by Sam Cheever
A coughing sound engaged Franco’s training and he had her on the ground beneath him before the second shot was fired.
The roast chicken exploded, sending shredded meat across the table and raining over them.
Nici’s eyes were wide with fear. “What?”
“Stay down. Don’t move.”
He crawled off her, reaching for his piece as he positioned himself between the car and the table. From the trajectory of the shots, Franco figured the shooter had gone high, probably sitting in a tree to the south of their position. If Nic stayed down on the ground between the table and the Jeep she should be out of his range. But he had no intention of leaving her there.
He needed to get her into the car and out of that park as fast as he could.
Another shot sighed past, hitting the side of the car. Behind him, Nic yelped and he was afraid she’d been hit. “You all right?”
“Other than peeing myself? I’m just dandy. You need to get down, Franco. You’re going to get shot.”
He couldn’t help smiling as his gaze slid slowly along the perimeter. “I’m the bodyguard, remember? I’m the one who’s supposed to get shot.”
“Don’t even joke about that.”
There! A dark form shifted between the branches of a tree, seventy-five yards away. Franco dived to the ground as three rounds peppered the table, spewing food in a messy arc around them. “Damn! This guy’s good.”
“Well yeah, I can see he’s really pissed off at that potato salad.”
Franco barked out a laugh. “Keep it down back there. I’m trying to concentrate.”
“Well can you hurry? I really do have to pee and I’m thinking you don’t want me to squat right here.”
The words were light but her voice quavered with fear. He nodded. “You’re right. Let’s quit screwing around with these jerks. When I say ‘go’, I want you to roll over to the car and slide underneath it. Move as quickly as you can to the other side and climb in. Keep your head down.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay.”
Franco lifted his head so he could see the guy in the tree. He hadn’t moved. He scanned the roads around the park and saw they were empty. Then he checked his magazine and found it half full. Hopefully it would be enough because his spare ammo was in the canvas bag in the back of the Jeep. He’d beat himself up for his carelessness later. At the moment he had bigger problems.
The SUV he’d seen driving past had pulled into position on the opposite side of the park, pinning them in.
“Franco?”
He slid back down, assessing his options. “No good. They’ve got the other side of the car covered now.”
She sighed so long and hard he glanced her way. She was glaring at him. “I told you I needed my gun.”
He shook his head, thinking fast. There had to be some way... Franco shoved at the picnic table but it was bolted down. Too bad, he thought, it would have made a good shield while they climbed into the car. His gaze caught on the trash can beside the table. It was metal, hopefully filled with a nice depth of neutralizing trash. It wasn’t much but it was the best chance they had. “Okay, new plan. I’m going to lay down cover fire while you climb into the Jeep on this side. Lie down on the floor in the back.”
“Then how are you going to get in?”
“I’m going to use that trash can as a shield.”
Silence met his statement. “While shooting, opening the car door, and driving away?”
“I didn’t say it was a good plan.”
“Here’s a better one. Give me the gun. I’ll provide cover while you grab the can and we can both use it to get into the car.”
“Not a chance.”
“Dammit, Franco! What’s the point in my having all this self-defense training if nobody will let me use it?”
“That’s a last ditch plan.”
“This is about as last ditch as it gets, homey.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I just gained new respect for your brother. If I was him I’d have introduced you to the nuclear wedgie at an early age.”
“Give me the gun, Franco.”
He would have liked to blow a hole in her plan. Unfortunately it was better than his. Dammit! “Okay. But try not to shoot me with it.”
She took the gun, ejected the mag like an expert, checked the rounds and slammed it back home. Then she sat up and slid across the grass to the table, peering over it. “That’s the shooter up there?”
“Yeah. You won’t be able to hit him but...”
Nic settled the muzzle of the gun onto the table and closed one eye.
“You shouldn’t close your eye...”
“Shut up, this works for me.”
“Okay, whatever, shoot the bad guy in the tree. Not the good guy sprinting toward the can. Got it?”
“Shoot the mouthy bodynapper with the can and gain myself some peace and quiet. Got it.”
“Lord help me.”
“Just go already, before these guys get restless.”
Right on cue, the Jeep jerked under a fresh round of bullets from the SUV. Franco glanced over the hood and saw that they were on the move. “The SUV’s coming on. We’ve got to do this now.”
“That’s what I said,” Nic murmured. She fired into the tree and Franco took off running.
Several more rounds sizzled through the air as he threw himself to the ground behind the can, some of them heading for him.
The can jerked under a couple of rounds, one of which went in high and passed straight through.
There was a yelp behind him. Panic flared. “Nic?”
“I’m fine. He just stomped on my last nerve.”
Franco grabbed the can and hunkered behind it as a fresh round of bullets slammed through the air toward the shooter in the tree. There was a yelp and a rifle pinwheeled through the air to the ground, followed by the darkly clad shooter.
“Well, damn.”
“Lose the can, Martin. Here come the bad guys.”
