Indestructible

by Cassie Miles

  A sensual energy spread through him. With every beat of his heart, his blood rushed. Holding her felt so right, so good. They’d made love often enough that he knew where she liked to be touched and vice versa. She trailed her fingernails down his back, and the teasing pressure aroused him.

  He pulled her tight, wanting to feel her heartbeat synchronized with his, wanting to be a part of her, joined. Was it safe to make love to her now? Could he allow himself to let down his guard? Probably not.

  He loosened his grasp. Though he’d disposed of the bug, his enemies were nearby and ready to attack, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

  He nuzzled her earlobe and whispered, “You’re going to like my cabin. It’s secluded.”

  She pulled away from him. “I need to make a few phone calls first.”

  Though the urge to make love to her was nearly irresistible, his number one priority was to get her to a safe location. “Make the calls on your cell. Let’s go. Right now.”

  THOUGH MELINDA really didn’t understand his need to hurry, she changed quickly into a well-worn pair of jeans, a blue cotton sweater and a burgundy winter jacket. The weather in Sioux Falls had been pleasantly warm, but there might be snow at his cabin in the Black Hills.

  When she turned on her cell phone, there were half a dozen messages. One was from Ruth, the nurse at the clinic. How odd! Surely, it was too early for any results on her blood tests. And the call-back number was Ruth’s personal phone.

  Drew had already stowed her suitcase in the car. He hovered beside her. “Ready?”

  “One minute. I want to return this call.”

  She ignored the impatient grumbling noises he made. The way she figured, he had no room to complain. He was lucky that she’d agreed to this trip at all. That whole story about his blackouts when he was a kid didn’t mesh with his current paranoid state. Just because he had a lousy childhood, it didn’t mean people were chasing him.

  But she wanted this time alone with him to talk about the baby. Even if she raised the child alone, Drew was still the father.

  He took a position near the door, arms folded across his chest. Though she couldn’t see the gun hidden under his black leather jacket, she knew he was armed. He looked dangerous and very, very sexy. Which was the other reason she wanted to run away with him. Crazy or not, Drew was hot.

  She called Ruth’s number. Her message had said “as soon as possible,” so Melinda didn’t worry that it might be too early for someone who worked the evening shift.

  Ruth answered quickly. “I was hoping I’d catch you last night.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Something happened at the clinic.” Her tone was high-pitched and excited. “We got robbed.”

  “Oh, golly.” Never before had Melinda been involved in a violent crime. Then, last night, she was attacked. And she’d just missed being at the clinic during a robbery. What was going on here? “Ruth, are you all right?”

  “Thanks for asking, hon. I’m fine. And so is Dr. Lynn. This is the second robbery this year, so we know what to do.”

  “Why would anybody rob the clinic?”

  “People think we keep drugs lying around here, even though we don’t have anything stronger than aspirin.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “There was a guy in a ski mask with a gun. He ordered me and the doctor to go into one of the exam rooms and lie on the floor. If we moved, he said he’d shoot. You better believe that I didn’t twitch a muscle.”

  “That seems like the smart thing to do.”

  “I know.” Ruth chuckled under her breath. “You know how much I like to read crime novels, and they always tell you to cooperate if you’re being robbed. Drug addicts don’t really want to shoot anybody, you know. This guy went wild. He tore the whole place apart.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “I wish I could tell you, hon. After all those mystery books I’ve read, you’d think I’d be a good witness. But he had on the mask, and I was too busy staring at the gun to notice much of anything else.”

  Melinda remembered Dr. Bidwell’s description of a mesomorphic body structure. “Was he big? Burly?”

  “Tall. Not real heavyset. Anyway, that’s not why I called you, hon.”

  “What do you need?”

  “Well, this drug addict destroyed all of the samples we were sending to be processed, including the blood we took from you. Dr. Lynn said if we could get you to come back last night, we could take another sample. It might be too late, now. If there were drugs in your system, they’ve probably worked their way through. How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Perfect,” Melinda said as she rubbed the healed spot on her arm. “No aches, no pains, nothing.”

