by Debra Webb
Daniels was good, she had to give him that, but she was better. When her respiration had slowed and she felt certain he was nowhere nearby, she slowly, quietly picked her way deeper into the woods. She couldn’t let him catch her. She needed time to think what her next move should be.
If Daniels caught her now she would end up just as dead as Landon. She had to stay alive to protect Solomon, and to bring Daniels and whoever might be working with him to justice.
And she had to draw the danger away from Ian. She had hurt Ian too badly already. Nicole could not bear the thought of him enduring any further pain because of her.
She loved him too much.
Nicole stilled. Loved him? Yes, she did. But he would never love her. The sad part was, she couldn’t really blame him.
IAN SKIDDED to a halt at the sound of gunfire. One shot, then another a few seconds later. His heart hammered wildly in his chest. Nicole. Fear, cold and brutal surged through him. Ian pushed forward, running harder. He had to reach her before it was too late. Judging by the sound of the shots, he was close, very close.
He slowed only long enough to see that the dark, nondescript sedan on the side of the road was abandoned, then he ran even harder. A hundred yards later he rounded a sharp curve in the road and spotted the Range Rover.
Ian slowed to a walk when he approached the deserted SUV. He scanned the surrounding darkness, but noticed no movement, heard no sound. Nothing appeared amiss. He hesitated near the Range Rover to look for anything out of place. The driver’s door was ajar, the interior light smashed. Nicole had known she was being followed or suspected danger was close. But why stop here? Some sort of malfunction would be the most likely reason. But the vehicle had been running perfectly yesterday. Someone could have tampered with it during the night, he supposed. Ian swallowed back the fear clawing at his throat. He surveyed the woods that seemed to go on forever around him. She had to be here somewhere, but he didn’t dare call out to her. If his presence had not been detected as of yet, that was all the better.
The distant sound of a voice, male and gruff, drew Ian’s gaze to the woods. The disembodied voice called out Nicole’s name a second time. Ian moved slowly in that direction. Nicole was out there, and hot on her heels was the man who had been sent to find Solomon. Somehow Ian had to get between them. Head off the danger. He focused on slowing his breathing and calming his heart rate while blocking all else from his mind. He had to concentrate, focus on his goal. Sound was his enemy now. The ground was covered with fallen and decaying leaves, twigs and branches. The brush was thick, making the going difficult. Slowly, silently, Ian stole his way through nature’s maze. He paused to listen frequently, assessing even the vaguest of noises, watching for movement in the shadows.
Nicole couldn’t be far, nor was her pursuer. That thought propelled Ian forward, pushing him faster, risking the possibility of making some attention-drawing sound. If he couldn’t get between the two of them, his only option would be to draw the man’s attention.
Anything to protect Nicole.
Chapter Ten
The minutes ticked by, each second punctuated by the beating of Ian’s heart. The fear for Nicole’s safety and the run from the cabin had caused Ian’s fury with Nicole to abate. Later, when she was safely in his care once more, he would make good on his warning. For now, his every sensory perception was sharply focused on his surroundings. Each nocturnal sound was carefully analyzed and utilized either to avoid an area or to head in that direction. Ian moved steadily, discovering the occasional broken branch or disturbed cluster of leaves to indicate someone’s passage shortly before him.
An hour crept by before Ian felt confident that Nicole had indeed outmaneuvered her pursuer. He smiled in spite of his irritation with her when he considered just how damned good Nicole was…in too many ways to list at the moment. And when he caught up with her, he was going to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget. Ian blended into a stand of trees and paused to allow the sounds, however remote, to saturate his senses. With Nicole apparently safe, he intended to concentrate on overtaking her shadow. And when Ian got his hands on the bastard, he would regret every moment of anguish he had caused Nicole. Ian knew ways to inflict pain, physical as well as mental, that made even him cringe. He intended to use every single technique in his extensive repertoire.
