Out Of The Night (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

He wasn’t about to let some Russian bitch kill him. His survival instincts kicked
in, and he ducked as the gun went off next to his ear. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed harder.

In seconds, the woman went limp. His ears rung
, and the smell of spent gunpowder filled the interior of the car.

He eased up and her head fell forward against the steering wheel. Between the gunshot and the honking horn, he knew he had to move to a safe place and hide. Swinging his cuffed hands up and over her head, he jumped out of the back door.

Opening the driver’s door, he thought about tossing the woman and leaving her there on the crumbling asphalt for someone to find. Then he rationalized that this wasn’t over yet, he might need her. He searched for a pulse. After finding one, he shoved her limp body to the passenger’s side and slid behind the wheel.

He checked the surroundings then looked at the girl. She’d called him Tony.

A local shop owner across the road must have heard something because he came out with a shotgun. Not wanting to wait around and see what the guy had in mind, Tony sped away.

It was difficult steering and shifting gears while handcuffed, but
he found a way. Besides, he didn’t have a choice, not until he came to a more secure area where people didn’t have guns at the ready.

Making his way through the network of streets, he drove until he came to the first stop sign. As the car idled, he looked both ways,
uncertainty fogged his mind. Nothing appeared or felt familiar.

Careful to obey the speed limit, he saw an arrow up ahead pointing to the airport. Had he managed to get himself lost? He had no idea what to do next.

The Russian woman moaned, and he pulled over to the curb and put the car in park. With both wrists cuffed, he managed to get his right hand into her jacket pocket. He took out the key to the shackles and unlocked the restraints. The steel snapped open, and he threw the hardware on the floorboard.

Watching
her from the corner of his eye, he rubbed his wrists and wondered where the girl fit into all this. He took her gun and checked to see how many bullets were left. With a quick click, he searched the glove box and her purse. Nothing.

His prisoner groaned and placed her hands on her neck.
She shoved her long hair out of her face, struggling to sit up. Her feet slipped and she banged her head against the passenger side window.

He cocked the gun.

She coughed as her eyes fluttered open. Looking at him, she struggled to say something. Her mouth worked, but no words escaped. He guessed her throat hurt too much. She continued to rub her neck and tried to right herself.

“Get out,” he said. “Get out before I kill you.”

“What?” she said in English.

“Get out.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I was sent to…”

“Save it. I said get out of the car, woman, or you’re dead.”
He aimed the barrel at her face.

Sapphire blue eyes widened and her perfect mouth formed a delicate circle.
“You don’t…” She coughed, and the sight of red whelps on her neck threw a curve ball at his conscience.

“I should have shoved your ass out back there in the parking lot when you tried to kill me. But I didn’t. Now I’m giving you a chance to run for your life
, and you don’t have the smarts to take it.”

She pushed her skirt down and licked her pale rose
-colored lips. “You can’t kill me, Archuletta. I’m an American.”

His brows drew closer and he cocked his head. “That’s what you call a good reason?”

Her icy glare captured his attention as shiny, blonde hair caressed her cheeks and fell forward to cover the right side of her face.

For some strange and disturbing moment, he longed to stroke the silky strands and run his fingers through the velvet length. It’d been so long since he’d touched a woman.

Her brow crinkled. “They sent me to get you out of Lubyanka prison.” Her tongue flicked out and moistened a mouth he couldn’t keep his eyes off. “You know me. I’m Abby Williams? Your boss, Frank Hamilton, sent me to retrieve you.” Her blue eye grew intense and narrow. “Don’t you recognize me?”

Did she tell the truth? So far she hadn’t given him a reason to believe a word coming from those pretty lips. Back in Lubyanka, she and Boris were friendly as hell. A
lso, she dressed like in a Russian officer. She had what looked like a military issued weapon, and she even spoke perfect Russian.

When
she’d pulled behind the warehouse, he’d figured she planned to blow his head off. That’s why he’d choked her with his handcuffs. Also, there was the fact she hadn’t hesitated to put the barrel of her gun to his temple. Only a few seconds separated him from death.

She sat scrunched in the corner, her eyes guarded and her movements restrained. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “You’ve ruined everything.”

“Really?” he said, doubting every word. “Sorry if I spoiled your plan to blow my damn head off.”

“I wasn’t going to kill you.”

“Oh, you go around putting a gun to everyone’s head for kicks?”

