The Sarah Roberts Series Vol. 7-9

by Jonas Saul

  The driver was in the kind of hurry one of Kierian’s men would be in. Sarah headed toward the car knowing it was their only chance.

  Aaron turned toward the car at the same time.

  Someone shouted behind them, but Sarah couldn’t make out what was said over the wind. Heavy breathing added pressure to her damaged ribs. She winced with each inhalation. When the pain slowed her down, Aaron grabbed her arm and helped her toward the Impala that headed their way.

  “Stop or I’ll shoot,” a man yelled.

  A weapon fired behind them.

  “Damn it,” she shouted and ducked instinctively. If the rescue car was any farther away, she would’ve dove into the snow bank on the side of the access road, but it was too close to stop now. “Keep low and zigzag.”

  “I’m not letting you go,” Aaron shouted back.

  She yanked her arm out of his grasp and pulled away. “Make less of a target of yourself or get shot.” She spun left, then right, her head down. “Your choice.”

  Another weapon fired behind them. She glanced at Aaron to see if he got hit, but he was still running.

  The Impala stopped. The back door on the passenger side popped open. The driver righted himself and rolled the front window down.

  “Hurry,” the driver shouted.

  The front lobby of the apartment building filled with men in black body armor and assault rifles.

  What the hell? Sarah dove into the backseat of the car, her ribs screaming in protest.

  Aaron landed hard behind her and the driver hit the gas, spinning toward the exit, almost losing control on the way out of the parking lot.

  Automatic weapons fire filled the night. Sarah kept her head down, her eyes squeezed shut. Aaron leaned into her, the upper half of his body on the carpeted floor of the car, his legs upside down in the seat.

  The car hit a bump, swerved to right itself and shot forward.

  Sarah opened her eyes and winced at the fresh pain in her ribs. She and Aaron sat up.

  Sarah watched behind them, the back window still intact, the figures in black retreating.

  “Just in time, eh?” the driver said over the wind coming in through the open passenger window.

  Sarah slapped Aaron on the arm. “Next time give me Vivian’s note right away.” She breathed in shallow breaths to keep from expanding her ribs too much. “We almost got killed back there.”

  He leaned away from her, his face a mask of regret. “I’m sorry. I totally thought it was about something in the future. You know, something that could wait.”

  “It was about something in our future, wing nut. Something in our near future.”

  “I know that now.” He looked out the back window. “What’s a wing nut?”

  “You. Right now you’re a wing nut. Your fuck up could’ve gotten us killed.”

  “You two almost done back there?”

  “Who are you?” Sarah asked.

  “Your driver.”

  “No. Give me a name.”

  He met her eyes in the mirror but didn’t say anything.

  “Who sent you?” she asked.

  “Kierian.”

  “I need your cell phone so I can call him and ream his ass out. No one was supposed to know about the Italian trip.”

  The driver slowed and turned onto a quiet side street a few blocks up from the apartment building.

  It dawned on Sarah that she hadn’t heard any police sirens. With all that gunfire, how come no one in the apartment building called the police? And with hired killers, how come none of them hit the car even once with that much shooting?

  Something didn’t add up.

  Her suspicion of the driver increased.

  “Do you have a name?” she asked. “A cell phone?”

  “Of course,” he said. “Just give me a sec.” He looked at the empty seat beside him. “It’s here somewhere.”

  Sarah and Aaron exchanged a glance.

  The driver stopped the car. “Here it is.” He turned around and brought his hand up to the top of the seat.

  A silver-plated Magnum faced them from two feet away.

  “I found my cell phone.” He looked at his gun. “Although the only call you can make with this is the call to heaven. Or hell, whichever you’re destined to go to.”

  Sarah leaned back in the seat a few inches, but knew it didn’t matter. Aaron’s hands twitched in his lap. If he was going to attempt to disarm the guy, she only hoped he was successful. It would be hard for the driver to miss either one of them from this distance.

  “Are you two ever stupid,” the driver said. “That was the easiest grab we’ve ever done. You ran right into my car.”

  “Did Kierian set this up?” Sarah asked.

  The driver laughed without taking his eyes off her. “The stupid meter just keeps going higher.”

  “Call her stupid again and I’ll shove that gun up your ass,” Aaron whispered.

  The driver’s face turned serious. He angled the gun toward Aaron and moved it closer.

  “We came for her, not you. One more wise crack out of your face and I’ll remove it for you.”

  “Where are the sirens?” Sarah asked to get his attention back on her. “Is that why no shots hit the car? Because you’re in on it with them?”

  “Maybe you’re not so stupid after all,” he said. Aaron and the driver locked eyes. Without averting his gaze from Aaron, he said, “It was staged.”

