Keep (Command #2) (27 page)

A stick cracked under foot. Ethan’s gun moved up in the direction it came from. He grimaced in pain, and was probably slower than he wanted to be.
Oh, shit.
The man running towards them had his gun out —

There was a shot from the other direction and she flinched. The running man jolted sideways and spun, red spraying from his chest as he fell. Ethan’s head snapped to the shooter. She couldn’t move to see who it was, but Ethan lowered his weapon and said something harsh in German. But the voice that answered back… was she delusional from the pain?

It sounded like Shawn.

-17-

Footsteps brought the man closer. And then, Shawn came into view and Kara wanted to cry. She wanted to fling herself into his arms, but didn’t dare move. What was he doing here? Had he just killed a man? The thought was gone when he pulled her up into his arms and she had to fight not to scream.

“Don’t touch me!”

He set her gently back down on the dead leaves and uneven ground, not understanding the reaction, his face frightened but his eyes not leaving hers.

“She’s been dosed with a neurotoxin,” Ethan said. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

She wondered how he knew that and then realized the obvious answer. That he’d seen Juric use it before. Oh god, how was it going to get worse?

“We’ve got to get her to the car,” Ethan said. “You carry her and I’ll cover you.”

“No!” Kara said, crying. “Please, I can’t… just leave me.”

The gunfire on the other side of the house came in a burst and then stopped for a moment. Both of the men crouching over her glanced at it and then back to her. Determination creased Shawn’s face. Leaving her wasn’t an option for him.

“Knock me out,” she gasped.

Ethan didn’t hesitate, like he’d already considered this. “You might wake up right away.”

She had passed out before and immediately come to, but she was willing to try again. “I don’t care. Do it,” she begged.

The conversation moved too fast for Shawn. “Wait a minute.”

But Ethan didn’t. He jammed his hands under her arms and hauled her to sit up, which rewarded her with stabbing pain. With all of her terrible ideas, this was the absolute worst. Then he was behind her, his arm snaking around her throat in an instant so his large bicep was on one side of her neck and his forearm tight on the other. In a chokehold.

“What are you doing?” Shawn demanded of Ethan.

“I’m trying to help her.”

Then, he flexed his muscles, and she couldn’t breathe. She needed air.
Oh god, the pain.
Her gaze locked onto Shawn’s. She tried to focus on the rich, dark eyes that looked tormented, but everything went fuzzy and black.

Shawn crouched beside her, watching Ethan tighten his arm around her neck like a noose and it was horrifying. The longest ten seconds of his life. How bad was the pain that she would choose this? Ethan had a cold and detached look on his face as he watched Kara’s reaction intently. The hardwired protector in Shawn balled his hands into fists.

A split second before he reared back to strike, she went limp and her eyes fell shut.

“What the fuck did you just do to her?” Shawn demanded.

“I temporarily interrupted the flow of oxygen to her brain.” Ethan laid her down, put his ear to her face and then straightened. Like he was satisfied he hadn’t just killed her. “She’s okay. We’ve gotta move.”

For once, it didn’t matter that someone else was telling Shawn what to do. He lifted her in his arms, hoping she wouldn’t wake in excruciating pain with his touch as the cause. They reached the car quickly, without incident, but Ethan’s attention snapped back in the direction of the house.

The man’s posture said something was wrong as he opened the car door for Shawn.

“What is it?”

“It’s quiet.”

Shawn hadn’t noticed that. He’d been too focused on getting her safe. With Ethan’s help, they set her in the Audi and for just one moment, he allowed himself to be flooded with relief. She was resting on the premium leather of his backseat. So close to having her safe again and away from this nightmare he could taste it.

Ethan stepped away from the car and pressed the comm link at his neck. “We’ve got her secure. Where are you?”

In response, the earth beneath their feet shook with the concussion of a massive explosion. A black-red plume of smoke shot out of the hole blown through the roof of the house. The force knocked down the smaller trees nearby, spewing debris among the trunks of the trees that remained. In an instant, the house was leveled.

“No!” Shawn sprinted towards dark, thick cloud that was billowing out like a moving wall, drawing his gun again. If Jason had been anywhere near the house, he was dead. A hand closed around the strap of Shawn’s bulletproof vest, and Ethan jerked him to a stop, grunting with an edge of pain.

“Jason,” Ethan said, putting a hand to the comm link again. “Come in
.
”

Movement by the car drew Ethan’s attention. Abruptly his hand abandoned the comm, and he braced himself as he raised his gun and fired repeatedly. Bullets shattered the back window of Shawn’s Audi. Why the fuck was he firing on the car when he knew Kara was inside? Tires squealed on the asphalt as it took off. The head of short, male blond hair on the driver left little doubt about his identity.

