Blindsided (15 page)

“Why do I get the feeling I’m being taken in?” she asked from in front of him.

Ethan guided her from the center of her back. His hand warmed her and didn’t come across as anything but helpful. The helping hand of her sidekick, except he wasn’t her sidekick after all.

The passage narrowed, but even in the pitch-dark, she knew she would come out in the garage and walked with no fear.

Just concern.

“Well? Are you arresting me?” she asked.

A light flashed a few feet ahead, halting her steps. Before she could adjust her eyes, Ethan filled the tight space before her with his frame. He blocked her view from the person who had turned on the beam.

“Stand back,” Ethan warned with a voice so menacing
she
pushed into the wooden walls to follow his order. Where was her kind, protective Ethan she’d come to know and...care about? “State your name, or I shoot,” Ethan said. Roni didn’t get that kind feeling now.

But the way his arm kept her behind him, she did get the protective feeling. That much hadn’t changed. Knowing he stood before her calmed her even in the presence of someone who meant to harm her.

“You have to ask? Who else knows about these passages but us?”

“Pace!” Ethan said and feigned back. “You’re alive!”

Roni felt Ethan’s tensed body relax in an instant. The air rushed out from his lungs on a whoosh. She was glad to know his friend hadn’t been in that helicopter. That Ethan hadn’t lost someone important to him.

Even if the guy held a gun on her now.

“Where have you been?” Ethan asked. “I’ve been trying to call you all night.”

“There’s a shoot-out going on out there, in case you missed it. Ramsey’s men are coming out of their wormholes to retaliate. Thanks to you the whole organization is coming apart at their sweatshop seams, but that’s also made a lot of people mad.”

“Have you called in all teams?”

“They’re all here, and so is this little town’s finest. It’s like the O.K. Corral out there. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to wrap this up tonight.”

“I’d like nothing more, believe me.”

Metal jangled from somewhere beyond the light. “Good. Then move aside so I can cuff Miss Spencer,” Pace said.

Ethan’s relaxed body tensed again. “I can’t let you do that, Pace. She’s been set up. She’s innocent in all matters.”

“You have proof of this?”

“No, but Ramsey is sure to squawk.”

“Ramsey’s MIA. We’re hoping he was in the helicopter but won’t know until the bodies can be identified. You got anything else?”

At Ethan’s lack of response, the light grew brighter with every step Pace took toward them.

“Veronica Spencer, you are under arrest.”

The next moment, the light flew up and off to a corner where it rocked back and forth until it came to a stop. It offered only a shred of illumination to the two men gripping each other’s arms in a battle of equal strengths.

“Run!” Ethan said, his voice sounding strained.

“No, Ethan. I’ll go willingly. I don’t want you doing this for me. We’ll both be arrested.”

“I’d listen to her if I were you,” Pace warned.

“So you can get your man? You’re wrong about her.”

The shadow of a head-butt had Roni reaching to a grunting Ethan.

Pace pushed Ethan back. “I’m not walking out without her. And she doesn’t even have to be alive.”

Roni shrank away at Pace’s statement. The man would gun her down? She wasn’t even armed. At least not anymore.

Roni thought of running back up to the foyer and grabbing the gun left there, but there was no time and Ethan needed her help.

He had a gun on him, but where?

She stepped up behind him and touched his back.

“Roni!” Ethan yelled. “Go!”

Her hand touched the weapon. The same weapon he had used to show her how to shoot. But pretending to shoot was not the same as actually taking aim and pulling the trigger.

And she could never kill someone, a federal agent or not.

Roni snatched the gun from Ethan’s waistband and cocked it as he’d shown her. The clicking sound echoed in the small cavernous passage.

“Innocent, is she?” Pace said in his struggled stance. “I won’t be waiting to find out.”

With that, Ethan came flying back at her. She tried to sidestep him but he collided into her, sending her in the direction of the door.

A gunshot blasted off right near her ear. Her eardrums burned with resonating and unrelenting pain.

