She half expected him to resist the idea. Pain still etched his face, but so did a keen desire to get retribution. She kept her weapon steady on him as he slowly tried to lift himself over the console. He wriggled, groaning as he did so. A smear of blood covered the entire driver’s seat back and the console as he fell into the back with a thud. She didn’t take chances, keeping her attention squarely on what he was doing. He tried the passenger door and it refused to budge. He inched across the seat until he could get to the other side. He heaved at the door, his breath labored, blood obvious on the back of his t-shirt.
“Bitch.” He coughed. “You’ve killed me.”
“Not yet. But there’s still time.”
He turned back toward her, pure evil mixed with pain in his eyes. Suddenly he gasped and fell back onto the seat with his eyes closed. He rasped for breath, then went still. Keeping her weapon pointed at him, she waited. His chest didn’t move up and down, and yet she continued to stare and wonder if she’d killed the bastard. Fear mixed with relief. She didn’t trust her instincts in that moment, uncertainty piling on top of uncertainty. A hundred thoughts ran through her mind. She thought she saw him take a breath, but if he did she couldn’t say for certain. She watched for any eyelash flutter, any sound…anything.
What if I’ve killed him? No, that didn’t seem likely. It was only a shoulder wound. Okay, maybe she’d nicked something more vital.
Shouldn’t I feel guilty?
After staring at his body for what seemed eternity, she remembered he’d mentioned the cell phone. She saw the square lump in his left pocket. Good. At least it wasn’t in his back pocket.
Come on. Cowgirl up.
Keeping her weapon trained on his chest, she leaned into the back seat. Her breathing increased as anxiety rose. No, no. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. It was awkward as hell. She had to lean on the console between the front seats and keep the Glock on Magnus and use her left hand to reach into his pocket. She managed it and started to pull back.
Magnus sat up, and she jerked back with a gasp and dropped the phone in her lap.
His eyes were wide and a gargle came from his throat. “Bitch!”
He fell back again, but this time a flood of red came from his mouth, wetting his chin, flowing down his face onto the seat. Nausea curled her stomach as she covered her mouth with her left hand. A low moan of disgust came from her own throat.
She kept the gun on him, but this time her hand shook. Hell, her whole arm shook. Muttering a string of foul curses, she tried to work the phone. Password protected. She laid the useless phone on the console.
“Damn it!” She almost growled in frustration as tears came to her eyes and leaked down her face.
Her imagination started to work overtime. How long would she be trapped here? Where exactly was she? She thought maybe this was Stanton Road, which was only about ten miles outside of Buckleport. A back road that lead to some seriously secluded forestland and maybe a cabin or two. No one lived back here. At least no one who wanted to be found. New trepidation arose. Adam wouldn’t necessarily check into base for some time. Who knew how long she’d be in this hell with Magnus’s corpse? At least she hoped like hell he was dead now. She considered shooting him again just for good measure, then couldn’t stomach the idea. When she made it out of here…if she made it out, would she face a murder charge?
A thousand thoughts spiraled through her mind, and questions about the life she’d lived before she met Adam started to haunt her. She’d stayed cooped up in her father’s house, a home she’d never wanted. She’d thought she’d isolated herself out of necessity when the volcano erupted. Yet looking back, Mally knew that wasn’t the only reason she’d become a hermit in the compound. The huge house had represented safety, but she’d allowed her father’s fanatical ravings, his paranoid world view to change her, to influence her in ways even she hadn’t recognized until the chips were down. She was embarrassed to realize how much of his paranoia had influenced her to become a hermit. She’d spent too much time apart from other people, from taking her own life to the next level. When she got out of here…if she escaped…she would change that. She didn’t want to return to the life she’d led without Adam.
She glanced through the windshield. The glass had cracked but wasn’t spiderwebbed. Maybe if she kicked it out…She twisted around to face the front but it did no good. The way the vehicle had crumpled she couldn’t reach the front.
Great. Trapped in this place with a man who’d just acted like a zombie in a freaking horror movie.
* * * *
Mally glanced at her watch. She’d been in this car with Magnus’s corpse for four hours, and the smell threatened to gag her. And unless people started to turn into flesh-eating undead because of the Long Valley explosion, Magnus was well and truly dead now. She made a small, disgusted laugh. She kept the gun in her lap. She wasn’t relinquishing it until she got out of here and far away from the body.
Plus, her head felt the size of a watermelon and that couldn’t be good. She realized something sticky was on her right cheek. She reached up and explored her hair and forehead for the first time.
Pain arched through her forehead. “Ow.”
This dent in her head must be from the crash, and the combined throb from both injuries ached. She couldn’t afford to give into pessimism, though.
If she knew anything at all, she knew Adam would look for her if he had a clue she’d been kidnapped. But how would he know? Mark. Of course. If Mark went back to Sentry Security he’d realize something was off. In the meantime, she needed to keep thinking of a way to escape.
