- -
- 100%
- +
“Yeah,” he mumbled around the mouthful of delicious dough.
“How’s it going?” asked his partner, J.Z. Prophet.
“If I said bad to worse, it wouldn’t begin to give you a clue.”
“What’s the deal? The family’s after you again?”
“They never stopped.” Dan gave J.Z. a brief rundown of the latest events, even told his partner about Jonas’s ill-fated attempt at being cool. That made them both laugh, but didn’t ease their concern.
“You know what’s got to happen, don’t you?” J.Z. asked.
“Yeah. We’ve got to hit the road again. I’m just waiting for Eliza to let me in on the secret of our destination.”
“And she’s no more cooperative than usual.”
“You got it.”
“Well, Maryanne and I will keep you both in our prayers. Be safe.”
The prayer bit made Dan squirm on his stool. He ignored that statement, and said, “You, too.”
He hurried to finish his pastry and the transfusion of caffeine. He had to get back to Carlie. Who knew what kind of trouble she’d kicked up by now? The woman needed a keeper, and unfortunately, the Bureau had picked him for the job.
The second he stepped into the elevator, his cell phone rang again. This time, the caller wasn’t quite as welcome as his previous one.
“Yes, Eliza. Do you have instructions for me?”
In brief, his boss gave him a laundry list of steps to follow. When she finally disclosed their ultimate destination, Dan couldn’t stop his groan.
“You’ve got to be kidding, Eliza. That’s inhuman.”
“Live with it, Maddox. It’s the best solution for a difficult situation. Or to be more accurate, the best solution for a difficult witness.”
He didn’t much care to hear his snippy boss refer to Carlie that way; it was different when he did it. He knew Carlie, while Eliza had just met her once or twice during the investigation into Carlo Papparelli’s murder.
“Fine,” he said. “We’ll take off as soon as the doctors let her go.”
“You might not want to wait that long, Agent Maddox. I won’t tell you how to do your job, even though I can, and you know it, but don’t think time is on your side.”
The elevator door opened just as Dr. Wong walked out of Carlie’s room. “I hear you loud and clear, Eliza. And now I have to go meet with Carlie’s doctor. I’ll let you know as soon as we hit the road.”
Dan hurried to catch up with the doctor. He explained the need for speed, the urgency of the situation.
But Dr. Wong refused to commit. “I’ll discharge her as soon as she’s ready to go.”
He wouldn’t budge from that stance, no matter what Dan said. So, more frustrated than ever, he retreated to Carlie’s room.
“Hey, Sunshine,” she called when he walked in. “What’s with the joy and happiness?”
That was all he needed: Carlie in one of her more outrageous moods. How was he going to break the news to her?
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m a lot better. But it still feels like I breathed in a bunch of mascara brushes.”
Mascara brushes? “Then I hope you cough out the little porcupines faster than you breathed them in.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you’re going to have to feel well enough to sneak out of here sometime tomorrow. We have to get going while we still can.”
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. “Where are we going? Or can’t you say?”
“I shouldn’t say anything, but I know how hard this has been on you. Prepare yourself. We’re headed for the steam bath better known as Florida in August.”
Once again, Carlie took his words and turned them upside down. “Really?” she asked, excitement in her voice. “I’ve always wanted to go to Florida! Promise me one thing.”
“I’m not promising anything. Tell me what you want, and I’ll tell you whether we can work it out.”
She sat up and crossed her arms. “Work it out, nothing. You owe me, Secret Agent Man. You wouldn’t take me shopping at the outlets, so now you have to take me to see the Mouse. We, Danny Boy, are going to Disney World.”
Dan had the sinking feeling he’d lost control of his assignment. And the loss was all because of a beautiful blonde, her killer smile and his growing desire to please her.
He was in trouble. And it had nothing to do with the mob.
It was the mob widow who posed the danger, to his health.
His heart’s health.
FOUR
That bruise on Carlie’s forehead was going to drive him nuts. How long did bruises last, anyway?
Against his better judgment, he stole another glance across the width of the front seat of his Bureau car.
