Justified Means (Book One) (The Agency Files) (20 page)

“Come on, I’m not going to run. I just don’t believe you’d actually use that thing.”

“Well, don’t try me, and I won’t have to prove you wrong. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Can we get down to the water?” Changing the subject seemed like the best option, especially now that she could see the lights of a car passing. Vehicles didn’t pass often, but they were out there.

“Not near here. About ten miles either way and I think there’s some beach, but it’s not smart to walk that far in the dark.”

“So,” she peeked out from the trees. “There’re no cars. Can we go?”

He listened and shook his head. “Semi coming. We’ll let him pass first.”

“How can you hear that? I don’t—” Just as she started to insist he was crazy, the distinctive sound of an approaching truck reached her ears.

“I have excellent hearing—particularly when it’s something I don’t want to hear.”

The dash across the road was anti-climactic. She’d expected something more exciting than a glance, a listen, and a brisk walk across the road and over the guardrail. They scrambled down a few feet to the ledge and made themselves comfortable. Once settled, Erika sighed.

“When this is all over, I’m taking my vacation and coming back here. This—” her arm swept over the view before them—“Totally amazing.”

How long they sat there—neither of them talking but both listening to the sounds around them—only Keith knew. He had his phone and his watch, but Erika didn’t even ask. Each second that ticked past could have been a century for all she cared. The waves below crashed loudly against the rocks, but the sound soothed. She loved the scent of the salt, the spray that occasionally sent a light mist up toward them, and even the occasional car that whizzed by on the way to who knew where.

She heard the buzz of his cell phone before he could reach in his pocket and pull it out. “If they’re calling to say we’re free to leave, I don’t wa—”

Before she could finish, he jerked her up, whispering into her ear. “Shh. Follow me, don’t talk, and try not to make any noise.”

Though she knew fear must have washed over her face as well as her heart, Erika nodded, swallowed hard, and reached for his hand. If they had to be quiet, she wanted him close. The minute his wrapped around hers, he gave it a squeeze before he pulled her up behind the guardrail. “Ugh. There’s another semi coming.
Run!”

She wanted to ask why they didn’t wait, but she couldn’t. His feet pounded across Highway 101, nearly pulling her through the air behind him. She stumbled, but as if able to keep her afloat by his sheer willpower, he jerked her up behind him and then flattened both of them against a tree.

“Shh. We have to keep moving, but let the semi pass. If a car comes, we become one with a tree, got that?” His whisper in her ear sounded stern—almost fierce.

Despite her bravado, Erika trembled. The idea that they were vulnerable, out in the woods, unprotected and with no way to escape, terrified her. “You won’t leave me behind, will you?”

“They’re going to get him, Erika. Karen, David—the team is all ready to close in. Just follow me and keep quiet.”

He dragged her through the woods of the Siuslaw National Forest, and away from the wonderful cottage. She didn’t want to go back to a place like that second—or even the first cabin. She liked having TV reception and a good kitchen to cook in if she wanted. She hadn’t even had a chance to do it.

Sounds behind them seemed to squeeze an involuntary whimper from her. Keith’s hand pulled her closer and then released hers while he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “It’s ok, Erika. I’ve got you; we’ve got your back; this is almost over.”

“Over?
As in, I get to go home over?”

Under cover of so many trees, the moonlight hid the smile she knew he wore, but his words said it all. “As in, you’ve got your life back over.”

“How long?”

“An hour? Two. I just have to keep you as far away as possible in case there’s anyone around the perimeter watching for escape.”

She started to squeal--highly out of character for her. Erika considered it understandable under the circumstances, but Keith clamped his hand over her mouth. “Shh. We’re not out of the woods yet.” The merest hint of a chuckle rumbled in his chest before he added, “So to speak.”

They walked for an hour, stopping every few feet to listen and for Keith to scan the terrain with his infrared binoculars—how had she not noticed them—before they continued for the next yard or two. Part of her wondered if it
weren’t an act—some kind of pretext to make her think things were worse than they really were so she wouldn’t go public with her story.

Then he froze. She felt the tension fill him so quickly that she feared his nerves would snap. He jerked her against a tree trunk and held her close while he listened. Taking a deep breath, he whispered. “You have to do exactly what I say. Do you understand?”

Terrified, Erika just nodded, her eyes answering, though she knew he couldn’t see them. “Good. Stay here. Count to twenty. Then, dart from tree to tree in a straight line. Can you do that?”

She shook her head. The fear mounted until she felt like a little girl again. “No, please—”

He peered around the tree with his binoculars and growled in frustration. “Erika, I really need you to do this. We’re sitting ducks here. If you go, he’ll follow, and I can take him down from behind.” Each word was the merest whisper in her ear. How a man with such a deep voice could speak so silently, she’d never understand.

“I—”

“I knew you could do it. Pretend Corey just told you that you couldn’t.”

His words infuriated her. If he had to use Corey to get some backbone into her, then she must really sound pathetic. Her feet crunched the leaves as she dashed from tree to tree. She hadn’t spoken to God since she was tiny, but Erika prayed with every step. Terror filled her heart as she forced herself to keep going, even as she heard footsteps following—gaining on her with every step.

Self-preservation stepped in and overtook her. She began zig-zagging, hoping as she did, that it’d make aiming at her difficult. Why hadn’t the guy shot yet? Could it be one of Keith’s co-workers? What if he took down a good guy!