She opened the door and threw herself inside as the SUV barreled toward them, a gun sticking out of the front passenger side window. Franco flung himself into the Jeep, trying to keep low as he clambered into the driver’s seat, and turned the key, gunning it forward as soon as the engine caught. Bullets continued to ping off the metal sides and back. A back window shattered and glass sprayed over them.
Franco headed for a copse of massive evergreens, figuring the guys in the SUV would have a harder time hitting them with a bunch of trees around. They slipped under the drooping branches and the shower of bullets stopped as they barreled across a thick carpet of dried needles. The sharp tang of evergreen filled the car as he took a turn on two wheels and headed toward the back of the park, keeping sight of the SUV driving alongside the thicket. The big car was managing to stay even with them and the occasional tree trunk exploded under a wayward bullet.
Nici’s head popped up.
“Stay down.”
“Hit the street, there’s a delivery truck backing out of that driveway there.”
She was right. If they could tuck in behind the truck...
“Hold on!” He jerked the wheel hard right and the passenger side door squealed as it scraped along a row of trunks with prickly branches. They emerged from the evergreen copse and hit a sidewalk, heading straight for a hydrant.
“Franco!”
He jumped as she squealed. “Stop that! You scared the crap out of me.” He jerked the wheel and the car missed the hydrant by inches, heading for a fat gray squirrel holding an acorn, its shiny brown eyes wide.
“Franco!”
“Oh for god sakes!” He jerked the wheel again, barely missing the stupid rodent, and they dropped with a bang of tortured suspension into the street just as the boxy white truck started toward the intersection. Franco tucked the Jeep in on the opposite side of it, blocking them from the SUV’s view, and took the first turn into a large subdivision as the tr
uck lumbered on down the street.
A few quick turns later brought them out of the subdivision and Franco headed for the highway, the SUV nowhere in sight.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“How the hell did they find us?”
Nici winced. She’d never heard her bodynapper so mad. It was a little unnerving. And people in the tiny diner were starting to stare. She gave him a look and he shook his head, clearly too angry to care.
Whoever he was speaking to on the phone had their hands full, dealing with his rage.
“No, the phone is the one from my go-bag. It’s never been used before. The car is from the DeVitis lot. We were clean when we left the house.”
He listened for a moment, his handsome face grim. A golden beam of sunlight slipped over the table as a thick bank of clouds sifted past outside. The shadow on his wide jaw sparked gold under the light, going a long way toward making him look dangerous.
The cold, hard glint in his green gaze finished the job.
Franco shook his head. “I’m ditching everything and we’re going dark.”
The deep voice on the other end rose with matching anger, but it didn’t make a dent in Franco’s determination. “Sorry, sir. You placed her safety in my hands and I take that responsibility very seriously. Apparently you have a mole in your organization. You’ll need to find it or none of them are safe.”
Nici frowned, his words spurring a fresh wave of concern for her family.
The waitress reluctantly approached the table, holding the check up for Nici to see. She reached for it but Franco snagged it first, giving the woman a tight nod of dismissal.
She slid a potato chip between her lips and chewed it slowly, her ears tuned to the half of the conversation she could hear. Apparently Franco was talking to either Gordon or Doug DeVitis. And she was sure his message wasn’t going over well. From the little she knew about the family, Nici figured they’d resist the idea that anyone in their circle would be disloyal. And if someone told the men in that SUV where she and Franco would be...or worse helped them track them somehow...they’d gone beyond disloyal and into treasonous.
“I’ll contact you once we’ve settled somewhere.” Franco disconnected, his expression grim. He pulled a twenty out of his wallet and placed it over the bill. “Come on.”
Nici’s hackles rose at his domineering behavior, but she decided to let it go. He was clearly upset and they’d already created enough of a scene for the moment.
People’s gazes slipped over them as they left, assessing the level of danger they offered.
Nici reached out and grabbed his arm as he started down the street. “The car’s back that way.”
He flung his phone into a trash can on the sidewalk. “We’re not taking it.” He glanced quickly around and nodded toward a Goodwill store down the street. “We need to get you some things.” When her eyes went wide he grabbed her hand, wrapping his long, warm fingers around hers. “Everything in that car stays with the car. There are no identifying documents and I’ve gotten rid of the guns.”
He spoke in low tones, his gaze continually scanning the street.
“But why?”
“Either someone put a tracker on us or told those men where we’d be. If they knew the direction we were traveling and the time we left it wouldn’t be hard for them to find us.”
He pulled the door open and ushered her inside.
“But why? What were they after?”
He frowned, his jaw hardening. “You, Nic. It’s always gonna be you. That’s why we’re going off grid. We can’t trust anybody.”
Fear inserted icy tendrils into her belly. “Well, that’s certainly terrifying.”
“Good. If you’re scared maybe you’ll actually listen to me for once.”
When she glared up at him he pointed to the racks of used clothing. “Get several outfits. Enough for a few days. We’ll do laundry when we can.”