He had to face the truth. Her beauty exerted a pull on him. It was shallow of him, but with a woman as attractive as Carlie Papparelli, a man would have to be totally blind not to feel it.
He wasn’t blind.
The small bruise over her left eyebrow stood out from the near-perfect background of her looks and underscored her vulnerability. It made him more aware than ever that her life—literally—was in his hands. He’d never shied away from responsibility, and he wasn’t about to start now, but for some reason this assignment weighed more heavily on him than most others did.
He almost couldn’t recognize himself.
Everyone he knew commented on his easygoing nature, his lighthearted view of the world, his ability to cope in tough circumstances with ease and poise. That all changed the day he’d met the mobster’s widow.
He didn’t like it. Not one bit.
Another glance.
Carlie had closed her eyes, leaned her head against the window and appeared to nap. The slightest hint of a smile curved her lips, and her peaceful expression nearly stole Dan’s breath away. How could she stay so calm?
Mobsters wanted to make mincemeat out of her, yet she still slept with the trust of a child.
Maybe she did trust him. He hoped so, because otherwise their circumstances would be grimmer than even he thought them to be. He knew his job; he had an excellent track record with the Bureau. He’d yet to lose a single witness under his care.
One more look at her reminded him of the scale of his task.
He usually handled mousy paper-pushers who’d blown the whistle on crooked colleagues. He’d never had to worry about making the subjects of those assignments inconspicuous; they were inconspicuous. But Carlie?
He needed someone to show him how to turn a stunning Cinderella back into a frumpy maid. He didn’t have a magic slipper to take from her foot.
The thought of her footgear made him smile. Carlie struck him as a firm supporter of “the more, the merrier” approach. That is, when it came to her heels. He’d never seen anyone handle stilettos, even while wearing jeans, quite as expertly as Carlie Papparelli did. The most irritating part? She looked great while doing so.
He chuckled. She’d better hope they didn’t have to hoof it to safety any time soon, because if they did, she’d be in major trouble. Those spikes weren’t made for running.
When he realized how indulgent his thoughts were, he forced his attention to the matter at hand. He couldn’t afford to expend many warm and fuzzy thoughts on Carlie as a person. That would spell danger.
So he drove on in silence.
She slept on.
“Hey!” she said about two hours later. “How about we hit a fast food joint or something? It’s way past time for me to use the little girls’ room.”
“And here I thought you just loved the little toys.”
“Watch it, Secret Agent Man. If I get a squirt gun, you’re in trouble.”
Dan cringed when, as they walked into the burger place, every head turned their way. All its patrons stared at Carlie, who, oblivious of the attention, headed for the ladies’ room.
Yeah, he had trouble on his hands, all right. The biggest part of that trouble was to convince Carlie that something had to be done about her looks.
“Aw, come on,” she wheedled moments later. “Why can’t we eat at least one meal a day at a table? I’m really tired of squeezing stuff out of foil packets and decorating my clothes with it because you hit yet another bump.”
He almost broke. Almost.
“Be glad that’s the only kind of bump we’ve hit on the road to a long and healthy future for you. Those bombs and bullets weren’t figments of our imaginations.”
She shuddered, and an infinitesimal pang of guilt hit him. But then, in a subsequent moment of reason, he banished the pang to where it belonged: far, far away from his thoughts.
“I intend to get you to that witness stand in one piece. If that means you’re going to wear a mustard-ketchup-and-barbecue-sauce tie-dye job, then you’d better get yourself a new perspective on stains.”
She rolled her eyes, grabbed her bagged meal, turned away, and click-click-clicked her way to the door. There she paused to give him a glare. “So, Danny Boy, are you just going to stand there? If my memory serves me right, you’re the one who finished reading me the riot act about the dangers of exposure not two seconds ago.”
He shook his head and followed.
Outside, he yielded just a bit. They ate in the parked car. In silence.
When Carlie was done, she turned to face him. “How long is it going to take you to get me to Florida? All I know is that we’ve been driving for ages, and I don’t see any sand or palm trees yet.”
“That’s because it takes more than a couple of hours to drive from Pennsylvania to Florida. Especially if we want to make sure none of your family’s friends are on our tail.”
