by AJ Sinclair
Cody climbed up steps to get into the driver’s seat, doing a preliminary search for keys before he could dig into the wiring. “Aw, man. What dumbass would leave the key in the ignition?” He frowned and started the engine with little effort. “That’s like having an orgasm before you get nekkid.”
Eli grunted as he helped Indie climb into the cab.
She turned and gently touched his injured ribs. “Are you still in pain?”
“My ribs are better, but my ass is killing me after sitting on that hard floor all night.” He winced and eased himself down on the seat.
Austin and Jack climbed in, and somehow all five of them squeezed into the cab.
Cody shifted the big rig into gear, maneuvering the stick between Indie’s thighs. “Pardon me, Doctor.”
“No problem at all.” A smile lurked in her eyes, and she bit her bottom lip. “When I met you guys, I hoped I’d end up with a big stick between my legs. But I didn’t think it’d be mechanical.”
Silence filled the cab as four stunned men stared wide-eyed at the embarrassed woman in their midst.
“I said that out loud, didn’t I?” Indie pressed quivering fingers to her cheeks.
“We were all thinking it,” Jack muttered, shifting in his seat.
Cody unleashed an evil smile and stepped on the gas. “You’ve got bigger balls than all of us put together.”
“That’s why you’re Indiana Jones.” Eli snickered, holding his cracked ribs as laughter shook him.
“That’s enough.” Austin attempted to restore order, but barely held back a snortle himself. “We’re all a little loopy, so let’s try to keep a lid on it.” After what they’d all been through, he couldn’t really blame any of them. He’d been thinking about getting between Indie’s thighs too—with more than his stick.
The plow lurched forward, rumbling over potholes and scattered debris. Austin braced his hand on the dash, forming a makeshift seatbelt across Indie’s chest. She sat with her elbow in her hand and the other palm pressed to her mouth, undoubtedly to prevent more provocative outbursts. He wanted to lean over and kiss her. All the other guys had kissed her, but he’d somehow missed the opportunity. He’d take it the next chance he got.
Cody drove the plow out onto the highway and past the tangled wreck of a commuter bus. Passengers had spilled out the windows and gotten hit by other vehicles fleeing the pending quarantine, littering the road with blood and death.
A soft gasp escaped Indie as her hand fell from her lips. “They never had a chance.”
Hell, we might not get another one. Austin slipped his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together as he drew her close. She turned toward him, and he touched his lips to her forehead. “It’ll be all right.”
She nodded once and her eyes shimmered.
Austin kissed her, soft and sweet, comforting yet tinged with lust. She melted against him, and he pulled his hand from its grip on the dashboard to sink in her hair. He longed to take her someplace safe and lose himself in her sweetness and heat. A safe place. Where would he find that?
Indie pulled back a space. “Are you sure?”
Austin blinked, attempting to kick his hammering brain back to reality. “About what?”
“That it’ll be all right.”
“Oh.” Shit. He’d said that to comfort her—and himself. “Not at all.” He touched his thumb to her lower lip. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay.” She smiled and nipped the pad of his thumb. “I didn’t believe you for a second.”
Damn it, he couldn’t have that. “But I swear to you,” he curled his hand around hers and squeezed it tight, “I’ll fight to my last breath to make sure you—we—get out of this alive.”
“Yeehaw.” The engine roared as Cody shifted the rig into a higher gear.
Jack scoffed, and Eli ignored them.
Indie smiled. “If I don’t save your ass first.”
All is right with our world.
“I love her,” Cody blurted as he steered through a desolate traffic jam.
Indie laughed and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek.
Cody drove onto the shoulder on purpose, Austin hoped. He’d had to weave in and out of abandoned cars. What he couldn’t go around, he lowered the blades and plowed through.
Austin clutched the dash, grinning at their badass transport. His plan was turning out better than he’d hoped. The plow would be heavy enough to break through, but was it fast enough? The vehicle seemed to plod along. Their trip was taking much longer than it should’ve. Would they be shot on sight? He gripped his weapon tighter and nodded at Jack to keep watch.
