Silent Run - Barbara Freethy [106]
“I didn’t, but he did have my real name, Jessica Holt. After I disappeared he must have figured out who I really was. I thought Andy was safe, because he actually lived under another name, too—Xander Cross. But Victor’s had eight years to make the connections, and I’m sure he was extremely motivated.”
“Which means Victor probably knows where Teresa is, too.”
“I hope not,” Sarah said. “Teresa goes under the name Tracy Hutchinson.”
“Good God! Does no one live under their real name?”
“Actually, Tracy was her real name; she just liked Teresa better, and she got married for a few years, hence the Hutchinson. Andy didn’t even know where Teresa was. Mrs. Murphy found her for me.”
“The same Mrs. Murphy who was beaten up,” Jake said, his pulse roaring again.
“She didn’t have it written down anywhere,” Sarah protested, but he could see the uncertainty flicker in her eyes.
“Do you know that for sure?”
“Yes, I do. I had told her I was interested in finding Teresa, and she said she’d ask around discreetly. She gave me Teresa’s address a week before she was attacked.”
“Shane obviously traced Mrs. Murphy to you. That’s how he showed up at your apartment.”
“But he couldn’t have seen Amanda take Caitlyn to Teresa’s house, because if he had Caitlyn, he would have used her to get to me. Victor would have
used Caitlyn. She’s safe. She has to be.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I didn’t have a lot of choices after I saw Shane in LA. Maybe it was wrong to have Amanda take Caitlyn to Teresa, but I knew Shane was going to come after me again, and if I left Caitlyn behind, he’d find her. I didn’t have anyone else to turn to.”
“Except me,” he couldn’t help pointing out.
“You were too far away. San Francisco was a seven-hour drive. I didn’t think I could get that far without a better plan.”
He wanted to argue that she could have found a way to make contact with him. She could have gone through one of his friends, called him at work. Lord knew she was creative at the lies. She could have reached him if she wanted to. But it was pointless to rehash what hadn’t happened.
“Okay, so where were you going when Shane chased you up the coast?” he asked. “Were you heading to Catherine’s house?”
“No. I thought Catherine would be too easy to find. She hadn’t changed her name or anything.”
“Imagine that,” he said sarcastically.
Sarah ignored him. “I was just looking for a new safe place to hide. And I thought if Shane were still after me, at least I’d get him away from Caitlyn. I told Teresa if anything happened to me, if I died, that she should take the baby back to you.”
Jake wanted to believe that, but how could he? “Sure you did.”
“It’s true.”
She gazed at him with her heart in her beautiful blue eyes, and he forced himself to look away from her, to concentrate on the road back to his daughter.
“I don’t know what I would have done if you’d been in town when Andy died,” she murmured. “But in some ways I was glad that you weren’t, because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t want you to die, Jake. And make no mistake, Shane would have killed all three of us if he’d had the chance.”
“Don’t tell me you disappeared to protect me. What kind of man do you think I am—that I would want to hide behind you and my daughter?” he demanded.
“I had to make a quick decision, and you weren’t there. I had to protect Caitlyn.”
“You could have gone to the police.”
“I was in the custody of the U.S. Marshals when Shane tried to kill me. I didn’t believe I could trust anyone. Maybe it was the wrong decision,” she admitted. “But everything happened so fast, and I was terrified.”
“It was the wrong decision,” he said sharply. “And I told you I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“You brought it back up.”
“Fine, then I’m putting it away again. I just hope to God you didn’t make another wrong decision when you left Caitlyn with Teresa.”
* * *
Sarah hoped so, too. Every mile between LA and Santa Barbara seemed to take an eternity.