by Becky McGraw
“What do you mean?” she asked, her brows furrowing in the middle. Slade’s eyes fell to her breasts, and she crossed her arms over them.
“These are grown men who work here, mostly single men.”
“And?” she replied, her voice a little higher.
Exasperation filled him, because he knew that she knew what he was talking about, she was just playing dumb. Evidently she wanted him to spell it out for her, and he would. “And you don’t walk around without a bra in front of men like them when you’re built like you are.”
“Built like I am?” she repeated, sitting a little higher in her chair to lean her forearms on the table. “How exactly am I built?”
“Like a fucking Victoria’s Secret model up top,” Slade replied gruffly, and her eyes sparked with anger.
“Let me get this straight...” Taylor put a finger to her jaw, looked toward the ceiling as if in thought, then pointed at herself when she met his eyes. “Because I’m a woman with larger breasts, I have to make sure to wear supportive undergarments so the men here don’t notice. Is that right?”
“You know what I mean,” Slade growled, feeling heat creeping up his throat.
“No, I don’t think I do.” Her head shake caused her silky dark hair to dance over her shoulders. “Tell me—is there a company policy somewhere that specifies that the more well-endowed men here like yourself are required to wear jock straps to hide your packages in case I wanted to stare at them too?” Slade looked away, and she kicked her chair. It rolled to the wall as she stood to lean over the table, putting her breasts very near his arm. “If not, I’d say you and your company could be found to be practicing sexual discrimination in a court of law.”
This woman was worse than Susan with that shit. No fucking wonder Logan had waited so long to hire a woman. Fletcher was right, this was a distraction he didn’t need. He dragged his eyes back to hers.
“I’m not discriminating, Taylor. I’m telling you that teasing them with your um—” His eyes fell to her breasts. “Your assets is just asking them to make rude comments.”
A throaty growl was his only warning, before her palm stung the side of his face and his head rocked on his shoulders. Lola’s secondary growl from under the table had him reaching to put his hand on her head, as his other hand flew up to rub his cheek.
“Your men’s lack of manners, and your own shortcomings in dealing with them are not my fault, Smiley. I quit, and I don’t need my underwear to give you my middle finger.” Taylor flipped her finger up under his nose, then spun on her heel to storm to the door. When she flung it open, Slade saw Levi standing there holding a tray filled with coffee cups, and a pot.
“Where the hell did you park my car?” she barked, and the cups on the tray rattled as he took a step back.
“It’s over behind the barracks, ma’am. The key I had made is in my pocket, but my hands are kind of full.”
“I don’t need your key—I just need you to tell me it’s operational.”
“It’s just the way you left it at the office,” he assured, and Taylor shouldered her way past him, turned left and disappeared.
Levi blew out a breath as he walked in to set the tray down on the table. “Wow, what in the hell did you do to piss her off?”
“Told her she needed to wear a bra in the office,” Slade replied flatly, looking at the empty doorway trying to figure that out himself. He’d tried to be diplomatic, but he’d obviously failed.
“You’re lucky you’re not dead,” Levi said with a laugh.
Slade’s eyes flew to his. “Why do you say that? I thought it was a reasonable request since ninety percent of Deep Six employees are men.”
“My four sisters would’ve had the same reaction. So would my mother, except she’d have probably added a frying pan to her lesson.”
“You think I was wrong?” That confused the hell out of Slade, who thought he was one of the most forward-thinking men at Deep Six. The only one who appreciated that the right woman could do this job as well as a man.
“I don’t know what happened, because I wasn’t in here for the fireworks, thank God. But if you said to her what you just said to me, I’d say she had every right to put that handprint on the side of your face.”
Maybe he was right, Slade thought, as he pushed his chair back to stand. He needed to go find her and apologize. Brushing past Levi, he walked briskly down the hallway and Lola followed him through the living room to the front door. Just as he opened it, he saw her brake at the front gate. He sprinted to the steps, hustled down them then hit the ground at a full run, but the gate opened and she peeled out before he got there.
