However, there were times, late at night, my dad would walk me around the West Wing and the Oval Office. I’d seen the situation room. I’d peeked in on state dinners. I’d met princes and princesses from around the world. I’d cooked in the kitchen with world-famous chefs. Then there were the times my dad would have Gerard sneak us off the property and we’d grab a burger late at night and eat it on the lawn in front of the Washington Monument. Those were my favorite times with my dad. When he was just daddy, not President Anderson. And my mom had tried her best to be active in my life. More than once she’d cancelled an important meeting because I’d been in full, teenage-girl meltdown. Sometimes over boys, but most of the time because high school girls could be mean.
Throughout lunch my guilt had grown. I’d spent the last year perpetuating the notion my life had been horrible when it hadn’t. One inconvenience didn’t negate all the good. But after Olivia’s kidnapping I’d allowed myself to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
“What has you thinking so hard over there?” Colin asked as he drove us home.
“Life.”
“Life in general or something specific?”
“I’m trying to figure out when I became this bitchy, ungrateful person. I sure complain a lot about stupid things. I wasn’t always like this.”
“I don’t think you’re ungrateful.”
“I’m not but I’m behaving like I am. My parents are great people. They’ve set an example of selfless service and duty to country. I’ve taken everything they’ve taught me and shit all over it. There are people who serve our country and make sacrifices every day, and I’m complaining I don’t have my parents’ undivided attention. I’m a selfish cow.”
“A cow, huh?” Colin chuckled. “What made you think about all of this?”
“When you told me about all the time you’d spent overseas, and the holidays you’d missed with your family, and how there’d been times you couldn’t call your mom on her birthday. It hit me how self-absorbed I’ve been. Here I am bitching to you because I have to have a bodyguard and my daddy has an important job running the country and doesn’t have time to coddle me when I’m stomping my foot. Please tell me I haven’t been as bad as I think I’ve been.”
“I won’t lie, you’ve been . . . challenging.”
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“You shouldn’t be. I also recognize you’ve been through a lot in a short amount of time.”
“Doesn’t excuse my behavior.”
Man, I owed my parents an apology. Not to mention, some secret service agents. Poor Gerard probably thought I’d lost my ever-loving mind. As soon as this latest situation was over, I’d make things right.
“Fuck!” Colin shouted, interrupting my thoughts. “Hold on.”
But it was too late. My body jerked to the left, then the right, and Colin cursed again as he tried to regain control of the car.
Please, God, don’t let this be it.
Chapter 6
Some dipshit had rolled through a right turn without slowing. I saw it out of the corner of my eye seconds before he took out the passenger-side back panel. The impact was so jarring Erin’s head whipped left, then nearly smashed against the side window. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and pulled left, barely avoiding careening into another vehicle. Fucking asshole thought he was a stunt driver on Tokyo Drift. I started to roll to a stop when, in my rearview mirror, I saw the car who’d hit us, maneuver around the cars in the intersection. The dick wasn’t slowing down—he was speeding up.
“Hold tight.” I hit the gas hard and quickly swerved back onto the road. “Grab my phone. I think it landed by your feet. My code to unlock is 0-7-3-0-1-9-9-8-0-0.”
“That’s too many numbers, Colin.” It took her a minute to find the phone, which had slid off the center console in the near accident. “I can’t remember all of that.”
I repeated the numbers to her while trying to think of the best route to lose the car behind us.
“What now?”
“Hit the phone icon and dial pound one. Put the call on speaker.”
She did as I asked, and ringing filled the car before Fletch answered.
“I have a silver Ford Taurus following us southbound on Cooper Road. No front plate, but the passenger-side bumper is fucked off from where he tried to run us off the road.”
“Shit. You have an evac plan?” he asked.
“I do. Just need a few favors.”
“Anything.”
“Go by my house and do a walk through. I’m certain everything is in the safe, but I’d like for you to double check.”
“Truck and I will head over there now.”
“Also call Zane, tell him to check the traffic cameras from the area. Cooper and Freedom Highway.”
“Anything else?”
“Yeah. Tell him, it’s always best to be honest.”
“Copy that. Be safe. Call if you need anything else.”
“Will do. Out.”
Fletch disconnected, and I glanced at Erin. Her hand shook as she held the phone, staring at a now blank screen.
“Everything’s gonna be all right, sunshine.”
“Who’s following us?”
“No clue.”
“Then how do you know everything is going to be okay?”
“Because I’ll never let anyone hurt you. Can you do something for me?”
“Sure.”
“I need you to trust me. If I tell you we’re okay, we are.”
“I’m not certain—”
“I am. The person following us is in a Ford Taurus for Christ sakes. I’m waiting until I can get on the interstate before I lose him. The last thing I want is to cause an accident and get someone hurt. Or have the police involved.”
I checked the rearview mirror and the Taurus was two cars behind us. Other than the initial impact, he’d made no move on us. Something felt off about the whole situation.
“Where are we going?”
“California.”
“California?”
“I need you reach over and take my gun out of my holster.” I leaned to the left, giving her access to my right side. Her hands fumbled around the seat belt. “Just take it off.”