Jack rested the barrel of his rifle on the rolled-down window ledge while Eli muttered calculations, shook his head, counted on his fingers, then brightened.
“This could work.” Eli glanced at Cody as the fence came into view. “If we can get up enough speed, the fence will break at some point.”
“I need room to make a run at it.” Cody dodged around a semi-trailer, crashing into and pushing aside the helpless Honda next to it.
“Make room, Sergeant.” Austin shot him a grim smile.
Cody sneered and floored it, lowering the plow. “Yes, sir.”
Gears ground as rubber burned. Indie scooted closer to Austin, bracing her hand next to his. “We’re going to make it.” Hope lit her eyes.
He clamped his hand over hers, crushing it to the solid dashboard. “And you didn’t believe me.”
Gunfire drowned out Indie’s laughter. Explosive machine guns peppered both sides of the truck. Jack returned fire, and Cody managed to sling his rifle out the window and shoot back. Bullets pinged off the heavy blades.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to shoot,” Indie shouted over the din as Austin pushed her to the floor.
“They’re not civilians.” Austin motioned for Eli to cover Indie with his body, but she bolted to her knees and snatched Eli’s rifle.
The doctor laid the barrel next to Jack’s and squeezed the trigger. The recoil knocked her back against Austin, but she held on, firing at will. Jack shrank back to avoid her erratic shooting, but Eli braced his arms around her and directed the weapon to where it would do the most good.
“Knock ‘em dead, doc!” Cody yelled and handed his rifle to Austin then leaned back so Austin could shoot out the driver’s side window.
The fence loomed in front of them, chain-link topped with razor wire as he’d expected, but behind it sat a line of city buses.
“Comin’ through!” Sparks flew as Cody adjusted the blades.
Austin stared through the windshield as the plow gained speed. “Brace yourselves!”
Gunfire ceased, and everyone seemed to hold their breath as the plow rammed through chain-link and razor wire with ease, crushing a bus and pushing the whole contraption with them several yards before Cody ran out of room to drive. The big vehicle skidded to a stop, spinning up against a brick wall. Soldiers surrounded them, and Austin immediately ordered his men to surrender. They’d been arrested, but it didn’t matter. Indie knew how to stop this thing, and the Army would make sure she was taken to a place where she could get it done.
Would he see her again? A lump formed in his throat. Would any of them?
***
INDIE
Indie stared at the uniformed man parked behind a desk in front of her. He wore three stars, a general, but she’d only known that because his men addressed him as such. General Kerr, Austin had called him. They seemed to know each other. The general stared back, unblinking, waiting for her to cower, to cry and plead for his help. Ha. She’d demand it. “I’m Dr. Indiana Jones. I have the cure, and I need facilities to manufacture and distribute it.”
Snickers echoed around the room as the men holding Austin, Jack, Eli, and Cody shuffled their feet and tried not to laugh out loud.
The general raised his eyebrows. “Is that your real name?”
Had he heard a word she’d said? She’d expected excitement, relief, and even prais
e at her announcement, but these buffoons just giggled about her name. Thanks, Mom. “Yes. Now, take me to a lab so I can get to work.”
“That’s not necessary.” Dr. Julian Francis walked into the room, holding a clipboard and peering over his glasses. “Hand it over to me.”
Indie tamped down her shock at seeing him alive. The bastard had bailed at the first sign of trouble. “I don’t have it.”
“You didn’t bring a sample with you?”
“Of course, I did. I tested it, successfully, on a human subject.”
“But you wrote the formula down.”
“Yes.” And left it in the lab, but once she’d put pen to paper, she’d never forget it.
“Then give that to me.”
Was he going to take credit? She’d let him have it. She didn’t care who got the glory. She just wanted this Scarlet Infection to end. “It’s in my head.”
Austin and the rest of her guys groaned, and Indie suspected she’d said something wrong.
