Shattered Rules (19 page)

C
hapter Twenty-five

Yesterday
Kelly said she loved Brick. Yesterday he made love to her. Yesterday he said he cherished her. Today she felt the sting of his lies. As she remembered her behavior in the shower, her cheeks burned with embarrassment. He’d let her behave like that knowing she was just another assignment.

He
’d probably had a good laugh behind her back. How did he keep from laughing in her face? A cry crawled up the back of her throat. She chocked it back.
Damn him
.

When she found
Brick, he was in the foyer saying goodbye to the men who had installed the security system in the cabin.

“
I trusted you. How could you?”

“
What are you talking about?” He closed the door behind the exiting men.

“
I heard your telephone conversation with Don. You came here to use me to get information on Johnny.”

“
Let me explain.” He reached for her hand.

She
yanked it away. “There's nothing to explain. It's all too clear. You were willing to do anything to get information. Even make love to me. You know what that makes you.”

“
Don't.”

“
I trusted you!”

He reached for her again, holding her to him.
“I never meant to hurt you. But you need to calm down. Getting upset isn't going to get us anywhere. Just give me a chance to explain.”

“
Let go of me.” Brick’s composed voice annoyed her. Why was he always so calm? She wrenched out of his grasp. “I don't want your explanation. I've heard too many of your lies.”

“
Try to understand. I had a duty to perform but I never meant to hurt you.”

“
I had faith in you. I said I loved you,” she whispered. “And you took advantage of that. I didn't think you could be so despicable. I didn't think I could be such a fool. I hate myself for being gullible, but most of all I detest you for using me.”

He
flinched as if he’d been slapped. His eyes narrowed and a grim expression spread across his taut features. She didn't want to see the anguish. She turned her back on him.

“
I work for the FBI and I have a duty to perform. But that doesn't change my feelings for you. Grow up, Kelly. This is serious business and our personal feelings don’t count for much.”

“My feelings are all I have. And I don’t care about your duty.”

“Stop, that’s enough.”

“How dare you tell me what to do
? You don’t have the right, not after what you’ve done.”

“
Talking to you is pointless until you calm down.” He slammed the door as he left the room.

S
he groaned. He said he cherished her.
Liar.
She couldn’t stand to be in the same house with him. She grabbed her car keys from the entryway table and ran out the front door.

***

The man watched the old Honda pull out of the garage. He waited for a moment and then followed, keeping the pick-up truck back far enough so it wouldn’t be noticed. The girl was finally on the move. Was she going for the flash drive? He damned well hoped so. His hands tingled in anticipation.

***

After driving aimlessly, Kelly found herself in Truckee at the Tahoe Donner subdivision, on a road overlooking the closed ski lodge, serene and beautiful, a counterpoint to her disordered life.

There were
no cars around. It was good to be alone. She parked on the shoulder of the road, rolled down the window and took a slow, deep breath. Resting her head on the steering wheel, she let out a sob.

The brisk air
began to cool her anger and her breathing slowed. At this higher elevation, lacy snow floated to the ground. A delicate flake hit the windshield, she watched others follow. With another deep breath, she forced herself to get a hold of her emotions and refused to think of Brick’s betrayal.

True,
her life had disintegrated into chaos. Nevertheless, sitting alone in the beauty of the mountains even without Brick’s help, she decided she would survive. She didn‘t know how, but determination was half the battle, wasn’t it?

Before she met Johnny,
she’d longed for excitement, a thrill to break the monotony that defined her life. But not chaos, she’d never wished for that.

I
f she could go to college again, she’d take pleasure in simple learning and she’d do it without personal relationships. How little joy she’d received from personal entanglements, they’d only brought her pain. She closed her eyes and strangled a sob. She’d give almost anything to go back to her boring life before she met Johnny Vega.

“
Kelly, you're dead.”

Thr
ough the open car window she saw a pistol pointed at her head. Fear surged and she began to shake.

So involved in her own thought
, she hadn't noticed the other vehicle, or heard the man get out of it and walk to the Honda. Her heart raced when she glanced from the gun to the man holding it. The shorter intruder who’d ransacked her house. Gun in one hand, the other hand on her door handle, in one swift move moment he opened the car door and yanked her out.

