His Secret Life

That was the hardest part. Finding a way to end a life without getting caught or leaving too many lingering suspicions.

He could do it.

He’d done it before.

Chapter Five

Jane turned the car around and headed back to the highway.

Troy Benson might have the people in this town believing he was just a short-order cook, but that was so far from the truth she wanted to laugh.

It wasn’t so unusual for a guy living out in the country to have a handgun. It wasn’t even unusual for him to investigate anyone hanging around his property. But the whole interrogation thing had been totally out of character for the persona he was going for.

The guy had something he seriously wanted to hide.

And it had absolutely nothing to do with avoiding the limelight or a much-earned reward.

Jane got a glimpse of a turnoff she’d noticed earlier and slammed on her brakes. She shoved the gearshift into Reverse and backed up. It looked as if there had once been a driveway here, but it had long ago been overcome by weeds and grass. With a glance in the rearview mirror to ensure that Benson hadn’t followed her, she pulled forward a little and backed into the drive. When she’d backed a good enough distance from the road to avoid being spotted, she turned off the headlights and ignition.

Since Mr. Benson was armed, it would be in her best interest to carry her weapon just in case he wasn’t so pleasant the next time they met. She reached into the console and retrieved her weapon. After adjusting the interior light so that it didn’t come on when she opened the door, she got out and closed her car door as quietly as possible.

Sliding the weapon into her waistband, she listened past the sound of the leaves rustling in the slight breeze. It was getting darker by the minute. Thankfully the moon had appeared and was filtering light through the trees. Another five minutes and she wouldn’t need to worry about being spotted when she made her way back to the farmhouse. Since she’d carefully staked out the area earlier today, she knew the most pedestrian-friendly route to stay out of sight and clear of the gravel road.

Keeping a close eye on Benson until she heard back from the print search was imperative. Jane’s instincts were shouting at her that the man was planning to disappear. Though she had no evidence to indicate anything in his past would send him running, and certainly nothing about Norcross’s interest in him would prompt such a reaction, she could feel Benson’s desire to escape. He was not going to hang around long.

His tension had been palpable. He was worried big time about who she was and what her exact intentions might be. Her appearance alone was not nearly enough motivation to prompt him to cut and run. Something else had to be behind the escalating tension.

Headlights turning onto the gravel road had her stepping back into the tree line. The lights going dark while the vehicle still rolled sent her instincts to the next level.

Since it wasn’t hunting season and the only inhabited house on this stretch of the road was Benson’s, there was every reason to believe this visitor was here for similar reasons as she.

Logic told her this could be an actual reporter attempting to track down the hero who had rescued Norcross’s family. But her gut told her differently. So far, no one had the scoop on the anonymous rescuer. At least not that had been reported. Nope, this was no reporter.

This was trouble with a capital T.

The sedan stopped short of Benson’s drive. The front doors, driver’s and passenger’s, opened. Despite the dark clothing and the ski masks, the hazy light of the moon allowed her to make out enough about the tall, broad-shouldered frames to recognize that both were male. The driver motioned to the passenger, sending him through the overgrown pasture toward Benson’s house.

Damn. Definitely not good.

Jane weaved her way through the dense underbrush, trying to keep noise to a minimum. If she had Benson’s number she could warn him.

“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.

If these guys got to his house before she did—

“Don’t move.”

The barrel pressed to the back of her skull proved far more persuasive than the issued order.

“I…need to borrow a phone,” she said, offering the first excuse that came to mind. “My car broke down. I’m totally lost.” She could use the aunt story again. The insistent pressure against the back of her head warned that this guy wasn’t going to be nearly as amiable as Benson had been.

Using his free hand, he patted her down, took possession of her weapon and phone. “Turn around and start back in the direction of your car.”

That he growled the order confirmed her speculation. This guy wasn’t going to make this easy.

“Okay, okay.” She moved around him and started toward where she’d left her car. “I didn’t realize I was trespassing. Chill out. As soon as I can get in touch with AAA I’m out of here.”

“Next,” he said, giving her a prod with the muzzle of his handgun, “I guess you’re going to tell me that you didn’t have enough bars on your cell to make the call already.”

“How’d you know?” Now she was a comedian. How the hell had she missed this big guy coming up behind her? Her instincts were definitely off tonight. Maybe not off, just too focused on her target.

“Just shut up and keep walking.”

Jane kept walking. She still had options. When they reached her car she could make a move. Try and take him down before he could pull off a round.

Risky at best.

Play along and see where it goes from here, particularly if these guys were after Benson for something other than the Norcross rescue as she suspected. They could end up abducted together.

Neither of the two was appealing, but her options were limited.

“I’ve got her.”

The guy with the gun had obviously put in a call to his cohorts. She considered the fact that she’d only seen two men in the car that had arrived after she pulled off the road. Which likely meant the guy behind her already had Benson under surveillance.

The next logical question was, how had these guys found him?

If Benson had fallen off the radar in a previous life, had these guys been closing in on him already or was finding him somehow related to the Norcross accident? She’d sensed that “being watched” feeling at least once today.

Norcross had come to the Colby Agency, but had he gone to someone else or tried a different avenue first?

There was no reason to suspect Norcross would have an ulterior motive for wanting him found.

As they reached her car, Jane glanced back at the guy behind her. Shorter than his friends. This one, too, had donned a ski mask and dark clothing. Oh yeah. He’d been hanging out in these woods, watching.

He had to have parked on a different road, maybe somewhere on the main road, and walked here. Jane had checked out every possible spot along this gravel road, from one end to the other.

“Facedown on the car,” her captor ordered.

She leaned over the truck, facedown as ordered, arms spread wide. From the edge of her vision she could see him raise the cell phone to his ear.

“What do ya want me to do with her?”

Nice. Nothing like being the excess baggage. Too bad she couldn’t hear the guy on the other end of the line.

“Got it.”

Jane braced for whatever came next.