Intrusion (30 page)

“Oh, my God, Cam. What are we going to do?” Tears ran down her cheeks, part fear, part fumes.

“Hang in there. Don’t fall apart on me yet.” His low voice soothed some of her panic. He shifted his body slightly and maneuvered his cuffed hands to the side to flip Peterson off.

Peterson frowned. “The problem with you Cameron, is you’re not a man of vision.”

“If killing innocent people is your idea of having a vision, I’m glad I’m lacking.”

Miloje plucked a goblet of dark liquid off the mantel. “The sacrifice of innocent lives is necessary for the greater good.” He plunged a rag in the liquid then slipped a lighter out of his pocket. “But sometimes it is more satisfying to kill people just because they piss you off.”

The snick of the igniter caused a spark and a bright orange flame leapt to life. He tipped it to the rag and the fabric caught fire. Flames danced on the alcohol in the glass and cast devilish shadows on the Serb’s face.

She zinged a glance at Cam, widening her eyes when she caught the orange firelight reflected in his stony grey gaze. He turned on Miloje. His stiff leg shot out as if aiming for the man’s groin, but the duct tape on his knees forced his aim wide and he connected with the goblet instead. It flew out of the Serbian’s hand and crashed to the carpet.

Whoosh.

Flames erupted from the synthetic fibers, setting off a trail of fire that ignited all around them.

A scream tore from Audra’s throat. Oh, God. They had to get out of the house. Now. Panic took over and she lunged forward to knock Peterson aside. But before she could connect with him, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

***

“No!”

Cam hardly recognized his raw voice as his own as he watched the bullet hit Audra square in the chest. The impact threw her backward and she crumpled to the floor, her head hitting the couch behind them.

No. God damn it, no.

Carbon monoxide filled his lungs, his eyes. His vision wavered. Wisps of smoke curled around him, shadows closed in.

Peterson? Miloje?

He blinked away the sudden disorientation and stumbled through the rising inferno, his gaze darting around the room for Audra. Where was she?

“Audra!” Tears streamed from his eyes, blinding him.

Please, God, she couldn’t be dead.

He dropped to his knees and, with his hands still cuffed behind him, slithered across the carpet like a slug. Flames danced far too close to his body, their heat sucking what little oxygen he had left. His shoulder bumped Audra’s leg and he used it as a guide, following it upwards until he located her head.

“Where are you hit?” He leaned down, nose to nose with her, and turned his head, trying to feel the puff of her breath on his cheek. Nothing. “Come on, Audra, talk to me.”

He put his ear against her chest. Instead of the softness he expected, his cheek met the hardness beneath her shirt. What the hell? He clamped the fabric between his teeth and tugged, tearing the shirt right down the middle and exposing a shimmery gray fabric that covered her body like hardened steel.

Her armor. She was wearing her armor.

It had saved her life, but the force of the bullet must have knocked the wind out of her. He shifted back to her face, covered her mouth with his, and blew into it softly.

She jerked, sucked in a breath that was cut short by harsh, wracking coughs.

Someone knocked into him from behind and sent him careening forward. Without his hands to break his fall, he crashed to the floor, narrowly missing Audra as well as the thin thread of flames in front of him. He jerked his head up, rolled over, and planted his knee in Miloje’s groin.

The man gave a shout and collapsed to the floor, but before Cam could enjoy the victory, Miloje sprang up and jumped him again. Cam rolled from side to side trying to avoid the growing flames. The traitor’s hands went around his throat, squeezing what little air he had left from his chest.

He choked, coughed. Tried to inhale a breath that wasn’t coated in smoke while he unsuccessfully kicked at the man. He tipped his head back, Miloje’s fingers digging deeper into his windpipe.

“Audra…” He opened his mouth to shout her name, but no sound came out.

Black spots floated in front of his eyes. Heat surrounded him, sucking away the oxygen. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

No. Don’t give in. Fight it. Fight the bastard.

A flash of red swung into his line of vision and collided with his attacker’s skull. The pipe wrench. Cam blinked his eyes and through the hot wavy air saw Audra standing behind Miloje, pipe wrench held at her back between her handcuffed hands.

