Ruthless

by Marlie May

  “That would be great.” The back-up would be fantastic. “But it’s tricky. Where we’re going, there won’t be room for one more.”

  Pausing in the hall, she tapped her lip. “Now, you’ve roused my curiosity.”

  I held open the door to the supply closet and waved for her to enter before me. “Let me explain and you can help me troubleshoot. I want to make sure I’m not missing anything.”

  “Perfect. We’re going to make sure Mia’s never threatened again.”

  “Definitely.”

  It didn’t take long to show Becca what I intended.

  “Clever,” Becca said with an approving nod. “And you’re right. I’d be in the way.”

  Mia emerged from the break room in time to catch me hauling a large box filled with supplies out to my Jeep.

  “What are we planning?” she asked as her aunt opened the front door for me. “Armageddon?”

  I paused. “Sorta.” After carrying the box outside, I returned to the front office. “All set?” My eyes were drawn to the window, and I rubbed my palms together. “It’ll be dark soon.”

  “Sure.” Mia didn’t sound certain. “While I’m eager to finish this, a big part of me would rather crawl underneath my covers and hide.”

  Couldn’t blame her for being concerned about the upcoming confrontation. I sure was. While I’d put everything in place then double and triple check it, there were too many unknown variables. I didn’t like endangering Mia.

  Becca drew Mia into her arms for a big hug. “You watch out for yourself, okay? While this big brute’s prepared to take down a T-Rex single-handed, don’t forget that it’s we Crawford women who come through in the end.” She dropped her hands down to squeezed Mia’s. “Don’t you forget that for a minute.”

  “I’ll keep her safe,” I said. “Promise.”

  We left and drove to my house. My security phone app showed my place was still armed, which was reassuring. I disengaged the system, and we went inside.

  Mia followed me into my kitchen where I opened drawers and cupboards and selected items, tossing them into a supermarket bag. I stuffed my potato masher in with everything else, generating a clang.

  “I didn’t think we’d be cooking tonight,” she said, gaping at me.

  “Just making sure I don’t forget anything.”

  “But, a potato masher?”

  “You never know when one will come in handy.” Glancing around, I frowned. “Nutmeg, nutmeg.”

  “We’re making eggnog?” Crossing the kitchen, she opened the cabinets and pawed through a row of spices Ginny had left here the last time I’d hosted Thanksgiving. Mia drew out the bag of whole nuts and handed it to me. From Hawaii, Ginny had said; she’d bought them online. Grating created a little more work, but there was no reason not to cook with the best ingredients available. So, Ginny said.

  “You want a grater, too?” Mia asked.

  “I do.” I tossed both in with the other items I’d collected. “Nutmeg’s a natural hallucinogen.”

  Her words came out slowly. “Okay. Not going to ask.”

  I winked. “You’ll see.”

  “Hallucinations? Hopefully not.”

  “How about getting me couple nylon knee-highs?” I said. “I keep them in the box on the top of my closet.”

  “Something you need to tell me, Eli?” She grinned, and I was grateful I could make her smile. My own smile only half-lifted and fell too soon.

  “When you’re stationed in the south, you need to worry about chiggers.”

  “Chiggers?”

  “You know—”

  “Also known as berry bugs. Part of the Trombiculidae family of mites.”

  I scratched my head. “All I know is they’re a pain in the ass. They crawl up your pant legs and dig their way in.”

  “And the nylon knee-highs?”

  “The nylon’s just thick enough to keep the chiggers from burrowing into your skin.”

  Her squeamish expression said it all. “I’m grateful I live in Maine now, where we don’t have to worry about anything but mosquitoes.”

  “And black flies, come spring.”

  She lifted her eyebrows.

  “You just wait. They get into everything. And bite. Itches like hell.”

  “Back to your nylons.” She started down the hall. “On the top of your closet, you said?”

  “Yeah. I’ve got some left from when I was active.”

