eyes widened and she nearly fell off her stool.
Almost as surprised as she was, L.J. checked the flyer to see what was wrong—and saw a picture of him and Ink beneath the heading Sheriff’s Notice. A phone number and an explanation had been printed on there, as well, but he didn’t take the time to read it. He didn’t need to. He knew what that flyer was, just as he knew Trudie had recognized him.
Leaving the snacks and the condoms, he bolted out the door and jumped into the passenger seat of the truck. “Go! Go! Go!”
Ink didn’t pause to question him. Evidently the terror on his face was enough to get an immediate response. Heedless of any back pain he might be suffering, Ink shoved the gearshift into Reverse and launched the vehicle backward, only to shift again before they could even come to a stop.
Positive that they were about to have an accident, L.J. closed his eyes. He knew Ink couldn’t be watching for oncoming traffic. He was too busy putting some distance between them and that store. L.J. was more afraid of getting arrested than crashing, anyway. He’d bought and sold drugs, and he’d beat up a few people, but he’d never considered doing the shit Ink had gotten him into. Shooting those hunters. Beating that real-estate agent to death. Getting that woman in L.A. killed. If they got busted, he’d go down for all of it.
Rocks smacked the undercarriage like machine-gun fire as their backend fishtailed and their tires spun gravel. But once they reached the pavement, they had traction and lurched forward with greater power. Miraculously, Ink managed to bring the truck under control, and they hurtled away from the little grocery store without hitting anything. But only because the road was clear.
Grabbing the rearview mirror, L.J. turned it so he could see if Trudie had come out of the store. He didn’t want her to jot down their license plate number. Then the sheriff would be able to trace the plate and figure out it belonged to the men they’d killed.
All he could see was a big cloud of dust; that was probably all she could see, too.
“What happened in there?” Ink asked once Pineview had disappeared from sight.
“She recognized me!” He hadn’t bothered with his seat belt. He braced himself with one hand on the door and the other on the dash, eyeing the rearview mirror to see if a cop car would come racing up from behind.
Ink smacked the seat between them. “How? What the hell happened?”
L.J.’s heart seemed to be chugging harder than the pistons in the engine. “How should I know? I went in and asked about my long-lost sister, like usual. At first the woman seemed fine, but then she stared at me as if she’d swallowed a marble. I wasn’t sure what was going on until I saw the flyer.”
“What flyer?”
“A sheriff’s bulletin with my picture on it. Yours, too.”
Ink cursed. He was so worked up he didn’t seem to be slowing down.
Now that they were safely away, L.J. felt there was no reason to draw attention by speeding. Getting pulled over would put an end to their freedom, possibly for life. “Hey, can you take it easy?”
“You want me to take it easy?” Ink snapped.
The wildness in his eyes frightened L.J. and he let go of the armrest long enough to motion for his partner to calm down. “Whoa! We need to blend in, not stand out, right?”
Ink didn’t like being told what to do. L.J. had never seen anyone get angry quicker or for less reason. He was always looking for a fight. But he seemed to see the logic in L.J.’s words because he eased up on the gas. “We’re going to find her.”
“Of course we will.” L.J. just hoped they’d find her soon. Because until then, his own safety was in jeopardy.
Ink commandeered the rearview mirror and checked it every few seconds. “So what did you do when she recognized you?”
“What do you think? I ran out before she could call the cops.”
“Why didn’t you shoot her? Dead people can’t talk.”
The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. Murder wasn’t his answer to everything. “I wasn’t the only shopper in there, that’s why. There was a mother and two kids.”
“There weren’t any other vehicles outside.”
“They must’ve walked.”
Somehow Ink knew he was lying. “You can’t be too scared to use that gun, man.”
“I’m not scared,” he grumbled. “I just don’t see any reason to kill people unless I have to.”
“You should’ve put a plug in her.”
Bullshit. That was only going to get him into more trouble. He had to escape from this psychopath. The sooner, the better. He just wasn’t sure how to go about it. If he left now, Ink would find Laurel, kill her, then come after him. And if Ink ever caught up with him…
“Do you have a death wish or something?” he asked. “Because they’re gonna go for the death penalty when they get hold of you.”
“They won’t get hold of me.” He must not have seen anything worrisome coming up from behind because he made the turn that led to their cabin and they rode in silence for the next twenty minutes.
Once they pulled into the drive, L.J. stared out at the growing darkness. He was thinking about the men Ink had shot and the stomach-churning process of burying them. He wondered about their families, whether or not they had children. This was all so senseless. His life was turning into a nightmare. He didn’t feel big or bad, like he thought he would. He just felt like shit. Worse than shit, because he knew how ashamed his grandfather would be.
“What are we going to do?” he asked. “We can’t go back into town. Not with all those flyers everywhere.”
“We’ll wait until it’s too dark to see us clearly.”
He had an answer for everything. They hadn’t shaved since they left the California Men’s Colony, but his beard growth hadn’t stopped Trudie from recognizing him. “And what if it doesn’t work? In another day or two, every one in town will have seen that flyer.”
“That’s why we’ve got to go back tonight. But we’ll wait another hour or so, let things die down.”
Bile rose in L.J.’s throat. “Are you joking? We can’t go back there.”
“We have no choice. And we need to do it soon, or you’re right—it’s only gonna get harder.”
It was already hard enough. “That’s asking for trouble. We’re screwed, you know that.”
Ink shut off the engine. “No, we’re not.”
L.J. didn’t move. He’d pissed himself rushing out of that damn grocery store, and there was no way he wanted Ink to see the wet spot on his jeans. He’d never live it down.
Fortunately, it was getting darker by the minute. In a little while it would be too dark to see that small detail, especially way the hell out here. “How can you be so sure?”
Ink met his gaze. “I remembered her name.”
L.J. didn’t immediately follow. “What are you talking about?”
“Laurel’s daughter. I remember her name!”
This wasn’t exciting news. L.J. had been a fool to come to Montana with Ink, but…now that he was here, he had to get through it the best he could until he found a way out. He’d been so set on becoming a Crew member. Now he couldn’t imagine why. If they were anything like Ink, then Ink was right. He wasn’t cut out for it. “How?”
“Don’t know. When you came out screaming, it just popped into my head. Can you believe it?”
Frankly he couldn’t. What if Ink only
“Dreaming?” Ink echoed. “You mean lying, don’t you? But I’m not. And even if I was, it’s not your place to question me.”
Question him? What was he, L.J.’s father? L.J. had never had a father, and he didn’t want one now, especially a freaking psychopath only fifteen years older than he was. “We almost got caught back there!”
“I’m telling you we’re going to be able to find her now. Then we’ll get the hell out of here.”
Finding her wouldn’t save the day. Too much shit had already gone down. L.J. was pretty sure he was headed for death row no matter what. “But she might’ve changed her daughter’s name, too. Or given her up for adoption.
