Dead Heat (14 page)

“We need to be at the Courthouse no later than eight in the morning. Ahmed is flying down with the private plane during the very early hours of Monday morning, along with his security and some U.S. Marshals. We will meet them at the Lexington airport at five in the morning. It will take two hours to fly there and the U.S. Assistant Attorney will be meeting us at the airport at seven to brief us on the way to the Courthouse.”

“I will send the information to Cy. He’ll meet you at the airport.” Miles punched some more buttons on his cell phone and then looked around at the family. With just a slight nod of their mother’s head, each brother gave her a hug and kiss goodbye and sent a pointed glare to Cole as they walked out.

“Take care, dear. We’ll have dinner when you get back.” Her mother placed a kiss on her cheek and followed her sons out the door.

“You be careful, sweet pea.” Her father gave her a tight hug and then turned to Cole. “Anything happens to her and I will hold you responsible.”

“Yes Sir.” Cole shook her father’s hand as they stared each other down. Her father grunted his approval and walked out the door.

* * *

Cole brought Chuck inside and double checked the locks on the windows and doors before turning off the lights in the shop and heading up the stairs. Paige sat on her couch snacking on some food Miss Daisy and Miss Violet had brought over.

“You going to share?” Cole slid into the seat next to her and snagged a brownie.

“I wasn’t going to, but you didn’t really wait for an answer. I eat chocolate when I am nervous. She grabbed another brownie and wondered if Cole noticed she had already eaten a whole row of them. Maybe he would just think they had given her a partial tray of brownies?

“What are you nervous about?” Cole asked as he took a bite of the stolen brownie.

“Well, I know it’s good news in New York. And I know those men will get what they deserve, but I am still worried about the assassin. Will he just give up now that his paycheck is in jail? I don’t think so, and that is what is making me nervous.” Crap, she looked down at her hand and saw nothing but crumbs. Okay, so it was a row and a half that had mysteriously disappeared.

She stared at the brownie tray and debated grabbing another one when she felt Cole’s arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her against his chest. Oh, chocolate or sexy man who may or may not be her boyfriend? She stared longingly at the tray on the coffee table, but when his warm hand slid under her chin and brought her eyes up to his, all thoughts of chocolate vanished.

“I will always be here to protect you. You are the only thing that matters to me and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe,” Cole whispered into her hair as he laid his cheek against her head.

Paige looked up into his eyes, dilated almost totally black, and found herself nervous for another reason. He leaned down and placed his lips on hers in a slow and achingly gentle kiss. Did he really care for her? Hope soared as she kissed him back with all the feelings raging inside her. She’d figure them out later. Right now she just wanted to feel.

“I bet I can take away your worries,” He grinned down at her as he traced his thumb over her well kissed lip. He slid his arm under her knees and pulled her down on the couch underneath him. That was a bet she was willing to take.

Chapter Ten

His phone rang as he paced the threadbare olive green carpet in his Lexington extended stay hotel. He glanced over to the bed where he had tossed in frustration. He was supposed to be sitting on an island with scantily clad women walking by all day. Instead, he was stuck in a town with residents he deemed to be redneck intelligence officers.

Every time he tried to drive into town, he felt eyes on him as sweet little old ladies adjusted their glasses to see who the stranger was. Their knowing eyes made him so nervous that he usually turned around and went back to his hotel. There was only one person who knew what he looked like and that was the shop owner. He intended to take care of her tonight. He had been trying to limit the collateral damage, but not anymore. Even that ugly dog would get it if he interfered.

“Yea,” he answered the phone on the third ring.

“We have a problem.”

“We sure do, Judge.” His idiot brother had gotten into trouble with the law. In return for hooking him up with the Judge for this job, his brother’s case had been dismissed on a technicality. But so far, this job had been one hassle after another. The first target was killed by the girl named Dani. Then the shop owner saw him. And now he kept getting calls from the Judge.

“What do you mean, you have a problem? Haven’t you taken care of the situation?”

