Tony closed the door behind him.
“Because of the neighbors?”
Karen moved to the back of the house and looked out the back window. The police had long since left but there was black powder residue on the door handle, as if they were dusting for prints. “Not just the neighbors. When Samantha lived here, someone bugged the place, digging for dirt on her husband. Eliza’s story was all over the news last year.”
“Witness protection program, right?”
Karen nodded and opened the refrigerator. She took the milk and a package of steaks and tossed them in the trash. No need for the house to stink up while it’s empty. “Right. Now Gwen’s run off with Neil because of the neighbors. I’m starting to think the house is cursed.”
Tony smiled. “If the house was cursed then you’d fall prey.”
She thought of Juan, and his comments the day before. Thought of her phobia with birds and how many of the kids at the center knew about it. Instead of voicing her concerns to Tony, a man she hardly knew, she said, “I guess.”
“So what are we here to get?” Tony asked.
Karen moved into their office and turned on the computer. While it booted up she asked Tony to follow her upstairs. There, she removed her clothes from the closet by the armload. Tony made several trips to the car while she uploaded files to zip drives. Her laptop would serve her well, but many of the client files were only on the main system at the house.
As she switched off the computer, the jarring ring of the phone made her jump. She didn’t recognize the number but decided to answer it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Karen?”
“Gwen? Holy cow, Gwen where are you? Are you OK?” The last thing Karen expected was a call from the missing woman.
“I’m not OK, I’m fabulous. Neil and I…oh, I can’t wait to tell you everything. I don’t have a lot of time right now.”
There wasn’t an ounce of concern in Gwen’s voice. That didn’t settle with Karen.
“Is Neil right there?”
“He stepped into the gas station restroom. How is everything there?”
“Confusing. Dean’s running around trying to make sense of what Neil is doing. Do you have a clue?”
“The crows weren’t an accident, Karen. They were planted.”
“Probably. But some things have happened here since you left that makes me think the birds have more to do with me than Neil.”
Gwen hesitated. “I trust him, Karen.”
“You sure that’s not the sex talking?”
“It’s more than sex.”
Well that answers that question. “Neil’s time in the military made him more than a little paranoid, Gwen. You know that.”
“Even if that were true, that doesn’t change the fact that our neighbors are dead and someone bugged the houses.”
“We haven’t found the bugs.” Karen talked quickly.
“They’ll be found.” Yet Gwen’s voice wavered. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Didn’t want you to worry.”
“Where are you?”
“North. Close to the Canadian border. I’ll be in touch in a few days. Tell everyone not to worry.”
“Be safe.”
“I have my own bodyguard.” And then Gwen hung up.
Karen stared at the phone, stunned.
“Who was that?” Tony asked from the doorway.
“Gwen. She said she was on her way to Canada.”
“Was she OK?”
Almost too much so.
He removed the ear fobs and tossed them into the passenger seat of his car. “Leave it to a woman to blow your cover, Mac.”
He ignored the fact that he hadn’t slept in days…not peacefully anyway, and turned over the engine in his car. Eventually someone would say something. Waiting had paid off. Not only did he know where Neil’s general direction had turned, but he knew he was f**king his woman.
And that was useful indeed.
Before he left town he needed to plant one more bird…He’d do his best to assure that Neil’s friends doubted his sanity. Not only would their tongues loosen in the bugged locations, Neil’s death would appear a tragic accident, and not that of a hero trying to rescue his woman.
“We’re good?” Neil asked when he returned from the bathroom.
Gwen handed him the prepaid phone and smiled. “Karen was home. I told her what you said.”
“Did she question it?”
“Not at all. Sounds like they are all concerned back home. I hate to worry everyone.”
Neil leaned against the car. “A little worry now’s better than tragedy later.”
She nodded, agreeing with him, but wasn’t completely convinced.
“Where are we going next?” she asked.
“Another night of camping and then we should be able to find that bed and shower you love so much.”
“You like ’em, too.”
He opened the car door for her. “The chilly stream was better than caffeine.”
The stream had been ice-cold. Turned her fingers blue within seconds. “I’m fond of warmer water.”
Neil tucked behind the wheel and slid his sunglasses over his eyes. “Not much longer, Gwen.”
“Where are we headed tomorrow?”
They were at a gas station in a small town tucked in the mountains. From the map, Gwen had seen they were close to several larger cities.
“Colorado Springs,” Neil said as he pulled out of the station.
“Isn’t that just down the hill?”
“It is.”
“Then why not go down there now? Much as I enjoyed the tent, it isn’t my favorite place to sleep with you.”
“Tomorrow. Tonight we’ll be more visible up here. I need our guy to think we’re both up here…hiding out.”
“You’re setting a trap?”
“Baiting a trap. But don’t worry. You’ll be long gone before he shows up.”
Her skin chilled. “What about you? Where will you be?”
“Waiting.”
“Alone? Is that wise?”
“I’ll have reinforcements. You don’t have to worry about me, Gwendolyn.”
“Of course I do. Who better to worry than I?”
Neil took his eyes from the road and patted her knee.
“I noticed a diner on the way here. Can I talk you into a real meal?”
He was changing the subject, but the thought of food overrode tomorrow’s worry.
That evening…when his nightmares woke her, she curled around him and soothed him with her words. Unlike the previous evenings, this time he didn’t wake.