No Safe Place

by Fitzwater, Judy

  For a moment I wondered if we’d all been playing the fool, having grown so paranoid that we were convinced Ackerman’s men had been able to follow us to Cowichan Bay. I didn’t have long to think.

  Will touched my arm as we detected the whir of an outboard faintly in the distance. It took every ounce of my will-power not to turn around. The noise stopped. The boat must be drifting toward shore.

  We forced ourselves to maintain a steady gait, so whoever was out there could follow us to the dorm. Inside the main door we dumped the grocery bags. We had very little time. We ripped off our gloves, and, with Will holding his penlight under his chin, we attached flare guns to our belts, along with large flashlights. He cut the light and we pulled on night-vision goggles. The black turned to an eerie blue-green.

  Silently we headed toward the light source itself, a room near the front. In the hall, we gave each other a quick hug for luck and took off in opposite directions down the dark corridor. My hand was on the knob to the outside door when I heard the first explosion. It came from the area of the dock and it rocked the building, rattling the windows. I slipped outside and dashed for the trees as the second explosion erupted.

  The men were on the island.

  Fire spread its brightness as it devoured the dock. Both our own boat and the one behind it were engulfed in orange flames. I tore off my goggles to watch the glow. Instinctively, I ducked as a third explosion boomed as fire reached the boat’s engine, soared upward and skated across the water on gas from the outboard.

  If whoever was on that boat was still alive, they now knew this was no simple supply drop. With the explosions, Nathan had drawn his line in the sand.

  Leaning over to catch my breath, I felt the bile rise in my throat. When I raised my head, I searched the flames. I could see no movement, not in what was left of the boats, not on the pier. Where were they? Who were they?

  I’d heard no screams. If someone had died or been injured or set on fire, I’d have at least heard a splash, seen something. But there was nothing now that the explosions had stopped, only silence and fire. I shook off my thoughts. If I wanted to stay alive, I had to move. I had my own tasks to perform.

  I slipped my goggles back on and headed into the darkness, to the fence. Nathan had promised me an opening. Three yards farther up, there it was, a broken spike that gave against my hand. I lifted it and shimmied through. On the other side, I followed the fence, staying under the cover of the dense vegetation that surrounded the compound.

  My objective was the water tower in the back of the main buildings. It was a steel structure that rose some sixty feet into the air from a concrete base, designed to catch rainwater and filter it down to the buildings below. Nathan had given me a simple task: flip a switch on the foot of the back leg of the tower. That meant crossing into the clearing, drawing attention to myself. I found a second opening in the fence and slipped back through.

  I surveyed the area and caught a flicker of movement near the back of the dormitory. Whoever was out there was now out of sight. Neither Will nor Nathan should have been in that area.

  I didn’t give myself another moment to think. I took off for the base of the tower as fast as I could run. A bullet skidded off the structure and I dove forward, hugging the ground. Damn it. That was no friend in the shadows, but at least the shot had located him for me.

  The box was at the base of the leg, some sort of generator. I crawled forward and flipped the switch outlined with fluorescent tape, hit the ground again and closed my eyes, covering them with my hands. The brightness shone right through my eyelids, as the tower lit up with huge spotlights that illuminated the back side of the buildings.

  I grabbed off the night vision glasses and heard a loud moan. Then another. They must have been wearing goggles also. The light would have left them temporarily blinded. Four shots spit from somewhere above me. Good. Will was in place. When I opened my eyes, I saw a figure sprawled on the ground, and a second at the other end of the dormitory.

  Will dropped down next to me from above.

  “Good going,” I told him.

  “I aim to please,” he said.

  “You did not just say that,” I protested.

  He shrugged. “Actually, I can’t believe I hit one. I’m not that good a shot.”

  Damn. He was right. When I looked back, one of the figures was gone, the other struggling on the ground.

  “Hot damn. Get out of here,” Will whispered. “They know where we are.”

