Escape from Danger

by Linsey Lanier

“First, that I am so grateful to you both for saving my wayward son.”

  Simon grinned. “I’d say he saved us.”

  “Oh?”

  “He distracted Fischer and Ponce with that futbol kick of his.”

  Torres chuckled. “He is an amazing boy.” Then his face grew serious again. “I have something for you.”

  Janelle tensed, hoping she could guess what he was going to say next.

  He smiled at both of them. “I kept the promise I made to you.”

  Simon raised a brow. “Oh?”

  “I sent a message to Agent Knox. He said to tell you he would be at El Puente at eleven tonight and would be happy to meet you there.”

  Janelle sucked in a breath. “Really?”

  Torres took out his cell and showed them the text. It was in Spanish and the text blurred from the tears that were forming again in her eyes, but that didn’t matter. She was too happy. They were finally going to get to talk to Knox.

  “You had better hurry.”

  “Yes, we will. Thank you, Inspector. We’re deeply grateful. Both of us.” Simon shook hands with the man.

  Janelle did the same, then she took just a moment to say, “You know, Inspector, when you go to watch Alejandro and Diego at the park, you should ask Diego’s mother out.”

  The inspector’s cheeks turned a ruddy color. “I just may do that, Señora.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  They rushed back to the hotel and changed out of their dress clothes.

  Simon donned his usual black attire, including his jacket and weapon, and hung his tux in the closet for the hotel staff to return to the rental shop.

  Janelle decided to dress in the black clothes that were becoming her signature as well. And for once, she was letting her hair go free. She took off her wig, tossed it on the bed, and shook out her locks.

  Oh, that felt good.

  Then she saw Simon staring up at her from the floor where he was packing his duffel bag. He grabbed the wig and tucked it away in its container inside the duffel.

  He rose, eyeing her greedily.

  “We did it,” she grinned, feeling giddy. “We rescued those boys.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you, Red.” Then he reached for her hair, drew his fingers through it and put a strand to his face. “How I’ve missed these gorgeous locks.”

  She wanted to laugh.

  But then he pulled her close and put his lips to hers. The room spun like an amusement park ride. She felt like she was still hanging from that helicopter. She should have expected it. That sensation always happened when he kissed her. But she hadn’t been expecting a kiss.

  She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back, every nerve in her body coming alive.

  His kiss grew harder, she felt his breath go ragged against her cheek. His hands slipped down to her waist. Then to her backside.

  Then he pulled away. “We’ve got to get going.”

  There was that iron will power of his again.

  “Right.” There’d be time for that later, though her body was throbbing and longing for him now.

  They finished packing and headed out the door to the Beetle.

  “What will happen when we get to Knox?” Janelle asked after they had climbed into the car with their luggage and were on their way to the restaurant.

  “He’ll take us to a safe house. Once we’re there, I’ll show Knox that spreadsheet and see if that name is on it.”

  “You mean Kazan?” The name he got out of Fischer tonight.

  Simon nodded. “He could be the new leader of Group 141. He’s at least one level closer to him.”

  What if he really was the top guy? “The man in Athens.”

  “Right.” He shot her a cocky grin that made her feel more connected to him than ever.

  Everything was coming together.

  Knox would dispatch agents in Greece. They would bring Kazan in, get a full confession from him. They would find out who killed Cooley and have proof that Simon was innocent of his murder. They would put the final nail in Group 141’s coffin. And then at last, this whole nightmare would be over.

  They could go home. They could build a life for themselves. Maybe with a boy or two of their own.

  The streets near the restaurant were even more crowded than usual. It was the weekend, after all, and if the porteños weren’t hungry, they were thirsty. The bars and the eateries were packed.

  After driving around a while, finally Simon found a parking spot. It was two blocks away from El Puente, but Janelle didn’t care. She thought she could fly there. She got out and hurried down the sidewalk next to Simon, feeling his excitement as well.

  He was even smiling.

  “It’s almost eleven,” he said as they turned the corner.

  “We can’t miss him tonight.”

  “No, not tonight.”

  They pushed through a crowd of pedestrians and were getting close to the edge of El Puente’s outdoor seating area when Simon’s cell buzzed.

  Slowing, he took it out of his pocket again.

  “What is it?”

  His smile disappearing, Simon frowned at the screen. “An encrypted message from Tiziano. He says there was a man in town asking about him—”

  Janelle stopped cold in her tracks.

  Just a few steps away now was the patio of El Puente. But the ambiance of its soft music, umbrellaed tables, and cheery lights suddenly struck a sour note.

  Along the patio’s edge ran a wrought iron fence that separated the tables from the sidewalk. In the table just along that edge sat a man.

  Quickly she took in his features.

  Closely cropped salt-and-pepper hair. Salt-and-pepper mustache. Long thin face. Long thin nose ending in a hook. Long thin neck covered by the collar of a black turtleneck, covered by a gray herringbone jacket. The gray eyes that had seemed so gentle in the photo she had seen of him were now full of indignant outrage.

  There he was. Agent Julian Knox.

