by Tee O'Fallon
“Mommy, you’re squeezing too tight.” Nicky looked up at her, scrunching up his face.
“I’m sorry, sweetie.” She eased her hold but ushered him down the stairs to the subway.
Once inside, she scanned the crowded platform. Swarms of people aided in concealing their location. The two men were nowhere to be seen. It was probably nerves that had her thinking they were being followed. Luckily, a train arrived within minutes, and they boarded, taking two empty seats in the middle of the subway car.
When the doors closed, Alex breathed a mental sigh of relief. She leaned over and pretended to brush something off the hem of her slacks, glancing in either direction. Neither of the men was there.
Nerves. Just nerves.
In the tight confines of the subway car, she began to relax for the ten-minute ride to the stop where Nicky’s school was located. The seats all around them and on the opposite side of the car were full. Straphangers swayed back and forth with the motion of the train as they held fast to metal handgrips overhead and vertical silver poles that ran from the ceiling to the floor.
Alex closed her eyes, giving in to the soothing sound of the subway car clicking rhythmically on the tracks.
The early morning phone call from the Pyramid had woken her from a dream she’d been having, one in which Gray wasn’t sleeping on her sofa but right beside her in her own bed. In her dream, he was touching her, awakening her body with his hands and mouth in ways she never thought possible. She shivered as her nipples tingled in response to the vivid memory.
The muffled sound of the subway car’s connecting door opening, then sliding shut filtered through, and she snapped her eyes open. Looking in the direction of the door, she held her breath as a man shouldered his way through the crowd.
The pale-skinned man with the dark woolen hat.
Alex choked down a gasp and reached over to hold Nicky’s hand. Thankfully, her son didn’t pick up on her distress and sat quietly, swinging his legs back and forth, humming to himself.
With one hand, the man grabbed onto a pole about five feet from where she and Nicky sat. In his other hand, he held a neatly folded newspaper. The man with black hair and a darker complexion was nowhere to be seen. It took every ounce of restraint not to look the man holding onto the pole in the eyes to gauge whether he was truly a threat. She risked a glance and was relieved to see that he actually appeared to be reading the paper.
The sound of the subway car’s other connecting door sliding open then shut came to her ears. Another man began shouldering his way in her direction.
The other man—the one with jet-black hair.
Alex sat ramrod straight in her seat. She swallowed back the urge to run, but there was nowhere to go. They were between stations with no safe way to exit. The subway car rattled and squealed as it went through a turn then came to a slow, steady stop. The car’s overhead lights flickered but stayed on.
This happens all the time. Nothing to worry about.
Alex’s breathing quickened. Sweat trickled down her back between her shoulder blades.
The dark-haired man grabbed onto a metal handgrip, pretending to be bored, but this was too much coincidence.
Isn’t it?
Alex did the math. When an international organization of assassins threatened your child, coincidence went out the window. Instinct told her these men were following her, and it wasn’t to buy her flowers and candy.
Trying desperately to act natural, she reached into the purse on her lap and pulled out her cell phone. She typed in a message for Gray. I’m being followed. Two men. Dark woolen cap, the other black hair. She touched her finger to the send button. The text bubble shot to the top of the screen. She waited for confirmation the message was sent.
It never came.
The train still didn’t move, its engine humming and reverberating gently through the car. She realized grimly that there might not be cell phone reception underground. Or it could be a temporary glitch with her carrier.
Beside her, Nicky hummed away happily, oblivious to the threat flanking them. Alex didn’t know what these men had planned. Could be nothing. Could be they were only keeping an eye on her. Either way, it wasn’t good. If they did have something else planned, chances were they wouldn’t try anything with all these people around. She had time…but not much. Soon they’d be at their stop. The men would have to make their move there or risk losing her in the crowd.
Alex cued up Gray’s cell phone number, but as with the text message, her call didn’t go through.
She and Nicky were alone. Stuck in a sea of commuters.
Alex shoved her phone into her pocket. Gray and Dom would be waiting for her about three blocks from where the subway would let them off. She prayed she could at least get Nicky up to street level before the men closed in on them. Then they’d run like hell.
The lights in the subway car flickered as the train began moving. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a few minutes, the train coasted to a stop in the next station.
Two more stops to go.
The subway car’s doors opened. People got off, people got on. The two men remained, inching closer, Alex noted with mounting fear. More sweat trickled down her back. They had her flanked, three feet away on either side of where she and Nicky sat.
The next stop was theirs.
When the train pulled out of the station and accelerated into a turn, people standing swayed back and forth. Alex knew the route well, having taken Nicky to school via subway every weekday since he began kindergarten. She waited for the train to straighten, as she knew it would right before the stop where they would get off.
Easing the straps of her purse onto her shoulder, she clasped Nicky’s hand.
“Sweetie,” she whispered into Nicky’s ear, “we’re running late, so we’re going to stand up and get right in front of the door. When it opens we have to hurry. Whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand. Okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.” He smiled up at her.
Alex clenched her teeth.
