Beyond Limits (14 page)

“I don’t stick around the house much when I’m in town. Makes me stir-crazy.”

She guzzled some water. She pictured him at a bar, drinking and picking up women. He probably didn’t even have to put much effort into it. From what she’d seen, women threw themselves at him wherever he went.

The thought put a sour taste in her mouth. Looking out the window again, she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. God, she probably looked terrible. Not that it mattered. But she’d been sitting in this car so long every inch of her felt sticky.

“You ever going to tell me about that scar?”

She looked at him, then back at the café. “It’s a long story.”

He shifted in his seat, settling in. “Good thing we’ve got time to kill.”

He wasn’t going to let it go. She’d known he wouldn’t, but she’d been stalling. She should just tell him and get it over with before he realized how much she hated talking about it.

“It was one of our biggest cases this spring,” she said. “You might have missed it because you were deployed. There was a bombing at a university—”

“Philadelphia. I saw the story. You were involved in that?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am. Would have thought the Philly office would be all over it.”

“They were, but we got pulled in because of a Texas connection. Anyway, we traced one of the suspects to San Antonio. I was following up on a lead, and one of them found me.” She fixed her gaze on the café and let the words flow out without thinking about them. “He disarmed me. Pistol-whipped me. Took me hostage. Would have killed me if someone hadn’t discovered where I was in time.”

“Name?” His voice was neutral, but his look was sharp as a blade.

“What, you want to go after him?”

His silence told her that was exactly what he wanted.

A chill snaked down her spine, and she glanced away. “Doesn’t matter. He’s locked up, and he’s never getting out.”

Quiet settled over them, and the only sound was the grumble of traffic outside. She slid a look at him. Would he really hurt someone for her? In her heart, she knew he would. The thought was disturbingly comforting.

“That wasn’t that long a story,” he pointed out.

She gazed out the window. She’d omitted a few parts. The icy terror of feeling the muzzle against her neck. The burning humiliation of being disarmed and smacked down and at the mercy of a man’s fists. The raw panic of trying to look people in the eye afterward, especially people at work.

Some details she still couldn’t talk about, couldn’t even think about, until Demon Insomnia bitch-slapped her awake in the middle of the night.

Derek reached across the console and squeezed her hand. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Sure.” Like it was no big deal.

She stared at his hand, big as a baseball mitt, and felt a warm pull. He’d always seemed so brave. So strong. And she had the urge to fall into him and let everything out, all the pain and fear and anxiety of the past three months. Maybe if she curled up on a giant bed with him, she could just
sleep
and not lie awake all night, listening to the sound of her own pulse racing.

Yeah, right. If she got anywhere near a bed with him, sleep would be the last thing on her mind.

She tugged her hand away and checked her phone. Nothing. Gordon hadn’t pinged her all afternoon, demonstrating exactly how much importance had been placed on this stakeout: none. No one believed their suspects would use the same Internet café twice.

“Hey.”

She glanced at Derek.

“You look tapped,” he said. “How long you been sitting here?”

“Six hours.”

“Let’s get some food. Torres can cover for you.”

She frowned. “How did—”

“Black Ford at the end of the block. You guys need to get some better cars.”

She stared at him for a long moment, and she knew that he was right. She’d skipped lunch, and she was completely fried.

She picked up the radio and called Torres.

“You have eyes on the door?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“If you can cover this, I’m going to take a quick dinner break.”

“How long?” His tone was clipped, meaning he’d seen Derek slip into the car with her.

“Thirty minutes? I’ll let you know when I’m back.”

She started up the car, cringing at the blast of hot air that shot from the vents. She cranked the AC to high and glanced at Derek.

“Where to? Somewhere close,” she said.

“There’s a Dillo Burger two blocks over.”

She winced. “Sounds like roadkill.”

“Finnegan’s is on Sunset.”

She’d been to Finnegan’s. It was a popular sports bar lined with dark, cozy booths.

“Dillo is closer,” she said, pulling out of the space. She squeezed her way into traffic and glanced at Derek. “Any other leads you want to tell us about?”

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Nope.”

She wasn’t sure whether to believe him. She’d known when she passed along the car info that there was a strong chance he might shut her out and go off on his own. But after all the recent setbacks, it was a chance she was willing to take. SEALs were experts at escape and evasion, and she could use a fresh perspective.

She eased into a turn lane and swung into Dillo Burger’s parking lot. A giant aluminum armadillo sat atop the sign, and she couldn’t believe she was about to buy meat here. She pulled into a space.

“They’d better not have a wait,” she said. “I’m starving.”

Derek clamped a hand over her wrist. “Hold on.”

“What?”

He was staring at the side mirror. Elizabeth turned to see what he was looking at, and her breath caught.

“Oh, my God. It’s him.”

H
er brain registered details as she shoved the car back into gear: five-eight, one-forty. Omar Rasheed was clean-shaven, neatly dressed, and sliding behind the wheel of a blue Chevy Cavalier. He pulled out of the gas station.

“Move over.”

She glanced at Derek. “What?”

“I’m a better driver than you.”

She snatched up the radio and shot backward from the space. “Torres, it’s me. You copy?”

Static filled the car as she swung out of the parking lot.

“Liz, really, you’re going to get us burned.”

She let a BMW cut in front of her, creating space between her and the Chevy.

“Torres, you copy?”

“Yo.”

“We’ve sighted Rasheed at the Exxon—” She looked around, gripping the radio. “Montrose and Filmore. He’s headed south in a blue Chevy Cavalier.”

“Copy that.” His voice vibrated with excitement. “You’re sure it’s him?”

“I’m sure.”

“Ease back, Liz, you’re too close.”

