Shattered Rules (20 page)

The phone went dead
in her hand. She didn’t get a chance to warn Carrie that she was in danger too. Her sister wouldn’t have believed it anyway.

Dear God
, please keep my sister safe.

***

Brick slammed the receiver down on the kitchen wall phone. “Damn it!” He’d listened to the conversation and learned nothing. The Thumb Dumb house could be anywhere in the whole darned country. He wanted to retrieve the flash drive without putting Kelly in danger again, but he couldn't. She’d have to tell him where the house was located. And he knew she’d demand to go with him or she wouldn’t tell.

He wondered if
she’d let him know Carrie had called. Or would she just try to sneak out of the cabin to get the flash drive on her own? He was consoled by the fact that her car was still on the mountain road at the Tahoe Donner Ski Lodge. The keys to the Volvo were in his pants pocket. But it would be just like her to, without a word, call for a cab and disappear.

He looked up
when she entered the kitchen. Hair in a ponytail and dressed in white, she carried a pink fleece jacket.

Chilled by the reality that she could have died yesterday, he
ached to hold her. She’d probably slap him if he tried.

“
Morning,” Her voice was pleasant, but there was no smile for him.

“
Hi.” A pressing question flashed in his mind. Who would be sent to complete the job of killing her?

He
glanced at the jacket she held. “Going somewhere?”

She didn't answer.
With a mug from the cupboard, she poured a cup of coffee and sat across the table from him, facing the window.

“
About yesterday—how can I ever—” Her voice trailed away and moisture filled eyes. “I want to thank you. I don’t know how.”

He watched her
try to come to grips with her confused emotions, conflicted feelings registered in her expression.

“
You saved my life. I’ll never be able to repay you.”

“
You don’t owe me anything.” He moved toward her and then stopped, afraid she’d flee.

“
The water on the lake is rough today,” she said as she gazed out the window.

Darkness swirled beneath the foam
and the waves crashed against the shore. He thought it was no more turbulent than his emotions.

Finally
, she faced him again. “I got a phone call from Carrie. She missed her flight. She’s still in LA.”

“
Did you tell her everything?”

“I tried. She thinks I’m crazy.
” She shrugged. “I need to use your car. I’m going to get the flash drive.”

“
You're not going alone.”

“
I have to.”

“
Don't you understand you could’ve died yesterday? Men have been paid to kill you!”

“
I have to go.” She trembled. “I’m not going to let Agents Simmons’ death be for nothing.”

“
Think of yourself. You’re still alive. Stay safe.”It was the wrong thing to say, but it needed to be said.

She glanced at him and he saw her anger.

“It’s none of your business.”

“
Isn’t it? I know how you feel about me Kelly. You've made that clear.” He forced the bitterness from his voice. After all, she was the one who’d been used and was still being used. “But if anything happened to you and I could’ve prevented it, I couldn't live with myself.”

With her back to him, s
he stared out the window and didn’t respond.

“
Let me protect you while you get the drive. When that’s done you’ll never have to see me again.”

The thought
that he’d never see her again sent a grinding pain through him. But he’d suffered pain before and had learned to live with it. He could live with this too because it was best for both of them. But her death, when he had the ability to protect her, was something he couldn’t stand.

“
And the FBI, what about them?” she said.

“
What do you mean?”

“
You're here to do your FBI boss’ bidding, but I'm here to do what Agent Simmons wanted whether it is what your boss wants or not. How do I know you won’t give the flash drive over to the wrong man? One of Johnny’s men.”

“God
Kelly, I love this country. You can’t honestly think I’d do anything that would harm the United States.”

“No
—No I don’t. But you can’t know who in the FBI to trust.” Pain and loss were painted in her expression. Her lips formed straight line.

“
Kelly that’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” S
he closed her eyes and shook her head. “Agent Simmons said there were people in the Bureau that couldn’t be trusted and now he’s dead.”

“Shit.
What do you want to do?” he asked in frustration.

“
Get the drive and destroy it. Please don’t stop me from doing what has to be done.”

If he did what she wanted h
e’d lose his job, everything he’d worked for over the last few years, gone. Still, her beseeching expression tugged at him. Maybe she was right. It was possible they should destroy it. That certainly would prevent it from getting into enemy hands.

“
Okay.” He gently touched her shoulder.