  She returned a moment later with a few knee highs and a grin that stretched from ear to ear. “When this…is all through, you’re modeling these for me. While I’d always taken you for a guy who enjoyed black undies, I notice these are nude.”

  Speaking of nude. We both need to wear nude again soon. Had it only been this morning when we last made love? It felt like a lifetime ago.

  She giggled when I advanced on her with a pretend scowl on my face. “Not much chance of me modeling them, honey.”

  “Aw. I bet you’d look cute.”

  “Nope. No way. No how.”

  “Okay,” she said with a heavy sigh, tossing the nylons into the bag. “What else do we need?”

  I hefted the bags. “This is it.”

  After setting the house alarm, we went out to my Jeep. I strolled around to the back and loaded the bags, and she followed.

  Stooping down after shutting the hatch, I stared at the underside of the bumper. Bingo.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, dropping down to her knees beside me.

  I tipped my head toward a round piece of metal sitting on the gravel drive beside me. Something I’d picked up at the shop after inspecting my vehicle. “I brought an Earth magnet.”

  She cocked her head. “As opposed to a moon magnet.”

  I chuckled and dropped down onto the ground fully. After rolling onto my back, I dragged myself underneath the vehicle, my clothing scraping on the pavement.

  “Checking out the exhaust?” she asked.

  “I’m seeing how clever Russell is.”

  “Too clever?” Her voice shook.

  “Not for me.” I crawled back out. Standing, I brushed off my jeans and the back of my tee, then tossed the devices I’d found—except one—into the bushes. Mia then dusted off my neck and head.

  “So, what are we doing next?” she said. “We being a bold word choice on my part since I was doing nothing here. I don’t even know what an Earth magnet is.”

  “We’re setting up the first of my booby traps.” Lifting the magnet, I tilted my head and stared underneath the bumper. The magnet clanged when it met metal.

  “Booby traps. You think we’ll be followed and your Earth magnet will pop off and somehow impale him? I do like that plan, but it sounds risky. The magnet might miss.”

  I straightened. “This baby will make sure we’re not followed. Not yet, anyway.”

  A quick glance around showed we were alone as far as I could tell. But Russell could be spying from any location. For example, the trees along one side of my house. Or from inside my garage.

  Despite the heat still lingering in the waning day, she shivered. “Not yet, you said. There’s a time when we’ll want to be followed?’

  “Yep.”

  We went around our respective sides of the vehicle and climbed in. Buckled.

  “Earth magnet. I assume it’s not an explosive. You’re not going to blow up your pretty Jeep, are you?” she asked. As if it was the best dog in the world, she patted the dash.

  I turned the key and the engine growled. “Nope. I like it too much.”

  “And if you didn’t?”

  I laughed.

  She tried to keep a straight face, but her humor shone through.

  Damn, I loved her.

  I’d do everything within my power to ensure she’d be a part of my life forever.

  25

  Mia

  Since he’d disabled the tracking device on his Wrangler, Eli was confident we were not being followed. Not any longer, that is. But that didn’t keep him from
training his eyes in the side and rearview mirrors as he drove out of town. He got onto the highway and headed north. We’d remain on I95 until we hit Lincoln, then follow Route 2 all the way to Mattawamkeag.

  I tapped my flower-embroidered sneakers on the floor. “I like hitting the road with you even if it’s not under the best circumstances.”

  If only this trip was for fun.

  “My grandparents own a piece of land out in the middle of nowhere. It’s got a small cabin on it, a gas fridge and stove, and a simple shower.”

  “You said no shower,” I reminded him.

  “It’s a simple, rigged-up thing with a hand pull to release water that’s collected when it rains. Unheated.”

  Not quite a shower, then, but I’d deal if we were there more than a day or so. I shivered, realizing there was only one way out of this. Russell would win, or me and Eli.

  It wasn’t going to be Russell.

  “We’ll hide in the cabin?” I said. “Is it bullet-proof?”

  “Nope. It’s made of rough-hewn logs—my grandfather built it himself right after he and Gran got married—but we won’t be staying there. The cabin’s a decoy.”