“Not yet. I plan to tonight.”

“Well, you better hurry. We’re under house arrest and they are trying to get indictments on us on Monday. The majority of us could walk since there are no witnesses. We’d feel better if there were no loose ends to come back and bite us later.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He hung up the phone and rubbed a hand over his eyes. It was time for retirement. His heart was no longer in it. He used to love his job. But now it was just one stress after another. He tossed the phone back on the bed and headed out the door for a jog before heading into Keeneston for the last time.

* * *

Paige stretched and opened her eyes slowly. Her room was awash in light. Since both Cole and Chuck were missing, she assumed they were out for a walk. She laid her head back down on the fluffy pillow and closed her eyes again. With the news of the New York bust hitting the streets of Keeneston Friday night, Paige’s shop was crammed full of people on Saturday. She didn’t have time to eat or even think about the amazing night she and Cole had shared. She had fallen into bed and slept like a log all night.

As she pulled her sheet up and snuggled in the bed, she couldn’t help but smile. This fake relationship was now definitely a real one. Well, maybe. It had the appearance of being a real relationship, but they had not talked about what these nights together meant. She gave herself a mental head shake and decided to enjoy her time with Cole while it lasted.

“Morning,” Cole whispered into her ear. “Or should I say afternoon.”

“Afternoon!” Paige sat up and hit her head against Cole’s strong jaw. “Ow.” She rubbed her head and looked at Cole who was similarly rubbing his jaw. “Oops, sorry. I thought it was only ten.”

“It was ten o’clock two hours ago. You were still asleep when I got back at eleven. I thought I would let you sleep since you’ve had a long couple of days.”

Cole sat on the bed next to her and ran his hand over her hair and smirked. Paige lifted her hand and felt her hair standing at a strange angle and guessed she looked a lot like Chuck with his ears sticking straight out. She was surprised Cole wasn’t running for the hills.

“Why don’t you take a shower and get packed. I will make up some lunch and we can go to the park with Chuck.” Cole stood up and Chuck instantly jumped off the bed to trail after him.

“Actually, I have a better idea. There is a place I would like to show you.”

Two hours later she was clean, packed, and ready to go. She walked Chuck out to Cole’s Explorer while he carried a picnic basket filled with fruit, sandwiches, and a second batch of brownies that Miss Violet delivered on her way home from church. They were going to have an early dinner at her favorite place before turning in early. Kenna was to be discharged from the hospital in the morning and they would meet her and Will at the airport at four thirty. They were set to fly out at five. That meant she would be setting her alarm for three in the morning to give herself enough time to take a shower, eat breakfast, and drive to the airport in Lexington.

“So, where are you taking me?” Cole asked as he started the car.

“Head out of town on Main Street for about five miles.” She clicked her seat belt and felt relaxed knowing she would soon be at her haven.

“Okay. So, you’re not telling me where we are going?”

“Nope. It’s a surprise.” Paige smiled at him and was rewarded with one of his rare smiles that changed his whole face. Her heart leapt as she felt him place his hand on her knee and give it a squeeze.

“There are some things we should talk about before we leave tomorrow,” Cole said seriously. “I want to talk about them now, lay out our plan, and then enjoy the rest of our day with no discussion about danger, law suits, or anything else related to this situation.

“Okay. What do we need to discuss?” Paige gripped her fingers together and hoped it wasn’t anything bad. She was starting to become a big proponent of pretending the situation didn’t exist, at least for a little while.

“First, I want to set up a designated safe spot. The courthouse is very close to Chinatown. If anything happens and I tell you to run, you run out of the courthouse and cut between the Clerk’s building and the District Court. You will then be in Columbus Park. Run into the park and cut to your right. You will hit Mulberry Street, take it away from the courthouse. Take the first right onto Mosco. It’s a short street. When it ends, turn left onto Mott. Run to the intersection of Mott and Pell. You will be in the heart of Chinatown. There will be plenty of shops to duck into and hide until you see me standing on the corner. You think you can remember that?”

