He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the crazy plan they were going to try to pull off or his feelings for her. He figured she was right on both counts.
Jake looked around and wondered where Rick Monteith was. Even the most experienced outdoors-man could find himself in trouble when the snow was coming down this hard. Add a madman with a rifle and armor-piercing bullets to the mix and it was possible Monteith might never find his way to them.
Tugging his cell from his pocket, he hit Monteith’s speed dial. The other man picked up on the first ring.
“Where the hell are you?” Monteith asked.
“On the lake. You?”
“I picked up Madrid’s SOS. I’m with him. Chopper’s delayed because of this frickin’ snow.”
“How is he?”
A beat of silence. “Not good,” Rick said in a low voice. “He doesn’t have much time.”
All MIDNIGHT agents were trained emergency medical technicians. But an EMT could only do so much in the field. Madrid needed a doctor. He needed fluids, maybe even a blood transfusion. Later he would probably need surgery to remove the bullet.
“Stay with him. I’m going after Rasmussen.”
“Damn it, Jake. A team is on the way. Leave it to them.”
“He’s got a chopper on the lake ready to whisk him off. We wait and he’s going to be gone.”
“He would be crazy to fly in this weather.”
Neither man spoke for a moment. Jake figured they both knew Rasmussen was as insane as they came. “Call me if you hear from Cutter,” he said.
“Be careful, partner.”
“Goes without saying,” Jake said, and disconnected.
Leigh was standing just a foot away, her expression taut with concern. “How is Madrid?”
He considered sugarcoating it, but decided she deserved the truth. “He’s in a bad way.”
She put her hand over her mouth. “Is he going to make it?”
“I don’t know, Leigh. All I can say is that he’s young and strong. Rick’s an EMT, and Cutter’s doing his best to get a team here.” He looked up at the falling snow, knowing Sean Cutter wouldn’t let something like the weather keep him from a downed agent.
“We need to move,” he said. “Here’s how it’s going to go down. Rasmussen and the other two men will believe I’m their third man. The ski mask will keep anyone from recognizing me. I’m going to act as if I’m bringing you back, but I’ll put you down on the ice a good distance away. First chance I get, I take out either Rasmussen or the thug. If the pilot tries to bolt, I take him out, too. The key is stealth, Leigh. I need to get close to them without them realizing who I am. That will give me the upper hand.”
She nodded, her expression determined. But Jake could see that she was shaking. If her jaws weren’t clamped so tight he was sure her teeth would be chattering.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Taking her hand, he started into the swirling white void.
RASMUSSEN STOOD with his back to the brutal north wind straining to see through the whirlwind of snow. “Where the hell are they?” he said.
Derrick LeValley shook his head. “It’s easy to get disoriented in this kind of weather. Let’s give him a few more minutes.”
“I ought to put a bullet in his brain for keeping me waiting.”
“Save your bullets for the woman,” LeValley said.
“My only regret is that Vanderpol won’t be here to watch her die.” Rasmussen checked the clip on his pistol and strode to the chopper. “You going to be able to get us out of here?”
The pilot flipped a cigarette into the snow. “It’s clear just north of here. Front is blowing through, bringing some lake-effect snow. Looks worse than what it really is.”
“Excellent. Be prepared for takeoff.”
“Mr. Rasmussen!”
He looked at LeValley, who was pointing at two figures in the distance. “There they are.”
Rasmussen narrowed his eyes. Sure enough his longtime employee and Kelsey were a hundred yards away and walking toward them. Jealousy and bitterness seared him as he watched them approach. Kelsey was the only woman he’d ever loved. But she’d betrayed him, and now he had no choice but to kill her. His only regret was Vanderpol. But if Vanderpol was under her spell, he knew the other man would suffer when he learned of her death. And in a few months, once Rasmussen was settled in a new country, he could always send someone back to finish the agent….
Withdrawing the pistol from his coat pocket, he pulled back the slide and dropped a bullet into the chamber.
“Get the chain,” he told LeValley and started toward the two figures. “Let’s get this nasty business over with.”
