“It's time to go,” he repeated, starting the engine. Mattias didn't waste a second putting the car in gear and driving out of the parking lot at high speed.
“You said that. What happened to make you so, so...like this? Did you get a call while I was asleep?”
“No, I didn't get a call. I thought I saw someone on the side street. Someone who probably shouldn't have been there at this time of night.” He glanced in the rear view mirror.
Alannah turned in her seat to look out the back window. Just as Mattias turned a corner, she saw the dark figure of a person step out from behind a dumpster.
“Mattias, I see someone.”
“Mhm.” His curt answer was more of a hum than not.
Facing forward after the hotel fell out of sight, Alannah glanced at Mattias. “How did they know where to find us?”
“I don't know. I never left any voice messages with anyone and you didn't use the phone at all, either.” The SUV picked up more speed as Mattias merged onto a highway. “Do you have a cell phone on you?”
“No, I left it behind in my room.”
“So that's not it.” He glanced in the rear view mirror again.
Unsettled, Alannah tipped a look into her side mirror, but didn't see headlights indicating they were being followed from the hotel. “What else could it be?”
“I'm not sure yet. Let's put some distance between us and them for now, and we'll worry about it later.”
“I'm sorry about last night. When I suggested that you might be working with them, and that I couldn't trust you. I do trust you.” Alannah felt compelled to tell Mattias how she felt. He'd just put his life on the line again for her, and she didn't want him thinking she didn't appreciate what he was doing on her behalf.
“It's all right. The situation hasn't been easy,” he said, setting the SUV into cruise mode. “But thank you.”
“Will you tell me where we're going now?”
“I'd like to put some distance between us and the hotel. Going back to Morano's isn't an option yet. I'll stop at some point and try to contact Ahsan or Leander. Maybe they'll have something for me then.”
“Isn't there anyone else we can call? The police? My father, now that we're gone from the hotel?”
“We could go to the local police, but to be honest, Alannah, I feel better staying on our own. Able to make what decisions we want, when we want, rather than be forced to do what they say. I don't trust that the stations aren't being monitored in some way, either, not after that man found us at the hotel. It seems to me that whoever is in charge of wanting you dead has an impressive reach. Contacts. People loyal enough to forego protocol in favor of doing someone else's bidding. We're safer out here.” He paused, then added, “We'll call your father when we stop and hope for the best. Remember, it'll take him a while to come or send his men.”
Alannah absorbed everything Mattias had to say with a contemplative frown. It made sense, she supposed, especially considering the lengths someone had gone to in order to get their hands on her.
“So you still think calling my father right now is a bad idea.”
“Right this second? Yes, I do. I need more information first.”
“Then we'll wait.” It was part of her trusting him. Alannah needed to put all her faith in the Prince, even if it rankled her that he wouldn't tell her his secrets.
“Alannah,” Mattias said with a steely snarl, “switch places with me. Right now.”
Startled, Alannah snapped a look across the SUV. “What?”
“Right now. Switch seats with me. We have company.”
Chapter Nine
There was no time to contemplate, no time for questions. Hiking the long hem of her dress to her thighs, Alannah angled first one leg, then the other, over the console. As she eased against Mattias, feeling the hard lines of his body behind her, a flash of bright white blinded her in the rear view mirror. Headlights, swerving sharp, coming fast. Gripping the wheel while Mattias peeled away to the passenger side, she plopped into the driver's seat and tramped the gas. It took her a few precious seconds to correct the weaving SUV, and another second to realize that Mattias had his gun in hand, checking the clip before slamming it home.
“He's coming up on the right. Hold steady!” Mattias said. The window skimmed down. Turning in the seat, the Prince scooted into a sitting position half in and half out of the vehicle, aiming the gun at the oncoming car.
“Don't fall out! Mattias!” Alannah had to correct another swerve of the SUV.
“...try not to do that. Don't swerve!”
