Travis McShane could’ve just as easily been killed in the duel. It wasn’t like he stalked the guy or laid in wait and ambushed him. Picked him off with a sniper rifle from a distant bluff. Then I realized that I was defending Travis McShane in my head. He’d run, after all. Then again, who’d want to serve prison time for shooting some asshole who was boinking his wife?
I wearily dragged my carry-on bag as I exited the plane. I’d have to take a taxi or Uber back to Pure and Easy, where Randy was probably waiting with handcuffs. Oh, fuck it. Let him. I was weary of the entire thing. I started figuring I must’ve done something really horrible to Ortelio Jones in a past life. Maybe I was a Wild West gunman who robbed his fucking bank. That’s what I was thinking when I stepped into the gate and looked for the Ground Transportation sign.
“You’re coming with me.”
I gasped as someone took me by the elbow, using it to steer me.
“Just keep walking and do as I say.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FOX
“Just keep walking and do as I say.”
I didn’t realize I might frighten Pippa. But I was angry. Pissed off to all hell.
Against all common sense and logic, she’d flagrantly violated the terms of her agreement with WITSEC just to go and have a chat with her sister in Oklahoma City.
She yanked her arm from me, fear and fire in her eyes. In that split second, she was making a decision to stay or run. I guess once she saw it was me, she decided to stay, and I took her elbow again, more gently this time.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To short term parking.”
“No, I mean after that.”
I rattled her a little as we marched past coffee shops and newsstands. “I got a hotel nearby. I want you to get upstairs and get into my fucking room.”
She didn’t say much for a long time after that. She filed right along with me, though, not protesting. We were on the moving walkway when I dared let go of her arm. We stood facing each other while other passengers sashayed right on through between us. We didn’t blink, as though we were in a staring contest.
She cracked first. “I understand you’re mad.”
“Mad doesn’t begin to describe it.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “I realize I took a big risk going to Oklahoma City to see Shelda.”
“A big risk? You blew it, plain and simple.” I had to look away, I was so angry. Yet I was relieved at the same time she’d come back. She could’ve blended into the woodwork in Oklahoma, just like I had, giving herself a new name without the benefit of WITSEC. “You’re fucking lucky I was there to intercept Blankenship before he reported you as AWOL.”
Her face was awash with hope. “Oh! So he’s not going to report me in violation?”
I made my face a cement mask. “Who knows? What you did was unforgiveable, Pippa. Visiting a forbidden person. You put both of yourselves at risk, going into the danger zone like that. You jeopardized the safety of both you and your sister.” I didn’t want to show all my cards just yet. Let her dangle in uncertainty awhile, the way she’d left me to swing in the breeze.
“I know. I know, Fox. I just couldn’t stay away any longer, not knowing. Not knowing how Shelda was doing, whether or not my dog was safe with her, everything. I just suddenly had to see someone from my past.”
I had to soften a bit at that. I missed my brother like all hell, and I’d left behind many good friends in Taos, too. Yet the second I set foot in Trent’s hospice, the cops would be all over me. As it was, I’d had to create an elaborate offshore back door just to wire him the money.
When we came to the end of the moving sidewalk, I took her elbow again. She stumbled a little getting off the thing, although I’d slung her bag over my other arm. I had to smile inside. She was wearing the cowboy boots she wasn’t used to. They weren’t broken in yet.
“Blankenship is so pissed at your security breach, he’s not sure whether he’ll report you yet.”
“Where is he? Did he go back to Houston?”
“He’s still in Pure and Easy,” I admitted, “getting more pissed off by the hour.”
She dared to ask, “Then why are we going to a hotel?” But her voice was meek.
Looking down at her, I snorted. “Because you’re under my supervision and care and you do what I say.”
“Does Randy know that?”
“Yes he does,” I truthfully said. I’d offered to Blankenship to ride to Phoenix, where we knew she was landing after tracing her credit card activity. It was strange working with a fed, using their tracking software, but Blankenship was so occupied with Pippa he hadn’t asked me any questions about myself. I’d vowed to bring her back to P and E safe and sound, and he’d promised not to violate her. But I didn’t want her to know that just yet. “Someone trashed your apartment while we were in Winnemucca.”
“What? Oh my God. Was it that monster with the gold teeth?”
“I assume so. I couldn’t hide that from Blankenship either, since he had a key to your apartment. I managed to convince him that threat had been…eliminated.”
“Has it? Been eliminated?”