Wade raced around the wall and passed over to the other track. Lacey was pulling on the lever to the metal sliding door, but it wasn’t budging for her.
“Let me try.” Wade took hold of the handle.
She whipped around, shock on her face, her mouth dropped to a perfect oval. “I thought…”
“I know what you thought. A little something you should know about me. I don’t leave anyone behind. I had to do that once. I won’t do it again.”
“Your family. That’s who you left behind. You can’t blame yourself for that. You were eight years old.”
Wade shot a look into Lacey’s brown eyes that were just as piercing as her words. It appeared Questions had been poking her nose where it didn’t belong again. Wade gave the door a hard-and-fast shove wide, but quickly saw their path was not clear. A conductor with his navy blue cap blocked their way.
“Hey, you two! Is this your dog running through my train?”
“Yes!” Wade grabbed Promise from the man’s tight grip on her collar. He pushed his way in, pulling Lacey’s forearm behind him until they were both safe inside. “So sorry, sir. She took off and made it on board before we could. I’m so glad you found her. And that you didn’t depart without us.” Wade had made a good choice in commanding Promise to run down the aisle to give them a little more time.
“We didn’t have much choice, now, did we?” The man looked down through his round wire-framed glasses, his lips pinched beneath a thick brown mustache. “Can’t very well leave when there is an unleashed, unaccompanied canine roaming free in the aisles.”
“No, I guess you can’t.” The metal door slid home behind them. Wade nearly sagged against it in relief at having the door between them and the guy bent on killing one of them, or both.
But were there more? Wade doubted Pudgy worked alone.
“You two need to find your seats. You’ve already ruined my schedule for the day as it is.”
“I’m sorry. Really, but you wouldn’t happen to know if some interesting characters boarded the train right before us, would you?”
The whistle blew and the train jerked forward. Lacey shot a hand out for the closest thing to brace herself.
Him.
She quickly retracted for the wall instead. He still wasn’t her favorite person.
But then, that wasn’t his mission.
Wade gave his attention to the conductor. “Can you just tell us, sir, if some men in sunglasses and dressed in black boarded before us?”
“It’s been a slow Christmas morning. I can count the travelers on two hands. And none of them fit that description.”
Now Wade really wanted to sigh with relief. They’d been given a reprieve to strategize their next move. “How long until the next stop?”
“Seventeen minutes exactly.” The conductor moved on to the next car to start clicking tickets.
Wade stepped into the car and studied the blur of trees as the train sped by, faster and faster. Out there were a couple of thugs racing them to the next train stop seventeen minutes away. He had to figure out a way to keep them from boarding. “Tell me, Lace, how are you with racing against a clock?”
“It’s Lacey, and a clock doesn’t scare me.”
“Yeah, well, this clock has a killer, or two, waiting for you at the end. A little fear just might keep you alive.”
*
After ten stops and still no sign of her pursuers, Lacey dropped her head against the glass window and watched the world go by at high speed. All day long she’d held her breath as the train pulled into each station or depot, then released her pent-up anxiety when Wade walked back through the car and gave the shake. Part of her just wanted to get this over and done with. The other part hoped they’d come far enough south to lose their pursuers completely.
Outside the window, the wintry barrenness of the north had gradually changed as the train took them into familiar territory. The terrain turned swampy as they chugged through South Carolina, with cypress trees drooping along the edges of the tracks. Lacey lifted her face to the not-so-far distance, knowing her home drew closer. But going home wasn’t an option. She still had no answers, and now she had men following her. She wouldn’t lead them to her parents.
Promise whined from her spot on the floor. She lifted her head from her paw. That only meant one thing.
Wade was passing by again.
The man had barely sat with them all day. When he did, it was brief, and when his legs began to bounce, he was up and walking again.
Promise pushed to all fours, and then sat in her typical ready-to-serve position.
“Your dog is amazing,” Lacey said, aware that Wade was coming down the aisle from behind. “She knows everything about you, including knowing wherever you are.”
“She was well trained.” He stopped at their seats but didn’t take one. Instead, Wade watched the window, then the two doors at each end of the car, then the two other passengers sitting in the car…again.
The man was in full ops mode.
Promise whined as she looked at her handler. Wade gave her a quick pat.
“I’m all right, Promise.” He scratched the dog’s head between her floppy ears. “Just working.”
“She senses you’re stressed. Is that why she’s been whining?”
“Something like that.”
“Something like that but not really. Is that what you’re struggling to say?”
“I wasn’t struggling. I just wasn’t sharing.”
“Right, because you don’t share. Ever.”
“The last person I shared with is dead.” Wade looked at the other passengers then lowered his voice. “In case you’ve forgotten what happened to your brother.”
“No, I haven’t forgotten. I can’t ever forget that, and I also won’t forget you had a part to play in it, either. You will start sharing, whether you like it or not.”
“It’s not about me liking it. It’s about keeping you alive.”
“I’m not in any danger at the moment. We’re on a moving train with no bad guys onboard. So why don’t you have a seat and get comfy.”
“I can’t. I need to plan.”
