No Room for Error: A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, Book Seven

by Julie Moffett

  “Okay, thanks.” I thought about them behind us, laughing at my pace.

  Slash and I took off. Regardless of my embarrassment about my fitness, it felt good. I wasn’t much for regular exercise, and I was a klutz at most sports, but running was the one thing I could do without causing anyone else bodily harm. Well, at least most of the time.

  We didn’t need to talk while we ran, which worked for me in two ways. One, it meant I didn’t have to worry about casual conversation while engaged in a physical activity. That was good because since I’m clumsy, I need to keep all my focus on the physical part. Two, it meant I could save my breath for running, which was really good because I was getting winded a lot faster than I’d thought I would.

  We’d been running for about fifteen minutes when we entered a park. Slash moved a little closer to me. “Don’t look back, but the FBI is no longer behind us.”

  “Jeez. If they were going to stop for a donut, I wished they would’ve asked me if I wanted one. Wait. Why can’t I look?”

  “Because someone else has taken their place and they don’t look friendly.”

  “What?”

  “I said don’t look.”

  I kept my gaze focused in front of me. “Who is it?” My breath was coming in hitches. Maybe it was out of fear or maybe he was just trying to stay ahead of them, but Slash had picked up the pace, and I was struggling. “What if they’re out for a late evening run, just like we are, and they just got in between us and the FBI agents by accident?”

  “They aren’t in running clothes.”

  “The FBI weren’t in running clothes either.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Wait. How do you know they are behind us? I haven’t seen you turn around.”

  He touched my elbow lightly. “I peeked over my shoulder a while ago when we went around a curve. Let’s veer off to the right to see if they follow us. Stay close.”

  I followed him as he turned down the street toward a strip mall. It was harder to see where we were going, because this stretch of road didn’t have streetlights, but the moon was bright.

  I held my breath. Now I heard the slap of their feet on the pavement behind us. They’d given up any pretense of being stealthy.

  “They’re definitely following,” Slash said.

  “Who is they?” Anxiety clogged my throat. It occurred to me that if whoever was following us wished us harm there wouldn’t be a lot we could do to stop them. Slash didn’t have his gun and I wasn’t going to be able to outrun them.

  “Listen carefully to me.” His voice remained completely calm. “We’re going to run as fast as we can toward the strip mall ahead. I’m going to stay slightly behind you. When you reach the first building, run around the back as fast as you can. Don’t stop running even if I do.”

  “What? You’re going to stop?”

  “As soon as we get around the building. But you must keep running for as long as you can. Find a place to hide or keep safe until either I find you or you’re certain it’s safe to head somewhere and call for help. Do you understand?”

  Panic gripped me. I needed more information. A plan. “Yes, but—”

  “No time for buts, okay? Just do as I say. Let’s pick up the speed even more. Go.”

  Adrenaline and fear propelled me forward. We ran in a full-out sprint. My lungs and legs were burning as someone starting yelling at us to stop. I reached the building first and tore around the corner just as he instructed. I didn’t stop running even when I heard shouting behind me. I had no idea how Slash was going to take them on by himself.

  My preoccupation with Slash caused me to lose concentration and stumble. I tripped...just as a gunshot sounded.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I thrust my hands out to break the fall, so my palms and knees took the brunt of my weight. My chin bounced off the pavement and the breath was knocked out of me with a huge whoosh. I slid into the side of a Dumpster, banging my right shoulder.

  I rolled to my side, gasping until I could breathe. As I pushed myself up to my knees, I heard more noise and shouting. Oh, God. Slash was in trouble, possibly shot. I could hear footsteps running my way. Someone was coming after me.

  I staggered to my feet, ducking behind the Dumpster. Blood dripped from my knees, sliding down my shins and into my socks. I looked around for something, anything, I could use to protect myself. I spotted the glint of a metal pipe leaning against the side of the Dumpster. Snatching it, I crouched down, holding it like a baseball bat.

  Seconds later a dark shape ran past the dumpster. The shape had long pants on, which meant it wasn’t Slash. Even though I hadn’t moved, the shape must have sensed me, because it stopped and turned around slowly.

  It was a man. I didn’t see a gun in his hand, but even in the dim moonlight, I could tell his expression was not a friendly one. I couldn’t recall ever meeting him before. He was Asian, probably in his mid-thirties, and looked like he lifted weights for fun.

  He held out his hands to show me he was unarmed. “Well, hello there. Calm down. You’re Lexi Carmichael, right?” He didn’t have an accent.

  “Who are you?”

  “Just someone who wants to talk to you. Okay? No one is going to get hurt. Put the pipe down before you hurt yourself.”

  I gripped it harder. “Where’s my boyfriend?”

  “He’s been, ah, detained.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t come any closer. I mean it.”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, in a series of motions I didn’t see coming, he knocked the pipe out of my hand, twisted my arm behind my back and shoved me up against the Dumpster.