She sighed. “So how much longer do you want us to live out of your car?”
“As long as it takes.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Actually, I don’t think it’ll be more than three or four days.”
“Are you kidding?”
The horror on her face almost made him laugh. He controlled the urge. “Okay, okay. Tell you what. We’ll take the scenic, tourist route, and go through quaint little towns with well-maintained Victorian cottages. That way you’ll be able to enjoy the picturesque views.”
“How about that nice, quiet place in Florida you told me about? I’m looking forward to a regular home—at least, for a while.”
He could understand how she felt. He’d worked for the Bureau long enough that he’d come to hate the anonymity of hotel rooms. He also hated to sleep in his car during a stakeout. His nomadic lifestyle got to him at times, even though it came as a result of his chosen career. Carlie hadn’t chosen any of this.
“Look, I know you’re in a rotten situation,” he said, his tone conciliatory. “But it would be even more rotten if anything happened to you—”
“Get real! What you mean is that it would be rotten if they whacked me. You’d lose your prime witness, and your oh-so-important case would go down the toilet. There’s nothing about me in your plan.”
“It’s all about you, Carlie. I don’t want to see you dead. I joined the Bureau to protect my country and its people. Last time I checked, you were a citizen. I don’t think anything’s changed that.”
“There you go again. I’m a citizen.” She crossed her arms. “That’s garbage. I know what I’m facing, and I still have an identity. There is still life ahead of me. Spending what’s left locked inside this rolling tin can—” she pounded the car door “—is not what I’m ready to do.”
His frustration reached the boiling point. “Well then, I guess that choice is out of your hands. You may have some weird kind of death wish, but I’m not going to play. Buckle up. We’re out of here.”
She yanked the seat belt down to the latch, and once he heard it click, he turned the key in the ignition.
He pulled to the parking lot exit then waited for traffic—a single school bus full of kindergarteners.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me where we’re headed next,” she said.
“You suppose right. Your best plan is to get some more of that beauty sleep you’ve been catching up on. Who knows what’s going to happen even ten minutes from now.”
They drove again in that uneasy quiet he’d come to expect. How could he tell her he was winging it? That he didn’t have a plan besides making sure no one followed? That wouldn’t reassure her. It didn’t make him feel all that great either, but under the circumstances, it was the best he could do.
When he couldn’t stand the stony look on her face and her shrieking silence for another minute, he turned on the radio. Although he’d never gotten into the sports-over-the-radio deal—no visuals—he found a station that offered kick-by-kick coverage of a soccer game somewhere in the Hispanic world. Even the loud, heartbeat-like drumming in the background was better than the thick, uneasy stillness.
The hysterical cries of “Gol, gol, gol” when either team scored provided a weird kind of punctuation for the afternoon. When the game ended, he frantically searched for a classical music station.
Then the sun finally began its descent toward the horizon. That simple reality forced him to face the need to come up with another meal option and overnight choice. He couldn’t drive all night after driving all day. He’d only snagged about three hours’ sleep the night before. The way he saw it, he had no choice but to find an out-of-the-way motel, nothing like the famous chains that everyone recognized.
“Um…”
Carlie’s murmur caught his otherwise-engaged attention. “What’s up?”
“You’ve worn this fierce expression for hours now. Tell me it has something to do with my next meal and a place to take a hot shower.”
He chuckled. “Believe it or not, that’s exactly what’s been on my mind.”
“How so?”
“More than food, we need to find a safe place to stay the night. I have to catch some sleep so I can continue driving—”
“I’ve told you I’m a great driver, but you just won’t share. You could have taken a nap anytime today.”
“You’re getting over a concussion. How can you drive long distance?” He gave her an exasperated glare. “I’d rather drive till I drop than nap and find myself wrapped around the nearest lamppost. Your rattled brain could wig out on us anytime.”
“I’d rather trust my rattled brain than ride next to a guy who’s sleep deprived. Doctors have proved that a sleep-deprived brain behind the wheel is the equivalent of an intoxicated brain.”
He sighed. “We’re not going to discuss the merits of medical studies. We’re going to focus on finding a motel.”