A twig snapped, jerking Ian to full attention. Twenty-five or thirty yards to his right, he estimated. Slowly, making sure to keep himself camouflaged by the trees, Ian moved in that direction. He was close now. Very close. Anticipation flowed swiftly through him. Leaves rustled, slightly farther away. Nicole’s shadow was moving back down the mountain. Had he given up so soon?
Ian frowned. Instinct warned that this was just another ploy of some sort. The man had been entirely too relentless, had taken too many extreme measures, to simply call it a night when he couldn’t track Nicole down as quickly as he had hoped. No, Ian determined, the bastard was doubling back. Another smile tugged at Ian’s mouth when realization dawned. The man knew Ian was here, and he had decided that he would take Ian if he couldn’t have Nicole. Well, Ian mused, he would just see how good this guy was at cat and mouse.
Soundlessly, Ian moved in the direction of his pursuer. He waited and listened. The other guy moved more quickly now. Time to throw him off course. Ian picked up a piece of decaying wood about the size of a shoe and pitched it to his left as far as he could. It rustled a few leaves then plunked to the ground. Silence ruled for the next ten seconds. Then the brushing of a branch against nylon fabric, the crinkle of leaves beneath the weight of a footfall. He had taken the bait. Ian moved with great care and as much stealth as possible in that same direction. His pulse jerked into high speed. He could almost smell the confrontation.
Snap. Ian froze. A small twig hidden beneath the leaves had broken under his right foot. Another snap directly in front of him…only a few feet away. Ian raised his weapon into position. A glint of something shiny in the moonlight caught his eye a split second before he heard the distinct click of the safety being disengaged on a weapon. Nicole’s Beretta was solid black, no chrome. His breath stilled in his chest and he remained absolutely still. Waiting for the next move.
Ian whipped to the right ten degrees and prepared to fire. The glittering chrome barrel of a nine-millimeter leveled a bead right between his eyes. The man stood no more than ten feet away. He was shorter and stockier than Ian. A swiftly receding hairline and dark eyes stared back at Ian from a pale complexion that looked even paler against the dark jacket he wore. He didn’t look the least bit happy. And that fact gave Ian a great deal of pleasure. While Ian watched, the man moved two steps closer, into a small moonlit clearing. Ian moved into the clearing as well, his gaze never leaving the other man’s.
“Well, well,” the man said, irony in his tone, “looks like the night might not be a total loss after all.”
Ian lifted a skeptical brow. “I don’t know,” he mused. “From where I’m standing, it looks as though you’ve lost out all the way around.”
A sly grin slid across the man’s pudgy features. “Oh, I think Nicole will be more than happy to do business with me now. She seems to have a soft spot when it comes to you. I’m sure she’ll want you back in working order.”
Ian tightened his grip on his weapon. “I’m relatively certain she doesn’t have any tender feelings at all when it comes to you,” he said offhandedly. “So you don’t mind if we cut to the chase and I simply shoot you now, do you?”
Anger flashed in the man’s wide gaze. The low-slung full moon provided ample light for Ian to watch the changing expressions on his indignant face. The man might be annoyed, but he understood the situation perfectly. Without Nicole, he would never find Solomon. Right now, Ian was the only bargaining chip he had. It was not likely that he would do anything foolish, such as shoot Ian where he stood.
“What’s to keep me from killing you first?” he demanded heatedly. “You haven’t got anything I need.”
&n
bsp; Ian cocked his head and eyed him speculatively. “Are you certain of that? Nicole and I have discussed a great many things in the past few days, including the Solomon case.”
The man snickered. “Don’t try to fool me, Marshal—or should I say ex-Marshal? Nicole wouldn’t give you Solomon’s location. She’s only using you, Michaels, just like she did three years ago.”
Ian’s anger flared. He didn’t need to be reminded of what Nicole had done. He knew all too well. He gritted his teeth against the almost overwhelming urge to kill the bastard where he stood. But he couldn’t do that…not yet. “Perhaps,” Ian allowed tightly. “But it was me she came to, and I haven’t let her down yet.”