  “I told you to calm down,” he growled. “Now I’m going to have to get rough.” He leaned his head back and yelled something in a foreign language.

  When no one answered, he looked concerned. He yanked me toward him, putting me in front of him in a headlock. “Let’s go. Nice and easy.”

  Slash’s approach was so silent that when my attacker was suddenly yanked backward, it was a complete surprise to both of us. The maneuver freed me, however. When I whirled around, Slash had the man in some kind of body-lock.

  Slash kicked at the back of the guy’s knee. Unfortunately, the guy didn’t go down and instead shifted his weight, swinging a fist at Slash. Slash leaned into the punch, twisting sideways at the last moment so his bicep took the brunt of the punch. At the same time, he delivered a hard jab of his elbow to the guy’s sternum.

  A crack sounded and the guy took a step away, clutching his chest and reaching under his jacket.

  “Gun!” I shouted.

  To my surprise, Slash moved toward the gun, not away from it, delivering a sharp chop to the guy’s inner wrist with his left hand while punching the guy’s left temple with his right fist. The attacker staggered once and went down face-first.

  Slash knelt next to him, fishing in his pockets, but came up empty. He picked up the gun and approached me, pulling me toward him hard. “Are you okay, cara?”

  I stared at him. He wasn’t even breathing hard. “Am I okay? Are you okay?”

  He kissed me, keeping an arm around me. “Didn’t I tell you to run?”

  “I got distracted and tripped. Are you hit? I heard a shot.”

  “I’m fine. I surprised them. I knocked the first one out as he ran around the corner. They didn’t expect me to be waiting there to confront them. He was holding a gun and it went off when he went down. The second one didn’t have time to get his weapon, so we quickly got acquainted. He was well trained, so it took me a bit longer than expected. The third one came after you, which really pissed me off.”

  “Who are they?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all three of them are Asian and this one, at least, has no identification on him. Again.�
��

  Before he could answer, someone said, “Are you okay?”

  I turned around. The two FBI agents stood there, looking around worriedly.

  “What the hell is going on?” the female agent asked Slash. “Where did you go?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing.” He tipped my chin up and examined the scrape. “Looks like it hurts. You okay?”

  “I’ll live.” I touched my chin and winced.

  “Sorry.” The female agent rubbed the back of her neck. “Someone hit us from behind but didn’t take the time to cuff or restrain us. They must have been in a hurry.”

  “That’s probably because they were busy chasing us,” I offered.

  Slash motioned behind the agents. “Did you find those two?”

  “Yes. We just cuffed them. Did you take them out?”

  “Si. There’s one more over here.”

  The male agent walked over and bent over the guy. “Damn. What the hell were they after?”

  Slash shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it was a calculated attack.” He put an arm around my waist. “I think they wanted her.”

  I looked at him in surprise. “Me? How can you be sure they wanted me?”

  “Because after I took one of them out, they didn’t double team me. It was more important to go after you.”

  I considered. “You could be right. He did call me by name.”

  “He did?”

  “Yep. Then he said he just wanted to talk to me. Of course, I didn’t get that vibe at all, especially after he knocked me around and said I wasn’t playing nice.”

  Slash’s jaw tightened and he hugged me tighter.

  The female agent stared at me. “So, what do they want from you?”

  It could have been any number of things, but the twins’ invention topped my list. “I’m not sure. Our chat didn’t last long. Slash, what do you think?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. None of them have identification on them, which smacks of a professional job. Other than the fact that they are all Asian, and trained in a paramilitary style, I don’t know why they were chasing us. I don’t think they expected us to fight back, especially unarmed. We’ll have to question them.”

  I heard the wail of a siren. The police were on the way.

  I leaned my head against Slash’s shoulder. “Oh, no. Does this mean I have to spend the rest of the night in the police station answering questions again?”

  “At least an hour or so.”

  “You got any quarters for the vending machine? Those processed peanut butter crackers always taste better after midnight.”

  He sighed. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  It took the police a couple of hours to question us. Seeing as how the FBI was involved due to Slash’s presence, there was a lot of cross-examination between the two agencies. Whatever the case, I’m pretty sure my file at the FBI was getting thicker as Slash kept getting assigned new sets of agents. I wondered if there was a running bet at the FBI as to who would be assigned to Slash next and how long they would last. I could picture them sitting around a conference table and marking all the times my involvement with Slash had put him in some kind of mortal danger. I was surprised they hadn’t put a hit out on me themselves.

  “Cara?” Slash handed me a cup of water. “You okay?”

  “Yes. Just thinking. I’m tired and my chin and knees hurt, but I’m thankful it’s not worse.” The police had given me alcohol pads and a few bandages to patch myself up. “How much longer do we have to stay?”

  “We’re done. Let’s go home.”

  I glanced down at his hands, which were scraped and bloodied. He’d also taken a hit to the jaw. A purple bruise was forming there. “You got hurt, too.”

