His Reluctant Bodyguard (21 page)

"Please, no more tape," she pleaded with a weary shake of her head.

But the guy ignored her and bound her wrists together anyway. The second guy trotted up and shrugged.
Good! Yvette got away
. A little nudge of satisfaction prickled across Avery’s mind as they forced her into the back seat and one sat on either side of her. She leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes in defeat as the SUV rumbled on toward the power plant.

***

Rip drove like a madman, burying the accelerator pedal on the floor and careening around curves on the otherwise dark, empty road. His every thought focused on finding Avery in time, at least until the low fuel light flashed on. Cursing, he tried flipping the auxiliary fuel switch, but the light didn’t waver. Not even pounding on the dash helped.

Uttering another expletive, he slowed the Jeep and babied it along for another fifteen minutes. For awhile, he thought he might make it to the plant, but then the vehicle started to sputter. Rip pulled over onto a wide graveled spot, got out and searched the back for the gas can. He found it easily enough, but it was empty.

Knowing he had no other options, and that he still had several miles to go, Rip grabbed the flashlight out of the glove box and started to walk. Actually more of a jog, and instead of staying on the winding road, he decided it would be shorter and quicker if he went straight up the hill. But the rough ground and thick undergrowth quickly slowed him. Falling down and breaking something definitely wouldn’t help Avery.

After stumbling along for what felt like ages, Rip heard a strange sound. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear it was the tinkling of a tambourine – several tambourines. He shined his flashlight in the direction it came from, and saw nothing, but the sound persisted.

Without consciously deciding, Rip found himself tracking the noises. In addition to the tambourines, he could hear drums. A moment later, he realized he was walking on a path, and several dark figures moved ahead of him. Too late, he switched off the light, but not before the sounds suddenly stopped.

Hefting the flashlight, he prepared to wield it like a club when a familiar voice called out, "’Bout time you got here, Rip
Pollendene
."

"M-mama Simone?" he stuttered in disbelief as the old lady approached. "What are you doing here?"

Her teeth flashed in the darkness, and she sported weird white make up around her eyes and mouth. "Same as you,
mon
cher
, stopping your cousin JB. He’s got more
meaness
planned than hurting your pretty girl."

"I
know,
the power plant. But- -" Rip stopped short as Mama Simone pulled him by the arm.

A moment later, he stood in the midst of a whole group of women, who all wore the same bizarre make up. Three of them held tambourines, and two others had small drums under their arms. Several of them nodded as if they knew him, but he didn’t recognize any of them.

"I told you, me and the Sage Femmes had work to do."
Mama Simone’s tone bordered on chastising.
"Now that we turned away the hurricane, we
gotta
stop JB."

"Turned the- -" Rip sputtered, but the old lady’s censorious look cut him off. Still, he couldn’t help asking, "How will you stop JB? He has men and weapons."

Mama Simone clicked her tongue. "Don’t you worry,
mon
cher
. We will." With a dismissive shrug, she turned and motioned for her companions to follow. "This path leads to the north of the plant where the dam blocks the river. You
comin
’?"

Rip fell into step beside her and lit the path with his flashlight. But after a few minutes, he grew antsy at their slow pace. Twice he found himself inching ahead and then waiting for the ladies to catch up. The third time, Mama Simone patted his arm and said, "You go on and find your pretty one. We’ll be right behind you." As Rip strode away, he heard her say to one of her companions, "That boy, he was always an impatient one."

***

Avery opened her eyes when she felt the vehicle slow. Bright lights washed over the roadway in front of them. She could also see the blocky shapes of the buildings surrounding the plant – the place where she, Rip and Luc had first met up with
Roussellot
.

Oh please, let him and Thierry still be alive!

Something about the place was amiss, but she couldn’t pinpoint what. The sentries waved them through, but instead of going straight ahead into the compound, they angled left.
A half-dozen
tents filled a clearing, large military type tents with men going in and out. The SUV rolled to a stop and Avery’s three captors pulled her out and surrounded her as they walked into the lantern lit encampment.

All the tents looked the same, but only one had guards posted in front of the canvas door. She guessed that JB
Pollendene
must be inside. One of her captors barked out something to the guards, and they stepped aside.

Good! Let’s just get this over with!

Candlelight glowed inside the tent, and a battery-operated fan kept the interior from being stuffy. A young guy in his mid-twenties, who could only be JB
Pollendene
, sat in an overstuffed easy chair, sipping wine from a cut-glass goblet. Avery could see a definite family resemblance in the high, sharp cheek bones and wide mouth. While
JB’s
head wasn’t shaved, his hair was no more than a half-inch, and when he looked at her over the rim of his glass, one of his black eyebrows quirked up in an exact echo of Rip.

"Who is this?"

"Your cousin’s whore," sneered the man on her left. He shoved Avery’s shoulder hard, causing her to stumble forward, but she managed to stay upright.

She lifted her chin and gave the guy her haughtiest glare then turned to JB. "I most certainly am not."

Smiling, JB put down his glass, rose and looked her up and down. She boldly stared right back. He looked ridiculously over-dressed in a formal military jacket bristling with medals and ribbons. Plus, he was nowhere near Rip’s height. Even standing in her dirty bare feet, Avery could see right over the top of his head.

"Then exactly what are you,
cheri
?" he asked as he walked in a slow circle around her.

"I’m his bodyguard." She didn’t let the guffaws of her captors soften her attitude. She stood stiffly as JB reached up and fingered a lock of her hair.

"I’m sure my cousin could find a better job for one so lovely," he murmured. "I know I could."

