Hunted, A Romantic Suspence Novel (24 page)

“While we’re on the subject, you don’t get to take the blame for these two other deaths, either. They chose to help Strict’s hit man. You get in bed with the devil, you best be willing to pay the price. They were dead the moment they agreed to help him find you. No way are you responsible for any of this.”

“I disagree.” Katie closed her eyes a moment against the intense anger rolling off Matt. Finally she opened her eyes to look into his blue ones. “Can we talk about something other than Strict or my past?”

He nodded. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

“Let’s talk about your past for once. I mean, you know my secrets, it’s only fair you tell me one of yours.”

Obviously she had something in mind. “Ask away.”

“How about your friend Chris?”

Whoa, he hadn’t seen that coming.

“Who told you about Chris? Oh, wait a minute. Luke.” He swore under his breath that Luke wouldn’t survive to see his fortieth birthday. “One of these days my little brother’s gonna learn to keep his nose out of other people’s business.”

“Don’t blame him. I asked him what made you such a by-the-rules cop.” She laid a hand on his arm, squeezed it, then returned her hand to her lap. “He told me you didn’t use to be this…intense.”

“What else did the family clown tell you?” He clenched the steering wheel tighter.

“That when your friend died you changed drastically. He didn’t know the details, but implied that you were with your friend when he died.”

A movement to his right told him she’d turned her head to watch him. “Luke said you never talked about it with anyone.”

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and the truck’s close confines crowded in around him. In a desperate attempt to stave off his panic, he turned off the heater and opened his window.

God, I don’t want to do this.

Prepared to refuse her request he inhaled the cooler air deeply. Then memories of holding her while she bared her scars, both literally and figuratively flashed through him. Could he have less courage than she did?

“Chris and I lived next door from to each other. From the moment we met we were inseparable. Climbing trees, playing football, fighting my brothers in game of cops and robbers, Chris and I were always together.”

“He must’ve been a good friend.”

Matt snorted. The sound rang harsh even in his own ears. “Luke really didn’t tell you much, did he?”

“No. What did he leave out?”

“Chris is short for Christina. She was the biggest and toughest tomboy in Columbus.”

“Oh.”

“Of course, she had to be. She had four older brothers. The whole family was tall and redheaded, each one meaner than the one before. Chris learned early on to defend herself. No one ever tried to coddle her and when she came up with an idea, there was no talking her out of it.” He swallowed the lump that suddenly filled his throat.

Why hadn’t he learned to refuse Chris? If he’d treated her more like a girl to be protected and less like a buddy would she be alive today?

“What happened?”

“When we were fifteen, a heavy metal band was playing a concert in Cleveland. Chris got it into her head we needed to go. The only problem was our parents wouldn’t take us.” He released one hand from the steering wheel and wiped his sweaty palm on his jeans, then repeated the process with the other one.

“So Chris waited for her parents to go out that Friday night, like they always did, then she and I took their family’s extra car. I knew it was wrong, but she said she’d go with or without me. I couldn’t let her go by herself.”

“No, you couldn’t.”

“But I should have told someone, anyone. I should have tried to talk her out of it.”

Katie’s hand settled on his arm once more. “You said no one could convince her an idea was bad.”

“But I knew the rules. Taking a car without permission and driving without a license were both illegal.”

“Then what happened?”

“We were about an hour north of Columbus. The radio blaring. Chris driving. It was dark. Chris was looking at me, laughing when it happened.” He saw the scene in his mind like it was yesterday. “The headlights ahead came out of nowhere. They swerved into our lane. I yelled at her to watch out. She looked back out the driver’s window and screamed.”

Inhaling, he blinked a few times to clear his vision then exhaled slowly—his pulse slowing some.

“The next thing I knew, the car was lying on its side in the field beside the road. The front was crinkled up like an accordion against this massive oak tree. The smell of smoke and blood filled the air. I thought I’d throw up. Then I realized I couldn’t move, and Chris lay on top of me.”