“You choked me. I came closer to dying than you.”

“Okay, we’re both alive. Now get out of the car and I’ll be on my way.”

She shrugged and held up her palms. “To where?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yeah, I would since it took us days to come up with
a plan to break you out of Lubyanka. There’s a mission to accomplish. Evidently you’re the only one who can pull it off.”

“So
, where were you taking me? To some other Russian hellhole so you could try some new kind of torture. No thanks, I’ll pass.”

She leaned closer to him and pleaded. “I’m an American. Why would I want to torture or hurt you?”

“You have any way to prove that?”

Two people walked down the sidewalk toward an empty field. When the couple spotted them, they stopped
then ran toward them.

“You’re going to blow our cover, you idiot.”

“Get out of the car.”

“I’m not leaving this vehicle until you understand what we’re up against.”

***

Abby watch
ed his steel gray eyes harden as a hiss slipped from his lips.

“I don’t know all the facts. But it seems there is a mission for you in the Middle East.” She let out a long troubled breath. “All crap aside, Tony, they need to know if you can do the job or not.”

“You’re shit out of luck, lady. I don’t trust you.”

“Then let’s go to the American Embassy. Mac Mackenzie is there with A.J. Roddio. They’re both Falcon agents. Talk to them. They’ve been your friends and colleagues for years.
” She touched his arm. “They’ll verify everything I’ve said. If there’s anyone you can trust, it’s Mac and A.J.”

A car cruised by
; the two occupants gave them a hard stare as they pulled parallel. Tony grabbed her head and shoved it in his lap. She let out a yelp, but didn’t move.

Shots rang out and
Tony put the car in gear, speeding in the opposite direction. The unmarked police car spun around, tires squealing. Bullets zinged through the air. The back window shattered, she screamed and stuck her fingers in her ears.

The shooting stopped and s
he cautiously lifted her head. “Oh God, they’re on to us.”

Abby was convinced today would be the day she died. If Tony
’s driving gave any indication, she didn’t have a chance. Trembling, she grabbed the dash as he took the corner on two wheels. He gave the phrase “pedal to the metal” a whole new meaning.

Any minute she expected his right foot to go through the floorboard. The odometer read 160 km, close to a hundred miles an hour. The area they traveled melted into nothing more than a brown blur.

Another automobile joined the one chasing them. As much as she hated to admit anything good about Archuletta right now, he knew how to handle a car. He ran over trashcans and zigzagged through traffic like a car chase in
Fast and Furious
. First a left then a sharp right. Somehow he managed to dodge pedestrians, dogs, and sidewalk signs. Three vehicles from the opposite direction raced toward them.

Abby screamed and put her hands to her face, certain they were going to crash. At the last second, Tony swerved and raced down the sidewalk. The three cars slammed head-on into the two cars tailing them.

Fire, smoke, and car parts filled the air.

Tony quickly turned the vehicle onto an empty backstreet and headed away from the scene. At the end of the narrow alleyway, they came out onto a
boulevard and crossed a bridge, leaving the city behind. After a couple of miles, he turned down a side road then stopped near an old rail station.

The car coughed several times before coming to a crippled halt. Clouds of steam escaped from beneath the hood and the gas indicator showed empty. They were finished.

Abby looked around the abandoned area. They were in the middle of nowhere without transportation.

“Now what, Tony?” She got out of the car. “You’re the mission impossible guy. Got any ideas?”

“No.” He unfolded his long limbs from the car and started walking toward the tracks.

She ran behind him, trying to catch up. “Hey, what about me?” She stumbled, but managed to catch herself. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, but you aren’t coming.”

She caught him by the arm. “Listen, you’ve got to believe me. I’m here for your own good. I’m trying to help you
, so you can do your job and protect America.”

He ignored her.

She hurried to keep up with his long strides. “I’m one of the good people. We have to get in out of the cold. If the FAS should find us, we won’t stand a chance.”

He stopped and looked down at her. “Get lost. I’m on my own. Call a cab or something.”

“I have to bring you in, Tony. You’re our only hope.”

“Then you are in serious trouble, lady. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“Don’t try to deny you’re Archuletta.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know. Don’t know what?”

“Who I am.”

“What?” Her shoulders slumped. “God please get me out of here.”

CHAPTER THREE

The woman released his arm and stood there, her face blank as an empty cartridge. Cold autumn wind blew her hair away from her face and reddened her cheeks. A stubborn strand of hair caught near her mouth and she batted it away “You really don’t know who you are?”