  “Staged?” She needed his attention back on her if Aaron was to make a grab for the gun. “What do you mean, staged?”

  He faced her, his gun aimed at Aaron from a foot away.

  “Just filming a movie. We’ve got the permit and everything. All the weapons carried blanks. Not a single live round.” He paused and glanced down at his Magnum. “Except this one.”

  “Are you saying we just jumped off our balcony and ran around the building only to jump into your car while men shot blanks at us?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  “Don’t worry about Aaron. I’m the one who’s going to shove that fucking gun up your ass.”

  “Watch your mouth, pretty lady, or I’ll wash it out with my dick.”

  “Speaking of dicks, you guys interrupted us,” Sarah said. “We were about to have the best sex this side of Jupiter when Kierian called. Oh, wait, that was Kierian, right?”

  “We don’t know who tipped you off,” the driver said. “But that doesn’t matter. Enough with the small talk. I’ve got a message for you.”

  “A message,” Sarah said, rubbing her hands together. “Oh, this oughta be good.”

  Aaron looked ready to spring, but she knew he would wait until he was absolutely sure the Magnum could be removed as a threat.

  “Sam Marconi wants you to know you’re not welcome in Italy.”

  “Well, tell Mr. Marconi that—”

  “I’m not finished!” the driver shouted.

  Aaron flinched. The driver brought the gun up and pressed it into Aaron’s forehead. “Hold on there, partner. Don’t be stupid.”

  “What else is there?” Sarah asked.

  “If you come to Italy, you won’t survive twenty-four hours. That’s what I’m supposed to tell you.”

  “You’re joking, right? Because that’s the kind of thing that’ll make me want to go even more.”

  “Oh, man,” the driver smirked. “Are you ever stupid.” When he said stupid, he pressed the Magnum harder into Aaron’s forehead, forcing his head back. “If Marconi can get to you here, how do you think you’ll survive on his soil?”

  “You don’t know me very well and neither does he. Are we done yet?”

  “Just watch what you eat.”

  “Watch what we eat? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I have no idea, but you’re supposed to be told—”

  A hand extended into the open passenger window and placed a large handgun against the driver’s temple.

  “Drop your weapon,” the familiar voice said
.

  Kierian.

  “Fuck you. Drop yours or I’ll shoot this kid’s brains all over the back window.”

  Aaron’s eyes widened. Sarah ran through her options.

  “Fine,” Kierian said. “Take it easy. We’ll do it your way.”

  His handgun slowly pulled away from the driver’s temple. As it did, the driver eased off enough that Aaron could straighten his head.

  When a weapon discharged, Sarah jolted and dropped her head between her knees. Aaron had done the same.

  The driver wailed as blood seeped out his wrist. His gun lay on the floor mats between Aaron’s legs. Sarah lunged over and retrieved it.

  “It’s probably filled with blanks like the rest of their weapons.”

  The driver held up his arm and screamed as he examined the hole in his wrist.

  Sarah aimed the Magnum and fired. The bullet tore through the palm of the driver’s hand and busted through the windshield of the car.

  The driver screamed, his voice cracking.

  “Oh, shit,” Sarah shouted. “It really was loaded. Sorry about that.”

  As Kierian opened the side door, Aaron leaned over the seat and drove his fist down hard and fast. The driver went quiet.

  Aaron scooted across the seat and hopped out of the car. Sarah followed him, slipping the Magnum in the back of her pants.

  “What the hell just happened?” Aaron asked.

  Kierian shrugged. “I’m as stunned as you two. Come on, we’ll talk in my car.”

  “Can we trust you?” Aaron asked.

  “Of course you can.” He looked at Sarah. “Right?”

  “Don’t look at me. I trust no one.”

  Aaron turned to her.

  “Except you, of course.” She smiled.

  “We need to move,” Kierian pleaded.

  “How did they find us so easily?” Aaron asked. “Who opened their mouth? Who talked?”

  “No one talked,” Kierian said. “Look, we can discuss this all night if you want, but not here. We have to leave.”

  Aaron turned to Sarah. “Should we go with this guy? Or would that put us in more danger?”

  Sarah reached out her hand. “Kierian, give me your gun.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “Give it to me or see you later. That’s the deal.”

  “Fine.” Kierian dropped the weapon in Sarah’s open palm.

  She handed it to Aaron and showed him where the safety was. “Shoot him if he gives any indication he’s not on our side.”

  “No problem.”

  “Has it really come to this?” Kierian asked.

  “And that’s a question you’re asking me?”

  “Whatever.” Kierian started walking. He stopped and turned around. “You two coming?”

  “We were about to ten minutes ago, but now the night’s fucked.”

