Robin Perini - Last Stand In Texas

Faith stepped just inside the door and reached to her left. Zoe’s baseball bat was still propped in the corner. She snagged it and curled her fingers around the wooden neck.

“If you’re still here, get out. I’m armed,” she shouted.

No one answered. The shack was eerily quiet. She circled and her gaze scanned every inch of their small, furnished rental. Nothing had been left untouched.

There went her security deposit.

“Stay here,” Faith whispered to Zoe. “If anyone comes, run and hide in the trees behind the houses. I’ll find you.”

Her daughter gripped her knapsack and nodded, her small face terrified.

Clutching the bat with all her strength, Faith tiptoed into the small kitchenette. Everything had been chucked out of the cupboards. What had they been looking for? If it was money... Oh, God.

She rushed into the small bedroom. The mattresses she and Zoe slept on had been tossed; their clothes were scattered across the floor.

Her gaze stopped at the closed closet door. The blood pounded against her temples. Slowly, carefully, she approached. Her fingers folded into the recessed handle and she yanked open the door.

The wood slid on the rails and rammed into the wall at the other end with a clatter.

Empty. No one was here.

She couldn’t breathe yet.

After checking the bathroom and shower, Faith sank onto the bed. Now, she could breathe. “Come here, Zoe,” she called. “It’s safe.”

The little girl ran in and leaped at her mother. Faith held her close and rocked her for a few moments. “We’re okay. That’s all that matters.”

“Did they steal anything?” Zoe asked from her lap. “Did they take Rainbow?”

“Your unicorn? I don’t think so.”

“Where is she?”

Faith’s gaze scanned the room. No stuffed toy. “Maybe under the bed?”

Zoe slipped out of Faith’s arms and got down on her hands and knees. She peered under the rickety bed frame and squirmed underneath before popping out, holding the colorful animal.

“I got her. Rainbow was hiding from the bald man. She’s smart that way.”

At her daughter’s words, Faith stilled. “Zoe, did you see someone?”

Her daughter shrugged.

“Zoe?”

“I saw a big man with a bald head follow us in the grocery store. Whenever you turned around, he hid. I thought he was playing a game.”

Faith rubbed her eyes as the realization hit her. “Was he tall like Daddy?”

“Yes. With a mermaid drawing on his arm.”

The tattoo. She’d seen the man before, but not in Carder. The more Faith racked her brain, the more her memories coalesced. In Weatherford. He’d been hired as the bouncer at the Shiny Penny about the time she began dating Burke. What were the odds that a man working at the bar would end up at a grocery store in Carder?

Only one person could be responsible for this happening.

Burke had found them.

They had to leave Carder. Now.

Knees trembling, Faith knelt beside the bed and shoved aside the nightstand. She pried up the carpet. An envelope was tucked beneath the poorly installed rug. Hands shaking, she pulled it out and fingered through the bills.

Her entire body sagged in relief. She plopped down in the middle of the bedroom, grasping the envelope, their lifeline, the money she’d raised to pay for the car repairs so they could leave Carder.

At one time, there had been two envelopes hidden here. In the first one, she’d placed all the money she’d scraped together from selling her wedding ring and all the jewelry her husband had given her. Most of which had been fake.

It hadn’t been enough to pay for new identities for her and Zoe. Her contact had required $10,000 up front. To make up the difference, she’d been forced to sell the small diamond ring her mother had given her before her death.

The money represented their escape, their chance to get away from the past, and from Burke.

If he ever discovered that she knew what he’d done, he wouldn’t just take Zoe from her. He’d kill her to keep his secret.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

Faith swiped at her eyes. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

“Why are you crying?” Zoe hugged her unicorn, the vulnerable expression breaking Faith’s heart.

She pulled her daughter close and hugged her tight. Everything they were going through would be worth it. It had to be. “Sometimes I just need a good cry, Slugger. Do you know what I mean?”

Her daughter’s forehead wrinkled with worry. “I’ve never seen you cry before. Not even when Daddy hurt your feelings.”

“Everybody cries, honey. Even moms.”

Zoe laid her head against Faith’s chest and wrapped her arms around her mother’s body. “Do we have to move again?”

Faith looked around the room. “I’m sorry, sweetie. We’re packing up and getting out. Tonight.”

THE DARK PANELING closed in on Burke. He hated this office, a mirror image of his father’s. The mahogany desk, the leather chairs. All his life his father had wanted a carbon copy of himself. Burke had lived up to those expectations. He’d been happy to. In Burke’s childhood eyes, his father had been the greatest man he’d ever known. He’d believed that until the age of sixteen.

Burke threw down the latest balance sheet. That was the year he’d fallen in love for the first time. With the perfect woman.

That was the year he’d uncovered his father’s feet of clay.

That was the year Burke had been forced to kill the woman he loved.

He walked across the plush carpet and poured a drink.

The door opened without a knock. He whirled around, ready to tear into whoever dared interrupt his planning until he saw the woman who walked in with a smile on her face.

“Burke, darling, you shouldn’t be working this late. I’ve told your father not to foist his bad habits onto you.”

“Mother.” Burke walked across the room and gently pulled her close. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

Her sweet smile tilted the corners of her mouth. “I’m dragging your father to the club for a late dinner. Do you want to join us?”

“I have work to do.”

His mother pouted her lips. “You’re too much like Gerard.”

No, I’m not! he wanted to scream. “You always say that.” He smiled.

She kissed his cheek and he released her. His mother deserved the world for putting up with his father all these years, for helping Burke survive his childhood. He’d do anything to protect her and to give her whatever would keep her life content and happy.

That had been true all his life. His vow had been put to the test when he’d discovered his father’s weakness for other women, but Burke had passed the test.

She picked up the photo of Zoe on his desk. “I can’t wait for your little girl to visit. Did she like the dress I sent her? I’ve been looking at a catalog. I think I’m too old-fashioned. I want Zoe to have a hip grandmother.”

Inside, Burke winced. Until Orren brought Zoe back to him, he’d have to lie, and he hated lying to his mother. “You don’t need to change a thing, Mom. Zoe loved the dress. She’s planning to wear it next time she visits.”

Of course, sometimes lies were necessary.

His mother frowned. “How long will Faith’s trip last? I miss my granddaughter. I’m sure it’s good for Zoe to attend a camp to help with her reading, but she’s been gone all summer. School starts soon.”

Burke hugged his mother to his side. “Zoe will be back before long. I promise.”

She let out a slow sigh and replaced the photo. “I’m sorry your marriage to Faith didn’t work out. She seemed like such a nice girl.” She patted his cheek. “You look tired, Burke. You should find someone who can make you happy. Your father worries.”