  I rolled as a shot ricocheted off steel. Then I dashed for the safety of the trees. Will disappeared in the opposite direction, as a second shot whizzed past. Someone was hot after me.

  Frantically, I fumbled for the opening in the fence that I’d come through earlier. Prying it up, I slipped through and dove into the thick vegetation pushing against the fence. I could hear my pursuer fumbling after me as I began putting distance between us. I headed right. He, whoever he was, was supposed to follow me, but I’d hoped to lead, not be chased. My heart was pounding as I slipped back through a large hole in the fence at the side of the main building and sprinted toward the side steps that still lay in darkness. I made it to the door and pushed it open. Heading straight ahead, I came down the hall toward the large room in the front that served as the compound’s cafeteria. Nothing stirred the darkness inside as I cautiously opened the door and crept across the tiled floor.

  Slipping behind the serving counter, I located the toggle switch resting on a shelf under the serving line and flipped it. Fluorescent light filled the room. I checked my watch. Now all I had to do was get the hell out in the next four minutes—before Nathan blew up the place. Piece of cake.

  I reached for the door behind me, which was supposed to lead through the pantry to the loading dock outside. The knob turned in my hand. The inward thrust sent me careening into the stainless steel counter, knocking the breath out of me. I stared up at the man towering over me.

  Chapter 31

  “Get up,” a gruff voice ordered. But I could barely move. The pain shooting up and down my arm pinned me to the cafeteria floor.

  I stared up into Ian’s solemn eyes and cursed my earlier stupidity.

  A part of me had prayed that he wouldn’t be the one to show. I’d hoped James was the one in league with the devil. Even now, looking into those icy blue eyes, I felt there was something softer behind them. My reasoning told me there wasn’t.

  Ian, too, was dressed all in black. I saw no blood, so he hadn’t been the man Will had hit near the back of the dormitory. That must have been one of his men.

  As I struggled to regain my footing, I felt his hand grasp my injured arm and practically lift me off the floor, sending spasms all the way to my shoulder. I stifled the cry in my throat. My gun was in my pouch, but there was no way I could get to it.

  “Hold it right there.” James had burst through the door leading in from the hallway, his gun drawn and pointing straight at the two of us.

  So they were both here, and I was right in the middle of them.

  Holding my arm in a death grip, Ian trained his gun on James. James had blood on his sleeve. Had he been at the water tower, the one who had shot at me as I fled?

  I did the only thing I could think of to do. My teeth sank into Ian’s index finger. He cursed, and his grip loosened just enough that I was able to pull free and roll to the end of the counter. He dared not take his gun off James, and that was all that saved me. As I rolled I ripped the flare gun from my belt. When I came up, Ian was at the other end of the counter. The three of us stared at one another with our guns drawn, mine pointing at Ian’s head.

  James smiled. “Good work, Elizabeth. Now back up and ease your way over to me.”

  My gun turned in James’s direction.

  “She’s not the fool you think she is,” Ian warned.

  I swung it back toward Ian. “Where’s Will?”

  He was supposed to meet me at the loading dock, the way Ian had come in. We were to padlock that way
out and then the other two exits to give Nathan time to blow the place. If Ian had harmed him…

  “I don’t know.”

  “Tell me where Josie is so we can get her safely out of here,” James ordered.

  I opened my mouth.

  “Don’t say a word,” Ian warned before I could say anything.

  “Which one of you did it?” I demanded. “Which one of you killed Stephen?” I stared at Ian, then James. Their faces gave nothing away. My hand tightened around the grip of the flare gun. How long did I have before Nathan blew us all to hell? Three minutes? Less?

  Before I died I wanted to know, so I could personally kill the bastard who had murdered Stephen.

  “Would you believe me if I denied it?” Ian asked.

  I shook my head. “What happened at the ski lodge?”

  “We took rooms and met with Edward Donovan,” Ian began. “He knew his wife was in danger. Ackerman was ready to make good on his threat. I was the one designated to bring her out.”