She quickly gathered up a couple of pairs of jeans and some t-shirts. She grabbed pjs, a pair of flip flops and some well-worn sneakers. Carrying her stuff to the checkout counter, she was surprised to find him standing with his arms full of clothes. He handed her a zip up hoodie. “You might need this. It still gets cool at night.”
Nici barely kept from grimacing at the hoodie. It was bright pink. She tended to avoid pink like the plague. “Did they have a black one?”
He lifted a dark eyebrow and dumped his stuff on the counter, taking hers from her and piling it on top. He grabbed his wallet and pulled several twenties from it.
Nici was shocked by the amount of cash he carried. She rarely carried any cash with her, preferring to use her debit card for nearly everything. “Where’d you get all that cash?”
He ignored her, giving the young woman behind the counter a tight smile. “Did you find that item we discussed?”
The pretty young Asian woman grinned, nodding. “It’s in the bag with the rest.” She handed a large paper bag with handles across the counter and gave Nici a quick once over as if assessing her worth.
When the clerk skimmed a hungry gaze over Franco’s broad shoulders and tight, round buttocks, Nici realized with a start that the woman was jealous.
“Come on,” he told her, grabbing her hand.
Nici threw a wicked smile over her shoulder as Franco dragged her toward the door and the clerk glared daggers at her in response.
The woman’s reaction to her bodynapper made Nici take a good, long look at him. Obviously she’d been aware of how hot he was. It was impossible to miss. But she’d been so wrapped up in her problems that she hadn’t given him the sharp scrutiny he deserved. When she did, Nici realized he was more than just good-looking. Franco Martin was hotter than a highway in August in the deep South.
Suddenly the adventure they were about to embark on took on a whole new range of possibilities.
She suddenly remembered that people were trying to kill them and sobered. They weren’t embarking on a fun and romantic weekend adventure together. Then there was her missing sister...and her parents. “Do you think Elena’s okay?”
She expected him to give her reassurance, almost dreaded it because it would prove to her that Franco was just doing a job and didn’t really care. But his response surprised her. He glanced her way, his gaze filled with concern. “I don’t know. I’m really worried about her.”
She blinked, shocked by his honesty. Suddenly she wanted to know his relationship with the sister she’d never met. “Have you known Elena long?”
“Six years.” He stopped at a corner and waited as traffic spun quickly past. Franco’s intense gaze scoured every vehicle as it rolled past, his mouth tight.
“You were her bodyguard?”
The light changed, he pulled her into the street and moved quickly across, his long legs eating up the distance. Nici had to hurry to keep up. “I was. But I was more than that.”
She tensed, a sense of dread sliding through her. “You had a...relationship?”
He hurried down a side street, heading toward a residential area a few blocks away. “We did. She was like a sister to me.”
Nici pulled air into her lungs, relief flooding her. “Oh.”
He glanced her way. “Elena is annoying as hell. Bossy, opinionated, and always whining about her restrictions.” He shook his head. “She reminds me of my own sister.”
Pleasure burst through Nici and she fought not to grin. “That’s probably how Erik saw me.”
He smiled down at her. “Probably.”
She liked that he didn’t deny it. It made her feel as though she could trust him to tell her the truth even when the truth was unpleasant. “Where could she be?”
He spotted a drug store and headed toward it. “If The Foundation doesn’t have her...”
“You need to tell me about them.”
He pulled the door open. “I will. Later.”
Inside the drug store, Franco turned to her. “Get what you need. Toothpaste, toothbrush, whatever.”
“Yo
u need that stuff too?”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
Then he headed toward a counter at the back of the store. As she gathered up some toiletries, dropping them into a red, plastic basket, she listened to him talking to a clerk about phones. She joined him a few minutes later, placing the basket onto the counter. “I got you shaving stuff too.”
“Good.” He pushed the basket toward the clerk. “This too, please.”
A moment later they were walking out of the store, heading toward a busy playground a couple of blocks down. He unwrapped the phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“A friend of mine.”
“I thought you said we couldn’t trust anybody.”
He dialed quickly, putting the phone to his ear. “We can trust this guy. He’s a spook and I’ve known him all my life.”
She frowned, nervous about bringing someone new into their problems.
“Hey, Double-O-Honeybun,” Franco said with a wide smile.
Nici felt her eyebrows rising. Did he just call the guy Honeybun?
“Hey, I need your help man.” Franco listened for a moment and then nodded. “We’re in a little town just off sixty five south, called Scottysburg.” He glanced around and nodded again. “Okay, I can do that. See you in a couple hours.”
He hung up and grabbed her hand. “Come on, we need to find transportation.”
“Where are we going?” Nici asked, running to keep up.
“To meet a plane.”
She frowned. “Plane? We’re pretty far from a real airport aren’t we?”
Franco chuckled, tugging her toward a building down the street. “A real one? That depends on what kind of plane you’re going to be landing.” He threw her a grin. “And how crazy your pilot is.”
###
Phillip Osgood frowned at the man sitting across from him. “I told you I didn’t want her harmed.”
The man shrugged, his expression unconcerned. “She’s not hurt. We were aiming for him.”