SLEEPER (Crossfire Series) (10 page)

She frowned at her strong emotional reaction. Why did he have this odd effect on her? She was too aware of him, especially when he looked at her. She had this uncomfortable feeling that he could see right through her lies, which was silly. She was, if nothing else, very good at hiding her pain from everyone. But he had managed to unnerve her just now—so much so that she’d almost lost it when he’d mentioned that she might be connected to the human trafficking trade.

Her rage had been like a sudden full blast of heat from the furnace. Her only outlet had been either violence or—

The next thing she’d known, she’d found herself kissing Reed—a total stranger—trying to make him lose some of his damn cool. And in the back of her mind, she’d known she’d just been doing what she had always done in the past whenever she’d felt the need to exert control: used her sexuality to beat them at their game.

Only this time, the man had resisted her, wouldn’t give himself to her. She was aroused. That he was too was pretty obvious. Remembering the proof of that, she shoved one hand into her pocket. She couldn’t help wondering why he had stopped her, something no man had ever done before.

She’d come to her senses then. Now she wasn’t sure what she was going to do next. She’d deliberately kept her relationships as brief and noncommittal as possible, and even though she understood why now, it was still something she wasn’t proud of. It’d been so easy in the past; if she’d felt a bit out of kilter or if she’d seen one too many sexually battered girls, she’d gone out and found someone to sexually dominate. It was as if she’d won a battle, if not the war. She closed her eyes for a second. Except the last time she became intimate with a man, she’d felt something more…and then, the cell phone had rung….

She turned around, cocking her head to one side as she buttoned her coat. “Really? And what’s this agreement?” Men assumed so much, she mused.

“That we’re going somewhere private. That you’ll let me call the shots,” he said, his voice suddenly low, with that American drawl that was both sexy and arrogant.

She hadn’t been able to tell before, but his eyes were a mixture of blue and gray. Everything about this man was a mixture. The dance exhibitionist and the polite boy who opened doors and helped women into coats. The hot desire in his kiss and the reserved coolness in the way he’d pushed her away.

“I don’t let anyone call the shots,” she told him.

“Then we have a problem, since you want something from me,” he said. He bent and lifted the weight of the bag dangling in her hand, bounced it several times, and added softly, “and you have something I want.”

Lily had spent most of her life in the company of men who gave crudity a whole new meaning. No one had ever aroused her interest with such a simple suggestive line before. But then, in the past, she hadn’t been willing to give any man what she had.

It occurred to her she wasn’t feeling the usual disgust that always popped up when a man talked to her this way. She searched his face, looking for an answer. That’s when she noticed the traveling red dot that was moving along the wall, then across his chest, looking for a target.

She didn’t have time to shout a warning. Lily pushed Reed to one side as hard as she could, and they both crashed against the entrance door.

* * *

Reed slammed into hard wood. Someone who had been behind him screamed in pain. A quick glance. He registered the splatter of blood on her clothes before people got in the way. The noise level rose as some of them realized the woman had been shot and everyone started to panic.

He took hold of Lily’s hand so as not to lose her, and, pushing the door, he got out of the crushing humanity. Others followed them into the cold night air.

“How did you know?” he asked, his warm breath coming out in puffs of vapor.

“Someone’s using a laser sight.”

Another person screamed. Reed immediately tugged Lily back into the crowd. Someone was target shooting and he had a bad feeling it wasn’t random.

“Run,” he ordered.

“Where?”

Somewhere dark, where they wouldn’t be easy targets. “We’re sitting ducks if we stay out here,” he said and began to run into the dark alley by the club.

But Reed wasn’t really talking to her. If someone was after them, he was going to need Nikki’s and Amber’s help to protect Lily. Except for a small firearm, he didn’t have any other weapons on him.

“Stay behind me,” he said, hoping she would be one of those females who didn’t get riled up at being told what to do. He didn’t want anyone in front of him when he sighted his target.

She didn’t say anything. He slowly moved forward, gliding along the wall, watching the spotlight move closer as it searched one side of the alley and then the other. He pulled a crumbled piece from the wall. He counted to ten as he gauged where the target was, then threw the piece in the opposite direction. The beam of light immediately swung toward the sound.

Reed dove forward and did a body roll. He started shooting, the blasts from his semiautomatic reverberating back and forth against the alley walls. The flashlight did a crazy flip and landed on the ground in several bounces as his bullets connected. His target was down. Gasps of pain echoed eerily.

Reed got on his feet and bent to pick up the flashlight. His target, a male, tried to get up. He stepped on the man’s arm as he shone the light on the man’s face. He didn’t recognize him. “Who are you?”

“We’re sending T out there to pick him up,” Nikki said in his ear.

Lily came up beside him. “I don’t know him.”

As she bent down to inspect him, another shot rang out and she yelped. Reed immediately tossed away the flashlight. He couldn’t see where she’d been hit; not wanting to waste time, he swung her over his shoulder and took off in the opposite direction from the shot. He hoped no one was on the other side of the alley.

“Another shooter,” he reported, running as fast as he could. He hoped T was okay. “Are you all right?”

“I’m alive,” Lily said, “but it’s hard to breathe upside down, Reed. Put me down.”

