“Damn,” Mary breathed, knowing there was nothing else but for her to pull into the damned station. She couldn’t afford not to unless she wanted to be stuck on the side of the highway, as helpless as Jonah in—what in this case would be—a beached whale. So she had to stop, and with a naked-ass man on her roof.
Mary muttered under her breath and slowed the RV to turn in. She was more than relieved when she saw that there were presently no other vehicles in the station. She would only have a shocked and probably hysterical attendant to deal with then, she thought with a grimace.
“My apologies, Mary. You will have to pump the gas. I must remain up here to watch for our hunters so that I may control them if they pull in after us.”
Mary rolled her eyes as that announcement floated through her open window. Not because she had to pump gas. She’d pumped her own gas all the way south and had intended to all the way back. What caused the eye rolling was his claim that he had to control their hunters. Really? Did he believe he could? Or that she’d believe he could? Dante was pretty but crazy and that was just sad, she decided, maneuvering the RV as close to the pumps as she could get. It seemed a terrible shame that God had made such a perfect specimen and forgotten to ensure his brain worked properly as well.
“Dear God, I have a naked-ass man on my roof,” Mary muttered the thought aloud this time as she put the RV in park and turned it off. Saying it aloud did not help. Shaking her head, she slid out of her seat and moved to the door. Bailey immediately tried to follow, but Mary gave her a firm, “Stay,” and managed to slide out without the dog escaping.
Closing the door with a firm snap, she glanced toward the gas station, expecting to see the attendant either plastered to the plate glass window, gaping like a fish out of water, or on the phone to the police. But the young man inside the building was looking down at something on the counter and didn’t seem to have even noticed their arrival.
Grateful for small mercies, Mary walked hopefully to the pump, but of course it was prepay. The pumps were prepay in Canada too. You either paid at the pump with a credit or debit card, or you prepaid. At home she would have just used her credit card, but Mary never used them in the States. She’d get soaked when it came to charges and exchange by her credit card company. Despite that, she almost used her credit card anyway this time, but in the end, headed for the building.
Mary glanced toward the highway as she walked, searching for the van. But it hadn’t made an appearance. Yet. Her gaze then slid to the RV and she saw that Dante was lying on the roof at the rear end of the vehicle, his bare ass shining under the glare of the station lights like some kind of beacon. Closing her eyes, she shook her head and then turned and slid into the station to pay for the gas. It didn’t take more than a moment. The attendant was busy reading an auto magazine and barely glanced up to ring up her request and take her money. He wasn’t even interested enough to look out the window to see what kind of vehicle might need so much gas.
Beginning to think they might make it out of there without causing the scene she’d feared, Mary headed back out to the RV, her gaze steadfastly avoiding Dante on her roof and shifting to the passing vehicles. If anyone was taking note of a naked man lying on his belly on the roof of an RV, you couldn’t tell. The cars were just cruising by, none of them with any sign that he’d even been noticed.
Marveling over that, Mary set about the business of pumping gas into her vehicle, her attention shifting between the pump and the oncoming traffic.
“There is no need to fret. I will control them if they come.”
Mary glanced up at that announcement to see Dante peering over the back of the roof at her. Nodding, she said wryly, “Good to know.”
His eyes narrowed, but Dante didn’t comment and merely ducked back out of sight, presumably to continue watching for the kidnappers, so he could control them. She shook her head at the thought. As if anyone could control another human being with his or her thoughts.
Muttering under her breath, she glanced from the spinning numbers on the pump to the passing traffic and back. The van had dropped back in traffic, which when she thought about it was weird. It wasn’t like the RV had been speeding down the highway. It simply wasn’t capable of speeding. She’d been driving the speed limit, maybe even a little under it, yet the van had backed off, going under the speed limit to do so. What were they up to? she wondered with a little concern and then glanced to the pump with surprise when it clicked and stopped pumping. She’d reached the amount for which she’d prepaid, which should just about fill it up, by her guess.
Removing the handle, she set it back in the pump, then quickly screwed the gas cap back on and closed the cover.
“Go ahead and start out.”
Mary glanced up at that instruction. Dante was peering down at her again.
“I’ll climb in once we’re on the road again,” he said and then pulled back out of sight before she could comment. Mary glanced to the building, and then shook her head and walked around the RV to the door.
Bailey was waiting by the door when she opened it and Mary had to urge the dog back to get in. Locking the door, she then sat in the driver’s seat, started the engine and pulled away from the pumps. She eased up to the road and paused to wait for traffic to clear. It wasn’t as busy as earlier in the day, but there were still a good number of cars passing . . . and then a pickup passed with a dark van behind it.