A few minutes later she heard the rumble of a vehicle coming her way and hope returned. Rescue perhaps? A big truck that didn’t count exactly as a monster but still had huge wheels rolled down the dirty road toward the south. From the direction of town. The brilliant red truck came to a halt near the crash, and a man got out. He hurried to her smashed SUV and when he came to the window she waved. She didn’t know whether he was friend or foe, but all she could do was keep her fingers crossed. With a scruffy gray beard and long gray hair, the flannel and jean wearing older man peered in at her cautiously. He tried opening the doors, going to each one and having no luck.
She yelled, “Call the number on the side of the SUV and ask for help! This man in here kidnapped me and ran us off the road!”
The older man put his finger up to his ear and shook his head. Maybe he couldn’t hear her.
She tried speaking even louder. “Call the number on the side of the SUV! They’ll be able to help me!”
The grizzled man took a step back from the truck, his expression filled with suspicion. Damn. Did he see my weapon? He probably thought she was a murderer. He ran back toward his truck and drove away, continuing south.
“No, no! Don’t leave me here!” She slammed her open hand down on the console between her and the driver’s side in pure frustration. “I can’t believe this.”
She sighed and closed her eyes for a few moments but tears rose into her eyes. After taking a shuddering breath and drying her eyes, she rubbed her throbbing temples.
Less than thirty minutes later, Mally thought she heard the low purr of an engine. Hope and dread mingled together within her. Hope that at the least some rescue headed her way and not another threat. Please, please. Maybe the old coot had called for help.
Even though her whole body hurt, she crawled over the console to the driver’s side and craned to look out the window. A black SUV came into view and hope filled her. Then she saw the Sentry Security logo on the side as it rumbled to a stop at the side of the road. Relief made her sag against the window. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Two men jumped from the SUV. The General and Adam.
“Yes! Oh, thank God!”
She’d never been happier to see two people in her life. She waved and saw the grim looks on their faces as they ran down into the ditch toward the damaged SUV with Adam in the lead, carrying his first aid pack. The General ca
rried a long object she couldn’t identify.
Adam’s hands came down on the window, his eyes filled with worry. “Mally!”
She barely heard his shout, but she nodded and smiled.
“Mally, cover your head. We’re going to break the window!”
She returned to the passenger seat. Adam moved back and the General came into view. He held a big tool of some sort—one of those window breaking devices. Mally covered her head with her arms. The crash rang in the vehicle and sprayed glass over her, but she didn’t care. The General used the device to rake out the remaining glass so there weren’t sharp edges. She crawled over the console as Adam came back into view.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, anxiety clear in his voice as he held his hands out to her.
She slipped her hands into his. “Banged up, but I don’t care. Get me out of here. Magnus is dead.”
Adam didn’t say anything as he hauled her through the window and into his arms. She clung to him, burying her face against his shoulder and scrunching his shirt in her hands as she held tight. His fingers burrowed into her hair as he held her to his taut frame. Shivers wracked her body, but she resisted the urge to cry. And how she wanted to cry. In the background she heard the General using the radio in their SUV, probably to call for backup. Adam brushed a feather-light kiss over her temple. Such a simple touch brought sweet comfort.
When the General returned, he put his hands on his hips. “Help is on the way. Said we shouldn’t touch anything, of course.”
Mally eased back and looked into Adam’s serious face. “How did you find me?”
“Got a call from some old guy that said he saw the SUV down here…said it was mangled and…” Adam swallowed hard and shrugged. “We were lucky the cell phones are working right now.”
She grimaced. “I thought maybe he was calling the police to say that he’d seen a murder.”
“What happened?” The General asked.
She explained from the beginning and how she’d shot Magnus in the shoulder. “I didn’t think he’d die.”
“Don’t worry about that right now.” Adam brushed hair back from her face. “It’s going to be all right.”
“How can you be sure?” She heard the pessimism in her voice and didn’t know how to stop it. “There will be a huge investigation.”
Adam smoothed his touch over her hair. “Maybe. Maybe not. There will be video proof of Magnus breaking into the complex. That’s a start.”
“I screwed up,” the General said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“He kept his key card when I threw him out. I neglected to remember to get it from him.” The General’s face was hard a stone, his voice filled with regret. “This happened to you because of me.”
She’d never seen this hardened man show as much humility, and she recognized genuine regret when she heard it. “It’s all right, General.”
“It isn’t.” His voice darkened to a stubborn tone. “I never used to make damned mistakes like this.” He cleared his throat. “I’m just glad we found you.”
Adam’s eyes blazed with something she’d seen before, but seeing it again made her long for more. More time in his arms forgetting the world. Warmth and protectiveness and a tender concern that soothed her fears.
Adam tilted her chin up gently and examined her head. “Sure you’re not hurt anywhere else? There’s blood all over you.”
She shivered. “It isn’t…it isn’t all mine.”
“Come on, let’s get you checked out.”
He walked her over to the other SUV and had her sit in the back while he doctored the bumps on her head, took her pulse, blood pressure and applied dressings.
