Too Far Gone: A Grey Justice Novel

by Christy Reece

  “Hold on.” He pulled back onto the road and zoomed down the highway.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We need to find a hospital.” He gave her another grim look. “And fast.”

  They were in a remote area. Finding civilization, much less a hospital, was going to be hard. Finding one before her grandfather’s men found them would be next to impossible.

  Resolute, Gabby opened the compartment in front of her. There had to be something…

  “What are you looking for?”

  “A knife, if you have one.”

  “Hell, Gabby. You can’t—”

  He broke off as a familiarly ominous noise sounded above them. The whomp-whomp of a helicopter. Her grandfather’s men had found them again.

  “Hold on.”

  Gabby did as she was told but continued to look for something…anything that would get the tracker out of her body. And while the biggest reason to get the thing removed was whirring above them, likely shadowing their every move, it wasn’t the only one. Something even more desperate was pulling at her. Something had been put inside her body without her consent. Didn’t matter that it was an inanimate object. The object did not belong there, and she wanted it out. Now.

  “Get down in the floorboard.”

  “They won’t shoot me.”

  “No, but they might shoot at me. I don’t want you getting hit.”

  Though she didn’t for a moment believe the men would endanger her by shooting, Gabby didn’t argue. She unbuckled her seat belt and slid into the spacious floorboard. She could feel the vehicle shift gears as Jonah sped up. They had to be going well over a hundred, but that wouldn’t matter.

  “You can’t outrun a helicopter.”

  “Maybe not, but I’m sure as hell going to try.”

  She felt helpless to do anything. She had promised herself that if she was ever able to escape, she would never feel this way again. Dammit, she had to do something!

  A black duffle bag in the backseat caught her eye. Jonah was the resourceful sort. Would he have what she was looking for?

  Keeping her head low, she slithered over the console and into the backseat.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Don’t worry about me. Just drive.”

  The whirring of the helicopter grew louder, telling her it was getting closer. Jonah cursed, and she noted absently that his language was both inventive and colorful. She was oddly thankful his attention was diverted, because she was quite sure he wouldn’t allow her to do what she planned to do.

  Unzipping the bag, she almost shouted with joy when the first thing she spotted was a lethal-looking stiletto knife. Refusing to give herself time to think about it and panic, Gabby slid her pants down over her right hip again and glided the knife across the scar. She told herself it was good that the blade was so sharp, because a dull knife would have hurt much worse.

  Her fingers started searching. She drew in a silent breath.

  Oh damn, damn, damn…

  The Range Rover roared down the highway, hugging the curves of the winding two-lane highway. Jonah was going as fast as he dared on the icy, treacherous road. He was now thankful for the lack of traffic since he would’ve had to do some major maneuvering. Still, as good as this vehicle was and as empty as the highway was, there was no way in hell he was going to outrun the helicopter. Wyatt Kingston was damn good at his job, but there was only so much he could do to scramble the tracker. And even then, unless the chopper lost track of them, they were toast. Jonah had to find cover and fast.

  The silence in the backseat suddenly caught his attention. “Are you okay back there?”

  “Yes.”

  The tension in her voice was understandable, but still he detected something else. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing for you to be concerned with. Just keep driving.”

  Now even more concerned, Jonah took his eyes off the road long enough to glance over his shoulder. The scene wasn’t quite as gory as a horror movie but close enough.

  “What the hell did you do?”

  “I have to get this thing out of me. There’s no other way.”

  “There sure as hell is. That knife wasn’t even clean. Dammit, Gabby.”

  “I can get a tetanus shot later. The bleeding isn’t that bad.” She held up a tiny, bloodied fragment of metal. “Look what I found.”

  She had done it. Had actually dug the thing out of her body.

  Jonah hit the power button for the backseat window “Throw it out.”

  He watched as her bloody hand snapped the small device in half and threw the offensive object out the window.

  His foot slammed the gas pedal. Gabby had done her part, now he needed to do his. They had to lose the helicopter. Then, he had to find her some help.

  “I’ll be fine, Jonah. It doesn’t hurt all that much now.”

  “Yes. After you get stitches and a tetanus shot, you’ll be just fucking fine. Till then, put a bandage on it.”

  He knew he was being gruff with her, but dammit, she’d done something he hadn’t expected. She wasn’t the pampered princess he had assumed before he met her. Nor was she the vulnerable victim he’d thought she was after hearing how she’d been treated by her family. She was so much more than what he’d counted on when he agreed to do this job. And dammit, he didn’t like it. This was not what he’d signed on for.

  His grim mood lifted when he spotted the exit up ahead. He turned off the headlights, lifted his foot from the gas pedal, and took the exit. He was still going too fast, but he had no choice. Until he could find cover, speed was his only defense.

  Turning onto the main road, Jonah blended in with the early morning traffic. It helped that it was a weekday. Work traffic, even in a small city, could get congested at times. They had lucked up and found one of those times.

  He looked up, noting that the helicopter was already backing off. No way in hell would Mendoza’s men risk getting caught by trying anything out in the open.

