“I’m not gonna hurt you, Carly. I swear.”
“Forgive me if I have a hard time trusting you right now.” I bent over and scooped up the bag, slinging the straps over my shoulder and continuing my climb.
“At first I wondered what in the hell the heiress of Blakely Oil would be doing in Drum, Tennessee,” he said behind me, sounding a little breathless. He was following me. “And I confess that I found the coincidence of your appearance in town and Seth’s death to be too much to accept.”
“No shit,” I said over my shoulder. “You made that very clear.”
“But then I did some investigatin’ of my own, and when I put two and two together, I realized you were on the run, hiding, not here as part of some big scheme.”
Ignoring him, I continued my climb, my progress less graceful in my haste.
“I started to put it together when I saw the panic on your face while listenin’ to the news report. Carly, will you please slow down?”
I reached the side of the road, sore and out of breath. I wanted to take a second to rest, but Wyatt was literally just feet behind me. I ran around the still-running car, about to open the driver’s door, but Wyatt had reached me. He put his hand on the door to keep it shut, then gently touched my shoulders and turned me around to face him. Slow and steady movements so he wouldn’t frighten me any more than he already had by seeing me. By knowing me.
He rested his hands on the car on either side of me, but instead of feeling trapped, I felt comforted. Like there was safety here between Wyatt’s arms.
That feeling was dangerous.
I knew better than to think I could be safe anywhere.
“I know you’re runnin’ from him,” he said softly, pleading with me to listen, “and you’re scared he’s gonna find you, but no one here will put it together.”
I lifted my chin and gave him a defiant stare. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No one here pays much attention to what’s goin’ on in the outside world, and they sure as hell don’t give a shit about an oil heiress, but even if they did, they’d never figure out it was you.” He lifted his hand to my hair, touching a few of the stubborn strands that had fallen forward. “You cut your hair and dyed it dark. You changed your name and you don’t look like you came from money, but you’re her.”
I started to protest but stopped. There was no point. All I could do now was wait him out and make my escape.
Slowly, he pushed my jacket to the side and lifted the hem of the long-sleeved T-shirt I was wearing to reveal the skin above the waistband of my jeans. I didn’t need to look down to know that he saw the irregular birthmark over my left hip bone.
His gaze lifted to mine, but instead of the gloating triumph I’d expected, I only saw concern and compassion. “Even without that birthmark, I’d know it was you.”
“And how’s that?” I asked. I’d meant it to sound belligerent, but instead it came out breathless.
“Those soulful blue eyes.”
Which meant he’d seen other pictures of me. “You Googled me?”
“I wanted to be sure.”
I pressed my back into the side of the car and whispered, “What do you want?”
“Nothin’,” he said gently. “I want to help you.”
“Why?” I countered, not trusting this turnabout.
“Because sometimes people do the right thing just for the sake of it.” His arms dropped to his sides and he took a step back. “Can you drop me off at the garage? I need to check in and grab the tow truck so I can come back out to Hank’s later.”
Was he really just going to let this go?
“Why don’t you want the reward money?”
“I already told you,” he said, slowly reaching around me to open the car door. “I don’t need a half million dollars.”
“Because you have your own daddy’s money,” I said.
“I don’t want my father’s blood money,” he said, his eyes darkening.
“But I know you paid for Seth’s funeral, or at least took care of the arrangements, and those things you got for Hank must have cost a couple hundred dollars.”
“And you’re planning to buy Hank food with money you need to be spending on a car, yet I doubt you’d turn me in for reward money if our roles were reversed.”
I lifted a brow. “Don’t be so sure about that.”
“Let me help you.”
I turned serious. “There’s nothing to be done.”
“Then don’t do it alone, Carly. Trust me, I know all about goin’ it alone.”
I didn’t answer him, mostly because I didn’t know what to say. Instead, I tossed my purse into the back and got into the car. I waited for him to walk around to the passenger side and get in.
I cast a sideways glance at him, then shifted the car into drive. I felt like I was sitting next to a total stranger, not the man I’d met two days before. I wasn’t sure where we stood.
I wasn’t sure where I wanted us to stand.
“Why does your father want you?” he asked after I’d driven for a few seconds.
I pushed out a breath and laughed. “He wants me to marry Jake.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. It would be too dangerous to tell him why.
“Was Jake collateral damage when you fled?”
I laughed again, this time more bitter. “Uh…no. Jake was very much a part of my father’s scheme.”
“He betrayed you?”
I shot him a glare. “You know the truth about who I am. Can we just leave it at that?”
“Maybe I can help you, Caroline.”
I held up my hand. “It’s Carly. Caroline Blakely died the night of her rehearsal dinner. I’ve learned to accept it, and calling me Caroline dredges up old pain. It also puts me at risk of being found out. I’m Charlene Moore now, and you’d best remember it.”
“Okay, then,” he said. “Tell me what you saw the night Seth was killed.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to tell him that either. Not until Hank gave me the green light. Although Wyatt had certainly implied he wasn’t close to his father, he hadn’t given me a straight answer.
“Carly…”
“I didn’t see anything. I heard a cry in the parking lot. I ran out and found Seth and held his hand as he died. End of story.”
He didn’t ask me anything else until I pulled into the parking lot of the garage. “Do you know where the Dollar General is?”
“I think so.”
“Drum’s pretty small, so you shouldn’t have trouble findin’ it,” he said, but he made no move to get out of the truck.
I lifted my eyebrows and gave him a pointed stare.
“I’m not gonna tell your secrets, Carly.”
I cocked a brow and asked sarcastically, “What secrets?”
“Point taken.” He started to open the door, then stopped. “You don’t have a ride to Hank’s after you get off work, so I’ll pick you up.”
“I’m sure Ruth can drop me off since it’s on her way.”
Determination filled his eyes. “The guys who ran me off the road could really be after you. They wouldn’t dare touch you at Max’s, but they might try once you leave. You lost your weapons, so I feel like I need to do my part to keep you safe.”