Runaway by Anne Laughlin Page B

hands to the sides of her head as if it were about to fall apart. “I’m late for my meetings.”
    She sounded anguished, at odds with the carefree woman of the night before. Jan watched her sprint to the bathroom. It seemed morning sex was off the table. She followed her and stood at the door.
    “You’re the new owner, remember? It’s okay to be late.”
    Catherine was checking the temperature of the shower. She glanced at Jan.
    “Not the impression I like to give. Listen, I’m sorry for this. Have them charge the valet to my room, will you?” She stepped into the shower.
    Jan stared at the figure soaping herself up in the steamy water. She felt sick, dismissed. She got dressed and left the room without saying more. When she got down to the front of the hotel, she paid for her own valet parking.

Chapter Five
     
    Maddy peered from under her camouflaged cap at the large field dotted with obstacle courses, a rifle range, and stretches of bare ground where dozens of uniformed people were doing exercises, breaking down weapons, and throwing each other around in simulated hand-to-hand combat. It was a cloudless day, the autumn foliage brilliant in the woods surrounding the field.
    She stood in a long line of men and women wearing the uniforms issued to them the hour before. Standing in front of the line addressing them was a “sergeant” named Drecker. His camos were clean but well worn, his boots shiny but with many miles on them.
    “You sorry suckers have one hell of a day ahead of you. Some of you look worn out from getting up early to drive here. Believe me, that was the best part of your day right there. By the time we finish our last field exercise in the middle of the night, you’re going to wish you’d never been born.”
    Maddy wanted to push her cap up. It was settling on her head and the brim was covering her eyes. They were standing at ease, with hands clasped behind their backs. She must have looked like a fool, but she didn’t dare move out of position.
    “Unlike a full basic training in the military where a soldier’s strength can be built up, we’re going to have to work with what you’ve got, and that ain’t much from the looks of things. You’ll leave camp tomorrow with a written program of how to continue your conditioning.”
    All the people Maddy had met at David’s kitchen table were here in line with her, except Ed and Warren. They’d already been through multiple training sessions with this outfit and were out making more preparations for the move. Kristi stood next to her, her piercings removed at Drecker’s command. Her uniform fit snuggly across her large breasts, and Maddy could see sweat trickling down her face, despite the cool temperature. They’d driven together in the back of David’s truck, bundled in blankets and silent the entire way. Occasionally, though, Kristi would give her an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up.
    David stood on her other side. She knew he’d been up until very late, long after she’d gone to sleep in her basement bedroom. She’d wake to hear him scraping his chair away from the kitchen table, pacing from one end of the house to the other, scraping the chair back in place. She’d managed to put together enough hours of sleep to make the day bearable. She didn’t know how David would manage. She wasn’t worried anymore about him not being a man of action. He was a man who didn’t know how not to take action.
    Before she’d said good night, David put his hand on her forearm. It seemed like something her grandma would do.
    “Maddy, I just want you to know how much it’s meant that we got to know each other.”
    Maddy looked at his hand on her arm, wondering if he’d start patting her. She didn’t know what to say.
    “You’re young, probably younger than you’re admitting to me, but you’ve got an amazing mind. I feel like you get what I’m saying, more than any of the others do.”
    She didn’t think that was much of a compliment, but