Sworn to Protect (Vows of the Heart) (15 page)

Bethany
spun around. “Ethan, please!”

Instead of moving to get dressed, he grabbed her shoulders and hauled her to his chest again, gritting his teeth as the icy chill settled in the pit of his belly. “Bethany, what’s happening?”

She squirmed, trying to pull away. “Run! We have to run!”

“Why? What is happening to you? Damn it, Bethany, you’re making me sick with worry!”

She looked up at him, her green eyes unnaturally wide. She cupped his cheek, her trembling hand as cold as death. “Please, Ethan, we don’t have time. I’ll tell you in the car. I promise. But we have to leave now.”

Perhaps it was her fear infecting him, perhaps it was the strange cold that surrounded only her
, but Ethan nodded and released her, dressing quickly. Fortunately, they had packed the car last night. He put his Colt in his shoulder harness and grabbed the shotgun.

“How’s your head?” Ethan asked.

“Fine. I’m not dizzy anymore.”

He never knew what prompted him to do so
, but he handed the car keys to her. “Here, you’re driving.”

She glanced at them in surprise
, then nodded and grabbed their bags.

They left the house.
Bethany put the bags in the trunk and slammed it closed. She opened the driver’s side door and Ethan, shotgun in hand, locked the door to the house. He strode quickly toward her.

A bullet zinged past his head. He instinctively ducked and spun, bringing up the shotgun. A man, wearing the familiar commando type garb, ran around the corner of the house and a second followed him. Ethan fired the shotgun. The first man collapsed. Ethan racked and fired again, the second man dropped. They were far enough away, Ethan wasn’t sure if he had killed them and he wasn’t sticking around to find out. He sprinted toward the car as the engine roared to life and slid over the hood. He caught the passenger door and dove in. Bethany threw it in reverse and rocketed out of the driveway. Slamming it in gear she spun the tires and they roared down the street.

“Get the map out!” she barked.

Ethan barely managed to get his seatbelt fastened. He opened the glove box and pulled out the map.

“Navigate.”

“Okay, two miles ahead is a decent sized highway. It will lead us to the freeway heading north.”

“We’re still going to your brother’s in New York, right?”

“That’s the plan
, unless you have a better one.”

“I got nothing.” Suddenly
, her eyes widened in horror. Ethan felt that same bone chilling cold descend in the car. He looked at Bethany as her face turned ashen gray and she screamed. But she was looking at….nothing…what the hell?

She yanked the wheel to the left onto a residential road. Out of nowhere
, a black and white unit, it’s lights flashing and siren wailing, appeared in the intersection directly behind them. Holy hell, if she hadn’t turned when she did, the black and white would have t-boned them. He stared at her in shock. There was no way she could have seen it.

“Map! Map!” She gulped deep breaths trying to master her fear.

“Four blocks, right turn, same highway.”

“Got it.”

She looked in the rearview mirror and Ethan glanced over his shoulder. A second unit had joined the first.

Ethan grabbed the
oh-shit
handle as she turned on the street. Ahead they saw the highway. Luckily it was still early, hardly any traffic. She turned left and floored it.

Ethan worried about her obvious terror
, but she looked again in the rearview and her fingers relaxed their death grip on the steering wheel.

“They’re both Dodge Charger Pursuit vehicles,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips.

Ethan marveled at the change he witnessed in her.

“Do you know what that means?”

“What?”

“It’s going to come down to who’s the better driver.” She jerked the wheel and flew over the grass covered median. The tires spun, throwing up a rooster tail of dirt and rock. She turned the car and headed in the opposite direction.

“Bethany,” he said, his voice strangled. “What are you doing?”

“We
gotta lose them. If we try to hit the freeway, we’ll just have state troopers on our ass too.”

“Shit, Bethany, I know you can outdrive these guys in your sleep
, but you can’t outrun a radio.”

She shot him a withering glare. “Your confidence is contagious. Get that damn
ed map again.”

“What do you want me to look for?”

“Industrial…no people. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. So any sort of industrial area. We need to stay away from downtown and residential.”

“Okay,” he said dubiously. But suddenly he found it. “Off ramp, now!”

She jerked the wheel again and slammed on the brakes. The first black and white shot past them.

“Perfect timing,” she said as she gunned the engine again. “He was going for a pit.”

Ethan squeezed his eyes closed. Holy hell, he was going to die.

The second unit became the lead pursuit as the first slammed on its brakes, backed up and trundled over the grass separating the highway from the off-ramp. “Turn left, go under the highway,” Ethan said as he looked over his shoulder then straightened. He spotted the red light at the intersection. Bethany was going too fast to stop.

His gaze landed on the console and he hit two buttons. The siren screamed to life. Bethany jumped.

He grinned at her. “It’s an unmarked unit
, but it has emergency lights in the grill. You can’t see them unless they’re on.”

“Oh that so rocks!”

He started laughing. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was the fact that his life was going to end soon and violently that made him giddy.

“Focus!”

“Yes ma’am!” But he had to wipe the tears from his eyes so he could see the map.

“Okay, look for alternative routes. If they have a unit anywhere near us, he’s going to jump on us any second now.”

There are two parallel streets about the same size as this one, one north, one south of us. The roads leading to them are minor residential.

“It’s still early, we should catch a break
, but we need to watch the clock. Once people start heading to work, we’re going to have a problem.”

