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“I hope not, but if they are, I’m ready to defend myself.”Nic lowered her voice. “That’s why I freaked out last night. I thought…I don’tknow what I thought. There’s no way they know where I am.”
Heather was quiet for a moment as though processing theinformation. “Okay, I’m going to ask a couple of questions, and I don’t wantyou to get scared. I’m asking because I can help you. I’ve helped women get outof bad situations before.”
Despite the words, Nicole felt her anxiety tic up. “Ithought you said you had a business with your husband. What do you do?”
“We have a business guiding nature hikes and river raftingand pretty much anything else you can do in the mountains,” Heather replied.“But one of my coworkers is also a paramedic, and where I’m from they taketraining classes that help them identify at-risk people. Women, kids, oldfolks. It would not be the first time I helped a woman who needed a way out. Doyou have secure ID?”
She knew this was the moment she should walk away, but shedidn’t fucking want to. Nic was tired of being so alone. If Heather knew how todo things, why shouldn’t she reach out for help? Could she get through the restof her life never talking to another person about what was really wrong? “Istarted out with a couple of IDs, but I’m down to my last one. The one I haveright now was very expensive. It’s got some tech on it that makes it harder touse for facial identification if someone takes it. I have to find someone inAustin who can help me if I need to change names again.”
“I’ll find a name for you. Of who can help you. Not a newname. You should pick that.” Heather was taking this news like a freakingchamp. “There’s a network of people who help women leave bad relationships. Ican put you in contact with them, but Nicole, you should think about talking toyour men.”
She shook her head. That was one piece of advice shecouldn’t take. “I don’t need that kind of drama. I assure you if they knew thetruth they would run as fast as they can. No. It’s better to keep things lightbetween us.”
“That young man didn’t look like he was keeping things lightwhen he hauled you away. He looked serious about you.”
“Josh can be intense. So can Grim, but we’ve all agreed tothe parameters of the relationship.” Except she’d lied to them because if shecould leave before this weekend, she might. Or might not.
She was trapped between doing the expedient thing and whather body and heart wanted more than anything—more time with them.
“If you’re certain,” Heather allowed. “But I meant what Isaid. You don’t have to go through this alone. I can help you. Why don’t youtell me what happened?”
She couldn’t tell her that story or Heather would be callingthe police. Luckily she was saved by the door to the shop coming open, and aman who looked to be in his late thirties/early forties stuck his head out.
“Hey there, Miss Nicole,” Greg greeted. “Sorry. We were outback working on Leah Raine’s old Jeep. Didn’t know you were here. Come oninside.”
Nic stood, taking a deep breath and thanking the universefor the save. She needed a halfway decent story to tell Heather if she wantedthe woman’s help. “No problem. We were just enjoying the nice weather.”
Greg held the door open for her and Heather.
“Hi, I’m Heather Turner. I’m staying in town for a couple ofweeks and find myself right next to Nic here.” She walked in, and Nic followedher. “I thought I’d come down with her. It’s a nice morning, and I could usethe steps.”
Nic was fairly certain Josh and Grim would be irritated shehadn’t waited for them, but they should get used to the idea that she wasindependent.
Or not. They should sadly get used to the idea that shewould be gone soon. And she was about to find out how soon. “I have the cashfor my car. Your dad gave me an estimate of twelve hundred dollars. Which seemshigh. Couldn’t I buy a whole car for that?”
Greg frowned. “What century are we talking about buyingfrom? Do you have a time machine because if we went back to the fifties, wemight be able to find a car for that much. Do you want to look on Craigslist? Ibet we could find some scam artists who are willing to sell you a car thatworks long enough for them to disappear.”
She did not appreciate his humor. “I get your point. Here’sthe cash. How long do you expect the work to take?”
Greg accepted the payment, opening the register and making acouple of notes as he logged the payment. “Oh, it’s a pretty easy fix. Isuspect we’ll be done in a day, two tops, once we get the parts in.”
Nicole’s stomach threatened to clench. Two days. She wouldhave to make a major decision in two days. Somehow she’d thought she might havemore time with them. If she was stuck here, then it wouldn’t hurt to see them.But if she had the chance to run, she had to take it, right? “So I’ll have thecar back before the weekend?”
Greg looked up. “Well, if by the weekend you mean two orthree weekends from now, then yes. You’ll have it before a weekend. Iguarantee.”
Nic was confused. “What? I thought you said two days tops.”
“Two days after I get the part,” Greg explained. “I’ll orderit tonight, but it’s taking a couple of weeks to get anything in these days.Everything is backed up in some canal. Wouldn’t have this trouble if we madeanything in this country anymore.”
She did not have time for his political opinions. “Threeweeks? Are you kidding me? I’ve already been here for three weeks. You knew Iwas going to fix my car but you didn’t order the part you knew would take threeweeks to come in?”
“Well, you hadn’t paid for the part,” Greg said, altogethertoo reasonably. “You can’t expect us to front you the money.”
“People do it all the time.” She felt her teeth clench. “IfI were in a city…”
“She’s good.” Heather stepped in. “Order the part and let usknow when the car is ready. We’ll be going now.”
“I don’t…” Nic began but Heather hauled her out. “He has mymoney and my car, and I’m stuck here for weeks.”