Roni dropped to the floor, her hands covered her ears, her own gun gone in her agony. Not again, her mind screamed as she focused on where she was hit. If she was hit.
Please, God. I’m not strong enough to fight the pain again.

Hands grabbed her wrist and pulled it behind her before she could ascertain her condition.

Would Pace be bringing her out dead after all?

SIXTEEN

E
than knew Pace had to be fuming. His boss never missed his mark. Any second, Ethan expected him to retaliate for his shot gone awry. He expected his boss to put aside their lifelong friendship and make him pay for moving the target.

Except the target had been Roni.

The thought soured Ethan’s stomach, and not just because it was proof that his old friend had lost all sense of reasoning and ethics, but because the thought of Roni taking Pace’s bullet made him ill.

He’d pushed her out of the way knowing full well he could expect the lead to find him, but the alternative couldn’t happen. If she died it would be his fault. If she died he...he pushed the thought away. Somehow he knew it would be worse than the last time he nearly lost his charge.

This time it would be personal.

He’d crossed the line in his responsibilities. No doubt about it. He would have to straighten himself out once he brought Roni to safety.

Ethan raised his gun, the same gun he’d lifted off Roni when he’d moved her from the bullet’s path. It was an easy pinch. He would have to teach her how to hold her weapon firmly. But first he had to get her out of here.

“Put your gun down, Agent,” Pace instructed. “Put it down now, and I’ll chock this up to a minor misunderstanding.”

“Do what you have to, Pace, but I’m still leaving here with Roni.” Ethan backed away with Roni’s wrist still in his hand. He guided her to go ahead of him through the door while he kept his gun on Pace. Never did he think he would find himself in this situation.

The angry shadows on Pace’s face played out his own shock.

“You’re making a big mistake, Ethan. One word from me and you’re done. You’ll be back in the alleys of the neighborhood.”

Ethan pushed through the door without a response. There really wasn’t anything else to say to his old friend. Ethan had made his decision. The fallout would be his problem.

The door closed between him and Pace, but not before Pace shouted, “It’s a trap. And you’re playing right into her hands!”

Ethan shot a glance at Roni’s face at Pace’s accusation, but without the light, he couldn’t make out any true features. It didn’t matter. Pace was wrong about Roni, and Ethan would prove it...or die trying.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Ethan. You’ll regret it forever,” Roni called from behind where he pulled her along the rows of cars in her glass-enclosed garage. A real showroom. He’d scoped the collection out when he’d surveyed the home months ago.

Ethan led her to the safe that held the keys to each of the vehicles. “What I would have regretted forever is if he had found his mark. Now get the key to the Lotus. It’s the closest one to the garage doors. We’re going for a ride.”

When she withdrew the key to pass over to him, he turned away without it. “You’re driving. And hold nothing back.”

“Nothing? Do you trust me with your life?”

“You have to ask? I just threatened to shoot my boss for you. Of course I trust you. I believe you, and I trust you. And I know Pace is wrong about you. You have no plans to entrap me. The man has gone off the deep end with his paranoia. He only sees what he wants to see. I’m going to show him the truth.”

“And that is?”

Ethan closed the passenger side door and locked gazes with her. “You’re the real thing, Roni. You keep nothing hidden and you have nothing to hide.”

As he knew she would, Roni reached for her scarf. He grabbed her hand before she made contact. “I meant what I said. You have nothing to hide. Nothing.”

She looked straight ahead, breaking the contact he tried to keep. “Where to?”

“First you’ll have to get by the shooters out there. Can you handle that?”

She gave a firm nod. “Avoiding the line of fire is my expertise, remember?”

“Then break us out of here.”

Roni revved the engine and prepared to drive. “Stay low. I’m not opening the door.”

“Then how do you plan to drive out?”

She smiled and floored the gas...straight out the glass windows. Ethan didn’t have time to come to grips with Roni’s decision. One minute all was quiet and safe, the next he was airborne in the midst of millions of shattering glass shards. He had to question the full trust he’d just given Roni—but only for a second, because as soon as they hit the driveway, the car shook with the pummeling of bullets. The rear window blew in on them.

“Get down!” he yelled as he reached out for Roni.

