While she didn’t want that, since she liked where she was, she gave another feeble nod.
“Five minutes, baby, I swear it,” he said. They were moving again, to where she didn’t know, she trusted Vincent so wherever he was heading would be fine.
Hard concrete replaced Vincent’s arms. Cold began to seep through the scraps that were the remains of her shirt.
“This is a sucky hiding spot but it’s the best I can do. Ro, look at me, baby.”
Cracking open her good eye, she tried desperately to focus on him.
“Here,” he said, pressing something cold into her hand. A gun. “The safety is off. It has a hair trigger, just point and fucking shoot.”
She managed another tiny nod. Her head felt so heavy. She was slipping into unconsciousness. She knew it, and he likely did too.
“Five minutes,” he said once more. Leaning in he pressed a kiss to her lips, so light, so gentle, so perfect, and then he was gone. The warmth of his lips having left a soft tingle on her own mouth.
She could handle five minutes. Nothing to it. Yup, she had this. Everything she could see through her one good eye wavered, like the world had just been yanked off its axis.
Handle it? Not so much.
Hurry, Vincent.
Chapter Four
Screeching to a halt where he left her, Vincent threw the truck into park and jumped out. She was still there, thank God, but out like a light. The gun had slipped from her hand. He set the safety and tucked it into his waistband before gently, so very gently, lifting her into his arms.
Once she was tucked onto the seat of his truck, her head in his lap, he got them the fuck out of there. He was careful though, taking his time, sticking to the speed limit and obeying every single traffic law there was. No way was he getting pulled over with a beaten-up police detective in his front seat. Cops were more likely to shoot him first in that situation, if they could even recognize her.
After a few minutes of carefully doing loops, turns, double backs, and the occasion stop and wait he got on the road for real. He didn’t have a tail, but he would keep watch, no way was he risking her life. Digging out his phone he set it on the console and hit send to the number ready and waiting.
“Vincent?” Shawn’s voice came through.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said.
“Thank God,” his boss and friend muttered. “Did you find her? How is she? What’s going on?”
“I found her, and I have her with me right now,” he said, checking his mirrors again. “She’s in really bad shape, Shawn. They beat her pretty badly with the intention to kill her from the looks of the setup I found when I got to her. They were torturing her for information. Right now she’s mercifully unconscious.”
“Fuck,” Shawn snapped out. “Well, you can’t take her to a hospital, we don’t need anyone knowing where she is. The paperwork alone, the cops...shit.”
“I know. I also can’t take her anywhere that Moreau might think to start looking for her. So we need to disappear. I have to have her looked at, though. She’s got broken bones for sure, I think her jaw was broken, but I can’t say with all the swelling.”
“Shit,” his friend said again. “Drive around, make sure you are completely clear, I’ll get back to you in ten minutes.”
“Copy that,” he said hitting the end button on his phone. Dropping his hand to her tangled hair, Vincent stroked lightly. “Hang on, baby, we’ll get you some help, and then I’m taking you somewhere nice and safe. Promise.”
He drove around in random circles for the next ten minutes. When the phone rang, he quickly answered. “Where am I going?” he asked, knowing his boss had something set up. It was the way the man worked.
“Denise called in a favor from a friend of hers she’s known since they were kids. He’s a doctor over at California Pacific Medical, the Davies Campus. He wants you to take Rhonda there. He can do the x-rays and such easier there than anywhere. He’ll keep her off the books, completely anonymous. He’ll have a nurse with him, one he trusts. I told them that you were working undercover with Rhonda when things went sideways. They understand the need to keep this all hush-hush. Neither of them know your names, but I gave them your description so they know who they are looking for. The doc’s name is Mackenzie Vaughn and the nurse is Victoria. Don’t answer anything not pertinent to her condition. I know I don’t have to tell you that, but I had to remind you, since this is Ro we’re talking about. Get her there, get her looked at and cared for, get out. The doc understands you can’t stay beyond this look see. He’s not happy, but he gets it, given I laid it on him a bit thick. I made sure he understood that the guy that wants Ro dead is a psychopath of the first order, with no qualms about killing anyone that happen to get in his way. Them and everyone they’d ever known, or were involved with.”