“
Time to die.”

“
No!”

H
e laughed as he hit her with his pistol.

S
he screamed and pain spread along her jaw.

“
Shut up.”

S
he shrieked and twisted her arm to wrench out of his grasp. He raised his hand to hit her again.

“
Hey, leave her go!”

A huge man, wearing a blue plaid jacket and jeans, jumped from his
SUV and rushed toward them.

“
I said let go of her!” the stranger yelled.

The
intruder turned and stared at the Good Samaritan. Without saying a word he fired. Red blood squirted from the man’s chest and onto the blue wool jacket he wore. He groaned, stumbled and then dropped to the ground.

Kelly
screamed.

“
Shut the hell up!”The shooter slapped her.

S
he couldn’t stop screaming. She shrieked until her voice was horse.

“
Bitch.”

He
struck her over and over, but she kept on yelling. Sharp pain radiated down the arm she held up to protect her face. She wrestled out of his clutch, turned to run, tripped and fell to the ground.

H
e pointed the pistol at her. She watched his trigger finger twitch. “Don’t shoot.” She flinched and braced for the entry of the bullet.

Brick tackled
the man.

She hadn’t seen
him arrive. She’d only seen the gun pointed at her, ready to fire.

He
slugged the shooter. The guy grunted but still held onto the gun.

Brick tackled
him. They rolled away from her and down a steep embankment toward the ski lodge.

Terrified, she ran to the edge of the road
and watched. At the bottom of the incline they stood and exchanged blows.

The sky darkened as it
snowed harder, making it difficult to see the men clearly. They both wore dark jackets and from a distance, it was hard to tell Brick from the other man.

One man pointed
a weapon at the other. The guy without the gun charged and fought for it.

The
report of handgun fire echoed in the mountains range.

One
man dropped to the ground, attempted to get up but fell back and didn’t move again.

T
he other guy climbed up the embankment. If it was the killer she should run to the car and drive away. But if Brick was shot, she couldn't leave him to die alone on the grounds of the vacant ski lodge.

Her rapid heartbeat pounded in her ears
. Transfixed, she stood waiting as stark terror filled her.

As Kelly watched, Brick came up the steep slope. Relief surged through her as she ran to him. She wanted to hug him. But after the terrible scene at the cabin, she didn’t dare. She stopped just before she reached him.

“
Are you all right?” he said sounding as if he really cared. He caught his breath and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

“
Yeah.” Her face hurt and so did her arm, but she wouldn’t worry him. “Are you?”

“I’m good.”

“Is he—dead?” She cleared her throat.

“Y
eah.” He swallowed and his lips tightened into a thin line. He stood up and stared at her.

She shivered under his gaze.
“A stranger tried to help me and he was shot.”

She
ran to the man and knelt beside him.

Lying on his back, his eyes were closed, but he was breathing. Tears of relief
rolled down her face.

With
the man's large callused hand in hers, she said, “Thank you for saving my life.”

H
e opened his eyes.

“
Thank you,” she whispered.

He labored to breath
and didn’t speak, but he squeezed her hand.

She said a silent prayer and continued to hold his hand.

A police car, with its siren blaring and lights flashing, drove up and parked. Brick walked toward the police officer who exited the vehicle. Another siren sounded and an ambulance came up the hill and parked near her.

“
Excuse me miss,” a young paramedic said as he knelt beside her. “We’ll take over. It's okay. We'll take good care of him.”

She
stumbled as she moved out of the way. Wiping tears from her eyes, she trembled. Snowflakes changed her pink T-shirt to white. She gave up trying to brush them away and instead watched the paramedic work on the man who saved her life.
Dear God please help him.

Brick came
and stood next to her. He took off his jacket and put it over her shoulders. “We can leave. Get in the Volvo. I'll arrange to get your car later.”

“
I can’t. I have to be sure he's okay.” She nodded toward the wounded man.

Brick frowned.
“The officer said we could go. I showed him my FBI ID and he accepted my story. Let’s get out of here.”

She didn’t respond
, didn’t look at him.

“I gave them your n
ame and address. If we stay around the authorities might want to ask more questions. I don’t want to tell them anymore than I already have. Right now, the police are concerned about getting information on the wounded guy. If we’re still here after they get it, they’ll turn their attention back to us.”

