by H. L. Wegley
“Before you go … who’s covering for me, for … you know?”
“That would be me. Get some rest, dude. Talk to you later.”
If Shaw was covering for Cody, that meant Shaw would know about Gemma. Well, he would know about her before she ran. With the FBI at the U.S. Marshal’s disposal, they would find Gemma before long.
He couldn’t let that happen. Headache or not, concussion or trauma to Cody’s brain—none of that mattered. The marshals had never lost anyone who had followed the rules of WITSEC and Cody’s charge, Gemma Saint, was not going to be the first.
Not even if I have to sneak out of this place to find her. And not even if it kills me.
Chapter 16
“Gemma, we’ve got to get out of here.” Lex studied her face for a moment in the semi-darkness of the cave.
Long, dark hair hanging in damp curls. Large, almond-shaped brown eyes questioning him. Even wearing her serious look instead of her smile, she was absolutely, spectacularly—”
“Lex? Are you even listening to me?”
He was now. “Yeah.”
“The Sheriff’s boat is out there.”
“You mean the one with the big Yamaha outboard on it?”
“Of course. It says Sheriff on the side, as plain as day. Lex, where is your mind right now?”
He tried to wipe the silly grin from his face.
“Never mind. Don’t answer that.” Gemma paused. “There are two Jet Skis and some people swimming in the water. So how are we going to get away? If anyone sees us, we’ll have too many questions to answer. If they took us in for questioning, or anything like that, we could be spotted by the Fibbies, maybe even be on local TV. We wouldn’t make it through the day alive.”
“What an optimist. You’re just a little ray of sunshine.”
“I could be if you can tell me how we’re going to get out of here.”
“I’m going to slip out and take a look at the cliff above us and the shoreline from here to Round Butte Dam at the north end of the lake. Those are our two options, other than getting picked up by the sheriff.”
“Please, Lex, don’t let anyone see you. If you do, we’re dead. Those guys won’t let us get away again. They would take whatever extreme measures they needed to—”
“Extreme measures? Gemma, they shot an RPG at us and blew our boat to smithereens. I don’t know how much more extreme you can get.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I don’t want to find out. Be careful out there, because I …”
He waited.
She left her head leaning against his shoulder and didn’t seem to want to move.
How would she feel once the danger was gone? Could Lex James be so fortunate as to have Gemma in his life, permanently? Not if he couldn’t keep her alive, and that began with getting out of this cave undetected.
Lex cupped her cheek. “I’ll be careful.”
Gemma sat up and sighed.
Lex drew a sharp breath as he slid down into the chilling water.
* * *
How long had Lex been gone? Fifteen, twenty minutes?
Gemma hadn’t anticipated it would take that long to check the cliff. Maybe the holdup was trying to remain hidden from the people investigating the boat.
If they caught Lex, she would be on her own, completely and totally alone. That idea was no more appealing than swimming thirty yards under water.
Out on the lake, two or three engines started. In a few seconds, the noise faded into the background. We’re the police leaving?
Splashes sounded near the cave opening.
Was it Lex?
She slid to the water’s edge, sat on a rock, and dangled her feet in the water. Gemma leaned down, peering out of the cave to see if all the boats and Jet Skis were gone.
Something grabbed her foot and tugged. She gasped and yanked her foot free.
Lex popped up out of the water.
She put a hand on the top of his head and shoved him back under. He deserved it. This was not a time for pranks.
Lex surfaced a few feet away and climbed out of the water. “Did the Loch Ness Monster come after you, Gemma?”
She shook her head. “Little boys never grow up, do they?”
“It’s the curse of the Lost Boys. But Captain Hook just left in his ship. If we go now, we’re home free.”
Gemma stood up on the rock where she’d been sitting. “They all left?”
“Yep. Boats and Jet Skis all gone, at least for now.”
“What about the cliff?”
“It’s still there.”
“Lex James, what did you find? Are we about to climb Mount Everest?”
He climbed out of the water and stood on the rock beside her. “Not Everest. More like Mount Gotcha.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? We get to fall and do the Fibbies job for them?”
“Not exactly.”
“Lex, since the sheriff’s boat left, can’t we just walk and swim along the shore to the dam? There’s a road there.”
“If we work our way carefully up the cliff, following the grass, we can get two-thirds of the way up with no real climbing. But …”
“Then comes the gotcha?”
“I can’t see the top that well from down here. The last one-hundred feet is a vertical cliff that has tumbled down in places. The problem is, if the grass stops, we have to climb rocks. And the only places we can climb are where the cliff has collapsed. Wherever the cliff collapses …”
“Rock slides? That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
Gemma closed the distance between them and circled his shoulders with her arms. “If we were to die leaving here, I don’t want my legacy to be that I died doing something really stupid. Let’s take the shoreline to the dam. Please, Lex.”
“Even if it might require a little underwater swimming?”
“I survived that already. How far is this trek to the dam?”
“Half a mile. Maybe three quarters. Probably a couple of hundred yards in the water. Hopefully, none under it.”
She released her hold on Lex, took his hand and pulled him with her into the water. Even when the water level reached her chin, Gemma remained calm. How had she managed that?
