Running (17 page)

“
Pull the hat up over your
hair. Cover that pretty face. You’ll stand out like a sore thumb
around here.”

“
And just
where exactly is
here
?”

“
Sign said Vernon. I’m not
too sure where that it is, but we should be able to find you a
potty.”

“
Gee, thanks.” She said it
around a yawn and he felt yet another rush of guilt. He’d kept her
up late last night, wore her out. Then turned around and thought he
could escape her early. Had she had even four hours of good sleep
last night? More than twelve since this whole thing
began?

He should be
shot.

Shouldn’t he be as honest
with her as he possibly could? “Get out the laptop. I uploaded some
data onto Red’s hard drive from Brynna. I want you to take a look
at it and tell me what you think. Who knows, maybe it’s not someone
in the Bureau orchestrating everything? But it sure damned feels
like it.” He waited until she had the file open before
continuing.

“
Blackmail. That’s what it
looks like to me And Riaz had always been intrigued by extortion
cases—kind of his thing, you know what I mean?.”

“
Exactly. So my theory is
one of those names on the list is Bureau. Or maybe more than one.
And Riaz either figured that out or the traitor was afraid he
would. And he took out Riaz to ensure that didn’t
happen.”

“
And with Bureau training,
would have a jump up on forensic preventions. That sucks. Do you
have any idea who the other names on the list might be?”

“
I
haven’t had
time
to just sit down and figure it out.”

“
This could be a trap by
him to lure you out. Have you thought of that? I know he’s your
friend, but no man is infallible.”

“
I’ve considered it. But I
trust him. I’ve had to. Don’t you trust your partner?”

“
Paige is
my partner, and Carrie’s foster sister. I can guarantee she’s doing
her best to find me.
Nothing
will stop that girl. Nothing.”

“
Maybe she and Bertram are
together, then.”

Chapter
Thirty-Eight

***

Paige didn’t get a chance
to ask Carrie any questions, and neither did Mick. Sebastian’s
other brother—Sin—and that Hughland guy had barged in before they
could wake Carrie. It burned Paige, but she could see that it
burned Mick even more. The OIG assholes had kept her from Carrie
for hours. And it was ticking Mick off, too. He never liked waiting
for questions to be answered.

And she had to admire the
way he was holding on to
his
temper. Something he rarely bothered doing with
her. The man was downright scary at times.

Still, they hadn’t chased
her and Mick out of the conference room
now
, and that was saying something.
Of course,
they
weren’t saying much of anything. Sin wasn’t even speaking to
his brother more than a small bit.

Wow.

Something had definitely
gone down between them at some point or another.

Cody came in, along with
Payton. They carried food, big bags from the deli down the road.
And—if she wasn’t mistaken—onion rings from Smokey Jo’s. She loved
the rings from Smokey’s. They were the best. Had Cody gone clear
over to Smokey’s to get them? Smokey didn’t deliver, and she rarely
served food this early in the day.

Cody held out a bag to
Paige. “Here. Just the way you like it. Courtesy of
Smokey.”

“
Thanks. Didn’t know she
cooked this early.”

“
She doesn’t, usually. But
she knows Al’s missing and she’s worried. Her way of helping.” Cody
turned to Sebastian. “How’s she doing?”

“
She’s ok.”

“
Still queasy?” Cody
spread the bags out on the table, while Payton pulled sodas out of
another bag.

“
A little. I appreciate
this.”

“
No problem. Let me know
if you guys need anything. I checked on the cat. Paige, your dog,
too.”

“
Thanks Cody,” Paige said
around an onion ring. But she wasn’t focused on what the other
woman was actually saying. Something else had caught her attention.
Why was Sebastian’s brother glowering at Cody like that? They
definitely had to know each other. Hadn’t Cody and Sebastian been
married for three or four years way back when? Cody and Sebastian
were still very close, and even Carrie liked Cody. But Sebastian’s
brother obviously did not.

“
Have they heard anything
else about Al? Seth?”

Something about the way
Cody said Seth’s name had Paige’s attention focusing on her
friend.
Cody
would
know this Seth guy probably better than anyone except Sebastian and
the other brother.

Had anyone thought to talk
to her?

Chapter
Thirty-Nine

***

We’re going to have to get
gas soon.” Alessandra was driving this time, giving Seth time to
think about what had happened between them. She pulled into the
first gas station they saw. “How much money do you
have?”

“
About five hundred. Fill
it completely. I’ll pay. I want you to stay with the
car.”

“
Where are we,
anyway?”

“
This is Vernon. I’ve been
here before. Get something to eat. Some acetaminophen. Arm’s
killing me.” He grinned at her. “Get some condoms. I only had two.
And we do have to be careful, you know.”

“
Yeah. You’re not going to
need them.”

“
I’m hoping to change your
mind on that. I live in eternal hope.” He stepped away from the
SUV.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
Restroom, toots. Alone.
Unless you want to come with me? Think we have time for a quickie.
Be back in a jiffy. Don’t disappear. Or get kidnapped
again.”

“
Like that will happen.
What are the odds?”

***

Al watched him walk inside
and fought the urge to laugh. Incorrigible didn’t begin to describe
the man. He made her laugh. Even when she was so tense she thought
she’d break, the man made her laugh.

He wasn’t as
outwardly
serious as his
brother. But that same core that ran through Sebastian, that inner
strength, that
good-guy
sense of honor, was strong in him.

She kept half her attention
on the gas pump and half on the road. On the traffic passing
by.

Two dark sedans passed—two
identical, nondescript, navy vehicles. The kind she saw every day
on the job.

Bureau. Or someone wanting
to look like it.