She jumped and turned toward him.
“What?”

“
We'll destroy it, you and me together.”

“
Do you mean it?”

“
Since I joined the FBI, I've seen too much information go missing. That can’t happen to the plan for the missile system if we destroy the flash drive.”

He could imagine Don's angry reaction when
his boss learned what they’d done. Better to explain it to Don after the deed complete, too late for anyone to stop it.

“
Can I trust you to do really do it?”

The accusation hurt, but then what did he expect?
Ever since they’d met again, he’d misled her. Of course she’d be suspicious. “Yeah you can.”

She stared
back at him her expression so cold it sent a shiver through him. He wanted to close his eyes against the chill. But he didn't, because she had to see he spoke the truth.

“
All right.” Her voice was tentative. “But don't betray me. I couldn't live with that.”

“
I won't,” he said vowing to never again betray the trust she put in him. Nor would he let anything or anyone hurt her, not as long as he was alive to stop it.

“
Let’s go.”

“
How far away is it?”

“
About twenty miles on Highway Eighty-Nine.”

“
Do you want some breakfast before we leave?”

“
My stomach’s so queasy I couldn't hold it down. I just want this to be over. Give me a minute, then we can go.”

He watched her
walk out of the kitchen knowing after today he might never see her again.

In the cab of the black pick-up truck, Nickels sipped coffee from a thermos. His cell phone rang. He placed the thermos between his legs and reached the smart phone. “Yeah.”

“
The girl’s time is up. Get her and make her to tell you where she hid the damn drive. Then do whatever you want before you kill her. If the man is with her, get rid of him too. Be careful. He’s a tough bastard and he’ll fight you to the death. Take him out first.”

“
It will cost more,” Nickels said as he put the plastic lid back on the thermos.

“
How much?”

“
I'm easy. Let's say the same you're paying for the girl.”

“
You get your money when I get the drive and I want to see the bodies.” The phone disconnected.

The asshole didn't trust him
or the bloodthirsty jerk wanted to shoot a few bullets into their bodies just for his amusement.

Nickels’ nerves flared.
His hands itched. He took off the signet ring and scratched the reddened blisters that had formed under the ring.

A
rush of adrenaline pulsed through his veins. He’d get to do his job and finally go back to his homeland.

***

The morning sun faded turning the day gunmetal gray. Kelly watched the Sierra Nevada winds come in angry gusts to tear green leaves from the twigs of the indigenous trees. Moisture filled the air and it was just a matter of time before it snowed.

The tires of the
Volvo wagon gripped the narrow winding road that was Highway Eighty-Nine. She gave Brick directions to the Thumb Dumb house. The turn off was located near D.L. Bliss State Park and Emerald Bay, away from the water on the hillside.

From the car's window, s
he looked out at the awe inspiring view.

How had her life come to this
desperate point? In her desire to do good for Ted Simmons, she broke the rules by stealing from Johnny.
So it’s true no good deed goes unpunished
.

A
blast of wind hit the silver auto and she watched Brick jerk the steering wheel to keep the car on the correct side of the road.

A snowflake hit the windshield. She
stared as another one floated and landed on the hood.

She was reminded
of the sunny day she and her sister and her parents drove this road to the Thumb Dumb House. It had been one of the last days they were all together.

T
he death of her parents had taught her how tenuous life could be. After they were gone she’d forced herself to go on living, determined to have a more exciting life than the boring one her parents had led. Without a care for the result, she’d taken any dare if it meant she’d experience the exhilaration of life and proved she was alive. Now the consequences of those actions had come to roost.

If only
she’d realized sooner that her choices could spill over and put Carrie in danger. If she had, different choices might have been made. She hadn’t considered anyone but herself.
Shit.
It didn’t matter now. She couldn’t change anything. Even so, the thought that she’d hurt the two people she loved sent a jab of misery through her.

“Are you
okay?”

“
Yeah. I just have a sense of foreboding and I can’t shake it.” She exhaled and rubbed her temples.

“
After the last few days you’ve had I’m not surprised. Don’t worry. In a few minutes it will all be over.” Brick glanced at her and then back to the road. “How much further to the turn off?”

“
A mile or two I think. On the right side there’s a gravel road.”

