Read Online Die Run Hide by P. M. Kavanaugh - Free Book Online Page B

the woman and helped her up. She seemed to forget about her injuries and started cheering on her defenders.
    Salazar straightened, raised his knees to his chest and kicked out. His attacker took one boot in the face and another in the groin. He doubled over and blood gushed from his nose.
    Anika watched from the shadows. Too bad. Salazar was an asshole, but he was a highly trained one. The truckers were no match for him.
    The Ukrainian shook his head and walked away.
    Anika followed him until they were both hidden from the others by a row of gleaming metal containers atop enormous tires. Then she stepped forward into the light.
    “Um, excuse me, sir.” She pitched her voice higher than normal, trying to sound young.
    “ Da ?” The man turned. “Yes?” He switched to English. “Ah, lady, you okay?”
    “Thanks for helping me. In there.” She angled her head toward the diner.
    “That’s okay.”
    “Are you heading south?”
    “Yes. Why you ask?”
    “Can I get a ride?”
    “Sorry.” The man shook his head. “I like to help, but giving ride in truck not legal.” He turned to walk away.
    “Please, I’m trying to get home. My father … he’s sick and I can’t afford to fly or go by rail.” She didn’t add that she also couldn’t afford to have her retinas scanned by airline, monorail, and rental transport companies. “Please?” She didn’t have to fake the anxious look on her face.
    “No trouble.” The man hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets, but he didn’t move away.
    “I understand. But let me give you something.”
    She reached inside her jacket and pulled out one of the cigarettes. The man’s eyes zeroed in on the plump roll of tobacco.
    “For your trouble.” Anika held it out to him. “With those two truckers in the diner.”
    Still the man hesitated.
    “It’s the real thing.” She lifted the cigarette to her nose and inhaled. “Come on. It’s okay. Besides, I promised my dad I’d give them up.” The driver took the rolled stick of tobacco. “I’m Cece.”
    “Boris.” The man stuck the cigarette behind his ear.
    “Sure wish you could help me out, Boris.” She reached inside her jacket again and pulled out two more cigarettes along with five world currency notes. “Please? I don’t want to go back into the diner and ask someone else.”
    A scrabbling noise came from behind. What was that? She glanced over her shoulder. Something rippled in the shadow two rigs back.
    A rat shot out from between the wheels, followed by a white streak of fur. Cat. Both animals raced across the aisle and vanished behind another set of wheels.
    She hated rats. They brought up bad memories from the orphanage. Still, she hoped the smaller prey would outrun or outwit its pursuer.
    She turned back to Boris and forced a smile. “What do you say? You’d really be a lifesaver.”
    His face split into a wide grin, revealing nicotine-stained teeth. “Okay, pretty lady, I take you.” He pocketed the notes and the tobacco.
    On the way to Boris’s truck, Anika scanned the reflective surfaces of the nearby containers, strained her ears for a third set of footsteps, stooped to fiddle with the straps on her boots. No more noises or ripples. Yet her nerves and muscles ratcheted up to alert mode. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was being tracked.
    They reached the back of the truck and separated, Boris to the driver’s side and Anika to the passenger’s. She stepped onto the rig’s auto-lift and rode two meters off the ground to seat level. Once inside the roomy cab, she scanned back and forth between the exterior mirrors. No movement. The truck’s engine chug-chugged in idle mode.
    “Ready when you are,” she said. Let’s get the hell out of here.
    “In a minute. Engine warming.” Boris checked the controls, adjusted his seat, consulted his handheld, chuckled at something he read there.
    Anika clenched and unclenched her fist, counted out three slow breaths.
    Finally,