  “She was to leave on a flight in a private jet out of Denver the next morning with me,” James broke in.

  I trained the flare gun on Ian. If it went off, it’d make one hell of a hole. “I saw you murder Jake.”

  “I had no choice.”

  “That’s right. You know Ian’s a murderer,” James stated.

  For a moment, I thought Ian might actually shoot James right then, as angry as he was. If he did, I could take him down at the same time. But it really didn’t matter. If I managed to keep them in that room for another two minutes, they’d both be dead. And so would I.

  “Stephen trusted you,” Ian told James. “I trusted you. How much did Ackerman pay you to turn?”

  “Enough!” My gun returned to James. “Who died at Reagan National Airport?”

  “I don’t—” James began.

  “Say that one more time, and I’ll shoot you.” I edged backward toward the window. If they took their eyes off me for half a second, I might be able to shoot out the window and dive through it before the whole room exploded.

  “Leo Ryan,” James stated.

  Ian added, “My backup.”

  “He tried to kill me at the airport,” James insisted.

  “He flew in from California to meet me.” Ian’s words were clipped, precise, his anger again under control. “James ambushed him. He was already in the area. He drove in from Denver. He was there when you buried Stephen. He stole his body.”

  “Where were you when Stephen died?” I demanded of Ian, trying to push the confusion out of my mind.

  “Escorting Donovan back to Denver.”

  “And you?” I motioned toward James.

  “At the airport, making flight arrangements to take Jayne Donovan out.”

  Which one was lying? My head hurt. I had nothing to go on, nothing more than gut instinct to help me sort it out. That wasn’t enough. I was at the window, but I had less than a minute left.

  A volley of shots sounded outside. Will, Nathan and the others were still at war.

  The window shattered behind me. I threw myself flat on the floor as shards rained down. For a moment I was convinced the whole building had exploded. Someone inside was already on the move, so I did the only thing I could. I rolled onto my back and shot straight up. The flare took out the lights and part of the ceiling in a spectacular burst of energy as it went through to the floor above, leaving us in darkness.

  Another explosion, this one close outside, boomed, lighting up the night and rattling the walls.

  I heard a woman scream, then a splash. I vaulted over the shards that littered the floor and out through the window. The scream had sounded just like Cara. What was she doing on the island, away from the boat?

  One of the tanks lay outside the window. The impact must have thrust her into it. Once in the pool, she would tangle in the tarp and risk drowning even though she was a good swimmer.

  Someone rolled through the window after me, nearly knocking me flat. He shoved me down, thrust his gun into my hands, and dove into the pool. I heard the whap of his body connect with the tarp, as the room we’d exited thundered into a fire ball.

  I was surrounded by fire with the cafeteria in flames behind me and the blaze from the Quonset raging to one side. Heat radiated in waves and flames licked high into the night air while shards of metal littered the ground, reflections of orange dancing across them. Yet I could see little past the immediate glow of the fire.

  The pool remained a huge black hole in which someone struggled against what looked like a giant black jellyfish billowing the length of the pool. Then the man disappeared, sucked into the shadows beneath it. I saw no sign of Cara.

  Flat on my belly, I lay down the gun and reached out to draw back the heavy plastic, tugging with all the strength in my one good arm. But it remained securely in place. Only the two ends waved loosely. Once under the water, whoever was in that pool would be disoriented, trapped, and unable to come up for breath.

  A shot rang out and I rolled onto my back, fumbling for the gun that had been thrust into my hands, but I couldn’t find it.

  A flare burst in the air. Will or Nathan must have sent it up. It left me exposed, easy pickings for anyone trying to take me out. I continued to roll as a bullet slammed into the concrete rim of the pool, and suddenly I, too, was in the water, on top of the tarp. It swayed and bucked from the enormous struggle taking place beneath it. Another bullet tore into the tarp as the light from the flare faded. Once again we were lit only by the heat from the fires. Another shot came from behind me, as I fumbled at my pouch. My gun slipped out and fell into the water as I finally managed to extract the automatic knife from inside. I pushed the button and tore into the tarp with wild, long strokes. Water gushed upward.

