Apparently, Bridger had been in deep and he’d paid for it, perhaps with his life. I felt an ache in my stomach that had nothing to do with our situation. Poor Claire. To lose him again like this wasn’t going to be easy.
“You think you’ll be able to find it?” I pressed.
Ralph grimaced. “Without Bridger, I can only hope. I’m not sure where he might have moved it.”
“Will you two stop it with the backup already? We have to get out of here.” This from Cody, who still sat where I’d pushed him.
I took a tentative step toward him. “Look, Cody, about what I said—”
He waved my words away. “I understand. I don’t know why I let him get to me like that. I’m a stupid old man, that’s for sure.”
The pressure in my chest eased. “Let’s just concentrate on how we’re getting out of here.”
“Not us,” Cody said. “You. We’d only slow you down.” He said the words reluctantly, but I was glad he’d come to that conclusion. I’d worked with Shannon and Paige long enough to know I could depend on them to pull their own, but protecting Cody and Ralph might get me killed—and them in the process.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
Cody glanced at the front window. “Not sure. We should probably wait until dark, though.”
“For what?” Ralph was rubbing his chest again. I wasn’t sure, but I thought his breath might be coming a little too fast. He sat down abruptly on the sofa.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Hey, that’s a good idea,” Cody said, eyeing Ralph. “You fake a heart attack like that Bridger guy did the first time around and create a distraction so Autumn can get away. And better you than me because I get the feeling O’Donald would think it a favor if I croaked.”
“Uh, I don’t think he’s faking.” I hurried over to the couch. “Ralph, talk to us.”
Ralph took another labored breath. “They hit me earlier. I—I have a bit of a heart problem, and I’ve been without my medication today.”
This didn’t sound good. “Winston didn’t tell me you had heart trouble.”
“The kid doesn’t know,” Ralph panted. “JoAnna either, though she suspects, I think. Anyway, I’ll be okay. I can go a couple days without medication.” As if to deny the words, he slumped over on his side, his broken glasses askew. All the color was gone from his face, as though leached by some parasite, but he was still conscious.
With all the excitement today, it’d be a miracle if he didn’t have a heart attack. “We’d better get them to tell O’Donald,” I told Cody.
Cody shook his head. “He can’t do anything. Unless he has a personal physician standing by. If he calls an ambulance, he gets in big trouble for abducting us.”
“I’ll be fine,” Ralph protested. “I just need to rest.”
I put my fingers against Ralph’s throat. His heartbeat was faint and erratic. Something was wrong. Even if he wasn’t dying right this minute, another day without his medication might kill him. At least O’Donald could do something about that.
I sprinted to the front door, yanking it opened. The brown-haired thug with the broken nose and arm scar stepped in my path and raised his gun. “It’s Ralph,” I said. “I think he’s having a heart attack. He hasn’t taken his medication today.” Without waiting for a reply, I returned to the sofa where Ralph was leaning back against the cushions.
The thug came inside, talking on the phone. “Okay,” he said. “I understand.”
“We need an ambulance,” I said. It was worth a shot.
The thug blinked at me and shook his head. “He ain’t going nowhere.” To Ralph, he added, “Old man, O’Donald says maybe you’d better remember where you put your other backup. He’s sure you have one. Maybe if you tell us, he’ll find you a doctor.” With that, he stalked out the door, closing it firmly behind him.
Cody and I stared at each other. I had thought that if anything happened to Ralph, O’Donald’s plans would be ruined, but suddenly I wasn’t so sure. Ralph was the heart and soul and brains of JoAnna Hamilton’s nanotech project, and with him out of the way, her company would probably collapse. Without JoAnna’s company, Russo’s claim to nanotechnology would never come to fruition, and with O’Donald’s backing, Tarragon would eventually finish the race, with or without Ralph’s help. Maybe they’d hire the scientists Ralph had been working with once Software Innovation went under. Worse, maybe they already knew where Ralph’s backup had been stashed.
I bet O’Donald realized it would take Ralph years to recreate his own work without the help of his notes. Maybe a year was too long to keep a kidnapped victim hidden. If all this was true, O’Donald was assured of his revenge and the only reason any of us were still alive at the moment was to lull Winston into falling more easily into whatever life his father planned for him.
If I was right, that made Ralph expendable every bit as much as Cody—and he was looking worse by the minute.
“Cody, I need you to cause another distraction,” I said. “Get him in here again. The other man, too, if you can. I’ll find another way out and go for help.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll make it good,” Ralph said between gasps. He might be a peaceful scientist, but the glint in his eyes made me wonder what kind of double features he’d been watching at the theater.
I smiled. “Just don’t put more stress on your heart.”
“I tell you—I’m okay.” But a note of something new had entered his voice: fear.
I started for the kitchen with the intent of finding a back door, but Cody’s hand shot out and stopped me.
“Look,” he said, “one more thing. O’Donald might be telling the truth about not being involved in the rug incident yesterday morning, but his two thugs reacted when you spoke of it. They know something. I’d bet on it. Frankie Jay too.”