In a heartbeat, Shawn had gone from nearly having it all and then nothing. There was no oxygen left to breathe. He stood there, too stunned to do anything but watch his car disappear down the road, carrying her away.
Fucking move.
He would not stand here and do nothing. The Range Rover might have survived the blast —

“Heads up,” Ethan said in an urgent, alarmed voice as he shoved Shawn from the road. A dark SUV roared straight for them. Ethan had his sight set down the barrel of his pistol, aiming at the driver. Shawn was with him on this plan, to commandeer the vehicle, but as it neared, Shawn recognized it. At the same moment, Ethan’s gun lowered. The Range Rover, with Jason seated behind the wheel. It growled to a stop beside them.

Blood trickled down his brother’s neck stemming from his ear. Rance sat in the passenger seat, dirt, blood, and an angry expression splattered across his face. The passenger window had been shattered, and he yelled through it. “Get in!”

Ethan yanked open the back door and Shawn jumped inside, followed by Ethan.

“Go!” Shawn ordered before either of them were seated.

“Where’s Tony?” Ethan asked while reloading his weapon.

It came from both of the men in the front seat. “Down.”

The car took a corner so hard that Kara slid across the leather and her head collided with the door, jolting her awake. The pain had diminished to a level that was more uncomfortable rather than searing. She felt sick.
Oh, no.
She turned her head and vomited on the floorboard. Juric was driving, and although he didn’t turn to look at her, he must have heard what she’d done.

“I threw up in your car,” she said, somewhat proud of herself.

“Not my car.”

She was still foggy. What were the sparkly crumbs all over her? Safety glass. That’s why it was loud. He didn’t have the windows down; the back windshield had been shattered. And this was Shawn’s car. Where was he?
Oh, god.
What had Juric done to him and Ethan? She tried to sit up but the pain was intense again and lingering.

“Stay down, unless you want the marshal to accidentally put a bullet in your head.”

How long had she been out? There was a strange noise, like hail, but louder on the trunk of the car. Bullets. The car wove dramatically, and every time she reached for the door handle, another swerve sent her crashing into the other side of the car.

“I don’t recommend jumping, if that’s your plan,” he said. Her eyes connected with his in the rearview mirror for a microsecond, where they were determined and focused. “If you were unlucky enough to survive, the pavement would take your skin off.”

Posed with the alternative of spending more time with Juric, was this really that bad of a choice? Yet she’d made enough bad choices to last a lifetime, so she heeded his warning. He fumbled with his phone. She’d be damned if she’d let him call for reinforcements, or use it to do anything else.
Screw the pain. Pain is fleeting,
she told herself. She reached for the door handle, and he swerved again, helping her to get upright. Ignoring the danger from the car behind her, her hand closed on the phone and pulled it away, tossing it straight out the open back window.

She’d caught him off guard, and he looked lost, but that emotion was quickly replaced with anger. “You’re going to wish you hadn’t done that,” he snarled.

She did the instant she saw his gun. It had been in his lap and he took one hand off the wheel to grasp it, his finger on the trigger. He bent his arm backwards through the seat opening and buried the barrel in her knee. He pressed down so hard, she couldn’t move free of it.

“You’ll have to carry me, if you do that,” she said, trying to appeal to his practical side while wincing from the pressure.

“Only if I decide to keep you. I could shoot you in the stomach and listen to you die.”

“You don’t want that. You’ll never have gotten control of me. I’ll win.”

“I don’t think you’ll care when your dead.”

No, of course she wouldn’t, but she was banking on him caring. And then she flew forward, her body colliding with the back of the front seat. The car chasing them had just rear-ended them with a sickening crunch. It sent a new wave of pain through her, but it was a blessing in disguise. It made her aware that she had full control of her body.

They were in the outskirts of a village, and Juric had to slow to weave through the traffic. Kara rose up to sit on the leather seats, turned and looked out the back window.

All she could see was the front seat, and Shawn was not there. Jason’s face was an even mixture of determination and shock, hands wrapped around the steering wheel of a Range Rover. There was an unfamiliar man seated in the passenger seat, blood and dirt dotting his dangerous face and light brown hair. Despite the high speed and frantic turns that Juric made, Jason kept the car unbelievably close. She considered scrambling out the broken back window and up onto the hood of their SUV, but… really? She was still weak and by no means a daredevil. It sounded like a great idea if she wanted to die. The SUV fell behind a few feet and then roared forward, tapping them again. Maybe she should have been mad that her brother-in-law was ramming the car she was in, but all she could worry about was that Juric was going to get away with this car while she was still trapped inside.

Her hands fumbled for the seatbelt and she clicked it, digging her fingers into her thighs, holding on. Thank god she’d already thrown up, because it saved her from having to do it now. The next impact was more violent, followed by plastic shattering and metal crumbling, and it sent Juric into oncoming traffic. He swerved violently back over just in time, and a car horn blared in protest.

Kara knew this was going to end badly. The engine of the SUV behind them was loud and sounded like it was in the car with her. This time the Range Rover struck them on the side and sent them spinning. It was a sickening, disorienting feeling of being wildly out of control. It continued to spin as Juric swore and fought the wheel. Brakes and tires groaned trying to bring them to a stop, until the wheels hopped a curb with a horrible thud and sent her slamming into the belt. The car came to rest at an awkward angle, the engine hissing and popping.