Mary narrowed her eyes on the two vehicles, but they flew past without slowing and didn’t pull over farther down the highway that she could see. Once they were out of sight in the distance, she started to turn her gaze back to the oncoming traffic, only to whip her head around in surprise as Dante came swinging in through the passenger window. Her timing could not have been worse; she got an eyeful of the man’s junk as his hips were framed in the opening before he dropped into the seat.
“They’ve driven past,” he announced. “But they went by too fast for me to take control.”
Mary simply gaped at him.
“They may be planning to ambush us further up the highway. Maybe I should drive now,” he suggested. Dante had landed sideways in the seat with his knees pointed her way and his lap fully exposed.
He shifted forward on the seat now to get up and Mary snapped, “No, you’re not driving. You’re going to sit there and cover up that dangler you keep waving in my face before I cut it off.”
Dante’s eyebrows rose, and then he calmly leaned to the side to pull the afghan out from under Bailey who had again settled on it. He pulled it across his lap, started to spread it out as he had before, then seemed to realize how ineffective that made it and left it in a pile over his groin.
“Seat belt,” she said more calmly now.
Dante hesitated and she suspected he was considering insisting on driving, but then he simply turned in the seat to face front and did up his seat belt.
Satisfied, Mary glanced out to see that there was an opening in traffic, and hit the gas harder than she should have, sending the RV careening out onto the highway at a speedy 10 mph. Apparently the opening wasn’t as big as she’d thought, that or the approaching car was far exceeding the speed limit. Whatever the case, the driver laid on the horn in protest.
Mary sighed to herself and ignored it to concentrate on driving. That was difficult to do with Dante seated beside her. Honestly, she’d never seen a man so comfortable being naked. She’d always considered her husband a confident man, but even Joe hadn’t wandered around and swung through windows with his Johnson out. Hell, he wouldn’t have stepped out the door of the RV naked, let alone climb around on the roof like some hairless monkey . . . a very buff and handsome hairless monkey.
“You should let me drive,” Dante said quietly. “They may be planning to ambush us further up the highway.”
Mary opened her mouth, closed it, and then sighed to herself as she looked at her sandwich. She really should have let him drive, then she could be eating her sandwich, which really looked delicious. Fortunately they’d nearly reached her planned destination, and she did intend to stop. The question was, what she was going to do about Dante once she did? Mary didn’t have an easy answer to that. The man thought he could control people. It might be a result of his head injury, but she wasn’t sure head injuries could lead to delusions. She’d have to research that once they’d stopped, she decided. In the meantime, she needed to see how deep his delusions ran.
“Dante, if you can control your kidnappers, how did they kidnap you?” she asked in a conversational tone.
He hesitated beside her and she suspected he wanted to continue to pester her about driving, but then he sighed and said, “We were taken by surprise. They must have been waiting. The first we knew of their presence was when the darts hit us.”
“Right,” she murmured, staring at the red rear lights of the cars ahead on the road. After a moment, she pointed out, “But when you woke up in the cage, you couldn’t have been taken by surprise. Why didn’t you just wait for them to enter the room and take control of them then?”
She felt him look her way, but kept her gaze on the road and after a moment he patiently explained, “There was a square panel in the metal door to the room at about eye level. We feared they might open it and shoot us without our getting a look at them and being able to control them.”
“I see,” she murmured. Mary considered that briefly, than commented, “So you have to see them to control them.”
“Of course,” he said as if that should be obvious.
Mary didn’t comment, but her thoughts were now spinning through her head as quickly as the numbers had spun on the gas pump. Dante had seemed so sane at first. Well, mostly, she thought with a frown as it occurred to her that perhaps the whole “I’m being chased by kidnappers” maybe sounded a little farfetched now, but it had seemed plausible at the time. The man had been running around naked, for heaven’s sake. And that black van had seemed to be following them. Now though, she was beginning to wonder if anything he’d told her had been true. Had he really been kidnapped?
And what about that claim that he and his brother had volunteered to help an FBI task force? Mary had never heard of that before. Surely the agency wouldn’t send civilians into such a dangerous situation?
The truth was, now that he was claiming to be able to control people, everything he’d told her was suspect. It could all be a lie, or some sort of delusion his mind had created. He could be an escapee from a mental ward or something. That was certainly more plausible than his being an escaped kidnap victim, volunteer for the FBI, and able to control people with his mind.