* * *

Roni crouched low in the driver’s seat but kept her hands on the wheel and gearshift. She pressed the clutch with her foot and brought the car to its next gear. Within moments the car cleared their shooters and approached the base of the twisting driveway.

“Right or left?” She said her first words to Ethan’s ashen face. It quickly dawned on her that he might have been hurt. Panic rushed in as she surveyed him from head to toe. “Were you hit?”

“No.” He sagged back against his headrest. “But I thought... I thought you...”

Their eyes met and held. Slowly, she lifted her hand from the steering wheel and touched his trembling one.

“Hey, you’re really shaken up. Do shoot-outs typically do this to you?”

“Never.”

His breathing slowed as his hand turned to take hers fully. With a squeeze, he said, “Drive. It won’t be long before we have company.”

Roni let his partial confession go and took a left. It would be the long route down the mountain, but she thought her followers would think she took the fastest route since this road went up before it descended. That would be the most logical way, but when her mother and father set out with their children twenty-eight years ago, they took the right and didn’t make it ten feet before being plowed right over the edge and down into the ravine. Roni let that be her answer for her direction now.

Narrow twisty turns concealed the car, but they also slowed them down. Ethan rubbernecked for followers.

“Anyone yet?”

“Not yet. I don’t see any bouncing headlights behind the bends either.”

“Seems odd they wouldn’t break up. I figured they would think I took the right, but it would be shoddy of them not to send someone to the left. Unless...”

“Unless what?”

“Do you think your boss would hold them back from going after us? Like maybe he believed you when you told him I was innocent?”

He huffed. “Just wait for it. They’ll be here.”

Light beams bounced from behind the bend as if on cue.

“Get ready. I see lights. Can you step on it?”

Roni gave the car more gas, but at the next bend had to slow down again. “I’m sorry. There’s just something about driving these mountain roads that has always made me treat them with care. I don’t remember going over, but I remember the aftermath, and that’s enough to slow me down. The racetrack is different. There I can defy death. But these roads already have me beat. They’ve already showed me who’s boss, and it’s not me.”

“You’re wrong. I’ve seen you take tighter corners than these roads without hesitation. These roads have not beaten you. Now’s your chance to prove that. Drive, Roni.”

“You confidence in me is—”

“Earned. I wouldn’t have handed you the key otherwise. In fact, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to drive this car right now. You have what it takes. Believe it. It’s the truth.”

“I usually have to fight for words like those.”

Ethan turned his head from his watchman position. A strange look cast from his shadowed, dashboard-lit face. “You’re not the person I thought you were. Even though I knew about your scars, you were still so far above someone like me, I knew there would never be anything we would have in common. I was wrong. But I didn’t know that. And your family and friends probably don’t know it either. They look at you and think you don’t need anyone. You’ve got it all together.” Ethan looked back out the passenger side mirror and continued in a low voice, “Sometimes people need to see your scars, so they know you’re just like them.”

Roni felt her lips quiver. She focused on the road, but her hands gripped the wheel so tight, her nails pierced the skin of her palm.

The cabin’s silence roared louder than the engine. She thought for sure Ethan would hear her heart thudding in her chest. His words gave her so much to ponder, but part of her was grateful now was not the time. Maybe never.

“Well?” Ethan said. “Are you driving this thing, or aren’t you?”

Roni nodded once and attempted to take ownership of the roads. She power-slid into the next bend, easing into the throttle with smooth and steadying efforts. The car’s back end barely slid out and with only the slightest screech.

“See? You got this. I knew you could do it.”

Roni smiled but approached the next turn with deliberation. Should she ease into the throttle again, or countersteer through the slide? A headset from a spotter would be useful right about now. Someone to tell her what’s on the other side of that bend.

She chose the throttle again, and the car responded beautifully. Each successful winding turn emboldened Roni’s confidence until she raced into the next curve. The tires emitted a crunching sound, letting her know there was a modicum of grip and traction. The challenge was to find the grip, control the braking, balance the slides and then toss everything out the window with the next turn because the course was constantly changing. But these roads that had always held her past over her relented their power as she increased hers. These roads were no different than any others she had mastered. And she owned plenty all over the world.