Suddenly, she realized she didn’t hear footsteps anymore. She paused, listening, and then started to run again, but a hand clamped over her mouth and jerked her. “Shh. I got him.”

She whirled, eyes staring up into Keith’s face, stunned. How had he shot anyone? She didn’t hear a thing. “How—”

“He’s zipped about thirty yards back. The second you took off, he took off after you, so I got him fast. Just had to get you then.”

“So,” she sighed, and then began to speak in a normal tone, “you—”

His hand covered her mouth again. “Shh. We don’t know who all are out here. We keep moving until I get the call.”

With each mile that they traversed, Erika thought she’d go crazy. Twice, he flattened her against a tree, his hand over her mouth, and his body rigid with tension. Each time, he’d slowly relaxed, took a deep breath, and apologized. “Sorry, I’m jumpy.”

“Hey, if it’s keeping us safe…”

The call came just as Erika was ready to beg to stop for a snack. The adrenaline rush, combined with too long since dinner, made her dizzy. She listened to his side of the conversation, and then froze when a sound—one that didn’t fit—broke through her consciousness. Erika tugged his sleeve, but he ignored her until she jerked the phone away and covered her lips with her finger.

Keith nodded, disconnected the call, and pulled her close behind him, scanning the trees again with his binoculars. Once he found his target, he pulled her around the tree and whispered, “Can you manage one more time? I think I can call out to you this time so you won’t have to run as much.”

It took every ounce of strength she had left, but Erika nodded. It was almost over. She could do this. She could go home if she could just do this. “Tell me when to go.”

The crunch of boots coming their way nearly drove her insane. Seconds passed as he waited, and then she ran when his finger pointed in the direction she should go. The heavy footfalls of a larger, heavier-shoed man sounded ominous to her, but then silence came. She kept going for a few yards, and then dared to glance over her shoulder. Nothing.

As her neck craned to see what could have happened, she ran into a tree, stunning her. How stupid could she be? Disoriented, she stood, trying to get her bearings, and then watched agape as Keith fought a man. Where the gun was, she didn’t know, but from the way he fought, she didn’t think he’d need it. For a moment, she changed her mind and started to run again, but fury drove her back toward the fighting men. Keith saw her and ordered her to go, sending the other man scurrying in her direction, but Keith tackled him again, sending another fist into the man’s face.

“Where’s your gun?”

“He knocked it out of my hand, now get out of here!”

“Where were you?” Seeing him ready to refuse to tell her, she shook her head. “I’m going to look either way, so you’d better just tell me.”

“At the base of that tree, now get it and go!”

It took several frenzied seconds of scrambling to find the gun, aim it at the man who now straddled Keith, and fire—nothing happened. “The safety,” he choked out.

Erika fumbled with it, trying to feel for anything that might be a “safety” and then found a little button above the trigger. Feeling quite smug, she released the safety and promptly squeezed the trigger.

Wooziness overtook her.  Erika’s last conscious thought barely had time to formulate.
I can’t believe I just shot myself at a time like this.

The room was hazy and voices sounded garbled as Erika fought unconsciousness. When an unfamiliar face loomed over her, calling her name in what seemed like exaggerated enunciation, she screamed and went ballistic. With adrenaline coursing through her veins, Erika tried to fling herself from the bed and escape the room full of strange faces.

“It’s ok, Erika, just calm down. We don’t want to have to sedate you—”

Another voice called for Keith, and hearing the name made her pause. “You have Keith too?”

Her eyes tried to make out the man in the doorway, but until she heard his voice, much less garbled than any of the others, she wasn’t sure. “Erika, relax. The tranq isn’t out of your system yet.”

“The
what!
”

He snickered as he motioned for the others to leave the room. “You shot yourself with my gun, remember?”

“Tranquilizer gun? Seriously?” Before he could answer, she shook her head as if it would actually clear it. “Wait, no, that’s not possible. They don’t use tranquilizer guns on people. I did a whole paper on that in high school.”

“Well, that was a few years ago, Erika.”

“No, no,” she sat up again as if determined to prove him wrong. “I was arguing with Jerry at work a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t believe me so I looked it up on Google. It’s too easy to overdose and kill people.”

“Well, let’s just say that we have a specially formulated tranquilizer.”

She shook her head. “Either way, you have to know how much to give a person—you have to know their weight and everything, or it’s too much.”

“We know all that about you, Erika. That’s who the gun was for, remember? For you?”

“But you shot that guy—the one following us.”

Keith sat next to her and offered her a cola. “Drink. Yeah, I had to shoot him with it. He’d have killed us. I just had to hope I didn’t overdose him.”

“Respiratory failure.”

“Yep. You did your homework. But, normally I’d have used a Beretta, so this way, he still had a better shot—no pun intended,” Keith joked, “—than if I just used my regular weapon of choice.”

“What about the guy you were fighting?”

“He’s in custody. We got them, Erika. You can go home as soon as the drugs are out of your system. They’re making the arrangements now.”

“It’s over?” The words seemed too impossible to believe. Part of her had become convinced that she’d be in hiding for the rest of her life for something she didn’t understand or remember. None of it made sense, but the relief did. She could go home. No more locks, shackles, keys, or guns. No more Corey, no more, Karen, no more Keith.

For a brief moment, she felt a pang at the thought of no more banter with Keith, but it didn’t last. She pushed herself from the bed and glanced around the room. “Where’s my bag? I’m ready to go.”