Garrett shook his head. “She stays with me.”
Jeremy wished he could say the same thing, have the same conviction about Meredith. Leaving her in a safe spot was the right thing, but it would kill him. The idea of her being hurt because of him, because of knowing his family, pushed bile up his throat. He’d battled through fear and danger his entire life, but this threatened to freeze him.
He didn’t even know where to hide her. He lived like a nomad and his one decent place had been torched. That limited his options, especially since the place would have to be secure. Not many of those around. He didn’t want a traditional safe house because as far as he could tell they weren’t all that safe.
Any place seemed like a risk, but Garrett needed him, too. Jeremy couldn’t tolerate the thought of letting either of them down, so he would leave and come back, even if it meant walking back into fire.
Loyalties battled inside him. His body ached and his brain screamed for him to take Meredith to bed and not crawl out again for a week.
“You need to stay.” Ellis waved his hand in the air as if saying the words made them so. “Andrew can take care of Ms. Samms.”
Not a surprise Ellis knew Meredith’s name. He likely knew a lot more. She’d hate that. It felt like an invasion of privacy even though it was standard policy. She’d lived in Garrett’s house. That meant Ellis would have a file on her just like he did on every one of them.
Despite all Ellis’s power and the certain way he spoke, Jeremy’s answer was the same. All that power, Ellis practically glowed from it, and Jeremy had to defy it.
“No, I won’t be staying.”
“Jeremy.” Garrett said his name as a warning.
Understandable but Jeremy had to go with his gut on this one. The attacks kept coming. Meredith refused to stay out of sight. So long as she was determined to pick up a gun, he was equally set on keeping her safe.
For now that meant getting her out of there. When Davis nodded and Garrett didn’t put up much of a verbal fight, Jeremy knew his instincts were right on this one.
Ellis, however, was not convinced. He was a man accustomed to having his orders followed, and balked when the acquiescence wasn’t automatic.
His eyes narrowed as he ran a finger over his mustache. “I’m not sure you heard me.”
Heard and ignored.
“With all due respect, I don’t work for you.”
“That’s a good thing since I don’t tolerate insubordination. People who work for me listen and obey, or they don’t work for me for very long.”
“Which is probably why it’s good I picked Border Patrol.” Jeremy matched Ellis’s battle stance with one of his own. “And I’m on mandatory leave from that job at the moment.”
“Ah, yes. The injury.”
Just the mention of it made the skin around it itch and the scar thump in pain. “It’s healing.”
Garrett stepped up. “Sir, if I may—”
“No.” After a moment of silence, a smile broke across Ellis’s face. “It would appear the family resemblance goes deeper than looks. Your stubborn streak certainly feels familiar.”
Jeremy nodded. “We are twins.”
“One of you is enough for DIA. I’m not sure the agency could handle both.”
A wave of relief swept the room. The tension choking the room snapped with the amusement in Ellis’s voice.
Jeremy felt his shoulders fall. He didn’t even know he was holding his body stiff until the wind rushed out of him.
Pax slipped his keys out of his pocket and caught everyone’s attention with the jingling. “Davis and I will drive.”
“Thanks, but no. You’re needed here.” Jeremy didn’t want to take the crowd with him. The goal was to remove Meredith from the danger, not drag it along behind them.
“Someone could be waiting outside and you need to throw them off your trail,” Pax said, and Davis nodded in agreement.
“What are you suggesting?” Garrett asked.
“Pax and I drive the cars. Meredith and Jeremy will be in the back of one. When it’s clear, Jeremy will get in the driver’s seat and go wherever he’s going. Pax and I will come home.”
“My detail came in matching black SUVs. You are free to use them so long as you bring them both back.” Ellis snapped his fingers at Andrew. “We need to talk to the detail.”
Andrew frowned. “Your guards won’t agree.”
“They don’t get a say.”
Not about to refuse help, Jeremy jumped to agree. “I’ll be out of here within the next fifteen minutes.”
Ellis shot him a level stare. “Where are you going?”
If there was a mole, Jeremy wasn’t taking a chance. “I’ll know when I get there.”