Stopping at the gate to catch his breath, Slade watched her speed away as it closed and decided it would probably be best to wait until tomorrow to try and find her so she had time to cool off. Finding her shouldn’t be too hard if she was headed to her house, because more than likely the feds would have her in custody for the car bombing.
Not his problem.
He needed to find that kid, and that’s what he was going to focus on. Hopefully, when they questioned her, Taylor Kincaid had enough sense not to mention his name. Since she didn’t know his full name, he wasn’t too worried. Only a few of the local feds would recognize it if it was mentioned to them, and the odds of that happening were slim.
Another thought presented though, that sent a shot of adrenaline through him. All of their cell numbers were programmed into her phone, and he knew that would be the first thing the feds would confiscate to examine.
Now, he was worried.
Turning back toward the office, he ran toward his Humvee. He opened the door and Lola hopped inside, but he stopped feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket.
“Slade,” he growled, pinching it between his shoulder and ear as he got inside and leaned his hip up to pull out his keys.
“I think someone is following me,” Taylor whispered into the phone.
She couldn’t be far from the compound, she’d only been gone a few minutes. Ten at the most, but she had been upset and hauling ass when she left.
“Who’s following you and when did you notice?” he asked, shutting the door, before inserting the key into the ignition.
“I’m not sure, for the last five miles or so, maybe. I just turned onto a side road and they did too.” The fear in her voice stabbed him in the gut, but he ignored it.
The odds were she was imagining things.
“Describe the vehicle.” He put the Hummer into gear, but waited because if he could apologize to her over the phone that’s what he would do. This drama and chasing her was not going to get them the intel they needed to figure out this case.
“It’s black, and sort of looks like yours, but different. It hasn’t gotten close enough for me to get a good look yet.”
“Is it a Jeep?” he guessed. The four door model looked a lot like his Humvee from a distance. “Can you see what the driver looks like?”
“No, the windows are blacked out, even the windshield has the tint halfway down,” she replied, and an uneasy feeling gripped him.
“Do you have a weapon in your car?” Slade eased his foot off the brake to head toward the gate.
“No, it’s at home in a lock box,” she replied, then gasped.
“What?” he asked, as he rolled over the trigger to release the gate.
“They’re speeding up and getting closer on my bumper. I’m going to speed up and see if they do too.”
Slade’s throat constricted as he pulled through the gate and onto the road. He had no idea where she was, and if she’d turned off on a side road in this neck of the woods, in all likelihood, she didn’t know either.
“Oh wait, it looks like they’re trying to pass me,” she said, sounding relieved.
Slade’s shoulders relaxed then too, and he took one hand off of the wheel to hold the phone. But then another thought struck him, and every muscle in his body tensed. What if they were trying to get parallel with her to take a shot instead of passing her?<
br />
“When they try to pass you, as soon as the nose of their vehicle is even with your rear quarter panel, I want you to slam on the brakes, okay? Turn around and head the other direction as fast as you can.”
She blew out a breath. “Okay, they’re almost there now.”
After a second, he heard tires screech, and held his breath.
“Oh, God,“ she groaned, and it sounded to him like she dropped the phone, but then he heard a whimper, a pop and her squeal as glass shattered.
“Taylor—are you there?!?” he shouted, but there was no reply. Guilt for letting her leave alone, for running her off, when things were so volatile and fluid in this case, pressed down on his shoulders like a lead curtain. He pressed harder on the accelerator, and the buzzing started in his ears. No, not now, not now—not now!
Lola whimpered, and stood on the console between the seats to nudge his right shoulder. He had to hold the wheel, so he couldn’t scratch her. There was no way in hell he was going to let go of the phone. Holding it in place with his jaw, Slade rolled down his window and the gush of fresh air cooled his skin and woke him up. Lola rubbed her nose on his neck, licked him and he fought the demons trying to take hold of him.
