A Baby Before Dawn

by Linda Castillo

  She would always love him.

  How could she let him walk away when she’d finally faced the truth? But the bigger question remained. How could she let him into her life when his presence could very well put her child in danger?

  The answer devastated her.

  “Once I get you to Shane’s place,” Chase continued, “the FBI will pick you up. They’ll debrief you. Put you up in a hotel temporarily, until we get this settled.”

  It was all happening too fast. Lily stared at him, not liking any of what he’d said. “I don’t want to go to a hotel. I want to go home.”

  “If you want to keep your child safe, you don’t have a choice.”

  It was the one point he could make that would convince her, and he knew it. While she couldn’t dispute that he was right, she didn’t like being manipulated. She didn’t like being backed into a corner with no alternative.

  “Chase, damn it, I want my life back. My job. My apartment. My friends.” I want you, a traitorous voice added, but Lily dared not vocalize it.

  “I know. I want those things for you, too. God knows you deserve them.” He smiled, but it was brittle and maybe a little sad. “This is one of those times when we don’t get what we want.”

  “What if they catch the men responsible?”

  “Then you get your old life back.” He shrugged. “Things go back to the way they were.”

  That was what Lily had told herself she wanted throughout the entire ordeal. All she wanted was her old life back: her job at the hospital; her comfortable little apartment; a life where everything was neat and orderly and safe.

  Then why did she feel as if her heart were being forcibly ripped from her body?

  “What about you?” she asked after a moment.

  He gave her a halfhearted smile. “I go back to doing what I do best.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Keeping the bad guys away.” One side of his mouth lifted into a smile that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. “Driving the limo.”

  Lily wanted to tell him that wasn’t necessarily what he might be best at, but she didn’t. Sad as it was, neither of them would ever know what kind of husband and father he would be. The thought broke her heart.

  “All right,” Chase interjected into her thoughts, “let’s pack up and get out of here.”

  As Lily stepped into her clothes, she told herself things were better this way. It was the clean break she’d been looking for all along.

  But the rationalization didn’t explain why she felt as if the world as she knew it had just come to an end.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chase made the call while Lily dressed in the bathroom. The cell phone was dead, but since they were about to leave, he took a chance and dialed Ben Parker’s number from the cottage’s phone. He needed to know if Ben had been in contact with Shane or if he’d gotten any information on Liam Shea’s sons.

  Ben answered on the first ring.

  “This isn’t a secure line,” Chase announced without preamble. “What did you find on Shea?”

  “We’re still digging,” Ben replied, “but so far we know that after the court-martial his wife, Margaret, divorced him and changed her name to Sullivan, her maiden name. Two of his sons, Colin and Aidan, moved to Washington State after their father went to prison. The third son is Finn. We don’t know where he lives yet.”

  Chase wished for a laptop so Ben could send him photos. He had, after all, gotten a good look at the man who’d ambushed him back at Hancock Tower. In his gut he knew it was one of Liam’s sons. If he could match the face to a photo, they might get the confirmation they were looking for.

  Ben continued. “I pulled up federal records, and it looks like his sons kept in very close contact with Liam the entire time he was in prison. Lots of visits.”

  “Where’s Liam now?”

  “We sent an agent out there, but…Chase, he’s nowhere to be found. Neither are the sons.”

  “I’ll bet the farm they’re behind this, Ben. Probably taking orders from their father.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Chase reminded him of the foiled hostage rescue mission a decade earlier. “Liam was dishonorably discharged and court-martialed for disobeying a direct order. But he swore he was innocent. He swore one of the other men involved in the rescue mission framed him.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know. But Shea vowed revenge and he was dead serious about it.”

  “That kind of hatred would explain the lengths he went to in planning simultaneous ambushes. Maybe he’s even responsible for the blackout.”

  “And Davis’s kidnapping. He was involved in the failed rescue mission, too.”

  “I wasn’t privy to all the details. That gives me more to work with. Now that I have more information to go on, let me do some more digging and see what I can come up with.” Ben paused. “Are you still heading to Shane’s?”

  “Lily and I are en route now.”

  “Be careful, man.”

  Chase disconnected to find Lily standing just a few feet away, watching him. “Who was that?” she asked.

  “Ben Parker. He’s checking into my theory that Liam Shea is behind this.”

  “Can Ben arrest him?”

  Chase approached her but stopped with two feet to spare. He didn’t want to get too close. For the first time in his life, he didn’t trust his judgment or his willpower.

  Images of every intimacy they’d shared flashed in his mind’s eye. Lily lying beneath him, her head thrown back in ecstasy, her hair spread out on the pillow like yards of red silk. He could still remember the way she breathed. The way she’d tasted. The heady scent of her skin filling his senses. The way her flesh had molded beneath his hands.

  The urge to touch her was powerful, but Chase resisted. He couldn’t risk making another mistake and drawing this out. One time was going to have to be enough.

  “The less you’re involved in this, the better off you’ll be,” he said.

  “I’m already involved. I don’t like being left in the dark.”

  Chase studied her face, soaking in her beauty, her kindness, the goodness in her heart. “We have to go.”