“Write it down for us.” The general finally spoke.
Indie shook her head. “That’s not necessary. I’m perfectly capable of replicating it in a lab.” When no one jumped up to escort her, she scowled. “Now, if you don’t mind.”
The general leaned back in his plush leather chair and put his feet up on the desk, obviously going nowhere. “You’re in no position to give orders.”
From the corner of her eye, Indie caught Dr. Francis laughing at the general’s bluster. He’s not giving orders either. Who is?
“Of course.” Dr. Francis smiled wide. “I’ll let you use my lab.”
The general scowled. “Just her.” He nodded toward her company. “Lock them up.”
Austin protested, and a minor scuffle ensued, ending with her soldiers backed up against the wall with guns in their faces.
Indie frowned and stepped over to Dr. Francis. He seemed to be more agreeable than the general. “I’ll need a lab assistant.” Not at all, but if she could get just one of the guys out of confinement, she’d have accomplished something.
“You’ve never had one before.”
What was up with that? Dr. Francis had consistently denied her requests for help. “I’ve never cured a city-wide epidemic before.”
“She can have one,” The general grumbled and indicated for his men to step back.
Oh Lord, now she had to choose. Save one now, rescue the rest later. “Fine.” The leader, the genius, the wild card, or… “Jack.” The deceptively dangerous one.
Chapter 10
INDIE
The rest of the guys gaped at her, but Jack nodded once and stepped forward as if he’d anticipated her choice. Soldiers ushered her men out of the room and down the hall at gunpoint while she and Jack were escorted to a lab, which turned out to be not much more than an office with a microscope and some test tubes.
Indie got to work, gathering supplies and cleaning slides. She recalled her formula, focusing on what she needed to do. Make the cure, make a vaccine, get it to the people who needed it most. Yes! Finally, she had the resources to make a real difference, not just cure a lab rat.
“Are you humming?” Jack ceased his wanderings and stared at her.
She mashed her vibrating lips together then grinned. “Could be.”
“I like it.” A smile stole across his face. “You deserve to be happy.”
“We deserve it.” Her heart hammered. “I would’ve gotten myself killed without you. All of you.”
“True.” He winked and resumed his restless pacing, brushing past her worktable without a sound.
“Will you hand me that slide?”
Jack fumbled with the thin glass rectangle, nearly snapping it in two with his large fingers. “Eli would’ve been a better lab assistant.”
“Probably, yes. But I don’t really need an assistant.” She sent a sly smile his way as she picked up a test tube and studied its contents.
“I see.”
No doubt he saw everything. “I wanted you with me in case things get…hinkey.”
“Is that a scientific term?” He almost looked amused.
Indie, however, stifled a shiver. “I don’t trust the general.”
“I don’t trust anyone.” His dead cold tone turned her shivers loose.
“He never even introduced himself to me.” Indie rolled her eyes. Why would an important man give an invisible black woman his name?
“Malcolm Kerr.” He stated the fact without emphasis.
“You know him?”
“I know of him. He, uh…” Jack’s impassive demeanor faltered.
Good Lord, what kind of evil deed could rattle Jack? “What?”
“He lost his entire family in a plane crash.”
“Oh.” Oh. She’d misjudged the general horribly. Her stomach turned, churning her loss along with his. Grief could do strange things to people. Had it hardened her?
A shadow crossed the window in the office door—a soldier carrying a gun. We’re being guarded? But why?
She beckoned Jack to come closer. “I want you to observe—everything—tell me if you see or hear anything out of place.” But as she spoke, she realized he’d been doing just that.
“As you wish.” He faded from her line of sight, but she still sensed his presence in the movement not quite seen, the sound she doubted hearing.
Time seemed to hurtle toward an inevitable deadline as a sense of urgency drove her, and she worked quickly but carefully. Fully immersed in her thoughts, Indie started when Jack broke his silence using her title.
“Doctor.”
