“It’s a good thing for you that the former warden was replaced then. He’d have outed you for sure. Hotchkiss actually may be honest, in which case your story might hold water. I’m reserving judgment.”

  “Have it your way.”

  “There is one way you could prove it to me.”

  “How?” Leaning back against the seat, Rafe crossed his arms.

  Even beneath the sleeves of the black jacket Hannah couldn’t miss noticing how muscular he was. She fingered the gun in her lap, then forced herself to feign calm. “I could go visit Andy at the hospital and hear the story in his own words.”

  “Not happening.”

  “Why not? What are you afraid of?”

  “He’s still recovering. It might be too much for him to have to relive the trauma.”

  She humphed. “Or, he might tell me a totally different story.”

  “Chances are he wouldn’t talk to you at all.”

  “He would if you were with me.”

  The arch of one of Rafe’s eyebrows gave him an intriguing expression. So did the partial smile he seemed to be fighting to subdue. “You actually expect me to take you to my friend’s hospital room?”

  “Not exactly,” Hannah countered, keeping close watch on his face in the hope of catching a clue, however fleeting. “I expect you to take me and Gram.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Uh-huh. That’s what I thought you’d say, especially if you were lying.”

  “What I told you about him and his daughter is the truth.”

  Hannah was enjoying having the upper hand so much she allowed herself to grin. “We’ll soon see.”

  SIX

  As Rafe pondered his current dilemma, it was easier to see ways out than it was to envision sticking to the job he knew was his duty. In order to get a handle on the missing teen, he had to locate and interrogate Deuce Fleming, or at least some of his closest cohorts. At present he also felt beholden to Hannah and her grandmother. Once Fleming and his gang got organized enough to plan their next move it was highly likely some or all of them would pursue the women who had thwarted them. Retribution didn’t have to make sense when it came to a vendetta. Fleming would be furious, and a man in that state was unpredictable.

  An additional reason for keeping Hannah and Lucy close was for their sakes. Yes, they would be a hindrance. No, he couldn’t simply abandon them. Not with Fleming on the loose. If Deuce didn’t attempt to get even with them, he’d lose face in front of his gang so he’d have to act. Soon.

  Rafe was ready with a plan by the time Lucy returned with clothing for him. To her credit she hadn’t shopped for new garments. What he pulled out of the plastic grocery bags was clean but gently worn. The older woman was beyond clever and that was unsettling.

  “I’ll drive around back of a gas station and you can duck into their restroom to change.” She looked pointedly at Rafe. “No tricks. You helped get my granddaughter into this mess and you’re going to help me get her out of it.”

  “No argument from me,” Rafe said. “Hannah wants to go to the hospital where my wounded friend is recuperating. I think that may be a good idea. Since his daughter’s kidnapping is also tied to Fleming we may be able to learn something that will help us track him down now that he’s on the loose.”

  “Do we need him to prove Hannah is innocent when we have your testimony?”

  “Maybe not,” Rafe countered. “But if we can take part in putting Deuce back in jail it will count in our favor. As a plus, we might actually get a lead on the missing girl.”

  “Best-case scenario,” Lucy said, pulling into traffic. “It’s a bit much to hope for, but nothing is impossible.”

  Hannah piped up. “I thought you were going to say that nothing is impossible for God.”

  “Let’s leave Him out of this until we see where we stand,” Lucy said flatly. “You and I are not exactly dealing with normal people.”

  Chuckling softly, Rafe sorted through the clothes, amazed at how well the older woman had assembled a casual wardrobe. He smiled. “I’m getting the feeling I haven’t joined up with run-of-the-mill folks, either.”

  A quick glance at Lucy’s face in the mirror told him how very right he was. There was a crafty, almost feral look in her gray eyes and they were narrowed at the outer corners as if she was a nanosecond away from a wink. He wasn’t going to press her, not right now, but he was getting a strong impression that her late husband, daughter and son-in-law were not the only ones formerly affiliated with a government agency. If sweet old Lucy had not been a covert operator in her younger years, she’d missed a golden opportunity. Everything about her was perfect for the job, including her intelligence and martial arts expertise. She had to have been a master at spy craft to keep her past from Hannah for this long.

  And what about Hannah? Rafe asked himself. How deeply was she involved with Fleming. Yes, she looked innocent but that didn’t excuse her decision to smuggle him out of the prison. There were other avenues she could have taken instead of breaking the law. Most of the prison staff was honest and he knew from experience that the new warden was beyond reproach. She should have said something to somebody instead of just assuming Fleming was in control.

  Lucy pulled to the rear of an older style gas station and stopped, engine idling. “This way you won’t have to go through the minimarket part of the store,” she said. “Hurry it up. We don’t know how much time we have before those yahoos from the church report back with a description of my car.”

  Wide-eyed, Hannah stared. “Do you think they hung around the neighborhood long enough to watch us leave?”

  “I would have,” Rafe answered. “If they didn’t, they’ll know we ditched the van when somebody spots it at the church.”

  “It’s going to create quite a fuss all full of bullet holes like that.” Hannah sighed. “I’d just made the last payment.”

