Dani checked her purse for her wallet and phone. She looked at the time, tapping her foot. Her real estate agent called to say she was running a couple of minutes late. Dani was eager to be on her way. The agent needed the keys to lock up behind her.
The house was sold. Sold for just enough to pay off the mortgage and the rest of Mason’s funeral expenses. There was a little money left over to start her and Jack’s new life plus some put away in a college fund for him. There had been no life insurance. It was one expense she and Mason put off.
“Mommy, are we leaving?”
“Not yet, Jack. Just a few more minutes.”
A car honked, and Dani looked down the road. Good, the agent was here. After they said goodbye, she and Jack would be on their way to a new life.
Hours later, Dani pulled into a motel off the highway. Somehow, it didn’t look as nice as the picture online. The blinking red and yellow neon sign was missing some letters. The Mountain View Motel wasn’t run-down, only tired. It also didn’t overlook any mountains. No matter, it was theirs for the night.
Dani parked in front to register and groaned as she got out of the car. The motel door made a buzzing noise when she opened it. A TV was playing in another room. A bored-looking young woman came out from the back and checked her in. She handed Dani the keys and a brochure of the area. Not that she needed it since they were just passing through. Then the woman yawned and walked back to continue watching TV, she guessed.
She’d reserved a room at the back of the motel. Dani drove around and backed the car into the trees. Safer that way.
The trip to Florida would take two, three days since she hated long drives and Jack needed to run around and play before bed.
Dani pulled out their overnight bags from the tailgate.
“I’ll help, Mommy,” said Jack. He grabbed one of the smaller suitcases and dragged it toward the room. Dani smiled as she watched him. Her little man was growing up. She picked up the larger one, her laptop bag, and opened the door to the room.
There was nothing special about the motel except the fast-food restaurant across the parking lot with a small indoor playground, which was why she chose it. They’d go over for breakfast in the morning.
The musty smell hit her nose as soon as she opened the door. She headed for the AC and turned it on. Hopefully, it would clear the air and the humming would act like white noise.
The light blue space was a no-frills, typical motel room.
There were two queen beds covered in faded floral bedspreads. A landscape picture hung over each bed, and deep brown wooden end tables, each topped with a table lamp, stood next to them. Oh goody, the lamps at least had outlets to recharge her phone and laptop. A bulky TV was on the dresser. Obviously, for what she paid for the room, flat screens were out of the price range. A plaid chair was in the corner by a round table, calling her name.
The patterned carpet looked clean but stained. She hoped it was at least vacuumed.
“Leave your shoes on,” she called out to Jack, who had already claimed the bed closest to the bathroom.
“Can I watch TV? Do we have snacks? I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Okay, little dude, one thing at a time.” Dani laughed. “Yes, you can watch TV. But only one cartoon. I have snacks for later, and please, go potty.”
Jack jumped off the bed and scurried to the bathroom.
As he ran off, she closed the drapes after scrutinizing the parking lot. Her car was parked under a dim light, which created shadows in the lot. Dani noticed there were several other cars parked there also. She let out a heavy breath. No one followed her or knew where she was going. They were just another little family traveling down the highway.
Dani sat in the armchair next to the window and opened her laptop. Stared at it while it loaded up.
She missed Mason. They’d been inseparable since high school, and she always imagined a life with him.
Even though there had been that one incident of infidelity when they hit a rough spot early in their marriage, with therapy, they got on to repairing their relationship. No marriage was perfect.
She hadn’t expected to lose him so early in life. The police thought Mason had fallen asleep while driving on a deserted road. His car went off the road, hitting a tree, killing Mason instantly—she hoped.
Dani suspected foul play. Mason mentioned several times that he felt like someone was tailing him, even though he saw no one.
Mason worked at the large newspaper in town and was following up on a story, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be out late at night. He wouldn’t tell her what he was researching, only that it involved a lot of well-known people and the college. The story was big enough, he hoped it would win a Pulitzer for him. He claimed it was better for everyone if she didn’t know anything until it was published. When she went to Mason’s editor’s office to turn in the other notes that Mason had left at home, even he didn’t exactly know what Mason was looking into, just that he was pursuing a tip about a problem at colleges. He made her promise if she found the notes that she’d give them to him.
The night was quiet. Even so, she paused to listen for any unusual sounds outside the motel. She heard nothing and slowly exhaled. Dani tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
Since Mason’s death, several unusual events had happened, which was why she and Jack were moving 1200 miles away.
She initially passed off the occurrences as ordinary but weird. Phone calls where someone would hang up, breathe heavily or ask for directions to places that weren’t even close to her house.
It wasn’t until she received a picture of Jack running around his school’s playground, smiling, and laughing with his friends that she became frightened. Then the flat-tire incidences happened. The police didn’t believe it had anything to do with Mason’s story and weren’t any help.
She remembered Mason’s unease and suspected she was being targeted. Why? Dani had no idea, but it had to be connected to Mason’s investigation. She sure as heck wasn’t staying in New York, putting herself or Jack in danger. She only hoped trouble didn’t follow them to Florida.
A hand on her shoulder startled Dani awake. Her heart lurched. She glanced around.
“Mommy, you okay?” asked Jack, his forehead furrowed. He stood beside her, already in his spiderman PJs.
“Yes, sweetie. I’m fine. You startled me, that’s all.”
“I went potty. Can I have a snack and watch TV now?”
“Did you wash your hands?”
“Yes.”
“Put the toilet seat down?”
“Yes,” he groaned.
“Okay then. You can get one bag of crackers and watch one cartoon. Then it’ll be time to brush your teeth and go to bed.”
“Yesss!” Jack’s fist shot up in the air. He ran over to her bag, brought back a package of crackers, and snuggled into her lap. Dani turned on the TV, inhaled the sweet bubblegum scent of his shampoo, and hugged him tightly.
Oh, God.
How could she have let her guard down? What if it had been someone other than Jack surprising her? Someone who wanted to harm them. Dani couldn’t let that happen again.
CHAPTER TWO
Ryker Barlow got to his house in Haywood Lake, Florida, an hour past dawn. The neighborhood was quiet except for a dog barking in the distance. A few lights were on, and he saw people moving around. Soon, kids would leave for school, men and women who worked would drive away, and only he, the elderly, and the stay-at-home moms or dads would be home.