Dangerous Secrets (53 page)

‶
What are you doing?″
Morgan cried out, gripping the door and the armrest. Jack suddenly left the
road and veered off onto shoulder, then the gravel, dirt and grass. Part of the
guardrail was missing and he angled the big vehicle off the paved road.

‶
It′s ninety miles. For us
it will be longer. There′s no way Chung was working alone.″

‶
You can′t know
that.″

‶
Yes, I can. I know him. He
covers his bases. He′d have a backup plan. The roads leading out of Clay
could be watched in some way, or booby-trapped. They′ve tried helicopters
before. This time they could be dressed as cops or truck drivers,
anything.″

The SUV bumped and she clutched the door frame
tighter to stay seated. Pulling her seat belt tighter, she anchored herself to
the chair. Jack headed directly toward the mountains. Living in Washington,
D.C., and then in the flatlands of the Midwest, Morgan would have thought of
secondary roads that took her through the small towns of America, but she would
never challenge the hills, take her vehicle off-road to an untried track. This
was the stuff of commercials, Hollywood stunt drivers and fools. She knew they
didn′t fit into the first two categories, but circumstance had driven
them to the third.

Holding on, Morgan watched the grass that
replaced the black-topped surface. This could be a mistake, but she
didn′t think she′d bring that up right now. Hopefully Jack had
thought of it. He swung the four-wheel drive vehicle around a hill, cutting
them off from the main road and the road from them, hidden from civilization
and help if they needed it. They were alone, out there in the hills. They had a
tank of gas and ninety miles to cover--less now.

‶
You′ve been quiet a
while,″ Jack said. His eyes didn′t leave the path in front of them.

Morgan glanced through the window at her side.
‶
I
was thinking.″

‶
About what?″ he asked.

‶
Life, society, sociology, group
dynamics, that sort of thing.″

‶
Heavy stuff,″ he replied.

Morgan laughed and turned in her seat.
‶
It′s
not that heavy really. It comes closer to our society, our sociology, than the
world at large.″

‶
Don′t leave me in
suspense,″ Jack joked.

The vehicle bumped over rocks and stones,
through mud and grass as Jack propelled it forward.

‶
A while ago there was a rock
star. Someone extremely famous, but I don′t remember his name.″

‶
Obviously not a country-western
singer.″ He grinned at her quickly before returning his concentration to
driving.

‶
It grows on you,″ Morgan
explained. She smiled at the banter. She didn′t often hear it from Jack.
He was serious, always on point, looking for the sinister, the
life-threatening.

‶
Don′t let me waylay your
thoughts. What was it about society at large?″

“Apparently this guy had a house in a
relatively small town,″ she continued.
‶
Often he was plagued by
overzealous fans, people coming by at all hours of the day and night to gawk,
breaking off fixtures to take away as souvenirs, flowerpots, anything that
wasn′t nailed down. For privacy, he had a twelve-foot fence erected. I
don′t know what kind, but you couldn′t see through it. The
vandalism continued and he was always calling the police. It got so bad that
the police asked him to replace the fence with something they could see
through.″

Jack thought about what she said for a long
moment. Then he said,
‶
You′re saying our fence is those mountains
behind us. We′re out here alone. Vandalism must be dealt with and we have
no police to call. They can′t see us and they won′t come to rescue
us if we need them?″

‶
Exactly.″

***

Forrest Washington reached across Brian
Ashleigh′s messy desk and lifted the remote control. He pointed it at the
television built into the wall of Ashleigh′s darkly paneled office and
turned the machine off. The film of Hart Lewiston revealing he had a daughter
had just completed. The news media was still wrenching stories out of it.
Speculation on what would happen and why he′d chosen this time to break
the story were debated by anchors and news-magazines alike. Washington thought
it was giving Hart greater leverage than his opponent. In the back of his mind
he wondered if Lewiston had used the information for this exact purpose. His
performance before the cameras was practiced, choreographed, orchestrated. He
appeared sincere, stunned and genuinely interested in discovering where his
daughter was. He said nothing about her being in hiding or being instrumental
in helping him escape from a Korean jail. Washington knew he was ignorant of
that.

‶
You′ve always known she
was his daughter?″ Washington asked a question, but there was no question
in his voice.
‶
I
wondered what the reason was for you and Clarence Christopher to attend a
meeting about a twelve-year-old case that involved someone as unimportant as
Morgan Kirkwood.″

Ashleigh sat quietly at his desk, his fingers
linked together as if in prayer. His eyes were piercing, though. Nothing godly
about them.

‶
When she first came to our
attention. We didn′t know.″

‶
We?″ Ashleigh
didn′t volunteer anything.
‶
You and Christopher?″ The
nod was slight, almost not there.

‶
She was naturally investigated
when her name came to us. It was ironic that her parentage showed the name of
the very man we wanted her to rescue.″

‶
Her grandfather is a Supreme
Court judge. Her father is very probably the next president of the United
States, and you let her find out about it on network television.″

‶
Forrest, it wasn′t our
place to tell either one of them. We did what we could to keep her protected
after she came back. We had no precedent or authority to do so. When Hart
announced his candidacy, then she became legitimately protectable.″

‶
But no one told her?″

He shook his head.
‶
We′d already
dispatched people when her call came into the FBI and Jack walked into the
middle of it.″

‶
How did Hart find out?″
Washington asked.

‶
Apparently someone sent him a
package with the information in it. We don′t know whom. All the details
added up for him and he believes he′s the girl′s father. Of course,
we
know it to be true.″

‶
Jack and Morgan are in West
Virginia. They′re heading for the FBI there. I′m leaving this
afternoon to meet them. What do we do about letting Hart know where his
daughter is and what danger she′s in?″ Washington asked.