She
didn’t move.

“
Kelly, the paramedics will take care of the man. He’s in good hands. Please just get in the car.” His voice was calm but firm.

She
stood feet planted in the snow. Depleted, she couldn’t move. She’d taken as much emotional trauma as she could tolerate.
Shock
It must be shock and she couldn’t seem to snap out of it.

“
Damn it Kelly. If we don’t get out of here we’re both going to end up with our butts in the police station answering questions.” He leaned closer, “If you won’t think of yourself think of Carrie.”

She blinked and w
ithout a word, walked toward the Volvo.

***

Brick turned the car around and drove toward the cabin. The attacker had wanted her dead, a cadaver lying face down on the side of the hill, snowflakes her only blanket. Instead, some poor guy seeing her beauty was struck with the bad idea of being a Good Samaritan.

The Samaritan
tried to protect her, but without expertise he’d nearly paid with his life. Brick would be eternally grateful to that man, without his intervention, Kelly would be dead.

He
glanced at her with unblinking eyes and a taut expression. “I saw you drive away. A pickup truck parked in the pine grove above the cabin started after you. That truck led me to you.”

“
I'm only alive because you followed.”

Their eyes met and u
ndecipherable emotions flashed in her eyes. Did he dare hope she could forgive him for using her to get Johnny Vega’s information?

He drove in silence to the cabin
. Then he overrode the new security system and parked in the garage. In the cabin, he watched her check the phone.

“No messages
from Carrie,” she said and walked into the den and closed the door.

He could hear the sounds
of the TV. It wasn’t loud enough to muffle her sobs. There was no point in going into the room. She wouldn’t be comforted by his presence. Standing by the door, he listened until he couldn’t bear hearing her sorrow.

He set the
cabin’s alarm system and climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

In the dark,
a vision of the man he’d killed sent a spasm of grief through him. He'd been forced to take a life today. Were family members waiting for the man that lay dead on the slopes of the empty ski lodge? The question hung heavy in his mind.

He
remembered Kelly’s tears and her fear when the shooter pointed the gun at her. He groaned and pulled off his shirt and jeans and got into bed. Exhaustion racked his body but scenes of the day played in his head. The sound of the pistol firing rang in his ears and the sight of the man dropping to the ground dead was seared on his retina.

Finally
, he slept.

T
he dream that had tormented him for years began to run. He fought the familiar nightmare and struggled to wake up. He couldn’t.

The
noise of Annie's screams filled his ears. Again he experienced the body racking pain of bullets hitting his right knee, then the burn of a bullet grazing his temple.

As he fell to the floor, he turned to see Annie take a bullet in the chest. Blood
red splatter made a pattern on her white blouse. Shock and disbelief shone on her young face as she dropped to the ground.

“
No!” He shouted as he reached for her.

But this time it wasn't Annie
. It was Kelly. Her white tank top turned red as her breathing squeezed her precious blood from her body.

She lay just out of reach and he watched
her blood comingle with his on the white marble floor. She beseeched him with her hazel eyes, begging for his help, her red stained hand out stretched to him.

“Kelly!”

He tried to wake up and shake off the nightmare. It wouldn't let go of him.

B
lood dripped from his head wound and into his eyes as the nightmare continued. He wiped it away. Once more he attempted move toward Kelly.

No good, retching in pain he watched in horror as her beautiful young face grew pale. Each beat of her heart squeezed blood from her gaping wound. It dripped to the floor in rhythm with her breathing.

“No.” He gasped and sat up. His chest heaved as his rapidly beating heart slammed against his chest.

Where was Kelly now?
He had to convince himself she was all right. He walked downstairs to the den and quietly opened the door. Asleep on the futon, a crocheted blanket covering her, she breathed normally. The muted TV sent light over her delicate features. He released his fisted hands, she was okay. He had to keep her that way.

He
left the room, carefully closing the door behind him and entered the living room. The drapes on the window stood open to the pine grove that overlooked the cabin. This night there was no vehicle parked under the trees. He relaxed.