Biting her lip, she glanced to the GPS and was relieved to see that they were approaching the turn for the campground. There she could stop dividing her attention between driving and what to do about Dante. She’d also have help in dealing with him. She and Joe had used this campground every year since they’d started driving south for the winter, stopping on their way down and on the return journey. She knew the owners, Dave and Carol Bigelow, very well. They were originally from Winnipeg and had been friends to her and Joe since long before the couple had retired, bought the campground, and moved here to Texas. Carol and Dave would help her if she needed it. Although, Mary wasn’t that concerned that Dante might be dangerous. He might be a little deluded maybe, but she didn’t think he was dangerous.
“Mary,” Dante said tentatively. “You seem a little agitated, and I hate to keep harping on this, but we need to be prepared in case they are planning to ambush us.”
“It won’t be a problem,” she assured him.
“But—What are you doing?” he asked with surprise when she slowed.
“I’m turning, Dante,” she answered patiently.
“Why?”
“Because we’re stopping for the night. I booked a spot at a campground just up this road.”
“But Lucian said to keep them chasing us,” he protested.
“Look in the rear camera view, Dante. Do you see anyone following us?” She shook her head. “That ship has sailed, and I’m tired. We’re stopping. At least I am. You, of course, are free to get out any time.” Turning to glance at him, she added, “Now, please go into the bedroom and find some clothes to wear. The last thing I want is for my friends to see me pull in with a naked giant in the passenger seat. I’m going to have enough trouble explaining you as it is.”
Dante considered her solemnly for a moment, and then stood up, gathering the afghan in a ball in front of his groin. Before moving away he asked politely, “May I use your phone again?”
“Yes,” she said quietly, and he picked it up out of the holder and moved toward the back of the RV.
The moment she heard the door to the bedroom area slide closed, Mary felt herself relax. It was only then she realized how tense he made her. And it wasn’t just his nudity that caused that tension, although that hadn’t helped. She really should have sent him to put on clothes much sooner than this, she acknowledged and wondered what he would put on. Joe’s jeans and dress pants probably wouldn’t fit him. They’d probably be too big in the waist, although she supposed a belt would handle that issue. But there were joggers too. As for shirts, again Joe’s dress shirts probably wouldn’t fit, this time being too small, but there were T-shirts that might be a bit tight but should do.
Spotting the sign for Dave and Carol’s campground, Mary pushed thoughts of Dante’s fashion choices aside and concentrated on slowing for the turn. She pulled into the driveway, passing the stone columns with the sign overhead and stopped beside the office, then threw the RV into park and was about to shut her down, when a shout drew her attention out the window to see Carol rushing to the RV, waving.
“We saved your usual spot, Mary. Go ahead and park. Dave is getting the golf cart. He’ll bring you back to register and have a drink,” she called through the window once she got close enough.
Mary nodded. “Thanks, Carol.”
“Our pleasure. See you in a minute,” she called with a big grin and turned to head back to the building. Mary watched her go, then shifted back to drive and started forward. Carol and Dave had been saving “their spot” for them for years now. A pull-thru spot on the end, surrounded by trees, it had a lovely view of the river. They’d always parked with the door and awning side facing the other RVs, welcoming friends they’d made over the years. This year, Mary wasn’t sure how she was going to explain Dante, so she pulled in with the door and awning facing the woods and the river. Basically, putting her back to the others.
Feeling guilty for it even as she parked that way, Mary glanced around, but not seeing Dave approaching yet on his golf cart, she pushed the auto button on the automatic leveling system and listened to the hum of the jacks lowering to the ground. The RV bounced a little one way, then another, then up in the front and then the back and then stopped moving and the green light came on indicating it was level. Releasing the breath she always held during this process, she turned off the engine and got up, then paused, looking for Bailey. The dog was nowhere to be seen.
Frowning, she moved to the back of the RV and knocked on the door. “Dante, is Bailey in there with you? She’ll need walking, and she hasn’t eaten yet, but Dave is coming to collect me to go register and—” She paused as the door started to open, and then she merely gaped at the man.
He had gone for joggers and a T-shirt as she’d expected and yet not what she’d expected at all. He was wearing her joggers and T-shirt. The man had donned her favorite pair of pink jogging pants that were so tight on him they were like a second skin. They also only reached halfway down his calves. The T-shirt fit no better. It was a white one with tiny pink and red roses all over it and the damned thing stretched tight across his shoulders and encased his chest like a stocking, a pink and white flowered stocking.
Dante should have looked ridiculous in the getup, and she was sure he probably did, but the clothes also drew the gaze to the breadth of his beautiful chest. At least it did if you could tear your eyes away from the way the tight joggers emphasized the huge bulge between his legs.
