A hand touched his shoulder. “Adam. We have to get her out of here.”
Once again, his mind churned to order. He stood, wrapped Anna tightly against him. “I need your help.”
“Just tell me what to do.”
He wrapped his free hand around her neck and drew her close to him. Her body heat, her unexpected steadiness settled him as he impulsively pressed his lips to Calista’s forehead, then released her.
He grabbed the red backpack out of a compartment above the door of the wardrobe and handed it to her. He then reached into the wardrobe for a worn stuffed elephant. “There’s a quilt in the trunk,” he said, pointing to the piece of furniture in front of the sofa.
When Calista reached for the lid, he caught her hand.
“Sorry. Touch nothing. Got it.” She shrugged the pack over her shoulder and used her foot to open the lid. She pulled out the quilt. “What else does she need?”
He scanned the room. “The photo—next to the sofa.”
The framed picture was of Anna with her arms wrapped around her mother’s neck, both with huge smiles on their faces. The backdrop—the large ape house at the National Zoo. Adam couldn’t be seen with them, but he watched them, took photos. The memory of that day sliced another deep hole into his heart as he tore open the back of the frame and removed the photo.
Calista picked up a short stack of children books on the nightstand and slipped them inside her purse. “Now what?”
“Hand me the quilt.”
He unfolded the blanket and covered his daughter’s head. “We need to get the hell out of here. Fast.”
“You lead, I’ll follow.”
He re-locked the safe room and sprinted down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Anna held his neck so tightly, it made it hard to breathe. At the bottom step, he paused at the sight of his best friend’s dead eyes. Rina had been part of his life for ten years. No one knew him like she did.
When he stepped out of her life so she could have the type of relationship he couldn’t give her, they found a new depth to their friendship. In a split second, it was all gone. Red, murderous fury filled him with dark thoughts of revenge intermingled with sorrow and regret.
“Adam?”
There wasn’t time for hatred or mourning. He headed down the hallway through the kitchen. The door to the basement stood ajar.
The scene in front of him wasn’t Ludis’s style. He left nothing for chance. But this time, he was all over Rina’s home. Why would Ludis make sure there was nothing to find?
Then it hit him. The answer was so clear. “Son of a bitch.”
He grabbed hold of Calista’s forearm, rushed into the kitchen, and stopped near the back door. He then peeled Anna’s arms from around his neck and leaned close to Calista’s ear. “I need to check something. Take Anna, but don’t let her remove the quilt from her face.”
He eased the basement door open and raced down the stairs. It took only a moment to find Ludis’s little package. Enough C-4 to blow the house to hell and back. How long before Ludis set off the C4 was anyone’s guess.
It took him less than five seconds to get back to Calista.
“Adam, what’s wrong?”
They were on borrowed time. “I need you to take her to the car. Backtrack through the neighbor’s yard. Stay in the shadows.”
Calista’s eyes widened. “She doesn’t know me.”
It took everything in him to keep from shoving her out the door. Adam didn’t have time to be nice. He had one job, protect Anna and Calista. He removed a corner of the blanket from Anna’s face. “Sweetie, this is Calista. She’ll take care of you.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“Don’t leave me.”
Adam rubbed his temple when a sharp pain pierced through the back of his head and he met the wide, frightened eyes of his child. “I need to take care of your mommy and the house.” With a nod to Calista, he recovered Anna with the blanket, and opened the back door.
He took a moment to watch Calista until she was out of sight before he entered the living room and knelt next to Rina. “We… You were safe here.” His voice broke. He removed the pearl ring on her left finger and the medallion from around her neck. He shoved them in his coat pocket. With one last caress against her cheek, he rose and moved toward the basement door. On the wall leveled with the top step, he opened the fuse box panel door, flipped the switch he had added months before, and shut the door. If Ludis blew the house, the safe room would go up with it. By the time forensic identified all the human remains and discovered Anna wasn’t among the dead, Ludis and Emil Vasnev would no longer be a threat to anyone.
Calista had just closed the passenger door with Anna in her lap when he joined them. He soundlessly opened the back door of the sedan.
“Calista, please get in the back.” He lifted Anna out of her arms. Once Calista settled, he set Anna on her lap, buckling them both in the same safety belt. “Keep your heads below the window.”
He shut the door and ran around the back of the sedan to the driver’s door. He got in, started the car, and pulled away from the curb without headlights. After coming to a silent stop at the end of the block, his eyes met Calista’s. “I’ll explain everything.”
Just as he turned the corner, a blast ricocheted throughout the quiet neighborhood, shaking the ground. The small home erupted into flames and lit up the night sky in an orange glow. Debris scattered into the street as windows rattled and cracked, setting off several home security alarms throughout the block.
A heart-wrenching moan escaped Anna’s lips. Calista raised her head and peered out the back window. “Good God, Adam. What the hell just happened?”
“Head down, Calista.” He winced at the harshness in his tone, but he didn’t bother to retract it. They faced each other in the rearview mirror. How did it get so fucked up?
He turned another corner and wound his way out of the neighborhood. When several police cruisers barreled toward him, he eased over to the side of the road. Once the emergency vehicles passed, he switched on his headlights, pulled out onto Connecticut Avenue, and took the exit onto the Beltway.