Please Lord, help me so I can help her and I promise I’ll try that therapy she wants me to try.
CHAPTER TEN
Stunned, Taylor took a moment to process that someone had just shot out her windshield! Her heart pounded erratically at the base of her throat, but skidded to a stop when she looked down the road and saw the black SUV was stopped too, and trying to turn around on the narrow road. Her compact car was small, so she could turn around easier than they could.
If she could see where she was going, that is.
She scanned the car quickly and saw a fast food bag on the back floorboard. Grabbing it, she stuffed her hand inside, leaned over the wheel and knocked out the shattered safety glass that blocked her view. Without removing the bag, she grabbed the wheel, hit the gas and twisted the wheel hard. Once she was facing the way she’d come, she pressed the accelerator to the floorboard and held on tight as the car launched.
Who in the hell could be trying to kill her? And why? It had to be connected to the hotel, and the kidnapping, but why would they want her dead? The next question was, how had they found her so quickly out at the Deep Six compound? Had they been watching for her to leave alone?
She wished she had her pistol. When she got out of this mess, she was going to carry it at all times, glue it to her side. This would not happen again. Right now, she felt more helpless and afraid than she’d ever been in her life.
And alone.
Taylor sure wished those big beefheads were with her right now. Those killers would take one look at them and back off. That brought her mind back to the fact that she’d been on the phone with Slade when they were shooting at her. He was probably worried about her, and if they could connect somehow he could help her get rid of these guys.
“Slade!” she shouted, hoping he was still on the phone and heard her. “I’m fine, but they shot out my windshield!”
Thank goodness, he’d told her to slam on the brakes, or she’d probably be dead right now. Taylor took her eyes off the narrow road for a second to glance in her rearview. The SUV was turned around now and speeding after her.
“I’m headed back toward the main road, but they’re chasing me again,” she informed loudly, her heart pounding in her ears now.
Taylor hoped like hell he was still on the phone. If not, she didn’t know what she would do once she got to the main road.
She’d turn left and head back toward the Deep Six compound. Somewhere she never should’ve left. She could deal with musclebound Neanderthals, she couldn’t deal with these coldblooded killers alone.
Regardless of whether she was talking to herself, Taylor felt better thinking Slade was on the line with her, speeding to help her.
“I’m almost to the main road, but they’re catching up with me. The road I turned on was the Farm Road about seven miles from the compound. It’s on the right.”
Two more miles is what she estimated, before she reached the main road. Glancing in the rearview, she saw the black SUV was still a ways back, but gaining ground on her. Ice flowed through her veins, because she realized their powerful engine had a lot more get-up-and-go than her compact car, so it was a given they would catch up with her before then. Despair and fear tried to take hold of her, but she beat it back, pressed on the gas harder, and prayed.
“Slade, they’re catching up. About a mile now, before I get to the main road,” she informed, and heard the trembling in her voice. It wasn’t worse than the trembling in her arms though. Her whole damned body was shaking from fear and adrenaline.
She caught sight of the intersection with the main road ahead, but it didn’t bring her comfort. Her hands were practically melded with the steering wheel as she wondered how she would stop there. As fast as she was going, there was no way she could stop. She would just have to take the turn on two wheels and hope the road was clear.
A big black vehicle turned onto the road, and she squinted. Please don’t let it be more bad guys coming to help the assholes behind me. If it was, Taylor knew she was done. Her car sped closer to the black SUV coming at her, a tremor shook her, a hysterical giggle bubbled in her throat, as relief became a drug in her veins when she recognized it.
His vehicle zoomed past her, and Slade didn’t even look at her. He was focused on the SUV behind her. Glancing in the rearview, she saw him move into the lane behind her, evidently playing a game of Chicken with the bad guys.
“Don’t be stupid, Slade!” she shouted, knowing now that he heard her. But Taylor was afraid for him, more than she’d been for herself even. They needed some backup. “I’m going back to the compound to get help!”