‶
We tell Lewiston
nothing.″ Brian Ashleigh′s voice was commanding.

‶
He has a right to know.″

Ashleigh sighed.
‶
I know he does and he will, but
we want her safe first.″

Washington understood what he meant. Morgan
Kirkwood was bait. They were looking for something and she was the key to them
finding it. Washington had a report on his desk that explained some of it.
Since he′d talked to Jack, he′d paid special attention to the
climate in South Korea. Tensions were hot there and rising day by day. Rumors
abounded about Pak Chang and his association with Youn-Jung Kim, who later had
a child. The rumor mill claimed he was the father. Public opinion was split
over the issue. His followers hadn′t completely lost faith in him yet.
The only thing holding them off was the woman and child. No one had yet found
them, but that was only a matter of time. Then he′d have nothing to save
him.

Forrest knew that to be true. The proof was in
his office. Jack had sent it to him. The ring and papers arrived this morning
and he′d put a full team to work analyzing everything from the date of
the paper to the handwriting on it. The ring was authentic. The paper too. They
were still checking on the writing, but he should have a report sometime later
this afternoon.

The note Jack sent with the package told him if
it was at all possible, he should find Youn-Jung Kim and her child and get them
to safety. He was sure they were in danger. Washington immediately sent word to
a Korean operative to find her and get her to safety.

Youn-Jung Kim wasn′t the only one in
danger. Jack was too. Somehow Jack and Morgan were the linchpins holding all
these forces in place. Both were in danger and Washington was sure neither knew
how much.

He needed to get to Jack.

To warn him.

***

The terrain was uneven. Jack could do nothing
about reducing the bounce of the vehicle. Each time he tried to avoid a rocky
surface, he ran into another one. Morgan had relaxed her hold on the chair arm,
but she hadn′t let go of it. He noticed she kept looking nervously into
the mirror on her side or up into the sky. Jack should have warned her that he
was going to take a different route. Springing it on her cold seemed to have
brought the fear of danger back to her eyes. Being with her friends was good
for her. She connected with them, felt safe. It would have been good if they
could have stayed there, but after Jack read the papers she had, he had to get
her knew she needed more protection than he could provide and for a much longer
time.

He′d told her they got nothing out of
Chung. That was only partly true. They had gotten nothing from Chung, but they
found his car. Inside it was a Korean newspaper running a story on the election
and current scandal. It didn′t tell them much. Jack didn′t know if
Chung was working to destroy the papers and return the ring so there would be
no question, or if his allegiance was to the side that wanted Chang to lose the
election.

They couldn′t force the mother and child
to submit to blood tests. The public would stand against either side trying to
do that. If the child′s mother hadn′t come forward in twelve years,
she wasn′t likely to without a really good reason.

Jack glanced at Morgan. He was going to lose
her. Each bumpy section of the nonexistent road took his future and her further
away. At the end of this road was witness protection for her and oblivion for
him. He′d broken his rule with her. He′d fallen in love and he
didn′t know how he would survive after he turned her over to Jacob Winston.

The idea of running occurred to him. They could
disappear, skip the country, assume new identities and start over, but he
rejected the idea. Morgan would have agreed, but it was no way to live.
He′d existed that way for a large part of his life, using assumed names and
surviving on his own. He didn′t want that anymore and he didn′t
want to live that way with Morgan. He wanted something normal;
stereotypically-televisionish was his description of what he wanted. Working,
probably teaching at a university, coming home to a family and children each
night was ideal. With Morgan it would be perfect. But that was not to be.

‶
Jack,″ Morgan′s
voice held restrained panic. He glanced at her. She was looking in the mirror
on her side of the SUV. Jack glanced into his. He saw them. Following the SUV
were three vehicles, all heading in their direction, bouncing over the same
uneven terrain as their own vehicle. Jack knew they weren′t mountain
climbers or weekend explorers out to conquer the hills before returning to
their own televised lives. Their motivations were more devious.

Jack pressed the accelerator harder. The Lexus
shot forward, bumping over a hill and leaving the ground for a split second
before it crashed to the earth. Morgan gasped but did not scream. Quickly he
scanned the area ahead of them. They needed a vantage point, a place where they
could dig in and be safe against the trucks coming behind them. Jack
didn′t see any place that fit his requirement. Ahead of them was a high
mountain. It was too far away to afford them the protection they needed.

‶
What can I do?″ Morgan
asked.

‶
Nothing,″ he snapped,
stronger than he intended. He knew she′d want to do something.

She looked in the mirror again.
‶
They′re
gaining on us. We′re not going to be able to outrun them.″

‶
Just sit tight.″

‶
What about all this
stuff?″

Behind them the cabin was full of equipment,
sleeping bags, camping equipment, an arsenal of guns, and a few resources she
didn′t know about.

‶
I could open the back door and
start tossing it out. Maybe they would hit one of them and they′d lose
control.″

‶
Stay where you are,″ he
said. The Lexus pitched at that point and Morgan gripped the seat arms.
‶
Pull
your seat belt as tight as you can stand it. Shoulder harness too.″ Jack
pulled his own. Behind them a column of trucks had formed a line one behind the
other. Jack grinned as he glanced at them. This may be just what he′d
hoped for.

Rounding the curve, he disappeared from the
group pursuing him. He′d hoped for a place to hide, trees high enough to
camouflage their direction, but nothing presented itself to his liking. He
looked at the hill.
‶
It might work,″ he muttered.

‶
What?″ Morgan shouted.
‶
What
might work?″

He headed straight on, toward a narrow crop
with small hills on either side. Behind him he saw the three trucks. Jack eased
his foot off the accelerator, slowing the SUV.

‶
Jack, talk to me,″ Morgan
commanded.
‶
You′re
slowing down.″