Mary closed her eyes on the sight he made, but once again found that the image appeared to be burned into her retinas and continued to dance on her eyelids.
“I shall feed and walk Bailey,” Dante offered quietly and Mary blinked her eyes open and merely shook her head. Not expecting her dead husband’s clothes to still be in the RV, he’d obviously just grabbed what he thought he might squeeze into from her closet and hadn’t even thought to check the closet on the other side of the bed. Mary was about to tell him that there were men’s clothes there when a knock sounded at the RV door.
“Dave,” she muttered, glancing to the door in a bit of a panic. She started toward it, then paused and whirled back. “My purse . . .”
Dante must have seen it when he’d found the clothes he was wearing because he immediately turned and pulled the door open to retrieve it. Handing it to her, he patted her arm. “Relax. All is well, I will see to Bailey.”
“Right,” she muttered, rushing toward the door, and then as she opened the door, thought to call out, “Her leash is hanging on a hook in my closet.”
“Talking to the dog now, Mary?” Dave teased curiously as she started down the steps.
Mary forced a laugh and shook her head, then said, “My nephew is driving back with me.”
The lie came out so smoothly you would have thought she’d planned it out. She hadn’t though; it just came to her on the spot, but she was grateful for it.
“That’s nice,” Dave said, smiling as he led her to the golf cart he’d driven from the office. “I could tell you found it a bit much driving down on your own when you stopped here in the fall.”
“Yes,” Mary said quietly as she got in next to him. “It was a bit more than I expected. It’s much nicer when you have someone to share the driving.”
“I can imagine,” Dave assured her as he headed the golf cart back the way he’d come. “I sure wouldn’t want to run this place without Carol helping.”
Mary smiled, and then found herself glancing over her shoulder back toward the RV. She hadn’t turned on the lights or let the sides out or anything. She should have done that, she supposed. It would make things easier for Dante. While there were hookups for water, sewer, and 50 amp power supplies, there were no night-lights around the RVs to give him light. He’d be feeling his way around inside.
Clucking her tongue with irritation at her thoughtlessness, she turned to face forward again and listened to Dave’s cheerful chatter about how busy the winter had been for them with all the snowbirds coming and going.
“But when you called last week and asked if you could move your booking forward, Carol worked her magic and managed to rearrange our other bookings for you,” Dave informed her.
“I appreciate that,” Mary said quietly. “But I told her I’d take anything you had available. I didn’t want to put you out.”
“You didn’t. She was happy to do it. You know Carol,” he added affectionately.
“Yes,” Mary said with a smile. It would be hard to find a woman with a bigger heart than Carol had. She’d become a dear friend over the years. They both had. Which was why Mary had booked two nights here this time. She’d already decided she wasn’t doing this again. The trip just wasn’t the same alone. Knowing this would be the last time she made the trek back and forth, she’d wanted to have a nice last visit with this couple who had been so good to her and Joe over the years. But with Dante to worry about, Mary now wasn’t sure she should stay the extra night.
“Good God, woman, what did you do? Drive thirty all the way from Padre Island?”
Mary smiled at that greeting from Carol as the petite bottle blonde pulled her into a hug the moment Dave ushered her inside the office.
“I’m sorry,” Mary said as she hugged her back. “I know it’s late. You probably wanted to close shop and go relax hours ago.”
“Nonsense. We keep the store open late,” Carol said at once, stepping back to scowl at her. “We were worried about you is all. Started thinking we maybe should call the sheriff’s department and see if there was an accident on the highway or something.”
Mary grimaced at the word accident, but just shook her head. “I’m fine. Just slow.”
“Hmm, well you come sign in and we’ll get you a nice drink to soothe your nerves from driving,” Carol said, leading her to the registration counter. “Dave, fetch her a rum and coke on ice.”
“Oh, no,” Mary protested at once. “Thank you, but I still have to hook up and put out the slide-outs and stuff.”
“Let your nephew take care of that. That’s what he’s here for,” Dave said lightly, moving into the office to fetch glasses.
“He doesn’t know how to do any of that . . . yet,” she added when both Carol and Dave turned to peer at her in surprise. “This is his first day in the RV.”
“Oh,” Dave smiled wryly. “How’s he liking it so far?”
Mary merely shrugged helplessly and turned her attention to the clipboard waiting on the countertop. It was her registration, already mostly filled out by Carol for her. Mary merely had to sign it. She did so, then pulled out her credit card and offered it, but Carol waved it away.
“You can do that when you leave, Mary. We trust you.”
