Three Times as Deadly

by Erin Wade

  “See for yourself,” Titus said.

  I moved closer to Alex and watched as Leon threw the floor mats on the ground and ripped up the carpet in search of the baggie he had pitched into the vehicle.

  “I’m taking them in.” Leon’s face was almost purple with anger.

  “On what grounds?” Alex demanded.

  “Resisting arrest.” Leon’s smug look dared us to argue.

  “Leon, I don’t think these folks have—” Titus snapped his mouth shut as Leon dragged him away from us.

  We waited while the two argued about what to do with us. The officers continued to undress Alex and me with their eyes as they talked.

  “You two, into my car.” Titus jerked his thumb toward his patrol car and squinted his eyes at Alex and me.

  “Don’t hurt ’em,” Colt yelled. “They ain’t done nothing. They’re just hitchhikers we picked up.”

  “What were you planning on doing to ’em?” Leon gave us a lecherous look.

  “Nothing,” Sig answered. “We were just giving ’em a ride to the bus station in Huntsville.”

  “That’s right,” Alex added. “These men have been perfect gentlemen.”

  Leon snorted. “Colt and Sig, perfect gentlemen?”

  He zip-tied the brothers’ hands behind their backs and shoved them into the back seat of his patrol car.

  Alex and I sat in the back of Titus’ car as the young Levi’s wearer climbed into Colt’s truck to drive it to the station.

  ##

  Chapter 40

  Titus and Leon herded us into the jail’s three cells. They put the brothers in a cell together but separated Alex and me. Alex was between the brothers and me.

  She clung to the bars separating us and whispered to me. “I don’t like this, Sloan. What are we going to do?”

  “Let me see if I can reason with them.” I wrapped my fingers around hers and squeezed her hand.

  Titus strolled into the area and stopped to look at Alex for a long time.

  “What are you charging us with?” I asked.

  Titus ignored my question. “I need to see some identification for you two,” he said, stroking his stubbly chin with his thumb and index finger as he gawked at Alex.

  I glanced at Colt and Sig. I needed reaffirmation that Titus was as dangerous as I suspected. The look of terror on both men’s faces told me I was right.

  “We were hiking the Trail,” I said. “A rockslide knocked us over a cliff. We managed to land on a ledge, but our backpacks went over the edge and out of sight. Our wallets and identification were in the backpacks.

  “We made our way to Mrs. Johnson’s house, and she was kind enough to give us a place to stay for the night. Colt and Sig were driving us to the bus station when your friend pulled us over.”

  “So, you’re vagrants?” Titus declared.

  I bristled. “No, we’re American citizens who were hiking the Appalachian Trail. This isn’t some backwater, Third World country. This is the United States. We are citizens. We have rights. I want my phone call. Now.”

  “Yeah, right.” Titus snorted. “You got a quarter? All we have to make outgoing calls is a pay phone.”

  He moved to stand in front of Alex’s cell. “You might be the prettiest woman I have ever seen,” he said, leaning against the bars of her cell.

  “Did you boys get a piece of this action last night?” His grin was malicious as he taunted Colt and Sig.

  Colt moved as close as he could to Alex’s cell. “Leave her alone, Titus,” he snarled. “She ain’t no two-bit whore like you’re used to rutting. She’s a lady.”

  “Maybe I’ve moved up in the world.” Titus licked his lips as he unlocked Alex’s cell door. “Yeah, maybe I’d like a lady.”

  “Leave her alone, you bastard,” Colt howled.

  “She’s your girl, ain’t she?” Titus smirked at Colt. “Then you should enjoy watching this.”

  He unfastened his nightstick from his belt and scowled at Alex. “Be nice to me, and I won’t need to use this on you.” A hateful grin curled his lips.

  Alex pressed her back to the bars between us. “Do what I say,” I whispered in her ear.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” Alex said. “If I do what you want, will you drop us at the bus station?”

  “Did you hear that, Colt?” Titus yelled. “Your girl just propositioned me. She’ll do whatever I want for a ride to the bus station.”