“Adam?” Her voice was breathless. “Did you…”
“No. Ludis.”
Color drained from her face as she held Anna close to her. “He blew up the house knowing…?”
“He wants us both gone.”
“Why?”
“We’re in the way of what he considers his.”
“But she’s just a little girl.”
“And my daughter. We both stand in his way.”
Three
My daughter.
One solid fact hit Calista square in the face. She had no idea who Adam Blake was―except that he loved his little girl and he could kill a man with his bare hands.
The images of blood and death would be with her for a long time. But it didn’t matter that her heart beat like a native drum against the wall of her chest. She had to stay calm. The young girl in her arms needed her.
Anna lay across her chest, motionless except for the involuntary quivering. The back of her little head dampened Calista’s thin T-shirt. Shifting her numb left arm, she repositioned Anna into a more comfortable position and draped the lightweight quilt around her shoulders. She couldn’t help running her hand over the child’s head, giving her comfort―though nothing she did would ever replace what Anna just lost.
“Calista.”
Adam’s voice was rough without any sign of humor.
“Still think of me as Batman?”
He was waiting for a response, but she didn’t have one. So much had changed since she teased him about having a bat cave. But had anything about the man really changed?
Like her grandfather, Adam moved like a well-trained soldier. He fought like a warrior, killed like a warrior. But the man she stared at in the mirror was no killer. He possessed too great a love for this child.
“Don’t do that, Adam. Don’t try to make me fear you.”
He wante
d her to walk away. She gave up that choice the moment she got out of Adam’s car and walked through Rina’s doorway. Her instincts never failed her. Adam Blake was one of the good guys, regardless of what took place in that home. One day, he might need a witness on his side of the courtroom if it came to that. Or even just a sympathetic shoulder when he was ready to pick up the pieces.
She broke eye contact and glanced at the child in her arms. “My life is an open book. You knew who I was the minute we met. In the last half hour, I met another side of Adam Blake, and maybe that evens the tables a little. But if you don’t want me with you and Anna, take me back to the diner. Pete should still be there.”
Her words sounded bold, even daring. If he did what she suggested, it would be the last time she ever saw him. A growing ache of loneliness settled in the pit of her stomach.
Adam slowed the car and exited off the Beltway onto US 1, about five blocks from the diner. Calista’s heart skipped a beat. She’d played her only card, a miserable bluff, and it was about to kick her right in the ass.
He drove about a block and pulled into the parking spot at the back of the lot of a large chain hotel. Calista stared at the dense trees outside the rear window and raised her head to get a better look.
“Why are we stopping here?” Her voice cracked.
Anna seemed to tremble a little harder in her arms. Calista drew her close to her chest. When he finally spoke, the roughness in his voice made her shiver.
“I’m dropping you off. You can’t go home just yet. You’ll stay here until I’m sure you’re safe.”
“No. I’m not staying here.”
Adam raised his hand, rotating it so she saw all sides. The blood had dried in an abstract pattern that shifted as his hand twisted.
“My life. Open your eyes, Calista. Nothing about me is safe. It hasn’t been for a long time. I couldn’t even see my daughter like a normal dad but had to sneak visits behind walls of steel. I was trying to fix that, but after tonight…”
“Adam.” Calista placed her hand on his shoulder. She didn’t know what to do, what to say. He was clenching his jaw so hard, a small pulse appeared above his jawbone. She removed her hand and cradled his daughter.
He had returned to his death grip on the steering wheel and peered out into the night. “I should have never allowed it to get this complicated.” He raised his bloody arm. “This isn’t your life. You can leave. So far, no one knows anything about you.”
Calista could hear Adam rub his palm back and forth over his pant leg, as if he were trying to wipe away the bloodstain.
A long, low sigh escaped his lips. “I’m every bit as violent as the men I killed. No illusions here, Calista.”
The words run and hide pounded in her head. If she turned her back on Adam and the violence in his world, in a year’s time, tonight would play back as a bad dream, a figment of her imagination. Her eye caught the slight glimmer of her friendship bracelet. Hanna had worn the duplicate, and just eyeing the bracelet brought her friend closer. Calista had no idea where the fierce resolve came from, but there was no way she could leave either Anna or Adam until they both were safe.
“I’m with you.”
He said nothing for a long time. Anna twisted in her lap and stared at the back of her dad’s head.
“No, Anna. I won’t stop. She needs to be scared.”
Was Adam going into shock or were his senses shutting down? Anna hadn’t spoken a word.
“Who needs to be scared?”
“You do, Calista. You could have been killed. I told you to drive away.”
A moment went by in silence. Then Adam rolled his eyes and a frustrating groan escaped from the back of his throat. He twisted in his seat and addressed his daughter. “Animals get mad, sweetheart. People get angry, pissed. And for the record, I don’t care if she’s pissed.”
The pulse at Calista’s neck drummed. She had just shifted a giant step beyond concerned.
“Adam, what’s going on?”
“Anna just asked me not to piss you off.” His head tilted and his eyes narrowed. “Why would you ask that? You heard her…”
“Anna hasn’t spoken a word since I met her.”