  “Well, if you’re still concerned, you could go to the hospital for tests. The clinic is closed today.”

  “Thanks, Ruth.”

  After she disconnected the call, Melinda made an uneasy connection between the man who attacked her and the robbery at the clinic. In both cases, blood was involved. Her attacker seemed to have drawn blood from her vein. And her blood sample was destroyed at the clinic. Why the interest in her blood? Was she being targeted by vampires?

  “Tell me,” Drew said.

  “There was a robbery at the clinic. Nobody hurt, but a lot of damage. My blood sample was destroyed.”

  “Was it the same guy?”

  She frowned, wishing she could say for certain. “Ruth didn’t get a good look at him. What’s going on, Drew?”

  “These two events aren’t a coincidence. We need to get away from here. Now.”

  Paranoid or not, she agreed.

  Chapter Six

  Riding in the passenger seat of Drew’s SUV, Melinda tried to connect with her natural optimism. Her cozy life had taken on an aura of danger, and she didn’t like the way it felt.

  Her gaze stuck on a bald man waiting at the bus stop. Her attacker? Was he carrying a gun in his briefcase? She shook her head. Stop being so suspicious. This was a gorgeous, sunlit morning, and nothing bad had happened. Not yet, anyway.

  When Drew pulled up at a stoplight, she noticed the shoots of crocuses and dahlias in a corner garden—lovely, green harbingers of spring. Dahlias were poisonous, but not if you didn’t eat them—an apt metaphor for her situation. Running away with Drew had definite appeal, but she had to remember: don’t eat the dahlias.

  She’d just gotten off the phone with Lily, her supervisor at the Augustana library, who was shocked to hear about her intruder and happy to give Melinda as much time off as she needed. There was only one little thing…

  Bracing herself, Melinda looked toward Drew. “If you don’t mind, I need to stop by the library before we leave town.”

  “We’re not running errands.”

  “Just one stop. There’s a project I’ve been working on, and I should explain it to someone so they can—”

  “What part of ‘running for your life’ don’t you understand?”

  “None of it,” she said. “The closest I’ve come to being in danger was last night when somebody ransacked my apartment. And I don’t even remember what happened.”

  He slid a cool, green-eyed gaze in her direction. “It’s not safe to stop. I circled the block twice and haven’t spotted anybody following us, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t close.”

  “Or maybe we aren’t being followed because there’s nobody after us.” She really, really, really wanted to believe that nothing was wrong. “Take a left at the corner, go down a block and we’ll be at the library. It’s next to Ole.”

  “Ole?”

  “The Viking statue.” The squat, stone statue with horned helmet, full beard and sword was the college mascot. “He’s supposed to be good luck, like a happy little troll.”

  “I thought trolls were ogres.”

  “If you’re mean to them, they’ll get even. But they’re lucky for good people.” She pointed. “Here’s the corner.”

  Without turni
ng, he cruised through the green light. Apparently, they wouldn’t be stopping. She peered over her shoulder, watching as they drove away from the campus. “Don’t I get a vote?”

  “Not until I know we’re safe. It’s going to take more than luck from Ole the Viking to get away without a hitch. But don’t worry. I’ve been planning this escape ever since I moved to Sioux Falls. I’ve got every contingency covered.”

  Again with the paranoid craziness? “What kind of contingency? Give me an example.”

  “This morning before we left, I checked the car for bugs and made sure there was no way we could be tracked on GPS. By the way, that means turning off your cell phone.”

  Her fingers closed around her cell. No way would she give up this link to normal people. “Did you find anything? Any bugs or tracking thingies?”

  “No,” he admitted.

  “Could you possibly be overreacting?”

  “No.”

  He wasn’t leaving any room for discussion. “Pete’s sake, Drew. It feels like you’re abducting me against my will.”

