Tears rimmed her eyes. “You and your father were a package deal. I knew that.”
“So you hated my father so much that you were willing to walk out on a kid who thought of you as his mother and deny your other child his family?”
“
“He never forgave me, either.”
Melissa touched his hand. “You were her son.”
“I was the reason she died.”
She frowned. “You were a baby.”
“I was a sick baby she drove to the hospital in a snowstorm the night she ran off the road and died.”
Melissa stared at him. “He blamed you for that?”
Joe didn’t answer, hating the way he felt inside, like the same vulnerable child who’d listened to his father’s drunken tirade that cold December night twenty-five years ago-the first and last time his father had ever spoken to him about his mother’s death.
“Bastard!” Melissa’s voice shook with anger.
“I wanted you to come find me,” he admitted. “I wanted you to take me to live with you and Tommy.”
She reached out and brushed her fingers across his cheek. “I wish I had.”
He fought his instinct to bury himself in her arms as he had so many times as a child, and he pulled away from her touch, regathering the steely control that had served him well for twenty-five years. “I have to go.” He pulled out the roll of bills stashed in the front pocket of his jeans and handed her five hundred-dollar bills. “This should cover your expenses and the cab ride back to the airport.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Where’d you get this?”
He smiled. “I’m very good at blackjack.”
Melissa followed him to the door. “Be careful, okay?”
“I will. You do the same.” He moved the Do Not Disturb sign around to the outside knob of her door. “Did you bring food like I suggested?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That way you don’t have to let room service or anyone else in. Just stay here overnight and leave as soon as you can in the morning, and you should be fine.” He didn’t think Clint Holbrook would connect Melissa to him-he’d had little to no contact with her in years-but he didn’t like taking any more chances than necessary. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”
He closed her door behind him and headed for the stairs, not willing to risk the elevator a second time. The fewer people who saw him, the better. Just in case.
Reno wasn’t the sort of town that slept, and there were still people out and about as he crossed to where Jane sat waiting. She lowered the window and looked up at him with troubled eyes. “How did it go with your stepmother?”
“She won’t call the police,” he said, hoping he was right. “You ready to go?”
She nodded. “I’ll go first. You follow.”
“See you at the motel.” He tapped the door and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. But the closer they came to leaving Reno, the more he started to wonder if they were going to get out of town alive.
He checked his watch. Twelve-fifteen, he noted with growing unease. He’d lingered too long getting Melissa settled in her room. Clint Holbrook could be in Reno already. Maybe he’d already picked up their scent and was closing in.
Ahead of him, Jane pulled out of the motel parking lot and onto the service road. He started the Chevy and pulled out behind her, trying hard not to think of all the things that could have gone wrong with their plan.
JANE CHECKED her rearview mirror. Joe had gotten stopped by a traffic light a couple of blocks back, and though she’d considered pulling off the street to wait for him, she talked herself out of it. She was only a block from the Admiral Arms Motel. She drove on, pulling up next to the office and parking in the side lot where Ashlee had told her to park. She cut the engine and slouched low in the driver’s seat, keeping an eye on her side mirror for signs of Joe’s arrival.
She scooted lower in the seat as car lights swung toward her parking spot. When they passed, she let herself sit up until she could just peer over the dashboard.
A dark-colored sedan pulled up next to the office and parked in one of the three short-term parking slots at the front of the building. From where Jane sat, she could see only the back end of the car. The car shimmied a little-the driver getting out, Jane thought. She released her breath, chiding herself for being such a scaredy-cat. It was a motel. People checked in and out all the time.
She pulled her jacket more tightly around her, wishing Joe would hurry up and get there. How long could that traffic light have lasted?
Movement to her left caught her attention. Jane slouched lower again, trying to stay out of sight. At first, she could make out only two silhouettes. Both appeared to be male.
Then the taller man stepped into the glow of one of the floodlights positioned at either corner of the motel office, his features now discernible. Jane’s heart skipped a beat.
It was Clint Holbrook.
Chapter Fourteen
Jane peered over the back of the seat, doing her best to stay out of sight while she watched Clint Holbrook and a man who was clearly a motel employee climb the stairs to the second floor of the Admiral Arms Motel. Of course they were heading directly for the motel room that she and Joe had occupied until just a few hours ago.
They disappeared inside, and Jane turned around, releasing a quick sigh of relief as she reached for her cell phone. She punched a button and the display panel came up, complete with a “low battery” message. Holding her breath, she tried to call Joe’s number.
The cell phone did nothing but beep a warning.
Punching the off button, she jammed the cell phone in her pocket and looked back at the motel. A light shone in the window of unit 214, so they were still inside.
Time to find a better place to hide while she could.
She scanned the parking lot for a hiding place that would still give her a decent view of Clint’s car. There. The two metal trash bins at the far end of the lot would work. There was just enough space to squeeze between them, and the shadows would hide her from view without anything blocking her view of Clint’s car.
She scrambled over the stick-shift console and slid out the passenger door as quickly as she could, pausing only to push the keys under the front passenger seat as Ashlee had asked her to do, and raced toward the trash bins. Within a few feet of them, the sickly sweet odor of rotting food assaulted her nose and made her eyes water, but she pushed on, sliding between the bins and ducking into the shadows. She could still see the back end of the sedan Clint had been driving.
She forced her frantic breathing to calm, pushing back a rising tide of anxiety, but it was no use. Panic had begun to set in, making her whole body shake. Any minute now, Joe would drive up in the rental car, unaware he was heading straight into a potential ambush.
And she had no way to warn him.
AS JOE PULLED UP at the stoplight at the end of the block, he glanced up at the Admiral Arms Motel in time to see Clint Holbrook step up to the railing.
Adrenaline shot through him, taking his breath for a moment. He scanned the scene for any sign of Jane. He spotted the Honda parked in the employee lot by the office, but it was too dark to see if anyone was inside.
Did Jane even realize Clint Holbrook was there?
The light changed, and Joe drove past the motel, his heart racing. He kept his speed normal, careful not to slow down as he took a closer look at the Honda. If Jane was inside, she was down on the floorboard hiding, which suggested she might have spotted Clint.
