Transference Read Free Page A

criminal."
    "Except...he's not. Not really."
    "How well do you really know Adam and Eli Barrows?"
    A moment later, Allison lowered her gaze and followed him in silence to their getaway car, thus beginning their unlikely alliance.
    If only any of the hurtful things he'd said to her were actually true.

CHAPTER 3

    THEY DROVE IN abject silence for the better part of the day, making only the occasional stop for food or facilities. So he was taking her to Adam? That was good. That must mean Adam hadn't forgotten about her. Maybe there was still hope for a clean start for the two of them.
    Even if the extent of his criminal activities did apparently extend beyond breaking his brother out of prison for a murder he supposedly didn't commit.
    The shredding claw was at work on her insides again. How long would it take them to get to Costa Rica? Just a short flight? Probably not. He'd said earlier they were driving to the border. She let out a breath. How could she possibly cope with a long road trip in the same vehicle as Markenson? She hated him.
    She hated herself more for the thoughts that were running through her head about him.
    As the first dusky hues of purple and mauve chased across the sky, Allison turned to Brad and broke their silence. "What's the plan?"
    He slid a glance in her direction and then fixed his eyes back on the road. "Put as much distance between us and that transport as possible."
    "I, uh, sort of figured as much." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her skin still burning from his earlier touch. "I meant, how are we getting to Costa Rica?"
    "Drive."
    She tried to call upon her cursory knowledge from a world geography course she'd taken in high school, but she didn't remember a single thing that counted. "Can we actually drive all the way to Costa Rica?"
    "Yes, but we'll dump the car before we get there."
    "Then what?"
    Brad changed lanes to get around a slow-moving truck. "Oh, so we're talking now?"
    "Sort of. Yeah."
    "Funny. I tried to talk to you about this five hours ago."
    That was true. He had. Unfortunately, five hours ago they'd just gotten into the car and she'd still been too shaken from what had almost happened between them. Not that she'd ever let him know how affected she was by that.
    Or by him.
    "I was still... processing . I'm ready to listen now."
    "Processing." He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, being extracted is traumatic." After a beat, he said, "We'll have to zigzag our way across the country. They'll be expecting you to get out of the country quick so it only makes sense to wait it out until things cool down."
    "How long?"
    "Probably a few weeks."
    "Oh." That was a long time – longer than she was comfortable with. She bit her lip, wincing at the puffiness she felt. It wasn't as though she needed a reminder of what she'd done earlier. "Uh...then what?"
    He shrugged. "Cross into Mexico, use some connections to get to Costa Rica. Not really a lot to it once we get out of the US." Brad turned to meet her wide eyes. "And no, I am not trying to drag out this little road trip from hell."
    His words shocked her. "I...I didn't think you were."
    "So long as we're clear." He turned his attention back to the deserted stretch of road in front of him. "You started all that shit before, Allison, not me."
    "I know." Allison fixed her gaze on the scenery flying by her window. More than anything, she didn't want to talk about that. She didn't want to talk about the raw attraction she felt toward the man who'd tried to kill her – probably on multiple occasions. She didn't want to think about the way his kiss had filled her body with the same electric charge the curling iron in the bathtub had. She didn't want any of it.
    And yet it was there.
    When she'd known him before - first as Mark, the supportive fellow recovering addict and new sponsor sincere in trying to keep her from using, and then as Markenson, the cold-blooded man who'd just as soon kill her as listen to the information he tortured her for - his