“It’s only about three miles to the industrial area and it’s huge, with access to the freeway.”

“All roads lead to Rome.”

Ethan caught a flash of red and blue through the trees lining the road ahead. “Unit on the right.”

“I see him.” A block before they intersected the southbound unit, Bethany again turned left.

“This street, right turn,” Ethan said.

She asked for more speed from the Charger and the vehicle literally dug into the corner. “I love this car.”

“You said it would handle like a dream.”

“It does. I want one.”

“Honey, if we get out of this alive, I’ll buy you one. I don’t care what strings I have to pull.”

It was her turn to laugh. “I’m holding you to that.”

They flew toward the industrial complex. Again Bethany looked in the rearview. “Three units,” she muttered and Ethan didn’t know if she was talking to herself or to him. “Relatively small town, so not an overabundance of units and officers. Most likely they were getting close to shift change and would be congregated closer to the department. They know we hav
e a Pursuit model, but don’t know if we have a radio or not. That means they’re probably not on their standard channel or trying to keep communication coded. That lends itself to confusion, especially for rookies – and this sleepy town probably hasn’t seen this kind of action in years, if at all. We might have a fourth join the parade, but I think we would have seen him by now.”

Again her intellect and knowledge astounded him. It was amazing how she used logic to turn the problem over in her mind all the while driving like a true pro. She was the girl of his dreams.

The thought startled him and he forced himself to look at the map. “Industrial complex dead ahead. Railroad tracks coming up fast.”

She sucked in her breath.

He looked up and saw the track crossing. The lights blinked and the bells rang, but the small-town crossing did not have any bars. A train blew its whistle, quickly approaching.

Bethany tried to coax more speed from the car.

“What are you doing?”

“I can make it!”

“Bethany!”

“I can make it!”

The car hit the tracks, all four tires coming off the pavement. Ethan stared at the train headed straight for his door. The whistle screamed.

The car slammed them forward as it touched down, the train flew past their rear bumper harmlessly. Bethany whooped as she hit the brakes. She reached over and turned off the lights and siren.

Ethan tried to find his heart, but he had left it on the other side of the tracks. He looked over his shoulder, but the lead unit had been forced to stop. Bethany again yanked the wheel to the left and power braked onto a street that ran parallel with the tracks, leaving black skid marks for several yards. Dirt and rocks flew. Again she slammed on the brakes and threw it into reverse. Turning around to look out the rear window she rocketed backward staying on the street running parallel to the tracks. She proved she could drive backwards just as well as she could forward.

The train was a long one
, but picked up speed. Finally, Ethan saw the last car approaching. Bethany hit another crossing street and whipped the car around to point at the train. She stared down the road they had just traveled.

“Come on, come on, come on.”

Ethan stared at her in confusion then looked down the street.

Just as the last train car cleared the crossing before them, Ethan caught a glimpse of the first black and white unit cross the tracks in front of the train, in much the same fashion Bethany had just done only giving himself more room. He was much farther down. He had to travel parallel to the train in order to get enough distance to get in front of it.

Bethany crossed the railroad tracks slowly and calmly.

“What
—”

“I’m hiding behind the train. They can’t see us over here. I went left and made the burnout so they would see the dust
, but again the train blocked most of their view. That forced them to make a choice and encouraged them to choose the wrong direction.” She looked at him and grinned. “Now we head for the freeway, nice and calm, like nothing ever happened and thanks to the industrial complex, a freeway entrance shouldn’t be too far away.”

Ethan let his head drop back to the headrest and closed his eyes.
Oh my God, I am so in love with this woman!

They traveled a few miles before Ethan decided they were far enough away to pull over and allow him to drive. He knew Bethany needed a break. They pulled into a rest stop
, but before Bethany could get out of the car, he reached over and cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her passionately, his desire pounding through his body. But they couldn’t delay. He ended the kiss, breathing hard.

“I just realized something,” he growled.

“What’s that?” The flush in her cheeks and her glittering emerald eyes nearly drove him mad.

“Knowing I’m going to die at any second makes me incredibly horny.”

She blinked at him and a slow smile pulled at her lips.

He
returned her smile. They traded places and returned to the freeway. To his shock and pleasure, she proceeded to unbutton his jeans and her hot mouth closed around his cock. He groaned. She tortured him, she brought him to the edge and left him hanging in agony, only to return and start it all over again. Ethan was glad for the darkly tinted windows. No one could see into the car. His free hand gripped her hair, he found himself moving his hips in time with her mouth.

“Oh God, Bethany,” he growled. “You’re
gonna make me come.”

Her actions intensified and pleasure roared through him. Every muscle in his body clenched. The knot of energy grew in the deepest part of him then spewed outward. He never knew how he kept the car on the road when he climaxed violently.

****

They drove in silence for a long time. Bethany tried to collect her thoughts. She had promised Ethan an explanation
, but she had no idea what to say that wouldn’t make her sound absolutely insane. But she was also pretty sure Ethan needed to collect himself as well. A wicked smile tugged at her lips. God she wanted him, but she was glad to pleasure him, knowing he would make up to her as soon as he could.

He tangled her fingers in hers and pulled her hand to his lips. “You okay?”

“I’m fine…you?”

“I’m perfect,” he said, grinning.

She laughed softly, but too quickly her humor faded. “I promised you an explanation.”