  “We’re not going to the cabin, then?”

  “Initially, but then, no.”

  “I’ll admit I’m scared about how this will end, but one thing is certain. I trust you.”

  Taking my hand, he linked our fingers. “I’ll die before I let anyone hurt you.”

  I’d do the same.

  He didn’t let go of my hand until we arrived in Mattawamkeag. After driving through the mill town, he turned off Route 2 onto a smaller, paved road. Three miles up, he took a right, onto the rough dirt road that led to his grandparent’s property. Putting the vehicle into neutral, he engaged the brake and got out. After unlocking the padlock, he creaked open the long metal gate that he said had been here since he was a kid. He drove through and locked it behind us.

  As he climbed back inside the vehicle, I asked, “Do we expect this to heat up tonight?”

  “Maybe.” His glance took in the dash. “It’s ten. We’ll get set up but I don’t believe we’ll see action until dawn. I’m planning on it turning out that way.”

  My pulse jumped, and I knew we’d have to hustle if we wanted to get things ready. “What can I do?”

  “The drive is a few miles long, so we’ll stop at regular intervals to mount cameras.”

  “Miles long?” I peered into the dark woods surrounding us. “I assume there are deer out here. Raccoons.” Who knew what else?

  “Bear and moose, too.”

  Bear. Lovely. “Will we see a bear?” I was less worried about moose, who were mostly timid creatures except during fall rutting season. We had a few months yet before we had to worry about that.

  “Probably not. We won’t leave food out, which would draw them in and no one’s allowed to bait them out here.” Shifting into gear, he drove forward, the tires bumping across potholes and ruts. “Like every other time I’ve come here since I was a kid, it’s going to be a slow ride.”

  “You know he’ll just walk around the gate.” Staring out the window, I gnawed on my nail.

  “Maybe. The gate’s solid steel. I doubt he’ll bring anything to blast his way through. And it’s a long walk to where we’re going.”

  To our left, the Mattawamkeag River gleamed ebony blue in the moonlight, with rushing, white-capped waves.

  “You said you came here a lot when you were little?”

  “Yeah.” His sigh leaked out. “My dad…Well, he took off when I was eight. Bailed on me, Mom, and Ginny. I don’t know what kind of kid I would’ve turned into if my grandparents hadn’t stepped in and tried to fill the gap.”

  “What did you do up here? No TV or Internet I assume.”

  “Spent all my time outside. Ran wild.” He chuckled and I could picture him as a small boy. I could tell by the way he said it that he’d been hurt from the loss of his dad, someone who should’ve loved him unconditionally but had abandoned him instead. “Gran let me pretty much do whatever I wanted from sun-up ‘til sundown. Went fishing a lot. Swam in the river.”

  “The current looks strong.”

  “It is here and there but it’s shallow in places. It was damn cold in the spring.”

  “Frozen run-off from the surrounding hills.”

  “Yep.”

  An few minutes passed, and we kept bumping along. The speedometer barely crept past thirty, but I imagined he didn’t want to go faster. Keeping this vehicle functioning could mean the difference between life and death.

  “Do your grandparents own all of this?” I swept my hand toward the endless forest.

  “They own about a couple thousand acres out here.”

  A couple thousand acres? I couldn’t fathom that amount. Growing up in the more-congested Massachusetts had made me appreciate how exciting it could be to own more than a postage stamp lawn. My small house came with almost a full acre, which I’d felt equated with an estate, though it was the norm for most of the houses in the downtown area of Crescent Cove.

  “If we’re not staying in the cabin, will we sleep in your Jeep?”

  “We’ll need some of the night to get ready but come dawn, we’ll be hidden away.”

  “I like that you have a plan.” Would Russell follow? My biggest fear was that he’d wait us out. We’d have to return home eventually. If he was patient—something he never had been—he could strike once I’d let down my guard.

  I rubbed my arms to shed my goosebumps. “What if this doesn’t work?”

  “Then we’ll try something else. I’m not giving up. He’ll never get to you.”

