McAllister Justice Series Box Set Volume Two

by Reily Garrett

  “How I wish we had the time, but I have company on the way and I don’t like to rush. It’s so more fun when you take your time.”

  “You’ll get nothing from me.” The twilight state between consciousness and the nether realm granted an awareness that shocked her as well as gifted a modicum of peace. The whispered “grizzly” wasn’t an epithet. It encompassed everything she could ever want and would now forfeit for not owning her feelings.

  It wasn’t blood that roared in her ear. It was Luc’s voice, filled with rage and pain. The periphery of her vision darkened and closed in, yet the voice in her head sharpened to a poignant ache that embodied a lifetime of fate’s rigorous trials. A journey cut short before it had begun.

  The penultimate defeat came when her attacker ripped her lifeline away by removing her earbud. Luc’s urging her to fight drifted away on a sea of hypoxia rushing in from all sides.

  “In a few minutes, I’ll increase the pressure to the point you’ll pass out and lose the ability to speak. Think about that while I talk to your accomplice.”

  A second of silence.

  “He’ll kill you.” Choked words grated over painful tissue. Time slowed to draw out every sound, every foul breath fanning across her face, and every hope she’d had for her future.

  “Huh, think so?” Arrogance caressed the drawn-out words. “Hey, lover boy. To whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?” The bastard’s chuckle asserted knowledge of his effect. He was manipulating his enemy to attack.

  Megan could no longer hear Luc but knew he wouldn’t arrive in time. Charging in like a wild bear would only get him killed. She prayed Lexi and Caden stopped him. For her, it was too late. I’m sorry, Luc.

  A sudden lurch forward slammed her and the foul-breathing thug against the metal filing cabinet with the added weight knocking the breath from her lungs. Her flailing hand caught a knob on the cabinet, used to steady herself. The assassin grabbed her shoulders in an effort to remain upright.

  “Verdammt!” The snarl continued with a German-flavored curse.

  There’d been no warning of the second newcomer either.

  Easing of the clamp on her throat allowed a burning inhalation and clearing of peripheral vision as she listened to the sounds of the scuffle taking place. There was no reason for anyone at ClickChip to come to her defense. If the reprieve was temporary, she wanted Luc to know how she felt.

  Her thoughts stuttered and she flinched with the sound of the solid crack of fist striking flesh.

  Predator has become victim.

  Her attacker released his hold in slow degrees of sliding down her shaking body, while the hard metal support kept her from slumping to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs. Locking her knees decreased the rhythmic tapping on the cabinet and helped preserve an upright status.

  Megan pivoted while straining to see her rescuer. Shadows obscured the details, but Kilregard’s outline was unmistakable.

  “Get the hell out of here, Megan. You’ve stepped into a federal investigation. My advice is to change your appearance and run like hell. I’ve no idea who or how many people are involved in this conspiracy.”

  In a flash of enlightenment, she put several pieces together. “You intercepted the package and got the chip?”

  “Yes. Now go, Morfran’s not gonna be out for long. And thanks for showing me the secret passage. I’ve been searching since my first day of work.”

  A soft rustling followed the snap of a bottle opening. A faint sickly sweet odor tinged the air. Fear kindled her motivation to pick up her flashlight and retrieve her earbud.

  Kilregard held a cloth over Morfran’s nose.

  “Why didn’t you tell me before now that you knew my identity? And chloroform won’t hold him for long.”

  Both Lexi and Lucas whispered epithets to get out, but she wanted information.

  “Got that covered. He’ll be out for ten to fifteen minutes, then disoriented for another twenty or so. I suggest you haul ass.”

  The swath of light etching the guard’s narrowed gaze stripped all pretense of distraction or intimacy. In their place, cold calculation and determination thrived.

  “Megan, get the fuck out of there!” Luc’s panic increased in volume and drowned out crackling leaves and swishing limbs.

  “You’ve been staking out my home…”

  “Yeah.”

  A mumbled groan indicated Morfran surfing up from the depths of his pseudo sleep. In response, the guard injected a small dose of clear liquid into his neck.

  “Go, damn it. Get out of here!”