“I can't help it. You're distracting me.” Breathing hard and fast, Alannah scanned the mirrors. The car behind swerved as well, as if getting out of her way. She must have cut it off from an attempt to come up on the passenger side.
“Drive straight. Give me a good shot.”
A moment later, the gun went off. Alannah tried to drive straight, fingers tight on the wheel. Her knuckles turned white from the intensity of her grip. “Did you get them? Mattias?”
No answer.
She could see him out of the corner of her eye, just to his chest, nothing above that. The rest was hanging out of the car, taking aim at the enemy. Thankfully, the dark road was empty of other vehicles at this time of night, giving her an open canvas to drive on.
Behind, an engine roared.
“Left, left, left!” Mattias shouted.
Without thinking more about it than that, Alannah cut the wheel hard to the left. Hard enough to make the tires squeal on the asphalt, hard enough that Mattias's hand slapped down on the roof of the SUV.
“Hold on!” she shouted back. Rewarded with the vision of the chase car swerving again in her side mirror, Alannah hunched over the wheel and made it her mission in life not to allow the car to come up on either side. It made for an erratic zig-zag down the highway.
She could do this. She could help Mattias defeat their pursuers. He was depending on her, counted on her to do this one simple thing. The Prince had the hard job of trying to shoot a moving target from a moving target.
Pop. The gunshot faded almost as fast as she heard it. Mattias wasn't wasting a hail of bullets on the car, but appeared to be placing his shots as best he was able. Probably limited ammunition, she told herself, licking a bead of sweat from her upper lip.
From an onramp to their right, a second car blazed into sight. Coming fast, as fast as the chase car behind them. Dark paint, dark windows, with silver chrome glinting along the frame and the wheels.
“Alannah!”
She heard the warning in Mattias's voice. Knew without him telling her that this car, too, was the enemy. Should she try to run it off the road? Give it no room to get on the highway to begin with?
The back window of the dark car rolled down. A gun appeared with a ghostly hand attached, the rest of the arm swallowed by the inky interior of the vehicle. Alannah caught a glimpse just as she increased speed, then hit the brakes hard, so very hard, because she thought Mattias was about to get shot.
“Hold on!”
Mattias's body thumped around the space of the rolled down window and something clattered across the roof of the SUV. Something hard, metal.
The gun. They'd lost the gun.
From behind, the car giving chase passed on her side, veering out of the way when she'd stomped the brakes. Now both cars were ahead of her. Slowing down. Slowing way down.
“Mattias! Did you lose the gu--” Something was wrong. Alannah could tell by the slackness of Mattias's legs, at the loose bow of his spine. Instinctively, she stopped the SUV, reached across the car, and helped pull Mattias inside. His lids were low, blinking as if he'd hit happy hour and was drunk as a skunk.
“Mattias! Mattias!”
No amount of shouting would rouse him. Limp as a noodle, legs and arms askew and disarrayed, Mattias slumped against the seat. She glimpsed what looked like a small dart, the end tipped red, sticking out of his far shoulder.
No. No.
Gla
ncing up, Alannah saw both cars reversing. Straight toward her.
This was it. Do or die. Putting the SUV in gear, she surged forward, yanking the wheel left, right, left. Veering toward one car, then the other, barreling down on them as they reversed toward her. The car on the right stopped and both back doors opened.
Alannah didn't wait for more. The men would likely pop out with machine guns and cut them down with a storm of bullets. Pulling hard on the wheel, she made a sharp U-turn and sped away from both cars, going the wrong way down the onramp. The same ramp the second car appeared from, and one she hoped would let her escape the men before they could get their vehicles aimed the right direction for pursuit.
It couldn't be as easy as all that. Of course not. Halfway to the beginning of the onramp, a lone car appeared. Picking up speed, prepared to accelerate onto the highway.
“Move, move!” she shouted at the windshield, words directed at the oncoming driver. She got as far right as she could without running off the onramp completely, giving the other car room to maneuver.