  Taking his hand again, I squeezed it. “Thank you. For being here for me. And for making me feel safe.”

  Lifting my hand, he kissed my knuckles, my fingers. I wished he could kiss me, that all we had to think about was where we’d go on our first ‘real’ date. We’d done this backward. The big question was: would we get that chance? “At least we’re facing this together.”

  “Always.”

  We bumped along for a few more minutes.

  “We’re half a mile away from my grandparents’ property.” He stopped the Wrangler, put it into neutral, and engaged the emergency brake. “Time to get things started.”

  I got out with him.

  He opened up the back of his Jeep and slid a cardboard box forward. Opening the top, he reached inside and grabbed a tiny rectangular device. “Upgraded version of a game camera.”

  Camo pattern to blend in with the surroundings? “Is this the kind you mount on a trail to take pictures of whatever walks by?”

  “Yep, only a bit more sophisticated. Something Coop’s been working on back at the shop.” He hauled out a small ladder and carried it over to an evergreen tree standing a few feet off the road.

  I followed, watching as he leaned the ladder against the tree and returned for his bag of tools.

  Opening his hand, he showed me the tiny thing lying on his palm again. “This one’ll do more than take a grainy picture of something passing by. It’ll detect motion but filter out anything we don’t need to see, like bobcats or skunks. It’s smart.”

  Bobcats? Great. I doubted they were as friendly as Walter.

  The device was barely larger than his thumb.

  “That won’t stop him,” I said, not unless it sprayed the area with bullets. Damn, but I was getting bloodthirsty about this.

  “Don’t intend to stop him with this. It’s just here to let me know he’s coming. I’ll mount a bunch of these babies at regular intervals along the road.”

  “Cute,” I said, touching the box as if it might bite.

  “If someone passes, it’ll send video to my phone app. Attached to a battery pack, it’ll be working long after we need it.”

  “Phone app? I thought you said there was no TV or Internet out here? I assume from that you meant no cell service, too.”

  “Companies are installing new towers all the time. But I
brought a booster that’ll amplify and rebroadcast the signal to my phone. Yours, too.”

  “With these cameras in place, we’ll see him coming.”

  “Indeed.” He rubbed my shoulder. “But they’re not our only defense. I’ll rig a few tricks in the woods once we reach the cabin. Enough to take down ten DEA agents.”

  I snorted. “Wouldn’t want to do that. They’d send a SWAT team after us.” My mood sobered instantly. “We’re forgetting one thing. He’s not dumb. He’ll expect something like this. He’ll leave the road.” Swatting away a few pesky mosquitoes, I peered into the woods. “He’ll go around the cameras.” Filled with downed trees and dense brush, it wouldn’t be an easy hike, but a determined person could do it. Russell was definitely determined.

  The river roared at our back. Only someone with a death wish would try to swim upstream in this section. But he’d said there were shallower areas. Russell could walk through those.

  Eli shook his head. “Why bother trooping through brush or the river when the road’s handy?”

  “Russell isn’t rational. He must know the police are after him. He’ll be locked up a very long time for escaping, let alone coming after me. And he’s got the same training as you, I imagine.”

  “Not quite. I learned a lot overseas and from the military.”

  “Enough to take down a DEA agent?”

  His half-smile curled up. “Enough for ten of them.” Too soon, his smile fell. “We’ve all got a bit of the dark inside us, but your ex will think things through. He won’t endanger himself in the woods because that would make it harder to get to you. He’ll stick to the road.”

  “If he doesn’t?”

  “He’ll deal with a hell of a lot more than cameras.”

  “Don’t suppose they shoot laser beams?”

  “Something even better.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I also brought a swarm of locusts.”

  “What’s an army of bugs going to do?”

  “Smart bugs. With some fancy programming courtesy of me. I can’t reveal much about them because they’re a…prototype—”

  “Top secret, then.”

  “Ah, yeah. Anyway. Just trust me. They’re on our side and they’re lethal.”