  “The other guys look worse.”

  “I know. I saw. Are they awake and talking yet?”

  “Two of the three are conscious. The second one I took out hasn’t come around yet. No one is saying anything and they have lawyered up.”

  “Aren’t you going to stay and question them?”

  “No. The police are handling it with FBI assistance. We’ll see what they get out of them.”

  We headed to the police parking lot holding hands. I glanced at my watch. “Jeez, I have to be at the fab at nine. That’s in about five hours.”

  “I’ll drive you.”

  “No, it’s okay. You’ve got to work, too.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “I know you don’t and I appreciate that. But I’ve got it. I’m only sorry we never got that wine or conversation.”

  “We’ve always got the car ride home.”

  “That we do.”

  We climbed into Slash’s SUV and started the drive to my apartment. I peered behind me. The FBI was on our tail again.

  “I guess this means no more runs alone.”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  I sighed. “It’s not easy to be you, Slash. I’m sorry I’m not making it a walk in the park either.”

  “Au contraire, you have no idea how much better you make it.”

  “But I keep putting you in danger.”

  “You do nothing of the sort. It’s the business we are in. We both know that.”

  I didn’t exactly agree with that, but I didn’t say so. “So, what do you think those guys wanted from me?”

  “Only one thing comes to mind. The twins’ invention.”

  I thought of the revolutionary invention—the microfluid and the tiny canals built onto the microchips. If the manufacturing process were a success, it would completely change the landscape of the technical world. Elvis had warned me.

  There are people who would kill for it.

  I still wasn’t sure how that would make me a target. “But why me? Why not Elvis or Xavier?”

  “The twins have had security on them since they came back from Broodryk.”

  “Well, we’ve both had security on us and that didn’t stop them from trying.”

  “True.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Just how much do you know about the invention?”

  I considered. I wasn’t an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I certainly knew enough to compromise the project. “You think they wanted to question me about it?”

  “Question is a loose term. It wouldn’t have been a friendly exchange.”

  I shuddered. “What? So you are saying this is some kind of industrial spying? Kidnapping? Torture?”

  “Unfortunately those techniques are not new to industrial spying. But, si, that’s what comes to mind. This invention, truthfully, how significant is it?”

  I threaded my fingers in my lap. “Truthfully? Game-changing. World-changing.”

  His gaze lingered on me a bit longer before turning back to the road. I didn’t have to explain further. He understood the Zimmerman twins as well as I did. He was fully aware of what they were capable of producing.

  “The police have already informed the ComQuest executives,” he said. “Apparently they’ve arranged private security for you until you leave for Jakarta. That includes a driver to and from the fab.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I was in the room when the police spoke to the CEO. He was quite distressed.”

  Probably not as distressed as me, but I considered it a moot point. I rubbed my knee. I didn’t want to be the weak link in this situation, but it was looking like exactly that.

  I must have been silent longer than I thought, because Slash reached across the seat and patted my knee. “Don’t worry. Between the private security, the FBI and me, we’ll keep you safe.”

  “I know. Truthfully, I feel the safest with you. But I’m sure things will
be fine in Jakarta.”

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to go. Can you cancel?”

  “I have to go. It’s that important, Slash.”

  “Can’t someone else do it?”

  “Xavier and Elvis won’t trust anyone else with their invention.”

  “Okay, then I’m going, too. Actually, I’ve been thinking I’m due for a vacation.”

  “What?” I turned in my seat.

  He kept his gaze on the road. “I’ve only been to Jakarta once, a long time ago. I’d like to see the city again.”

  I held up a hand. “Whoa—wait. You want to go to Jakarta?”

  “Never hurts to be nearby. Just in case.”

  “Just in case...what?”

  He sighed. “Honestly, I’d rather not speculate. Would it bother you if I came along?”

  “Why wouldn’t I want you to go? As long as it doesn’t interfere with your work and you want to go, I’m fine with it. Besides, if you didn’t go, you’d still worry about me, right?”

  “You already know the answer to that.”

  “I guess I do.”

  A rumble of thunder sounded when we pulled into my apartment parking lot. Slash came around to help me out of the car, even though I was completely capable of doing it with two banged-up knees and a hurt chin. There were definitely perks to this boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

  Slash held my hand as we walked to my apartment. “Slash, will the US government allow you to go to Jakarta?”

  “I’d have to request it. Jakarta is considered a relatively safe location. If I agree to follow certain protocols and agree to be accompanied by a team, they might let me go.”

  “Even after all of this?”

  “Even after all of this. As long as I’m not making a request to go into direct combat or enemy territory, the leash can only be so tight.” A scowl crossed his face.

  I squeezed his hand. “Are you sure about Jakarta? I don’t want to put a crimp in your schedule.”

  “I’m sure. It’s been a while since I’ve had some time off. I’m due.”