The Protector (35 page)

“I know all about that. It wasn’t his fault.” As they turned left toward town, she glanced in the direction of the vineyard, longing for Ike.
  

“He’s got an arsenal in his basement,” Jackson added, “and he fired his weapon at a federal agent.”

“He is not a criminal! And that stuff in his basement is for the course he teaches.” Heat surged into
Eryn’s
face as she whipped her head around to glare at him. “Why the hell is the media saying he abducted me?”

Jackson shook his head.
“Because my boss is an ass.
The media made that assumption when he called in our Hostage Rescue Team. Why else would they be needed?”

Tears of frustration stabbed at her eyes, threatening her composure. She turned her face away to collect herself.
 

The soothing hand Jackson placed on her shoulder put a lump in her throat. “You have every right to be upset,
Eryn
. Believe
me,
I’ve been upset on your behalf. But don’t worry. I’ll keep a closer eye on you this time.”
 

She could tell he meant it, too, but the promise failed to reassure her. She would rather have Ike watching her. Hugging her dog’s neck, she stared blindly at the asphalt ribbon unraveling before them and wondered if the terrorists were watching the news, plotting their next course of action. A sense of unease pulled her scalp tight.
  

“So, where is Calhoun now?” Jackson’s casual question drew her attention back.

“You know I’m not going to tell you that.”

“I hope he has the sense to keep his distance.”
 

Seeing him glance into the rearview mirror, she looked into her own side mirror at the mud-splattered Jeep pacing them. It was too far back and too stained with mud for her to make out the driver. Still, something told her Ike was in it. A thousand butterflies spread their wings inside of her and lifted off.

It would be just like Ike to ignore the threat of imprisonment to keep a watchful eye on her. She didn’t know whether to cry for joy or weep in despair.
  

To her sharp dismay, the Jeep turned off at an intersection and disappeared. Jackson’s grip on the steering wheel relaxed.
Eryn
sat more heavily in her seat and expelled a long breath.

As they turned up the ramp to take the highway to Elkton, she saw that the blockade was still in effect. Tapping his horn, Jackson swerved around the waiting cars and broke into the oncoming lane. The National Guardsman waved him down irately. Jackson displayed his badge, scarcely slowing, and the guardsman let them through.

At the same time, the media helicopter honed in on them. It hovered over them, moving at the same speed as the Taurus. As its thundering rotors sent the windows vibrating, Winston started to whine.
 

Maddox shot the helicopter a dark look. “I think the woman watching you earlier alerted the media,” he said, having to raise his voice to be heard over the ruckus.
 

Eryn
peered in consternation at the white helicopter with the MSNBC logo clearly displayed on one side. “They know I’m in this car?”
  

“I think so.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To the Sheriff’s Office.
Sorry,” he added, “but it’s the only safe place. The entire town is crammed with journalists and media. They’re going to make a rush at us. Stick close to me when we get there,” he added. “Keep your head down and don’t talk to anyone.”

Eryn
considered his instructions. “Maybe I want to talk to the media,” she considered out loud.
 

Jackson shot her a worried look.
 

“To clear Ike’s name,” she added. “So everyone knows he was protecting me.”

“Not today,
Eryn
. I promised you, I’ll try to get his charges dropped.”

“But what if you can’t?”
 

“Look, all my supervisor wants is you. Once he has you, he’ll forget about Calhoun.”

“He damn well better,” she retorted with prim indignation.

Jackson quirked an eyebrow at her.
“You’ve changed,” he said, approvingly.
 

“You’re right. This is my life, and no one’s going to stop me from living it—not the terrorists and definitely not the FBI.”

Her outburst made the agent grin. “Now you’re talking.”
 

Letting the Taurus out of his sight put a fist of anxiety in Ike’s stomach. But he couldn’t ignore the manhunt underway for him. Every main road in and out of the area was choked by National Guardsmen screening vehicles.

Tuning the radio to the local station, he listened for a moment and concluded that the agent would take
Eryn
into Elkton. Shifting into four-wheel drive, he eased off the road, lurched through a ditch, and forded a field that would be planted with corn shortly. Getting closer to
Eryn
without being caught would entail a little bit of trespassing and circumlocution, but for a former Navy SEAL, there was no such thing as impossible.

Whatever it took to keep her in his sight, he would do.

Eryn
drew a sharp breath at the sight awaiting her. Block after block of Elkton’s downtown area was lined with news vans, cars, even motorcycles. Pedestrians toting cameras or wearing sharp-looking suits that marked them as journalists milled aimlessly in front of the two and three-story buildings, a hodgepodge of quaint, historical structures and cinderblock eyesores.

Maddox pressed the accelerator, intent on sweeping her through the crowd unnoticed. But one by one, individuals caught sight of the green sedan and gesticulated. Heads swiveled in their direction. Fingers pointed. In one accord, the crowd began to surge toward the official-looking brick building advertised as Elkton Town Hall.
 

