Thirty-One and a Half Regrets
Page 73

To my irritation, I started to cry again.
Mason moved in front of me. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I nodded but I didn’t believe it. If there was one thing I’d learned, it was that bad things happened to people all the time. Mason would do everything in his power to protect me, but he couldn’t guarantee my safety. No one could.
I took a deep breath and held it. Strangely enough, it made me feel better. “What are we going to do?”
“You heard my plan. We’ll take the truck and meet Jeff at the Methodist church parking lot in Clearwater. Moore County. Jeff’s the only person in the sheriff’s department I know we can trust.”
“Only he didn’t hear that part.”
“He’ll call back.” Mason loaded a shotgun and laid it on the table. “I’ll tell the deputies that I’m going to check the fence again, but we’ll take off instead. It should buy us enough time to leave the county.”
“Where will we go if he doesn’t call back?”
“I don’t know.” He stood and put a hand behind his head. “I’ll need to think about it.” His voice hardened. “We should call the state police.”
I stood and grabbed his hand. “I know someone in the state police we can trust.”
He searched my eyes then nodded. “It won’t look strange if you’re the one to call him. He was your boyfriend and he’s with the state police. You’re scared. Spin it that way in case they’re listening to your calls. Make it believable.”
“You think someone is listening to our calls?”
“I have no idea, but I’m paranoid enough at this point to go there. Maybe that’s why my call to Jeff was dropped.”
I took a deep breath. “Are you sure you want me to call Joe?”
“Rose, I’m not the jealous type,” he said, his voice gruff. “Even if I was, what kind of ass would I be if I didn’t want you to ask for his help? The reason I didn’t think about it before was because I honestly thought we were safe here.” Pain covered his face. “Obviously I was wrong.”
“Okay.” I reached over the table for the phone and pulled up my speed dial numbers. Joe’s name was still on the list, but after several rings the call went to voice mail. “Joe, this is Rose. I need to talk to you as soon as possible.” I glanced up at Mason and he nodded. But I couldn’t say the next part while facing him, so I spun around. “Joe, I’m in trouble and I need your help. It’s about Daniel Crocker. I’m really scared.” My voice broke. What would this call do to him? Joe had been devastated when I left him at the nursery. Would he think I wanted him back? “Just call me. Please.” I hung up and put the phone down on the table, pushing it away as though it were tainted. I tried not to think of the similarity to the call Savannah had made to Joe before she was attacked.
“You did the right thing.” Mason grabbed my waist and turned me to face him, wrapping his arms around my back and pulling me into a hug.
“That call could kill him, Mason. He begged me to give him another chance. What if he thinks I want him back and then finds out I don’t? What will he think of me then?”
He buried his hand in my hair, holding me close. “No matter what happened between you two, he obviously still loves you and wants you to be safe. He’ll be glad you called.”
“He might not want to call me back.”
“If he gets the message, he will.”
I looked up at him, questioning. “What do you mean if he gets the message?”
“His fiancée might be screening his calls. I saw the way she was watching the back room while you were in there with Joe. She’s terrified that you’ll take him back.”
“Hilary would screen his calls?” But even as I said the words, I knew he was right. She’d already done it this past summer when she was working with Joe in Little Rock.
I grabbed fistfuls of Mason’s shirt. “I really am scared.” My fingers quivered, loosening my hold on his shirt.
“I know. I am too, but for an additional reason. Only five people know we’re here. What if Crocker gets to Jeff? I’d like for someone on the outside to know we’re in trouble. Otherwise it would be too easy for them to make us disappear and come up with a believable explanation.”
I shivered.
“God, Rose. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so blunt.”
“No, don’t hide things from me. I have a right to know.” The room was spinning and my vision was fading, but my irritation superseded my fear. I will not pass out. I sat down on the edge of the table so I wouldn’t fall over and tried to take a deep breath.
“Give me the phone. I’ll call the state police myself and hope I don’t get cut off.”
As I started to hand it to him my phone buzzed and I looked down to see a text message from Bruce Wayne.
Get out now. They’re on their way.
Mason read the message over my shoulder. “Dammit.” He reached for the phone, but the screen went blank as the phone died.
I cringed. “It only had ten percent power this morning.”
Mason’s body tensed as he tossed the phone on the table, his voice was gruff. “We have to go. Now.”
I stood, my body reacting in slow motion.
He glanced at my arms. “Get your coat.” He grabbed the shotgun off the table. “But don’t let the deputies see what you’re doing.”