“I think you lost them. There’s no way they’re keeping up,” Ethan said and righted himself back into his seat to face forward.

Roni barely heard him over a niggling thought about her mastering roads all over the world. “You mentioned the FBI has a picture of me and Guerra in Florida together. I was in Miami last winter, testing a course for Jared. Before sending him to an invitational, I typically would drive the course myself to see if he could handle it. I don’t remember Guerra, but there’s a chance I met him. There were a lot of people there. A lot of them were street racers.”

“Was Jared with you?”

“No, he was away on some other business that week. He told me to go and let him know what I thought about the track.”

“Did he end up racing there?”

“Funny, because I said no, don’t bother. Street racers don’t follow the same rules. Any rules really. It didn’t feel legit, and I worried for him. But he came down the next day anyway. He was angry and accused me of not having respect for his talent. This was about the time the relationship went south. I just told him, have at it, but don’t get yourself killed. I flew home by myself.”

“Perhaps he was actually there from the beginning, or at least long enough to snap a picture with you and Guerra shaking hands. If he knew Guerra and knew the man was a criminal, a picture like that could be used as collateral, if he needed it in the future. By the sounds of it, he knew that day was coming.”

“And part of me knew it, too.” Roni took the next turn in silence, remembering his cruel actions and words in Florida. “It was so hot that day, and I loosened my scarf. He said there were cameras all over the place and told me to cover myself. Nobody wants to lose their lunch.”

Ethan whistled a slow retort. “I am so glad you cut that man off.”

A beam of light projected into the night from around the next bend in front of them.

“Ethan! They’re coming at us now. But how?”

“Maybe it’s not anyone but an innocent driver out for an early-morning drive.”

“They would have to be really lost. This road follows the ridge for miles to an abandoned castle for hikers to climb to. Then it descends down the mountain.”

“Could they have come up another way?”

“Um, there’re some unpaved roads that could get them up here, but those aren’t even on a map. How would Ramsey’s men or even the FBI know about them?”

“Would Jared?”

Roni shot Ethan a quick look before gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Yes. I’ve taken him on a tour of all the private roads on my property. If he was at the house, he would know the way to cut me off at this end. But if it’s him, then he must have been hiding out and saw me take the left out of the drive. What do I do? There’s no place to turn around here.”

The approaching car hooked out from behind the bend. The Lotus’s headlights shone on the vehicle.

“That’s not my Porsche,” she said, but before she could determine the make and model, the car straightened out its wheel and crossed over to her side of the narrow road.

One second, Roni owned the roads, the next she jolted with the bang and crunch of the two cars colliding head-on. The Lotus hurdled off the side of the road and kept moving.

Roni lost sight of the second car as she attempted to bring her car under control. Trees whizzed by as they sped down the incline backward. Images of another crash smashed into her mind’s eye. One where the car flipped upside down over and over.

She shook the flashing images from her mind to focus on this car. Roni yanked the wheel to turn the tires for traction, but only managed to slam the passenger side into a tree. Glass shattered. She whipped the wheel back and put the car back into a descent. The car bounced up once, then smashed into a tree from behind and came to a complete stop. That’s when she saw Ethan out of the corner of her right eye.

His head slumped forward and hung there, lifeless.

“Ethan!” she screamed, inhaling the sharp cut of smoke at the same time.

Smoke?

Roni’s senses hit full-on alert. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.

But a crane of her neck didn’t show any flames. Her nose did pick up the unmistakable scent of gasoline.

Fire was sure to come.

“Ethan, wake up. The car could blow any second.” She reached for Ethan’s slumped head. Two things occurred at the same moment that made this situation worse.

Her hand touched blood when she lifted Ethan’s face. A gash from his forehead pulsed blood out of his body.

But when she shifted her body to reach him, the car swayed as though it was suspended in air, teetering like a seesaw.

Roni retracted into her seat, letting Ethan’s head fall back to his chest. Sure enough, the car swayed back.