  A man sat across from him at the table.

  Knox had something in his hand. A photo? Slowly he turned his head and caught sight of Janelle staring at him. He looked down at the photo, then up at her again, brows knit in concentration and what looked like fury.

  Then he spotted Simon and his face went even darker.

  She felt Simon touch her arm. “We can’t go in there, Janey.”

  “No, we can’t.” Suddenly all her hopes for a happy future came crashing down around her.

  The man across from Knox, turned around and spotted them.

  His face took her breath.

  It was one of the men from the picture in Patagonia ten years ago. Instantly she recognized the serious look, the arched brows and square chin. He had aged, but it was him.

  It wasn’t Flint, the one with the attitude. It was Breaker.

  Jax Breaker.

  Slowly Knox rose to his feet, pointed at Simon, and called out in a commanding tone. “Stay right where you are, Sloan.” He pointed at Janelle. “You, too. You’re both under arrest.”

  Could he do that? He was going to.

  Jax Breaker had gotten to Knox first. There was no telling what lies Breaker had told Knox about Simon, but it was clear he had poisoned his mind against him.

  Knox turned and started back inside the restaurant. He’d be out here on the sidewalk in a few minutes.

  But Breaker didn’t wait. He jumped the iron fence and started after them.

  “Run,” Simon whispered.

  They spun around and headed toward their car as fast as they could go. Breaker wasn’t quite as fast, and pedestrians slowed him down. But the Beetle was two blocks away, and she wasn’t sure they could outrun him.

  Before she could think, a bullet whizzed past her head.

  Someone screamed.

  She ducked behind the bumper of a parked car, her head spinning with terror.

  And then Simon was there beside her.

  “This way.” He took her arm and ushered her
across the street, just missing a passing car that hadn’t even slowed down.

  They hurried across the lane and up the opposite walkway toward the corner where the traffic was even busier.

  Janelle dared to look over her shoulder.

  She saw Breaker barreling past pedestrians, his gun drawn. “FBI. Get out of the way.”

  The people parted before him, screaming at the sight of the weapon.

  Alongside a parked vehicle, Breaker stopped and took aim.

  “Look out,” someone yelled.

  Just as Breaker fired again, Simon pulled Janelle around the corner, and they took shelter against the side of the building while the shot hit a nearby bus sign.

  All around them, people shrieked and got down, trying to figure out what was going on.

  Simon threw his arm over her and ushered her down the sidewalk.

  “We’re going away from the car,” she said.

  “I know. But we’ve got to lose them first.”

  That sounded like it made sense, but she didn’t like being so open and vulnerable. Their only shelter was the strangers around them. She didn’t like using innocent people as shields.

  They dashed through the crosswalk, while Simon held out a hand, and a huge truck screeched to a halt just in time to avoid running them over.

  They were in the middle of the busy street now, where the barriers of the terminal took up the center lane.

  Smelly diesel fuel hit her nose as she sized up the headlights of a line of buses. The plexiglass dividers with their gaudy ads hid them from view. For a little while, anyway.

  “Are we getting on a bus?”

  Simon shook his head. “We’re going to make them think we’re getting on a bus.”

  Glancing over her shoulder, she didn’t see anyone following them. Maybe this plan was working.

  Simon took her hand and led her between two parked double-deckers, then along the other side of them, and then through another crosswalk to the other side of the street.

  There were more shops and bars here and more people, everyone chattering and laughing and out for a good time.

  Again Simon slung his arm around her, pulling her close, trying to blend in and shelter her at the same time.

  She had her weapon on her, and she knew Simon had his. But if they used them, they’d be even more likely to be arrested.

  Simon’s voice was soft in her ear. “Walk slowly, like you’re a little drunk.”

  She took an awkward step, and let out a laugh, though it was stiff with fear.

  Was this working? Had they lost Breaker?

  They were almost to the next corner now, still heading away from El Puente and the car. But no, all they had to do was go around the block and weave their way back to the street where the Beetle was parked.

  Then she heard a man cry out. “Sloan!”

  It was Breaker. Somehow he’d found them. And now Knox had caught up to him, too. An angry look of disgust on his face, he was only a few feet behind Breaker, crossing the street fast, commanding the vehicles to slow with an outstretched hand.

  He had a weapon drawn, too.

  “Here,” Simon told her in a ragged whisper.

  They zipped around another corner and ran up the next street, ducking behind cars parked along the curb, moving under the shade of the palm trees, crouching in the shadows of the store awnings.

  Up ahead, the light on the corner turned, and a horde of pedestrians poured across the street. Simon forced his way into the middle of them, keeping low for cover.

  “Sloan.”

  This time it was Knox who had called his name, but the agent wouldn’t dare fire into the crowd.

  And then people started getting into cars and slipping into a bistro or a bar, and the crowd around them disappeared.

  No place to hide now.

  “Run,” Simon said in her ear.

  And so she did.

  Up the sidewalk as fast as she could. Past a furniture store. A pharmacy. The iron bars of a closed parking garage. If only something here was open.

