A weight settled in the bottom of Lara’s stomach. What was best for Maisy was her mother. Any pain Lara might feel in the transition didn’t matter. End of story.
The stony silence ringing from the man behind the wheel abruptly caught her attention.
“You’re glad they’ve found Izzy alive, aren’t you?” she asked.
A long breath huffed from Ethan. “Yes, I’m glad she’s been found.”
The words were gentle and affirming, but the tone was cautious, even secretive, as if he were holding something back. She’d heard that tone from him before when he hadn’t wanted to tell her about the contract the Draytons had put out on her life. Realization struck her, and her head spun.
“You think information is being kept back. That Izzy might not have made it, but the public isn’t allowed to know she’s gone. If Ronnie or his father hear the news that she’s in the hospital, they might return to finish the job and be caught. She’s bait. Just like Maisy and I are.”
Ethan turned his head slightly in her direction. “I don’t know that’s the case with Isabelle, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up about your friend and then have them dashed.”
Lara’s gut curdled. She’d needed this reminder that she was a pawn in a bigger game. If she kept that truth squarely in the forefront of her thoughts, she’d have proper ammunition to battle this foolish attraction to Deputy Marshal Ethan Ridgeway. He was nothing to her other than the man tasked with protecting her and Maisy, all while he tried to harpoon the sharks swimming after them.
* * *
Ethan rubbed the aching spot on his chest where the bullet had struck him just under his heart. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know this is a harsh situation for you. Hopefully, it will be over soon. As much as I dearly wish I could offer more reassurance about Isabelle, I can’t make any promises. You’re a good friend to her, you know. You’re certainly going well beyond the extra mile to keep that baby safe. Rest assured, I will do the same thing for you both.”
What effect his encouraging speech had on Lara, he couldn’t tell, because she was sitting directly behind him and he couldn’t see her face. This was one of those times he could use a pair of eyes in the back of his head. She had his deep respect already for the way she’d been handling herself. A lot of people would be panicking, but she rolled with the punches and came back swinging—sometimes literally, as the bruise on the arm of a certain hitman on her porch could attest.
“I appreciate the multiple times you’ve risked your life on our behalf,” she said, her voice tinged with the weariness that the ebb of adrenaline brought about. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. I was just doing my job. How is Maisy?”
“Sleeping.”
“Good. I’d like to keep driving until she wakes up. Then we can pop briefly into a convenience store in the nearest town. We’ll need to get gas, and we can take care of our needs and grab some food and beverages.”
“Sounds like a plan. I think I’ll take your advice to try and take a nap until then.”
The sudden blare of an unfamiliar ringtone raised the hairs on the nape of Ethan’s neck. The noise seemed to be coming from inside the center console. He pulled the vehicle over onto the side of the road, under the cover of a copse of pine trees, and lifted the console lid. A compact burner phone stared back at him. The screen was lit with an unfamiliar number.
“Are you going to answer it?” Lara’s voice quavered. “It could be Vincent or Ronald Drayton checking on the status of their abduction squad.”
“Or it could be a middleman seeking the same answers. But, yes, I’m going to answer it and hope to coax some info from whoever it is.”
Ethan lifted the receiver to his ear. “Hello.”
Stone silence answered.
“You’re not one of mine,” a harsh voice suddenly blurted. “Who is this?”
“Deputy Marshal Ridgeway. Not who you were expecting?” He laced his tone with acidic ice.
A guttural curse singed his ear in response from the caller. “Why aren’t you dead yet? Just wait, you—”
The furious rant was cut off and silence fell.
“What my son means—” a cool voice ended the pause in conversation “—is that this can all be over in a moment. Give us his daughter—my granddaughter—and we will go away. In fact, we will leave the country and be no problem again. Simple as that.”
Ethan barked a laugh. “You know it’s not that easy. Ronnie needs to go back to prison and you need to join him. Tell us where you are, and we’ll pick you up. Then it will be over.”
The older man snorted. “Allow me to speak to Maisy’s guardian.” Vincent’s tone had turned impatient.
“Not going to happen.”
“Then expect us when you least expect us. We are going to take custody of our own.”
The call went dead.
“They’re still coming after us,” Lara said, voice flat.
“You know it, but now I have a cell number to pass on to my colleagues. It’s a long shot, because I’d be surprised if Vincent didn’t discard his phone as soon as the call ended, but we can’t assume so. Pinging or running GPS on the number might help us get a fix on these crooks’ location. Or at least where they were as of a minute ago. I’ll call Terry on this burner phone and then toss it so no one can track us through it. We left your cell at the Jackson police station. I still have mine, but it’s turned off and the battery has been removed.”
“Then we can’t be found via cellular service?”
“Correct.”
“Okay, but please ask Terry if my mother is safe.”
“Consider it done.” Ethan punched Terry’s number into the burner phone, and it rang several times. “Come on, buddy, pick up.”
At last, a familiar voice muttered a cautious hello.