  The bars bit into Alex’s back as Titus pushed himself against her and tried to kiss her. Alex turned her head away from him.

  “Drop!” I growled.

  Alex fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and when Titus jerked his head up to glare at me, I hit him in the throat as hard as I could.

  He grabbed his throat and whirled around, trying to scream. No sound came. I knew I had crushed his larynx. He fell back against the bars, and blood dripped from his mouth onto Alex, who was still lying on the floor. I reached through the bars, wrapped my forearm around his neck and choked him. Blood spurted everywhere.

  Alex scrambled to her feet, eyeing her bloodstained clothing. Her face seemed to crumble as she looked at me.

  “You ready to have some fun, Titus?” Leon said as he strode into the room. “What the hell? What do you think you’re doing?” he shrieked at me. “Let him go, you crazy bitch!” Then Leon made the biggest mistake of his life: he unlocked my cell and charged me.

  Using my grip on Titus for leverage, I kicked Leon in the crotch with all the force I could summon. He doubled over and fell to his knees. I dropped Titus, clasped both my hands together, and brought them up under Leon’s chin, snapping his head backward and knocking him out.

  I could hear his teeth clash together and the crunching of bones.

  Blood spurted from his mouth, and he hit the floor with a thud.

  I grabbed the keys from Leon and pitched them to Alex. “Unlock the boys,” I said to her. Alex appeared dumbstruck, still looking from Titus to me and back to Titus. “The keys, baby,” I said. “Unlock the cell door.”

  I pulled Leon’s gun from his service holster, shoved it into the back waistband of my jeans, and pulled my sweatshirt down to hide it.

  As if in shock, Alex moved to the other cell and released Colt and Sig. Colt ran to the key board where his truck keys were hanging beside my bullwhip.

  “Go,” he growled. “Take my truck. Hurry before they come to.”

  “They ain’t coming to anytime soon,” Sig said as he kicked Leon. “He ain’t never gonna be the same.”

  I insisted that they come with us. “If you stay here, you’ll be blamed for this . . . this—”

  “Carnage,” Alex mumbled.

  “Yeah, carnage.” I didn’t look Alex in the eye. I knew my actions had disturbed her. She had seen me defend us with a gun or a whip, but she had never witnessed me in hand-to-hand combat. I have to admit my take-no-prisoners attitude in a fight was extremely brutal. When I hit someone, I didn’t intend for them to hit back.

  We locked the jail cells and took the keys. I grabbed my whip and draped it around my waist.

  “We’ll take the front seat,” Colt said. “You two can sit in the back together.”

  I slid in beside Alex and slammed the door as Colt’s truck laid rubber leaving the parking lot.

  “Where’d you learn to fight like that?” Sig asked, a new look of respect on his face as he turned to look at me.

  “I went to a rough high school,” I replied without taking my eyes off Alex. I slid my arm around her, and she slumped against me.

  “Are you okay, honey?” I whispered.

  She nodded but didn’t make eye contact with me.

  I sensed that Alex had indulged in all the secret agent life she could tolerate. I decided to call Leigh and have the agency pick us up at the bus station. I knew where the video was hidden and had recalled some of the atrocities recorded on it. If I sat down with my team and viewed the evidence, I knew everything would come back to me.

&n
bsp; The ride to the bus station was a short one. Sig insisted that Alex take his shirt to cover her blood-soaked blouse. We bid Colt and Sig goodbye and thanked them. When it counted, the men had come to our aid. We owed them.

  Inside the bus station, I talked a man into letting me use his cell phone and I called Leigh.

  “Thank God you’re all right!” she said the moment she heard my voice. “Where are you?”

  I heard Leigh suck in a breath when I told her our location. “How in the hell did you get to Tennessee?”

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  I gave her the bus station’s address and looked around as she repeated it back to me. “There’s a coffee shop across from the waiting area,” I told her. “We’ll be there.”

  I could hear Leigh typing on her keyboard. “I’ve requested a helicopter. We’ll be there as soon as possible. Sloan, don’t leave! I’ll look like a fool if I arrive in an agency chopper and find you’re not there.”