Mary hesitated, but then decided it might be best to pay up front. She wasn’t sure what would happen in the morning and didn’t want to have to make explanations if they did leave early. This way, she was covered. Smiling, she shook her head and held the card out insistently, saying lightly, “I’m used to doing it at the start and I’m not getting any younger, my memory isn’t as good as it used to be. Best do it now.”
Shrugging, Carol took the credit card and rang it up.
“Well, if you won’t have a drink with us now, promise you’ll come by for breakfast in the morning,” Dave demanded, then added, “On the house.”
“That would be nice,” Mary said and meant it. At least that way if anything happened to force her to leave early she’d have gotten in a bit of a visit with them first.
“Good,” Carol said firmly as she handed her back her credit card. “We’ll hold you to that. Dave will come fetch you and your nephew if you aren’t both here by eight.”
“Understood,” Mary said with a tired smile.
“Ah, honey, you’re exhausted,” Carol said with concern, then glanced to her husband. “Dave, maybe you better take her back to her RV and help her hook up. She looks ready to fall over.”
Nodding, Dave grabbed a large flashlight off the counter and walked back around the counter to usher her to the door.
“See you tomorrow morning,” Carol called as they left.
Dave kept up a steady chatter about people at the campground that she knew from previous stays as he drove her back to the RV, but she noted that he kept sending worried glances her way. It made her wonder just how bad she must look. Pretty bad, she decided when he stopped at the RV and turned to her to ask, “How’s your health, sweetheart? Everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him on a weak laugh. “I’m just tired. I’ll be right as rain after a good night’s sleep.”
“Good, good,” Dave said, but didn’t look like he believed her.
With his help, hooking up to the power, water, and sewer was quick work. Mary thanked him for his help, hugged him and promised she’d be by for breakfast in the morning, and then waved him off, before turning to peer at the door to the RV. There were no lights inside, but she wasn’t terribly surprised. Dante probably didn’t know where the switches were.
Sighing, Mary walked to the door, opened it and started inside, hitting the switch on the counter next to the steps as she ascended them. Letting the door close behind her, she then paused and glanced around. Dante and Bailey weren’t there.
Still out for their walk, she thought. After being cooped up in the RV all day, Bailey would probably drag Dante all over the campgrounds. She just hoped Dante didn’t let her chase the deer or any of the other wildlife.
Shrugging that worry away, Mary moved to the panel on the wall before the bedroom door and pushed the button for the living area slide out. The front half of the RV’s left wall immediately began to slide outward, taking the dinette and couch with it. Once it was all the way out, there was a good three or four foot span of open space between the furnishings and the kitchen counter along the opposite wall. Mary then turned to peer into the bedroom as she pressed the button for the second slide-out and watched as the wall at the head of the bed began to move out, taking the bed with it. When it stopped there was room enough to walk around the end of the bed, open the drawers, and whatnot. The cramped RV was now a more spacious little house on wheels.
Relaxing a little, Mary turned on the water heater, and flipped on some lights, then moved to the coffee machine to make herself a cup. She set out a Keurig cup and a mug for Dante as well, but didn’t make it. She doubted he’d appreciate cold coffee. He might even prefer a cold drink.
After setting her coffee on the table, Mary retrieved her sandwich from the front dashboard where it still sat. She had just picked up the plate, and had started to turn back toward the table when she spotted her phone. Dante had obviously put it back in its holder before taking Bailey out, she thought and snatched that up as well. She carried both items to the table and slid onto one of the dinette’s booth seats to eat.
Even after having sat out for half an hour or so, the sandwich was as good as it had first looked and Mary found herself gobbling it down. It seemed like no time before she finished the first half, and that’s about the time that she began to realize how much she’d needed to eat. It was almost nine now, which meant it had been almost nine hours since lunch. Her brain had obviously needed the nutrients, because it was suddenly thinking more clearly than it had since she’d run over Dante. The day’s events ran through her head like a film and she began to get more and more uncomfortable as it went. She had a complete stranger traveling with her, one who was slightly delusional and possibly dangerous.
Where was he going to sleep tonight?
And how well was she going to sleep with him in the RV with her?
Mary sat back at the table with a frown, and then her gaze dropped to the phone and she recalled the calls he’d made. Three of them in all, she thought. Picking up the phone, she opened it to the recent calls page and peered at the number he’d called.
The area code was 416. It had seemed familiar when he’d first spoken it to her, but now it suddenly clicked in. Toronto, she thought. Her daughter lived there and had that area code. FBI based in Canada? Mary’s mouth tightened and she tapped the number, making the phone redial it.