“No way. What if he hits us again?”
She finally got my Sig free and settled back in her seat. “What now? Want me to shoot his tires out?”
“Easy there, cowgirl, this ain’t the wild west. Just hold it. If something happens, and I’m hurt, use it. Whatever happens, do not let anyone get you in a car.”
“I thought you said everything was all right.”
“It is. Right now.”
“What does that mean?”
Just as I merged onto an almost empty Highway 195, the Taurus gunned it, closing the distance between us. I swerved around the car in front of me, and so did the Taurus. Weaving through the few cars on the highway, I made a decision I hoped wouldn’t cost us our lives. The driver of the Taurus pulled alongside us and a second car was on my bumper.
“Put your head between your legs and hold on.”
I braked, causing the car behind me to slam into the back of us. Instead of the Taurus blowing by us like I’d hoped, allowing me to get behind him, he slowed as well.
“What are you doing?” Erin asked from her lowered position.
Before I could answer, the driver of the Taurus popped off two rounds, thankfully pulling high and hitting the top of the driver’s side door. I jerked the wheel, my two right tires hitting the gravel of the shoulder. There wasn’t anywhere to go, two lanes of traffic in either direction didn’t give me a lot of options. If I were alone in the car, it would’ve been a different story, but with Erin beside me I needed to be extra cautious. If something happened to me, she’d be vulnerable.
“Fuck.”
The sound reverberated inside the car, the ringing in my ears caused me to flinch in pain. I didn’t have time to warn Erin to cover her ears as the car behind us got a shot off and took out th
e back window.
“Why aren’t you driving faster?” Erin yelled, not lifting her head.
“Stay down and brace, Erin.”
I jerked left, sideswiping the Taurus. Thank God for long stretches of Texas highways. The median between the northbound and southbound lanes only had a couple feet of gravel before it gave way to a grassy embankment. Not so steep you couldn’t pull off the side if need be, but a car traveling over eighty miles per hour wouldn’t fare too well. We lurched forward when the car on my ass made contact again. I just needed a few more seconds to catch up to the tractor-trailers that were in front of us, and this would be done.
“Oh my God,” Erin muttered, but thankfully hadn’t sat up.
“Almost over. You’re doing great.”
Swerving left again, I hit the Taurus, harder this time, he didn’t have time to recover before he lost traction on the paved road and went up on two wheels before spinning out of control. Pulling close to the bumper of the semi in front of me I waited until the very last second before veering back into the right lane as the two semis closed the gap, driving side-by-side, leaving no room for the car following us to pass.
“You okay?” I asked.
“My ears hurt. Are they still behind us?”
“One is stuck behind two semis at the moment.”
“The other?”
“Non-issue.”
“I thought Zane was crazy for renting you a Charger, now I’m thankful he didn’t chintz out and rent you a Pinto.”
“Years of experience. Never get behind the wheel of a slow car while on an op.”
“Can I sit up yet?”
“Not yet.”
The exit for State Road 2670 was coming up, and I merged right, taking the small off-ramp keeping my speed above eighty.
“Jesus, Mario Andretti. Warn a girl next time.”
Erin’s body rocked before she steadied in her seat.
“You can sit up.”
The first thing Erin did was look over her shoulder and out the gaping hole where the rear window used to be.
“Holy shit. They shot at us,” she said unnecessarily. “I mean, I knew they did. But, shit.”
Erin’s trembling hand was still holding my gun. Even though I knew she’d been scared, she’d held it together. I was impressed. I’d witnessed both men and women break down over less.
“You can put the gun in the glovebox.” It took her a few tries to open the compartment, she was shaking so badly. With the gun secured, I grabbed her hand and placed it on my thigh and covered it with mine. “I’m proud of you, sunshine.”
“Proud of me? I didn’t do anything but keep my head down and silently freak out.”
“You trusted me. And I don’t believe you were freaking out. Hell, you offered to go all Lara Croft on the bad guys and shoot their tires out.”
I was trying to make light of the situation, but now that Erin was out of danger the thought of her going full on badass was sexy as hell. And knowing she actually would’ve done it if I’d asked had my dick throbbing to life.
“What about all of our stuff back at the house?”
“Fletch and Truck will do a sweep and make sure there’s nothing of importance left out.”
“But we don’t have anything with us. You said we’re going to California.”
“There’s a go-bag in the trunk. I have everything we need. And what we don’t have, we’ll buy along the way.”
“Okay.”
Erin rested her head on the seat back but made no move to pull her hand away. Just like that, she trusted I’d take care of her even after I’d been mostly an asshole to her since I’d met her. I’d never had another woman have so much faith in me. It was a feeling that made my gut tighten. I wondered if this was what Leo felt when he’d saved Olivia. From the moment she’d laid eyes on him, she’d handed over her safety to him. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was feeling toward Erin, but what I did know was I liked having her next to me.
Chapter 7
“Sorry the room is shit,” Colin said as soon as we’d stepped inside the dingy room. “Not exactly what you’re used to.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I snapped.