Either O’Donald was a good liar, or his men were hiding something from him. How likely was that? Unless Frankie Jay had ordered them to silence. Now there was a man who’d sell out his own father.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told Cody.
He took a step back. “Be safe.”
I felt an urge to hug him just in case, but we hadn’t reached that point in our relationship. Maybe we never would. Then again, he’d bought Destiny baby clothes. I nodded and turned away.
The kitchen was much larger than my own. One thing I’d give O’Donald is that he knew how to travel in style. I wondered what the kitchen in the main house looked like. I loved to cook, and I bet it had every amenity, as well as large windows to let in the light, which to me was every bit as important as the food.
My moccasins squeaked against the floor, and I wished I could discard them. But I couldn’t afford to become dizzy as I had at taekwondo that morning. As I’d hoped, there was a door leading outside, and my hand closed around the knob as Cody began to shout.
“Help! Help! He’s dying! Please help!” His voice was gruff and stressed, and I could only hope he wasn’t telling the truth.
I tugged on the door.
Locked. With no way to open it from the inside.
They changed the knobs, I thought, seeing how the doorknob didn’t line up with the indentation in the paint left by the previous one. They’d had time for some preparation, at least.
No solution except for the window over the sink, and all the while my precious seconds were ticking away. But the window was nailed shut. Ruined, actually. If the place was rented, they’d never get back their deposit. No time to search bedrooms for possible exits.
No further sounds came from the living room, and I hoped the guards had taken Ralph to the mansion to treat him. Wrapping my gloved hand in a dishtowel, I punched the window. The glass shattered, though the sound wasn’t as loud as I expected. Much easier, it turned out, than breaking cement blocks during my martial arts class. Still using the towel, I hurriedly broke out the window edges, checked for guards outside, and slithered through, feet first. I cut the inside of my right arm on
a piece of glass, but I was free.
A garden abutted the area behind the guesthouse, more forest than the carefully tended garden in front of the house, with a path that wandered like a vein around the shrubs and other greenery to places unknown. I sprinted down the path, squeezing into the brush as I heard someone round the side of the guesthouse—perhaps alerted by the breaking glass.
Holding my gloved hand over the cut on my arm, I peered through the shrubs at my pursuer—blond hair, face like a crater, shoulders double the size of mine. The only thing I might have on this guy was surprise and my black belt training, but he had ninety pounds on me so my chances of besting him weren’t high. All he had to do was to avoid my blows long enough to land a lucky one of his own. The power behind one big arm would flatten me to the ground. Besides, he had a gun.
I pushed farther into the bushes that tugged on my blouse and skirt, like hands holding me back. Though the skirt was new and my favorite, I should have found some scissors to cut half of it away. I wouldn’t be able to run or kick properly in it. Pulling it from a rosebush, I stumbled through the greenery and flowers until I fell out onto another path leading away from the house. Should I take it? Maybe it would lead to a road where I could flag down some help. But we seemed to be out in the countryside and I had no idea exactly where. I balanced the safety of leaving versus the chances of finding someplace to make a call on the premises. Of course, if they were renting the house, which I was sure was the case, they might not even have a landline.
“Did you find her?” I heard Crater Face shout. He sounded close, though I couldn’t see him through the bushes.
Farther away, a deep voice answered. “She’s not in the house.”
“I heard a noise over here. He going to be okay?”
“Frankie Jay took him up to the main house. I think he’s faking.”
“He is old, so maybe he’s not faking.”
“One less problem if he croaks.”
“Be better if we had the backup first. Maybe he told her where it is.”
“Maybe not. Maybe she just took the opportunity to escape.”
“Whatever. I’m going to enjoy teaching her a lesson.”
I shivered, not liking the idea of Crater Face getting close enough to teach me anything.
“Wish we had more guys.”
Crater Face snorted. “Won’t need ’em. Go check the front. She might have snuck around there.”
I longed for darkness, but it was still hours away. It seemed I had no choice but to angle away from the guesthouse. I moved slowly, carefully, but my skirt caught on a branch and snapped it.
Footsteps came fast in my direction.
Giving up all pretense of stealth, I ran, my heart vaulting into overtime. I wished for bare feet. I missed the connection with nature, the steadiness I felt when my feet could discover for themselves each high and low of the path instead of receiving information filtered through leather.
My skirt, though fairly wide, was hindering me, and I reached down, found a hole made by the rosebush, and ripped it at roughly knee length, tossing the material aside. I ran faster.
My heart had begun to steady when a figure loomed directly ahead of me. The blond’s face was red with exertion, the pockmarks dripping with sweat. He gripped a pistol in one hand. I waited for him to call for backup, but apparently he wanted me all to himself.
I didn’t want to know for what.
Pistol or no, I dropped into my fighting stance: fists up, head slightly tucked, feet apart but ready to pivot.
Crater Face laughed. “You think you can fight, huh? This is going to be fun.” He put his gun back in his holster.
I knew size wasn’t on my side, and while I didn’t believe in coincidence, I did believe in luck and goodwill. You received back exactly what you sent out into the universe, and I’d been trying all my life to send out good.