That’s not good. She blinked, focusing on him. “What did you find?”
“Why does this have your name on it?” He handed her a file labeled Dr. Indiana Jones.
“What is it?” She flipped through documents that didn’t make sense. “A blood test—mine. The Scarlet Infection’s pathology report.”
“Those don’t belong in a personnel file.”
“No, how would Dr. Francis have gotten…?” He couldn’t possibly have taken her blood without her knowing, and all her samples had been accounted for. She checked the date on the report. “This is a blood test I did after my mother was hospitalized and I didn’t get sick.”
“Did he have access to it?”
“No one did. All my work is confidential.”
“Could he have stolen it?”
“Obviously someone did.” But who? Would Dr. Francis steal protected health information? She couldn’t believe it. “Why?”
Jack took the file. “What would he have to gain from this?”
She had no idea, but something else nagged at her. “Dr. Francis knows I’m immune.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he’s not telling us everything.”
“He’s using you.”
“For what?” But she didn’t want an answer, not from Jack. She needed to confront Dr. Francis—before she gave him the cure. “Let’s leave this.” She stepped back from the worktable. “Go get our guys and find out what the hell is going on around here.”
“Tell the guard you want to see Francis.” Jack spun and headed toward the door, opening it easily. At least they hadn’t been locked in.
Indie marched into the hallway and in the guard’s face, surprising him with her sudden brash appearance. “Take me to Dr. Francis immediately.” She walked past him, turning him away from Jack as he slipped from the office.
The guy gaped after Indie, never knowing what hit him as Jack twisted the man’s arm up sharply behind his back while pinching him in exactly the right spot under his ears.
Indie gasped and stared as the guard crumpled on the floor in a quiet heap, his face ghastly pale. “Did you just kill him?”
“Probably not.” Jack shrugged as if he did this kind of thing every day. “I cut off blood flow to the carotid artery. He’ll have an awful headache when he wakes up.”
Fear and a hint of pleasure warmed Indie from the inside out. “Show me how
to do that.”
He scowled and shook his head. “Too risky. I’ve had years of training, and I still risk killing if not done correctly.”
“I know anatomy.” And hot damn would she love to study Jack’s anatomy.
“You were trained to heal. I was trained to kill. Let me handle rendering people unconscious.” A slow smile curved his lips and he stepped over the limp guard to get closer to her. “You can be my distraction.”
She reached out and grabbed his jacket, hauling him close and lifting her lips as his mouth crushed down on hers. Not a sweet, sweeping tease like their goodnight kiss, but a full-on exploration of possibilities. Jack cupped her face, tangling his fingers in her hair while her body melted against him. God, she wished they could take more time to indulge each other, but she placed her hand on his chest and caught her breath as she pushed back. “Definitely a distraction.”
A lazy smile touched his lips and he raked his fingers through her hair, freeing his hands. “We need to go get our company.”
She straightened her lab coat, collecting herself. “How are we going to find them?”
“Look for more guards.”
They crept down the hall. Indie had no idea where they were going. The white hallways and windowed doors all looked the same. She hoped Jack was somehow mapping their steps. He appeared to be intensely focused, noting things she didn’t see.
They turned a corner and Jack immediately backed up, pushing Indie behind him. He pointed for her to take a peek. A soldier with a big machine gun stood in front of a windowless door marked Storage.
Indie ducked back against the wall. “If the guys aren’t in there, I don’t want to know what is.”
Jack smirked. “You and me both.” He peered around the corner at the guard then leaned back and smiled at Indie. “Will you be my decoy again?”
She fluffed her hair and pursed her lips. “Just watch me.”
Indie stepped out into the hall as the guard turned and stared straight at her. She smiled wide as her brain sputtered. Can I pull this off? Memories of Dallas flirting with men flashed into her head, and she channeled her sister. “Oh, excuse me, sir. I’m so lost.” She batted her eyelashes and touched her fingertips to his chest. “I can’t seem to find the ladies’ room. Is it this way?”