Lethal Consequences (14 page)

UNKNOWN NUMBER
: Hey, it’s Landon Miller. Not supposed to do this but I’ve been thinking about you. Hoping you’re okay. Scars don’t ever go away, but they do heal. And if ever there was anyone who could beat this, I know it’s you. You don’t have to respond. Just know you’re not alone.

That one text. Those simple, probably pity-filled words had jump-started her heart. He’d never know what that text meant to her—she’d never be foolish enough to tell him, especially now—but the truth was, it had saved her. Saved her from sinking into a murky abyss of depression and anxiety she might never have been able to crawl free from had it not been for him.

She swallowed hard. Blinked back the wetness clouding her vision. Even if he’d never considered them friends and she’d just been some . . . obligation, she was thankful for what he’d done for her. And he didn’t deserve her anger because he was smart enough to recognize that last night was a mistake.

He leaned toward her, and her pulse picked up speed, a reaction she couldn’t stop, even if she wanted to. “Stay here,” he whispered. “I’m going to check it out. If I get it running, be ready to jump in.”

Olivia nodded. Getting away from each other was the safest idea all around. She could stop fantasizing about some happily ever after that didn’t exist, and he could go back to all those other women he obviously had lined up.

He glanced her way, and his eyes met hers. Dark, intense, smoldering eyes that screamed they meant business. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t.”

“Good. I don’t need a second panic attack today.”

He moved away from the tree before she could answer, staying low and darting behind brush as he crossed the hundred or so yards toward the back of the small white house to the rust-colored, banged-up old truck. She didn’t know what he’d meant, but the way he’d tried to put a stop to things last night contrasted sharply with the way he’d grabbed her in the barn this morning, the way he’d held her tight as if he’d been afraid he’d lost her. And the memory of all of it, even the way he’d given in and let her take whatever she wanted in the dark, warmed places inside that had gone cold.

Her eyes darted right and left as he reached the vehicle. When he pulled the door open and slinked inside where she couldn’t see him anymore, her pulse shot straight up.
A few kids carrying backpacks ran down the road, as if on their way into town for school. A delivery van whizzed past on the road. A sedan headed their direction, leaving the village
.

In any other town, in any other place, the activity would seem normal. But this situation was anything but normal. And every sound, every honk, every echo of laughter, made Olivia’s anxiety jump another notch until it felt like her heart had taken up residence in her throat.

“Come on, come on, come on,” she whispered. What was taking him so long? She had no idea how to hot-wire a car, but Landon clearly knew. There were so many things that could go wrong. If the old truck didn’t have gas, if the battery was dead, if the owners came running out of the house when it coughed to life. Suddenly, Tortoli seemed a million miles away.

Just when she was sure this vehicle was a bust and that they’d have to find another one, exhaust poured out of the tailpipe.

Olivia peered around the trunk of the oak, searching for any glimpse of Landon. His dark head appeared in the cab of the truck, then his arm over the seat, and his face as he looked behind him and backed away from the house.

Relief had never tasted so sweet. She’d been relieved when their kidnappers had brought him back to the room where they’d been holding her, but then she’d still been so scared about what would happen next. Now . . .

Now he’d saved her—again.

He pulled to a stop ten feet from the tree, and, exhaling what was left of her fear, Olivia pushed to her feet and moved for the passenger door.

With both hands on the wheel, Landon grinned as she opened the door, looking so much like a country farm boy rather than the lethal warrior she knew him to be, she couldn’t help but smile. “Your carriage, m’lady.”

“Right now I wouldn’t even care if it was horse drawn.” She reached for the handhold above to pull herself into the truck. “I just want to get out of here.”

“That makes two of us.” He let go of the wheel and reached for her hand to help her in. His fingers grazed hers. Warmth and electricity shot up her arm at the simple touch. Glancing at his face, she saw the smile and relief in his eyes, and realized . . . she’d been wrong.

Whatever he thought about last night—whether he truly regretted it or not—he did feel something for her. It might not be the wild sexual attraction she’d fantasized about. It might not be the hot, passionate romance she’d convinced herself they could have. But it was something. Something that would be enough to get her from here to wherever it was they went next. Something she would remember long after they parted ways and she returned home.

Pushing aside all the other worries, she braced a foot on the rusted running board and moved into the cab of the truck.

The back window shattered in an explosion of glass before she got both feet inside.

O
livia shrieked and dropped to the bench seat of the truck. Landon’s hand curled into the fabric of her sweatshirt to drag her in just as he stomped down on the gas.

“Hold on, Olivia!”

Her fingernails dug into his thigh. Her other hand gripped the edge of the seat, grappling for something to cling to. He cranked the wheel to the right, trying to get them into the cover of the trees.

Her legs went flying. She screamed. The
ping, ping, ping
of bullets hitting metal echoed through the cab to mix with Olivia’s startled yelps. Keeping his eyes on the road and one hand on the wheel, Landon fisted her sweatshirt and dragged her more fully into the vehicle.