Pirate ships. Lost boys. She’d experienced it all today. And Lex had gotten her through it. After all, Peter Pan did teach Wendy to fly. She even sang a song about that.
Sometimes Lex made her feel like she could fly, but Gemma wasn’t going to burst into song no matter what Lex taught her.
* * *
“At least they didn’t arrest us.” Gemma’s big brown eyes looked up at him, oozing innocence.
“How could any red-blooded man arrest you after that performance?”
“Performance? Lex, we didn’t do anything wrong. We walked along the shoreline because we had no choice. And we weren’t going to blow up the dam. We were trapped by circumstances beyond our control. That’s the only reason we walked into that restricted area.”
“Gemma Saint turns on the charm and the hearts of men melt. They stumble over themselves to do her bidding. They—”
“That’s enough, Lex! My charm doesn’t seem to have any effect on the Fibbies. Let’s just hope this ride to Madras the security guard promised us doesn’t include one of those guys.”
“You’re pretty cute when you get riled. Did you know that?”
“You enjoy teasing and tormenting me, don’t you?”
He would enjoy that for a lifetime, given the chance. But it was time to get back to the business of trying to stay alive.
“No comment? You’re taking the fifth, aren’t you?”
“Gemma, I think this is our ride. We need to plan our next move, you know, what we need to do in Madras.”
She glanced at him from the corners of her eyes with a smirky smile painted on those perfect lips. “I suppose I could find some young dude in a nice car and charm him into driving us back to KC’s house.”
Lex had no claim on Gemma. Why did her joke about flirting with another guy—a young man, not the aging security guard—turn Lex into the green-eyed monster?
A white service truck slowed and stopped beside them. “Heard you two needed a ride to Madras.”
The driver of the oversized pickup, a twentysomething man, had his eyes laser focused on Gemma.
Lex leaned toward her and whispered. “Here’s your chance. Talk him into taking us to Crooked River Ranch.”
She stomped on his toe.
“Yeah.” Lex limped toward the truck. “We got stranded on the lake shore. Thanks for helping us out.”
Gemma stepped in front of Lex and opened the front door of the king-cab pickup. She slid in beside the driver.
If the eyes of the driver were any indication, Lex had ceased to exist. He slid into the back seat behind Gemma.
“Whereto in Madras?” The driver set his eyes on Gemma and waited.
“Uh.” Gemma turned and looked back at Lex. “We probably don’t want to go to my place, do we?”
She might have things there that could help them, but her place might also be watched.
“No. Just drop us off at the Safeway,” Lex said.
Gemma jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at Lex. “He’s a klutz. Fell in the water and ruined his cell.”
Lex poked the back of her shoulder.
“No problem,” the driver said. “If you need a cell, you need to go to Wal-Mart. I’ll take you to the superstore in Redmond.”
The wide-eyed look Gemma gave the guy almost got her another poke in the back. “Y’all don’t have to carry us all the way to Redmond. That’s twenty-five miles out of your way.” Her speech was a soft, rich drawl, poured out like molasses from a jug.
The driver’s smile spanned the width of his face. “No problem. Glad to do it.”
Sure he was. This was not the Gemma that Lex had gotten to know over the last two days. It was a show for Lex’s benefit … or punishment.
“Y’all are so kind. Thank yeeuu.” Her Southeastern Texas accent was even getting to Lex, though he knew it was staged.
Lex needed to get his mind back in this game.
The windows of the truck were tinted dark and they wouldn’t be stopping in Madras. Those were two pluses to the change of plans. Less chance of being spotted if the black ops team were surveilling Madras.
Lex’s soggy wallet had enough cash to buy a cell phone. His first call would be to KC to check on the boys. Beyond that, his plans blurred.
The seemingly intractable problem was how to bring law enforcement in to protect Gemma and Lex without endangering her. There could be BOLOs out, or other information about them. It was too risky to trust local police.
Thirty-five minutes later, when they pulled into the Super Wal-Mart, Lex still had no solution.
Lex opened his door. “Hey, thanks, man.”
Gemma slid out and turned to face the driver. “Thank yeeuu so much.”
“Anytime. Take care, now.” The driver let his eyes linger on Gemma until she closed the door.
The truck rolled away down the parking lot.
“Gemma, was that—”
“Don’t even start on me, Lex James. Cuz’ if y’all do, I’m fixin’ to blow up a storm.” She paused. “Now, if you’ll be calm, rational and stop accusing me of being Delilah—”
“Don’t you mean Scarlett O’Hara?”
“That’s enough, Lex. We need to go into the store, buy a phone, and figure out a way to make sure we’re still breathing at the end of this day.”
“But, Gemma—”
“Is the person you just saw who you think I am?” She pulled him through the door into the store.
“No, but—”
“But nothing. I don’t want to hear another word about it. But you are kinda’ cute when y’all get jealous … in an obnoxious sort of way.”
Lex opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head.
She grinned and pointed to the other side of the big superstore. “I think the phones are over yooonder.”
Someday, if that day ever came and they were still alive, he would get revenge.
Twenty minutes later Lex and Gemma stood outside of the store. Lex had finished setting up the cell phone and reality had returned with all its danger and malevolence.
