Mountain of Lies

Chapter 10

The shock of the mechanic's words tightened Hudson's gut into a knot. How did he know about Raina Meadows?

Mia got out of the truck and walked over to the verge. She kept her eyes forward, looking at the firemen repacking their hoses, but Hudson could see she was sweeping one foot across the long grass. She looked at him through the passenger side window and tilted her head slightly to the right, beckoning him. He pulled on the emergency brake and got out of the truck. He faltered when she looked up with big eyes and took a step back—into the grass.

Right, if the mechanic told the fire crew the story he'd just told them, someone might decide to come and look for the paper he'd tossed. Mia didn't want anyone to remember them being so obviously interested in retrieving it themselves so she was staging a ruse to collect it. He wasn't sure why she was so compelled to keep up appearances, but the fact she had to keep nudging him to stay in character was a concern he tucked away into the corner of his mind. It was the first time he'd found it so difficult to stay focussed, but that could easily be because he needed a vacation.

He took another step and she retreated again, her gaze on the ground. She looked up and he advanced, and she took another step away and staged a slip so realistic that he'd rushed to her side before he'd thought things through. Dammit! He gave a furtive glance around, like he would if he really were a Big Bad stalking a girl half his size, and then reached down his hand and hauled Mia to her feet. She came up meekly enough and tottered on her toes as he stepped back onto the pavement.

He did the heat check again, then got into her face, making it look like he was close to dislocating her arm and hissing in her face, but instead whispering in her ear, "What's going on?"

"You didn't recognize the guy from the photo?"

He drew back. Shook his head.

"Hey! Ma'am! Everything all right over there?"

He'd played it too well. A figure kitted out in fireman's gear with a white hat was marching resolutely toward them, and Hudson dropped his hand and stepped away from Mia. "Everyt'ing's good. No problem."

The firefighter skimmed his eyes over Hudson, then turned to Mia. "Everything okay, ma'am? Do you need a ride somewhere?"

She smiled at the firefighter and the man automatically smiled back. Hudson didn't know whether to be relieved or chagrined that she had the same effect on other men that she had on him. "Thank you, but everything's fine. My boyfriend was just helping me up."

His heart bounced. Boyfriend. He liked the sound of that. He could do without the firefighter glaring at him, though. The man made no effort to return to his colleagues, just planted his feet and crossed his arms like he was prepared to spend all day protecting Mia. Hudson rolled his eyes and opened the passenger side door, bowing Mia in with a flourish. He gave the would-be knight-in-reflective-clothing a cocky salute as he moved to the driver's side. He shoved in the emergency brake and squealed a U-ie like the reprobate the firefighter thought he was.

Questions were flying around his mind like Ping-Pong balls in a championship match. A disturbing picture was forming, but he couldn't think of a single way to ask Mia for the answers he needed without giving the game away if the vehicle had been bugged. What had she meant when she asked if he recognized the photo? Did she? Exactly whose side was Mia on? Was any of the story she'd given him real? Was she working for a different agency? All undercover cases were supposed to be subject to a de-confliction process to ensure agencies weren't working at cross purposes, but nothing was perfect. Maybe he'd been too quick to believe Mia's story about being persecuted by this Abe character.