  Checking their surroundings before getting out of the back seat, Rafe jogged to the restroom, relieved to find it unlocked. At least one thing had gone right this morning, he mused. One out of many challenges, unfortunately. Once he was changed and had trashed his orange prison jumpsuit he’d be able to contact his boss without attracting attention. He needed to report in, to try to explain why he’d gone along with Fleming’s plan instead of trying to stop him.

  A lot of those choices had been dependent upon injury to himself or others in the line of fire, particularly the pretty dog trainer. Ideally, he’d have been able to leave her behind except getting through the prison gates would have been impossible without her and her van. Besides, if he had driven off with Fleming there had been a chance that one of the crooked guards would have blamed Hannah and shot her to save his own skin, just as they’d threatened to do to him and Thor.

  No, Rafe decided. To live through the incident they had to be together. Stay together. Work together. It wasn’t to his liking or even that sensible, but he couldn’t see a way out other than the capture of Deuce Fleming. If he could get himself thrown into the same holding cell maybe he’d be able to worm into the criminal’s good graces and complete his original assignment; namely locating the missing teenager.

  And in the meantime, he’d keep an eye on a couple of unpredictable and hopefully innocent bystanders. Buckling the belt Lucy had given him, Rafe checked his reflection in the small mirror, put the original cap and black jacket back on and peeked out the exit door. It was only a couple of long strides from there to the corner of the building. If he could slip away long enough to make a call it would sure help his nerves.

  He saw Hannah in the car. She was turned around to pet Thor in the back seat. There was no sign of Lucy. Encouraged, Rafe ducked around the corner. No pay phone. He should have known. Common use of cell phones had pretty much done away with the old-fashioned booths.

  Almost to the glass doors fronting the service station minimarket, Rafe was caught short, managing to stop just in time to keep from crashing into Lucy.

  She grinned at him. “Going someplace?”

  “Looking for a snack.”

  “Uh-huh. I figured. You got money?”

  “No.”

  “I didn’t think so. How were you planning to get snacks? Steal them?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Keep lying and you’ll dig yourself a bigger hole,” she warned, gesturing with one hand slipped inside her purse as if she now had the gun. “Get a move on. Back to my car.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And can the politeness, mister. I know you’re not what you’ve told us you are. I just haven’t figured out who you really are and which side you’re on.”

  “Ditto,” Rafe said solemnly.

  Although he’d turned away and started down the sidewalk he heard Lucy mutter, “Good.”

  * * *

  As far as Hannah was concerned, everyone was getting along pretty well. She already loved Thor and with Gram in her corner she felt much more hopeful. Rafe, on the other hand, was still an unknown. The more she learned about him the less confident she became. When they’d parked behind the gas station she’d hoped to have a quiet, intimate conversation with her grandmother and perhaps figure something out. Unfortunately, Gram had bailed out and disappeared around the building as soon as Rafe had closed the door to the men’s room.

  Seeing them returning to the car together was doubly puzzling and she started asking questions the minute Lucy was behind the wheel. “Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?”

  “Your buddy here was trying to escape,” Lucy offered.

  Rafe immediately countered. “I was not. I just wanted a snack, that’s all.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  There was enough sarcasm in the older woman’s tone to tell Hannah she wasn’t buying his explanation. She did, however, see his point. “If we’re going to drive all over town we probably should stock the car with a few survival items.”

  Lucy was nodding. “Agreed. We’ll stop back at the house and load up.”

  “The house?” Hannah was scowling over at her. “Fleming’s people already know where we live. They’ve been watching us. We can’t go there.”

  “I have my reasons,” Lucy countered.

  Worried, Hannah pressed her point. “That’s the first place they’ll look. We can just stop at a grocery store or something.”

  Her grandmother’s laugh was tinged with enough irony and sarcasm to give Hannah pause. “What? What’s so funny?”

  “You are. I’m not talking about a bag of chips or a couple of sodas. I’m talking about real survival gear. We can’t go into battle empty-handed.”

  “Hold on. That’s not what we’re doing.” Seeing Gram make eye contact with Rafe in the rearview mirror, Hannah was certain she saw unspoken communication. Talk about unsettling!

  Frustrated, she folded her arms and stared straight ahead. “Fine. Have your secrets or whatever. Considering everything I’ve learned so far this morning, you’ll have a hard time surprising me more.”

  Again, Lucy made eye contact with Rafe, then reached across to pat Hannah’s arm. “I doubt that, honey. I really do. I just don’t want you to worry.”

  “Me? Worry? Why in the world would I worry? Huh? I’ve been shot at and lied to, and I’m currently riding in a car with an escaped convict and a grandmother who’s acting like a geriatric James Bond. How would that give me extra concerns?”

  “I don’t mind being compared to a legendary spy,” Lucy said with a smirk. “But I’m hardly over the hill. I thought I’d proved my skills back at the church.”

  Chastened, Hannah softened and sighed. “Okay, okay. Those were impressive martial arts moves. I—we—were impressed. What I don’t like is the way you two keep looking at each other as if you’re sharing some big, dark secret. Like it or not, we’re in this together. At least tell me enough to give me the tools to help.” Surprised at a welling of tears she blinked them back.

