"We've still got a little time up our sleeves." I glanced out the back window. "You can hit the gas once we reach the highway."
Taking a slow breath, Alex pulled into traffic and calmly headed north. As I leaned back in the seat, I felt the adrenaline begin to drain from my body. My fingers started quivering in my lap. Pinching them together, I squeezed until they started to tingle.
This was hopeless.
We had nothing on Tenner and now the FBI would be after us too.
Worse than that, I'd dragged these guys into it and who knew what trouble we'd all get into.
"Are you okay?" Zach whispered.
Closing my eyes, I turned away from his question. No! Of course I wasn't okay!
I couldn't talk. All I wanted was for the world to somehow make me disappear.
Chapter 14
ZACH
It was a silent, suffocating drive back to Danville. Zach watched Lucy closely, not sure what to say. She kept her eyes out the window the entire time, sniffing every now and then, but never uttering a word. Seeing her so despondent was unnerving. He bet she wanted to run again. He could feel her thigh twitching beneath his hand. He squeezed it once more, hoping for a response, but got nothing.
Uncle Alex watched him through the review mirror, his brows puckered. Was he worried or annoyed? Zach couldn't believe his smooth uncle had punched a security guard on FBI property. Was he out of his frickin' mind?
Zach looked away from the man he had always revered, resting his head back on the seat and letting out a slow sigh.
No evidence.
And now a possible FBI tail.
This couldn't get worse.
Impersonating an agent was hardly points in Lucy's favor. If she got busted for this, they'd surely link it all back to the Tate murders and she had nothing to stand on. Nothing but her word against that of an FBI liar. One who had made a very good name for himself in the law enforcement scene.
They were screwed.
Zach's insides had been on fire since the second Lucy and his uncle burst through that motel door. Their panic was enough to turn his brain to liquid, but he'd held it together. Someone had to remain calm in the chaos and this time around it had been him. Trying to stop his hands from shaking as he paid for the room was basically impossible. He wondered if the guy at the counter even noticed.
He felt sick. Closing his eyes, he tried not to let his thoughts run wild. So Uncle Alex punched the guard. It's not like they killed anybody or stole anything. Surely the FBI had more important things to worry about.
No evidence.
Crap! Friggin' crap!
All this stress and angst was for nothing.
They had no damn evidence!
Were they just playing a losing game? If they kept going, would they just hit one roadblock after the next? It was pointless trying to pursue this if they were just going to lose anyway. Maybe they were better off trying to get Lucy tucked into a safe pocket of the world somewhere.
He hated that idea. He knew he couldn't go with her. Not yet anyway.
Turning to look at the back of her head, he traced the line of her dark ponytail with his eyes, feeling deflated and lost.
Uncle Alex pulled into Zach's driveway and cut the engine. He turned to speak to Lucy, but before he'd even opened his mouth, she pulled the latch and shouldered the door open. The guys all looked at each other, worry cresting through the space around them.
"Are you coming?" Lucy snapped from the front door.
Zach shuffled out of the car and dug out his keys as he approached her. Her heel bobbed erratically, her fingers clenching and unclenching as she waited for him to unlock the door.
"You either need to pee real bad...or you need to calm down."
She threw an evil glare at Elliot's dry statement, which just made Zach laugh manically. The harrowing day was catching up to him. He coughed back his snicker and pushed the door open. She charged past him and made a break for the stairs.
"Lucy!" Elliot shouted as he flicked the door closed behind us.
She froze on the stairwell, clutching the railing as if it was the only thing keeping her upright.
"You can't quit now."
Her blue eyes were vivid as she slowly spun to face him. With her dark hair and pale skin, she looked like Snow White...after eating the apple.
Zach threw Elliot a look of warning, but he ignored it, approaching the bottom step with a pointed finger.
"Lucy Tate. That is who you are. No matter what you call yourself or who you become in this life, you will always, underneath it all, be Lucy Tate...the daughter of Jack and Edith Tate."
The tendons in her neck strained as she drew in a sharp breath.
"You owe it to your parents to keep going."