  “You agreed to come,” he reminded her.

  “And if I hadn’t?”

  “I would have thrown you over my shoulder and dragged you kicking and screaming out of the apartment.”

  Though he grinned, she wasn’t altogether sure that he was kidding. She settled back in the comfortable leather seat. By definition, an SUV was supposed to be sporty, but this customized vehicle had a smooth, luxury ride.

  They seemed to be headed toward the park, where the falls cascaded in a rush of white water. “Are we taking the interstate?”

  “Too obvious,” he said. “We’ll use back roads. I’ve got the route all figured out.”

  A motorcycle pulled into the lane beside her. His engine roared. The rider’s helmet was black with three lightning bolts.

  Drew looked past her toward the motorcycle, and he reacted. With a swift crank of the steering wheel, he whipped an illegal left turn. In front of an oncoming bus.

  She covered her eyes and hunched her shoulders, preparing for the devastating impact.

  They weren’t hit. They made it.

  “Why did you do that?” she yelled.

  “I didn’t like that motorcycle.” He checked his mirrors. “But he doesn’t seem to be following.”

  “We could have been killed.”

  “I knew how much time I had. And the angle I had to take.”

  “Timing? Angles?” He was crazy. She was being abducted by a crazy man. “How could you know?”

  “I cover extreme sports,” he reminded her. “That includes motoring events. I’ve driven in a Grand Prix.”

  Needing air, she buzzed down the window and inhaled. Over the rumble of traffic, she thought she could hear the falls. Drew took another turn, then another. His route through town was more complicated than her grandma’s cable banded knitting pattern—twisting and purling and doubling back. A ten-minute drive took twice as long. And there was nothing Melinda could do to speed him up. He was in charge.

  She redialed the number for Lily at the library. “It’s me, Melinda.”

  “What a coincidence! I was just going to call you,” Lily said. “There’s a man here who wanted to see you.”

  Melinda looked toward Drew and said, “There’s a man at the library, looking for me.”

  “Get a description and name,” he said.

  Into the phone, Melinda said, “What’s he look like?”

  “He’s mature, probably in his late fifties. Looks like one of the professors, but I’ve never seen him before.” Lily Rhoades was single and in her forties; she took note of all possibly dateable men. “He’s nicely dressed in a sports jacket and jeans. Average height. His hair is graying at the temples.”

  Definitely not the bald attacker. “Did he give his name?”

  “No, but I could ask.”

  Melinda heard shuffling noises and imagined Lily leaving her desk behind the checkout counter. Then, the head librarian said, “That’s odd. He’s gone.”

  “Very odd.” Melinda didn’t know whether she should be relieved or nervous. If this graying-at-the-temples gentleman was one of Drew’s enemies, they’d dodged a bullet by not going back to the library.

  “I hear car noises,” Lily said. “You’re not at home.”

  “I’m going away for a few days to recuperate.” Today was Thursday, and she had the weekend off. “I’m pretty sure I won’t be back until Monday at the earliest.”

  “No problem,” Lily said. “You’ve got plenty of sick time accumulated. Where are you headed?”

  “A friend’s cabin.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Lily packed a wealth of innuendo into those hummed syllables. “Would this friend happen to be that guy in your building? The hot reporter guy?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Oh, Melinda, that’s so romantic. He’s going to nurse you back to health.”

  Their getaway would have been a lot more seductive if Drew hadn’t been dodging through traffic. Or if he hadn’t swept the car for bugs. Or if he wasn’t planning to dump her. “The reason I called,” she said, “was that I can’t stop in to help out with the project.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Lily said. “You have a wonderful time and get better.”

  When Melinda ended the call, she turned off her cell phone as Drew had instructed. She loved this little red cell phone and PDA. Not only did it contain all her important phone numbers, but it also included her appointments and notes. Nevertheless, she was willing to chuck it out the window if it brought danger closer to them. “I’ve heard that you can track GPS through cell phones, even when they’re turned off.”