“Columbus Park, Mulberry, right Mosco, left Mott. Hide in shops at Mott and Pell until you come for me. Got it. Anything else?”

“Yes. I am going to have to leave you for a bit. I have to give testimony to the Grand Jury. While I am doing that, you will be locked in a room with Kenna, Will, a slew of U.S. Marshals, and Ahmed.”

“I don’t know. Technically he’s a farmer, but he disappears a multiples times a year for weeks at a time. Sometimes he comes back with a broken bone or some bruises. So far, the family money is on UFC type fighting. Whatever it is, it takes him all over the world.”

“You’ve never asked him?”

“Of course we have. He just says he doesn’t want to say and gets really defensive about it. I think he’s embarrassed about whatever it is." She pointed to a small dirt road a mile past her parent’s driveway, "Oh, turn right here.”

Cole turned down the drive and bounced along the rutted road for what seemed like forever. They passed cows and corn, and finally came to the open field that was the entrance to the creek.

“Okay. Stop here,” she told Cole.

“This is the place?” he asked with trepidation.

“No. This is where we all used to play football and soccer. We’re going through the woods there,” she pointed to a path that went into the woods across the field.

Chuck barked excitedly and clawed at the window to get out and run. She hopped out of the truck and opened the door for him. He bounced around for a minute before his nose shot up in the air. He took a sniff of the wind and then took off for the woods.

“I assume it’s okay for him to run off like that?” Cole asked as he picked up the picnic basket to follow her toward the path.

“Yes. All of this is my parents' property. And, my parents' property is surrounded by my brothers' property. So there’s no place for him to really go. He just likes to run in the woods and pretend he’s a mighty hunter.”

Paige started to walk down the path in the woods and instantly felt relief. The shade from the trees in the woods made the hot summer day bearable as she soaked in the smells of the trees, grass, and the sounds of the breeze rustling the leaves. Rays of sunlight twinkled through the think green leaves and danced around them as the leaves moved in the breeze.

“We head down here about a half mile and then we hit Bear Creek. That’s my special place. No matter how stressed I am, or how upset I am, I can always come here and the tension just falls away. I think it’s the quiet and the smell of the country. Then there’s also the relaxing bubbling of the creek and the cool water to hang your toes in.” She looked up when she heard the crashing sounds of Chuck running through the brush and laughed as he happily leapt onto the path ahead of them with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

“It is nice here. I can’t believe it’s so much cooler than in town.”

Cole looked good out here, she thought. His sunglasses where pushed up on his head. His shirt pressed against his hard chest and abs as he walked. And he had a relaxed smile on his face.

“It’s my favorite place in the whole world.” She took the last couple of steps to the top of a small mound and looked down to her paradise.

Three large stones sat partially obscuring the wide creek. The first two, each around four feet, lay on the bottom. The third one, about five feet in diameter, sat on top of the other two rocks. Most of the lower stones were underwater, creating a small, one foot waterfall between the two stones.

She turned her head and looked up the creek. It was like a liquid roadway flowing between a tunnel of trees. The water level was higher due to the backup caused by the rocks. In the summer, she’d strip down and go swimming. If there was enough rain, it could be as deep as four feet. Downstream from the rocks, the water was usually around two feet and flowed much quicker.

“This is great.” Cole set the basket down and put his arm around her waist pulling her in close for a quick kiss on the head. “Thanks for sharing this with me. But, how do we get down there?”

“How’s your balance, Parker?” She pointed to an old fallen tree that landed on the far side of the creek. You could walk down and then jump off the left side to land on the far side of the middle rock.

“Not that great.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll show you a trick.” She picked up the basket and stepped toward the creek bank. There were five walking sticks leaning against a nearby tree. She grabbed one and put it down into the creek. She grasped the top of the stick and used it to help balance her as she quickly walked down the fallen tree. She picked up the stick, turned, and jumped the short distance to the rocks before flashing a smile at Cole. She moved to the other side of the rock and set the basket down.