No Place to Hide Read Online Free Page A

freezing. Not even her heavy sweatshirt was doing much to protect her from the wind. “Holing up sounds good.” Traveling far away from the men after them and figuring out what she’d gotten herself into sounded better. But they had to come up with a plan. She thought about finding a pay phone and simply calling her co-workers. She trusted them with her life, but then Ian would decide she couldn’t be trusted and strike out on his own.
    And she just couldn’t let him do that.
    “Where?” he muttered.
    “Someplace that doesn’t have the news streaming on their television.”
    He nodded toward a shopping center. “How about the café in that bookstore?”
    “All right,” she looked back over her shoulder, “let’s go.”
    They hurried down the sidewalk, crossed the street, and went into the warmth of the bookstore. Jackie finally had time to process the vest Gus wore when Ian pulled a leash from his pocket and snapped it onto the dog’s collar. She’d heard Ian point out the vest to the clerk in the convenience store and wondered why Ian would have a service dog. Maybe she’d get a chance to ask soon.
    The small café nestled in the corner offered a bit of privacy if they could grab the last booth on the right. “Do you see a television anywhere?”
    She glanced around. “No. Let’s just hope no one’s watching the news on their laptops.”
    He slid in the seat opposite her and pulled his baseball cap lower. He slipped on the low-powered reading glasses. At Ian’s signal, Gus took up residence under the table and placed hishead on his paws. Ian looked at her over the top of the glasses. “You want some coffee?”
    “No, I need some coffee.” She set her back to the wall and gazed out over the store, processing it from the distance, formulating a plan. “And make it a double.”

    “Where are they?” Gunter shouted, then spewed obscenities as he realized they’d slipped away.
    Nick glared. “They don’t have a car, it’s freezing cold out here. Where are they going to go?”
    “To a hotel, where else?” Hector said. “Or maybe friends who would take them in and not call the cops on them.”
    “Right. To a hotel. Or friends.” Gunter snorted. “That’s what you idiots would do. Obviously they’re smarter than you two.”
    Victor Stroebel stared at the men who worked for him. They’d failed him and he should shoot them all, leaving their carcasses for the rats that foraged behind the small gas station. He lit his cigarette and flicked the lighter closed. “Shut up.” Though his words were quiet, they had greater effect than if he’d shouted. The other three men froze and slowly turned to look at him. If he hadn’t been so irritated at the fact that Lockwood was still alive, he might have laughed at the fear he could instill by just being in their presence. They weren’t used to seeing him, as he usually called the shots from behind the scenes. But this was too important. And as soon as they’d outlived their usefulness, they would die, but for now, he needed them—and their fear-induced loyalty.
    He drew in a deep breath. “Priority number one. Find out everything you can about Ian Lockwood and his pretty companion, Jackie Sellers. I want to know every single teeny tiny detail about their lives. I want family names and numbers, co-workers,friends, everything. And then find me something I can use to lure them out into the open.”
    “Uh . . . like what, boss?” Gunter asked.
    Victor simply looked at the man. “Like a kid or a relative we can snatch and hold for ransom. Or in this case, a trade. Only it won’t be a trade, they all have to die.”
    “Right, right. I got it. Okay. We’ll get right on it.” The man paused and anxiety had him nearly twitching.
    “What is it, Gunter?” Vic asked as though he had all the patience in the world.
    “Um . . . well, should we keep looking for them?”
    Idiot. Victor lifted his gun, thankful he’d already placed the suppressor on