“Terry, where are you? Are you okay?”
“Ethan!” The man’s tone sharpened. “I didn’t recognize the number.”
“Burner phone in the car. Belonged to our perps.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. The ambulance just arrived, as well as a state highway patrol car. We’re good. You?”
“Fine, but I just got done talking to both Draytons on this phone. I’ll send you the number they called from.”
“I’ll have our people see if they can get a location.”
“Good. Lara is understandably on pins and needles about the status of her mother. Can you check on that? I’ll hang on to this phone until you get back to me.”
“On it.”
The call ended and silent minutes passed. But finally, the burner ringtone sounded, startling a gasp from Lara.
He pressed the speakerphone button on the burner. “What did you find out?” he asked his partner.
“Not much.” Terry sighed. “Mrs. Werth wasn’t present when local officers arrived at her condo to take her into custody, but there was no sign of intrusion or any kind of altercation. We’re hoping she’s simply out on errands or gone for some other reason. The officers are sitting in their vehicle across the street, waiting and watching for her return. Ask Lara if she knows where her mother might be.”
A rustle sounded from the back seat, indicating Lara leaning forward. “Check at May’s Beauty Salon or with her friend Salina Gray. She was our neighbor when I was a child. Mom talks to her almost every day. I’m sure you’ve tried calling my mother’s phone. Isn’t she answering?”
“Negative.”
“That’s the way my mother is.” The exclamation communicated equal parts disgust and desperation. “I can’t believe how she doesn’t pick up when it doesn’t suit her.”
Ethan grinned into the rearview mirror. “I take it your mom is not one of those folks enslaved to her cell.”
“I used to think that was a good thing.” Lara huffed. “But right now, it’s maddening.”
“Understood. Next time you call me, route through the main office in Virginia. They’ll connect you to the new number we’re all being issued. We’re not sure how many of our phones are compromised since that security breach.”
“Will do.” Ethan ended the call, powered down his side window and flung the phone into the trees.
“We’d better get back on the road,” he told his passenger.
“Sure.” Her tone was heavy. “But I doubt if I’ll be able to sleep now.”
He didn’t blame her for feeling discouraged and probably worried about her mother.
“We’ll find her,” Ethan said.
He put the car in gear and backed out onto the deserted county road. If only he could be certain his words were true.
They drove for a full hour and then Maisy began to fuss, so Ethan started looking for a place to stop for gas and essentials. A few minutes later, they cruised into a tiny one-convenience-store town nestled in the surrounding pine forest. Ethan pulled the vehicle up to one of only two pumps.
“I’m going to take Maisy to the bathroom and change her,” Lara announced.
“Do that,” Ethan said as he stepped outside into warm air laden with the odor of gasoline and juniper from nearby trees. “I’ll fill the tank and ‘rustle up’ some grub, as Terry might say.”
Lara chuckled as she exited the car. Her laugh was a light, pleasant sound he’d not heard from her before, and his spirits lifted. They were completely off-grid, so it might not be too much to hope for a nice respite from being chased and shot at. His lovely charge disappeared into the small but well-kept store with a wiggling baby in one arm and diaper bag dangling from the other. For someone with no experience in childcare, the woman was a natural. His heart warmed.
What would it be like to be a dad with a brave, attractive and intelligent wife like Lara? Would he ever get the opportunity to find out? Correction. More like, would he ever allow himself the opportunity to find out? This was certainly not the time, place or situation to be having these thoughts. But then when was? Thus far, his job had been his world. The US Marshals Service came with demanding responsibilities he’d embraced wholeheartedly and inherent risk he’d willingly accepted. Maybe when this was over, he’d take a little time to reassess where his life was headed.
God, are You trying to tell me something?
He hadn’t felt such restlessness about his single-minded career focus since—well, ever. Not even when that guard detail went sideways years ago. He cringed internally as he remembered the incident. Totally different situation. There’d been no romance involved, just an unwise investment of trust where it hadn’t been deserved. His faith in his own judgment of character had sustained a major hit that had required a long time to rebuild.
Firming his jaw, Ethan put the gas nozzle back where it belonged and closed the cap on the car. Gaze roaming the surroundings, he crossed the distance between the vehicle and the front door of the convenience store. He’d pay cash for this transaction, not only because the ancient pump in this tiny burg wasn’t equipped to accept credit cards, but because he couldn’t afford to leave an electronic record of their stop here.
A bell over the door jingled as he walked through, but that wasn’t the sound that drove his heart into his throat. A screech of tires outside yanked him into a crouching whirl. A black SUV came to a rocking halt on the far side of the vehicle he’d just filled with gas. Three men and a woman, all dressed in dark clothing, lunged out of the SUV, weapons drawn.
How had they been found?
Again.
FIVE
Lara sang softly to little Maisy as the child lay on the changing table and cooed back at her. The baby’s lively kicking and wriggling had made the diaper-change process a bit of a challenge, but at last, Lara finished fastening the tape.
