Page 6 of Fatal Conspiracy

“Get in and stay low,” she said. “The dome light is already disabled.” While she waited for him to climb in, she pulled out the first-aid kit. Once he was in, she held it out for him to grab. “There’s antiseptic and an ice pack in there. Gauze, if your nose is bleeding. Cal will kill me if you get blood all over these leather seats.”

She registered his choked laughter as she pulled back onto the road, but her mind was racing. Was she in a car with a killer right now? She had to let Cal or Mina know what was going on without tipping him off. If she pushed her SOS button, they’d know she was in trouble and comelooking for her, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the fact that someone had clearly beaten Derek, and the terror she saw in his eyes wasn’t something someone could fake.

“I need to find somewhere to turn around. It could take a few minutes.”

“Where were you headed?” he asked as she heard the snap of an ice pack. He moaned a little, and she had to assume he was holding the ice pack to his face.

“Two Harbors,” she answered. “I’m meeting a colleague to pick up some equipment needed for the conference.” Alayah decided to leave out the part where his boss was dead. She wanted to see his reaction when she told him the news. Would she see shock? Surprise? Or something more sinister?

“We’re almost to Knife River.” he said, but she struggled to understand him with his fat lip, so she focused on him rather than her own unrelenting questions. “Keep going to Two Harbors. Be on the lookout for a black Chevy Tahoe. Every window is tinted.”

Alayah fought hard against rolling her eyes so she could keep them on the road. Half the vehicles these days are black SUVs. “If I drive to Two Harbors, it’s another forty-five minutes back to Duluth before you can get medical care,” she said with a shake of her head. “Though, Two Harbors does have a hospital.”

“I don’t need medical care,” he insisted. “What I need is to get the jump drive with Hugo’s new app. I had to ditch the cabin before I could grab it. He’ll go ballistic if someone gets their hands on that app. The jump drive is well hidden, but I can’t risk leaving the cabin empty for very long.”

Hugo would never go ballistic again, but she couldn’t tell him that yet, as his statement suggested he didn’t know hisboss was dead. “Your face says something else entirely.” She said instead as they plowed through the darkness. She searched for a cross street, but they were few and far between.

“My nose isn’t broken, just swollen. Same with my eye and lip. The ice will help. I can’t go anywhere until I go back to my cabin.”

“I thought you said that’s where you were jumped,” she said suspiciously.

“It was. It’s also where all my stuff is, including my car, phone and computers. I have to hope the guys cleared out, so I can sneak back in and grab everything. I barely escaped a trip in the back of an SUV to an unknown place. I didn’t have time to pack.”

“Wait, they tried to kidnap you?”

“You betcha,” he agreed, to which she smiled. Leave it to a Minnesotan to answer such a serious question with “You betcha.”

“Why?”

“That’s what I’d like to know as well,” he answered. “I have no idea who they were or why they were there, other than they wanted the files to an app.”

“Like a work app?”

“That was my vibe. I convinced him it was in my bag, where I had my defense blade. I stabbed him with it while he was distracted and then took off running. He took a shot at me but missed, so I kept going without looking back.”

“Hardcore,” she muttered, trying to decide if she bought his story. It could just as easily be that he’d instigated the fight and someone escaped from him. The scenario didn’t sit right with her, though. None of this sat right with her, and she had no idea what to do. What would Cal do? Calwould have called 9-1-1 rather than let the guy into his car. A glance in the rearview mirror said that ship sailed.

“If only I knew who they were and what they wanted,” he muttered from the back seat. “I suspect it has something to do with a new app from work.”

Her ears perked up as she drove. “Do you think it’s the app that Hugo was promoting today?”

“No way to know for sure,” he hedged. “We have a lot of apps.”

“But?” she asked. “I’m sensing a but.”

“There are a lot of unsaid buts there. I’m trying to sort it all out, but my nose is making my head pound. Thankfully, the ice is helping.”

“There should be pain-relief powder in the kit,” she said. “I’d hand you water, but I use hand controls and can’t take them off the wheel.”

Before she finished, she heard the rip of paper, telling her he’d found the powder. “Bless you,” he said, and she could see him downing the powder in her rearview mirror. “I can’t thank you enough for the ride. Tell me you wouldn’t give just any bloodied stranger on the side of the road a ride. That’s not safe.”

“It’s fair to say you’re the first and, once Cal hears about this, the last bloodied stranger I’ll pick up off the side of the road. That said, I’m a good judge of character and you didn’t do that to your own face.”

“Never. This face is too pretty to scuff up.”

She laughed, then the SUV fell silent. She didn’t know what he was thinking; but chances were good it wasn’t the same thing she was thinking. He was right about picking up random strangers off the road. Cal was going to have words for her, but she stood by her decision. Derek wasn’t dangerous, but someone certainly had it out for him. “We’rehitting the city limits of Two Harbors,” she said. “I’m supposed to meet my colleague at McDonald’s to transfer the equipment. He’ll have to do it since I can’t reach the back of this SUV. Explaining why you’re in the back seat is going to take some time.” She rolled her eyes at herself. That was an understatement since she could be harboring a fugitive in a company-owned car.

“There’s a gas station coming up on the right,” he said, gathering the first-aid kit. “Drop me there. I’ll hide in the bathroom and clean myself up. When you’re done, swing back and grab me.”