Maddox swept into the parking lot, scattering the crowd by beeping the horn. Individuals seemed determined to get run over. They surrounded the sedan as Maddox drew alongside a huge RV and killed the engine. The hum of voices and a sense of chaos enveloped
Eryn
as she met Jackson’s reassuring gaze.

“I’ll come around and get you,” he said. Pushing out of the car, he let Winston out first. Cameras clicked as the media photographed
Eryn’s
dog. Elbowing his way to her door, he curtly ordered the crowd to back up. Then he opened her door, curled a steady hand around her elbow,
and
 
pulled
her out.

Still, the journalists pressed in on them, thrusting cameras in her face, bombarding her with a barrage of questions. She could see her pale reflection in several of the lenses. A sea of microphones danced before her eyes.
 

“Miss McClellan, do you have a comment for our viewers?”
 

“Move aside,” Maddox snarled. The impeccably dressed journalist thinned her lips and stepped back.
 

“Were you mistreated by the Navy SEAL who abducted you?” asked another voice.

Eryn
jerked to a stop, her temper ignited by the ridiculous and tactless question.

“Not now,” Jackson grated. Using his broad shoulders to clear a path, he escorted her toward two men dressed like the soldiers she and Ike had encountered in the forest. The armed men stepped aside, revealing a door marked Sheriff’s Office. Jackson pulled it open and propelled her inside. They collided with two men on their way out, Jackson’s colleagues,
Ringo
and
Caine
.
 

Both men looked startled to see them.
 

“You found her!”
Ringo
exclaimed.

The fair-haired agent who was their supervisor divided an incredulous gaze between them, his nostrils flaring. “Where in hell have you been, Rookie?” he demanded. “How the fuck did you find her?”

“I’ve already told you, sir, that I won’t tolerate being cursed at, especially not with a lady present,” Jackson retorted, ignoring the man’s question.

“Don’t get smart with me, Rookie.” The supervisor’s pale eyes narrowed. “Now, what’s going on behind my back?”

In what was clearly a gesture of solidarity, Jackson looped a casual arm over
Eryn’s
shoulders.
“Nothing, sir.
Miss McClellan called my cell phone, and I went to pick her up.”

“Is that right?” The man’s complexion turned an unbecoming shade of red. “Then where the hell is Calhoun?” he grated.

“No idea, sir,” Jackson said, easily.
 

It was all
Eryn
could do to conceal her gratitude. She hadn’t realized Jackson had picked her up without the other agents’ knowledge. She looked down at the floor to keep her satisfaction from showing.
  

Caine
finally addressed her, forcing her to look up. “How are you feeling,
Eryn
?”

His concern sounded so forced in the wake of his disgust that she heard herself retort, “Do you honestly care?”
 

The agent wearing glasses sniggered, drawing
Caine’s
wrathful attention. He looked back at
Eryn
, his cheek muscle twitching. “Well, of course, I care. What kind of question is that?” He shifted his focus back on Jackson and lips thinned with resolve. “Hand over your phone, Rookie,” he demanded, thrusting out a hand.

Jackson surrendered it impassively.
Eryn
watched the exchange with concern.

“Take her down to the Sheriff’s Office,”
Caine
ordered, while accessing Jackson’s call history. “We’ll find Calhoun ourselves.”

Concern weighted
Eryn’s
footsteps as Jackson pulled her toward a set of stairs. As they started down them,
Eryn
overheard
Caine
add, “
Ringo
, find out where this call was made and send the airborne HRT unit to that location.”

She would have turned back and pleaded for Ike’s freedom, but Jackson hushed her, sending her a reassuring look.

“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “He’s long gone,
Eryn
. Trust me on this. They won’t get to him in time.”
    

As they entered the musty-smelling basement, she mulled over Jackson’s assertion. If anyone could disappear into thin air, it was Ike. But to think of him as “long gone” did nothing to bolster her spirits. At least, he would get to keep his honor and his freedom, she cheered herself. Plus, he had taught her to be courageous, to face the future on her own.

But who would teach him how to share his feelings and accept the love and admiration he obviously felt unworthy of?

Chapter Sixteen

Over the heads of the crowd in Elkton Town Hall’s parking lot,
Farshad
caught sight of his target’s burnished head. “Keep driving,” he said to Shahbaz as the youth drove slowly past the building. Farshad’s heart warmed with exaltation.

Praise to Allah!
Not only had the National Guard departed just as he and Shahbaz arrived, but Allah had led him straight to the Enemy’s treasure, sparing them the difficulty of locating her amidst this crush of people.
    

Shahbaz pressed onward, threading the large car through a street jammed with vans and cars and hundreds of milling pedestrians. “Teacher!” he exclaimed suddenly, and
Farshad
saw what troubled him. A deputy was directing traffic up ahead.