This time, luck was on her side. Not only did the car swerve to get out of her way, the vehicle didn't appear to contain anyone who wanted to hurt her. It was just some unfortunate soul who picked a bad time to take a road trip. Locking her elbows, saying a little prayer, she rocketed off the onramp into an intersection, counting on the late hour for traffic to be at a minimum. There were no more cars coming or going, which meant no nasty collisions.
Speeding through the streets, she glanced every few seconds into the rear view mirror, terrified she would see the cars hot on her proverbial heels before she could get out of sight. She took care of that at the next stoplight, going against the red to make a left turn. Then a hard right, and another left. She drove two blocks, passed through an underground parking garage, and shot out the other side onto a main thoroughfare. Reducing her speed lest she draw the attention of a cop, shoulders screaming with tension and tightness, Alannah got her and Mattias out of there.
Come hell or high water, she and the Prince would both live to see the sun rise.
The throbbing in his head woke Mattias from slumber. No—it was the sprinkle of water on his face that brought him around, he realized moments later. Sitting up with a start, woozy and disoriented, he blocked his eyes with a forearm to try and contain the bright sunlight. The shape of a dashboard came into view, as well as an arm and a hand that flicked yet more water into his face.
“What the--”
“You need to wake up now. It's been hours,” Alannah said.
Hearing her voice brought back the car chase, him sitting in the window taking shots at their adversary. Sitting straighter in the passenger seat, squinting against a severe headache and a queasy feeling in his stomach, Mattias sought to get a better look at the heiress. Other than rumpled hair and a slightly askew gown, she looked to be in good condition.
“What happened?” he asked.
“This happened,” she said, holding a red tipped dart between her thumb and index finger. “Another car came up on the onramp--”
“I remember, yeah. I remember.”
“--and shot you with this. At least it wasn't a bullet.” Alannah set the small dart down like she thought it might bite her.
“At least,” he said in agreement. It had been a harrowing escape, half of which he'd been unconscious for.
Twisted in the driver's seat to see him better, she said, “You were right, though. Someone was hunting us.”
Mattias situated himself on the seat, ignoring the pounding in his head. To look out the windshield was a special kind of torture thanks to the bright gleam of the sun. At least until his eyes adjusted. “Where are we now? How did we get away from them?”
“In a park somewhere. While you were out, I got us away from the others and drove as fast as I dared through the city to lose our tail. Once I found another highway, I jumped on it and followed it until I couldn't drive anymore.”
“You're full of surprises.” Mattias reached forward to take a bottle of water—half of it gone now—that she offered. “Where did you get this?”
“I saw an opportunity and took it,” she explained, then pointed to a cup holder between the two front seats. “There. Someone left it behind. One of your acquaintances, I think.”
Ahsan had been driving the SUV to begin with. Mattias felt confident consuming what remained of the water, which he did in short order. “Thanks.”
“You're welcome.”
“Do you have any idea what city we're in?” He tossed the bottle into the back when he was done and glanced out the windows now that his eyes had adjusted better to the glare. Green grass stretched in all directions and the vague outline of a jungle gym withstood clambering hands of children.
“I wasn't paying attention to anything other than not getting pulled over and checking obsessively for a tail. I'm sorry.”
“Don't be sorry. You did an excellent job.” He rubbed his jaw, the faintest rasp of whiskers pricking his fingertips.
“I can't be one hundred percent sure that I lost them, but the fact we've been parked here for a while and haven't been attacked gives me hope that we have.”
“For now, anyway.” He looked across the car, met her eyes.
“You think they'll show up again?” she asked, alarm crossing her features.
“It's possible that the man at the hotel had a car close by and was quick enough to get in and get on our tail. But we can't rule out that they're tracking us some other way. For the life of me, right now, I can't figure out what it might be. We both don't have phones, computers or tablets on us. We haven't spoken to anyone, used credit cards, or anything like that.”
