Circumstantial Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

from his expression, they definitely weren’t allowed back here. Before he could say anything, they’d already zipped past him.
    Stone finally slowed as they approached the door. He eased it open with one hand, carefully scanning whatever lay on the other side of the gap he created. In the next moment, he released her arm, pushing his upper body through the opening and glancing behind the door as well.
    Seemingly reassured, he stepped back into the room and retook her arm. “Come on.”
    Shoving the door open entirely, he pulled her through it, into an alley. He led her to the left, down the enclosed space ripe with the smell of garbage and cluttered with debris. She almost asked if he’d considered whether the man would expect them to exit through the back or if he might have a partner lying in wait. One glance at the resolute expression on his face, his eyes narrowed, his features tense, and she knew there was little he hadn’t considered.
    Stone kept checking behind them, no doubt keeping an eye out, should their pursuers suddenly appear. She couldn’t help but do the same. The alley opened onto another. To her surprise, Stone suddenly slowed, then stopped completely in front of a door. She watched as he inserted a key he already had in hand into the lock, then pushed the door open. It was a garage, she realized, seconds before he pulled her through the opening.
    A single vehicle—a sedan whose features she could barely make out—was parked inside the cramped space. Stone closed and locked the door behind them before moving to the driver’s side of the car. “Get in,” he said.
    Audrey obeyed, immediately moving to the passenger side. “Whose car is this?”
    “Mine,” he said tersely.
    She climbed in, her eyes automatically returning to his face as he started the engine. “You park this far from your apartment?”
    “It’s not that far.”
    No, she realized, it probably wasn’t. The diner was likely midway between his building and the bar. The garage had to be at least several blocks from his apartment, but it wasn’t an extreme distance.
    As for why he’d chosen to park in a garage away from the building, she didn’t have to ask. Considering what had happened with his family, it made sense. As unlikely as it was that the same thing would happen again, he wasn’t going to park in the open, and he wouldn’t want anyone to easily locate his vehicle.
    Audrey watched him reach up and push the button on a garage door opener clipped to the visor. “You should stay down, just in case,” he said.
    She ducked down in her seat and listened to the sound of the garage door raising. She sensed more than saw the tension in Stone’s body, and knew he was completely on guard.
    He slowly pulled out of the garage, turning right onto the street. Within moments, the vehicle picked up speed. Holding her breath, she waited for some sign he’d spotted the man from the diner, or worse, that they’d been spotted themselves.
    When she felt Stone relax almost imperceptibly, she knew it was safe. She was already sitting up when he said, “We’re clear.”
    “Now what?” she asked softly.
    “Now we go see Franklin.”
    Audrey didn’t bother to ask what they’d do about her car. Obviously, it had to be left where it was. If she had been followed to the bar, her pursuers would clearly know where she’d parked. After failing to hit her, they could have gone back and placed a tracking device on the vehicle, intending to follow wherever she went.
    Now she really had nothing, she thought bleakly. All she had left was what she had on her.
    She did her best to push aside the sadness that threatened to well up again, focusing instead on how deliberate Jason’s plan had been.
    “That was some quick thinking. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d been prepared for just this eventuality.”
    “I always prepare for anything,” he said grimly.
    Ever since he’d lost his family, she realized. He’d been blindsided,