Avery raked her gaze over him and sneered, "You have absolutely nothing that interests me."

JB’s
dark eyes narrowed. "Don’t be so sure,
cheri
. Shall I show you what I have in store for my foolish cousin Rip and all his friends? Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do!"

As he grabbed Avery’s upper arm and dragged her toward the door of the tent, she realized the guy wasn’t playing with a full deck. The three men who’d brought her here trailed after as JB pulled her outside.

"They thought to run me out of
Saturnina
, but I’ll show them," JB ranted. "I’ll wash all their great plans right into the sea." He suddenly burst into laughter at his own joke.
"Washed away!
How very fitting."

Yep, totally off his rocker.

Why were these people still following him?
Literally
.
Avery turned her head and confirmed that the three guys were still behind them along with the two guards from the front of
JB’s
tent.

The strange entourage continued on past the other tents and into the darkness beyond the perimeter.
JB’s
fingers dug into her arm as he pulled her along, still raving about how he would prove his superiority and make anyone who opposed him pay.

When JB paused in his monologue, Avery finally figured out why the place felt wrong. She couldn’t hear any running water. The first time she’d been here, the sound had been pervasive, but now it was eerily silent.

JB paused long enough to open a metal gate in a tall, barbed-wire topped fence. As he ushered her through, he asked, "Do you know where we are,
cheri
?"

Avery stared down into a dark canyon blocked by a massive concrete dam. On the other side, she could see a vast expanse of water dangerously close to the top of the dam. The realization of what JB intended struck Avery like a physical blow. She stumbled and almost fell.

Gripping both her arms to steady her, JB laughed directly in her face. "That’s right. At dawn I’ll open all the gates and au
revoir
Saturnina
!"

From the looks of the water level, Avery wasn’t so sure the dam would hold until dawn. But she tamped down her fear and horror, and sniffed disdainfully. "You might kill people, but maybe not the ones you want to get rid of. Rip has a lot more supporters than you do."

His nasty smile twisted into outrage. "You lie! My men easily defeated the few puny troops who guarded the road, and they left no one here at all."

Avery knew that wasn’t true, and a small sliver of hope ignited in her brain. Perhaps some of Luc’s men were waiting for an opportune moment. She’d try her best to provide one.

 
"Maybe they didn’t think you were worth bothering with." She steeled herself for the anticipated blow.

But it never came.

As JB drew back his fist, one of his guards rushed over and grabbed his arm. In the ensuing scuffle, Avery saw her chance. Impulsively, she head-butted the nearest goon and sent him sprawling into a second guy. Amid shouted curses, she turned and ran. Not for the gate, but for the top of the dam.

A shot nicked the concrete in front of her bare feet as she sprinted toward a metal box mounted on a low cement pedestal. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her because she thought she saw someone running from the other direction across the dam.

"Avery! Get down!"

It sounded like Rip. But it couldn’t be him.

She sank down behind the pedestal as another shot rang out, but not from behind her. The figure on the top of the dam had paused and fired a pistol. He squeezed off a second round at JB and the other men, one of whom fired back.

As Avery scrunched down nearly prone on the dirty concrete to avoid the flying bullets, Rip slid onto the ground next to her.

Rip? Impossible!

"Rip! My God! What are you doing here?" If her hands hadn’t still been taped behind her, she would have thrown them around his neck.

His teeth flashed white in the darkness. "I’m saving you. After all, it was my turn."

Another shot cracked and the bullet pinged on the metal box close over their heads. Avery flinched, but Rip peeked over the edge of the pedestal, shot twice more and ducked again.

Shouts and one yelp came from their foes. Avery thought the cry sounded like JB.

"Don’t shoot, Rip!"
Came
a muffled shout. "I’m with you!" Then after a muttered cursed, the same voice yelled, "Stay back or I’ll kill your precious JB!"

Cautiously, Rip gazed around the edge of the pedestal. "It’s a guy in a uniform and he’s got JB in a choke hold."

"The guard who helped me," Avery gasped, while at the same time, the man called out, "I’m Henri
Roussellot
. Don’t shoot."

Roussellot’s
brother.
She almost cried out,
then
risked a quick look.

"Out the gate!"
The guard shouted at the other four men. "Or I’ll shot him."

JB jerked at his enemy’s arm and ordered, "Go! Raise the alarm!"

Henri clubbed
JB’s
head with the butt of his pistol while the goons backed away. Dragging the semi-conscious JB, Henri also scooted toward the pedestal.

Rip rose to his knees, and Avery struggled to follow suit, but her bound hands hampered her movements.

"I’ll help you." Setting his pistol on the cement, he turned her back to him and clawed at the tape on her wrists.

After a string of curses, Rip gave a grunt of satisfaction and Avery’s hands separated.

"I love you, Rip
Pollendene
!" In one swift movement, she twisted and flung her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. But only for a moment before Rip’s mouth claimed hers in a quick urgent kiss. His warm tongue swiped at hers, but before she could kiss him back, he pulled away.

"I know, and I love you, too," he murmured in her ear, then pushed her down out of the line of fire.

Avery sputtered in protest, propping her aching hands on the top of the cement to push herself up as
Roussellot’s
brother shouted at the goons again.
"Weapons on the ground, now!"

Inching closer to the pedestal, he shifted his pistol and shot near the goons’ feet. Avery cringed at the weapon’s retort, but also saw the armed men quickly lay their guns on the ground.

In the sudden silence following the shot, Avery detected a strange noise coming from behind them. If she didn’t know better, she’d almost think it was a tambourine. She shook her head, but heard it again.