The words wouldn’t stop, even if he’d wanted them to. His mind needed to purge the story, to tell Katie everything. “I tried to move her, but she simply moaned. My hands touched something wet and sticky. She was bleeding. I was pinned in between the dashboard and my seat. Later I found out I’d broken my left leg and my right arm. Chris had fractured her ribs and pelvis.”

He swallowed again. “There was no one around to help her. The drunk left the scene and never reported it. No one came for hours. She might’ve lived if someone, anyone would’ve stopped.”

Suddenly, unable to see through his unshed tears, Matt pulled the car onto the shoulder of the highway. He turned to Katie, who was wiping away her own tears.

“She slowly bled to death in my arms.”

Without hesitating, Katie unfastened her seatbelt then scooted over, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug. He gripped the back of her coat in his hands, crushing her to him, his face buried against her neck.

For the first time since that night, he wept for Christina.

Time passed. Katie moved back and forth, and he realized she was rocking him for comfort. Whether hers or his, he wasn’t sure.

Finally in control of his emotions once more, Matt eased his hold on Katie. “I’m sorry to lose it like this.”

“It’s okay. You’ve never told that to anyone before, have you?”

He shook his head, pulling away from her a little more.

“Thank you for sharing with me.” She kissed him softly then scooted back to her seat, fastening her belt once more. “But you have to let it go. You aren’t responsible for what happened to your girlfriend.”

Forcing the memories of Chris’ death out of his mind, Matt pulled the SUV back onto the highway. “I know I wasn’t responsible, but I made two promises to myself that night. I would always protect people weaker than me, especially women. Secondly, I would never again put someone’s life in danger by breaking rules.”

“I’m sorry you’ve had to go against the rule book for my sake, but I’ve got news for you, Matt. I’m not some weak little woman that needs protecting.” Anger laced her words.

He studied her. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line and her cheeks were flushed.

“Believe me, I know you aren’t weak, even though you’re little. But I intend to watch your back as much as I can.”

Silence ruled in the car for the next ten miles as they both fought their personal demons. They passed a group of fast food restaurants and motels then traveled deeper into the countryside.

“You want to take the Farm Road 544 turnoff ahead,” Katie’s voice broke the quiet. “And head west.”

He glanced at her. Her face resembled a harlequin mask, flat, pale, motionless. Her left hand lay in her lap, limp. But her right hand held onto the armrest of the passenger door in a death grip, the knuckles tight and white.

If he had his way, he’d turn the car east, and head straight into the Poconos. He’d find a cabin so isolated, no one would ever find them. Then he’d make love to her until neither of them could walk.

“We don’t have to do this,” he said as he pulled off the main highway onto the farm road. “We could go anywhere you want, lay low until after Strict’s execution, and let the feds worry about Gideon.”

She shook her head, her gaze fixed on the road ahead. “I turned a blind eye once before and fifty people died. I’d never forgive myself if something in those papers will prevent one more innocent life from ending, and I did nothing about it.”

Matt nodded. He understood. In order to live with herself, she had to at least attempt to prevent another disaster. His job was to see she survived the ordeal.

Signs for a bed and breakfast appeared on the road’s right side. The sun slid farther behind the bare maple and oak branches. The gray mist of dusk deepened by the minute.

He had to make a decision.

When the second sign for the B&B appeared, he turned the car off the highway and into the drive.

“Where are you going? This isn’t the way to the Bunker.” The sudden change in plans snapped the semi-trance Katie had been drifting deeper into.

Good.

“It’s too dark for us to search around the compound for papers that may or may not still be there.”

“Oh, they’re there, alright.”

“You’re sure you can find them?” He pulled up outside a three story Victorian, parked the car then turned to study her.

“In a heartbeat.” A spark sounded in her voice.

“That compound had to have been covered from top to bottom by the FBI when they cleaned out the Family. You don’t think they would’ve found those papers years ago?” Maybe he could goad her completely out of her fears.

“I hid them in a safe place. Believe me, no one, not even Strict would’ve looked where I hid them.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “So why are we stopping here? We need to go to the Bunker and get them.”

“We’ll spend the night here, and get an early start in the morning.” He held up his hand when she started to protest. “Relax, Katie. If those papers are so well hidden no one’s found them in the past ten years, they’ll keep for one more night.”

