Dead Ringer (31 page)

Angelina raised her chin with a stubborn glare, one he knew well. "It's just a headache. Riding will clear it up."

"But, my dear," Victor said, "it's the middle of the night."

"I know what time it is!" She looked from one to the other, settling at last on Finn. Tears still blazed in her eyes; she was on the verge of breaking down.

Go,
he pleaded silently.
Take the excuse and run.

But the bright eyes bored into him on high beams. "I'm a grown woman. I make my own decisions. I don't need permission to leave or stay." And she ran past Victor and Marian, and out the room.

"Angelina!" Victor turned to run after her.

"Victor, don't!" Marian tugged him back, and he yanked his arm away, but it gave Finn the seconds he needed.

A swift stride, and he stepped in front of the doorway, blocking the exit. "Let her go."

"Get out of the way," Borian growled, but Finn didn't budge. Borian's eyes narrowed to slits. "I thought you wanted to stop her."

"I did. But she clearly wants to go. And she's right. She's a grown-up. If she wants to go for a ride in a thunderstorm, why the hell shouldn't she? You saw how upset she was." Christ, that was thin, but anything was better than having her face Borian right now. He had to buy her time.

"Yes, and I blame you for it," Victor snapped. "What did you say to her? She never behaved so strangely before, and she certainly never cried."

"I didn't say anything. I told you, I tried to stop her."

"You have no business being here at all."

"If you hadn't barreled in, I might have persuaded her to go back to bed."

Marian put a soothing hand on Borian's arm. "The important thing is that she's safe. Do you ride, Mr. Ingram?"

"Why do you think I've got my windbreaker? If I couldn't talk her out of the ride, I wanted to go with her."

"Excellent idea. If the storm gets worse, she may need help finding her way."

Victor shrugged off his sister-in-law's touch. "Don't be ridiculous, Marian. If anyone goes, it will be me."

Marian's face tightened. "It could get dangerous out there. We can't risk losing you."

"Get out of the way, Ingram."

"She needs time alone."

"Victor, please-"

"I said, get out of the way."

By now Finn hoped Angelina would have had time to get out of the house; he stepped aside, bowing to Victor with a small flourish.

Borian shoved past him with a growl and rushed toward his room. Marian scurried after him, but the woman stopped at the threshold when he slammed the door in her face.

She looked back at Finn, mouth compressed in fury. Even from a distance, the heat of her hatred scorched him.

Poor Victor.

"Good night," Finn said calmly, and shoving his hands in his pockets, he sauntered away, leaving Victor to the wrath of his sister-in-law.

CHAPTER
18

Angelina raced down the porch steps, desperate to put distance between herself and everything inside that house.

Her mother's pale, fragile body encased in metal, Victor's suspicious eyes, Finn's abrupt about-face, and Jack... God, Jack and Mike... She couldn't think with so many images pinballing around her head.

She tore off, not caring where, unwanted tears pricking her eyes.

Dammit, party girl, you're tougher than this.

Not when it came to nice guys. She was a chump when it came to nice guys, and Finn had just been more than nice. In a million years she never would have thought he'd ask her not to sleep with Borian. She would have laid odds in Vegas and bet on it herself, a sure thing. She swiped the tears away with an impatient flick of her wrist. Why the hell couldn't he stay the bastard he was?

She ran toward the stables. The idea of a ride had been a straw Finn had plucked out of the air to appease Victor and Marian, but now it seemed the perfect way to escape the suffocating atmosphere in the house. And she needed escape, needed it like air to breathe.

If she'd been home, she would have put the top down on the Thunderbird, gunned the engine, and driven that machine to hell and beyond. But she wasn't home. She was stuck in the wilds of Montana. A horse would have to do.

Thunder rocked the heavens just as she put a hand on the stable door. She hesitated. Despite the lie to Victor, she couldn't take a horse out. Not in a storm at night.

Dammit. Dammit to hell.

She backed off, backed away, desperate for a safe place. A place that wasn't filled with men who wouldn't stay in the neat little boxes she wanted them to. Her feet picked up pace, she turned. And started running.

God, don't think. Just move. Run. Fly. Faster than ever before.

A cloudy moon lit the way, and night air brushed against her face, urging her to run faster and farther, as if somehow she could outrun herself.

But she couldn't outrun the pictures in her head.

Death. It was all around her now. Jack, Mike, Carol. Would Angelina be next?

Heart lurching, she bent into the wind.
Don't think about that. Don't think Don't think.

By some miracle she avoided Victor's patrols, and at last slowed to a fast walk. Heart thudding with exertion, she took in huge gulps of cool, bracing air, rich with the scent of pine. Thunder rumbled ominously but the chaos in the heavens seemed a pale reflection of the turmoil she was feeling. God, her brain was a muddle. Her mother. She'd been close enough to touch and yet still so un-reachable. What was Angelina supposed to do with that?

Nothing. Take it on the chin, like everything else.

And Finn ... The coldhearted cops she knew would never have sacrificed their assignment for her. Tears stung the back of her eyes. She thought she knew Finn Carver. A man who put duty first, a man married to his job. And now for some inexplicable reason, he wanted to throw that away and put her first.

"What do you think, Momma?" Angelina sniffed back the tears and looked up at the dark, snapping sky. "Should I let him do that?" Another clap of thunder. "Yeah, didn't think so."