JAKE COULD FEEL Leigh trembling violently as they approached Rasmussen. He could feel his own nerves crawling when he saw the pistol in the other man’s hand.
“What the hell took you so long?” Rasmussen demanded.
“Lost my way in the snow,” Jake said in a low voice.
Rasmussen looked at Leigh. “It looks like loverboy isn’t going to save you this time.”
LeValley approached them with the heavy length of chain. “We don’t have much time, Mr. Rasmussen.”
For a full minute Rasmussen didn’t take his eyes from Leigh. With a grimace, he took her arm. “Come with me,” he said.
Letting her go was the hardest thing Jake had ever done in his life. But he needed a better feel for the situation before he made his move. He needed to know how many men there were. How well they were armed. He needed to know where the chopper pilot was.
He gritted his teeth in fury when Rasmussen shoved Leigh. It took every bit of self-discipline he possessed not to go to the other man and take him apart with his bare hands. But he held his temper, if only by a thread. He needed to concentrate, get a handle on the situation and what they were up against.
At best it was three against two. Jake might be a highly trained agent, but Leigh wasn’t. He could tell by the way Rasmussen was looking at her that he was near the snapping point. Jake figured he had two or three minutes before all hell broke loose.
The chopper was fifty yards away. The engine was running, the blades whipping through heavy snowfall. The pilot was already inside. Behind him, Rasmussen and the man Jake recognized as renegade U.S. marshal Derrick LeValley were taking Leigh to the hole in the ice.
Knowing he only had seconds to act, Jake went to the chopper and opened the hatch. He caught a glimpse of the pilot’s face. A pistol lay on the jump seat behind him.
“You got a smoke?” Jake asked, stepping onto the foothold.
The man reached into his pocket. Jake delivered a bone crunching punch to his forehead. Then a quick upper cut to his chin. The pilot’s hands flew up to protect his face. Jake finished him off with a brutal jab to the solar plexus. The pilot slumped against the seat.
Jake climbed into the chopper. Finding a bungee cord tie-down used for stowing and securing items in the fuselage, he tied the pilot’s hands behind his back and heaved him into the rear.
“Sweet dreams,” Jake said, and slipped out the hatch.
Chapter Twenty
Dread and horror creeping over her, Leigh stood a few feet from the opening in the ice. Even knowing one of the cuffs wasn’t secure was not enough to keep the terror at bay. There were simply too many things that could go wrong.
She stood quietly while Rasmussen draped the heavy chain over her shoulders. It was incredibly heavy—at least forty or fifty pounds. If he shoved her through the hole in the ice and into the water, she wouldn’t stand a chance….
Her entire body vibrated with terror. She’d lost sight of Jake in the heavily falling slow and could only assume he’d gone to the chopper. She wondered when he was going to make his move.
“I’m sorry it has come to this, my darling.”
If she hadn’t been so terrified, Leigh would have laughed because she knew he was just twisted enough to mean it. “Please don’t do this,” she choked.
&nb
sp; “You betrayed me. Humiliated me.”
“I was afraid,” she said, trying to buy time.
“I lost six years of my life because of you. Six years of being treated like an animal. If I don’t do this, I’ll lose face.” He shrugged. “You’ve left me no choice.”
Leigh’s heart pounded like a jackhammer.
“I loved you,” he said.
She couldn’t speak. Her breaths tore from her mouth in ragged gasps. She imagined the shock of the icy water. The black abyss closing over her.
“One last kiss goodbye, and I have to go.” Never taking his eyes from hers, he leaned close.
Leigh steeled herself against the revolting press of his mouth against hers. She couldn’t stop thinking of that hole in the ice just a few feet away. Of how easily he could shove her into it.
Jake, where are you?
She closed her eyes as Rasmussen made a mockery of kissing her, but she endured the intimate contact.
“Hold it right there.”
Looking shocked, Rasmussen moved away. “Shoot him!” he shouted to LeValley.
Leigh looked up to see Jake standing a few yards away. He held the shotgun on LeValley. The pistol in his hand was directed at Rasmussen. “Move and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.” He looked at Leigh. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” she said.