“They know what this car looks like, though. If they got the license plate off the back, could they trace it that way?”
“Most people who don't want to be tracked disable any kind of black boxes a car might have on it. I know Ahsan definitely made sure this vehicle was untraceable in the usual way. It's probably the easy answer, that the man at the hotel called in his cohorts and found us before we got too far away.” Mattias liked to cover all his bases, however, and thinking they were being tracked another way that he wasn't aware of made him edgy.
“They were awfully prepared. Not just one car, but two.” Alannah smoothed an errant lock of hair away from her forehead, attention on Mattias.
“Most assassins are. Prepared, that is.”
“You sound pretty versed in this area. Is it because you are one?”
Mattias recognized the shine of wariness the second it entered Alannah's eyes. He supposed it was the next logical step in her mind, one he couldn't really blame her for. “I'm not an assassin.”
And that was mostly true. He didn't take jobs with the intention to kill—he took jobs with the intention to save. If he was forced to take other action, then he was prepared to do that.
“You could be a little more reassuring.” Alannah rested her chin on her fingers, which gripped the side of the seat. Conflicted, unsure.
“I'm not an assassin,” he repeated. “I did tell you that I'm battle trained. In my country, I hold several military titles, all of which require me to know how to kill a man. It's not quite the same thing, though, now is it?”
“Not the same at all. Yet I still have the feeling there's something you're not telling me.”
“I'm not the kind of man who gives away all his secrets.” He had the strangest desire to confide in Alannah despite the Royal Elite code to keep their group under wraps. He wanted her to understand why he was doing the things he was doing, so that she might not judge his character so harshly. The idea that she thought he might be an assassin bothered him more than he wanted to admit.
She searched his eyes, lush mouth drawn into a contemplative moue. Then, she straightened. Frowning. As if a stray thought crossed her mind. One that didn't set well with her. She shifted in the seat, facing forward to stare out the windshield.
Mattias had only known Alannah a couple of d
ays, but already he recognized her signals and signs. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“I know better. Tell me.”
Silence.
“Alannah.” Her name had barely passed his lips before she popped open the driver's door and got out. Mattias followed suit, ignoring a bout of dizziness and the glare of the sun, left over remnants of the drug. Rounding the nose of the SUV, he caught up to her on the grass. Cupping her elbow, he swiveled her around to face him. Her eyes were full of fury and indignation.
“You planned this all along, didn't you? To get close. You knew before you ever met me that someone planned the hit, and all this, this...” she gestured flippantly with a hand, “...this was just part of your job. I was your job.”
It didn't take Mattias long to figure out where she was going with it. He loathed that he couldn't tell her the entire truth. “My only 'job' as you call it, was to make sure nothing happened to you. Getting to know you was all me.”
“I don't believe you.”
“Of course you don't,” he said. His hand fell to his side when she shrugged off his touch. “Because you're stubborn and hard headed and I could emblazon it across the sky but you'd still believe what you believe.”
“How can I not? No wonder you were bedding anything with two legs in the meantime.” She turned away, putting her back to him.
Mattias studied the line of her jaw, the curve of her shoulder. Under the sun, her dress glittered like black diamonds. It hugged her slender body in all the right places, accentuating everything feminine about her.
Feeling over-warm in his tuxedo, he resisted the urge to remove the jacket. It wouldn't do to expose anyone who might be watching to the presence of his shoulder holster.
“My initial contact with you was precisely what it appears to be. Yes,” he admitted, “I sought you out with the idea to keep an eye on you. But it wasn't only that after the first couple of times.”
She glared at him over her shoulder before looking forward toward the distant playground again.
Mattias took her silence to mean she was rethinking her statement. He said, “I don't know how it could be much more than what I've said after only a day or two. Things haven't been clear cut for either of us here.”
The Royal Elite: Mattias Page 11