  She reached out and grasped his arm before he could turn away. “Don’t lock me out of this.”

  Angry with her for pressing him when he’d asked her not to, angry with himself for bringing such ugliness into her life, he shook off her touch. “No.”

  Hurt flashed across her features, but he steeled himself against it. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But life was full of pain, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. At the moment he needed distance. Pushing her away was the only way he knew how to get it. For now his number one priority was to get her to a safe place. Once he did that, he’d walk away and never look back.

  LILY STARED through the passenger window, watching the rain slide down the glass. Rolling farmland, miles of white rail fencing and the occasional farmhouse zipped by, but she barely noticed the pretty countryside. She couldn’t stop thinking about Chase and the magic they’d shared.

  And about the cold glint in his eyes back at the cottage.

  They hadn’t spoken since they’d climbed into the car and headed north on Route 93 toward Shane’s house fifteen minutes earlier. She told herself she didn’t need him. Going it alone had been the plan all along. She was independent with a nice apartment and a career she loved. Not to mention a baby on the way. But deep inside, Lily acknowledged that she was lying to herself. No matter how much she wanted to believe it, her life would never be complete without Chase.

  The terrible truth was that she still loved him. If she wanted to be perfectly honest with herself, she’d never stopped loving him. But Lily didn’t want to be honest. Not when it was so much easier, so much less painful, to lie.

  Damn him for doing this to her.

  Damn her for letting him.

  Leaning against the seat back, she shifted and tried to get
comfortable, but couldn’t. Her lower back ached. Her hips ached. She tried reclining her seat back so she could stretch out a bit, but it didn’t help.

  After several minutes of her fidgeting, Chase looked over, concern darkening his eyes. “Are you all right?”

  “I just want this to be over,” she snapped.

  He glanced away from his driving to study her, but she looked away. She couldn’t look at him without remembering what it was like to be held in his arms. She couldn’t remember without wanting it to happen again. The reality that after today she would never see him again hurt more than she ever could have imagined.

  She reminded herself that she had no future with Chase. She and her child would be safer and happier without him. But while her brain was telling her all the things she needed to hear, her heart begged to differ.

  All the while, the pain in her lower back nagged at her with increasing fervor, setting her nerves on edge.

  “We’ve got company.” Chase’s focus went to the rearview mirror, and he made a sound of disbelief. “They’re not slowing down.” He hit the gas. “Hang on!”

  Lily was in the process of turning to look out the rear window when a crash sounded and the car jolted violently. At first she thought they’d hit something or had a blowout. Then she caught a glimpse of a vehicle behind them and realized they’d been rammed. “They’re trying to run us off the road!”

  “Or kill us,” he said tightly.

  The car jolted again and went into a skid. Gripping the seat, Lily glanced over at Chase. He fought the wheel for control.

  “How did they find us?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.” Chase cursed and shook his head. “I don’t want to believe it, but Ben Parker was the only person who knew where we were.”

  “I thought he was—”

  “So did I,” he interjected.

  Lily turned in the seat to see the chrome bumper and grill of a large SUV loom closer. “They’re right behind us!”

  The vehicle struck them again, hard enough to send the Toyota into a skid. Chase struggled with the wheel, but the car seemed to have a mind of its own. It crossed the yellow line, but within seconds he brought the vehicle back under control.

  “Can we call someone for help? The police?” she shouted.

  He didn’t look away from his driving. “Battery’s dead.”

  Like us, she thought and shuddered.

  Another wave of horror ripped through her when the big SUV pulled up beside them. Lily caught a glimpse of the bumper and a shiny red fender. The silhouette of a driver and passenger behind tinted windows. An instant later, the vehicle swerved and crashed into them on the rear driver’s side.

  “Hold on!”

  The vehicles clashed like two giant beasts locked in battle. Steel screeched against steel, mechanical screams that grated like fingernails on chalk. The Toyota shuddered and swerved, but Chase managed to maintain control.

  “Can you outrun them?” Lily cried.

  “Not in this thing. Whatever they’ve got is souped up.”

  She glanced over, saw sweat slick and shiny on his forehead. “What do we do?”

  The SUV gave him no time to answer. The big vehicle slammed into them again. This time Chase was ready. He jerked the wheel hard, used the weight of the Toyota to hold his ground. The SUV backed off, falling in place behind them. But Lily knew it wouldn’t last.

  Turning in her seat, she saw the truck’s bumper loom as the vehicle sped up and rammed them from behind. Lily tried to shout a warning, but she was too late. The Toyota fishtailed. Rubber barked against asphalt. Chase cut the wheel, but the vehicle went into a skid.

  “Hang on!” he shouted.

  The car spun sickeningly. Lily saw trees and a white fence flash by. Gravel and tufts of grass spewed high into the air as the car slid sideways over the highway shoulder into a ditch. A cry tore from her lips when the seat belt jerked painfully against her belly. Leaning forward, she put her hands over her belly in an effort to protect her child.

  Finally the vehicle came to a stop. The next thing Lily knew, Chase was outside the car, yanking the door open.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, unfastening her seat belt.