“Good.
”

A myriad of emotions swirled in
her. After the berating she gave Brick yesterday, he was helping her. If only she hadn't said all those terrible things to him. She watched his profile. She loved him but it was too late. There was too much hurt between them. The chance of a relationship was over.

“
There hasn't been another vehicle on the road for miles. Now a pick-up truck is following us. The truck’s holding its distance. Whether I slow down or speed up, the truck maintains the same distance between the vehicles,” he said.

She
started to turn around to look out the rear window.

“Don’t look.
I don’t want the driver to know we’re on to him.”

“
Sorry.” Her back crawled with anxiety. Was the truck following them or was it a tourist on his way to his next destination?

It was snowing hard
now and visibility decreased with every flake. She almost didn't see the gravel road. “There it is on the right.”

Brick
swerved and quickly pulled off the highway onto narrow road heading toward the Thumb Dumb house. He stopped the vehicle and waited. The pickup truck went by the turnoff without slowing.

Relieved,
she sighed and leaned back in the seat.

Brick
drove the Volvo up the graveled road. The snow continued and soon the wagon’s tires slipped on the ice. “Without chains the car can’t go any further.” He turned off the engine. “We'll have to walk the rest of the way.”

She
jumped out of the car and followed him, slipping on the snow as they went. The running shoes she wore weren’t designed for this kind of weather. The wet snow soaked her into the fabric of the runners and her feet became numb from the cold.

They
hiked in silence. She watched her warm breath mingle with the flakes. With difficulty, she tried to keep her balance. She glanced up to see an impatient expression spread over Brick features.

“
I didn't think it was so far.” Her chest heaved with the effort. “I guess I'm not used to this altitude anymore,” she said breathlessly.

“
Too many years at sea level.”

“Yeah.”

She brushed snow from her eyes and squinted to see Brick just ahead of her. Only the sounds of their labored breathing broke the silence. As they reached the top of a knoll, the pine and granite mansion appeared before them, looming as a dark shadow.

She prayed the flash drive was still were Carrie had hidden it.

“It must have been a grand house in its day,” he said.

“
It was beautiful when I was a kid. I thought of it as my castle.”

“
Let’s grab the drive and get out of here.”

Snow had covered the
granite stairs to the mansion’s porch when they got there. So they had to tread carefully.

Brick
pushed on the impressive oak paneled doors. One squeaked and opened. Motioning for her to wait, he entered the house alone.

Her sense of foreboding increased
and she trembled.

Sh
aking from the cold, Kelly rubbed her arms as she paced in front of the huge double doors of the old mansion. What was Brick doing? She listened but couldn’t hear any sounds coming from inside the house.

Her hand was on the metal door handle
ready to turn it when she heard him shout. “It's okay. Come in.”

I
n the grand foyer a massive wooden staircase curved up to the second floor. Covered in dust, it didn't look as if anyone had used the stairs recently.

She liste
ned for any sounds that could help her find Brick and then entered a room that jutted off the entry. It had no furniture and no Brick. She went back into the entry.

“Brick where are you?”

“At the back of the house.”

She followed the sound of his voice and entered a room dominated by floor ceiling mahogany bookcases. The shelves were empty.
She glanced from the bookcases to a beautifully carved support beam that held up the library's loft. That too was empty of books.

“
What a magnificent room. I can only imagine the volumes that must have lined these selves.”

Brick leaned against the imposing granite mantle of the fireplace.
“Yeah, a few first additions I bet.”

There
’d been a recent fire and embers glowed in the grate. The smell of burnt ashes and beer filled the room. “Smells like someone had a party.” She wrinkled her nose. “I wonder who started the fire.”

“
Local teens most likely.” He stood away from the fireplace. “I didn't find anyone in the house, but there are plenty of empty beer cans and bottles strewn around.”

I wish there w
as still a roaring fire. She stomped the ice from her shoes and shook the snow from her fleece top.

“
Take my jacket.”

“
No. You need it.”

“
Take it.” He took if off and put over her shoulders.

“
Thanks.” She rolled up the long selves and put her arms in the jacket still warm from his body heat. Sadness that she’d never know the feel of his arms around her again shot through her.

“
Let's get it and leave before the storm gets worse,” he said.

“
Yeah.”

She
whirled toward the sound of the stranger’s voice and faced the intruder who had burst into her house. He stood filling the doorway of the room, a sinister smile on his lips, and a nine-millimeter pistol in his hand.