  “You’re starting to believe me,” he said.

  “A little.”

  “The GPS in your phone isn’t activated unless you turn it on,” he said. “I fixed it while you were sleeping.”

  “Of course you did.” He thought of everything. She tucked the cell phone into her purse.

  “Tell me about the man at the library,” he said.

  “It wasn’t baldy.” She repeated Lily’s description. “And I don’t think he came across as threatening because Lily sounded like she wouldn’t mind going out with him.”

  “Could be the guy who ransacked the clinic,” he said.

  She hadn’t forgotten about that incident and the danger it brought to Ruth and the doctor. If Drew’s reasoning was correct, that robbery was about her blood sample. And the stranger who showed up at the library was after them, too.

  “These people,” she said. “Once we’re gone, they won’t hurt anybody else, will they?”

  “Doubtful,” he said. “The only reason they’re after you is because they were listening on the bug they planted in my apartment. They know you’re important to me.”

  “Am I?” Had he changed his mind since last night? When she told him she was pregnant, he’d been ready to run.

  “You’re carrying my child,” he said.

  But did he care about her? Without love, there could be no future for them. At least, not a future together.

  FOLLOWING THE back-road route he’d mapped out ahead of time, Drew allowed himself to relax as he drove. Across miles and miles of farmland, there had been no sign of pursuit on the mostly two-lane roads. Unless they were being tracked by airplane, he figured they had eluded capture.

  The most dangerous leg of their journey was approaching. The Missouri River bisected the state, and he’d chosen the town of Pierre for their crossing. He’d always liked this area, where the Great Plains transformed into the rolling landscape that led to the Black Hills. Once, when he was thirteen, his foster dad had taken him to Lake Sharpe, near Pierre, for a water-skiing vacation.

  He glanced over at Melinda. For most of the drive, she’d been quiet and preoccupied. Though he couldn’t blame her for being tense, he missed her usual cheerful banter.

  “About those friendly trolls,” he said. “Are there any you can call on for good luck?”
/>   “Helga.” As she spoke the name, a smile touched her lips.

  “Your own personal troll?”

  “Helga belonged to my grandma. She kept dozens of little trolls around her house, hiding on the bookshelves and behind the cookie jar in the kitchen. Most were figurines, so ugly that they were cute. Helga was two feet tall and stood by the coatrack at the front door. It was her job to scare off any bad luck that tried to enter.”

  “I take it your grandmother was Scandinavian.”

  “Swedish. That’s my mom’s side of the family. I didn’t get the blond hair, but I’m tallish.”

  “You’re tall?”

  “Five feet nine inches. That’s fairly tall,” she said defensively. “You don’t notice because I almost always wear flats.”

  “And why is that?”

  “I dress for comfort,” she said. “There’s no need for me to be fashionable.”

  He liked her style. A woman who was natural and comfortable with herself was sexier than one who tried too hard. “There must have been a lot of Scandinavians where you grew up in Minnesota.”

  “I can’t believe it. You remember where I’m from?”

  “Near Duluth,” he said. “I can hear the Minnesota accent in your voice and the way you phrase things. I’ve never heard you curse. Is that a Minnesota thing?”

  “Not really,” she said. “I try to be even-tempered, even with people like you.”

  He took his eyes off the road to really look at her. With her hair tucked up in a ponytail and her legs crossed and her hands folded on her lap, she gave the appearance of a prim, disapproving librarian. He had to look deeper to see the temptress. There was something wild about the way tendrils of hair escaped her ponytail and curled at her cheeks. Her mouth was wide and luscious. Under her practical clothes, her body was a perfect combination of slender and strong.

  “Stop staring,” she said.

  “Do I make you nervous?”

  “Yeah, you betcha.” She gave an emphatic nod. “You’re so…cryptic. You still haven’t given me a decent explanation of why these scary people are after you.”