Another disgusting chuckle. “But she gave you the slip, didn’t she? Never let it be said that Nicole Reed is anything less than one fine piece of work. When I get the information I want from her, maybe I’ll give her a go myself.”
Ian suppressed the reaction that burned in his chest. He blinked to clear the desire to destroy from his eyes. The man was baiting him. But Ian would pick the time to retaliate and it wasn’t now. “Your agenda is none of my concern,” Ian said calmly. “I have my own plan.”
Some of the cockiness drained from the man then. “What plan?” he snapped.
“I didn’t get your name,” Ian said, ignoring his question.
The man grinned widely. “Daniels,” he offered as if the knowledge was a trophy. “Agent Daniels, formerly of the Federal Bureau of Investigations.”
Daniels. So Ian had been right. It was an inside job. And Daniels had faked his own death to cover himself. “Bravo, Agent Daniels,” Ian allowed without enthusiasm. “You’re smarter than Nicole thought.”
Daniels’s grin died an instant death. “Too bad I can’t say the same for you. You didn’t have a clue that Nicole was working you like a puppet on a string.”
Ian smiled. “Not a one,” he agreed. “But who’s working whom this time?” he suggested.
Daniels nodded as realization dawned. “Makes no difference to me what you two are up to, I just want Solomon.”
“Take a number,” Ian returned. “You’re not the only one who wants Solomon.”
Daniels shook his head slowly from side to side. “You don’t know squat about Solomon, Mr. Fancy-pants-PI.”
“You think I don’t know about the money?” Ian was fishing now, though he was certain it was about money. The only thing he didn’t know for sure was whose money and how Solomon had managed to get his hands on it.
A pallor slid over Daniels’s features. “You can’t know about that. Nobody knew about the money Solomon stole from the cartel but Landon. Not even Nicole knew about that,” he argued hotly. “I saved Solomon’s sorry ass, gave him a new start, the least he can do is pay up.”
“Nicole knows more than you suspect, Daniels,” Ian assured him. “Why do you think she replanted Solomon in the first place? She wanted him all to herself. In her mind, she was just as instrumental in saving his life as you.”
Daniels’s face darkened, a sharp contrast to the previous paleness. He was irate now. “That bitch had better keep her hands off my money. I didn’t kill Landon and give up everything for nothing. We have plans for that money and nobody is going to take it away from us.”
Ian gave himself a mental pat on the back for scoring right on the mark. Daniels did have a partner. Now it would only be a matter of finding out who. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Nicole has a few plans of her own,” Ian said evenly.
“Screw Nicole!” Daniels roared. “She gets nothing but a bullet between the eyes. If you’re stupid enough to go along with her, you’ll get the same thing.”
“Do I shoot first, or do you?” Ian asked casually. He steadied his gaze down the length of his weapon’s barrel. “Nicole will get it all if we kill each other right now.”
Daniels glared at Ian from behind his own weapon for five long, tense seconds. “We could strike a mutually satisfying deal,” he proposed hesitantly.
“I’m listening,” Ian replied as if he didn’t care one way or the other.
“You give me Solomon’s location, and I’ll give you a third of the money.”
“Half,” Ian countered.
His jaw clenched, Daniels shook with fury. “I told you I’m not in this alone,” he growled. “Including you, there’s three of us, we cut it three ways.”
Ian shrugged. “I’ll have to think about that.”
“You have ten seconds, then I shoot,” Daniels warned.
Ian smiled. “Why wait ten seconds?” He angled his head slightly as if taking aim.
“Wait!” Daniels bellowed. “All right, all right! Fifty-fifty then.”
“Think about it,” Ian interjected. “Without Solomon you get nothing. I can produce Solomon.”
“What about Nicole?” Daniels ground out.
“What about her?”
“She knows too much,” Daniels clarified. “She’ll never go along with this, she’s a straight shooter.”
“I’ll take care of Nicole,” Ian said coolly.