Chapter Fifteen
Ducked down on the floor of an SUV, balancing on the balls of her feet with a loaded weapon sitting just inches from her face, Meredith marveled at what her life had become. She battled little kids on a weekly basis. Tried to get them to quiet down, take their fingers out of their noses and stop slapping each other. Most days her biggest challenge consisted of a stray peanut and an allergy emergency.
Hiding with Jeremy as they raced along the roads southeast of San Diego in a vehicle driven by a man she barely knew was well out of her comfort zone. Then again, so was Jeremy. The accountant who took her to dinner two weeks ago couldn’t carry a conversation let alone a gun. A little boredom sounded good right about now.
Jeremy tapped his finger on her arm. “You okay?”
She glanced up into serious eyes that didn’t quite go with the amused voice. The determination was there, but so was concern.
Yeah, forget the accountant.
She decided to go with humor as a way of taking some of Jeremy’s tension away. “Your second date choice isn’t much better than the first. You should think about dinner and a movie. Heck, fast food and a DVD would be a huge improvement.”
“Next time we’ll do anything you want.”
Her heart hiccuped. “Will there be a next time?”
“I’ll make sure there is.” His fingers circled her wrist, light and so smooth that her pulse jumped at his touch.
“You do that.”
“You guys know I’m here, right?” Pax looked up. When his gaze went past them in the backseat, his smile disappeared and he jerked the wheel hard to the right.
Her equilibrium abandoned her as he skidded around a corner and she fell on her butt for the second time. The tires squealed and her head bounced off the door handle. “Ouch.”
She rubbed the newest bruise and was grateful she’d stopped counting them. She’d acquired more in the last two days than she had in the previous twelve years.
The only thing keeping her from whining was the knowledge of the huge gash in Jeremy’s side. Every time he replaced a bandage, he removed a red scrap of material that had started out white. Much more of this and he’d have a raging infection. It might only slow him down for two seconds, but the idea of him in more pain touched off a buzzing in her ears.
“That was rough.” He put his gun on the seat and helped her back up. “I’m thinking you’re missing your center of gravity.”
“It sure seems that way.” She did seem to bounce around much more than he did. Score one for being bigger. Sara was so tiny she’d probably sail through a window.
“Pax?” Jeremy knocked his fist against the back of the driver’s seat in front of him. “You want to slow down before we throw up back here?”
“Can’t.”
Jeremy’s head tilted to the side. “Why?”
“I think we have a tail.” Tension vibrated in Pax’s voice and in the way he kept clenching and unclenching the steering wheel.
“Of course we do. Makes sense in light of the last few days.” She didn’t even bother to panic. Her insides were jumping long before Pax’s verification. On some level she knew danger would follow them even if they drove to Denver. If her theory was right, being next to Jeremy just might be the most dangerous place in the world.
He tapped his finger against the transmitter in his ear. “Davis, any tail?”
Without an earpiece, she had no idea what the answer was. She tugged on Jeremy’s sleeve to get his attention. “What did he say?”
Pax answered her. “Nothing on his end.”
“Looks like it’s just us.” Jeremy blew out a long breath as he spoke.
“Interesting.”
Jeremy went to work checking his weapons. “You’re taking this well.”
With her elbow on the seat, Meredith leaned down and rubbed the growing bump on the back of her head. “Only on the outside.”
Jeremy froze. Only his eyes moved as his gaze switched to her. “I’m sorry. I dragged you into all of this, me and Garrett. You never had a choice.”
“You think I would have chosen no?”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”
The woman she was before she met Jeremy would have said “no.” She would have stayed in her house and played it safe because strong men meant dangerous men. Not now.
Knowing him even for a short time filled her with a strength she wished she’d had years ago. It was one thing to practice self-defense in the relative safety of a big room lined with mats. It was a totally different thing to fight off a real attack. She knew she could. She wouldn’t freeze. She’d fight back. Knowing she had that power was a true gift.
“Just get us out of the mess.”
Jeremy tapped on the back of Pax’s seat again. “You heard the woman.”
He shot her a smile through the rearview mirror. “Yes, ma’am.”
The car took a sharp right turn. Meredith went flying to the left, directly toward Jeremy’s shoulder. She curled her arms over her head and readied for the blow. Strong arms closed around her before she hit, but her weight sped up the momentum until they slammed against the door.