He stared back, his mouth tight. Slowly, he forced himself to take a few deep breaths, hoping to clear his head. He’d been trying that technique for days without results.

“How can that be? No one said you might have amnesia.” She walked around in a small circle, nibbling on her fingernails.

He could almost see her brain working.

“When did this happen?” she asked. “Tony, what caused you to lose your memory?”

He didn’t know for a fact his name was Tony Archuletta, but he damn sure didn’t intend to show his hand until he knew exactly what kind of mess they were in and how the woman figured into the scheme of things.

He shrugged.

“Do you know anything?”

He continued to stare into the distance.

“Do you remember your friend Mac
…your boss Frank?”

He tried, he really did. Nothing rang a bell. He rolled the name around inside h
is mouth, still nada.

Her perfectly arched brows pulled together. “Does the name Tony Archuletta even sound familiar?”

Frustration settled in his gut and spread through his whole body. Why couldn’t he remember his own name? For all he knew, this woman only claimed to befriend him and that wasn’t his name at all.

Could she be in on it? Maybe the Russian
s couldn’t get him to talk and she was their latest tactic. Get him to open up to her, and she’d learn what they wanted.

“Can you talk?”

“Go to hell.”

“It might be better there than back in Lubyanka. And that’s exactly where we’ll land if they find us.”

“I’m not going back there. They’ll have to kill me first.”

“Okay, we agree on one thing.” She looked around. “Do you know anything about this area?”

His eyes moved to the deserted rail station as he shook his head. “Not a clue.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

He shrugged.

“I think we should find a phone. Call the American Embassy and have someone come and get us.”

“You can if you want. I’m out of here.”

“Wait, you can’t go. I risked my neck to get you free and now you want to just walk away?”

“I didn’t ask you to do anything. I don’t even know who the hell you are. And I damn sure don’t intend to go with you.”

“But we can protect you.”

He glanced down at his tattered clothes, the sores and bruises on his body. “You haven’t done a good job so far.”

“Look, you’re one of Falcon’s best agents.” She paced angrily. “You’re a magician who can pull off all this mission impossible crap.” She twirled her hands in the air. “You use disguises and do all these crazy things.” She dropped her hands
, and the air whooshed out of her lungs.

He looked skyward, bored.

“Don’t you know you’re too valuable to the US and the Russians to just let you go?” She stepped closer to him. “You may not want to admit it, but you need help. Like protection, money, and a way out of this country.”

“If I’m as good as you claim, then I don’t need your help.”

“You’re probably right, but I can make it a lot easier. At the Embassy they have clothes, food, and medical care. All of which you badly need. At least let me help.”

“No
, thanks,” he replied. “If I’m a magic man, I’m sure I can figure out something.”

She stepped closer. “Okay.” She let out a deep breath. “Do I look the least bit familiar to you?”

“No.”

“So, you don’t remember?”

“What?”

“You don’t remember at all?” She licked her full lips. “That we were lovers?”

He hated to admit it, but her perfume had tickled the back of his mind the moment they met. It smelled familiar in a good way, but he couldn’t honestly say her face jogged his memory. He needed to be alone, so he could think and figure out what to do. He had to survive and try to remember everything. Especially what brought him to Russia.

One of the men in his cell
had said Boris, their jailer, mentioned Tony might a double agent. If that were true, why were the Russians treating him so badly? Did the Americans want him so they could make him stand trial for espionage?

Jesus, could he really be a spy? Deep inside, he wanted to be an innocent vacationer or something. Helplessness closed in on him like a prison door.

“So, when all else fails, resort to sex. That what they teach you in spy school?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s CIA 101.” She kicked the gravel with her toe. “I’m a
n investigative reporter. Frank Hamilton knows I’ve been on dangerous assignments before. That’s why he sent me here to save your sorry ass.” She gritted her teeth. “According to Frank, only you can pull off this mission.”

“Me?” He laughed. “Man, you’re desperate.”

“Of course, we are. The information you have may save hundreds of lives.”

“You don’t say?”

She ran her fingers through her long hair then tossed it back. “You’re right. We’re in a world of trouble.” She looked at him. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“What?
”

She
gripped his arm and heat darted a direct path to his heart. “Think hard. Was it two weeks ago, five days, or just today?”

He thought for a while. “How long have I been locked up?”

