. Open spaces studded with wildflowers unfolded around them. Jess was used to seeing bluebonnets on the sides of highways in spring, but out here they obviously had flowers for every season.
Jess had never been to Hill Country, only viewing it in photos or hearing about it from friends. She hadn’t realized how beautiful it would be. A little ache began in her heart.
As she drove on, instead of growing less nervous, her worry increased. She hadn’t seen any sign of Elijah or his men, but as the miles dropped behind her, doubt crept in.
What the hell was she doing? She’d fled with one bag of clothing for her and one for Dominic. She’d pulled cash out of her bank account over the last couple of days, ostensibly for the El Paso trip, because she didn’t want to use her credit card—the only one she had—once she left Dallas, in case Elijah managed to have his cop friends trace her through it.
So, she had about five hundred dollars to her name, and a son to raise, and now she couldn’t go home. Elijah would scour the state for her. Would this town of Riverbend be hidden enough from him? Would the people of the town help her? Or betray her? Small towns in Texas could be cliquish—outsiders weren’t always embraced, unless they had connections to a family there.
Jess had met the Campbell brothers, and had glorious sex with Tyler. Was that a connection?
She gripp
ed the steering wheel. To hell with it. She could do this. Jess had started over once before, when Cade had gone to prison, and she’d finally been free of him. She’d simply start over again.
She’d find a job in Riverbend or somewhere beyond it. Open a new bank account, find a place to live. Jess hadn’t had that much in the bank anyway. Mrs. Alvarez would give the people Jess rented from her notice, so no one would come after her for back rent and utility payments. The car was paid for, as was her bike. Nothing more would connect her to Dallas. She’d still have to worry about her necessary prescriptions, but one enormous hurdle at a time. She’d taken some this morning, as usual, and had enough left for another week, packed carefully in her suitcase.
Mrs. Alvarez said she’d talk to Dominic’s school as well. Getting Dominic transferred down to Riverbend would be the tricky part—Elijah might figure out he could trace them through Dominic’s school records. Schools were pretty protective of their kids, but Elijah wasn’t above using violence to get what he wanted. Jess would just have to trust Mrs. Alvarez and her posse of middle-aged women to keep Dominic’s location safe.
She bit back a laugh that ended up a sob. Mrs. Alvarez was a wonderful woman, and Jess hoped this wasn’t good-bye forever.
“Turn right on farm road 1223, and proceed five miles to your destination.”
Jessica turned right. In a few minutes, the sign Welcome to Riverbend! Home of the Friendliest People in Texas loomed before her. After that was a curve in the road, a dip that hid whatever was on the other side. High banks of green grass seemed to embrace her.
When they came out of the dip—nothing. Rolling ranch land, waving grass, wildflowers, emptiness under a blue, blue sky.
And yet, it gripped Jess and wouldn’t let go. Welcome to Riverbend, the sign had said.
It might as well have said, Welcome Home.