She gripped the steering wheel. Coop was not here, and he’d said more than once that no one was perfect at this game. He’d admitted even he and his men had made mistakes.
In fact, he’d probably tell her to stop listening to a dead man for advice.
That made her heart ache. They’d never been romantically involved, but he had become so important to her when she’d been alone for the longest time. Losing her best friend had broken something inside her.
After two years, she should be ready to let a man in, but what guy wanted to date a woman who thought about a ghost more than her date?
Had Phoebe felt abandoned by everyone after Hallene became more distant as the girl reached her teens?
Probably.
Add another brick of guilt for severing what little connection she’d had with Phoebe.
Noise from the tires running over rumble strips, which were installed to alert drivers of leaving their lane, jerked Hallene wide awake.
Had she closed her eyes?
“You gonna kill us before we reach this secret location or let me drive so you can sleep?” Sam asked in a gruff voice from sleeping.
She swung a peeved look his way, which had been wasted. The ball cap pushed down over his face had not moved.
He asked, “How much farther?”
“Three more hours then we’ll have to stop.” She wouldn’t make it that long. “Let’s change places.”
Sitting up, he stretched his arms. The left one shot behind her head, but he didn’t touch her. “How about stopping somewhere we can fuel up and I can get coffee?”
The tank was pretty low on fuel even with her conservative speed. She’d also like to get out and stretch. Flipping on her turn signal, she took the next off-ramp.
She pulled up to a pump in a large station and withdrew a credit card. “Use this to fill up. I’ll get your coffee.”
“You don’t know how I like it.”
“Black. Like your frame of mind.” She got out, taking her shoulder bag with her. She couldn’t trust him with their phones. The bag was heavy with his pistol. He’d given it back out of spite. If it wasn’t loaded, he wouldn’t tote it around.
She made a fast bathroom stop then paid for his coffee, a water for her, and two sandwiches.
When she walked out of the building into the muggy air, her white GMC Denali had been parked in front of the building.
Ah, hell. Where was he?
She spun around searching through the glass as he appeared exiting the men’s room. He strode toward her.
Had he found someone in there to loan him a phone?
Leclair wouldn’t tell her if she asked.
He’d been warned. She was not going to repeat the warning every few hours like a broken record. If a threat was sound, then it would work without reinforcing it continually.
Walking out, he seemed content. Too content.
“Stop it!” a high-pitched female voice cried from the end of the building.
Leclair turned at the sound, took a long look, then started for the corner of the building.
What was he doing?
She put the coffee, her water, and the sandwiches on the hood and followed. Looking past Leclair, she saw a young woman struggling with a middle-aged man who appeared in his late forties with deeply tanned arms muscled from working outside if that tow truck behind him was his.