  “I’m going. I’m going.”

  Uncoordinated steps carried Megan to the hidden entrance, left open in invitation. She fumbled her way up the stairs, tripping when her shaking legs lacked control. Luc’s tirade continued in her ear. In the space of a few minutes, she’d looked at death and rejoiced at living. She wasn’t in the clear yet. If the guards knew Morfran’s agenda, they might question if she’d seen him.

  The soda churning in her stomach made a return trip, which she deposited in the trash can by Reinhardt’s desk. It’s not like I’m coming back here.

  “Shit. Megan. You okay?” Luc’s breath heaved in an out, the hiss lending comfort.

  “I’m good. Leaving the office now.”

  “Leave the hidden door open so the fed can get out. We don’t know what combination of drugs he’s injected or how he intends to protect his cover.” Lexi’s reasoning issued from calm logic.

  “Megan, put your cart away then punch out. Tell your boss you hauled ass because you’re coming down with something, probably what Meredith caught.” In Luc’s background, Lexi mumbled something about a second guard approaching the elevator but she could take control and prevent the doors from opening. The high-pitched ding would be all the warning Kilregard would get.

  Dry heaves bowed her frame as Megan slipped into the hallway. A quick pat to her hair and returning the infrared camera to her apron pocket was the best she could do to appear normal. Nothing in her current life could be farther from ordinary.

  One foot in front of the other…faster. Her key card fluttered to the floor when returning her cart to the supply closet. By the time she’d walked to the cross section between the two wings, her supervisor was heading her way.

  “Don’t think you’re quitting early and leaving me to finish.”

  A convincing cough without covering her mouth stopped her boss’ advance. More stomach acid threatened revolt and she held her stomach, as much to conceal her hand’s shaking as to feign illness. Slow breaths and concentration held off spewing again. “No, I finished my half as quick as I could. I’m gonna puke.” Dry heaves came naturally with the memory of Morfran squeezing her throat.

  The older woman stepped back with a sneer. “Figures I’d have two slackers. Go on with you then. But if I find you’ve skipped offices, your ass is getting fired. Don’t think I won’t, either.”

  “Understood, I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Like hell. Megan slowed her pace to the breakroom to punch out. Each step ratcheted her heart rate to new levels of frenzied apprehension.

  Ten meters spanned the distance between the front door and elevator, where the guard grumbled about slow electronics. With only feet to go, she eyed Mike sitting at his desk. Another round of dry heaves caused her to lean against the cool block wall for support. An open newspaper spread out and a cup of coffee gave the appearance of relaxed ambience. She’d learned the hard way that looks were deceiving.

  “Hey, Mindy. You worked awful fast tonight considering the extra load.” Mike reached for his walkie-talkie. “You must have caught what Meredith had.”

  “I puked in the bathroom, so the boss told me to leave. Said I was spreading disease.”

  If Mike chatted with her boss, she’d be clear. If he called another guard on duty, she was screwed.

  “Hey, Charlotte. You all finish early tonight?” Mike’s rumbled tenor held the slightest strain of disbelief.

  “Yeah, tell
the slacker she can go, but I’ll expect better work from her tomorrow night.”

  With her hand over her mouth, she padded through the metal detector’s gate and shoved at the door.

  Wobbly legs carried her numb body into the cold breeze that lifted the perspiration skimming her forehead. Multiple security lights tendered false protection from shadows and unrealized dangers while she waited for a shot in the back or a bellowed order to halt.

  In her ear came, “Get the lead out, Megan. Move it.” Luc’s breathless words loomed heavy in her mind. Background noise indicated him and Lexi rushing through their wooded path. “We’ll trail you once you get to our turnoff.”

  Four light poles standing sentry at the outer corners defined the parking lot’s size while a dual light in the center marked her car’s position. The near-empty space granted few obstacles she could put between herself and the building. She’d parked between her supervisor’s compact and a dark green SUV on the far side.

  “Hell, the feds know where I’m staying. If these assholes finger Kilregard, they’ll know a lot more. When Jackie sent the package, I picked up the mail before adopting a false identity. Since they’d already collected the chip, they maintained surveillance to follow whoever picked up the package. They’ve got me dead to rights.” Despair and frustration strangled her hard-won composure as her car keys fumbled to the blacktop.

