Running (12 page)

The dark sedan he’d
noticed fifteen miles outside of Gainesville was still there three
cars back.

He sped up.

The sedan sped
up.

As did the white Buick in
the second lane.

The two cars blocked the
small SUV in perfectly.

Like they’d practiced
it.

“
Blondie, tighten your
seatbelt. And get your weapon and Seb’s extra clips. I put two in
the glove box.” He wanted to look at her, but he didn’t. He kept
his attention trained on the road, and on the two cars.

“
Someone’s found us.” It
wasn’t a question. She did as he ordered, after shoving all the
files and folders to the floor board beneath her feet. “What do you
think they’re planning?”

“
Nothing good. Nothing
good at all.”

He jerked the wheel to the
left, cutting into the exit lane faster than he thought the little
SUV could handle.

The sedan
followed.

The Buick a millisecond
later, confirming Seth’s suspicions.

“
Yep. They’re not exactly
going to play nice.”

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

***

Paige was surprised at how
effective Mick could be when he wasn’t glowering at everyone around
him. Too bad the ogre worked IA. If he had been a regular agent,
he’d have actually been a good one.

Hard to compliment him on
something, but he’d gotten her in to see her sister. And wasn’t
that what was important?

Carrie was asleep on the
couch in the conference room. It was the worst couch in the
division, brown suede-leather and hard as a rock. She must have
been exhausted to have been able to sleep on it.

Of course, they’d slept on
far worse as teenagers—including gravel and concrete.

Sebastian stood guard over
her, like Paige had expected. He was staring out the window—which
faced the PAVAD parking garage. Where this had all
started.

“
How is she doing?” Paige
stared at her sister.

Her pregnant sister. Had
she
ever
imagined
that being a possibility before? How did Carrie feel about it?
They’d spent so many years being afraid, and being responsible for
only themselves and each other. And now Carrie was going to be
responsible for the most helpless kind of person of all.

But Carrie wouldn’t be
alone. She’d never be alone again.

“
She’s tired. Worried
about Al. She wasn’t hurt, if that’s what you’re worried about.
Seth wouldn’t hurt her. And he won’t hurt Al. I’d stake my life on
that.”

“
Did she say why your
brother took them?”

“
All she’s said was that
he is in some sort of trouble and needed her computer and her car.
But he didn’t think he’d get out of the parking garage without
them. He didn’t know who she was. And he didn’t know I worked here.
He dumped her off at the truck stop after he realized who she was.
With his sincere apologies and a kiss. Which is typical Seth. Ask
Cody about my brother sometime. She’ll tell you some stories.”
Sebastian pulled a chair away from the conference table and rolled
it toward his wife. “He kept Carrie’s computer, so she wasn’t able
to copy the data he had. But from the glimpse she got of it, it
included names, dates, and what looked to be amounts. Other than
that, she has nothing.”

“
And
your
other
brother
doesn’t know what’s going on? Why was he brought in on
it?”

“
Seth’s
partner went to Sin when he couldn’t find Seth at the time they
were supposed to meet for their friend’s funeral. When Seth’s car
was found abandoned. That’s the extent that I know with Sin. Sin
and I don’t often interact. We email, and that’s about it. Seth,
the same, but the emails are slightly more frequent. And our lack
of contact is more because of the nature of his position as
a
ghost
, rather
than familial strain. He also keeps in touch with our sister,
Sarah. Seth’s not the one for family good-times,
Paige.”

“
And he hasn’t gone to
your sister?”

“
No. She
lives in southern Indiana. Opposite of the way he and Al were
traveling. And he wouldn’t involve her in
anything
to do with the FBI. None of
us would.”

“
But he
took
my
sister by
gunpoint. And from what I heard, kept her and your wife cuffed for
hours. That doesn’t speak of an innocent man.”

“
No. It speaks of
desperation.”

Paige could understand
where her unit chief was coming from. It was a nasty spot he’d been
put in. From three angles. His wife. His brother. And one of his
team. In the scheme of things,
Al
would have to be his lowest priority. And
that
would bother him,
greatly. But family was family, wasn’t it?

Family was something Paige
would never understand.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

***

Al held the weapon, ready
to put her training to good use. “I can’t get a visual on the
number in each car.”

“
Maximum capacity for both
vehicles is five each. But that wouldn’t give them much room to
move around.”

He was just as cool as his
brother would be in the same situation. She found that reassuring.
“Much room to do what they’re planning. Whatever that
is.”

“
I’d say driver, passenger,
and back. Three maximum, each vehicle.”

The Buick came in fast,
right up against their back bumper.

Al recognized the
experience in the move. Whoever they were, they were professionals.
They’d played car tag before. “They’re moving in—navy
sedan.”

“
I see it.”

The road they’d pull off
onto was a small two lane, half the size of the one they’d just
left. Generic, nothing exceptional. Traffic was less than a fifth
what it had been on the highway.

There would be no large
crowds of vehicles to use as distractions.

They were going to have to
play this out, either offensively or defensively.

And hope that they got
through it.

The Buick passed, coming
directly to the side of the SUV. Al could see the shadows. Tinted
windows; darker than the SUV’s. Not a Bureau vehicle.

