Authors: Katie Reus
The need for self-preservation kicked in. He had to hold off a little longer.
“Are you going to finish that thought?” Her voice was quiet, but he didn’t miss the slight note of concern.
“I just want to take care of this, then I promise to tell you everything. Okay?”
“I…okay.”
He knew the only reason she was agreeing with him was because she had no choice. He’d dragged her from the house using the subtle threat of tying her up. It might not be physical but he’d taken her freedom away. More than most he knew what it was like to have freedom stolen, and he’d never imagined he’d have to do the same thing to Alexis.
The drive to the beach wasn’t far but the silence that stretched between them felt endless. A giant, black void that made him wish he was better with words. If he could say something,
anything,
to ease her fears he would. Even though he’d touched and kissed every inch of her sweet body, right now he might as well have been sitting next to a stranger. A stranger who would likely claw his eyes out given half a chance.
When he reached the deserted stretch, he continued down the long, isolated road until it dead-ended. He stopped in front of a three-story waterfront house with boarded-up windows. No doubt someone’s vacation house.
“Do you know who owns this?” he asked as he parked.
She shook her head. “No. Most of these places are only used in the summer.”
The icy wind whipped against his face and cut through his thick sweater when he stepped from the vehicle. As an afterthought, he grabbed the keys from the ignition.
“Nice,” Alexis muttered.
Since it was so cold he doubted anyone would be on the beach, but he hiked up one of the sand dunes. After a brief survey of the area, he returned with the body.
As a precaution he checked the dead man’s pockets one more time, but found nothing else. He’d lifted a cheap throwaway phone earlier, and those were almost impossible to track. He dragged the body into a patch of beach grass and sea oats then noted the address and location. When they were on their way out of town, he’d make an anonymous call to the police.
He jumped back in his vehicle and hit one of the speed dials on his phone.
“Hunter, I take it you’re in the States now.” Father O’Reilly’s thick Irish accent was unmistakable. The priest was the first person he’d called once he’d made it to a secure line. It didn’t matter that six years had passed. His friend had been more than willing to help.
“Hi, Father. Have—”
“Will you stop calling me Father? I retired a decade ago.”
Despite the situation, he smiled to himself and ignored the heated stare from Alexis. She was practically drilling holes into him. “Sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess. Besides, what am I going to do, call you Patrick?”
The older man chuckled. “Point taken. Let me guess, you’re calling to make sure a certain package made it here.”
Hunter turned left onto the main road and kept to the speed limit. He couldn’t risk being pulled over by acting careless. “Yes.”
“It did and it’s safe. Don’t worry.”
“If anything happens to me or Alexis—”
“I know what to do.”
“Thank you, Fath…thanks. I’ll call you in a couple of days with any updates.”
As they disconnected, he glanced in the mirror and noticed an oversized SUV similar to the one he drove trailing behind him. The vehicle had simply appeared when they’d entered the downtown area. It hadn’t followed them to the beach and while it could be nothing, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“Who was that on the phone? And what do you mean if anything happens to you
or me?
I’m not being dragged into whatever this craziness is.”
“Hold on.” Gunning the engine, he took a sharp left.
The SUV followed.
He flipped on his right blinker and the other vehicle did the same.
Definitely tailing him.
The guy wasn’t even trying to hide it. But so far he hadn’t gained or made any overtly aggressive moves. Gripping the wheel, he swerved another left. The vehicle continued to follow.
“Are we being followed?” Alexis swiveled in her seat.
“Not sure yet,” he muttered.
As he drove through town, he was thankful for the near empty streets. Keeping his eyes on the rearview mirror, he reached out and lightly grasped her leg. He wanted—needed—to feel her. Just for a moment. He didn’t deserve to touch her but he couldn’t feign being sorry. After so many years of thinking and dreaming about her, it was almost impossible to believe she sat so close to him. The circumstances were crap, but feeling her somehow grounded him. Which was insane.
“Don’t touch me,” she growled.
Immediately he jerked his hand back. At that moment he loathed himself. Touching her like that when she hadn’t asked to be dragged into the vehicle with him.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, then immediately wanted to take the question back.
