“You did good back there,” he said again, though grudgingly, to Kate, knowing that she had been cooler than he’d been. Having her along and not knowing what she might do had added to his anxiety. But she’d been a trooper. She’d played her role perfectly.
He glanced over at her as he drove down a narrow pothole-filled highway with wheat sheaves on the speed-limit signs assuring him they were now in Saskatchewan, Canada. He still wanted to believe that his dreams of them doing this together weren’t that crazy after all.
She said nothing as she looked out at the unchanged white landscape. If anything, there was more snow up here. Earlier there had been a short period of bright sunshine, but now the clouds had moved in again, making everything from the sky to the ground a silvery white in the growing twilight. Soon it would be dark. He was glad they didn’t have far to go.
“We made good time,” he said, not sure why he was trying to make conversation with her. He felt so relieved, so pleased with the job she’d done. That they had both done. They’d gotten over one hurdle. Kate had come through for him. He was proud of her, and maybe he was feeling guilty involving her.
“You’re meeting your associates in Swift Current?” There was an edge to her voice. She might have played along back there, but she was still furious with him. He still couldn’t trust her, let alone turn his back on her.
“Look, I have no choice in this.”
“Everyone has a choice,” she said, looking out her side window away from him.
“I’m in trouble financially with my businesses.”
“That’s why you were going to marry me,” she said, turning back to him. “Once we were married, I would have given you whatever money you needed. You didn’t have to do this.”
He shot her a skeptical look. She could say that now, but he couldn’t see himself begging her for money. He did have his pride. To his surprise, though, he told her the truth, something that embarrassed him more than she could know. “This is a different deal. I made kind of a bad investment with a loan shark and then made it worse with a drug deal that went sour. I’m not doing this just for the money. Not completely. I’m being forced to, all right? If I don’t make this work, I’m as good as dead.”
“If you’re looking for sympathy—”
He swore and banged his fist down hard on the steering wheel. The SUV swerved, and he had to grab the wheel to keep them on the narrow, snowy road. “I was just telling you how it is.” He ground his teeth, wishing he hadn’t bothered, as ahead he had to slow to make the turn toward the first small Canadian town of Val Marie.
“I’ve been desperate in my life,” Kate said, a softness to her tone. There were tears in her eyes when they met his. “I do understand. But I can’t forgive you for involving my daughter.”
“She’s safe. I promise. I just needed leverage. I knew after you found Jon Harper you would never go with me.” He saw that he’d been right about that. She didn’t deny it. If she had her way, she’d be back in Buckhorn in that woodshop with a man who could very well be her husband. Or a complete stranger. Both preferable to her fiancé, Collin thought bitterly.
“How do you plan to get the fentanyl across the border?” she asked.
He gave her that blank look. “Who said anything about fentanyl?”
“Oh, for cryin’ out loud. Don’t tell me there isn’t a plan. Otherwise—”
“There’s a plan, if you must know.” He figured there was no reason to keep it from her. She already knew the worst of it. “The car is being adapted with containers on the undercarriage tomorrow.”
“Won’t they look at the border?”
He shrugged. “Hopefully not. But even if they do, they might not see them. The guy who does this sort of work, I’m told, is very good at hiding any extra storage compartments. But they probably won’t look because of you. You aren’t the kind of woman who makes cops suspicious.”
“Lucky me,” she said, glancing in the side mirror at herself as if assessing if that were true or not.
He drove past the first small Canadian town and headed north. “You can’t save him,” he said after a few miles. “Jon Harper,” he added in case she didn’t already know. “He’s on the run from mobsters. One of them or their friends will eventually find him and kill him. It’s why you can never be with him.” She said nothing. “It’s also why he can’t save you.”
She was staring straight ahead, giving him nothing but her profile. He was struck by how beautiful she was, how stubborn and determined and loyal. It would take a very special man to have this woman, he realized. Someone much more special than him. The thought angered him and made him think of his father. It turned his stomach that his old man’s prediction for his son might come true.
The sudden flashing lights in his rearview mirror startled him. He swore and looked over at Kate. “What did you do?”
“Nothing, I promise,” she said, sounding scared. She turned in her seat to look back.
“Don’t look back,” he ordered. “Maybe I was going over the speed limit. These damned kilometers.” Or maybe it was something far worse. Either way, he had no choice. He pulled to the side of the road, two wheels at the edge of the borrow pit, and put down his window. Cold winter air rushed in. The area was isolated, no buildings in sight, with nightfall coming on fast.
Bright headlights filled the car as the light bar on top of the rig flashed. Collin watched a man in uniform exit the vehicle behind them and make his way toward them. He thought about the loaded gun taped under his seat that had come with the rental. He shot a warning look at Kate as he turned to face the officer.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
IT WAS DARK by the time Jon had almost reached the border. He checked his phone. Both signals on Matthew’s rental SUV came in clear. He’d crossed the border at Port Morgan, but what surprised Jon was that the vehicle was now headed east. He considered the map on his phone. It appeared that Matthews had turned before Swift Current onto Highway 13 and was now headed in his direction. Where was he going?
The question was answered a moment later when the vehicle turned north again onto Highway 2, headed for Moose Jaw.
His cell phone rang. He’d been waiting for this call. “How’s Earl Ray?” he said into the phone, anxious for some good news.
“He wants to talk to you himself,” Bessie said and handed over the phone.
“Mia is fine,” his friend said without preamble. Earl Ray sounded as weak as his voice. “But it has been several days since she’s talked to her sister. Danielle’s cell has been going straight to voice mail. Nor has Danielle been in class the past two days.”