  “I think so.” She tried to get out, but a cramp shot through her belly like a hot dagger. Choking back a groan, Lily closed her eyes and fell back against the seat. “Oh, God.”

  “Is it the baby?”

  “I’m hoping it’s just a Braxton Hicks.”

  He looked blankly at her, but she knew there was no time to explain. He scanned the surrounding area for the SUV, but it was nowhere in sight.

  “We’re sitting ducks here.” He yanked the pistol from his waistband. Somewhere in the distance, Lily heard an engine rev. And she knew the men in the SUV were not yet finished with them.

  Chase knelt, his hand going to hers. “I need you to get out, honey. Right now, because they’re coming back. Can you do that?”

  The cramp had passed for the most part, but Lily felt another one waiting at the gate. Still, she nodded her head in acquiescence. Pain edged from her back to her abdomen as she slid from the car and straightened.

  “Good girl.” He guided her to the other side of the drainage ditch toward a copse of trees. “This way.”

  She ground her teeth and put one foot in front of the other. “Where are we going?”

  He stopped and motioned. “See that big red barn over there? I want you to run to it as fast as you can. Don’t look back. Just run. Can you do that?’

  Lily nodded, but she didn’t know how fast she could run when the cramping in her abdomen came with increasing ferocity. Worse, she didn’t want to leave Chase. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to put a stop to this once and for all.” Giving her a final look, he set his hands on her shoulders and pointed her toward the barn. “Run,” he whispered, and then turned in the direction from which they’d come.

  Chapter Twelve

  Chase didn’t want to leave Lily unprotected. Damn it, he didn’t want her out of his sight. But he knew both of them would stand a better chance if he went on the offensive. He couldn’t do that with her in tow. Running was her best chance of surviving, so he let her go—and prayed to God he could stop the men with guns before they got to her.

  He sprinted back to the Toyota, yanked open the door and jammed his body behind the wheel. Twisting the key, he pumped the gas. The engine turned over on the first try. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the SUV twenty yards away. At some point, it had begun to rain again, but Chase barely noticed. Standing next to the SUV, two men—one with a rifle, the other with a pistol—started toward him.

  Knowing he had only a few seconds before they started blasting, he rammed the shift into gear and floored the accelerator. The tires spun, spewing dirt and gravel high into the air. The car fishtailed. Then the tires grabbed asphalt and shot forward.

  The men simultaneously dropped into a shooter’s stance. Weapons up, they swung toward the speeding car—and Chase. The first shot blew a hole the size of his fist in the windshield. Cracks in the safety glass spread like spidery veins. Something thwacked against the passenger headrest so close to his head Chase felt the concussion.

  But he didn’t stop. He knew the odds were high that he would get shot before he mowed them down. But Chase was nearly out of ammo. His most powerful weapon at the moment was the car, and he intended to put it to good use.

  The windshield imploded. Glass pelted him. Through the gaping hole, he saw the men scatter. Chase cut the wheel and went after the man with the rifle. A sniper was always the most dangerous.

  The rifleman turned and ran toward the ditch on the opposite side of the road, but he was no match for the speeding car. Using every driving skill he’d amassed over the years, Chase took the car into the ditch after the gunman. The man jumped on a three-rail fence and tried to scale it to escape into a cornfield. Under any other circumstances, Chase would have tried to take him alive to glean info
rmation from him later. Tonight, all he cared about was keeping Lily safe.

  He floored the accelerator and the engine roared as the car bounced over rough ground. Midway over the fence, the gunman turned and raised his hands as if to protect himself. Chase hit the brake, but the vehicle skidded the rest of the way through dirt and grass. It struck both the fence and the gunman. Wood splintered and flew high into the air. The impact sent the man twenty feet into the field. He didn’t get up.

  One down and one to go, Chase thought as he rammed the car into Reverse. He hadn’t noticed that the engine had died. He turned the key and pumped the gas, but the motor only groaned. Throwing open the door, he hit the ground, running toward the downed man to confiscate the rifle.

  He was almost there when a gunshot split the air. The bullet kicked up dirt inches from Chase’s right foot. When he didn’t stop, a second shot tore through the material of his slacks. Chase skidded to a halt.

  “Game over,” said a voice from behind him. “Get your hands up, Vickers.”

  The unmistakable sound of a pistol being cocked froze his blood in his veins. Chase couldn’t believe the man had gotten the drop on him. You’re getting sloppy, Vickers.

  Chase raised his hands and slowly turned. Even with his hair wet from the falling rain, he recognized the man. The same man who’d ambushed him in the limo back at Hancock Tower.

  “So we meet again,” the man said.

  “Who the hell are you and what do you want?”

  “You, my friend. This is all about you. And the woman, of course.” The man smiled, his eyes scanning the surrounding darkness. “She couldn’t have gotten far now, could she?” His smile chilled Chase. “I take it the baby is yours?”

  Chase wanted to rip him apart with his bare hands, but he shoved the emotions aside. In this business, emotions were what got people killed.

  “I have no ties to her or the kid,” he lied, desperate to buy time. If his calculations were correct, he had one bullet left in the pistol. If they were going to get out of this alive, he was going to have to make it count.