“Since you lost control of the situation.”
Cutter wanted to reach through the phone line and strangle the other man but knew he didn’t have a leg to stand on. He wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, but he had lost control of the situation. As hard as he’d tried to combat his feelings for Mattie, he admitted he was running on emotions now, not logic. If he could just put his feelings for her aside, he might be able to think through this and get to her in time.
“Where is she?” Cutter snapped.
“I don’t know.”
“You bastard.”
“Come on, Sean…”
“I’ve got to go.”
“Let her do this. I know you don’t want to put her at risk, but we need her.”
Cutter disconnected before the other man could say more. Without pausing, he dialed his old cell phone number, praying she would answer.
“Cutter?”
The sound of her voice shook him so thoroughly that for a moment he couldn’t speak. When he finally found his voice, it was thick with emotion. “I’ve been trying to call you.”
“I couldn’t pick up.”
“Why not? Are you—”
“Because I didn’t know what to say.”
He sighed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
She hesitated. “I’m in a safe place.”
He gripped the phone tighter. “Mattie, tell me where you are.”
“I can’t.”
“Damn it, don’t do this.”
“Evidently you’ve talked to Wolfe.”
“He filled me in on your little scheme. If I didn’t know better I’d think you have a death wish.”
“Quite the contrary, Cutter. My only wish is to get my life back.”
“Not like this.”
“It’s the only way.”
“Mattie, damn it, where are you?”
Another hesitation. Longer this time. Damn, he was losing her. “Tell me where you are. I’ll meet you. We’ll talk about this.”
“No. I know you’ll try to stop me. I just wanted to let you know I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay!” he shouted.
“I have to go. I’ll call you.”
“Don’t hang up.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Panic gripped him at the finality in her voice. “Mattie, you have to trust me on this. Damn it, I care about you.”
But the line went dead.
Chapter Fifteen
Hanging up the phone was one of the most difficult things Mattie had ever had to do. She hated doing that to him. She’d felt the tension coming through the line. She’d heard the concern in his voice. She believed him when he said he cared about her.
But that was exactly why she couldn’t do as he asked.
Dropping the phone into her pocket, she rose on shaking legs and looked through the window at the wire office across the street. The clerk at the desk had told her it would take an hour for the wire to go through. She checked her watch. Only forty-five minutes had passed. She watched a group of people on the sidewalk in front of the office and wondered if The Jaguar or his thugs were already waiting for her to show up….
With fifteen minutes to kill, Mattie went to the counter and ordered another coffee. Taking a seat at one of the bistro tables near the front window, she watched the wire office. She checked her watch again. She drank the coffee, her nerves grinding. Finally it was time to call Cutter.
Dread gripped her as she punched in the numbers to his cell phone. “Cutter, it’s me.”
“Mattie, where the hell are you?” Stress roughened his voice. She hated knowing she’d put it there. All she could do was pray things went the way she’d planned.
“Take it easy,” she said. “I’m okay.”
“Don’t tell me to take it easy,” he snapped. “Damn it, I’m worried about you.”
Mattie wondered if he would ever know how badly she’d needed to hear those words at that moment. “I’ll be at the wire office on the edge of town in five minutes. There’s a very high probability that The Jaguar or one of his thugs will be there looking for me.”
“Don’t do it.”
“I need you there, Cutter.”
“This is a bad idea.”
“It’s the only way I can get my life back.”
“You can’t get your life back when you’re dead. Damn it, you’re not armed. We don’t have backup. For God’s sake I don’t know if I can make it there in five minutes!”
“I’m going to do this with or without you. Either you can help me, or you can walk away. Your choice.”
A curse burned through the line. “Don’t walk into the shop until you see me.” The pitch of his voice changed, and Mattie knew he was moving, running. “I’m on my way. Wait for me.”
Mattie looked at her watch. She knew if Cutter arrived before she made contact he would stop her. As frightened as she was of facing The Jaguar alone, she couldn’t let that happen.
“Five minutes.” Disconnecting, she left the coffee shop and started for the wire office across the street.