She squealed.
He groaned.
“We’re going to be okay,” he whispered in her ear.
Now she understood why all the textbooks told teachers to praise kids. Something about even a potentially empty boast restored her self-confidence. “I know.”
She pushed away and balanced on her feet again, this time grabbing on to the passenger seat with both hands to keep steady. She knew Jeremy needed his hands free and his thoughts clear. Hanging all over him wasn’t going to get either of those things done.
Jeremy poked his head between the front seats and leaned on the storage bin. He kept his body down as he talked to Pax. “What do you see?”
“A sedan behind us. No plates but looks like a newer model. Pretty expensive car.” Pax rattled off the list in pure military style.
“How’s his driving?”
“Erratic. He seems a step behind, but I turn suddenly then he turns. He’s done this before.”
“But he’s not even trying to pretend he’s not following.” Jeremy made a statement instead of asking a question.
“No.”
For some reason that news, the whole conversation, sent a new fissure of anxiety spinning through her. If the guy wasn’t trying to hide his face or his purpose, he likely didn’t think they would survive to identify him or his car. Worse, there might also be a second car somewhere.
The second after she thought it her body started shaking. She wedged her back against the door to keep Jeremy from seeing her new flash of fear. He had enough to worry about without trying to calm her down, as if that was even possible.
Jeremy picked that moment to swear. He lifted his chin as if trying to look over the backseat. “Can you make out a face?”
Pax gave a sharp shake of his head. “No. Tinted windows.”
“How convenient,” Jeremy mumbled.
Without thinking, Meredith blurted out the questions that kept playing in her mind. “How would anyone have known about the garage? It was Pax and Davis’s secret, not Garrett’s. I mean, would an enemy of Garrett’s go looking for property his team owns?”
Jeremy’s jaw clenched. “I was wondering the same thing.”
“Common sense tells me that to find us at the garage someone would have to be watching and that means...” She let the thought trail off because saying it out loud would take her mind to a place she didn’t want to go. They’d had enough accusations and doubts swirling around them.
Jeremy grabbed on to the seats in front of him with a white-knuckle grip. “Inside information.”
Her stomach did a nosedive to her feet. “So, Joel is crooked?”
Pax’s gaze met hers in the mirror again. “No.”
The car swerved and Jeremy fell back on her, pinning her against the seat. “Watch it.”
She bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming, but having a hundred-and-ninety pounds balanced on her ankle brought tears to her eyes. “Uh, Jeremy? Could you shift?”
If he heard her, he didn’t show it.
“Forget this.” Pulling his body through the space between the seats, Jeremy crawled over the console. Not an easy feat for his wide shoulders.
When she blinked again, he’d jumped into the passenger seat next to Pax. She tried to grab him but ended up pulling his shirt out of his pants. “What are you doing? Someone will see you.”
“No need to hide. He knows we’re in here.” Jeremy glared at her as he clicked the seat belt. “But you stay down. We don’t need to hand the guy a target.”
Jeremy balanced his palms against the dashboard. “Meredith, use your feet to brace your body.”
“Why?”
“We’re about to crash.”
“What?” She screamed the question.
“Pax, turn into him,” Jeremy shouted as the sedan crossed the double line and barreled up beside them.
A deep canyon yawned off to their right. Sharp brush and brown shrubs spread out for miles. One spin in there would trap them on a slope, and that was only if they survived the initial fall. Add in the dry trees and engine sparks, and disaster loomed all around them.
The sedan edged closer then swerved into the SUV. The force of the hit knocked Pax’s hands off the wheel and pulled Jeremy’s seat belt tight into his midsection, strangling him. He reached over to push the button and release the restraint, but it jammed.
“Hold on!” Pax shouted as he locked his arms.
Jeremy was about to warn him about tensing up when the car slammed into them a second time. The crack of metal against metal made the SUV shudder and slide. His mind went to Meredith in the back, bouncing around, not tied down.
Before he could reach out to her, his body shot back deep into the seat. He sprang back and his chest caved in as if something smashed into him with the force of a racing train. He heard his gun fall and tried to catch it, but everything happened too fast.