Hudson focused on the stretch of road in front of them.
“What if I couldn’t live with myself if I walked away from someone who needs my help?What about that, Cassie?”
She issued another sharp sigh.If the shoe were on the other foot, she wouldn’t be able to walk away.Involving him, though, would bring hell to his doorstep.“I’m sorry, Hudson.I truly am.But it would be irresponsible of me to drag you into my mess.”
“You’re not dragging me, Cassie.I’m volunteering.There’s a big difference.If you tell me what we’re up against, I can go into the situation with eyes wide open.”
“Or back out.”
“I’m not going to do that to you.”
Her heart wanted to hear those words.Logic warned her not to trust anyone she’d just met.And yet, Hudson had given her no reason to doubt him.In fact, he’d gone out of his way to make sure she was safe and comfortable.
Could she risk telling him the whole story?
“You can trustme with your secret, Cassie.”
Before she could respond, the crack of a bullet was followed by the truck pulling hard to the right.For a second, he tried to rationalize the bullet as his truck backfiring, but that made no sense given the vehicle was less than a year old.
Cassie let out a yelp as he tugged the wheel back to position and stomped the brake.On second thought, he couldn’t afford to stop.He might destroy his right front rim, but he had to get her out of here.
“Call 9-1-1.”He motioned toward his cell, which was sitting in the cupholder, plugged in to get a charge.
As she picked up the cell, he saw that her hands were shaking.Fair enough.Her worst nightmare looked to be coming true.The person she’d run from had caught up.
Cassie made the call as Hudson studied his rearview mirror, expecting a speeding vehicle to come racing up behind them.
Chicken.
Cassie ended the call.A quick glance over revealed she was as white as a ghost.
“I’m here now,” he soothed.“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.But I have to know what I’m up against in order to mount the right defense.My family can—”
“No family, Hudson.I’ll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to involve any of your family members.It’s bad enough that I’m risking your life to save my own hide, but I can’t be responsible for hurting people you love.”
Fair enough.If the position were reversed, he could see himself making the same demand.
“My brother-in-law is acting sheriff.He needs to know the true threat in town.”
“That’s why we’re leaving,” she said.“He won’t have to know if we draw Jarek and his people away.”
“Okay, then tell me.”
Hudson listened to every word as he navigated down the road on three good wheels.At some point, they would have to stop.Shit.He realized that he was already running on the spare.
Cassie had gotten involved with a pilot who had ties to an organization with long arms.They had political connections, too, which would make it difficult to prosecute.Having grown up with Beaumont as a parent, Hudson knew all about the privilege of privacy that came with having a big bank account.Beaumont could probably have gotten away with murder.Heads would have turned the other way.In all the years of abuse, not one neighbor, townsfolk, or teacher had called CPS.Hudson didn’t resent them for it, either.He knew what fear did to a person’s moral obligations.No one had wanted to go up against Beaumont.He would have driven their business out of town and punished their families.
“What else do you know about the criminal organization?”he asked.“Does it have an identity?”
“I overheard the name The Dixie Syndicate in the context of, ‘you don’t want to bring The Dixie Syndicate down on our asses.’And I heard TDS after that, so I assume that’s who Jarek referred to.”
“Does he work exclusively for TDS?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
Hudson figured TDS wouldn’t want any additional heat brought on them.“If you make a public case against Jarek, would they back off using him?”
“I guess it’s possible but stepping out means putting a spotlight on me.He has considerable resources at his disposal to make me go away and the means to hide my body forever.”