Beverly Long - Snowbound Security

He picked up his phone. “Cell service seems to suck. Guess it’s good that the place comes with a landline,” he added, looking at the phone on the wall.

“I think we’re going to run to the grocery store this morning.”

So that was how it was going to go. “Jennie’s is about fifteen minutes east. You can get the basics there. Otherwise, you’re looking at forty-five minutes down the mountain the other direction.”

“Jennie’s will be fine,” she said. “Maybe we’ll do a little sightseeing at the same time.”

Which was code for the trip might take a while. Plenty of time to get far away before he knew for sure that they weren’t coming back.

“How old is your little girl?”

She looked over her shoulder, as if to confirm that the child was engrossed in whatever was on the computer. “Boy,” she correctly softly.

“Sorry,” he said. He evidently had some things to learn about kids. He had a nephew and a niece and he’d always been able to tell the difference. “He’s cute,” he said.

“Thanks.”

His sister had never stopped talking about her kids when they were young. He’d known what they were doing, new words they were learning and sometimes even their bowel habits. This woman evidently wasn’t chatty.

She put her coffee cup in the sink. “Finish up,” she said to the child. “We need to go to the store.”

“I want to stay here,” the kid said, not looking up from the screen. “Please, Laura.”

Laura . Last night she’d asked him his name. He’d offered up his first. She hadn’t drilled for more, likely because she hadn’t been willing to reciprocate. He hadn’t pushed for the information, had sensed that she might guard her name the same way she was willing to guard the door of her bedroom—with a rifle.

“Sorry,” Laura said. She walked over to the couch and picked up the computer.

“Hey,” was the immediate protest.

“Come with me. You can watch it in the bedroom while we get ready for the store.”

They left Rico standing in his kitchen, mulling the situation over a cup of green tea, whole grain cereal and organic blueberries.

And ten minutes later, they came out of the bedroom, both with backpacks that looked pretty full. He suspected they contained everything that they’d arrived with.

The woman had not changed her clothes. The child was dressed in a plain gray T-shirt, blue jeans, and wore a baseball cap.

“So I’ll make a call once the office opens and should have some info for you by the time you get back,” he said. “I’m headed for the shower now.” He picked up his crutches.

“How’s the ankle?” she asked.

“A little swollen,” he admitted.

“Keep it elevated and put cold on it—twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. Ibuprofen might help, too.”

“Are you a doctor, a nurse?”

Panic flashed in her eyes. “No, nothing like that.” She picked up the child. “Well, see you later.”

Right. “Good luck,” he said. “At the grocery store,” he added.

She didn’t answer. The door slammed behind her and she and the child made their way to the Mustang. He watched them get to the end of the lane and turn left.

And was still standing at the window ten minutes later when he saw the Mustang pass by the end of his lane again, this time going the opposite direction. Away from Jennie’s. Had she decided to go down the mountain, to the bigger store?

Maybe. But he didn’t think so.

Laura was running. And unless he was crazy, she was trying to pass a little girl off as a little boy.

Had she stolen the child? He didn’t think she was a stranger to the child who had given no indication that she didn’t want to be with Laura or that she was frightened of her.

Laura didn’t have to be a stranger to have wrongfully taken the child. She could be a noncustodial parent. But would the child call her by her first name and not Mama?

The woman was out of his hair. He should let it go. But he knew there was no way.

He called Lucky back in, grabbed his keys and his crutches and they were out the door in less than a minute.

* * *

She hated that they’d had to leave the cabin. But Rico was going to make his call and it was going to be painfully obvious that she didn’t have a right to be there. She thought about calling Melissa and warning her that her patient might be getting a call from the rental company wondering if she’d happened to give out the code to the door. But she discarded the idea. If the elderly woman got called, she likely wouldn’t even answer the phone since she wasn’t feeling well. If she did, she’d tell them that she didn’t know what they were talking about and that would be that.

The nearest town was Moreville. She had enough cash that she could get a hotel room for a couple days until she figured out a better long-term solution. Hannah was chattering to her doll in the back, oblivious that they were once again on the run.

She wondered what Rico’s story was. No wedding ring. She’d noticed that when he was making his tea. It surprised her because he was very handsome with his dark hair, olive skin and very dark eyes. The image of him, only in swim trunks, holding on to a ski line, was very appealing.

How long would he wait before coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t coming back? To knowing that it hadn’t been an honest mistake but that she’d been a mere squatter who’d had the bad luck to get caught?

How many lies was she going to have to tell? How many people was she going to have to deceive?

What would she stoop to?

She glanced in her rearview mirror. Hannah caught her eye and smiled.

There was her answer. She would bend, stoop, even crawl. Go as low as she needed to. For Hannah.

She drove for an hour before she got to the outskirts of the town. It took another ten minutes to find a hotel. It was two stories with the rooms all having exterior doors.

She parked in front of the office and shut off the car. She opened her purse and pulled cash out. Then tossed her purse onto the floor and covered it up with a Colorado map. “We have to go inside here,” she said to Hannah.

“Can I take Ja-Ja?”

“No, sorry.” While it should not, a little boy with a doll might garner attention they didn’t need. “Pretend that she’s sleeping.”

“Okay.” Hannah kissed Ja-Ja’s forehead and laid her down on the seat.

It made Laura’s eyes fill with tears. Hannah was such a sweet child. She unbuckled her seat belt, got out, did the same for Hannah. Tugged at the little girl’s baseball cap to make sure it would stay on.

A bell jingled when she opened the door. A woman was behind the counter, reading a newspaper. Her face was lined and she was very thin. She stood and set aside the paper. “Morning.”

“Good morning,” Laura said. There was an old couch with two chairs. She gave Hannah’s shoulder a gentle push toward the furniture. “You can sit over there while I do this. Here’s a pen and paper.” Hannah loved to draw and, most of the time, tuned everything else out while she was doing so.

Laura waited until she got up on the couch before turning back to the woman. “I’d like to rent a room.”

“How many nights.”

“Three,” she said. She had to have a plan by then.

“How many people?”

“Just the two of us,” Laura said, waving in Hannah’s direction.

The woman nodded and started tapping keys on what appeared to be an ancient computer. “License and credit card?”

Laura smiled. “I’ve had the worst luck,” she said. “My purse was stolen. I’d be happy to pay in cash in advance.”

The woman studied her. “We need the credit card in case there are damages to the room.”