  Fatigued back muscles ached with the strain of bending to retrieve the fob. The backwash of adrenaline decreased her fine motor control, something she could walk off once safe.

  A sharp thwack from above marked the destination of the bullet meant for her head. Spiderweb cracks surrounded the small diameter hole where her body had been seconds ago. Instinct forced her to hunker down, her suspicions finding one likely scenario. If only the SUV was parked between me and the psychopathic gunman.

  “Mindy. Halt!” Mike’s command. “The next one goes in your head.”

  “What the fuck was that?” Panic amplified Lexi’s voice in her ear.

  Megan jammed her finger on the button to unlock the door. The click didn’t mask the sound of the second shot. Above her crouched form, a second hole appeared, this time in her driver’s window. “Sonofabitch. They’re shooting at me.” Petrified was not a sensation that embraced rational thinking.

  Her boneless mass slithered into the driver’s seat, the contortions keeping her head down. It took two tries to start the engine.

  From the building, Mike and another guard ran, both with guns aimed in her direction. Successive popping noises synchronized with holes appearing in her rear windshield after wheeling her car toward the exit. She jammed her foot on the accelerator, turning off the lot and onto ClickChip’s access road.

  The ribbon of blacktop spreading out before her offered the illusion of safety, calm and serene, while the sound of squealing tires from behind reinforced the realization she had no experience in evasive driving. No doubt her pursuers were better versed.

  “Move it, Megan! We’re almost to the SUV.”

  Loose stones flew when she slewed around a soft bend and lost sight of Mike’s SUV. Headlights stabbed the wooded acres to her left, then skewed to flash in her rearview and pierce the visual silence. She wondered if Kilregard was still alive.

  Liquid burned the back of her throat. “They’re coming after me. It’s Mike and the elevator guard.”

  “How far till you intersect with us?” Luc’s strained words echoed her fear.

  “Less than a quarter mile.”

  “Step on it. When they pass, I’ll shoot out their tires.”

  Megan watched the menace stalk closer. Increased velocity pushed her back against the seat while scrunching down avoided incoming death but narrowed her view to a crescent shape under the steering wheel. The thought of being chipped like a dog slammed her heart against her ribs. The stretch of road was long and lonely, no one to bear witness of her bid to escape.

  A secluded stretch bisecting thick woods ahead marked the dirt path where Lucas and Lexi lay in wait. She couldn’t detect any glint of moonlight off the hood of his vehicle but knew he’d be there. “Where’s Caden?”

  “Coming in dark—from behind them.” Unlike Luc, Caden’s tone lacked emotion.

  The snap of her neck from the rear-end collision amplified the adrenaline coursing through her veins. The head rest stopped her backward momentum while her souped-up jalopy absorbed the hail of gunfire. A precarious lurch to the left put her car inches from the ditch. The drop-off was sharp and spanned two feet across.

  “Fuck!”

  Sudden headlights from her right marked her passing Luc’s position. From her periphery, she saw muzzle flash and imagined the guards’ shock at realizing she had backup on the road.

  Intense distress created the effect she’d studied in school, tachypsychia. Minute details the mind would normally miss came to life at a lumbering pace. The slow-motion event would replay in her nightmares if she survived; the sound of Luc’s gunfire, Mike’s vehicle veering off the road after the tire blew, and then the horror of the accident.

  The front of the SUV careened into the ditch before going airborne, end for end. A split second with the occupants suspended between life and death.

  Not enough time for a prayer.

  Metal ground against metal as the occupants were tossed about, moonlight flashing across the frame and shadows veiling the passengers’ terror. The abrupt halt against the tree line’s wooden barrier brought a torrent of flying glass and metal slicing small saplings.

  She didn’t have to open her window to hear the mini-explosion. The piercing screech of twisting steel filled the night. In her mind’s eye, she saw glass slicing through its victim’s soft flesh while metallic bayonets created a vicious patchwork of slashed bodies. When it came to rest and all was quiet except for the wild crash of her heartbeat, she took a steadying breath.