“
I’ll admit it, I’m at a
loss here.”

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

***

Seth’s head was filled with
possible scenarios and curses. He’d gotten her into this. And he
should be damned for it. Another black mark on his soul.

Those bastards would not
touch her while he lived.

It was just his job to make
sure that
he
lived
long enough to keep her safe.

He gunned the engine, cut
the SUV sharply left. Directly in front of the Buick.

The sedan
followed.

“
Hang on,
sweetheart.”

He spun the SUV, thankful
that it had four wheel drive. And that it maneuvered well. He
gunned it as fast as he could, in the opposite direction of the
other two cars.

He went off pavement. An
exit road was five hundred feet ahead of their position. But they’d
have to pass both vehicles to reach it.

It was the only option they
had.

“
Hang on, baby. I’ll get us
out of this. I swear.”

He floored the pedal. The
SUV bumped and jarred over the gravel alongside the road. They were
close to the sedan now. He jerked his right arm out and pulled his
passenger back against her seat. Used his own body to block
hers.

The driver’s side window
blew out around him. Fire raced across his arm. His
temple.

He grabbed the wheel even
tighter.

He pushed the pedal to the
floor, yanked hard to the right when the exit road was
there.

“
Go! Go!”

He went. Drove straight
toward the police station.

What other option did they
have?

Chapter
Thirty

***

They lost the sedan and the
Buick, but Al wasn’t the least bit reassured that it was a
permanent loss.

That little police station
maneuver of Seth’s had worked. For the time-being.

Now she had to worry
about
him
and
being found. “You think we were followed?”

“
From Nina’s. Had to be.
Someone was most likely watching her place. Dammit. I should have
realized.” He sat still while she cleaned his arm. The restroom
they were in was your typical rural gas station. She wasn’t
completely certain they weren’t going to catch anything by being in
there. And she wished she had something more than hand sanitizer
and a manicure set from her purse. “I don’t think there’s anything
in the wound. Maybe a tiny bit of glass. But I do think you need to
go to the hospital. I can’t do stitches.”

“
We are not going to the
hospital. Go inside. See if they have anything you can wrap the
wound with. Bandages. Even paper towels. We need to get out of this
town, and fast. How bad is Red’s car?”

“
You trusting
me?”

“
Do I have any other
choice? And baby, please be careful. I’d hate it if something
happened to you.”

“
Gotcha. Don’t bleed to
death on me in here.”

“
I won’t.”

Al did as he instructed,
hoping the blood on her clothes wouldn’t draw too much attention
her way. She grabbed shop towels from the automotive section. They
were designed to be disposable, but where stronger than regular
paper towels. She grabbed a box of clear plastic trashbags and a
roll of duct tape. Not ideal. But it would cover the
window.

She grabbed a bottle of
peroxide and some painkillers from the small section of groceries
and quickly paid.

She returned to the
restroom.

He was pale, too pale. The
bleeding was slowing, but had it happened in time? She wrapped his
arm as tightly as she could. “I really wish you’d let me take you
to an urgent care, or something.”

“
Baby, I’ve had worse. I’ll
show you the scars some time. Let’s go. I don’t want to be out in
the open for too long.”

“
At least drink this.” She
gave him the orange juice she’d grabbed inside.

“
Thanks.”

“
Drink it. All.” It would
help; she hoped.

“
I’m going to survive,
toots. I promise. Then you can kick my ass when we’re done.” He
grinned. She forced him to let her help him back to the
SUV.

“
I’ll hold you to
that.”

“
How bad did they mess up
Red’s car?”

Al looked at it. “Not too
bad. Body damage mostly. But you’re going to be in to your brother
for at least five hundred.”

“
I can handle that.
Alessandra…”

“
What?” She looked at him.
Saw the regret in his eyes. “Don’t even think it.”

“
Mind reading one of your
skills?”

“
My
mother is one of the leading psychologists in the country, you tell
me. You’re feeling guilty for what
almost
happened.”

“
Shouldn’t I?”

“
Maybe a
little. But remember this—I
chose
to come along on this journey. And the one thing
my parents made sure to teach me was to
own
my own actions.
Let’s go. We need to put
some miles between us and this town. Before they come back this
way.”

Because she seriously
doubted they
weren’t
going to meet up with those guys again.

They needed help, and fast.
“You rest. I’ll drive. Amarillo by morning, and all that
jazz.”

Chapter
Thirty-One

***

She let him sleep. What she
should do was find the nearest police station and surround them
both with some sort of protection.
Then
she could call Ed Dennis or
Malachi. Even Mick.

She passed the next exit.
She looked at the man sleeping beside her and made a quick
decision. They needed help. And a safe place to regroup. And like
it or not, they were plastered all over the national
news.

Someone had tracked them to
Gainesville—who’s to say that someone didn’t already know where
they were headed? And if that someone was high enough up the Bureau
ladder like Seth seemed to think, wouldn’t they have alerted the
hotels and motels in the possible travel area? It’s what she and
Sebastian would have done. Even if it meant having a junior agent
or two on the phones all day and night.