Her eyebrows rose in disbelief.
Guess that would have to be good enough. “I need you to get on the floorboard.”
“Are you going to let me go? And will you answer all my questions?”
He checked the rearview mirror again. Still had a tail. “As soon as we lose this guy, I’ll answer your questions.” But he wouldn’t let her go.
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth.
Gripping the wheel tightly, he maneuvered a quick U-turn, completely surprising the other driver. White smoke rose up behind him and black skid marks covered the pavement.
He watched as the driver’s side window of the other vehicle rolled down. Hunter braced himself for the impending impact. “Stay down!” he shouted at Alexis.
He had nowhere to go unless he wanted to crash into one of the stores. An avalanche of bullets sprayed the driver’s side. It sounded like heavy rainfall on a tin roof. Jerking to the right, he somehow managed to avoid getting shot.
Alexis let out a brief scream but didn’t make a move to get up.
As more loud pings ricocheted off the vehicle, he braced himself for the ripping pain of a bullet. Nothing struck him directly. Taking one last sharp turn, he slammed his foot on the accelerator and raced out of town.
“Is he still behind us?” Panic vibrated through her shaky voice.
He wasn’t sure why she was whispering, but the frightened look in her wide eyes tore at his heart. The last thing he’d ever wanted to do was bring this to her doorstep. It was just another reminder that he had no place in her or their son’s life. “He’s still there.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know. He works for the men who want me dead.” That was as honest as he could be without laying everything on her.
No red lights on this stretch of road. He retraced his steps back to the two-lane road he’d taken to dump the body. Getting this guy away from the general public was the most important thing.
He couldn’t have any more deaths hanging over his head.
The back window exploded and Alexis screamed again. Shards of glass spewed all the way to the front seat. He sank lower in his seat and started swerving erratically across the deserted two-lane road.
“Hunter, talk to me! Are you okay? Did you get shot?”
“I’m fine. This is almost over but I need you to strap in,
now.
” He gritted his teeth.
Without questioning him, she brushed glass off the seat and scrambled back into it. She did as he said, then sank lower against the seat.
The SUV couldn’t close the distance enough to slam into him. Maybe if he forced the guy’s hand, Hunter would get an advantage. Something had to give. He was running out of time.
And out of road.
He had a gun, but the chance of hitting the guy from a moving vehicle was slim. And he was sure the SUV had bullet-resistant glass. His hands tightened around the steering wheel. The stretch of road deadened into sand and beach, leaving him nowhere to run. Keeping his foot heavy on the gas, he waited until the needle pointed above ninety.
Then he tapped on the brakes, careful not to depress too hard.
The SUV gained rapid ground. Hunter took the only chance he had and smashed on the brakes. Glass and metal crunched sickeningly as the guy collided into the back of them.
As he jerked forward, Hunter tried to gain control, but the brakes refused to cooperate. He yanked the wheel. The vehicle whipped around into a one eighty, forcing the back of the vehicle to crash into a wooden telephone pole. The impact of the collision jarred him straight to his bones.
At least they hadn’t flipped. And somehow, the engine still ran. When he’d rented the vehicle, the first thing he’d done was disable the airbags. His head slammed back against the headrest, jarring his focus. Without the airbag deploying he didn’t risk being knocked out. The chance of it happening was slim, but he was glad he’d taken the extra precaution.
As he gathered his bearings, he watched the other vehicle spin out of control. The SUV jerked sharply, then toppled on its side. It skidded into a ditch, and smoke billowed out from under the hood.
“Are you okay?” He assessed Alexis from head to foot. No wounds, no bruises, but she held a hand to the back of her head and winced.
“Fine, I guess.” Her voice shook.
“Alexis, I’m…sorry.” Again, he hated that he’d brought this to her. Hated himself.
Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder and the massive guilt he felt that she was with him, he shoved open his door and jumped out. As soon as he hit the dirt, he drew his gun and chambered a round.
Thirty yards away, there were still no signs of life from the other vehicle.
Could be a trap.
Gun drawn, he crouched and rushed toward it.