“Fine. I know we’ve passed a couple of cute ones along the way. I just hope we haven’t run out of luck on that regard—”
“Nope. Look to your right. And the best part about it is that across the road there’s a—”
“Wow! A real diner. The kind with the shiny metal building! I didn’t know those still existed.”
He clicked on his turn signal. “You never know what you’ll find along a back road. There are still diners in Pennsylvania. I suppose North Carolina’s the same.”
“So that’s where we are.” She grinned. “You let the cat out of the bag. Uh-oh! Carlie now knows where she is!”
Dan had never rolled his eyes this much in his whole life. It was contagious—he’d caught it from her. “I’m going to trust you to keep your mouth full of food. That way you won’t blab. Then sleep should do the trick for a few hours overnight. After that, I’ll have you so lost, you won’t know what hit you.”
“I’m going to assume you think you’re being cute.”
“No. Just dealing with you the best I can.”
“Let’s eat.”
“Well, well, well,” Dan said as he parked in the diner’s lot. “We have to mark this moment. Our first agreement so far! I hope it’s a sign of more harmony to come.”
The truce of sorts lasted through dinner. Carlie oohed and aahed over meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, buttered peas and apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Dan had to agree that the meal came close to Mrs. Miller’s supper. And he did love comfort food.
Then they drove across the street. In the motel’s tiny lobby, they both endured the owner’s scrutiny. After all, how many couples their age asked for separate rooms in an out-of-the-way place? The discomfort, however, was nothing compared to what he’d feel if Carlie were harmed.
Once in his room, he enjoyed every second of a quick shower. And then he collapsed on the surprisingly welcoming bed.
Nothing woke him until the alarm rang. Tendrils of sunlight slipped around the blue and gold curtains on the window.
He dressed, threw his few belongings in the duffel bag he always kept in the trunk of his Bureau-issue car, and headed out. He fully intended to knock on Carlie’s door, but the sound of laughter out in the parking lot derailed his intentions.
What he saw left him stumped. Three children, all of whom appeared to be under the age of ten, two girls and a toddler boy, had drawn a chalk hopscotch on the asphalt. The oldest girl threw a round rock to one of the squares then hopped one-legged in the traditional steps of the game.
But the kids weren’t the ones who’d caught his attention. The woman cheering the girl, however, was. Carlie had pulled her long, blond mane into a ponytail, and despite her high heels, looked more like a young babysitter than the widow of a shady character.
Her eyes sparkled in the morning sunshine; her cheeks wore a soft rose tint; her voice rang with enthusiasm; her slim body looked ready to take on the game—and win.
There was something about that woman…something that drew him and scared him in equal measure. If he were a smart man, he’d listen to his fearful side. He had to constantly remind himself that they weren’t on vacation, that she had the mob on her tail, that she would have died had the Bureau not put her into the Witness Protection Program.
“Morning!”
Her radiant grin hit him square in the gut and stunned him for a moment. She took his brief silence and continued.
“Drop that bag and come join us. We’re having fun!”
Fun? They were supposed to be on the run. Once again, Carlie seemed able to find something to appreciate in even the direst situations. He didn’t know another woman who would cope as well.
“Don’t be a party-pooper!” The teasing look on her face tugged at him. “Come on, Danny Boy, be a sport.”
The three little ones stared at him in fascination. The younger girl took a step forward. “Yeah, mister. You can play with us. It’s not so hard. I’ll show you.”
A small hand reached out for him. A car drove down the road past the motel. His professionalism returned with a vengeance, but he found himself unable to deny the child…or the woman.
“One time,” he said, dropping his bag. “Only one time, okay?”
The kids clapped.
Carlie murmured, “Thanks.”
He hopped, and memories of his childhood flooded him. It had been a long time since he’d thought of things like hopscotch on a summer morning. The games he’d played recently involved expensive equipment and far-flung locales. He enjoyed golf and tennis, but the simple pleasure of tossing a rock and bounding from square to square on one leg touched a different corner of his being.
Bang!
His instincts took over at the blast. He reached behind his back and drew his pistol.
“Run!” he yelled, and aimed.
