Page 99 of Nowhere to Hide

“I want Boston and Salem in our wake. Period.”

When we got to the garage, Jackson was waiting for us, leaning on one of the beefy SUVs that filled the garage. Locke paused and huffed out something under his breath that I couldn’t catch.

Jackson pushed off the front panel of the SUV. “Leo said you needed a ride.”

“I had it handled,” Locke growled.

“And now you don’t have to wait for a rideshare or walk.” He opened the back door.

I didn’t want to own up to the exhaustion dragging at me, but when Locke’s gaze locked on mine, he didn’t object. Instead he boosted me into the SUV and followed me in.

Jackson closed the door and got in the driver’s side.

The ride back to the harbor was quiet, the air thick with tension. My gaze kept bouncing between the front and Locke’s profile. Now that he didn’t have all that beard hiding his jawline, I could see how tight it was.

Had it been this difficult for him to come back to his job?

I don’t know what possessed me to reach for his hand. Locke froze, but he didn’t pull it away. His jaw relaxed a little, even if the tension in his shoulders practically vibrated the back seat.

The traffic around the harbor was thick and I was never so glad to see theKnot On Your Lifegleaming in the late day sun.

Jackson craned his neck. “I don’t think I can get any closer.”

“We’ll hop out.” Locke slid out, grabbing his case as he opened the door.

The gun on his hip made me shiver. I knew it was a necessity, but the last few weeks on the boat had been peaceful and quiet. The reality of my situation shouting in my face had my stomach twisting in anxiety.

I looked over my shoulder as a crowd of people funneled out of the last ferry coming back from Salem. The chatter seemed happy, but I found myself looking at every face. I wasn’t sure I would even recognize the man who hurt me.

The big black eyes overshadowed everything. Was it my fear that created the monster effect or had he been wearing contacts?

Did he want to incite fear?

“Cilla?”

I looked up at Locke who was waiting for me to get out of the SUV. He held his hand out and I took it. “Thanks, Jackson,” I said with a tight smile and then we were pulled into the vortex of the crowd.

Locke held my hand tightly and we wove our way through the current of bodies to the other side.

A hand clamped down on my arm, yanking me away from Locke.

He swung around, his eyebrows furrowed. “Cilla!”

I tried to wrench my arm away, but the grip was steely and uncompromising. A hood hid his face, but the bruising fingers catapulted me back in time.

Were they the same fingers from that night? The grip on the ropes pulling my legs apart.

The fear froze my voice for a moment. My thigh throbbed as the man dragged me through the crowd again, this time going against the flow of pedestrian traffic. I yelled for Locke, my gaze darting around.

Where did he go?

I tried to wrestle my arm away, but he yanked me forward, throwing me off balance and my leg screamed at the position. The man swung around, and the wild teeth of my nightmares was all I could see.

Fear threatened to make me spiral, but I locked in and recognized it was a mask that you could add to the hood.

For winter runners.

His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but the sharpness of his cheekbones heightened my flight reaction. “Let me go!” My gaze whirled into the crowd of people.