The awkward blow she’d swung at Miloje’s head didn’t have that much force behind it, but she’d spun her body with just enough momentum to knock him to the floor. He crashed face first into the carpet, the sleeve of his shirt falling into the fire. It ignited, flames immediately licking at the fabric.

Cam reared back to avoid the intense heat, its amber glow glinting off a gun tucked in the waistband of Miloje’s pants. Cam rolled over the man and snagged it from the small of his back, the weight of the pistol familiar in his hand.

His Browning.

Ahead of him, Audra still clutched the pipe wrench behind her back like a savage angel hell bent on destroying anyone in her path. He cracked a small smile, the blistered skin of his lips breaking against the tension. But it disappeared when Peterson suddenly reared up and grabbed Audra around the throat.

His heart sped in his chest. No way. He turned sideways to take aim, but with his hands bound behind his back, he couldn’t hit the man without hitting Audra.

Come on, sweetheart. Get out of the kill zone.

As if she heard his thoughts, she lunged backward, jabbing Peterson in the gut with the pipe wrench. Caught off balance, he stumbled, his hands falling away from Audra. Cam waited until she ducked, gauged his shot, pulled the trigger—and missed.

The bullet grazed Peterson’s arm and caught him off balance. He stumbled backwards and Cam lost him in the smoke.

“Door!” The short command choked from Cam’s throat, but piercing screams from behind swallowed it.

Cam threw a look over his shoulder, and his eyes widened at the writhing body of Miloje engulfed in flames. Holy shit. He turned back. The smoke was now so thick he had to push his head down to cut through it. Flames crawled up the walls, over the ceiling, like millions of glowing termites, eating their way through the wooden beams.

“Audra!”

Hadn’t she just been ahead of him? Sweat poured from his forehead, burned into his eyes and slicked his palms. He spun around in frantic circles. Where did she go? Damn it, how had he lost her?

He plowed forward, hoping to catch a glint of her shirt, her hair, something to reassure him she was all right. Smoke clogged his lungs on a ragged breath and he doubled over, hacking the toxic air from his throat.

A beam of light reflected off the smoke particles like a beacon. The front door. Someone had thrown it open. Audra? God, he hoped so. He clawed his way to it, dodging flames. His aching limbs seemed to weigh a ton with each step, but he finally reached the threshold.

He spotted Audra bent over at the edge of the street, hoarse coughs shuddering through her body.

“Thank God.” He took a step toward her, but Peterson grabbed hold of his foot and yanked him to the ground.

He tried to drag Cam back into the house. By strength of will and the loss of skin on his knuckles from scraping across stone, Cam managed to keep half his body outside. Peterson lunged, grabbing Cam’s head and banging it against the ground. Pain jarred through his skull and pulsed through his teeth. The pistol sandwiched under his body was useless.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Audra start to run toward him.

“Stay. Back,” he rasped with as much force as possible.

She was safe. He wanted her to remain that way.

“I can’t let you go.” Peterson’s fingers tightened in Cam’s hair. The bastard arched one singed brow, his eyes red. Wild. “You understand don’t you?” His voice grew fainter with each sentence. He knocked Cam’s head to the stone once more. “You’ve ruined everything.”

Blood trickled down Cam’s neck. “Can’t…let you go…either.”

Every muscle in his body quivered with spent energy, but he forced himself to eek out a little more. He threw his weight and reared up. Peterson fell backward, giving Cam an opening. He twisted his torso and took aim. But Peterson was right there, grabbing at the gun. They grappled with it, Cam trying to keep his balance—and failing.

He slipped sideways. His shoulder smacked the ground and his finger jerked on the trigger. The gun recoiled sharply. The bullet rammed into Peterson’s chest. His eyes bulged and he clutched at his heart, blood spurting underneath his hands.

“Mina.” The ghostly whisper on Peterson’s lips sent a shiver up Cam’s spine.

The Serb’s eyes turned glassy, his mouth falling slack. Blood seeped from the corners of his lips. The sound of sirens penetrated Cam’s foggy brain. He closed his eyes.

Hell.

He struggled to get to his feet and then Audra was there, propping him up. Her hair smelled heavily of smoke and her breath was thick and choppy, but she was alive. The pistol slipped from fingers that itched to touch her. Damn it, he wanted to hold her and never let go.

