by Dawn Kunda
Alina looked up from her hiding place. “What happened? What are you doing?”
He took another sharp turn as he squealed the tires around a bend in the parking ramp. “Avoiding our chasers.”
“Oh! You saw them?”
Vic didn’t answer while he maneuvered another level.
She sank back into her seat, with a mixed huff of what sounded like exasperation and apprehension. The tires squealed even with the restricted speed inside a parking ramp. He held the wheel firmly while looking for a vacant spot to hideout in. Mostly small vehicles filled the lower stalls as they neared the last avenue.
“Since you won’t ask, I’ll tell you what to do.” Vic quickly cast a glare toward her as she commanded his attention. “If you’re so sure someone is waiting at the airport for us, you should’ve asked my opinion on how to get out of here instead of having to run from them.”
Vic pulled into one of the last available stalls. He’d planned to turn the engine and lights off and remain hidden for a while, but he hesitated before cutting the engine. “Okay, tell me your opinion. Make it fast.” He knew he sounded demanding and completely like an ass, but when time equaled life that’s the way it’d have to be.
“Take the bridge.”
His brows tightened. “Bridge? I need a little more.”
“The Øresund Bridge.”
“And…”
“The Øresund Bridge will take us to Denmark.”
“How far, how long, and where can we get on?”
“I can’t see my watch crunched down like this, but a train leaves every two hours, on the even hours. It’ll take about four hours to Malmo, and then we can connect with the train for the bridge.”
Vic had slipped low in his seat with the engine now quiet, yet he raised his head to take a look around. “That’s a huge delay in our travel plans.”
“I’m just giving you an alternative instead getting caught here.”
Vic finally gave her his full attention. He saw the confusion, frustration, and, it had to be, a flash of fear in her eyes. Maybe she realized this wasn’t a vacation. Whether she went as far as to understand the full extent of danger, he doubted that. “What about driving to this bridge?”
“It would take around six hours. There’s not much along the way, just a lot of forest and rocks along with a few small towns.” She sounded in favor of the train.
He considered the options. The train could be faster, but there’d be no way out once on board. Traveling by car would be longer, yet he’d feel more in control if he needed a detour. “We’ll keep the car. Either way we’d have to get out of the airport traffic with it, and if they see us, the train would be a trap.”
“They’re here, aren’t they? The guys that are after you?” She looked down.
“Hey.” In a sudden tingle of emotion, he addressed her fear. “We’ll get out of here. I thought I saw a probable chaser. I could’ve been wrong, but it’s always better to err on the side of safety in my business.” He rested his hand on her arm.
She gazed back. A tear slid over her cheek. She turned her head, wiping away the moisture.
“Alina, you okay? You still want to do this?” He waited a moment while she sucked in a sob. “I can drop you off, get you a taxi, but I still have to go.”
“Yeah.” She shook her hair from her eyes. “I have to do this.” He had expected her to bow out of the journey with the action of the morning and her defiance over breakfast. He’d have to give her more credit. She had guts and wasn’t a quitter.
“Soon as I’m certain we don’t have chasers coming at us right now, we’ll leave. I’ll need you to direct me…”
“I know the way. Highway E4.” Her voice had cleared.
Damn, if he didn’t feel like a teenager hiding out with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, that’d be a lot easier and a heck of a lot more pleasurable. “I’ll give it a couple more minutes before we depart.” Pulling out his gun, her eyes widened. “Just a precaution. I doubt I’ll have to use it.” He hated the half-truths he still needed to give her.
Readjusting the side mirrors, he kept an eye on any moving vehicles or people. No one looked their way or paused near the car.
“Can I sit up, yet? My legs are falling asleep.”
He took another look around via the mirrors. “Now will be as good as any time to leave, but I want you to stay down until we’re away from the airport. Go ahead and shift, if you need to before we go.” He watched her dig her elbows into the seat and lift herself enough to change the angle of her legs. Legs he’d like to wrap around himself if he ever got another chance. She should also kick him in the butt for allowing her to be part of his problem. Too late to change plans now. As soon as they found her cousin, he’d send them back to Sweden without him, and then he wouldn’t be responsible for anyone but himself and his agents, which was more than enough.
He eased the car back when no other vehicles would get in the way if he needed to move quickly. Rounding a row of cars, a tall man stepped in front of the car. “Stay down!” Vic shouted as he stepped on the gas.
Vic got up to twenty miles an hour when he clipped the man below the waist. The man, dressed in jeans, a casual jacket, and a gun in his hand, dipped sideways and thudded against the hood of the car. Alina screamed.
The man slid off the car and rolled to a stop on his back. He shouted, “That’s them!”
Another man in similar garb chased the car, firing his gun. The bullets ricocheted off the back end of the trunk. Vic made a swift turn onto the next descending row of cars. Alina made no move to leave her crouched position.
Nearly to the end of this row of cars, Vic watched his rearview mirror. The first man who’d hit the ground pulled himself over the cement barrier between vehicle rows. He loped between a set of cars with an obvious leg injury, his gun held out in front.
The firing ceased as Vic came up to the booth claiming tickets and payment.