If those fuckers hurt my child, I’ll kill them. Somehow, I will kill them.
Until that moment, she didn’t fully realize the intensity of the violence she was capable of. It was a mother’s instinct to protect her child to the death.
Even on the straightaway, the subway car lurched side to side, making it difficult to walk. They made it to the doors that would slide open in either direction when the train stopped. Somehow Alex kept her balance without holding on to anything other than Nicky’s hand.
The train pulled into the station. The platform was jammed with commuters waiting to board. For once, she was counting on peoples’ inherent rudeness at trying to board while others were still exiting the train. It would assist in putting more bodies between her and the men following them.
Alex felt his breath on her neck before he even spoke.
“Come with us, and don’t make a scene.”
She turned slightly, identifying the man with the woolen cap. Bastard must have picked up on her plan for a quick getaway. Alex’s heart rate rocketed. She clenched her teeth. “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch my son.”
“If you value your son’s life,” the man said in a low voice, “do as I say.”
People amassed behind them in the subway car. More lined up outside on the platform, waiting to get on.
As the doors opened, Alex said loudly enough that other passengers heard, “Fuck off.”
She bolted from the car, dragging Nicky with her and began screaming. “Help! Somebody help! These men are attacking me.” She indicated with her head to the man in the woolen cap and his companion. “Call the police!”
Throngs of people stared at her and the two men. When the man reached out to grab her, some of the onlookers moved in to circle the men, preventing them from following her. You gotta love New Yorkers. Out-of-towners might say they were cold and unfriendly, but when you needed assistance, they rallied like nobody’s business. She didn’
t wait around to find out what happened next.
Zigzagging between the masses of commuters heading to the platform, she and Nicky made it to the stairs and up to the street. The cool outside air was a welcoming embrace. Freedom. Safety.
Maybe.
Alex glanced behind her down the steps to see both men pushing their way through the crowd. She grabbed her phone from her pocket, clinging to Nicky with her other hand.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?” His eyes were wide with fear, something that tugged at Alex’s heart. “You said a bad word. Are you angry with those people?”
“I’m sorry, baby. You’re right, I did say a bad word.” She’d done this to her child, placed him in danger. She would never forgive herself.
Alex walked briskly in the direction of Nicky’s school. She would have run, but Nicky could never keep up. She was about to pick Nicky up and carry him when her phone rang. Still walking and clutching his hand, she managed to answer the call.
“Alex!”
Gray. She nearly sagged with relief.
“Someone tried to grab us on the subway. They’re still following us.” Her voice was shaky, partly because she was all but running down a busy Manhattan sidewalk and partly from outright fear.
“I’m half a block away. Stay calm.” Gray’s voice echoed his words. Steadfast, a soothing balm to her mind shrieking in terror. “I see you and Nicky on the opposite side of the street. I’m in a blue Chevy Impala. Dom is behind me in a tan Durango.”
“Please hurry.” She looked over her shoulder to see her pursuers eating up the distance between them. Without disconnecting the call, she shoved her phone into her pocket and picked Nicky up to carry him.
“Mommy, who’s following us?” His face reflected what she was feeling. Fear.
Looking up, Alex caught sight of a dark blue sedan weaving in and out of traffic. The sedan cut across three lanes, sending other cars veering to avoid a collision. Brakes screeched. Horns honked. The blue sedan drove halfway onto the sidewalk, cutting off the pursuers. The driver’s side window rolled down.
“Get in!” Gray shouted from the open window.
Alex flung open the door behind Gray and shoved Nicky onto the seat. She slid in after him and slammed the door shut.
Tires screeched as Gray shoved the car into reverse. The car jerked from side to side as it backed off the sidewalk. Loud honking sounded all around them. Alex clasped Nicky tightly in her arms. The car rocketed forward, flinging them back against the seat.
“Get down!” Gray yelled to Alex over his shoulder. “Dom, chase those assholes down. Do not let them get away.”
“Ten-four,” Alex heard over the police radio. “Those boys took off in the other direction.”
Hunkered low in the seat as she and Nicky were, Alex couldn’t see where they were headed but felt the car weave in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed. It was all she could do to keep them both from landing on the floor.
A few minutes later, the car picked up more speed, no longer shifting lanes. Looking over Gray’s shoulder, she could see they were racing up the West Side Highway.
“Mommy, what’s going on?” Nicky’s worried face stared up at her.
“Shhh, baby. It’s all right.” She stroked his hair, holding him protectively against her. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“You’ve got company,” Alex heard Dom announce over the radio. “White van closing fast. Assholes made it to their wheels before I could stop them.”
“Shit.” Gray glanced again in his rearview mirror. “Alex, get on the floor and don’t get up until I say so.”
She did as he commanded, sliding to the floor of the sedan, hugging Nicky to her. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry. It will be okay, I promise.”
Alex prayed she would actually be able to keep that promise. She had to trust that Gray would protect them. And she did. No matter what, she believed in him, that he would fight to the death to keep her and Nicky safe. Even with everything that had come between them, that was his way.