  “We’ll be here,” I was too weary to run.

  Alex got a table while I ordered coffee and sandwiches. I glanced at my wife as I waited for our order. She was watching me with a strange intentness.

  I touched her shoulder as I placed the food on the table. She glanced up at me then looked away. I wondered if she thought I was a monster. I had lost track of the lives I’d taken in our efforts to stay alive. She probably thought killing came easy for me. It didn’t, but I’d never hesitate to do whatever it took to protect those I love.

  I leaned over Alex and brushed my breasts across her shoulder as I placed a straw into her drink. A slight tremor ran through her body, and she blushed. At least her body still had a positive reaction to me.

  We ate in silence as we waited for the agency to show up en masse. I chanced quick glances at my wife. She looked tired and a little pale. The thing that bothered me most was that she wasn’t flirting with me. Alex always flirted with me.

  We finished eating and moved to more comfortable chairs in the waiting area. Without a word Alex curled up in her seat and let her head rest on my shoulder. Soon her soft, steady breathing told me she was asleep.

  Alex knew I was an undercover agent for the US Treasury Department. She knew about the dangers and challenges of my job, but she’d never witnessed it up close and in action like she had for the past year.

  She knew how passionate I was about protecting the animals that are being destroyed by humans. She knew I would do anything to protect my loved ones and my country. She had always been proud of my dedication to the things I believed in.

  She accompanied me on book and documentary tours. She had always been a part of the glamorous side of my job and loved it. She loved that side of me. Now she knew the dark side of my job, the dark side of me.

  I tried to imagine myself in Alex’s place. It must have been disturbing to have found out that your wife of ten years was a ruthless killer.

  It was one thing to know your wife was trained in all phases of combat, and another thing to see her in action. In all our time together, Alex had only seen me dressed like her and interacting politely with society.

  We attended movie premieres, charity fundraisers, and boardroom meetings dressed in the current fashion styles and high heels. During the past year, she’d only seen me in jeans and boots and she’d seen me kill more than once.

  I believe that, for the first time, Alex realized all the facets of my personality—who I really am. I wondered if she could love both sides of me as passionately as she has always loved the woman she thought I was.

  I rested my cheek against the top of Alex’s head and drifted off to sleep.

  ##

  Chapter 41

  “Sloan?” Gentle hands shook me awake. I tightened my grip on Alex’s hand and opened my eyes.

  Leigh stood over me. “Wake up, honey,” she said as Alex stirred beside me and hugged my arm between her breasts. She jerked away when she realized Leigh was there.

  “Would you like a cup of coffee?” I asked Alex. She nodded, and Leigh followed me to the coffee shop counter.

  “Thank you for getting here so quickly,” I said. “I’m tired of running.”

  “I’ve been so worried about you,” Leigh said. “We knew you were in this area. We picked up the police report about a blonde woman beating the hell out of two highway patrolmen.”

  “They were going to molest us and probably kill two men who were nice enough to give us a ride here,” I said. Leigh knew who I was and how dangerous I could be.

  “I figured as much,” she said with a crooked smile. “Let’s get that coffee and board the chopper. We need to stop by that highway patrol station. You probably want to file charges against the officers involved.”

  That sounded like a good plan to me.

  “Everyone is waiting at the agency,” Leigh said. “You know they’ll want to debrief you and Alex.”

  I raised my eyes to Alex. She was watching Leigh and me. “Can’t they wait until Alex has a good night’s sleep? She’s pretty beat. This has been a real ordeal for her.”

  Leigh snorted. “Alex is tough. She’ll be fine.”

  ##

  I watched out the chopper window as the helicopter lowered to the parking lot beside the State Highway Patrol office. Once the pilot killed the engine, I jumped out and reached up to help Alex. She hesitated for a moment, her eyes locked on mine, before moving so I could wrap my hands around her waist and lift her from the chopper. I swear I saw a trace of a smile on her face. She stood for a moment with her arms around my neck, looking at my face, and then pulled away from me and followed Leigh.