Right before the intersection, she took one more glance in the rearview and saw that he’d turned his Hummer sideways in the road to block it. He was alone, facing down those men for her and he could die if she didn’t get help.
Her eyes swung back to the road, and she caught a flash of red that was the stop sign at the intersection. She jammed her foot on the brake, her eyes locked on the center line of the main road as she twisted the wheel, but the car didn’t turn. It launched into the intersection, her right front tire hit the soft shoulder and instead of blacktop, she saw the crevice of the ditch as her car went over the edge. The car came to a sudden stop, and in slow motion Taylor watched the steering wheel coming at her, gongs went off inside her head and stars danced before her eyes.
***
Slade slammed on the brakes and brought the Humvee to a stop across the road. He already had his pistol drawn and the passenger window down, so he took aim at the driver’s side of the windshield and popped off two rounds as the Suburban stopped just before hitting him. Dents appeared where the bullets struck, but the windshield didn’t shatter which meant it was bulletproof glass. The vehicle idled there momentarily, before the driver threw it into reverse, the tires burned and he watched it speed backwards down the narrow road. The tail end whipped into a pasture access road then the vehicle charged off in the other direction.
Squinting, Slade tried to make out the license plate, but couldn’t. He wasn’t giving chase, because he’d accomplished his goal of getting them off of Taylor. And he wasn’t in any condition right now for a gunfight. Especially by himself.
Huffing a relieved breath, Slade laid his pistol on the console and did a three-point turn to head back to the main road. When he reached the stop sign, he saw thick black skid marks on the road that led to the ditch and his heart stopped. He turned onto the road and the roof of a light blue compact car came into view, Taylor’s car. Fear sliced through him as he stopped the Hummer on the shoulder, told Lola to stay and flew out of the vehicle. He breathed again when he looked over the embankment and didn’t see her in the vehicle.
But she was small, so she could be laying on the seat. Heart in his throat, he s
lid down the slope and made his way to the car to look inside. His breath came out in a rush, and his body went weak when he didn’t find her laying there bleeding to death. He did see her cell phone on the passenger side floorboard. Where the hell was she?
Slade stood back to scan the area and his heart finally beat again when he didn’t see her laying anywhere in the area in a crumpled heap. He climbed back up the embankment and shaded his eyes to look down the road. Heat rose off the pavement making her look wavy in the distance, but there she was about two hundred yards ahead weaving as she walked along the shoulder.
“Damned woman,” he growled, as he got behind the wheel and put the Hummer in drive. Lola stood on the console and nudged him, but he elbowed her away. “Another example that women are more trouble than they’re worth.”
But he was thankful this one was still alive. That had been a damned close call. Two close calls now, and they were lucky. He wasn’t pressing that luck by giving those tangos another shot at her. They needed to get back to the compound and get to work.
Slade quickly caught up to her, and pulled off the road a few feet ahead. He was out of the Hummer and running toward her almost before it stopped. She stopped in her tracks, and slapped her hand over her mouth, as he stopped and grabbed her shoulders. Her eyes were liquid with relief, before he hugged her trembling body to him. Her arms slid around his waist and she squeezed him.
“Thank God, you’re not dead,” she sobbed into his shirtfront near his sternum, her teeth chattering. She said it so dramatically, he laughed. He felt a little giddy with relief at the moment anyway.
“I’m bulletproof, little bit,” he replied, then shoved her away. Taylor looked up at him, and his eyes focused on the big blue goose egg forming at the center of her forehead. “Are you dizzy? Nauseous?”
“Dizzy with relief.” She took a big shuddering breath and a tremor rocked her. “Let’s get back to the compound.” She turned, took one step toward the vehicle and her knees buckled, but he caught her.
“I don’t think you’re as okay as you say you are,” he growled, bending to sweep his arm under her knees and heft her into his arms. He carried her to the Hummer, opened the door and sat her on the seat. “I’m taking you to the hospital to get checked out.”