  A gloved hand reached through the opening and grabbed my arm, pulling me down hard, but the fabric held. A head, gasping and choking, emerged. The man let go of my hand only long enough to force my fingers around a slender wrist. I pulled with all of my might and another face emerged. Somehow I got my arm across Cara’s chest and under her arms, well aware that the tarp would only hold if all my body weight was spread out evenly. I dared not move or try to bring her farther out of the water.

  I closed my eyes, gunshots popping. My arms ached. I didn’t have much strength left, and my grip was weakening. Without warning, the strained threads of the tarp parted. The last sound I heard was a rip as water rushed over me.

  I swallowed water as I sank into darkness, but hell if I was going to let my daughter drown in some specimen tank. I kicked fiercely. Her arm circled my neck as I felt myself buoyed upward, splitting the water, only to be washed over once more. We came up again, gasping for precious air. Her arm went slack, but I hugged Cara to me and kicked upward with the last ounce of strength in my body. We rocked forward and my hand hit concrete. Someone grabbed me under the arms. I struggled against him as I felt my daughter slipping from me.

  “Hey, hey. It’s all right. We’ve got her.” It was Will’s voice. So he was still alive. Thank God.

  He pulled me up far enough that I was able to grasp the thick vegetation and drag myself the rest of the way out of the pool. The fires from the cafeteria and the Quonset hut still blazed.

  A light shone in my eyes. I cursed and blinked them shut.

  “You need to sit up,” he told me.

  My ears rang and I felt wet, not just outside, but inside as well. I managed one word, “Cara.”

  “She’s going to be all right.” Again it was Will’s voice. “She’s with James.”

  “James?”

  “He’s helping her. She took in a good amount of water, but you got to her in time.”

  So it had been James who had come through the window after me, James who dove in to save Cara. A part of me had been sure it was Ian.

  “Where’s Ian?” I asked, pushing myself upright. Just breathing was an effort.

  “I don’t know.”

  I turned enough to look at the fire that still raged
inside the building. He couldn’t have survived that inferno, not if he were still inside. I ached for the man I’d thought he was, even as his betrayal stung my soul.

  So he had killed Stephen and he would have killed me, as well. I’d let him seduce me into trusting him once and that had been a mistake. So why was a part of me now grieving?

  I shoved thoughts of Ian from my mind. This fight might not yet be over.

  “Have you seen Nathan?” I asked.

  Will shook his head.

  “What happened to you?” I asked. “You were supposed to meet me at the loading dock.” I eased back down on the ground, not caring that I was lying in mud. All my strength was gone.

  “I got distracted by the guy I wounded near the water tower. He took me on as a personal project.”

  “Did you kill him?” I asked.

  “No, but I had him on the defensive. He made it to the first Quonset hut.”

  “So he was the one who tripped the explosive.” My voice had gone hoarse. That made two. “Where’s the other one?”

  “Cara took him out. It looked like he had you in his sights,” Will said. “He was aiming through the cafeteria window. She shot him as he pulled the trigger. It was his stray bullet that shattered the glass.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “I watched it happen as I came around the building,” Will stated. “I saw the lights come on in the cafeteria and heard voices. I ducked out of sight, thinking you might need me, but I had that slight problem with the creep who was trying to kill me.”

  So Cara had taken out the last of Ian’s men. Or were they James’s?

  James had put himself at risk to save Cara. And he’d given me his gun.

  Someone knelt beside my head. I raised up on my elbows, and James laid Cara next to me like a father whose child had fallen asleep on the sofa.

  “Have you seen Ian?” I asked again.

  “He didn’t make it out of the cafeteria.”