Page 102 of Montana Memory
Chapter 33
Jada
My stomach growled, but it wasn’t from hunger. It was nausea. I was running out of time.
“Turn left at the next light,” I instructed, buying more time as I led them nowhere in particular.
Johnson, who’d been driving us around all day, followed my directions without question. Kelly sat next to me in the back seat, his hulking presence a constant reminder that I was trapped. I’d tried dropping breadcrumbs all day—leaving my jacket at the gas station restroom, “accidentally” bumping into a woman outside the convenience store—but they never gave me enough space to make a real escape.
The shadows grew longer outside as afternoon faded. Soon, I wouldn’t have daylight as an excuse.
“How much farther?” Johnson asked, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
“Just a few more miles,” I lied, scanning the sidewalks desperately for a crowd, a police officer, anyone who might help.
When I’d demanded food hours ago, I’d hoped they’d take me inside the restaurant, give me an opening. Instead, Johnson kept his gun pressed against my ribs out in the car while Kelly got takeout. We’d eaten, what few bites I’d been able to force down, in the back of a deserted parking lot, not a soul around.
The car slowed at a red light, and through the window, I spotted a family walking toward a park. If I screamed now, threw myself at the door?—
Before I could move, Kelly’s hand clamped around my arm with bruising force.
“Don’t even think about it,” he muttered.
The light turned green, and my chance disappeared.
As we turned onto a quieter street, Kelly shifted beside me. I felt more than saw him pull his gun from his holster, keeping it low between us where only I could see it.
“We’ve been driving in circles for hours,” he said, voice dangerously soft. “You’re stalling.”
My pulse thundered in my ears. “I’m not?—”
“I’m done playing games.” The cold barrel pressed against my side. “Take us to the money. Now. Or I’ll pull over and end this right here.”
I swallowed hard, my mind racing. I was out of options. Out of time. I had to take them and hope I could pull this off.
“Fine,” I whispered. “There’s a safe house north of here. That’s where it is.”
I navigated from memory, giving Johnson turn-by-turn directions through Denver’s winding streets. Each landmark triggered not memories of my previous life, but of Hunter—the man who’d saved me, protected me, and fallen for me despite everything.
“Left at the next light, then straight for a few blocks,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
The house was somewhere in this neighborhood. I remembered the brick exterior, the hidden panel for the security code, and most importantly, the weapons cache in the chest in the living room Hunter had shown me.
Hunter. A lump formed in my throat. What must he think of me now? That damned note.I’ve decided this isn’t what I want.Those words couldn’t be further from the truth. Would he believe I’d just abandoned him?
And the kittens—Sir Pounce, Biscuits, and Moose. Had they made it until Hunter got home? Were they okay?
I blinked back tears. I needed every bit of concentration I could muster if I was going to survive this.
“It’s the third building on the right,” I said as we turned onto a tree-lined street of almost identical houses. My stomach twisted with equal parts fear and relief as the safe house came into view. “That one.”
“About damn time,” Kelly muttered.
The house looked exactly the same.
Quiet. Unassuming. Just another forgettable box in a row of forgettable boxes. But this place was special to me. It was the place where I’d cried into Hunter’s shoulder and slept in his bed. The place where we had our first kiss.
The one where he’d guarded me. Held me together when I was sure I was falling apart.