A small fire blazed in the underbelly. Inching closer, he covered his mouth to block out the fumes and smoke.
Even if the driver was dead, Hunter needed to get some identification or something from this guy. The fire was spreading, though, and limited his options.
Through the windshield, he saw only one man behind the wheel. He fired a few shots at the glass, but it was a useless effort. The glass was bullet-resistant. If he shot it enough times and weakened it, he’d eventually do enough damage to kick or punch his way through, but he didn’t have time for that. A small pop from underneath the hood propelled him backward and into action.
He didn’t feel like getting barbequed for a man who’d just tried to kill him. He might not know who the guy was, but he knew damn sure who’d sent him.
Hobbling back to his vehicle, he surveyed his surroundings. The oversized vacation homes stretching down the road showed no signs of life. Other than the distant sound of the ocean, it was eerily quiet.
The wind whistled, but there were no birds in the cloudless sky. Like nothing had ever happened.
As he slid into the front seat, he couldn’t believe the engine hadn’t died yet. “Thank God for British engineering,” he muttered as he kicked it into Drive.
It made wheezing, gasping sounds but at least the thing worked.
Alexis grasped his arm as he steered back onto the road. “There’s something I haven’t told you. I have a son and we’ve got to pick him up from Gwen’s house. I called when you were…disposing of that body. He’s safe, but—”
“How the hell did you call?” The question came out harsher than he’d intended.
Her cheeks tinged pink as she nodded at the buttons on the rearview mirror. “I used your OnStar system.”
He knew he should be angry but he was more impressed than anything. Talk about resourceful. Then another thought occurred to him. “Did you call the cops?”
She shook her head and he narrowed his eyes, not sure he believed her.
“I didn’t. I swear.”
“Why not?”
“I…I don’t know, all right? I just couldn’t bring myself to call them when you saved my life. We need to get my son.”
“We’ll make a quick stop at your house, grab your suitcases, then pick him up on the way out of town.” Two people had already tried to kill them. Hunter knew how the men after him operated. There wouldn’t be a third sent after them. Not yet anyway.
“This is insane.” It sounded more like she was talking to herself than him. She let out a shaky laugh and raked a hand through her jet-black hair.
Hair he’d run his hands through too many times to count. There were a lot of things he’d done with her, but now wasn’t the time for a trip down memory lane. “He’s safe then?”
“He’s with Gwen and I told her not to let him out of her sight. At the center, we teach women to be aware of their surroundings and to trust their instincts. I trust Gwen to keep him safe more than anyone.”
As he steered down her street, he slowed and surveyed the neighborhood. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Alexis’s hand was already on the door handle before he’d pulled into the garage. She unstrapped her seat belt and jumped from the vehicle the instant he put it into Park.
He closed the garage and followed her inside to the kitchen. “Listen, Alexis—”
She ignored him and grabbed a rag. After wetting it down, she handed it to him.
“What’s this for?”
“Thought you might want to…clean up or something. I can grab a first aid kit. Are you sure you’re okay?” Her eyes narrowed as she assessed his body.
He’d seen himself in the rearview mirror. Covered in shallow scratches, he’d certainly seen better days, but a few minor cuts were the least of his worries. At least she hadn’t been injured. Reaching out, he picked a shard of glass from her hair. When his hand grazed her cheek, it was as if time froze. He could feel himself being transported back six years when everything had seemed so simple. When they’d spent hours between the sheets making love and talking about their future. A future he’d never have with her.
The ding of the doorbell sliced through the air and she jumped back and away from him.
“Are you expecting company?”
She cleared her throat and a pinkish tinge spread across her exotic cheekbones. “That’s probably Michael, my fiancé. I told Gwen to call him.”
“Shit.” He rubbed a hand over his face.
“Whatever’s going on, he can help us.”
“Right.” He snorted. Like some civilian could keep her safer than Hunter could.
She held up a hand. “After six years of nothing, you show up the same day someone tries to kill me,
then
you practically kidnap me and drag me with you to dispose of a body. After what just happened I totally get it, but you still don’t get an opinion. He’s here—so deal with it. And you’re going to answer all my questions.”