He looked at the two men. “Toss those guns now,” he said menacingly.
“I hope you said your prayers last night, Vanderpol, because you’re not going to live through this,” Rasmussen spat.
“I’ll take my chances.” Jake pumped the shotgun and leveled it on the other man’s chest. “Put your hands up now or I’m going to put a hole in you.”
Rasmussen’s and LeValley’s hands went up simultaneously.
Jake’s gaze flicked to Leigh. “Drop the cuffs. Get the pistol. If LeValley so much as moves I want you to put a bullet in his chest.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. She broke open the cuffs. Relief made her legs go weak as she began loosening the chain from around her shoulders.
The chain slipped from her left shoulder, but caught on her hips. Using both hands she tried to tug it down. A terrible guttural cry sounded. She looked up to see Rasmussen charge her, his face contorted in rage.
“You slut!” he yelled. “How dare you betray me again!”
He moved so fast Leigh didn’t have time to brace. One second she was struggling to free herself from the chain. The next his hands slammed into her and she was reeling backward. She twisted in midair in an effort to avoid the hole in the ice, but the chain slipped into the water, tugging her off balance.
“Jake!” she shouted as she plunged into the water, the weight of the chain was dragging her down.
HORROR ENVELOPED JAKE as he watched Leigh go into the icy water. She was still entangled in the chain. An EMT, he knew hypothermia could render a person unconscious in a matter of minutes. The urge to go to her was powerful. But he knew if he did, the other two men would shoot them down like dogs.
Out of the corner of his eye Jake saw LeValley go for the gun he’d tossed into the snow. Jake brought up the pistol and fired twice in quick succession. LeValley clutched his stomach and hit the ice. Jake spun to see Rasmussen level the pistol at him. A gunshot exploded. Hot pain tore through his right shoulder. Jake saw blood on his coat. Blood in the snow. His right arm hung uselessly at his side.
“She’s mine, Vanderpol! She was mine before she was yours.”
Dizzy with pain, Jake watched Rasmussen back toward the chopper. He couldn’t feel his right arm, saw blood dripping onto the snow from his fingertips. Damn, he thought, and wondered if he could make the shot left-handed.
“Jake. Jake!”
Leigh’s cries tortured him. Her voice was already getting weak, the cold zapping her strength. In his peripheral vision he could see her gripping the ice. Hang on baby, he thought.
Wild-eyed, Rasmussen raised the shotgun and leveled it at Jake. “Now you can watch her die.”
Jake snatched the gun from the ice. It felt awkward in his left hand. Rasmussen fired. Ice kicked up inches from Jake’s leg. Jake returned fire. The first shot went wide. The second struck Rasmussen in the thigh. The arms dealer went to his knees. Another gunshot exploded. Jake groaned when the bullet grazed his side. He took aim and fired three times. Rasmussen fell forward onto the ice.
Jake went to his hands and knees and crawled to the hole in the ice. “Hang on, baby. I’m here.”
“J-Jake. Y-you’re b-bleeding.”
Her face was deathly pale, her lips tinged blue from the cold. Her gloved hands clung to the ice. He was in bad shape, but if it was the last thing he did he was going to get her out of that water.
Grinding his teeth in pain, he took her hand. “I want you to lift your foot and put it on the edge of the ice so I can pull you up.”
He could tell by the way she moved that hypothermia was already setting in. As if in slow motion, she leaned back. Her face contorted with effort, but her foot never broke the surface of the water.
“Come on, honey. Work with me. Get your foot on the ice so I can pull you out of there.” He could feel the warmth of blood oozing down his abdomen and prayed he stayed conscious long enough to get her out.
“Ch-chain,” she whispered.
Jake didn’t hesitate and plunged his left hand into the water. The chain was still entwined around her, weighing her down. Gripping it, he tugged hard, desperately trying to dislodge it from her body.
“C-can’t hold on,” she said.