The car picked up more speed, occasionally swerving left and right. A moment later, she heard gunshots. She knew the sound from when she lived in the Bronx, where gunshots were a weekly occurrence.
Next a loud boom. An explosion?
The radio crackled with Dom’s voice. “Threat neutralized. The van took a dive over the guardrail. I got this. Keep going.”
“Ten-four, you good?” Gray’s voice was eerily calm, given the circumstances.
The radio squawked. “Good as gold.”
Gray looked down to where Alex and Nicky were huddled on the floor of the car. “You can get up now.”
Tentatively, Alex pushed herself upright, pulling Nicky with her onto the seat. Big brown eyes looked up at her as she stroked a lock of hair from Nicky’s forehead. “Are you all right, sweetie?”
Nicky nodded and hugged her tightly. She helped him out of his backpack then eased him onto her lap, rocking him in her arms. She sucked in a shaky breath then turned in the seat to look behind her. A plume of gray smoke spiraled upward from around a bend in the highway. “What happened back there?”
“They chased us,” Gray said as he changed lanes. “That’s why they bolted when I picked you up, so they could get their wheels. The van went over the guardrail.”
Alex met Gray’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Are they—are they dead?”
“Maybe.”
Slowly but surely, the full impact of Gray’s words seeped in. Two men tried to hurt her and Nicky.
Now they might be dead.
Chapter Twelve
As soon as Gray felt it was safe, they stopped at a rest area on the New York State Thruway.
Alex buckled Nicky into the brand-new child seat Gray had purchased yesterday morning. With Alex sitting beside him in the front passenger seat, he took his first easy breath all day.
They were safe. For now. Shit, but he’d almost lost them. The thought had him gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.
His mind sped to that dark, dark place, so many years ago in Afghanistan. He’d never expected to ever feel that same helplessness again. The same depth and intensity of anger.
He felt it now.
When Alex’s text message had come through on his cell phone, all he could think of was getting to her no matter the cost. And when he’d seen those two goons following her, he’d been ready to take out some major Pyramid ass.
“Thank you for the car seat.” Alex’s voice brought him back to the here and now. “I never thought to bring that up.”
“I didn’t, either.” He glanced into the backseat where Nicky was fast asleep. “Cassie suggested it. Two months pregnant and she’s already in all-out maternal mode. She thought you might not have one since you live in the city without a car.”
“It was very thoughtful of her.” Alex smiled. “As soon as I found out I was pregnant everything I did and all I ever thought about was my unborn child.”
Gray imagined Alex’s belly swollen and pregnant with his child. His child? The unexpected thought had him nearly driving into the guardrail. He swerved back into the center of the lane.
Where the hell did that come from? And what’s with this crazy-ass protective urge to kill for her?
Was it basic cop instinct, or something else? Damn but his feelings for her wouldn’t go away.
Focus, Yates.
Now was not the time to lose professional perspective.
He looked at Alex. “Tell me exactly what happened from the moment you left your apartment this morning, and don’t leave anything out.”
“We were being followed even before we went down the stairs to the subway platform,” she said in a shaky voice. “I wasn’t sure at first, but there was something about those men. The one wearing a woolen cap seemed oddly focused on us.”
“Your instincts were right.” When he glanced at her, she licked her lips, reminding him how sweet they tasted. How lush and warm and wet they’d been when he’
d kissed her so thoroughly less than six hours ago.
“They were walking together,” Alex continued in a trembling voice, “but when I noticed them again, they were coming from different directions on the subway car. It was like they were cornering us. Then they moved in closer. When Nicky and I were standing at the subway door, they came up behind us.”
“They’re gone.” Gray glanced at her, taking in her tightly clasped hands. He touched her cheek with his fingers. Her skin was soft, smooth, and warm. “I won’t let them hurt you.” Worried blue eyes met his, and his chest tightened. He jerked his hand away. “What happened next?”
She took a shuddering breath. “The man with the woolen cap whispered in my ear.”
“What did he say?”
“I remember exactly what he said. I’ll never forget it.” Again her voice trembled, but this time with anger. “He said to go with them and not to make a scene.”
Gray raised his brows. “Did you say anything back to him?”
“I said not to touch me, and not to touch my son. He told me that if I valued my son’s life, to do as he said.”
Gray sensed there was more to the conversation. “What did you say next?”
Alex jutted her chin. “I told him to fuck off.”
Despite the gravity of the situation and the fear she must have experienced, Gray almost snorted. In the time she’d worked at the precinct, he’d never heard her curse.
“Then what happened?” he asked.
“The doors opened, and I started screaming for help.”
Gray glanced at her. “Did they try to grab you?”
“Yes.” From the corner of his eye, he caught her nodding. “But we got away.”
Again, he found himself gripping the steering wheel tightly. The idea of another man laying hands on her—for any reason—ignited a fury in him that threatened to spiral out of control.
Control was something he was known for in the NYPD, but that all went to shit where Alex was concerned. Focusing on the scenery whizzing by was the only thing keeping him from plowing his fist through the roof of the car.