Besides, someone had to save the world.

But what if saving the world meant losing Finn? Or worse, her life?

A chill settled in the middle of her chest You pay your money and you take your chance.

Some chance.

She buried that thought. She couldn't worry about her personal safety. That was a risk she took when she signed on.

But she hadn't bargained on the other risks. On Finn.

Not that she ever had him to lose anyway. The familiar contempt hadn't appeared on his face lately, but what did that matter? He still thought her the worse for wear, didn't he?

Then why had he held her after he'd emerged from the closet earlier in the evening, and after she'd looked with horror and grief at her mother's body? Why had it felt as though she were precious cargo, treasured in his arms? At the memory, warmth rippled through her, liquid and dreamy. She remembered the tenderness in his face, the caring in his hands. She remembered...

Thunder cracked like a slap, bringing her back to her senses. What was she doing? She'd lost herself to the giddy joy of a man once before, and been paid back with a vengeance. Like Finn, Andy Blake had been handsome and compelling. The town hero, a god who reached across the heavens for her. She wouldn't fall for that again.

She slowed to a stop. The air crackled with electricity; it smelted of earth and dust, of things older than time. In the presence of the ancient mountains, she faced the truth.

Finn was no Andy Blake. If he'd been your average asshole, he'd have taken what she'd freely offered over and over. But he hadn't.

Dumb, stupid cop.

Sweet, wonderful man.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. Would Finn still want her after she'd been with Victor?

A gust of wind kicked up, blowing back her hair and sending earth and leaves at her face. She ducked her head against the debris and turned around. Finn may have given her the chance to run, but she couldn't take it. Not if she wanted to keep her self-respect.

Even if it meant losing his.

Heart heavy, she started back the way she'd come. A spear of white light severed the sky, exploding into an ear-splitting crash just over her shoulder. She leaped, turning and ducking instinctively. Her left foot slid sideways and for half a second she rocked, unbalanced, the outline of Devil's Teeth imprinted in white neon in the back of her eyes. Then the ground slid out from under her and the night went black.

* * *

The moment Finn was out of sight, he slipped down the passage and out of the house to the yard below. Marian may have been eager to have him go after Angelina, but Victor was another story. Finn didn't want a further confrontation with Borian, so he kept a low profile while he searched the area around the stables for Angelina. No luck there, so he headed for the garage where he hoped to find his car. He'd barely taken two steps when Victor and Marian burst onto the porch, both folly dressed and arguing. Quickly Finn ducked into the shadows below the porch.

"I had a groom check the stable," Marian said. "She didn't take the mare. None of the horses or cars are missing."

"She's on foot. That means she can't have gone very far."

"Let her go." A porch light showed her face distorted into a pleading scrunch. "Ingram is right. If she's crazy enough to go out on a night like this, what can you do?"

"Find her and bring her back." Victor pressed his lips in a grim line as a flash of lightning lit the sky.

A Jeep screeched to a halt, and one of Borian's goons jumped out.

"Any of the patrols spot her?" Borian asked.

"No, sir." The man hurried around to the passenger side and opened the door. Marian put a restraining hand on Victor's arm, but he paid no attention,

"Get Grisha," Victor said to her. "The men will search for her."

"They'll never find her in the dark," Marian said. "Why not wait until morning?"

Good idea. Give me time to find her.

But Victor wasn't buying it. "I don't want to hear your dire predictions, Marian. Do what I say."

Marian looked as if she'd been slapped, but she scurried away without protest. Finn swung around to do likewise, but Victor caught sight of him.

"You're not welcome here, Ingram. Go."

"Not until I make sure that Angelina is okay."

"I'll see to that. Pack your briefcase and go before I have one of my men throw you out."

Fine by me, pal.
Getting out was priority numero uno. But not without Angelina.

Finn retreated to the stairs as Victor shouted orders to his goons.

"Assemble the men. I want Miss Montgomery found immediately. Bring Mr. Ingram's car around. He's leaving."

Finn ran into the house, gathered his things and slipped out unnoticed in the tumult. Men were pouring in to receive instructions, then teeming out again into the night. His car arrived and he threw his briefcase into it, climbed in, and headed toward the gated exit. But instead of leaving, he drove into the trees. He retrieved a denim shirt, a pair of jeans and hiking boots from the trunk, grabbed a flashlight and his nine-millimeter from its hiding place under the spare tire. Then he covered the car's rear end with branches so it couldn't be seen from the road.

He changed in a flurry of quick, jerky moves, eyes pinned on the road. Once again the checkpoint had been cleared and the road was open. He dashed across, heading west. He hadn't gone far when the first drops of rain fell, quickly followed by a torrent.

Hair plastered to his head and water streaming over his eyes, he plunged on. The downpour would make finding Angelina harder, but that worked against Borian as well. Finn had no idea what had happened to her, but he sure as hell wanted to get to her before Borian.

If it was the last thing Finn did, he'd get her out of there alive and in one piece.

* * *

Drops fell on Angelina's face, increasing quickly to a cascade. She blinked her eyes open and moaned. For a few minutes she remained flat on the sodden earth, moving limbs in silent inventory. Nothing seemed to be broken. Slowly, she rolled onto her side and then sat up, bruised muscles making her groan. Lightning flashed and in the quick brightness she saw that she'd slid down a small ravine.