  Sarah tapped Aaron’s shoulder, the adrenaline wearing off. “Let’s go see what he has to say.”

  Chapter 3

  Kierian’s car was the same Impala from the week before when Sarah had met him.

  Aaron, having just had a loaded gun jammed into his forehead in the same color, make, and model of vehicle, almost shot Kierian for the cruel joke. When Sarah noticed his hand twitch, she punched his arm and shook her head violently.

  “He’s a real FBI agent,” she said. “Don’t even pretend to shoot him.”

  Aaron grunted but kept the gun down. Once in the backseat of the car, Aaron relinquished Kierian’s weapon by dropping it over the passenger seat.

  “Thanks,” Kierian said, and got the car moving. “Let me call this in. I’ll be on the phone for a few minutes. We’ll talk when we get where we’re going.”

  “Where are we going?” Sarah asked.

  “To talk.”

  “Kierian.” She said his name with caution in her voice. “Don’t be cryptic and don’t answer my questions that way.”

  “What way?”

  “Stop the car. We’re done.”

  “Okay, okay.” He hit his turn signal and headed south on Jarvis toward the Gardiner Expressway. “While I make my calls, I’m driving us north of Toronto to a coffee shop at a Petro-Canada gas station. We’ll have privacy there because no one will know where we are. That work for you two?”

  She looked out the window in an attempt to hold her tongue. Kierian got on his phone and started talking to someone, asking whoever it was how this evening’s events could have possibly taken place.

  Aaron’s life had just been threatened. Sarah couldn’t have that on her conscience. Somehow she had to remove Aaron from the equation and the only way to do that was to use Kierian’s resources to get him into protective custody until Sam ‘The Dealer’ Marconi was neutralized.

  She made a few hard decisions about what needed to be done, as Kierian argued with someone on the phone while driving them north on Highway 400.

  The large Petro-Canada sign lit up the dark sky as Kierian pulled onto the long exit ramp. He drove around back and parked between two long haulers. The snow had stopped this far north of Toronto and the parking lot was clear.

  Kierian turned to look at them. “Let’s get a coffee and something to eat.”

  They followed Kierian in the side door where a few fast-food shops surrounded a Tim Horton’s coffee outlet. Kierian was buying so they both got large coffees, bagels and muffins.

  At the table, Kierian started.

  “Look, I want to tell you both how sorry I am about what happened tonight. But because it did, that advances our timetable and changes things a little.”

  “How so?” Aaron asked.

  Kierian looked at Aaron briefly, and then met Sarah’s eyes. “Keep an open mind with what I’m about to tell you.”

  “Of course,” Sarah said, smiling wide. “We’re all ears.”

  “Why do you seem so pissed at me?” Kierian asked.

  “Pandora’s box just opened,” Sarah said. She took a large bite of her bagel, and washed it down with warm, soothing coffee. “You sure you want a real answer to that question?”

  “No, actually, I don’t.”

  “Too late.” She swallowed the food in her mouth. “You’re going to hear what I have to say because you’re the reason we’re in this predicament.”

  “Okay, but I—”

  “Shhh,” Sarah said, raising a finger to her lips. “Honor the speaker. I’ve got the floor. We clear?”

  He nodded and sipped his coffee. Written all over his face was the embarrassment of being talked to this way.

  “You said to me in Detective Lyson’s office a few days ago when I agreed to come on board that I wouldn’t be left out in the cold and that, in an advisory capacity, I work with the FBI now. Is that correct? Nod or shake your head. Don’t test me right now because I’m pretty pissed.”

  Kierian nodded. He held his coffee cup with both hands but didn’t sip it this time.

  “Would you agree that Aaron and I were left out in the cold tonight, literally?”

  He nodded.

  “You said, on that fateful day, that if something were to happen, I would have backup and access to massive resources and I could have a weapon if needed. Correct?”

  Kierian turned and watched a group of people coming in from the cool night.

  “Is what I said a fair recollection?” Sarah asked.

  He sipped his coffee and set the cup down, then nodded.

  Aaron remained quiet beside her.

  “Finally, this man we’re going to Italy to locate has murdered Cosa Nostra men. You told me four other agents had already gone to Italy but came home in body bags. Now, this evening, within days of my agreeing to come on board, Aaron’s apartment was attacked in a very organized way, all just to give me a message. Would you say that about sums it up?”

  Kierian nodded and opened his mouth to speak. Sarah raised her hand.

  Aaron fidgeted beside her. She turned to him. “You’ll get your turn.” Then back to Kierian. “I understood that I
would have the protection of the FBI while in Rome. But yet, even the FBI can’t protect themselves. I’m sorry—I’m not trying to be rude or speak ill of the dead—I’m simply painting a picture of how serious the man we’re going after is.”