“I’m taking you into the hospital to make sure you don’t have a concussion,” Adam said.
“Thanks doc,” she said and found a way to make a crooked smile.
His smile was as brittle as hers. “Let’s not make a habit of this, okay?”
She curled her fingers into his and held tight. “Deal.”
Mark showed up in another SUV by himself—he’d made his way back from the other side of town. Not long after the National Guard arrived. After a quick questioning they said they’d let Adam take her to the hospital. They’d send a detective over later if they had any more concerns. The General and Mark volunteered to stay on site with the Guard.
When Adam and Mally piled into the SUV, the radio crackled in the SUV and a voice no one in Sentry Security probably expected to hear came out loud and clear. “Sentry Security to base, this is Ian.”
Adam snatched the handset from the dashboard and returned the contact. “This is Sentry Security Five. Damned good to hear your voice.”
The General didn’t restrain himself. He reached in the open window of the SUV and grabbed the handset out of Adam’s hand. “MacDaniel, where the hell have you been? Is my daughter with you? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine, sir,” Ian said, his accent crisp and clear. “We’ve been unable to establish contact until now. Things have been buggered.”
“Just how buggered?” The General’s voice edged with apprehension.
“Long story.”
“I’m listening.”
“We’ve been stuck in the safe room for starters.”
“Stuck?” The General sounded incredulous. “All this time?”
“There were some complications. And some wankers had us pinned inside. After that Frank Gonzales came calling.”
The General’s shoulders stiffened. “Shit! You have got to be kidding me?”
“Wish I was, sir,” Ian said.
“What happened?” the General asked grimly.
“He’s not a threat anymore, sir,” Ian said, his voice firm and precise.
The General’s voice roughened. “Thank God.”
“Frank Gonzales?” Mally asked.
No one answered her.
“Like I said, it’s a very long story. More happened after Frank showed up. We’ve got some friends with us, sir,” Ian said. “They probably saved our lives. We owe them.”
The General practically growled his next command. “Well, get back here ASAP.”
“On our way,” Ian said.
After Ian signed off, the General wiped a hand over his jaw. “Those two have a lot of explaining to do when they get back.”
Mally smiled, noting the ease in which he said it. The General might be ready to chew some ass, but he also was happy to hear his daughter was safe.
Once Mally and Adam started to the hospital, she laid her head back on the seat and sighed. She winced.
Adam reached over and took her hand. He squeezed it gently. “You feel all right?”
“My head hurts, but I don’t care. I’m just happy to be alive.” She meant every word.
“When Mark called us and we turned around, all I could think about is getting to you.” Adam’s voice was rough. “I didn’t know what happened until Mark ran back the surveillance tapes. It scared the shit out of me when I found out Magnus had taken you.”
“I thought I might not see you again.” Her throat ached. She wanted to cry again, but she refused for now. She smiled. “I think I’d like to change careers.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think I should start writing again.”
He threw her a lopsided grin. “Oh yeah?”
“Amazing how mayhem and destruction changes a person’s perspective. It’s a lot easier to write books than it is to kick ass.”
He laughed softly. “Now I know you’re all right.”
“Why is that?”
“You’re joking around.”
“It’s just the opposite. The more I joke the more messed up I am.”
He tossed her a quick glance. “There’s a lot we don’t know about each other, isn’t there?”
For a second she felt hollow. “Yes.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I think we ought to spend as much time together as we can.”
Warmth filled her. “Oh?”
“Because I want to know everything about you.”
“Sounds wonderful.”
“And every night. I want you in my arms.”
Happiness edged out the ache inside her from everything that happened to her that day and gave her hope for tomorrow. “I want to be in your arms.”
“I know this is crazy when we haven’t known each other that long, but I’m falling for you. Hard and fast.”
She gathered his hand in both of hers and allowed the delicious heat of his flesh against hers to warm her from the inside out. “Me, too. And there’s something else I needed to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“We keep planning to get to the compound but haven’t made it.”
Concern etched his features. “Are you thinking of returning there permanently?”
She shook her head. “I could. After all, it’s my legacy. But while I was stuck in that SUV wondering if I was going to live, I made some decisions. The compound isn’t the life I want anymore. I was alone in that house for months, separate from everyone and real life. Hiding from everything outside. I can’t go back to living without other people in my life. Without you. We’ll get the supplies and my personal belongings…all the weapons and equipment. I want to move in with you permanently. I’ll need to plan on what to do with the place soon, though.”
When she threw a glance his way, she saw the gratification on his face. “Sounds great.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “I want you with me.”
He threw another smile her way, and she knew that from this day forward they’d have something wonderful. She felt it down to her bones and in her heart. No matter what adventures or hardships the Long Valley Supervolcano brought upon their world, she knew they’d face it together.
* *
Find out what happened next to Ian and Penny in Darkfall.
The End
Publisher’s Note
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About Denise A. Agnew
Ashfall Page 14