“There you go.” She guided Maisy’s plump little legs back into her lightweight sleeper.
Sudden hammering on the door sent a pang through Lara’s middle.
“We’ve got to go. Now!” Ethan’s urgent growl skyrocketed her pulse.
Lara snatched up the baby, snagged the diaper bag, then opened the bathroom door. Ethan stood outside, grim-faced and gun drawn. He ushered her and her precious cargo up the narrow hallway at the back of the store where the bathrooms were located. A wide-eyed, pale-faced young man stood at the emergency exit. It was the store attendant.
“Go!” Ethan whispered.
The youth jerked a nod and shoved open the door, admitting a rush of pine-laden air. The young man darted outside ahead of them in a full-on run into the woods behind the building. Ethan’s warm hand pressed between Lara’s shoulder blades had her hurrying after the attendant. She bit her lip against a rush of questions and yielded to the pressure even as a strange man’s voice from the front of the store called out their names and ordered them to come forward.
Her feet grew wings. She hugged Maisy close and charged for cover in the trees. A masculine shout came from behind her. Not Ethan. Then a gunshot, with another loud report close on its heels. Enemy fire followed by Ethan’s response?
There was no time to spare a backward glance. She plunged into the woods, twigs snapping beneath her feet and pine needles raking her body. Ahead, the young attendant seemed to know where he was going as he dodged around trees and leaped fallen logs. Lara scurried in his wake.
But where was Ethan?
More gunshots sounded behind her. The deputy marshal was holding off the attackers, giving her and Maisy and the innocent bystander the best possible opportunity to escape. She yearned to help Ethan, but she couldn’t. Getting the baby to safety was the priority and the task fell to her. Besides, she wasn’t armed.
Gunfire rang out again. Lara winced and jerked with every shot, even as her feet flew faster on the heels of the whimpering and huffing store attendant. Another gun blast, and a pained cry sounded in the distance behind her. Ethan? God, please no! A bitter, metallic tang filled Lara’s mouth. So this was what terror tasted like.
* * *
Ethan ducked behind a set of rusting barrels that hugged the rear wall of the gas station. One adversary was down, lying still on the grass outside the rear exit, but the situation was still three to one, and he was running out of ammunition. An arm reached out the door and took another shot at him. The bullet pinged off one of the barrels. Ethan crouched lower, sparing a glance over his shoulder toward the corner of the building.
Whoever was taking potshots at him from the rear exit was no doubt the distraction meant to keep him focused in one direction, but Ethan wasn’t dense enough to think the others weren’t even now coming around the store, trying to sneak up behind him. He needed to move out quickly before he was taking fire from two directions. There wasn’t much help for it. He’d have to sprint for the woods a few long yards away.
Sucking in a deep breath, Ethan sprang from cover and sent a pair of shots in the direction of the rear exit. Then he ducked and rolled toward the tree line even as an adversary zinged bullets into the spot where his torso had just been. Ethan was still wearing his concealed vest, so taking a bullet in the chest was unlikely to kill him outright, but allowing impact to slam him to the ground would turn him into a sitting duck and ensure his demise.
The woods embraced him. He sprang to his feet and lunged behind a fat trunk as a pair of bullets thwacked into the wood. He peered out and returned fire on the two figures—one male, one female—rushing toward his location from around the corner of the store building. As he had expected, they’d been trying to flank him.
Ethan sent a bullet followed by another in their direction. They both we
nt down but quickly rolled in opposite directions—one darting behind the barrels that had recently sheltered him and the other lunging behind a knot of bushes. Apparently, he’d only winged them, but at least wounds would slow them down.
He was out of ammo now. Flight remained his only slim option to survive.
* * *
“Where...are...we going?” Lara gasped at the store attendant as she caught up to him.
The young man had slowed considerably from his original high-speed sprint, and the wheeze in his breathing didn’t sound good. Digging in his jeans pocket, the youth abruptly halted and slumped against a tree trunk. His hand emerged from the pocket with an asthma inhaler, which he stuffed into his mouth. A couple puffs later, normal color returned to the teenager’s face.
“S-sorry.” He bent over, coughed and then straightened. “I...had to stop.”
“No problem.” Lara struggled to control her breathing while bouncing a fussing and obviously frightened Maisy. “Do...we have a...destination in mind?”
“Who were those people with guns?” The store attendant cast wide eyes in the direction of his workplace.
“Thugs hired to kidnap this baby.”
The attendant scowled, gaze hardening. “Talk about lowlifes!”
“Exactly.”
“I’m Bryan, by the way.”
“Lara.” She stuck out a hand and Bryan squeezed it. “If you’ve got your cell on you, maybe you should call the local authorities for help.”
The young man snorted. “What local authorities? The nearest cop shop is half an hour away. Besides, I left my cell on the counter in the store.”
“Never mind.” Lara’s heart fell. “Let’s keep going.”
In Need of Protection Page 5