“In a minute.” He looked around when he reached the end of the alley. He slid Lily off his shoulder. “Tell me where you’ve been hit.”

“No time. Let’s get out of here first.” She started running across the street. “You said your car is parked somewhere. Anywhere near here?”

“See that little bridge? Over there.” She seemed to be running fine. Reed caught up with her. “When we reach the other side, dodge around the parked cars for protection.”

Spoken too soon. The words had scarcely left his lips when a car skidded into view, moving at a speed that spelled ‘Coming at you, stupid.’

“Run, run, run!” he yelled.

They raced hard toward the bridge, their shoes clacking on the wet cobbled road. They had almost reached the other side when the car accelerated even more, its tires screeching like banshees. It was coming straight for them.

Lily veered off to the left. The car careened in her direction.

“Get away while you can!” she yelled. “They’re after me!”

As if he would actually abandon her and let some car run her over. Reed followed in her direction and grabbed her hand. They reached the edge of the embankment. There wasn’t any option left at this point. They plunged into the darkness together.

CHAPTER 6

I’m going to die.

Years ago, egged on by her older friends, Lily had jumped off the highest diving board at the local swimming pool. She remembered the feeling of indecision that split second before the running leap into the open air, twenty meters above the water. She hadn’t known anything but the doggy-paddle at that time. She’d almost drowned.

She felt herself tumbling in the air, her stomach left somewhere above her, her hands flailing and grasping at nothing. She thought she heard herself yelling, but she wasn’t sure, since everything was masked by some loud drum beating in her head.

The splash into the water was painful. The water was icy cold, soaking through her jacket immediately, as she sank deeply. She opened her eyes. She couldn’t see anything. Her hair was caught on something. Holding her breath, she clawed at the darkness, kicking hard with her feet. It was a losing fight—her clothes had become too heavy.

Her breath released in desperate bubbles as she pulled at the jacket on her body. She took in several inadvertent mouthfuls of water and choked. In desperation, she reached up and found air. Her hands were above water.

Air!…She kicked as hard as she could.
Come on, Lily, kick harder.
But that precious air was out of reach and her strength was disappearing fast. The water felt like thick molasses. She took another swallow of water, and, choking, out of air, she began to sink again.

Something pulled hard and suddenly Lily’s head was above water. She gasped as air filled her lungs. She coughed out water. Oh God, air. She struggled to stay afloat.

“Hang on, don’t struggle.” She recognized Reed’s voice, even though she couldn’t see anything. “I’ve got you. Just let go. I’ve got you.”

But she was sinking and her body refused to obey as she panicked. She desperately clung to the body next to her, thrashing at the water that seemed determined to pull her back in.

“I’ve got you,” she heard a voice keep repeating. Why couldn’t she see anything? Why couldn’t she move? She had to get out. She didn’t want to die. She pushed hard at Reed, trying to climb on top of him.

Somehow, he evaded her. She sank into the dark water again. Oh God, no. Then she was pulled back out. Reed was behind her this time and she couldn’t get at him. Exhausted, she finally went still.

She didn’t know how long it took them to reach the riverbank. A voice was murmuring in her ear, but she couldn’t make out the words. Then she was hauled up against something solid. She opened her eyes. There was light and she could see again.

“Shhhh,” the voice said.

She coughed out water, her hands finally finding something she could hang on to. She laid her cheek against it as she tried to calm her racing heart and thoughts.

Reed’s body covered hers from behind. It was strangely comforting, even though she couldn’t really feel anything. “Shhh…” he repeated. “Stay quiet. I don’t know what happened to the car that was coming at us. They could be up there looking for us.”

His voice was so unflustered, the quiet words cutting through her emotions. Lily drew in more air, her breath coming out in short little gasps. Stay quiet. She could do that. Even though she felt like screaming and crying.

She drew in another breath. She was in danger. She hadn’t felt so helpless and afraid in years, when those men had…Her eyes opened wide. Oh no. She wouldn’t go back to those memories just because she was frightened. She clenched her fists around clumps of roots and plants.
Pull yourself together, Lily.
She willed her breath to stop laboring.

“I don’t hear or see anything,” Reed said, after what seemed like an eternity. “There isn’t time to be careful. We’ve got to get out of the water or freeze to death. Here, step on my knee and climb out.”

Lily tried to pull herself up, but her soaked clothing impeded her. She found Reed’s braced knee in the water and used it as support, climbing out slowly. Her water-logged jacket weighed about a thousand pounds. She stood up on land and stared at the puddle forming at her feet. She’d lost one shoe.

She heard Reed climbing out behind her, and she turned slowly, like some old, dawdling woman. Mud and dirt plastered every inch of him. His clothes were an unrecognizable brown. She probably didn’t look much better as she watched him peel his jacket off and struggle with his jeans.

“What…are you doing?” Her teeth were clattering.

“Trying to get the car keys out of my jeans,” he said, working his fingers into his wet pockets. She realized that she’d spoken in Croatian and he was answering in English. “We’re right under the bridge, so my car isn’t very far away, if it’s still there.”

Lily marveled at his absolute control, as if he jumped from a bridge and swam in a muddy river all the time, whereas all she seemed to be able to do was admire her dirty clothes. She hugged herself. It was chilly.