Releasing a breath, Vincent turned toward the medical center. He knew the place, hell, anyone that lived in San Fran knew the place. “Where am I meeting him?” he asked.
“You need to be on Duboce Avenue and stop at the north tower building when you see the guy in the lab coat. He’s about six feet, dark brown hair, brown eyes. According to Denise he kind of has a harried look about him with a hint of forgetful scientist.”
“Uh, okay,” he said with a frown. Whatever the hell that meant.
“Yeah, I know, but I’m sending you the pic she has of him.”
A small vibration from his phone told him he had a text message. Hitting it, he shot a quick look to the image that appeared. “Got it.”
“Good. Call me when you get out of there. In the meantime, do you need anything?” he asked.
“Yeah, I need someone to go over to the apartment I was living out of and sterilize it. No hints that anyone lived there. Get there before the cops go looking.” Which they would when Rhonda or he didn’t check in at their next scheduled time, in six hours. They had twenty-four after that before the cops would swarm. “I also need a go-bag for us both. Clothes, toiletries, the works,” he said.
“Got it, I’ll get that rolling,” Shawn told him.
“I’ll need some groceries too, Shawn. Enough for about a week. Anything beyond that I’ll figure out on my own, but that will help us get started. My phone too, I’m going to scrub this one as soon as I make my next call to you.”
“Right, on my list,” Shawn said. “Where do you want to pick everything up?” he asked.
Which was the next problem, he had to ditch his truck too. “Shawn, I hate to ask, but I need a new vehicle. One not tied to me, to Ro, to anyone we know. Has to be clean. Everything should be put in there along with all our ID that’s sitting at C&M. As to where...” He trailed off. Fuck if he knew where would be safe.
“How about I do a switch out at the hospital?” Shawn asked. “You’ll be there a couple hours at least, that will give me the time to get everything together. I’ll bring the new vehicle to the hospital, swap it out for yours, and then hide your truck out in my garage until this is all done and cleared up.”
Nodding slowly, Vincent knew that would be best. “Yeah, let’s do that. I’ll leave the keys in the rear tire well. No clue where I’ll park but I’ll keep it as close to the building as I can manage.”
“Good enough,” Shawn said. “I’ll find it and switch it out. Maybe with a SUV for some extra travel comfort, and in case you need to stay in it for a night.”
“Thanks, Shawn. Dude, I owe you big for this.”
“Just get her looked after, watch out for her, and both of you come home. That’s enough for me,” Shawn said.
Not sure what else to say, he got a rough goodbye out and hung up. He’d look after her all right, and kill anyone that thought to hurt her ever again.
****
Six hours after reaching the hospital, and a few tense moments between him and the doc, he was wheeling Ro out to the parking lot. Going straight to the spot he’d left his truck in he grinned when he saw the heavy duty SUV in its place. Shawn was always good to his word, but
this, even for him, was above and beyond.
Vincent knew it had body armor—it just had a look about it—which was a huge plus should they need it. It would be brutal on gas, but it was better to have the added layer of protection with a guy like Moreau out hunting for his girl.
Digging out the keys from the wheel well, he disarmed and unlocked the truck. A quick look through showed all he’d asked for and a shit load more. Above and beyond, he thought with a chuckle. Thank you, Shawn.
When he had Rhonda tucked safely inside, reclined in the passenger seat as close to horizontal as he could make it go, he got moving. He did a few random turns to check for a tail, not wanting to take any chances with Rhonda’s life, before he got them headed in the planned direction.
He’d had hours to consider where to take her. There was only one place he knew no one could track them to, an old hunting lodge still in his mother’s maiden name, near the California-Nevada border. It was right on the edge of National forest land, which meant it was a bitch to find if you didn’t know where you were going. It would take them a bit of time to get there, which was fine by him. More time for him to ensure they weren’t being followed. Reaching over Vincent rested a hand lightly on her knee. The trip was going to be long, but hopefully it wouldn’t tax her already strained to the max body.
