Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott (christmas read aloud TXT) 📗

in touch.” Slade disconnected from the call. “All right, Chelsey. Let’s go.”

Swallowing her fear, she gently turned the knob of her office door and cracked it open. For the first time since Brett’s murder, she was responsible for the lives of these two men.

A heavy burden. Please, Lord, show me the way!

FOURTEEN

Duncan put a hand on Chelsey’s shoulder, preventing her from going out of the office. He lowered his mouth to her ear. “Me first. Tell me which way to go.”

She shook her head. “Too difficult to navigate. Follow me.”

He didn’t like it, but arguing was a waste of time they didn’t have. It seemed as if their planned late-night escape from Moose had only postponed being found by the bad guys, not circumvented it.

They should have gotten in and out of Chelsey’s office as quickly as possible.

Over Chelsey’s shoulder he could see the hallway was deserted and quiet. She moved out and headed in the opposite direction from which they’d come in. He tensed, hoping she wasn’t planning to take them to the front door.

She didn’t. Instead, she turned down another hallway, going past a couple of conference rooms that were thankfully empty. She turned right and led them down a narrow hallway with hotel room doors located on either side.

It was pretty quiet for a hotel, although thinking back, he realized the wedding was on Saturday so that meant today was Monday. Not as much going on, apparently even in June.

“Colt? What’s happening?” Slade asked softly. “We’re heading toward the north end of the building.”

“See you soon.” In the quiet hallway Duncan could hear Colt’s muffled response without the phone being on speaker.

Duncan glanced over his shoulder at Slade. “He didn’t answer your question.”

Slade gave a curt nod. “I know.”

At the end of the hallway, there was a door leading outside to a flat parking lot.

Once again, he rested his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from going outside. “Wait for Colt.”

She nodded and peered through the glass door. From what he could see of the parking lot, there was a scattering of cars on the left, all of them close to the door. For whatever reason, there weren’t many cars parked on the right. Maybe they were parked closer to their rooms, overlooking the mountains.

The hotel was located in a valley—the mountains circled the property on all sides—which is why the loading dock was tucked away in the back of the building.

There was a niggling itch along the back of his neck, a sixth sense telling him something wasn’t right. They’d gotten the evidence against Anthony Nettles but needed to stay alive long enough to use it.

A dark shape came around the corner from the right side of the building. Chelsey pushed against the door, but he held her back, waiting. Slade’s phone vibrated.

“That you, Colt? Okay, we’re coming,” Slade said.

The SUV rolled to a stop right across from the door. Duncan nudged Chelsey aside so he could go first. Less than a minute later, they were in the back seat of the SUV.

Colt drove slowly, going around the corner, then pulling up into a parking spot between two other cars. He shut down the engine, then turned to look at them. “I think we need to stay down for a while, long enough for the black truck to leave.”

“Good idea,” Slade said. “We’ll stay low.”

Duncan made sure Chelsey was crouched behind the passenger seat before doing the same.

They’d been settled in their hiding spots for only five minutes when bright headlights slowly swept past them. No one moved or spoke. Duncan had no doubt the vehicle would take a second pass, maybe even a third before leaving.

Unless...he swallowed hard. What if they decided to go from car to car searching for them? It wouldn’t take long to uncover their hiding spot. He found himself praying they wouldn’t. Praying didn’t come naturally to him, but he bowed his head so his chin was resting on his chest.

Please, Lord, guide us through this danger.

Chelsey shifted, ever so slightly. He glanced over and whispered, “You okay?”

“Yes.” A second later, the headlights washed over them again.

He didn’t like it. “Colt? We may have to make a run for it. I’m worried they’ll send someone to search each vehicle on foot. The alarm won’t help if they have a gun.”

“Already on it,” Colt answered. “I timed their sweep. In two minutes, I’m going to get us out of here. You and Chelsey need to stay down.”

“Okay.” Duncan flashed an encouraging look at Chelsey. “We can do this.”

She nodded. “With God’s help.”

“Yes.” There wasn’t time to say anything more as Colt fired up the engine and backed out of the parking spot. From Duncan’s position behind the driver’s seat, he couldn’t tell if Colt was using his headlights or not.

Colt didn’t waste any time but headed straight out of the parking lot back out onto the highway. “Slade? Ideas on where to go from here? Take interstate 191 southeast or go off on the less traveled highway 20?”

“Stay on the main highway, more traffic that way.”

Traffic? Duncan swallowed a protest. Wyoming didn’t have traffic. Not like Chicago and other big cities did. “Don’t forget you’re flying Chelsey out of Jackson Hole Airport in the morning.” He peered at his watch, his stomach clenching at the time. Midnight. “Which is only eight hours from now.”

“Turn here,” Slade said with urgency.

Colt cranked the wheel, taking a hard right. “Why?”

“Duncan’s right, we need to stay in Jackson. I know there are a couple of hotels roughly seven to eight miles from the airport.”

“Okay, but we’ll need to find a place to hide the vehicle,” Colt said. “If they start searching parking lots, they may recognize this one.”

“Understood,” Slade agreed.

Duncan’s back and knees were starting to protest the uncomfortable position, but he ignored the aches and pains, more concerned with how Chelsey was doing. “How much longer, Colt?”

“Ten minutes,” the marshal responded.

“Thanks.” He stared at Chelsey. Eight hours to go before she’d be flown