was light and no highway patrols were in evidence. After the bathroom incident, the rest of the trip up north seemed downright boring.
The uneventful drive gave her plenty of time to mull over the current situation and her reactions to her passenger. They were going to be in close confines for the next couple days.
She needed to get a grip… The image of them standing side by side in the rest room floated by her mind’s eye, triggering a warm shiver.
If she didn’t get her thoughts under control, she wouldn’t have to worry about the weekend, because she’d never last the first night.
Focus on Dex’s woodland retreat. That should be a safe topic, and it held the biggest concern.
“Cabin” really was a misnomer for the place. It called up images of seclusion and rustic living. The most rustic aspect of Dex’s place was the lack of a phone. Otherwise, with three bedrooms, two baths, a whirlpool tub and indoor sauna, his cabin was better fixtured than many homes. It seemed like such a waste, out in the middle of nowhere.
Even so, with all those amenities, there wasn’t much available to keep a reluctant guest in place. She would have to rely on the remote location to dissuade Cabrini from trying to run anywhere.
For his part, Cabrini held his own counsel. He seemed much more interested in tracking their progress as the towns became smaller and the birch and pine woods closed in on the two-lane road. He made no effort to initiate any kind of conversation with her, which suited her just fine.
She made good time to the secluded tract of land, located on one of the many lakes that Swiss-cheesed the northern Minnesota landscape.
Twilight settled as she left the secondary road to take the narrow, gravel lane leading to Dex’s cabin. By the time she reached their final destination, full dark lay beneath the tall pines.
Inky shadows surrounded and filled the small clearing. The sky overhead resembled a swath of black velvet with diamonds randomly strewn across it. The new moon provided little light.
She swung the car around the curved drive in front of the cabin, stopping when her headlights shone on the door.
“Hang tight for a second. I’ll get the door open and some lights on.”
“Don’t worry about me, Elf.” Cabrini rattled the handcuffs holding him to his seat. “I promise not to wander off too far without you.”
Her jaw tightened. Ever since he’d realized she didn’t like the situation, he seemed to take great delight in reminding her how close she skated to legal lines.
Had her client been anyone other than Dex, she would have walked away from the assignment at the first hint of illegality. The car door rattled as she slammed it shut.
The summer warmth had cooled slightly with the sunset. She pulled on her navy blue zip-front sweatshirt before she grabbed one of the bags of groceries from the trunk and climbed the steps to the full-length front porch.
The same jiggle of the key she remembered got the lock open. The screen door sighed shut behind her. She left the solid wood interior door standing wide as she walked farther into the room, finding light switches from memory. By the time she deposited the grocery bag in the open, spacious kitchen, the first floor blazed with lights.
Angel made another quick trip to haul in their clothes and the rest of her supplies, but took her time returning to get Cabrini. The whole situation of having him in custody and bringing him here created a logistical nightmare.
Under normal circumstances, when she took a bail jumper into custody, she turned the perp over to the closest law enforcement agency at the first available opportunity.
She’d never taken one away for the weekend. Dex better have a very good reason for putting her in this position.
What was she going to do with Cabrini? That he hadn’t resisted in any way didn’t mean he wouldn’t at some point in the future.
She couldn’t keep drugging him, not for the whole weekend. The very idea churned her stomach.
Locking him up somewhere wasn’t viable. There was no place to tie him up, either. Her stomach did another grind.
She never should have agreed to Dex’s request. Especially when he wouldn’t give her all the details. There were just too many variables, and none of them felt particularly comfortable. Especially the fact that Cabrini seemed to be guilty of nothing more than sticking his nose where it didn’t belong.
She jammed her fists into her pockets. Something sharp jabbed her hand. She pulled the envelope containing Dex’s note from her pocket and ripped it open. The typed message was short and to the point.
New arson cases have prompted a reopening of our old arson files. Cabrini is a central figure and must be kept sequestered at this time. You’ll appreciate the need to keep details confidential for a while longer.
Well, that helped. But not much.
Her cell phone played the first notes of “The Hokey Pokey.” The screen displayed a familiar number, along with the symbol showing limited reception.
“Hello, Dex.”
“Are you someplace you can talk?”
“We just got to your cabin.”
“You made it okay? No…incidents?”
The image of standing next to Cabrini as he relieved himself, her hand in far too near a proximity to his bare flesh, flashed through her mind. “Incidents? No. Everything went…fine.”
“Where is Cabrini?”
“He’s still in the car. I haven’t quite worked out how I’m going to keep him contained until we head back.”
“I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”
Easy for him to say. Angel began pacing back and forth in the foyer, glancing out at the car each time she passed the open door. Dex wasn’t facing forty-eight hours of close contact with a dangerously attractive stranger.
“Did you get…I left…the key?” His voice cut in and out as the reception weakened.
“Yes.” Her hand clenched around the cell phone and she stood still. “You didn’t give me very much to go on.”
“The investigation…my attention. Potential for blackmail…”
“What? Dex, repeat. I’m losing the signal.”
“Cabrini…your father. I need you to…”
“Dex? You need me to what?”
“…hear you. Trust… You’ll underst—”
The line went dead. Angel pulled the phone from her ear and glared at the display screen now showing the no service symbol. Modern technology sucked when it didn’t work.
She homed in on what portion of Dex’s conversation she had been able to hear. Arson, blackmail, Cabrini, her father. How did they fit together?
She ran her free hand through her hair, giving her scalp a good scratching. Related to Dad’s murder? The odds seemed awfully high against that possibility. Related how?
Someday, please God, let it be, she would track down the person responsible. Then, maybe, her mother could recover and they could find some peace.
Was it possible she was closer to that day than she realized? How did Cabrini tie into all this?
She paced back and forth, trying to get the pieces of the puzzle to fit, but there was just too little to work with. On one level she found it flattering that Dex had asked for her help. It was an indication of his trust. On another level it angered her that he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her everything.
If he wasn’t family… She stopped the thought. He was the closest thing she’d had to a father since she was ten years old. He trusted her enough to ask