Free Twin Threat Christmas by Rachelle McCalla Page B

chance to destroy evidence or, worse yet, go into hiding. Then they might never catch him. He could continue to get away with his crimes, and his other victims might never be liberated.
    As long as Arthur Sherman remained at large, Vanessa wouldn’t be safe. The man who’d stolen so much from her could still silence her testimony—even that of her children. None of them would truly be free until he was brought to justice.
    In the meantime, they still had every reason to believe Virgil and Arthur were headed to the cabin. He wasn’t sure how long it would take them to arrive, but they might not have much time. “We’ve got to do something,” he whispered to Vanessa.
    Vanessa looked up at him, so close he could see the moisture that welled in her eyes, the fear and the emotion she had to fight back in order to press on in her fight for freedom. “Deputy Perez is waiting to hear—”
    Eric wanted to fight with her, to fight for her. They needed to act. “Yes, but how long is that going to take? Arthur Sherman was in the Land Rover with Virgil. They know you took the CPU from Jeff’s office—they had to have seen you carrying it as you ran across the parking lot, and even if they didn’t, a simple check of the office will tell them it’s gone. They know about the cabin. They know you have evidence against them. They’re bound to do one of two things—either go into hiding or come after you.”
    “They could do both,” Vanessa concluded frankly. “Even if Sherman leaves the country, he can issue a hit from a distance. I may have been kept on the periphery, but Jeff always made the threats clear. I know enough of his operations to know that he can reach me even if I can’t reach him.”
    Eric realized she’d been subjected to worst-case scenarios for the past eight years. And she was probably right in her guess, too.
    “That’s why we’ve got to do something. Now. Tonight. Before they have a chance to hide or to hurt you.”
    Vanessa pinched her eyes shut and blew out a long breath. Eric could tell she was thinking. He adjusted his arms around her, and she leaned closer, resting her forehead against his shoulder. Tender feelings flooded his chest. He had to keep this woman safe. But how?
    “We’re not going to find him,” she murmured, eyes still closed. “As long as he even thinks there’s a chance I could ID him, he’s going to keep his head down. He’s smart. He wouldn’t have kept this ring going for so many years if he wasn’t smart.” As she mulled over her theory aloud, she pulled back from his shoulder, looking into his face as though to see if he agreed with her thoughts.
    Eric watched her as she spoke, enthralled by the unexpected joy of seeing her again, of watching her lips move as she pieced together her thoughts. Maybe the years hadn’t been the best for her, but she still looked good. A little pale and perhaps underfed. Her dyed-blond hair was a little disorienting. But she was Vanessa. Not the teen he’d cared for so long ago, but still, somehow, the same person.
    Her next words pulled his attention from her face to her message.
    “There’s no way around it. We’re going to have to draw him out.”
    “Arthur?” Eric asked, so taken aback he almost thought he’d misheard. “How?”
    “You already said he might come after me.”
    “I don’t
want
him to come after you.”
    “But we need to catch him. If we don’t, he could catch up to me and the kids anytime, days, months, even years from now. We’ll never be safe. My kids won’t ever be safe.” She spoke with determination flashing in her eyes in spite of the tired rings that circled them. Unlike Eric, who’d at least slept before Debbi had awakened him, Vanessa hadn’t slept at all.
    Eric was tempted to reach for her hand again, but recalled the way she’d pulled her hand from his before. “What are you suggesting?”
    “He wants the evidence against him, right? He wants the CPU and my silence?”
    “Yes.”