  Jonah raced down the highway, the sound of the helicopter already fading. One crisis averted. Now on to another one. Finding a doctor before Gabby bled out.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gabby lay on her left side in the backseat of the Range Rover. Pretending she wasn’t in pain was useless, but she kept her mind occupied. Dealing with what her grandfather had done to her would come later, when she was stronger. For now, she allowed herself to drift to the dreams she had buried for years. Things she’d always wanted to do, things she had never imagined she’d have the opportunity to try. She had filled two notebooks with them, and she still had so many more.

  Every now and then, the sounds of an angry voice would penetrate her consciousness. In a way, that was a comfort. At least Jonah cared enough to be angry on her behalf—even though she knew some of that anger was at her.

  “Hey! Gabby! Stay awake. You hear me?”

  Her eyes blinked open. She hadn’t been sleeping, only dreaming. “Have we lost them?”

  “Yes.”

  The tenseness in his voice told her they weren’t out of the woods yet.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We need to find another ride. The helicopter backed off, and they can’t track us anymore, but they’ll have everybody and their brother on the lookout for a white Range Rover.”

  She sat up and looked around. The sun was higher in the sky, but it was still early morning. She was surprised to see they’d entered a city. They were on a busy four-lane road. Vehicles swooped up and down the highway. After being in seclusion for so long, she noticed the activity seemed almost manic.

  “Are you going to steal a car?”

  A dry cracked laugh was his answer, and for a moment, she found herself longing to hear a real laugh from him again. He had laughed during their snow battle. The sound had been deep, slightly husky, and beautiful. Just in the short while she’d known him, she already knew nothing much amused him.

  The Range Rover made an abrupt turn int
o a parking garage. After going up a couple of levels, Jonah pulled into an empty space between a sports car and a tan SUV.

  “Are you going to steal the SUV? It doesn’t look very reliable.”

  He barked out another laugh, this one sounding a little less rusty. “What is it with you wanting to steal a car?”

  “I thought you said we needed another vehicle.”

  “We do. It’ll be here in about half an hour.” Surprising her, he opened his door, stepped out, and then opened the back door. “Move over.”

  She slid across the seat, doing her best to hide the wince of pain. The opening on her hip had stopped bleeding but still throbbed.

  “Let’s see what you’ve done to yourself.”

  His voice had turned low and gravelly, like the purr of an expensive automobile. Awareness flooded through her. She had been alone with this man for days, had even kissed him until she was breathless, but for some reason, this felt more heated and intimate than the kiss they’d shared. Then, they’d been outside in the cold, crisp air. But this enclosed space, along with that intense look in his eyes, made her aware of him on another level.

  Jonah Slater was intimidatingly large, surly, and on occasion quite rude, and she found him both fascinating and enormously attractive.

  He lifted her hand away from her hip and removed the cloth she’d been holding on the cut to staunch the bleeding. He hissed and then swore again. “You’re going to need several stitches.”

  “At least it stopped bleeding.”

  He shook his head, and just when she thought he was going to give her another reprimand or at the very least a lecture, he instead smiled. In that moment, despite the pain in her side, the knowledge that she was being hunted like a wild animal, and the uncertainty of her future, a swell of happiness blossomed inside her. Without a doubt, Jonah Slater had a breathtaking smile.

  “One thing you might want to mark off your list of possible professions is surgeon.”

  “Darn. That was number three on my list.”

  Their eyes met, and the awareness from before bloomed brighter. Emerald eyes darkened to jade as Jonah lowered his head. Her heart pounding, Gabby parted her lips. She knew his taste, knew the softness of his lips. Knew how it felt to have his mouth on hers. She wanted that again. Only longer, deeper, more intense. She wanted more.

  His breath warmed her face as he moved closer. Every muscle tensed in anticipation, Gabby held her breath as she waited for his mouth to touch hers.

  The obnoxious blare of a car horn several yards away destroyed the moment. Jonah cursed softly and backed away. Just what the hell had he been about to do? Had he been about to kiss her again? Hadn’t he given himself a blistering lecture about this very thing not forty-eight hours ago? And he’d been about to do the same damn thing again? Where the hell had his mind been? He didn’t bother to try to answer that question. He knew exactly where it’d been. Damn idiot!

  “Let’s get you patched up before our ride gets here.”

  He tried for an even tone, but his voice sounded as gruff as a hungry grizzly. Gabriella wasn’t buying it either. The solemn, almost hurt look she gave him made him feel all the more shitty.

  Figuring his best bet was to do the job at hand and ignore the rest, Jonah opened the first-aid kit and proceeded to clean the open wound. He forced himself to ignore her hiss of pain. His mind still reeled from what she had done to herself. How much courage did it take to slice deep into your skin and pluck something out of it? A helluva lot, in his estimation.

  He pressed a fresh bandage onto the wound and gently slid her pants back up her hip. Ignoring the silkiness of her creamy skin was made easier by his stern reminder that he could not touch her. He was her protector, not her seducer.

  “It doesn’t really hurt.”

  Startled, he raised his eyes to hers. “What?”