Dizziness descended, and for a terrifying instant Jake thought he was going to pass out. “Damn it, Leigh, losing you is not an option.”
“Just…hold on to me.”
Her voice was so weak he could barely make out the words. He was lying on his stomach with both arms around her. He couldn’t believe after everything they’d gone through, it was going to end like this. That she was going to die in his arms because he was too damn weak to pull her out of the water. Talk about irony. They’d been so damn close….
A buzzing sounded in his ears. Jake shook his head, certain that unconsciousness was about to descend. At least they would die together….
He set his mouth close to her ear. “I love you,” he whispered, pressing his mouth to her neck. “I’ve always loved you.”
“Vanderpol! Holy frickin’ cow!”
The sound of Rick Monteith’s voice jerked him from semiconsciousness. Footsteps pounded on the ice behind him. He raised his head and looked around in time to see Rick charging toward him.
“About damn time,” Jake ground out.
“You can sue me later.”
Strong arms gripped his shoulders and dragged him back. “Can’t…leave her.”
But Rick was already pulling Leigh from the hole in the ice. Even as he laid her on the snow covered ground, he was working off his coat to cover her.
“I’ve got you,” he said. “You’re going to be all right.” He looked at Jake. “For God’s sake, Jake, you’re bleeding all over the place.”
“It’s not like I have a choice.”
Rick rose. “Stay with her. Chopper’s on the way. I’ve got chemical warmers in the snowmobile.”
Jake had already crawled over to where Leigh lay motionless in the snow. Her face was colorless. Her lips were the deep blue of a bruise.
“Leigh,” he said. “Come on, honey, wake up. Talk to me.”
Her eyes fluttered open. “You saved…my life.”
“Yeah, well, I had a little help.”
A smile whispered across her mouth. “Did I dream that you told me you love me?”
“You didn’t dream it.”
“I guess this would be a good time to confess that I love you, too.”
Her eyes tried to roll back, but he shook her. “Leigh, damn it, hang on. Please, honey. I need you. There’s a chopper on the way.”
“…always…loved you,” she whispered.
&nb
sp; Rick returned and knelt beside Leigh. “You’re going to have to let go of her, partner. Let me get these warmers against her abdomen and then I’ll assess those bullet wounds.”
Too weak to argue, Jake rolled onto his back and looked up at the sky. Snow swirled crazily all around. He felt Leigh’s hand, cold and lifeless within his. Please don’t let her die, he thought.
Drowsiness tugged at him, dragging him to a place that was dark and warm and safe. He thought he saw a chopper hovering overhead, but he couldn’t hear the rotors and figured he must be hallucinating.
Then the darkness engulfed him. Warmth infused his body. He gripped Leigh’s hand tighter. I love you, he thought.
But it wasn’t enough to keep the darkness at bay.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jake opened one eye and for a moment wondered what he’d done to deserve ending up in heaven. He was surrounded by warmth and white and a pleasant lavender haze. A few feet away, Leigh smiled down at him, and he was suddenly very glad for all the Sundays he’d spent in church.
“C’mere.” He reached for her only to be halted by the dull throb in his shoulder. The pain was the first inkling that he hadn’t actually made it into heaven.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Hurts,” he croaked.
“The doctor said if you need something for the pain all you have to do is ask.”
As far as Jake was concerned his head was fuzzy enough. “Where am I?”
“St. Francis Hospital in Detroit.”
His other eye popped open. “How long?”
“Two days.” She took his hand then, and Jake almost forgot about the pain.
Her hand was warm and small and incredibly soft within his. Even drugged and hurting he was aware of the need rising inside him. He wanted to kiss her and never stop, but he didn’t think he was strong enough and settled for squeezing her hand. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Leaning close, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. “So are you.”
His vision clearing, he looked around the room and spotted Rick Monteith. “What about Rasmussen?”
Monteith shook his head. Dead. Jake felt nothing but relief. He recalled the final minutes on the ice. Leigh in the water and fighting for her life. He remembered Rasmussen taking a shot at him. He thought he recalled seeing a chopper.
Operation: Midnight Escape Page 16