Fierce Wanderer Read Free Page A

has done enough.”
    He laughed softly.
    “Wait, that sounded ungrateful, huh?” she said. “I really appreciate everything. Really. Do you know where the nearest car rental place is?”
    Could she trust that, though? Didn’t they ask for identification when you rented a car? What if Tobin was monitoring rental agencies? He’d know, by now, that her Mustang was toast.
    “There aren’t any around here,” Blake said. “Closest place is probably in Reno.”
    It was almost funny, except it was so sad. “I need to be in Reno.”
    He clapped his hands together. “I can take you there.”
    “No, you’ve done so much. I can find another way…”
    “Really? Can you?”
    His tone was so cocky, so self-assured. Exactly the kind of guy she hated being around. She made her voice go frosty. “I’ll figure something out.”
    “Look, I can get you to Reno.”
    “Don’t you have a job or something?”
    “Nothing that can’t wait.”
    If he wanted her dead, he’d already have done it. He wasn’t going to kill her—he’d saved her. And she was out of options.
    “I can’t pay you,” she said. “I only have a little bit of cash, and I might need it for food.”
    “I was going there anyway. You’re like a hitchhiker.”
    She looked at him, sensing a lie. “Going there anyway?”
    “Yeah,” he said. “A wounded hitchhiker.” His brown eyes were wide open, earnest.
    “I’ll let you take me there. And when this is over, I’m taking you out to your favorite restaurant.”
    He held out his hand to shake on the deal, and she took it in her own. His palm was warm and dry, with a strange pattern of calluses. Maybe she’d ask him about them on the drive.

Chapter Six
    Blake went down the stairs first, with Hera following him. “I’m going to Reno,” he announced to Mav and Jude, who were splayed out in front of the television.
    “You just got home,” Mav said.
    Blake winced. Of course Mav would ruin his fragile subterfuge. “No, I had plans, remember ?”
    “Nope,” Mav and Jude said in unison, without looking away from the screen.
    Assholes. Blake turned to look at Hera, who was shaking her head. She didn’t seem scared or uncomfortable, though, just amused. Maybe a little annoyed because of the lie.
    “You don’t have to do this,” she said.
    All of a sudden, Mav and Jude cocked their heads. Blake heard it, too—a truck on the gravel driveway before it reached the pavement.
    “Gate,” Jude said. “Mav, go.”
    Mav raced out the front door. Blake checked Hera’s reaction. Had Mav moved too fast? Would she notice that something was different about them?
    Her eyebrows were scrunched. “Did I miss something? I didn’t hear anything.”
    “I didn’t either,” Blake lied.
    He led her to the couch, the whole time looking at Jude. He wanted to know if he should go out with Mav in case there was trouble. Going out with Mav was usually his job, but now he had this human to babysit, so shouldn’t Jude go instead?
    Jude kept his eyes on the television, but Blake could tell he was listening for whatever was outside. Maybe the guys in the red truck had tracked them down. Would they have bolt cutters to get through the gate? They hadn’t heard anything from Mav.
    Blake couldn’t take it anymore. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Hera. “Wait here.”
    The afternoon sun warmed the blacktop drive. He could feel the heat through his tennis shoes. As he went over the rise, he saw Mav, bent over at the waist, heaving.
    “Mav?” he called. “Mav!”
    “I’m fine,” Mav said between gagging. “It’s just the smell.”
    Blake stopped and looked at the gate, where Mav was waving. Some kind of animal entrails had been strung along the bars of the fence, woven around it like a strand of Christmas tree lights. The breeze changed, and a hot gust of it wafted at Blake’s nostrils.
    “Shit,” he said, holding in a gag of his own.
    “Yeah, ripe. They must’ve saved it for three or four days.”
    “You