  Sitting up, she looked in her rearview mirror, expecting a fireball belching sparks and embers. Instead, all was black, not even faint headlight beams penetrated the patchwork quilt of shadows to illuminate the disaster. Unbelted occupants would’ve taken flight on impact and would now decorate the evergreens in grotesque shades of red and flesh for the holiday season.

  She wondered if the guards knew about the monstrous conspiracy they’d protected, or like others, took the job for the money, trying to scrape by, paycheck to paycheck. Either way, she saw no way for anyone to have survived.

  Twin lights suddenly pierced the night, their reflection in the mirror temporarily blinding her. No sound from the approaching vehicle rose above the thundering pulse in her ears. “Luc? Tell me that’s you.”

  “Yeah. Megan, you in one piece?” Twin headlights took position behind her, pacing her escape.

  “Peachy. Just thinking about that trip to Hawaii.”

  “I’ve always wanted to go there.” Lexi’s voice shook despite the bravado.

  “Keep driving. We’ll vacation there as soon as this is over. My treat.” The thread of sensuality infusing Luc’s tone bore something new, something desperate, no doubt initiated by her several brushes with death.

  “We won’t be able to stay at the cabin now. They might’ve fingered Kilregard after I left.”

  “Already on it. I’ve called the gang. We’ve got a plan forming.” Caden advised.

  Megan understood the physiology of an adrenaline-surge aftermath. She’d even experienced it several times in lesser degrees, but never on the current scale. “Shit. I’m shaking all over.”

  “Pull over and I’ll drive, Megan,” Luc ordered.

  Narrowing vision tunneled her focus to the asphalt in front just as her hearing likewise narrowed to Luc’s voice. “No! There might be a second car and I’m never lucky twice.” She wouldn’t add the risk of guards tangling with Caden. Debilitating weakness in her hands stemmed from a falling blood sugar. Understanding doesn’t negate the effects. Likewise, she understood her blood pressure drop might lead to unconsciousness before she reached
the cabin. “Caden, you all right?” If Caden had closed the distance sooner, his vehicle might have been the one masked beyond recognition. The sudden outburst of emotion created a flood of tears she couldn’t control.

  “I’m fine, got your six.” Caden whistled low as he passed the wreckage. “What a mess.”

  “Damn it, Megan. Do what you’re told for once. Lexi’s in better shape and can drive my rig.”

  Ignoring a grizzly is better than baiting him.

  By the time she’d reached the dirt road leading to the cabin, her entire body shook, and sobs racked her frame. Lightheadedness and nausea dulled her senses and slowed her reflexes. Cold sweat dampened her sports bra. She held a vague memory of pumping the brakes to stop in front of the cabin.

  No sooner had she cut the engine than her door was yanked open with a screech. She knew he would be there but needed the extra minutes to compose herself before facing him.

  “Damn it. Just damn it. Do you realize how close you came to dying tonight?”

  Manhandling had never existed as one of her tolerances, but when Lucas pulled her upright and folded her in his arms, she held tight, afraid to let go. It wasn’t until the moment of facing death she realized how alone she was in the world. Her passing would have meant little if anything to another living soul—except Leyna.

  “Thanks for the save. I didn’t know you were such a good shot.” Megan soaked up his warmth like a starved vagrant. She’d understood there lay a caring soul beneath his burly exterior. Now, she’d touched the heart and spirit of Lucas McAllister. The heady feeling was stronger than the best Bordeaux, a type of silent bond known only when Leyna snuggled at her side.

  The cabin’s screen door slamming ended the short interlude. “Glad you two didn’t decide to invite company. We’re just not prepared.” Billy’s quip brought cold reality rushing back.

  “You two need to bug out, as in soon. If Kilregard got caught, we don’t know what kind of spin he’s putting on the scenario.” Matt shoulder-bumped Lucas in passing, his box loaded with supplies. “We’ve packed you two enough camping gear to last for a while. We’ll load your SUV while you get ready to go to Mowakin’s hunting lodge. You do remember how to get there, yes?”