“Yes, she has. She doesn’t want you to leave. She likes you.”
Calista hugged Anna closely. “I like her too, but she hasn’t uttered a sound.”
“That’s impossible.” Adam got out of the driver side of the car and yanked opened the passenger door. He knelt so he was eye-to-eye with his daughter. “Anna, say something. Talk to me.”
Anna stiffened in Calista’s arms but didn’t make a sound.
For the next couple of minutes, two identical pair of eyes―father and daughter―glared at each other, but neither spoke. Adam pressed a hand to his temple.
“Is your head throbbing again?”
“Yes.” He rolled his shoulders and neck, facing Anna. “How are you doing this, sweetie?”
Anna’s eyes grew wide as she shook her head.
“Why won’t you speak to me like you always do?”
Anna’s body tensed and she began to tremble. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The more agitated she became, the more color seemed to drain from Adam’s cheeks until his complexion was almost waxy. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath.
Calista moved her hand up Adam’s arm and around his neck, massaging the tense neck muscles. “Is she speaking to you right now?”
“Yes.”
Calista’s heart dropped to her stomach. Watching the soundless communication pass between Adam and Anna was the most bizarre thing she had ever witnessed.
“Has this telepathic thing between you ever happened before tonight?”
“No.”
With the tip of her finger, Calista lifted Anna’s chin so their eyes met. “Anna. I want you to try something for me. When you speak to your dad, sing the words in your head.”
“Why should she sing?” Adam’s fingers dug into the soft skin of his temples, rotating the tips in tight circles.
“The suggestion is totally out of my expertise—anyone’s expertise. I think if she changes the frequency of her pitch, the vibration, maybe the headaches will lessen.” She glanced down at Anna. “Try it. Instead of talking to your father, sing your words.”
The inside of the vehicle grew quiet. Moments later, Adam reached for his daughter’s hand. “I understand that, Anna, but…”
A hollow moan came from deep within his throat, and again, the color drained from his face. He yanked his hand away and cupped his head.
Calista placed her hand on Adam’s arm. “What’s happening?”
“Anna doesn’t want me to leave you here. She thinks it’s unsafe.” A tear mixed with blood escaped the corner of Adam’s eyes.
Calista hugged Anna. How did she explain to a four-year-old that the words she was telepathically transferring to her father were hurting him? “I promise you, Anna, I won’t leave you until you’re ready for me to go.”
“Don’t promise her that!”
Anna struggled until Calista released her. She flew into her father’s arms, almost knocking him backwards. He corrected his balance and hugged her tight. She eased away from him and placed her hands on either side of his face. The child was doing something right because the tension eased from Adam’s eyes and his color returned.
He remained silent, studying his daughter for several moments. When he spoke, his voice was rough. “Fine. No one stays here. I’ll come up with another plan.”
A slight smile formed at the corners of Anna’s mouth before she gave her dad a hard hug. He lifted her onto the seat, and the moment he released her, she eased into Calista.
He stood and moved behind the sedan. The trunk opened, and just as quickly slammed shut. Adam knelt at the door opening. Without touching Calista, he ran a small device the size of a cell phone up and down her body. Lifting her feet off the floorboard, he ran the device over the soles of her shoes. He repeated the search on his daughter.
“Okay, you’re freaking me out. What the heck is that thing?”
“Looking for tracking devices.”
“On me?”
He met her stare and shrugged. He stopped when a quiet gasp escaped his daughter’s lips. “It’s okay, Anna. You’re safe. I promise you I’ll keep you safe.”
“Can a tracking device fit anywhere?” Calista lifted Anna into her lap. For some reason, the shivers returned. The little girl was scared, and Calista didn’t know what to do to ease her fears.
“Yes. Why?”
“What about the items from the room and the backpack?”
“Ludis wasn’t in that room.”
He reached for her cello case and backpack, scanning each. “Calista, please step out of the car.” He placed his hand on his daughter’s head. “She’s not going anywhere. Promise.”
Anna released her grip around Calista’s neck and shifted off her lap. Calista took in a deep breath and left the car. The cool breeze caught the strands of her bangs and blew them across her face. She removed a band from around her wrist, pulled the mass of curls into a messy ponytail, and tied it back.
The scent of pine and dirt assaulted her senses, while the concert of crickets and other night creatures remained strangely hushed. Again, what was so obvious to them that slipped passed her?
Adam reached for her hand, and in a low voice asked, “Do you really know how to handle a weapon?” The cold metal of a handgun pressed the inside of her palm.
She swallowed, hard, but gave him a nod.
How she hated the weight of a gun in her hands. But with practiced ease, she removed the magazine and the slide assembly, then replaced the parts without breaking eye contact with Adam. “I’ve been going to the firing range since I was eleven. It was important to Pete that I not only could hold and clean a gun, but also shoot one.”
He stepped away from the door and handed her the keys. “If you are coming with us, we take only what’s on us.” He nodded toward the hotel. “My company rents a couple of rooms here. I can store our belongings, but I need you to stay with Anna.”
In the Shadow of Malice Book 3 Page 3