Vic shoved a couple bills into the outstretched hand of the booth clerk. Not waiting for change, he peeled out of the parking ramp and headed for E4.
Alina slid up from the floor of the car. “We’re safe now?”
Watching his mirrors, he said, “For now.”
Still driving at an exaggerated speed, the road noise made the only sound inside the car other than the heavy breathing of his passenger. He glanced at her and noticed her chest rise and fall harder than the drive to Arlanda.
“Do you…do you think they would’ve killed us?”
Figuring out how to answer her with a modicum of truth, he paused, then said, “It looked like it.”
“It’s going to get worse, isn’t it?” Her voice was hollow, leaving out any former surprise or apprehension.
“Not necessarily. They’ll think we’re headed for the train depot. I’m sure that’d be the most likely route taken when detoured from the airport.” She began to slide up her seat and watch the road. “And we will go there, but just to switch cars.” He didn’t add that he knew this car would be marked as a death trap.
Chapter 16
It had been a long time since she’d traveled by car to Malmo, since she was a kid. Now, she never considered using so much time for travel, and the rumor of boring forests and rocks were partly true. Pines and boulders were planted as far as the eye could see, although she didn’t find the sites boring. Calming came to mind instead. The idea that they were out here alone, minus the few other travelers, caused a relief of the pressure from terrorists hunting her down. She turned her head a fraction of an inch to soak in the handsome picture at her side. She couldn’t deny the masculinity, power, and sexual aura Vic emitted.
“How many towns will we go through before Malmo?” Vic kept his eyes on the road as he halted her reverie.
“I think there’re five.”
“I don’t want to stop at the first one, but I do need to make a few calls to notify my contacts of the change in timing.”
“You need a pay phone?”
�
�No, I have disposable phones. They won’t be traced ’cause I use them only once, then I send them to another country.”
“Who do you send them to?”
“No one. I put a false address on the box, send it, and then it probably ends up in the trash when the address doesn’t exist and of course, I don’t put a return address. Out here, I’ll most likely throw it in the woods somewhere.”
“So if I wanted to call someone, would I be able to?” What a stupid question. She didn’t have anyone to call. A call to her family would be useless because she couldn’t imagine what kind of story she’d come up with that wouldn’t tip her parents off about her current project. She hadn’t talked to them since work had forced her to take time off. It proved a hard burden, but she’d agreed to keep them at a distance for an indeterminate time.
That’s right. She wasn’t supposed to call anyone from her former life, her name changed, and a moving party to another country without any guests was preferred. She couldn’t even call her psychiatrist. Dr. Korbic was dead and Alina felt responsible. There wasn’t anyone else to call. Vic was the closest thing to a friend or family she had now. She shuddered.
“Depends on who you’re calling. I’m sure those chasing you have checked out everything about you, where you live, family, friends, where you grocery shop, and your daily activities.” He glanced her way. “Remember, they just killed your doctor right after you left her office. Their timing was slow by a couple minutes, and I’m sure they’re planning not to make that mistake again.”
Alina watched him. He didn’t show any emotion toward his comment, yet she had no doubt something brewed beneath his smooth façade. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t have anyone to call.”
He didn’t reply, and they drove in silence. She turned her attention back to the passing landscape. She recalled what started the conversation and her admittance of not having anyone to contact. She offered an idea. “Unless you need to call right away, we could stop in Norrkoping. It’s not quite halfway.”
“Okay.” She could hear the wind sliding down the sides of the car. “Even though we have plenty of time to make this whole trip today, I think we might want to stop somewhere, stay the night, and pick up the journey tomorrow.”
“Aren’t we wasting too much time, then?”
“Doesn’t really matter since we’re not flying. Besides, our chasers will assume we’ll go as far and as fast as possible. The chasers for either or both of us will have someone waiting at all exits of the country whether we choose plane, train, or car. Staying the night along the way might throw them off. Maybe they’ll think we hadn’t planned to leave the country, or they missed us.”
“That makes sense.” She stretched her legs. The drive already felt like a whole day.
“Do you know of any hotels coming up?”
“I’ve never looked for any on our route, but I’m sure there are places to stay.”
Their small talk ended well before they entered the outskirts of Norrkoping. Vic turned onto what appeared to be a main avenue. “Looks like we’ve hit a time warp.”
Her brows closed together, then released as she realized what he meant. “Norrkoping is an historic town. It has all the same things as a modern city, but the look of it, the cobbled roads and old-style buildings, have been maintained.”
“They have Internet and cell towers, then?”
“Of course. Why do you need Internet?”
“Supplies.”
She frowned again. Apparently he’d still only tell her as little as possible.
He added, “I’d like for us to stay somewhere busy with people. Less chance of us being recognized. Also, we need a place with Internet.” At least he’d said we in his plans. He drove farther. “What about that place?” He pointed out a hotel with a white flag and a lion on it.
“The Strand Hotell? It’s very nice.” He glanced her way with a raised brow. “I haven’t stayed there before. I’ve just heard about it.” Why she felt she needed to defend herself, she didn’t know.
“We’ll stay there.” He glanced at all the car mirrors as he entered the parking lot.
