“No, we didn’t—she did,” Harriet said and primly folded her hands in her lap.
Darien smiled. “I’m glad you’re on my side.”
“Oh, aren’t you just the sweetest?” Harriet cooed and placed a hand on his rough cheek.
“You deserve more than this,” he muttered over the incessant sound of the cicadas in the bushes and trees.
“You’re right,” she agreed with a wicked smile. “But I have faith that you’ll provide me with what I deserve.”
Darien’s smile widened. What a woman I’ve found.
A faint electronic wail echoed across the open meadows behind them, accompanied by a blue strobe light far in the distance down a side road. A moment later a cop car, small as a toy, appeared out of the woods and drove off away to the east. Darien lost his smile. “They’re still looking for us.”
“Oh, never-mind all that—he’s at least a mile away and besides, he’s going in the wrong direction. They’ll give up soon enough—you drove us around for hours. They have no idea where we are. I have no idea where we are. Trust me,” she said as she patted his thigh, “there’s enough chaos out there that they’ll write us off as dead or…scared off or something.” She shrugged. “You heard that deputy the other day—they’re stretched thin as it is. They’ll have more important things to worry about than us before long.” She settled in her seat and sighed.
“You got it all figured out, huh?” asked Darien, unable to hide a lopsided grin.
She nodded and the tight ponytail at the back of her head bobbed. “We just need to wait here until sunset, then we can return to my house. I can’t possibly sleep in this smelly old car.” She turned to smile at him. “My bed is so much more comfortable, don’t you think?”
Darien looked at her and blinked. “You know it is,” he said with a grin. “But I have to ask…who’s really in charge here?”
“Bless your heart,” she said with a smile and a hand to his cheek. “You thought there was any doubt?” She glanced out the open window, then slapped at her other arm. “Oh, of all the...mosquitoes are coming out. It’s close to sunset, look.”
Darien raised the windows and started the car to engage the air conditioning. “I’ll drive us the long way back—should take another couple hours and keep the cops guessing.”
“Agreed,” Harriet said, as if her consent were required.
Darien smirked to himself. She was a handful, no doubt about it. He waited another few moments, and when the coast remained clear, he put the car in gear and left the lights off, then pulled them back onto the country road. He took a glance both ways and saw nothing but trees and Spanish moss. “Coast looks clear.”
Harriet peered west in the gathering gloom, down the road the cop had gone. “Look at those clouds. I do believe we’re in for a storm tonight. I just love a good thunderstorm at night. Don’t you?” she asked, and her eyes sparkled in the shadows.
Darien squinted at the faraway clouds. A tall anvil-shaped thunderhead loomed over the world, still lit by the sun in pastel pinks and oranges, while the base was a gloomy gray-blue. “Even better. The storm will cover our return. If we’re smart about it and don’t make too much noise, no one will even know we came back.”
She smirked. “For now.”
Darien glanced at her in the already dim light. Night would be on them soon, and with it, plenty of safety. Law-abiding folk always feared the night, and that was where he felt most confident. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of a retreat to Harriet’s house—it was right across the street from his bungled attack. Still…it would be the last place anyone would think to look for him and his crew. And in the meantime, he had Harriet to occupy himself.
The smile returned to his face. “Come on, then. Let’s go home.”
Broken Tide Book 3
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