“They’re shooting at us!” she hollered when she got her feet beneath her.

“I know.” He shoved her head to her knees. “Stay down.” Gripping the wheel wit
h both hands, he glanced in the rearview at the white van racing toward them, then cut the truck hard to the right.

Olivia grunted, fell into him, and pushed her hands against his leg to try to move back. The door on her side swung open wide. Dust and pebbles formed a plume behind the truck. The van careened off the road and into the trees, closing the distance between the two vehicles.

Landon reached for the gun, which he’d set on the dashboard when he’d been hot-wiring the truck, but it slid out of his grip and slipped to the right corner of the windshield.

“I’ve got it.” Olivia leaned away and reached up to feel around the end of the dashboard.

Her hand closed over the weapon. Landon glanced sideways at her as he jerked the car to the left to avoid a tree. She yelped again and grasped the dashboard to avoid being thrown out.

“Come here and take the wheel from me,” he called.

“Are you nuts?” Holding the weapon in both hands, she knelt on the seat, careful to stay low as she pushed what was left of the slider open at the back of the cab. “I’m a terrible driver!”

And she was a better shot? “Olivia—”

“Just drive! We don’t have time to mess around here.”

She was right. The van was gaining ground. They didn’t have time to switch positions so he could get off a shot. He cranked the wheel to the right again, this time to avoid a giant boulder. She knocked into him, grunted again, but quickly recovered. In the side mirror, he watched a man lean out the passenger window of the van and lift a semiautomatic weapon.

Shit
. Adrenaline shot through his veins. “Hold on,” he yelled again, jerking the wheel the other direction. Olivia yelped and fell toward the open door. He flung his arm out to the side, grabbing her around the waist as he righted the truck. Bullets pinged off the frame of the vehicle. “Shoot the fucking tires!”

“Stop telling me what to do!”

Good God, she was going there . . .
now
? Clenching his jaw, he looked ahead and spotted the road curving back toward them. Now was the perfect opportunity to take the van out to give them the maximum opportunity to get away. “Olivia . . .”

She scrambled to her knees once more. The truck bounced over rocks and downed limbs. Landon’s adrenaline went into overdrive. She pulled the trigger, and gunfire echoed through the cab of the truck. Landon glanced in the side mirror to see where her shot went. It pinged off the grille of the van.

“Darn it,” she muttered.

“You’ve got three more shots,” he said, trying to encourage her. “Go again.”

“I know,” she snapped. “Stop stressing me out.”

He whipped the truck to the right, nearly missing a utility ladder lying in the dirt between olive trees. “Sorry,” he muttered when she fell into him. “Shit. Sorry. You’ve got this.”

She pushed upright again, braced her knees on the bench seat, and lined up another shot.

“Come on, baby,” he muttered.

His heart felt like it stopped beating while he waited. Then the sound of gunfire lit up the interior of the cab. His gaze jerked to the side mirror again. The right front tire of the van exploded. The vehicle lost control and flipped onto its side in a crunch of metal and wood that sent dust and debris flying.

“Oh my God,” Olivia exclaimed. “Did you see that?”

“I saw.” Relief and amusement tore through Landon. He cranked the wheel to the left, and the old truck bounced onto the road. “Nice shooting.”

Olivia grabbed on to his shoulder to steady herself as she slid to her butt on the seat at his side. She glanced over her shoulder to the wreck in the trees behind them. Landon’s gaze followed in the rearview. Two men stumbled from the overturned vehicle in a daze, shouting words he couldn’t make out.

“Wasn’t it?” She cradled the gun on her lap. “Wow. That was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I guess those gun lessons paid off.”

“Gun lessons?”
He glanced
her way. The vehicle straightened out, and the passenger door snapped closed at her side. Stepping on the gas, Landon punched it down the small highway, wanting only to get as far from Orgosolo as possible. “What gun lessons?”

“Eve took me out to a range when she came to visit a few months ago and showed me how to shoot. Never thought it would come in handy.”

She was admiring the gun as if she’d found a new friend, and Landon couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “Remind me not to piss you off when you’re holding one of those.”

A wide smile cut across her face as she looked up at him, one that made her green eyes sparkle. “Then you might just want to keep your mouth shut all the way to Tortoli. You do have a tendency to get me worked up.”

She was making a joke, though a tiny place inside knew she was right. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from fucking things up with her. But instead of dwelling on that little reality, his brain shot to memories of another way he’d worked her up. To last night. To her straddling his hips, riding him to the most mind-blowing orgasm he could remember. And just that fast his body grew hot and tight and needy.

Needy for her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, eyeing him warily, her smile long gone. She looked over her shoulder again, toward the empty road behind them. “Did you see something?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Then what’s bugging you?”

“Nothing.” Nothing he couldn’t handle, at least. And there was no way he was telling her what was bugging him was this overpowering urge to drag her onto his lap and have her give a repeat performance of last night.