“Rest easy, baby,” he said softly to Rhonda. “I’m going to get you somewhere safe for you to recuperate and plot revenge on that little prick Moreau.” She’d be chomping at the bit to get back into the fight. That he knew for sure. His girl was nothing if not tenacious and determined. Only this time around, she wouldn’t be going in solo. Over his dead body would she be going at Moreau again alone.
Chapter Five
Rhonda hurt all the fuck over. Letting out a whimper, she tried to move and then very quickly changed her mind. Bad move. Really bad move that.
“Shh, Ro, it’s okay,” a voice she knew said softly to her. “Don’t try to move around, baby. You have so many bruises, broken bones, and other issues, you really shouldn’t try.”
Vincent, it was Vincent. She felt the tension release so she could relax. Slowly she pried an eye open, the only working eye apparently, since the other didn’t seem to want to budge, and took a peek around. The first thing she saw was Vincent, looking worried, and sitting nice and close.
“Hi,” he whispered with a smile. “Glad to see you finally awake. Listen to me okay,” he said softly. “Your jaw bone was cracked, not broken thankfully, but it is currently wired shut. That douchebag didn’t break your cheekbone but it was a damn close thing, there are a couple of hairline fractures. Your hand was broken in six places, currently residing in some nice heavy duty plaster at your side. You have a total of six cracked ribs and five broken ones, so breathing will hurt for quite a while.”
She gave a tiny nod before looking around and frowning, well, she thought she was frowning.
“We’re at an old hunting cabin that’s in my mother’s maiden name. It will take a lot for Moreau to track you here. Even if he does, I have the place rigged to ensure he never gets close. No one, and I mean no one, not even Shawn and Tamara know where we are. We are off the grid. We have food, medical supplies, and drugs for you, so we’re good. I should also mention I have you on an IV so you stay hydrated and I can give you your medication. You also currently are sporting a catheter. Sorry.” He winced.
Damn, that fucking sucked ass! Talk about embarrassing too. Had she had the strength she would have pulled the blankets over her head so she could quietly die in shame. Nothing more non-conducive to getting the hot guy than making him change out a pee bag.
“We got here yesterday after a quick jaunt to the hospital. Don’t worry, it was all off the books, Denise from C&M called in a favor from someone she grew up with. He’s good, really good actually,” Vincent said. “He looked you over, got you all taped up, and ready to roll nice and fast. He won’t say anything, and as far as I could tell, when we left Moreau’s place, he didn’t have a clue you were even gone. He does now, but that’s not our concern.”
He shut his mouth and shot her an apologetic look. “Sorry, I’m babbling. I’ve been worried about you. Could barely sleep more than a few minutes at a time last night since I kept freaking that you would stop breathing or something. I know, babbling again.”
Rhonda watched him rub a hand over his face, only then noting how tired he looked. He’d watched over her, all night, because he was worried. That had to be the sweetest thing anyone had done for her in forever. Lifting her good hand, which felt like it was weighted down, she moved it to brush over his hand on his leg.
He quickly caught it and held on gently. Sighing, she closed her eye for a moment to soak in the sensation of his palm to hers. His hand was warm, firm and just a little rough. Like a man’s hand should be, and she knew it would feel fantastic on a woman’s skin.
Opening her eye again, she looked up at him and squeezed his hand lightly. Not that she had many options given how weak she felt. He smiled down at her and that was enough. For the moment. Later, she’d damn well be telling him how grateful she was. He’d saved her ass, pulling it right out of the fire at great risk to his own. He was amazing, her own hero, though she knew he’d hate that particular title.
“Try and sleep for a while. I’m going to grab a shower, make some dinner and then I’ll be right back, okay?”
She gave another small nod. Closing her eye she held onto his hand as sleep claimed her once more.
****
The next few days were pretty much the same thing, over and over. She’d wake for a time to find Vincent nearby. He’d talk to her about anything and everything. He was occasionally in contact with Shawn but they were keeping the conversations short.