Daniels smiled again. “I guess you deserve that. After what she did to you, I don’t blame you. I just want the pleasure of watching.” His face twisted with the implication. “If it wasn’t for her, I’d already have that money. She’s been nothing but trouble.”
“I’ll contact you,” Ian told him in a dismissing tone. “Call my office and leave a number.”
“Don’t try to double-cross me, Michaels,” Daniels warned. “I’m not a patient man. You mess with me and I’ll kill you.” He smirked as if he had just remembered some significant point. “Remember, I’m dead. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
“I’m sure your partner would appreciate your staying alive until he has his cut of the money,” Ian reminded.
Daniels backed up a step, his weapon still carefully aimed on Ian’s forehead. “My partner isn’t worried,” he said cryptically. “Can you say the same about yours?”
Ian silently watched as Daniels cautiously backed into the enveloping darkness of the dense forest. The man was one sick bastard. Ian had every intention of seeing that he got his, and his partner as well. Ian would follow Daniels, just to make sure he left as he had said he would. Only a fool would trust a man like Daniels to stick to his word. Once he had ensured that Daniels was out of here, then the real task would loom before him.
Ian had to convince Nicole to go along with this plan. She wouldn’t like it. Nicole wanted Solomon, the scumbag, protected at all costs. But somehow Ian would convince her to ignore her instincts and trust him on this one.
But first he had to find her.
And when he did, this time he would have his revenge. Remembered desire stabbed at his groin, arousing him instantly to the point of pain. Ian backed into the shrouding darkness of the nearby trees, then slowly lowered his weapon and tucked it into his waistband at the small of his back.
Tonight Nicole would learn that for every action there was an equal reaction. For three years the need to settle this score had seethed inside him.
After tonight they would be even.
NICOLE RELEASED a long, slow breath. She closed her eyes and thanked God she had finally given Daniels the slip. It had been more than fifteen minutes since she had heard any sound behind her. He was obviously lost, or maybe he had given up. She pressed her forehead against the tree trunk next to her and forced away the too-vivid images of Landon and his office…of her rental car and her apartment building. She was tired and cold. For one long moment she wished she had killed Daniels, but her shot had been blind, an effort to divert attention from her mad dash into the woods. It had worked, just barely.
Ian.
She had no way of knowing if Ian was safe. Her stomach twisted into a thousand screaming knots of agony when she considered that if he were okay he would have been here by now. She had to make her way back down to the road, and then to the cabin. She had to know. He might need her help. Pain sliced clear through to her heart when she co
nsidered that he might be hurt or worse.
And it would be her fault.
She had left him totally defenseless. Stupid. Stupid. And for what? Sure, she knew who the bad guy was now—or at least who one of them was. But what price had she paid? Why hadn’t she considered that she was putting Ian in danger with her stupid ploy? Why didn’t she think? She had known that they were being watched. She should have been more careful.
Just like three years ago…she didn’t think.
And look at the price she’d had to pay.
Ian would never forgive her.
The cold hard muzzle of a weapon suddenly nudged the back of her skull. Alarm surged through Nicole’s body, she stiffened. Fear tightened around her neck like a noose. A hand closed around the grip of the weapon beneath her jacket, knuckles brushed her lower back as he withdrew the piece. Nicole shivered and cursed herself for being distracted. She should have heard his approach. She knew better than to let her guard down like this. There was no excuse. She blinked back the tears of frustration gathering in the corners of her eyes. She would not cry. Nicole set her jaw hard. Let the scumbag kill her. She would never give up Solomon’s location. Whatever Solomon had that Daniels wanted, as far as Nicole was concerned, he would never get his hands on it. She heard her weapon hit the ground somewhere behind her and to her left.
The cold steel pressed harder into the base of her skull, igniting her fury. Reluctantly she raised her hands in surrender. Did he want her submissive?
“You can rot in hell, Daniels,” she spat. “I’ll never give up Solomon’s location.”