  But they had left the bars and restaurants behind. Here there was nowhere to go. All they could do was run. And run and run.

  With Simon alongside her, she streaked across the concrete. Pressing as hard as she could, gasping, sucking in air until she felt her lungs might burst. She didn’t know Simon could run so fast. She didn’t know she could run so fast.

  They couldn’t keep this up forever. She didn’t dare look behind her, though she didn’t hear anyone calling to them any longer.

  But Knox and Breaker wouldn’t be able to if they were keeping up. They’d be just as winded.

  Another light turned, and she and Simon ran across another busy street. Just as she thought she couldn’t go another step, a familiar sight came into view.

  The green spires of a fence.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Gulping in air, Janelle found herself standing at the park where she had first seen Torres.

  She wished she could find the police inspector now. No, he couldn’t help. Even if they’d had time to call him, it would take Torres or anyone else he’d send too long to get here. And the police might side with the now deluded Agent Knox.

  Panting hard, Simon assessed the height of the barrier in front of them. “Can you do it?”

  He wanted to climb the fence and get inside the park? What was he thinking? “We need to double back and find our way to the car.”

  “Right now, we need cover. There’s plenty in there. Can you get over that fence?”

  She studied the green spires for a moment. There was a concrete curb under the fence, about a foot and a half high, but the barrier itself probably would come just up to her chin.

  Plus, there were no spikes atop this section. Might mean this area was guarded or there were cameras.

  Not much they could do about that.

  “Maybe,” she told Simon as she peered over his shoulder at the street. No one was coming around the corner.

  Not yet.

  “Here.” He bent down and cupped his hands to give her a boost.

  He’d made up his mind. He had a point. There were enough trees and bushes in there to give them a lot of places to hide. And when Breaker and Knox caught up, they might go right past the park. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  She put her foot into his palms, and he raised her up as she grabbed the upper railing and pulled herself up and over. She let go and came down on the other side with a thud.

  Then she watched Simon get a running start and use the curb to jump up high enough to grab the bars and swing his body over the top of the fence.

  He came down on the ground on all fours, looking like a ninja. Then he got up and pointed to a thick row of hedges. “Quick. Over there.”

  They hurried over and ducked down just as Breaker and Knox came around the corner.

  The pair crossed the street and jogged alongside the fence for a while. Then they came to a halt.

  Knox ran a hand over his hair. “I don’t see them anywhere.”

  Breaker took a moment to catch his breath and take in his surroundings. Then he peered through the spires of the fence.

  “They’re in there,” he decided at last.

  Crouched in her hiding place beside Simon, Janelle felt her stomach twist. How could Breaker know this was where they had gone?

  Knox shook his head. “In the park? It’s closed. How would they get in?”

  “This way.” Breaker took a running leap and performed the same feat Simon had.

  “You’d better be right, Breaker,” Knox groaned, but he climbed up, using a nearby tree to get him to the proper height before he jumped over.

  Knox straightened and brushed off his clothes. “So where are they?”

  Breaker stood under the park’s quaint interior street lamps and scanned the landscape. “They couldn’t have gotten far.”

  “They could be anywhere in here. This park is a city bloc
k square.”

  “Not anywhere.” With a grunt, Breaker turned around, then headed slowly in their direction, his eyes scanning the tree trunks and shrubbery as if he were an automaton with x-ray vision.

  Shivering, Janelle held her breath. How could he even know they’d gotten into the park? Had his training been so similar to Simon’s that he could guess his every move?

  If so, they were in big trouble.

  She felt Simon move beside her, turned her head, and watched him steady his 9 mm, aiming it at the two FBI men.

  It was the only way to defend themselves now. She reached behind her and pulled out her Glock from her waistband. Praying she wouldn’t have to use it, she took aim.

  Breaker was only a few yards away from them when Knox gave him a sharp whistle.

  “This way.” Knox nodded in the opposite direction. He must have thought the bushes were too obvious a hiding place.

  Breaker stopped and turned around.

  Knox was already moving along a walkway that curved around to the other side of the park.

  Alongside its curb, Janelle could see trees that had been evenly spaced out for a decorative effect. Most of them were losing their foliage, their leaves falling gently to the ground and over the scalloped bricks of the walk. Their trunks were thick enough to hide behind and tall enough to cast camouflaging shadows.

  Now was their chance.

  She whispered to Simon. “Once they’re out of sight, we can climb back over the fence and head for the car. They won’t see us.”

  “You’re right.” He holstered his gun, put his hand into his pocket, and drew out the car keys. Pressing them into her hand, he peered toward the near side of the park, opposite the path the FBI agents had taken. “There’s a waste receptacle over there and enough cover behind those three trees. Use it to get back over the fence and to the car.”

  He took her breath. “What are you going to do?”

  “I have to clear this with Knox.”

  “What?”

  “He and Breaker will split up eventually. Then I’ll have my chance at him. I have to show him Tiziano’s letter.”

  Simon still wanted to show Knox Tiziano’s letter? “And what if he doesn’t listen? What if he arrests you? What if he shoots you?”