I was exhausted and starving. We’d driven over eight hours, finally stopping in El Paso for the night.
“Whoa there, sunshine.” Colin locked the top latch on the cheap door. I had serious doubts the safety device would actually prevent someone from getting in the room. “I didn’t mean anything negative. Simply stating the obvious. When was the last time the first daughter was in a thirty dollar a night motel room?”
“Sorry I’m grouchy. Today sucked.”
Colin tossed the backpacks on the bed and stopped in front of me, placing both of his hands on my shoulders. “Yeah, it did, and you’ve been great all day. I’m sorry the night has to end with a shit bed and fast food. In a few days, we’ll be in California. I promise you a nice bubble bath and a home cooked meal.”
I still hadn’t set the drive-thru bags down, and the smell of greasy hamburgers and fries drifted through the stale air of the room, making my stomach growl.
“Let’s get you fed.” Colin looked around the room before scrunching his nose. “Picnic on the bed?”
“Anywhere. I’m hungry.”
He moved the packs onto the floor, took the bags out of my hands, and let me climb on the bed. With my back against the headboard, and in a very unladylike move, I tore off the wrapper of my cheeseburger and started without him. It wasn’t until I’d eaten half my food that I really look around the shitty motel room.
“There’s only one bed.”
“Uh-huh,” Colin mumbled around a bite.
“Do you think the guys from earlier will find us again?”
I’d had a lot of time to think about my brush with death and I was scared shitless. I was doing my best not to show Colin how freaked out I was, but inside I wanted to curl into a ball and hide behind him. I’d never been involved in a high-speed chase and while I was aware Colin wouldn’t consider the ten-minute ordeal necessarily “high-speed,” I did.
“No, Erin, they won’t. I made sure we weren’t being followed.”
“They ran into us—”
“They did. Are you sore? How’s your neck?”
He’d asked me about my neck and back no less than ten times during our drive. Every time he pulled off the road so I could use the restroom, he made me stretch and roll it, even though I’d told him repeatedly I was fine. Each time before we’d settled back in the car for the next leg of our trip, he’d kneaded and rubbed my shoulders and the back of my neck for a few minutes. He’d also done his best to keep my mind occupied while we were driving. He’d told me stories about growing up, the sports he played, and his high school shenanigans. I hadn’t missed how he’d left out most of his military service and he’d only told me about the “bullshit” assignments he worked at Z Corps. Those were the cases where he followed cheating spouses or they assisted local law enforcement on investigations.
“It’s okay.”
We fell silent, and I shoved another handful of fries into my month.
Suddenly everything hit me.
Everything. All at once. The crash, the chase, the shooting. My apartment being bugged. Someone taking creepy pictures of me. My mom and dad. What a shitty friend I’d been to Olivia. Everything.
“Come here, sunshine.” The container of fries was removed from my hand, Colin twisted, placing them on the nightstand, then hefted me up, and scooted down the bed, setting me mostly on top of him. With both of his strong arms wrapped around me, I did something I hadn’t done in a very long time. I cried. Not a polite sniffle like a well-mannered, proper woman would. No, not me. The tears rolled, and the snot bubbled.
His strength never wavered, not in the time I took to cleanse my soul of all the fear that had bottled up. And not when I wiped my face on his tear-soaked shirt. He just held me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Nothing to
be sorry for.”
“I thought I was okay.”
“You were in shock. Most people go their whole lives and never experience what you did today.”
“I’m really scared.”
His arms tightened, and I desperately wanted to melt into him. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. I promise, Erin, I will stand between you and anyone who dares to come after you.”
“I’m glad there’s only one bed.”
“Why’s that, sunshine?”
“Because I’m too afraid to sleep by myself, and this way I don’t have to beg you to let me sleep next to you.”
Colin pulled back and propped himself up on an elbow. When his brows pulled together, I worried I’d crossed a line. “I’ll never make you beg for something you need.” I searched his face and was shocked to find he looked so sincere, his eyes pleading with me to believe him.
“Thank you.”
His hand brushed across my cheek, and he pushed my hair behind my ear. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face and, for a second, I thought he was leaning in to kiss me, but he stopped. “We’ll only be in this shithole for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll be someplace where you can feel safe.”
I doubted a change in location was going to ease my fears but I agreed, “Okay.”
“Are you still hungry?”
“No. I’m just tired and I want a shower but I’m afraid of what the bathroom looks like, so I’ll wait until tomorrow. Where are we staying?”
“My buddy, Abe, has a cabin outside of San Diego. It’s where Leo took Olivia when he was hiding her.”
“Does he know we’re coming? Don’t you have to call and ask?”
“Zane’s already taken care of it.”
“When did you talk to Zane?” He hadn’t called anyone since he talked to Fletch before we left Killeen. As a matter of fact, he’d taken the sim card out of his phone and smashed the rest of it when we stopped at a hardware store for a roll of plastic and duct tape. Which reminded me. “Are you worried someone will break into the car? It’s not like the plastic taped to the back window is a great deterrent.”
Rescuing Erin (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Red Team Book 5) Page 5