She opened her mouth again then shut it, her lips compressed into a thin tight line. She shook her head as she climbed from the car, muttering something about testosterone.

Matt hid his grin as he opened his door, watching her jerk her backpacks from the SUV’s backseat.

Every time the past reared its ugly head to haunt her, he thought she’d go down for the count, only to find she’d bounce back, tough and sassy as ever.

* * * * *

Thomas Pike pulled at his shirt collar and loosened his tie, the stricture making it hard to breathe as he sat in the Federal Penitentiary’s visiting room. Sweat covered the palms of his hands.

He hated these interviews with Strict. If things were going his client’s way, Strict would pace the interview room like a rooster in the henhouse. But when he didn’t get the results he wanted, like today, the Prophet sat still as a statue. Only the muscle twitching in his left cheek suggested he wasn’t made of granite.

“Our friend said his date didn’t work out the other morning.” They spoke in code to keep the guards from eavesdropping. This did little to ease Thomas’ conscience. If he got caught acting as the conduit between Strict and a hit man, he’d be disbarred. If he didn’t do as Strict asked, there was every possibility he’d end up dead.

“What happened?” Ice dripped from Strict’s deep voice.

Oh yeah, he was upset.

Thomas pulled on his collar once more. “Apparently another man got in the way of their rendezvous.”

“Any word on his next planned encounter?” Strict lifted both eyebrows in question, staring straight into Thomas’ soul.

The sweet spiced aftershave Strict always wore wafted around Thomas. His stomach roiled in protest as nausea hit him. Despite the cold weather outside and the draft inside the visitation cell, Thomas’ palms grew wetter.

“He said they’d meet where they last saw each other.”

A slow smile transformed Strict’s face into pure evil. “He is sure she’ll meet him there?”

A shiver of dread slithered up Thomas’ spine. “He seemed to think she’d go there of her own volition.”

Suddenly, Strict pushed away from the table. He paced the room in several quick strides. “This is good. This is very good.”

“You think he’ll succeed this time?” Thomas whispered.

“Without a doubt, Thomas.” He chuckled at his own play on words. “Gideon has never failed me. He’ll meet his date, take care of his assignment, and retrieve my property at the same time.”

“Will it be in time, though?” Some of Thomas’ tension eased. His master was pleased. “The execution is scheduled in two nights.”

“Once he has completed his first assignment, the other will take place without question.” He stopped pacing and stood below the prison interview room’s high windows. A few stars twinkled in the sky above, despite the searchlights flashing through the window.

Thomas’ pulse pounded in his ears as quiet spread throughout the room.

Strict turned, his intense crystal-blue gaze on Thomas. Thomas nearly jumped out of his chair when Strict finally spoke.

“With the stroke of midnight, this false government will cease my physical existence. But my immortality will be etched in the history of the world forever and that little bitch won’t be able to stop me.”

* * * * *

An older gentleman, quite tall and as lean as a fence post, with snow-white hair and wrinkled, leathery skin, answered Katie’s quick knock on the Bed and Breakfast’s door. “May I help you?”

Before she could answer, Matt stepped onto the porch behind her. “My fiancée and I were wondering if you had any available rooms for the night?”

Katie forced her gaze to remain fixed on the proprietor’s face.
What possessed Matt to call her his fiancée?

“Well, we weren’t expecting any more customers this late in the year, young fella.”

“The name’s Matt Edgars, sir.” He held out one hand to the other man, while slipping his free arm around Katie’s waist. “This is Katie Myers. We were on our way to see her family, but it will be long after dark before we get there. We hoped you might rent us two rooms.”

“Who is it, Charlie?” a squeaky voice called from behind the older gentleman.

“Two travelers wanting rooms for the night, Penelope,” he called over his shoulder.

A tiny woman, half the height of her husband, suddenly appeared at his elbow.

For the first time in her life, Katie came in contact with an elf. Her white hair was pulled back in a bun on top of her head, with wisps of white curls framing her face. Her eyes tilted at the corners when she smiled. Katie swore they twinkled.