“I’ll get them,” Page volunteered, jumping to her feet, eager to help. “Gabe, why don’t you pour him a glass of water?”
She realized that both men had tensed as she moved toward the door, their expressions doubtful. It took her only a heartbeat to figure out why they’d gone so still.
She scowled, and faced them both with her fists on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere except to the truck for the pills,” she snapped. “I wasn’t planning an escape.”
Gabe seemed to relax. “Sorry,” he muttered. “But with your track record so far...”
“Better shut up while you’re ahead, Gabe,” Blake advised with characteristic humor.
Looking straight at Gabe, Page held her chin up proudly and said, “I’m trusting you to help me, Gabe. Now you have to trust me.”
Gabe grimaced and reached into the front pocket of his jeans. “You’ll need these,” he said, holding up the keys to his truck.
He tossed them to her. She caught them deftly in her right hand. She allowed her lips to curve into a slight smile of gratitude before she turned and walked outside without another word, feeling as though they’d just taken a very big step in their complex relationship.
There were no lights outside the secluded little fishing cabin. Long shadows fell across the small, cleared lot The newly risen moon provided barely enough illumination to lead Page from the tiny front porch to Gabe?
?s truck, which was parked in the gravel driveway.
The night was cool, with a hint of rain in the breeze that came off the lake. Page shivered and hurried to the truck, anxious to be safely back inside with Gabe and Blake.
She had just put the key into the door lock when something cold and hard pressed against her temple.
“You people are really stupid,” a voice she’d heard in too many nightmares murmured from close behind her. “Sometimes I wonder why I’ve wasted so much time with you.”
She opened her mouth instinctively to scream. He slapped a grimy hand over the lower half of her face.
“Scream and I take down the first man who comes out the door,” he warned. His strong arms pinned her to him, and the gun in his right hand gleamed softly in the pale moonlight.
Her heart seemed to stop. “No. Please,” she begged, her voice muffled by his hand. “Don’t hurt them.”
He pushed her toward the truck. “Get in. We’re going for a ride. You’re driving.”
She resisted for a moment, but his fingers bit into her arm. “You’ve got a choice, Page,” he snarled, motioning with the gun. “Get in the truck or I shoot you on the spot. And then I’m going after them.”
Her eyes flooding with tears, she surrendered. She had no doubt that he would do just as he threatened. And she simply couldn’t allow it.
She slid into the open door of the truck.
I’m sorry, Gabe. Please forgive me. And stay safe.
11
GABE FILLED a plastic tumbler with cold water from the tap, berating himself for letting Page see his momentary doubt when she’d offered to go out for the pills. He’d been the one who’d insisted they had to start acting as a team. He couldn’t blame her for being annoyed with him for behaving as though he were afraid to let her out of his sight.
She trusted him. He found that knowledge encouraging. Maybe by the time this was over, he could become as convinced that she loved him.
He turned the water off just as Blake yelled from the other room. “Gabe!”
Gabe dropped the tumbler and ran. Blake was standing in the open doorway of the cabin, glaring outside with an expression of shock and fury.
Gabe skidded to a halt, staring in disbelief at the taillights of his truck as they disappeared down the gravel road and became obscured by trees. “She didn’t—”
Blake slammed his fist against the open door. “She took off. Damn it, she’s gotten away from us again!”
Gabe shook his head, remembering the expression on Page’s face when she’d promised not to run. She’d looked so hurt at their doubt, so sincere in her reassurances. “I can’t believe she ran out on us.”
“Believe it,” Blake said irritably. “I heard the truck start, and by the time I got to the door, she was already halfway down the driveway. I would have bet anything that we’d convinced her not to do this. We were stupid to trust her.”