I still wouldn’t be able to beat him.
But I was going to try.
He leapt toward me.
Chapter 20
I sidestepped, bringing my hands up, joining them together, and slamming them down on the back of his neck as he lunged past me. I followed with a kick to the back of his knee that sent him down to the mossy cobblestone path.
He grunted but jumped back to his feet. Now he was angry, which might or might not play in my favor. He came at me again, punching hard. I yanked my head back, snapping my foot forward into his gut.
He cursed and swung again. I blocked with my left, and drew first blood with my right jab at his cheek. He stepped back, breathing heavy, his eyes calculating and intelligent. Not a good sign for me. This time he came at me more cautiously. A tentative right, easily blocked, followed by a left that would have knocked me out if I hadn’t stepped partially out of the way, causing the blow to land off-center. Pain reverberated through my head.
I threw two punches and another kick, two of which landed but didn’t seem to faze him. He didn’t kick back, something I could be grateful for, but he’d obviously had some boxing training. Or maybe he’d just beaten up a lot of guys.
“You might as well give up,” he taunted. “I promise I won’t hurt you anymore. You’ll probably enjoy what I’m going to do to you next.”
For an answer, I kicked his groin, landing to the side but causing enough pain to make him scream.
“You’ll pay for that.” He managed a blow to my shoulder and then to my gut. I took advantage of his extension by delivering a right jab to his face. His nose popped but it only made him laugh.
On and on we went, with his meat hooks slugging, and me jabbing or kicking, dodging or blocking. My cheek and lip were split. My ribs hurt, and I suspected one of my kidneys was damaged.
I wondered how long I could keep this up.
At least until I passed out, because once I stopped fighting I knew he’d kill me.
The next minute I was on the ground, my head whirling from a blow. He jumped after me, but in the second before his body covered mine, I rolled into a bush at the edge of the path. Something with thorns.
Crater Face crashed into the cobblestones, but his eyes radiated triumph. Coming to his knees, he grabbed my hair and began pulling me toward him.
“Stop right there! I’ll shoot!”
My attacker froze, looking toward the voice. I took the opportunity to use my right hook, freeing myself from his grasp. I scuttled backwards a couple feet, my eyes finally going to the newcomer.
“Easton?” I said. Was I in some kind of shock? What was Dr. Godfrey doing here? While I was happy he’d interrupted, I couldn’t think of a single reason for his appearance. Cody had warned me that Easton Godfrey would haunt me now that he knew of my ability, but here and now?
Easton ignored me. “Get away from her.” His thick dark bangs had fallen down over his eyes, and the twisted side of his mouth when he grimaced made him look meaner, like a vigilante from some film. I might have been comforted, if not for the frightened expression in his eyes or the way his hand holding the gun shook.
Crater Face noticed as well. “You think you can shoot me, little man? What is that anyway? A pea-shooter? You’d have to hit me with a dozen rounds to stop me from making you very, very sorry.”
I comforted myself with the fact that at least they weren’t working together.
What I needed was a weapon myself. Maybe a rock? I looked around, but there was nothing in sight. Nothing but a small bird feeder near a little cast iron bench slightly off the path. I arose, every muscle in my body protesting the effort.
Still kneeling, Crater Face lifted one foot and planted it on the ground.
“Stop!” Easton said, sounding less sure now.
The bird feeder was cemented into the ground.
Crater Face sprang toward Easton, but I was ready with the bench. I swung hard, slamming it. Praying.
A sickening thud and Crater Face dropped.
Easton stared, his gun lowered. “Did you kill him?”
My stomach twisted. What i
f I had? I’d never killed anyone before.
“If I did, you should be glad,” I retorted. “He was going to kill you.” I leaned over to check, but Crater Face had a pulse—and much stronger than was probably safe for us. He wouldn’t be out long.
“Do you have a phone?” I asked Easton. “And what are you doing here anyway?”
“Don’t move!”
I blinked. “What?” He had the gun up again, this time trained on me.
“We’re going to my lab for some tests. I promise I’ll let you go after that.”
“Are you insane? I was kidnapped by these people. They still have Cody and a man who’s probably having a heart attack. We have to get help or they’re both going to die.”
“It’s only a few tests.” The gun didn’t waver. “I’ll let you go in a few days.”
“Days?” He really was insane. “You’ll go to jail for the sake of your research?”
He shrugged. “You might not press charges. Not after you see how important it is.”
“Or more likely after you give me enough drugs to make me forget. Is that it? Is that what you did to Cody to make him hate you so much?”
A flush covered his face, but he didn’t answer. “Come on. Let’s go before he wakes up. I’m parked out that way. You go first.” His hand wasn’t shaking now; apparently he wasn’t as scared of me as he had been the thug. Which made sense because I’d been really afraid of Crater Face myself.
I wasn’t a bit afraid of Easton, though, gun or no gun. I would take it from him at the first opportunity, but for now I wanted to get as far away from Crater Face as possible. Besides, I was thoroughly lost, and even if I could find a phone to call Shannon, I couldn’t tell him where I was.
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