Shifting in his seat, he clenched his jaw and focused on the road. “How far did you say it was to the airport in Tortoli?”

“An hour on these back roads, if we’re lucky.”

If we’re lucky.
Landon nearly huffed. So far, they hadn’t been lucky at all. At least not in any way that was safe.

Olivia eyed Landon across the cab of the truck as they neared the outskirts of Tortoli. He’d barely said more than a handful of words since they’d gotten away from that van, and she could tell he was focusing all his energies on driving so it didn’t look like he was purposely ignoring her.

Telling herself not to dwell on it, she glanced out the cracked passenger window at her side and watched the few businesses and homes rush by. A thrill went through her again, and she bit her lip to keep from smiling. She knew he didn’t think she could protect herself, and she liked proving him wrong. Liked proving everyone wrong—especially herself. She also liked knowing when things got tough, she wasn’t a liability. She could pull her own weight when needed.

Her smile faded when she thought of the people chasing them, and another glance back confirmed they weren’t being followed. But she couldn’t shake the feeling their pursuers had given up way too easily. If they really wanted to find that girl Landon had told her about, they would have come after them, right? The men in that van had seen which direction they’d headed. Surely they had to have cell phones to keep in touch with the other members of their organization. She didn’t know what else was on this road, but between Orgosolo and here, they hadn’t passed anything other than farmland and hills. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they were heading toward Tortoli.

A sign ahead for the airport said to keep right and take the next exit. As the truck made the turn, Olivia’s stomach tightened, and her mind shot to the prospect of seeing Eve again, then to whether or not Landon would go with them or take off like he’d insinuated earlier.

“How many bullets are left in that magazine?” Landon casually asked.

Startled out of her thoughts, Olivia reached for the gun from the seat beside her and checked, happy for something else to think about. “Two.”

“That’s not gonna be enough.”

“Enough for what?”

The rig slowed, and Olivia’s gaze jerked toward the front windshield. A sign whizzed by, stating the airport was only three kilometers away. Businesses lined the road, but what caught her attention were the three vehicles roughly two hundred yards ahead—two trucks and another van—blocking their path.

“Oh . . . heck.”

“
Oh shit
would be a more appropriate reaction right now.” He cranked on the wheel. “Hold on.”

The sharp turn caused Olivia to skid into the door. The truck shot down a side street with very little shoulder and hardly any sidewalk. Cracked stucco buildings in various shades of yellow, pink, and white lined the street on each side, boxing them in as they drove farther into the city.

“We’re going the wrong way,” Olivia exclaimed, bracing a hand against the dash to keep herself upright. “The airport’s the other direction.”

“They know that’s where we’re heading.”

He made a right, and she slid across the seat into him, then another left. A woman holding a basket stepped off the sidewalk. Landon swore, then waved his arm and shouted, “Fucking move!”

The woman screamed and threw the basket up into the air before jumping out of the way. The basket hit the windshield, and clothing went flying. As Landon reached out the driver side window to pull a pair of pants out of his line of sight, Olivia shot a look over her shoulder. A truck swerved around pedestrians. Gaining on them.

“Um . . . Landon?”

His gaze darted to the rearview. “Shit.”

Olivia gripped the gun in her hand. “Should I shoot?”

“Not in the city. Goddammit.”

Right now, Olivia didn’t care that he was swearing. She just wanted to get away. Who the hell were these people?

Landon made another left, then a right. They barreled down the city street. Ahead, a group of boys were playing kickball in the middle of the road. Olivia braced a hand on the door beside her. “Landon . . .”

“I see ’em.” He cut the wheel to the right. The tail end of a delivery truck backed out into the street ten feet ahead.

Olivia braced her other hand against the dash, and her heart lurched into her throat. “Landon!”

“Son of a bitch.” Landon cranked hard left, swerving around the truck. It kept backing out, blocking the path behind them. He glanced in the rearview and barked out a laugh. “Take that, dipshits.”

A whisper of relief swept through Olivia, and she silently thanked that driver for blocking their pursuers. But that thanks came to a jarring halt when Landon slammed on the brakes, and her body smacked into the dashboard.

She grunted and hit the floor.

“Fuck me.” Landon reached for her, his hand closing over her arm, hauling her back up. He glanced in the rearview one more time, then said, “Okay, listen. We gotta get out. Right now.”

Pain spiraled all through Olivia’s body, and her head felt like someone had hit it with a hammer. Before she could process what had happened, Landon was at the passenger door, grasping the gun from the floorboards and all but dragging her out of the truck. “Come on, Olivia.”

Music met her ears, followed by voices and laughter. She blinked in the September sunshine and tried to right her senses.

Some kind of festival filled the street ahead. Colorful banners flew from the buildings. Ribbons waved in the breeze. Booths lined the street, and a crowd of people dancing and singing filled the space as far as the eye could see, stopping any chance they had of escaping.