Had they seen
her?

How could they not have?
She’d been right there. Of course, the SUV was between her and the
road. Maybe they
hadn’t
noticed?

She grabbed her bag off the
back floorboard, but couldn’t get to the console where her weapon
rested.

The sedans were coming
back.

She didn’t have much
choice, did she?

She looked at the gas
station. Did Seth see? Did she have time to get to him? No. There
wasn’t.

She had no
choice.

Al headed toward the back
dumpster, down the embankment. A creek ran behind the gas station.
The shallow water might just throw off her trail if she needed to
run. Maybe Seth would shake these guys. Maybe he could pick her up
after they were gone. There was always that hope.

Chapter Forty

***

He came out of the restroom
and knew he was screwed. Federal agents were at the counter—ones he
recognized.

Tom Barnes, head of team
three, leaned against the counter, smiling at the flustered female
clerk. Of all the agents in his unit, Barnes was the one that Seth
liked the least. And short of shooting the other man—which was very
tempting—Seth was
not
going to be able to get around the man.

Or the two agents blocking
both exits. No. Seth was totally screwed. But where was Blondie?
Had they already gotten her? Was she ok? Or had they bundled her
into a Bureau vehicle?

Barnes straightened. “Well,
well. Look who it is. Special Agent
Lark.
Or would that be
Lorcan
?”

Yeah, Barnes had figured it
out and he wasn’t happy that Seth had been investigating his team.
Not happy at all. “Barnes, fancy seeing you here. The dogs finally
let you out of the kennel?”

“
Agent Seth Lark or Lorcan
or whatever the hell you call yourself, you’re under arrest for
kidnapping and carjacking and a few other things. This is something
I’m really looking forward to.” Barnes elbowed him in the stomach
and Seth doubled over.

It was so damned tempting
to lay into the other man—something he’d wanted to do for a long,
long time. But there was a woman out there somewhere who understood
the enormity of what he’d been trying to do. Would she follow
through on her promise? Seth had a feeling his Blondie would—she’d
promised she would, and wasn’t she the kind of woman who kept her
word?

Somehow he knew that was
exactly what she would do.
If
he could get these stupid bastards away from
where she was
before
they saw and recognized her. Seth straightened, nodded at the
clerk, who now stood wide-eyed. “This guy’s name is
Barnes
. If someone comes
looking for me who looks
just
like me, as in my twin, be sure to tell him
Barnes. Got me, sweetheart?”

She nodded, her fingers
itching toward her cell phone on the counter. Barnes grabbed it.
“Don’t worry about this, you won’t need it.”

“
Give the girl back her
phone, Barnes. Don’t need to be a bigger fucking asshole than you
already are. I’m going peacefully, aren’t I?”

“
Where’s the blonde woman?”
Carrigan—a pretty decent guy on Barnes’ team—asked. “Word is you’re
traveling together.”

“
Nope. Left the blonde the
same time I left my sister-in-law. They’re good buddies who were
kind enough to give the loser of the family a ride. So…you going to
cuff me or not?”

“
Carrigan, take care of
him. I’ll meet Jones at the car.”

Seth only fought a marginal
amount as Carrigan hustled him to the waiting Bureau sedan. There
were two cars outside, both Bureau. Plus Red’s SUV. Blondie was
nowhere to be seen.

Had they already grabbed
her? Was she waiting inside one of the vehicles? Or had she
realized what was going down and somehow gotten herself out of
there? He hoped it was the latter. He needed her to get what was in
that post office
before
it disappeared forever and he was left chasing his tail
again.

***

Al watched the men rough
handle Seth into the back of one of the Bureau vehicles. There were
four agents surrounding Carrie’s SUV, and she recognized two of
them. Could call out to them; she knew that the two who worked in
Mick’s IA division would be right there to assist her in returning
to St. Louis. They’d keep her safe, and prevent anyone from hurting
Seth, either.

But she’d made Seth a
promise.
He
didn’t
know her brother’s partner and their teammate.
He
just dealt with inner Bureau
corruption and dishonesty. He wouldn’t trust
any
of the agents who had him now.
And could she blame him? The one dragging Seth out of the gas
station was rougher than he needed to be. Far rougher.

The woman who often worked
with Mick stepped up to him and obviously chastised him for his
rough treatment. Al took that as a good sign. Adrian Wordsworth and
Kyra Dillon—Mick’s teammates—wouldn’t
let
Seth be harmed too badly before
getting him to Edward Dennis. To Sebastian, and to her own
brothers. He’d be
safe.

And that meant she needed
to use the key currently hanging from her neck. She slipped her
body even further behind the dumpster, grateful that the sweatshirt
she’d borrowed from Carrie’s sister was dark enough to blend into
the roadside foliage. She didn’t enjoy lying on her stomach next to
the embankment, but it had been the only place she’d had to hide
when she’d recognized the federal vehicles. She’d been halfway
across the parking lot toward the restroom when they’d made their
first pass by. By the time they’d turned around and returned to the
parking lot she was in the ditch and hidden.

Hopefully Seth—or the
cashier—wouldn’t give her position away.

Once the cars were gone—and
it took all of five minutes for them to disappear down the road,
leaving only one agent behind to deal with Carrie’s SUV—Al slipped
out of the ditch and headed back the two miles toward the city
they’d just left. There would be a way to a bus somehow. She’d get
north to Amarillo, get the contents of the p.o. box and then find a
way
back
to St.
Louis that didn’t involve anyone from any federal agency. That
would be one way to ensure that the information Seth so
determinedly sought was preserved. And if she took a bus, she’d
have some time to read over what he’d found. Look for the patterns
he may have missed.