“Time to call KC.”
Gemma nodded. “But, Lex, don’t worry her by telling her what we’ve been through.” Her soft drawl replaced her playfulness and the heavy accent.
“I’ll have to play that by ear.” He keyed in KC’s number.
“Hello.” Her voice sounded tentative, cautious.
“KC, this is Lex.”
“Thank God it’s you. Where have you been? I needed to call you but couldn’t reach you.” The tone in her voice was unlike anything Lex had ever heard from this woman who seemed the master of any situation that came her way.
“Lex, I—”
“KC, I need to tell you what happened. That FBI team, if that’s who they really are, chased us down Otter Bench Trail and then down the river. We sort of borrowed a boat, but they flew over in a chopper and blew it up with an RPG.”
“Good grief. That’s the story that’s been playing for the last few hours on the local news stations. Are you both okay?”
“We’re okay. Tell you more about it later. We’re at the Redmond Wal-Mart. Can you pick us up?”
“Lex …”
The tone of her voice sent a tingling up the back of Lex’s neck. “Yeah.”
“Two guys broke into my house in the middle of the night. They took Josh and Caleb.”
Chapter 17
At 3:30 p.m., Gemma stood beside Lex in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
KC’s silver-gray SUV turned in from the street and rolled through the lot toward them.
Gemma couldn’t imagine how badly KC must feel. It would be hard for her to face Lex after the boys were kidnapped from her house.
As Gemma stood with her arm curled around Lex’s waist, it almost seemed that her children had been taken. Josh and Caleb, so full of life, questions, and too smart for their own good, sometimes. No matter how depraved they were, the Fibbies wouldn’t hurt the boys, would they?
The driver side window came down as KC’s vehicle rolled to a stop beside Gemma and Lex.
“I’m so sorry.” KC reached out of the open window and gripped Lex’s arm.
KC’s arm was scraped and her wrists had been wrapped in bandages.
Gemma leaned in and laid her hand on KC’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“No!” The eyes of this red-haired, Irish princess flashed anger so intense Gemma took a step back. “We’re going to find the boys, rescue them, and I’m going to add some notches to my M4.”
Gemma slid into the back seat.
Lex circled the SUV and rode shotgun. “What happened, KC? Did they hurt you?”
“They taped me to a chair. I just got loose about noon and I’ve been trying to call you since then.”
“How were the boys doing when you saw them last?”
KC pulled back onto the street, headed toward northbound Highway 97. “They were calling those men some names that I don’t think those thugs understood. The leader of the group told them to be quiet. So they started talking in their own language. Lex, these men want you and Gemma. I don’t think they will hurt the boys, intentionally.”
“My boys will give them more than they bargained for. But, KC, you didn’t know where Gemma and I were, so you couldn’t tell them. But did they—”
“They tried to get me to tell them, but it didn’t work.” KC had spared them the details of her ordeal.
“I’m so sorry, KC.” Gemma reached forward and put her hand on KC’s shoulder. “Do your wrists—”
“I’m fine, Gemma. It’s not the first time I’ve had a run-in with government black operations.”
“No, it isn’t,” Lex said. “Where’s Benjie? They didn’t take him, did they?”
&
nbsp; “Yesterday evening, I had a premonition, a feeling that something bad was about to happen. I took Benjie to his grandparent’s house. They’re going to watch him until this is all over. As it turns out, I’m thankful I did that. Who knows what those thugs would have decided. They might have taken him to control me.”
“I’m sorry we brought our trouble to you, KC,” Lex said.
Gemma clenched her teeth as anger flashed white hot. “Until someone cleans house in that blasted DOJ, so it can live up to its name again, every American is in trouble.”
“But not like you and Lex,” KC said as she drove around the loop and onto the ramp for 97 north.
Lex stared at the dash with a look so intense he might burn a hole in it. “KC, will you drop me off at the Otter Bench trailhead to see if my car is still where we left it yesterday?”
“Sure. But you might want to check it out for any booby traps before you drive it.”
“We took off in such a hurry, them chasing us down the trail, that I doubt they had much time to think about bombs and such. They were pretty intent on just shooting us.”
“They almost did,” Gemma added.
KC accelerated to highway speed and merged into the traffic on 97. “Are you a runner, Gemma?”
“Used to be, in high school.”
“That probably saved your and Lex’s lives.”
“She ran me into the ground,” Lex said. “Do you have any idea where they might have taken the boys?”
“Let’s get your car and then meet at my place to strategize about the twins.”
Gemma made a mental note. KC had avoided Lex’s question. “We’ve been calling them the Fibbies. They don’t deserve to be called FBI.”
Gemma snorted her disgust at those who would violate their sacred oath to defend the Constitution and the American people. What did they call it, the United States Uniformed Services Oath? “They promised to defend the Constitution and to faithfully discharge their duties. This group is a bunch of liars and—” She had started to add murderers, but she couldn’t say that in front of Lex after these men had taken his boys. “Well, that’s why we call them Fibbies.”
KC pulled into the right lane and accelerated to well above the speed limit. “There were two Fibbies. There are three of us. The odds are in our favor.