She became mildly perturbed. He didn’t have any intentions of input from her. Although, lucky for him, the hotel was a treat and a place she wouldn’t have considered for her own delight.
They entered the lobby, made a quick production of registering, and then headed directly to their assigned room. The floor of the room had been tiled in dark gray along with white-and-black walls and furniture. Elegant lamps framed the sides of the double bed. A double bed made out of two singles.
“We can push the beds apart, if you’d be more comfortable with that.” Vic tossed his small bag onto the bed combination and stretched his arms out wide. Not waiting for her opinion, he said, “If you want to leave the room while I do my business, be careful. Stay in crowded areas. If you notice anyone, I mean even have an inkling that someone is watching you, lose sight of them and get back here.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” She couldn’t help the sarcasm.
He took hold of her arm. His strong hand sent tingles through her body, tingles that upset her for the lewd thoughts which immediately sparked in her head. “No matter how charming this village or hotel is, we are still in danger from the start to the end of this mission. I don’t think you understand that.”
He had moved close to her. So close, she could feel his breath on her face as he looked down, his blue eyes lined with even a darker indigo. If this were a vacation suite, she’d turn to jelly in his arms. That couldn’t happen, though. They were together for a purpose and the purpose would run out as soon as they found Christa. She’d probably never see him again. She hadn’t studied him much until now as far as his work or what he did for a living. She guessed he traveled the world on a regular basis on secret missions. She wasn’t sure they constituted a legal basis all the time.
His grip loosened. “I’m not trying to scare you.” She perked her chin up and matched his stare. “I’m not sure if you understand the scope of what is happening.”
“Then fill me in.” Forget the lust building in my sweet spot, and play your role. That’s why we’re together. She held her ground as a challenge while his eyes darkened their stare.
“Okay. Maybe I should.” Releasing her arm completely, he dug his tablet from his bag. “I have to contact Egypt through the net and also my agents in Austria by phone.”
“I already knew that.”
“My agents will have an unknown contact drop the materials I, we need and from Egypt I will get a time we are to meet with the leader’s, Shehata’s, guard. From there, it’s pretty self-explanatory.”
She squinted her eyes in thought, “What kind of supplies?”
“Guns, ammunition, a selection of high tech, yet small bombs, along with a number of tried-and-true explosives.” He paused. “Anything else you want to know?”
His statement set her mind whirling. Was she really getting herself involved in some…some underworld war between her, Vic, and the Iraqi government? “Do we have a chance?”
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I doubted the plan. I can’t say it won’t be dangerous and there’s a possibility it won’t work. That’s why I need you to trust and listen to what I tell you to do.”
Unease crept under her skin, replacing the forgotten lustful thoughts. She scanned the room again. This time, she imagined all the places a person could hide if necessary. The long drapes at the window, also charcoal-colored, the space underneath a utility desk and chair, the corner of the room next to the bathroom which she might be able to squeeze her shoulders against and pull the bathroom door in front of her, and the narrow band of light beneath the bed. It afforded hardly room for an adult to shimmy under.
“I’ll listen.” She focused on his eyes this time. “I need to know what’s going on, though. Without a reason or an explanation, it’s hard for me to do things unless I understand the situation.”
“Fair enough.” He set his tablet on the de
sk. “I have to get things organized, and I’ll keep you informed. Do you want to get out of the room for a while?” He quickly added, “Your choice.”
Unbelievably, she wasn’t hungry and couldn’t construct a reason to leave. “I’ll stay here. It’d be safer.”
“I doubt we’ve been located, but that’s a safe decision.” It didn’t quite sound like a compliment, but she’d leave it alone for now.
She watched him pull more wires and gadgets from his bag of equipment. For the next hour, he contacted Egypt and his people in Austria. After ending a phone conversation, he appeared satisfied. “I saw a river nearby. I’m taking the battery out of the phone for now and will toss it when we leave. It can’t be traced, so there won’t be a record of our location.”
She nodded.
The sun began to sink, casting a shadow over the cold day outside. Her stomach rumbled. Spotting a refrigerator, Alina opened the door. “We have a few candies and bottles of alcohol for dinner.”
“We can go out to get something. We aren’t prisoners.”
“I’m not hungry, anyway.” The hollow feeling growing in her stomach didn’t convince her. She pulled out the amber and clear bottles of alcohol. “Maybe I just need a drink.”
“Thought you didn’t drink much.”
“Not usually, but now is any time but usual.” She unscrewed the cap, smelling the scent. “I’m going to get a cola to add to it.” She left the room in search of a vending machine.
Vic followed her to the door and watched the surroundings. The hall outside the room remained quiet. She knew he’d listen for the arrival of anyone else on their floor. She began to accept the fact that whether it was paranoia or caution, he would be on the alert.
As the door swung shut behind her, the desolation of the corridor spooked her. The alcoves of each room’s doors sent shadows across the carpeted floor. Someone could be behind a door or tucked into its recess. So many unusual things had happened since she’d met Vic, since he stayed the night. It wasn’t completely out of the question for one or more of their chasers to be near.