Three police cruisers and an ambulance screeched to a halt in front of the house.

“It’s okay.” She fell into him, her cheek against his chest. “I had Margaret call them.”

Cops surrounded them, their guns drawn. A sergeant stepped forward and pulled Audra away from Cam.

“I’ll go willingly,” she said. “But he needs medical attention.”

He reached for her, forgetting the cuffs that bound his hands. An EMT came up to him, but he shrugged him off. “No. No hospital. I’m fine.”

Cam took a step towards Audra, but his swollen knees had finally decided they’d given all they could, and they buckled.

The EMT caught him around the shoulders. “I think we’d better get you in the ambulance.”

“Damn it, I don’t need an ambulance. I need—”

Her.

The sexy avenging angel who had saved his life despite the fact that his screw up had put her in danger; the beautiful, intelligent scientist who’d designed a high-tech armor that had kept her safe—the woman he loved more than any win.

He hobbled over to the ambulance and grimaced while the EMTs removed his handcuffs before securing him onto the stretcher and hooking him up to the monitors. In front of him the cop guided Audra into the back seat of the cruiser and closed the door.

She twisted in her seat to stare at Cam out the back window. His heart squeezed with such longing that his pulse spiked, causing an audible blip on the pulse oximetry monitor.

The EMTs loaded him into the ambulance and shut the door.

Chapter Twenty-One

His walking papers crinkled in his hand as Cam left the courthouse a free man. In light of the evidence the police had gathered on Peterson and his brother, along with the testimony from everyone involved, the judge had cleared both Cam and Audra of all charges.

He had to hobble down the wide stone steps to avoid putting extra stress on his left knee, which still hadn’t completely healed from the beating it had taken. The warm morning breeze rustled the trees overhead. He glanced up at the deep blue cloudless sky and when he dipped his head back down, Audra stepped into his line of vision.

He froze on the stair for a fraction of a second while his heart picked up speed. God, she was a sight for his Audra starved eyes. He hadn’t seen her in more than two weeks, since that day the police had loaded her into the cruiser—he’d been taken to the hospital and then discharged directly into police custody—but she had consumed every moment of his thoughts.

Cam ambled to the bottom of the steps, his gaze roving over her wind-teased red hair, her flowing white blouse and the faded jeans that hugged her hips. The urge to kiss her overwhelmed him, but doubt held him back.

He cleared his throat. “Hey.”

She smiled, slipped her fingers into the front pocket of her jeans. “Hey.”

God, he’d missed that smile.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said to fill the widening silence.

His lawyer had informed him that Audra’s hearing was concluded yesterday. He figured she’d want to get started on picking up the pieces of her life as soon as possible. And from the way he’d blown his one opportunity to prove himself to her, he knew he’d have no place in her future.

She shrugged. “I just got through visiting Margaret and Noelle at the hospital—”

“How is Margaret’s daughter?”

“She’s good. Better than good, actually. She should be able to go home soon.”

“That’s…great.”

“Yeah. It is.” She flashed him another one of her sweet smiles. “And…I heard you were blowing out of this joint today. I thought maybe you might need a ride.”

Surprise rippled through him and pushed a chuckle from his chest. “Blowing this joint, huh?” He tipped his head back to stare up at the courthouse. Emotion thickened his throat and he swallowed it back. He looked down at her, fighting the urge to reach out and touch the curve of her cheek. “Actually, yeah, I could use a ride.”

“Great.”

Her sober eyes met his. He waited for her to make a move, but she just continued to stare at him.

“Audra, I—”

“Just…wait.” She took a small step towards him and the breeze carried the familiar scent of lavender to his nose. “Let me…” her voice grew softer, “…I don’t know how to say this, so brace yourself because I’m just going to blurt it out. Okay?”

His throat squeezed. Here it was, the part where she’d end things between them. End things between them? What had they really had besides a couple weeks of adrenaline-fueled passion? He didn’t know. He only knew he’d fallen for her in a big way and in the time they’d been apart, that love hadn’t faded. If anything, it had grown stronger, and he couldn’t bear the thought of letting her go. He’d found ‘the one’. And he didn’t want to lose her.