“Plan for what? You can’t plan for anything if you don’t know the variables. And even then, all your plans could be for nothing.”
“All right, so why don’t you tell me what you would do if two guys boarded right now and came through that door with the sole intent of taking you out.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to take me out. Take me out of the race, take me off the track. The road kind or this one. It’s all the same. It’s always a battle of wits.”
“What would you do? That’s all I asked. If you’re so quick-witted, tell me.”
“Don’t you get it? I can’t tell you. That would be planning. I wouldn’t know what I would do until I was in the moment. When I saw where my assailant came at me, from what direction, with what kind of weapon. When I’m driving, I have to have eyes all around me. A wreck up ahead needs to be avoided. A bully pushing me out of the race needs to be pushed back.” Lacey shook her head in disbelief. “You own a racetrack. Do you know anything about racing at all?”
“I let Clay and Roni handle the business. I wish my name wasn’t tied to the place at all.”
“Seriously? I didn’t get to see it when I was at your house, but I’ve heard it’s a beautiful road track. Even drivers who prefer the oval have said a ride on Spencer Speedway is like a race through God’s creation, the way the track follows the natural landscape of the New Hampshire byways. Have you ever driven it at all?”
“Not since I was a kid.”
“You haven’t been on your family’s track since you were a child? Do you mean before the accident even?”
“So what?”
“So maybe you should try it. Not to race. Just to take one of your beautiful vintage cars out for a joyride with no one else on the track. Just you and the car. It might help you—”
“Stop. You sound lik
e Roni. If I won’t listen to her, why would I listen to you?”
Lacey pursed her lips. “Because I don’t have any reason to help you. In fact, I don’t care about you one bit. I don’t even like you. I’m surprised your dog likes you.”
Wade’s lips twitched. “She doesn’t. She’s trained to provide a service and duty to me. That’s what you see. That’s all.”
“If that’s what you believe, then you are blind, Wade Spencer.” Lacey leaned over and petted Promise’s satiny coat down her back. “This dog adores you. I see it the way she looks at you. She’s so attentive.”
Wade grew quiet. Lacey figured he’d returned to his pacing and planning. Then he appeared in front of her and took the seat opposite hers. She turned to look out the window to escape his silent scrutiny and pretended to be interested in the world flying by. After relentless seconds, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“What?” she demanded.
“Where did you learn to escape the hold that guy back there had on you?”
Lacey gazed back out the window, remembering. “Jeff taught me. He taught me a lot.”
“Because he was planning ahead.”
“No. He couldn’t have ever known I would be in that situation. It’s not something you can plan for. All you can do is be ready if it ever happens.”
“Which it did. When did he teach you?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Your brother was methodical. Nothing got past him. He had to have known you would need these skills.”
“You’re paranoid. Race-car drivers have to be in prime shape. Every muscle in our bodies works to control a heavy moving vehicle traveling at high speeds. If we lose it, especially around those turns, we’re done for. It requires strength and stamina.”
“And self-defense? Who’s going to jump you while you’re driving? Or is the paddock really that filled with unsavory characters that your brother thought it necessary to teach you escape tactics?”
Lacey leaned back in her seat. She crossed her arms at her front. “Why does it sound as if you’re unhappy that I got away from the fat goon? Or are you just jealous because I did it without your help? Can’t handle a woman who can take care of herself?”
“Just answer the question. When did he start training you in self-defense?”
Lacey swallowed hard, hesitating because what if Wade was onto something? What if Jeff had known she would need these skills? What if he had been planning ahead without her knowledge of it?
“Lacey—”
“All right! Fine.” She sat forward. “Eight months ago on his last leave. He set me up with a trainer and made me continue even after he was gone.”
“And you did?”
“Of course. I did everything Jeff told me to do. He’s been in my corner my whole life. Or…was. Even now that he’s gone, I…”
“Go on.”
“I still hear him in my head. I still hear all the directions and insight he gave me.” Lacey felt her lips tremble and she pressed them tight. She dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap. “The truth is—when I said I’m quick-witted, I meant Jeff was. I was just an attentive student. A kid sister who adored her bro—” Lacey scrunched her eyes closed and covered her mouth to stifle a cry. The raw pain cut through her chest fast and severe. Her breathing picked up as she worked through the sting and tried to gather her control.
Suddenly a paw touched her leg. The dog was a wonder at sensing a person’s discomfort, even when the person wasn’t her handler.
Lacey opened her eyes to pet Promise, but inhaled when she found the touch belonged to Wade.
He had leaned forward and placed the tips of his fingers on her knee. By the way his fingers fidgeted, he didn’t look all too comfortable reaching out to her.
Lacey didn’t say a word. She wasn’t exactly comfortable with him touching her, either. And he wasn’t welcome to. After all, she couldn’t forget her brother was dead because of this man. Seconds turned into minutes as the world around her blurred into a haze of confusion and guilt. Guilt because she had yet to push him off.
What was wrong with her? She was supposed to hate this man, not want his comfort. Not latch on to the only person closer to Jeff than herself.
