Trust Me by Jeff Abbott Read Free Book Online

hours approached, I-10 traffic headed east into the city slowed in fits and starts.
    The creeping pace of traffic gave Luke a fresh hope. He kept cussing himself, inside his brain, for his fear in not trying to escape when the Mirabeau police officer was there to help him. But he believed it would have gotten them both dead. The desperation in Eric’s eyes was a fierce, awful fire.
    They’d hit their first real traffic now. If the car came to a full stop maybe he could bolt. Eric might not be eager to shoot him in front of dozens of other people. Or he could mouth a plea for help, if anyone would look at him. The drivers kept their eyes on the road. Strangers did not exchange glances in cars in Houston.
    ‘The knife likes you to have your eyes forward,’ Eric said.
    ‘The knife likes to not stab me when I’m driving because we’ll crash. But God knows we want to keep the knife happy.’
    ‘Stay calm. Tonight you’ll be safe.’ Eric sounded hollow. He had shushed Luke the few times in the past hour when Luke had tried to speak again. ‘Stay in the middle lane until we get to the downtown exits.’
     
    Traffic slowed again. And, for the first time, Eric clutched Luke’s shirt, grabbing the seat belt in his fist as well.
    ‘You’re considering making a run. I’m telling you I will kill you.’
    ‘You don’t need the threats. I’m done fighting you.’ He was gripped by a panic that someone would see Eric threatening him and try to help him, making it worse. Luke glanced at the car on his left. He saw a woman driving a minivan, a bored teenage girl in the passenger seat, texting on a phone. To his right, an older man in a pickup truck drummed a beat on the steering wheel. None of them looked over at Luke’s car, lost in the world of what was directly ahead of their windshields.
    ‘Strange to be so alone, each of us, when surrounded by thousands of others. We don’t even know who we can reach out to, who will understand us.’ Eric gave a ragged laugh. ‘That’s why the world’s going to hell.’
    ‘Then let’s not take one further step into hell. Please. You’re not a bad guy.’
    ‘You need to be afraid of me, Luke.’
    ‘I am. But … you don’t want to hurt me. I can tell. You’re not a criminal, you don’t want to do this. Let me help you get out of whatever mess you’re in.’ He had to convince Eric it wasn’t too late to stop, to let him go.
    ‘You are helping me. You just don’t know it yet.’ Eric’s jaw clenched.
    ‘But …’
    ‘It changes you, breaking the law,’ Eric said quietly. ‘I can’t go back. I made my choice. And I want you to shut up now.’
    They had to work past a traffic jam caused by a chain reaction of fender benders, and by the time they reached the heart of the city evening had begun its slide over the sky. Eric got more agitated, checking his watch every half-minute. Sweat was bright on his face. Downtown Houston rose in light-bejeweled towers. Downtown had undergone a renaissance in recent years; old abandoned hotels and buildings reborn into new establishments, lodgings and office space. Luke steered the BMW through the weaving pedestrians - office workers heading to the light rail and bus stops and parking garages, or to trendy new bars and restaurants. Luke had always thought Houston a place of unbounded energy and bustle, but right now he just wished someone would slow down long enough to notice he was in trouble.
    ‘This is about to get dangerous,’ Eric said. He leaned forward, as though scanning the pedestrians for a face, for a threat.
    ‘Like it wasn’t already.’
    ‘Turn here.’
    They drove past Minute Maid Park where the Astros played, then deep into a neighborhood that had not yet benefited from the economic renaissance of downtown. The buildings were older, the businesses humbler. Unrepaired potholes, the by-product of Houston humidity, pocked the pavement.
    Luke reached a small parking lot and Eric said, ‘Pull in here.’
    Luke did,