  “You look so grim. I just wanted to assure you that it looks worse than it is.”

  The fact that she was trying to reassure him didn’t surprise him. In the short time he’d known her, he’d learned she had a deep compassion for other people’s feelings. How the hell that was possible after what she’d been through was a mystery. Were some people born with those kinds of emotions as opposed to learning them from others? He mentally shook his head. This wasn’t the time to have an internal discussion about nature versus nurture.

  “Feel like sitting up?”

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  Watching her face carefully, he pulled gently until she was sitting. The blood she’d lost hadn’t been a great amount, but it was probably enough to make her lightheaded.

  “Okay?”

  “Yes.” She blew out a breath and looked around. “Where are we?”

  “Grand Junction.”

  “Where do we go from here?”

  “Once we have our new ride, we’ll find a doctor to stitch you up, then head out to another safe house.”

  “You knew this could happen. That we might be found.”

  “Always best to be prepared for the worst.”

  “I guess no one could have expected how they’d find us.”

  The devastation in her eyes told him she was still dealing with what her grandfather had done. And she still didn’t know what else he had done. Something so much worse and so vile he could barely comprehend it himself. He had planned to tell her this morning, but now he would wait again. No way in hell was she ready to learn just how far her grandfather had gone.

  “The good thing is, we escaped. And you removed their ability to track us.”

  “Do you think there could be another one inside me?”

  “Doubtful. There aren’t any other signals coming from the vehicle. You don’t have any other scars?”

  “No. That’s the only one.”

  “Just in case, I’ve got a scanner coming with our new transportation. It’ll just take a few seconds to make sure that was the only one.”

  “You must think I’m pretty stupid for not having known I had that inside me.”

  “No. I don’t think you’re stupid. I think your grandfather is an evil son of a bitch who will do whatever the hell he wants, no matter who it hurts.”

  “It sickens me to know his blood is inside me.” She threw him a wry look. “Too bad there’s no such thing as a blood transfusion for that kind of thing.”

  He knew exactly how that felt. Having Mathias Slater’s blood inside him would haunt him for the rest of his life. Before he could commiserate and tell her he could identify with her thinking, his cellphone pinged once. Kingston had arrived.

  “Our ride’s here. Get on the floorboard again. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come out.”

  She slid back down onto the floorboard and gave him a thumbs-up and a smile.

  He gave her a nod and stepped out of the vehicle. He trusted this man as much as he trusted any man outside of his brother and Justice, but he was taking no chances. Mendoza had proved that he would do whatever it took to get his granddaughter back. Now that he knew a little more about why, it made Jonah even more paranoid. No way in hell was this the last they’d hear of Luis Mendoza. No way in hell was the bastard going to give up until he found his granddaughter and got what he wanted from her.

  And no way in hell was Jonah going to let that happen.

  Gabby crouched on the floorboard and listened as Jonah met the person who was bringing them a new vehicle. How Jonah had their escape so well planned still astonished her. How naïve she’d been to assume that once she was out of her grandfather’s clutches, she would be safe from him. Now that the immediate danger had passed, the knowledge of what he had done to her was setting in. He’d had her tagged like an animal. She had known for years that he had no affection for her. Claiming concern for her safety had been his initial ruse for having her watched and guarded so carefully. When she had rebelled, the pretense had ended. He had made it clear that, as the head of the family, his word was law.

  Was this her life from now on? Hiding, afraid t
hat one of her grandfather’s goons would appear out of nowhere and whisk her back to captivity? She had to figure out a way she could be safe without giving up the independence she so desired.

  “Okay, Gabby. You can come out now.”

  She sat up gingerly. The cut on her hip was beginning to throb even more. The man standing beside Jonah looked slightly familiar. She frowned, trying to remember where she’d seen him before. Then it hit her. Though she’d gotten only glimpses of him, she recognized the man who’d abducted her. Odd, but she felt torn about how to act with him. How did one behave toward an abductor/rescuer?

  Apparently, her ability to hide her thoughts had taken a hit over the last few days. He gave a reassuring smile, saying, “Relax, Ms. Mendoza. I’m just here to deliver a car. Nothing more.”

  “Okay. Let’s get this done.” Jonah held out his hand to her. “Step out of the car, and let’s make sure there are no more trackers.”

  He held a metal-looking wand in his hand. “If there is one, this thing will beep.”

  She told herself she shouldn’t be embarrassed. It wasn’t as if she’d done anything wrong. But still she could feel herself blushing to the roots of her hair as Jonah took the small wand and, starting with her head, slowly moved the detector down her body.

  Gabriella held her breath. She didn’t know what she would do if the thing indicated she had another device inside her. She ground her teeth and waited to hear the terrible sound of a beep. Instead, there was blessed silence.

  “Okay. Looks like we’re clear.” Jonah held out his hand to the other man and did one of those odd handshakes that men did. She had never understood them.

  The other man gave her a solemn nod and said, “Ma’am,” in that slow drawl she remembered. Seconds later, he jumped into the Range Rover and drove away.

  She looked at Jonah. “What now?”

  “Now we take care of you.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Valencia, Venezuela