Lacey shot her head up, her attention given completely over to the man staring at her. That had to be it. Her impulse to keep him close was only because Jeff had called him a friend.
“You’re my last connection to Jeffrey,” she admitted quietly.
“I’m no substitute for your brother. He was a good man.”
“The best.”
Wade nodded. “But if he knew enough to start preparing you to defend yourself, then he must have known something was coming. Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Maybe for the same reason he didn’t tell me. We would tell him to stop. For his sake and for ours.”
Suddenly, the train lurched and Lacey fell forward, nearly coming off her seat. If it wasn’t for Wade’s arms shooting out to catch her in his grasp, she would have flown over his seat. The train’s brakes squealed in protest as it tried to bring all the cars to a stop.
“Hold on!” Wade yelled over the screeching noise. He pushed her back against the momentum of the careening train. The muscles in his arms bulged under her fingers where they latched on to brace herself in the unsteady, out-of-control train car.
“Are we crashing? Or coming off the track? What’s going on?” she pleaded.
“I don’t know! Get down on the floor between the benches. Lie flat. I’ll be right back!”
Wade left her crouched down with Promise as he went from one seat to the next, using the seat-back cushions for balance as the train still screamed to a stop. Lacey thought for sure the train was about to derail, if it hadn’t already. Then she thought about what would happen if her car became disconnected and Wade wasn’t in here when it did. They might be separated.
“Wade! Stop.” She pushed to her knees to crawl out. “Don’t leave me!” The words came out sounding so pathetic that on any other day she would have berated herself.
On her knees, she reached the aisle to see Wade at the door. He looked back at her. “Stay with Promise. I’ll be right back.”
The metal door slid open, and Wade stepped into the next car, letting it slam shut behind him.
The train trembled beneath her and knocked her to the floor. Lacey wondered what would happen when she finally came to a stop—and who would be waiting for her when she did.
“Stay? I don’t think so.” Lacey got to her knees. “Come on, Promise. Let’s get out of here.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The train came to a screeching stop. Wade hit the floor on full impact. His face felt the burn of the carpet as he slid a few more feet from the momentum.
Wade jumped to his feet to reach the front car, the destination he had been heading for before he went airborne. The conductor met him in the aisle.
“Get back to your seat until you’re told to evacuate.”
“What’s going on?” Wade ignored the directions. “Did the train hit something?”
“A car was stuck on the tracks. It’s safer for everyone to stay seated while emergency personnel are called in to assess the damage.”
“And casualties, I’m assuming.”
“I can only assume, too.”
“I can help. I’m military. Four tours overseas. I’ve seen everything. Explosions, gunshots, fire…death.” Wade swallowed the lump that image evoked. It didn’t matter how old the traumas were. They were always fresh in his mind.
“Good to know. Go sit in your seat so I know where to find you. Let everyone in the last two cars know to wait for instructions.”
Wade followed the conductor on his heels until he reached the next car. The man opened the exit door and jumped down a good three feet, landing in a run back where the train had come from. Wade held the support bar and leaned out to see if he could find the wreckage. The color red sprinkled the tracks and surrounding swampland, car parts o
r what was left of them.
“Get back in the train!” the conductor yelled back over his shoulder when he noticed Wade hadn’t followed his directions.
The color of the car pieces pulled his attention. A distinct cherry red that had him asking, “What kind of car was it?”
“The engineer said it was a Ferrari. Now get back inside!”
Wade gave a quick scan into the dense trees and surrounding swamps that spread for miles and miles in this part of South Carolina. But it wasn’t the cypress trees he was looking at. It was who might be lurking in them, waiting for him and Lacey to disembark.
Or using this ample time to board while no one noticed. In fact, they could already be on board. They could already have found her sitting alone and unprotected because he left her behind—after he’d told he would never do that again.
Wade whipped through one empty car then the next. He raced down the aisle and burst through to the next and finally his and Lacey’s car.
Empty.
He took a few steps toward the dining car in the rear but stopped when the door on the other end slid open. Wade halted his steps.
Two men dressed in black stepped in, reaching for something inside their coats at the same time. Wade stepped back and hit the button to slide his door open. He dropped to the floor, knowing a bullet would be coming for him. The door slammed shut on his foot just as two thuds hit the door. Bullets meant for him lodged in the bulletproof glass above. Wade yanked his foot through to let the door slam shut completely.
Two doors stood before him from this vestibule between cars. One led to the next car and one led outside. Wade had less than a second to decide which one to take. He wondered what quick-witted Lacey would do in this split-second decision as he did what he’d already planned to do earlier.
Go up.
But not before he made sure the two goons saw him. If he could lead them away, Lacey—wherever she was—would be safe.
*
Lacey absently rustled her hand through Promise’s fur from their spot on the floor of the bathroom. She’d jumped in here and locked the door when the train had finally come to a stop. She figured she would be safe until she knew what was going on. “Do you think they’re out there?” Lacey whispered to Promise. “I can only assume the musclemen have caught up to me again.”
Love Inspired Suspense December 2015, Box Set 2 of 2 Page 40