She shot Derek a glare, then tapped the brakes. The Chevy was now three cars ahead. She followed, trying to stay inconspicuous.

“Crap, he’s turning,” she said.

“Take it slow.”

“Torres, he’s on Richmond, proceeding west,” she reported. “I repeat,
west
toward the Galleria.”

Elizabeth watched the car, hardly able to believe it. But it was real. It was Omar Rasheed, and she wasn’t mistaken about it. She hung back now, watching with panic as the Chevy sailed through an intersection and the light turned yellow.

“Shit!” She slapped the steering wheel.

“Relax. He’ll catch the next one.” But Derek’s tone wasn’t relaxed at all as the Chevy became a distant dot amid a river of taillights.

The light changed. Elizabeth gunned it.

“Don’t get burned,” Derek warned as she veered around a delivery truck. The car ahead hit the brakes, and she swerved, cutting off a pickup and earning an angry honk.

She navigated through traffic, trying to keep her nerves under control while her mind raced. Where was he going? Whatever happened, she couldn’t lose him. But she couldn’t get burned, either.

She felt Derek’s tension beside her as she sped through the next intersection, trying to keep him in sight.

“He’s heading for the Galleria,” she said tightly. The largest mall in Houston, in the entire
state
. And it was Saturday.

“Light’s about to change,” Derek said.

It turned yellow, and she stomped on the gas. They sailed through the intersection. She fought traffic for several minutes, gripping the wheel and trying to keep the blue Chevy in view.

“Elizabeth? You copy?”

“Torres, he’s nearing the mall—”

“Turning north,” Derek cut in.

“He just turned
north
—”

“What street?” Torres asked.

“No idea. Southeast of the mall.” She shot a look at Derek and knew he was thinking the same thing.
What’s he doing at a shopping mall?

Horns blared as she swerved around a minivan and made a sharp right. She glanced around.

“Where’d he go?” She scanned the cars, the parking lots. No sign of the Chevy. She slowed, looking from left to right as her heart galloped inside her chest. Beside her, Derek muttered a curse.

“I’ll circle the block,” she told him. “He didn’t just disappear.” But even as she said it, she felt a sharp pang of disappointment. The streets around the shopping center were clogged with traffic, including SUVs and delivery trucks. He could easily have gotten lost in the shuffle.

“LeBlanc?” Torres sounded impatient.

“Now I don’t see him.”

“There.” Derek braced a hand on the dash.

“What? Where?” She tapped the brakes.

“Two o’clock. He’s on foot. Pull over.”

“I’ll park.”

“No time.”

He shoved his door open. She jabbed the brakes, and he jumped out.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“I’ll take Rasheed. You find the Chevy.”

“But—”

“Get your bomb squad on that car, Liz. It could be rigged.”

The mall was crowded with teens and tourists and stroller-pushing moms seeking shelter from the heat. Thousands of unsuspecting civilians during peak hours.

Derek spotted the subject riding an escalator to the second floor, which looked out over an ice rink. Rasheed had his phone pressed to his ear. Keeping to the shadows, Derek watched him. Rasheed cast a furtive look over his shoulder, and Derek ducked into a shop. It sold men’s shoes, fortunately, and he pretended to be looking at some Nikes as Rasheed ascended out of sight.

Derek slipped out. Using the crowd for cover, he caught the escalator and got the man in his sights again. He was off the phone now. He made his way through the mall slowly, constantly checking over his shoulder, and everything about him was a red flag. Derek didn’t like his body language or his paranoia, and he definitely didn’t like his leather jacket in July.

Derek watched, taking in every detail, from his slow gait to the shift of his head. Was he looking for someone? Casing the place? Was this a dry run?

Or was the mission here and now?

Rasheed glanced over his shoulder again as he approached the railing. He leaned his arms against it and looked out over the rink, where kids and adults were slip-sliding across the ice. He reached into his jacket.

Derek reached for his gun.

Elizabeth rushed through the door and was hit by a wall of cold air. She cut through Neiman Marcus, weaving through makeup counters and perfume-wielding models as she hurried for the main mall.

She whipped out her phone just as it chimed.

“Where are you?” she demanded.

“East end of the skating rink,” Derek told her. “Where’s the car?”

“Torres spotted it in the southeast parking lot. HPD has a bomb dog there, but it hasn’t alerted on anything. We’ve got SWAT on the way.” Elizabeth cut through a mob of teen girls chattering and texting on their phones. “Damn it, this place is packed. Do you have him?”

“He’s hanging out by the ice rink, second level. Just put on a red baseball cap.” His tone sounded ominous.

“What, you mean he bought it in a store?” She was race-walking now, scanning the crowd for the red cap while trying not to draw attention to herself.

“Pulled it out of his jacket.”

“You think it’s a signal? Like maybe he’s launching an attack?”

He didn’t say anything, and Elizabeth’s stomach plummeted.

“Derek?”

“I get the feeling he’s waiting for someone. Maybe someone who doesn’t know him. Could be what the hat’s about.”

She reached the ice rink, which was jammed with kids. She cut through a group of little girls dressed in tutus and tiaras. She skimmed her gaze over the railing, but clusters of birthday balloons blocked her view.

“I don’t see him,” Elizabeth told him. “You said a
red
ball cap?”

“Yeah. I think he’s meeting someone.”

And then she saw it. A red cap. The man leaned casually against the railing, but he was scanning the crowd. Derek was right—he was waiting for something or someone.

“I’ve got him,” she said.

“Hang up, okay? And don’t attract attention to yourself.”

Eye contact.

She turned around. “Oh, damn.”

“What? What is it?”

She stepped behind an information board. “He saw me.”