“Close as we can tell, you dropped off the grid two weeks ago.”

No way could his riddled memory go back that far. But he did remember waking up in the cell with his brain on fire. Not just a run-of-the-mill headache, but an actual searing, blinding, puking kind of head trauma.

That alone scared him so badly he’d wanted to scream when he woke up, but he couldn’t. He remembered not being able to move for a whole day. His body functions had shut down completely. He couldn’t even blink his eyes. He knew of nothing but the maddening torture in his head.

Now that the pain had gone, he never wanted to feel that way again. “I think I can go back four or five days.”

She stepped closer. “And what happened during that time?”

“One day I lay on the cot.” The thought of the agony he
’d suffered turned his stomach and made his head spin. He reached out and touched her shoulder to keep from falling.

“Did a doctor come to see you?”

He balanced on his own two feet then rubbed his face hoping to chase the memory away. “No, that was earlier.”

“Before being put in the cell?”

To stop the spinning, he closed his eyes. He tried to remember. He heard murmuring, two or three people talking. What had they said? His mind couldn’t unscramble the words. “I don’t know, but I think there was a doctor.”

She reached out and took his left hand. He opened his eyes. Looking down, he noticed the needle marks on the inside of his arm.

She peered closer then gave him a concerned glare. “I think they may have used drugs.”

“To make me talk?”

“There are drugs that will do that, but they aren’t very reliable.” She carefully looked at the bruises. “They could have come up with something new.”

“A new truth serum?” Damn
, that could be dangerous.

She stepped back. “Could be why you can’t remember.”

She might be on to something. That explained a lot. But not what they wanted to know and why they’d kept him locked up. “Have I done anything to piss off the Russian government?”

She laughed, making him want to smile
, but he knew better.

“I have a feeling you’ve managed
upset
half the world. It’s what you do.”

If she’d meant to insult him
, it didn’t work. He actually had to suppress a grin. Okay, no warm and fuzzy guy here. “When I was locked up, the guards called me .007, Archuletta, and The Ghost. Which am I?”

“All three.” She put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. “Let’s go find the truth. Okay?”

He looked out over the dismal surroundings. A cold mist rolled in bringing more rain and sharper winds. “I’m not going to the Embassy, but let’s find a phone.”

She turned toward a small store that sold groceries. As they walked
, he stayed behind her, waiting and watching.

Ten feet from the door, she turned and said, “Don’t come any closer. The way you’re dressed and your condition might raise alarm. And I don’t know about security cameras.”

He nodded.

“Stay right there. I can see the phone from here.”

“Okay.”

“
For now, I’m just going to have them get us a few things to survive.”

Again
, he nodded.

She walked ahead
and stepped into the phone booth. She stared at him like she didn’t trust him to wait. He wondered about the conversation taking place on the phone. Could he believe this woman? What if she summoned more reinforcements?

He
’d turned to walk away when she called out to him. “Hey, wait up.”

He stopped.

“Everything we need will be here in less than ten minutes.”

“Who’s coming?”

She shook her head. “No one. I just explained the situation, and Mac told me not to push too hard.”

“This Mac
is a friend?”

“You’re practically brothers.” She blew into her hands. “All you Falcon agents are close.”

“How many of these Falcon guys are there?”

“I don’t know for sure. Like I said, I’m a reporter. But I do know Mac, Brody, Arman, and A.J.” She smiled. “And of course, Frank.”

“This Frank, he the boss?”

“Oh, yeah. W
ith a personality like a pit bull. But President Davis loves the guy. So, Frank gets a lot of stuff done.”

Tony
looked back the way they’d come and had to fight the desire to run, to get away as fast as he could before they found him, locked him up, and tortured him until he couldn’t breathe.

She must’ve sensed his fear for she reached out and took his cold hands. “It’s going to be okay. I personally owe you that much.”

He reached over, hooked his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his lips. He’d meant the light contact as a ploy to see if it would rattle his memory.

He never intended for the kiss to turn passionate. He pressed against her body
, and she wrapped her arms around him as if he was a life raft and they were adrift on the open seas.

Her warmth surrounded him and kicked up his heart rate. The intensity of the moment seared something deep inside him to the point of real fear. He had to pull back to the surface so he could gasp for air. For the first time in days something felt vaguely familiar. A dim light in his head came on
, and he knew with a certainty that shook him to his core he’d kissed this woman before.