“What about Witness Protection?”he asked.“Have you thought about involving them?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I go in there, I lose everyone.”She shook her head fiercely.There was more to the story.
“I thought you didn’t have family,” he said.
“Technically, no.”
“Okay,” he said, figuring they’d gone far enough for him to pull over and check the tire.
“What are you doing?”The panic in her voice struck him like a physical blow.
“Checking the tire.”
“Do you have to do that now?”
He pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road.She’d asked him not to involve his family, which sucked because someone could be out here in less than an hour if he could make the call.Respecting her wishes would build more trust.Additionally, leading the criminals away from Rescue Ridge would ensure his family’s safety; a win-win, as far as he was concerned.
“We should call for a tow,” he said.“And I can get someone to bring another vehicle.It’ll take time, but we can’t keep driving on this wheel.If the shooter finds us, which isn’t going to be hard to do, we’ll be sitting ducks.”
The fact the gunman hadn’t followed meant the person didn’t want to risk being seen.Only a coward fired from a tree line.If this was Jarek, he would try to surprise them.If this was someone who worked for Jarek, they didn’t want to risk getting caught.By now, Travis would have a description of the person searching for Cassie.Then again, she already knew Jarek was behind the search.Her reason for not wanting to go into WITSEC rang false.She must have family that she didn’t want to talk about.A grandmother in a nursing home?A grandfather tucked away somewhere?
Whoever it was, Hudson was clear on how much she cared about keeping the person’s identity a secret.
Getting close to the woman sitting next to him meant patiently peeling back the layers, one by one.He’d made progress.Pushing her for more information now would only push her away.
“Okay,” she finally said after what must have been a long internal debate.
He picked up his cell and fired off a text to a trusted tow truck driver to come get his vehicle.They could hitch a ride into town and go from there.
One step at a time.
A response to his text came almost immediately.
“Jeb is on his way,” he said.“I knew him back in school.We were in the same grade and played on the same sports teams.He’s a good guy.Heard he’s married with a couple of kids.”
“He stayed in town after graduation?”
“A lot of folks stick around,” he said.
“What’s that like?”she murmured.
He almost didn’t hear her.Almost.
9
Every noise caused Cassie’s pulse to kick up a few more notches as they waited for Hudson’s classmate to show.She didn’t like the idea of a picture of her being circulated around town or the fact that Jeb might have already seen it.
Every second that ticked by felt like a time bomb.
Every minute she stayed in town made her that much more exposed.
The tow truck pulled up, the driver—Jeb, she assumed—waved, and then he parked in front of Hudson’s truck.Jeb exchanged greetings before getting right to work.He was tall with black hair and bottle-thick glasses.He was polite.
She kept her back turned to him as much as possible without coming across as rude.