***

Nickels parked the black pick-up truck next to an empty lot near the cabin. His signet ring felt like ice on his finger. A
nother damned cold night
. The view from this angle wasn’t as clear as from under the pines where vehicles had been parked for a couple of nights. Still, it was safer to move across the street, even if he couldn’t see as well. His partner was killed at the ski lodge, served the young kid right for letting someone get the drop on him. He’d never let that happen. The good didn’t die young. Men without talent died young. And he was one talented son-of-bitch. He scratched his cold hands and cursed the man who was protecting the girl.

***

The next day the sun came up but gave no warmth. A thin layer of snow lay on the ground glistening in the light.

The intruder had promised Kelly w
ould die today. Even so, Lake Tahoe lapped at the shore just as it had for three million years, when it was formed by geologic faulting. Nature caused no ruckus at the thought of a loss of another innocent. Life carried on as usual.

She
bathed and dressed as she did every morning. Strange how calm she felt, like a soldier, maybe she was becoming desensitized. Trauma didn't have the same effect it used to have on her. Because she didn't die yesterday, dare she hope she wouldn’t die today either?

The phone rang
.
Probably Brick’s boss with more bad news.
She had a few choice words she wanted to say to him. She picked up the receiver in her bedroom.

“
Hello.”

“
Kelly is that you?”

“
Carrie. Thank God! Where are you?”

“
I’m in LA at the airport. I missed my flight. I’m trying to get another one. If there’s nothing today I’ll have to stay overnight.” Carrie said her voice annoyed. “What the hell’s going on?”

“
Nothing.”

“
Something’s wrong.”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you
when you get here.”

“
No. Now. I got your cryptic messages. Don’t go home. Why not?”

“
Carrie, do you remember when I asked you to hide a flash drive?”

“Yeah,
I’m still waiting for you to explain that one.”

“
I asked you to put in the Thumb Dumb House.”

“
Yeah, sounded screwy to me but I did it.”

“
Good. The Thumb Dumb House was the only place I could think of that we both knew. I remember the day we gave the old mansion that nickname. Mom and Daddy were still alive. We had a lot of fun back then,” Kelly said wistfully.

“
The old place is empty and run down Kell. Nothing’s the same as it used to be.”

“I know
—never will be.”

“
Okay what is this really about?”

“When you get
to here, I promise I’ll tell you everything. But I’ve got to go to the Thumb Dumb House. But you need to know that someone is out to kill me.”

“What?”

“It’s true.”

“
You’re talking crazy,” Carrie said. “I don’t like it.”

“
I’m sorry. Please just come to the cabin ASAP.”

“
This is mad. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you’ve done.”

“
I met a man.” Kelly sighed. “I thought I was in love, same old stupid story.” She hesitated. “Johnny Vega was exciting. He's rich and handsome, but he's just pond scum. Anyway, I stole his flash drive. He took it from a government contractor and I was going to return it. Oh, it’s such a long story and safer if you don’t know. Carrie, just get here. I need to know you’re safe.”

“
Now you’re a thief. Damn it. You never follow the rules.”

“
It’s not really stealing. It’s—it’s so complicated.” She rubbed her forehead tried to ignore the ache forming over her right eye. “I had to hide the drive from Johnny. I won’t let him have it.”

“What’s on it?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I don’t have time for this nonsense.
I’m hanging up.”

“
Don’t. I know I sound crazy. I’m not. This whole situation sounds insane, it isn’t. FBI agent Ted Simmons asked me to take a flash drive from Johnny. Agent Simmons said it was important to the government. I was going to hand it over to him. Before I could, Simmons was murdered and now I don't know what to do or who to trust.”

“
Just give it to the police?”

“No.
The police and FBI have been infiltrated. I don’t know who I can trust.”

“
My God Kell, you’re insane.”

“
Before I met Johnny, I wouldn’t have believed me either. But it’s true.” She pushed her hair back and put the phone to her other ear. “You’ve got to believe me.”

“
Don’t you hear yourself? You’ve gone bonkers.” Carries screeched. “Since Mom and Daddy died, I’ve tried to understand you and raise you to do what’s right. I just don’t know where I went wrong, but I obviously did. Now, you’ve gone off the deep end. You just stay in the cabin and don’t talk to anyone. Nobody, you hear me? Talk to no one. I’ll see you there in a day or two.”