From Vincent she knew that Moreau was making discreet inquiries about her, trying to figure out where she likely went. “Shawn called and talked to your boss. They had a meeting so that Shawn could let him know what happened and that you were going to be out of touch. He’s not happy, to say the least, but he is trying to be understanding. Since the guy that actually was hurting you, even if it was at Moreau’s command, is dead, there’s not a lot they can do anyway.”
Which was the truth. They still had nothing on Moreau other than a few rumors and suppositions that wouldn’t hold water if it even made it to a court. He had to make a mistake, get caught, and then maybe they’d be able to nail him. Since he wasn’t a man to make mistakes though, there really wasn’t a hell of a lot of hope.
When she next woke up she felt much better. Definitely not great, but good enough that she was a bit antsy. She was struggling to sit when Vincent came in the room.
“What the hell, Ro?” he asked as he came quickly to her side. “What are you trying to do, damn it?”
Shooting him a glare, much more effective now that she had both eyes able to open, she let out a huff of air. Lifting her good hand she made a walking motion.
“Not happening, you are supposed to be on full bed rest,” he told her.
That earned him another glare. Shaking her head, she made the motion again.
“Ro,” he said in clear frustration. “Fine, but we have to get the catheter out first. You can’t go wandering around with it in. So lay your ass back down and let me deal with that first.”
Embarrassed at the thought of what he needed to do, she reluctantly let him ease her down. She even put up with his foul mouth as he removed the catheter. Damn that shit hurt, which made her eternally pleased she hadn’t been awake when it had gone in. Flinching, she let out a low hissing breath as he shot her a look.
“Sorry, baby,” he said.
Shrugging, she watched him. She didn’t care how much it hurt as long as it was out. With it out she could do her own bathroom breaks, which was huge in her new world. She even dutifully waited, with as much patience as she had, while he took out the IV line as well. That didn’t hurt nearly as much as the catheter; thank heavens for the little things in life. Wiggling her fingers
at him once he’d put the bandage in place, she smiled a little. She was free! In a manner of speaking.
Poor Vincent, he did not look happy to be helping her sit up. That was fine, let him be grumpy. She needed to get up and moving. Swinging her legs over the bed edge, she gave herself a moment to let the bit of vertigo settle down. Sucking in a breath, one she quickly regretted, Rhonda let out a hiss of air. Fucking hell, her torso felt like it was in a vise.
Then she pushed herself beyond the throbbing pain, and up to stand on her own two feet. Where she nearly fell flat on her face.
“I fucking told you, Ro, you’re not ready to be moving,” he said, catching her and saving her from a flat nose to go with her other issues. Moaning at the pain from the grip he had on her ribcage, she gripped his arm hard with her good hand.
Catching her breath again, Rhonda rolled her eyes at him as she found her footing. Giving him a little smirk she took a few shaky steps with his help. Soon enough she was moving under her own power. Yes, she was weak, but that would go away with a little walking each day. She’d be back to normal in no time at all. She did let him help her into a robe over the long T-shirt she was currently sporting, one of Vincent’s she assumed, given the size.
Vincent kept on muttering about stubborn women as he let her walk, one hand under her elbow to balance her. He might bitch a lot, but he was a good guy. She knew he was worried for her, even appreciated the worry. Hell, who was she kidding? It made her all warm and fuzzy inside to know he cared enough to worry.
In the kitchen he set her in a chair, which was good. She was a little tired from that short walk. Then, being as sweet as she had always known him to be, he got her a cup of coffee with a straw. Shooting him what she hoped was a grateful look she took a sip and moaned happily at the lukewarm concoction. Sweet caffeine, how she’d missed it. It was also just what her brain needed to get back into gear, and clear out some of the cobwebs. With a peek at Vincent from under her lashes, she took another slow sip. It was time to figure out her next move, however slow it might be given the current situation, and what the hell she was going to do with Vincent.
Dangerous Lines Page 3