  “You’ll get the gist once I’ve picked up my gear,” Lucy said. “I’m just trying to decide how to explain everything.”

  “The truth would be a nice start,” Hannah said flatly.

  “Ah, the truth. So subjective. And so elusive sometimes.” Lucy again shot a glance in the mirror. “Right, son?”

  Son? Good grief. Now Gram was acting as if Rafe McDowell had been adopted into their family. That was the last straw.

  Hannah reached for the steering wheel and clamped a fist around it. “Pull over. Now.”

  To her surprise, Lucy’s resistance was minimal. As the car steered parallel with the curb and came to a stop in the quiet residential neighborhood, she was nodding. To Hannah, she seemed almost relieved.

  “Where to start,” Lucy murmured.

  Although Hannah wanted to answer, she chose silence and let the older woman take her time. Finally, Lucy said, “Okay, honey. Hang on to your hat. You and I are the last survivors of a family of government agents that goes back generations to, long before Roosevelt created the CIA. Their lives weren’t as glamorous as the stories about Mata Hari, but they did have their moments.”

  “Including you?” Rafe asked from the back seat.

  “Something tells me you’ve already figured that out,” Lucy said. “I retired long ago but some things can never be forgotten.”

  “Like hand-to-hand combat?” Hannah asked.

  Lucy was shaking her head and pursing her lips. “I was thinking more of the way we lost your mom and dad. That particular human smuggling ring was wiped out, but I can’t help feeling as if this situation is giving me a chance to save others from the same horrible fate my own daughter faced.”

  Gaping at her, Hannah could barely think let alone speak. Rafe, however, did not seem to have that problem. “You’ll help me? Really?”

  “I just said so, didn’t I?”

  Beginning to comprehend the connection between Gram’s story and Rafe’s, Hannah was anything but comforted and she said so. “Count me out. I’m just a civilian with a clean slate. We need to go to the police and turn ourselves in. Closed-circuit cameras at Lyell will prove we were forced to aid Fleming’s escape.”

  Rafe gave a cynical chuckle. “Remind me how you resisted. Did he have a gun on you? Were you accosted on camera?”

  “Of course I was.”

  “Are you sure? Think back. The way I remember it, we worked together to get him into the van and you drove through the guarded gate as if everything was business as usual.”

  As the escape scenario replayed in her mind, Hannah grew more and more despondent. She had to admit how easy it would be for an impartial judge to view her as guilty. And if some of the law officers who were involved chose to implicate her, she had no proof to the contrary. It was foolish to hope Deuce Fleming or his cohorts would back up her story even if he was recaptured. Still, it would be wrong to break the law again just because she’d been forced to break it before.

  “Look,” Hannah said flatly, “this is a no-win situation for me.”

  “Not exactly,” Rafe said. “All I ask is that you hold off contacting the police until I’ve had a chance to reconnect with Deuce and find out where my partner’s daughter, Kristy, is being held.”

  “That’s the second or third time you’ve referred to somebody as your partner. What kind of partnership are you talking about?” Hannah asked.

  Above Lucy’s laughter in the background, Hannah heard him say, “You’ll find out once you meet him so I guess I’d better confess.” Of all the things she’d expected he might reveal, the least likely was what he actually said.

  “Andy Fellows and I worked together as state troopers.”

  SEVEN

  Rafe figured he could convince Hannah that he was no longer in law enforcement despite his confession so he decided to tell her enough to placate her. The entire truth was not only unnecessary, he knew they’d all be safer in the long run if she didn’t expect him to behave like a cop. That was one of the hardest elements of undercover work; bending the law for the right reasons. Someone like Hannah Lassiter, who viewed the world in black-and-white, was bound to have trouble with gray areas. He did, too. Constantly. Keeping focused on the ultimate goal was the only way he was able to keep functioning in such trying circumstances.

  Judging by the set of Hannah’s jaw and her scowl, she was not on board the way her grandmother was. That figured for the very reason she’d cited—she was an untrained civilian while he and Lucy understood both sides of the dilemma. It would have suited him better to be proceeding without the pretty dog trainer, but the way he saw it, there was no way to safeguard her unless she stayed close. Undoubtedly, Lucy felt the same.

  Rafe leaned over the seat backs to speak to the women in the front, hoping to change the subject. “The best way into the hospital without being noticed is probably through the ER.”

  “You know what room this guy is in?” Hannah asked.

  “I know where he was a week ago so unless they’ve moved him, yes.”

  He saw Hannah eye Thor before saying, “I wish I’d thought to grab a Working Dog in Training vest out of my van. It’s easier to gain access to closed areas when I have a K-9 that’s identified that way.”

  Lucy piped up. “I intend to make that stop at the house first. You can pick up a spare then.”

  “No.” Rafe was adamant. “That’s unsafe.”

  “For once I do agree with him,” Hannah said. “I know for a fact that some of the pictures the Fleming gang showed me were taken there. A couple were snapped through a window. They were that close to us and we had no idea.”

  “Right now they’ll be busy reconnecting with their boss,” Lucy countered. “I can’t think of a better time to catch them by surprise, get what we need and get away.”