  I thought this nightmare was coming to an end, but a worse one was beginning. What if Alex couldn’t handle all there was to know about me?

  What if she couldn’t reconcile the woman she’d followed all over the world the past twelve months with the woman she had lived with for the past ten years?

  Chapter 42

  I was surprised to see Leon and Titus still huddled in the corner of their cells. As I walked toward them, a back door opened and my partners marched into the cell area.

  “Ross, Amarosia,” I said. “It’s so good to see you, but what are you doing here?”

  Before I knew what hit me, Leigh had stripped the bullwhip from my waist, and Ross had his gun pointed at my head. With one hand I grasped the back of the desk chair in front of me.

  “What the hell is going on here?” I said as I shoved Alex behind me.

  “You really don’t know, do you?” Leigh snorted from behind me. “You truly don’t remember what’s in those videos?”

  I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. “Why don’t you tell me?”

  “Why not?” Ross grunted. “You’re going to die anyway.

  “You discovered that the mole in our operation was Leigh,” he said. “When you informed me, I told her. We work together. Leigh sent the men in the Hummers. I jumped from the jeep just as you went off the cliff.”

  “But why?” I said, the knot in my throat all but choking me. “How could you be a part of killing such magnificent beasts?”

  “For the money, stupid.” Ross bared his teeth as he rubbed his thumb and fingertips together.

  “I could never kill a rhino—especially a cow with a calf. That’s dispicable.” I had a sinking feeling they’d kill us as easily as they killed the rhinos.

  “That’s easy for you to say. You’re the great Sloan Cartwright. You have it all: a gorgeous wife, fame, fortune. It was easy for you to be magnanimous.

  “You raked in the book sales and the appearance fees, while we took home our paltry paychecks from Uncle Sam.”

  “You could have written books. You could have gone on tours,” I pointed out. “You made damn good money from our documentaries. I always shared with you.”

  “Not everyone is as gifted with the written word as you,” Ross grumbled.

  “Enough!” Leigh snapped from behind me. “The point is, you have enough evidence
on those videos to blackmail half of the world leaders, and you’re going to turn it over to our government.”

  “How do you fit into this?” I glared at Amarosia.

  “Ross always hid the rhino horns in the boxes you shipped the agency. I provided letters on Governor Makin’s official letterhead with his forged signature, exempting your boxes from inspection. Leigh removed the horns before turning your reports over to the agency.”

  “We had a nice racket going until you discovered what was going on,” Ross added.

  I felt Alex pull the pistol from my waistband. I dropped my hands to my sides. “So, you’re going to kill Alex and me?”

  “And those two.” Ross flicked his gun barrel toward Leon and Titus. “It will look like you got into a shootout with them and killed each other.”

  In an instant, I shoved the chair into Ross, and Alex slid the pistol into my hand. I kicked Ross’s gun from his hand and placed my gun against his temple.

  “Drop the gun, or I’ll shoot you in the back!” The familiar voice echoed throughout the room. I let the Glock slip from my fingers. It clattered to the floor. “Not you too,” I sobbed.

  “Not you, you little jackass.” Sadie laughed as she strode into the room. “Leigh, drop the gun, or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

  Armed men filled the room and handcuffed my former partners. I watched in silence as the three were led away.

  “You? You’re my handler?” The relief I felt was unfathomable. “Sadie, thank God you’re here.” I pulled Alex into a hug and looked at Sadie over my wife’s shoulder.

  “Why didn’t you tell me in the hospital?” I demanded.

  “We knew we had a mole,” Sadie said. “We just weren’t certain which of you three it was. It turns out it was your two partners.”

  “And Amarosia? She isn’t even with the agency?” I was unable to hide my joy at seeing Sadie.

  “Now your brain is working,” Sadie said. “Amarosia was in cahoots with Leigh and Ross. They had a sweet money train going. You were about to derail it.”

  “I never expected your woman to show up to take you home.” She looked at Alex. “You threw a wrench into the works when you stormed that hospital room.”