But no one moved. The kids stared at him, their eyes wide open, their mouths forming perfect Os. Carlie also stared, but her stare came full of fascinated horror.
“What are you waiting for?” he cried. “Run for cover.”
She dropped to the children’s level and opened her arms. The boy toddled to her. She held the little guy close, murmured something soothing to the girls and then gave him the glare he’d come to expect from her.
“You owe them an apology,” she said, her voice quiet. “You’ve scared them for no reason.”
“No reason?” He shook his head and pointed to the plain car with his weapon. “Get in there before they come back for another try.”
Carlie shook her head. Her look turned pitying. “Have you lost all touch with reality? Is that what your job does to you?”
“Reality, lady, is that you’ve got a bull’s eye on your back.”
“Reality, Dan, is that you overreacted to a car’s backfire.”
“What?”
“Dan…” She patted the boy then stood and approached, exasperated. “That old truck backfired when the driver pulled into the diner while we played, and it did the same thing a minute ago after the guy finished his breakfast or cup of coffee. Get real. We’re in the middle of nowhere. My family’s not about to show up here. Put that thing away, okay?”
He scanned the road, and when he saw nothing to arouse his suspicions, he realized how ridiculous he looked. Not to mention how frightening he appeared to three little kids. His outstretched arm suddenly weighed more than the average tree trunk, and his face heated up.
“Ah…well, if you’re sure that was a truck…”
“Listen up, Secret Agent Man, we’d better get out of here before the motel owners come out, see you in spook mode and call the cops. That wouldn’t help our cause any, would it?”
With one quick move, he shoved his gun into his waistband and grabbed his duffel bag. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
She grinned. “Can I have that in writing? That ‘you’re right’ thing? It’s the first time. We need to mark the event.”
He chuckled. Against his better judgment. But instead of commenting, he unlocked the car, threw his bag into the back seat, placed the gun on the console, where he always kept it while driving on assignment, and then turned to the kids.
“Sorry, guys. I figured we could maybe play ‘cops and robbers,’ but Carlie is right. We have to go. Maybe next time we’ll play some more.”
He slid behind the steering wheel and waited for Carlie to buckle up. Through the windshield, he watched the little boy run to his oldest sister and bury his face in her belly, while the younger girl reached out and patted him on the back. The air of vulnerable innocence hit him hard.
“Do you have any idea how stupid that stunt was?” he asked, barely leashing his anger.
“What stunt? All I did was play with a couple of kids.”
“Exactly. In an open parking lot, with no protection, in full view of the road. You know we’re being followed, yet you just hopped around out there.”
“But nothing happened—”
“They could’ve picked you off!”
“That could happen any time, Dan. I have to continue to live.”
“And how about innocent bystanders? Like the kids? Do you think your brother’s pals would spare that little boy? Or the girls? Not if they thought those children could identify them.”
Carlie gasped. Out the corner of his eye he caught her expression. Shock etched her face. All color drained from her cheeks, the sparkle left her eyes. She began to shake.
“Oh, Lord Jesus,” she murmured. “Forgive me.”
On the tail of her prayer, the tears began to fall. They didn’t come as a surprise. What stunned Dan was his pain at every drop that rolled down Carlie’s cheeks.
He didn’t want this.
He didn’t want to be this vulnerable—to her.
But he was.
He wanted to wrap his arms around her, hold her until the last tear dried, to promise her she’d be safe, that he’d make sure of that. But he couldn’t do that, none of it.
So instead he continued to drive, his feelings in a kind of tangle he’d never experienced before.
FIVE
Dan had never felt so incompetent in his life. Up till now, he’d always been confident in his abilities, but now, when faced with Carlie’s contrite misery, he had no idea how to proceed. Was there anything he could do? Could he offer comfort? How?
And her faith…how did he deal with that?
That faith seemed to be her greatest source of strength, of…well, yes, comfort. She’d kept her head down while she wept, and although he didn’t hear any proof of it, he knew she was deep in prayer. Any word he might offer seemed inadequate in this circumstance.
What did he know about faith?
Nothing.
All he had on which to put his trust was his training, experience and instincts. He couldn’t see the point of relying on some vague being out there somewhere.