Eleanor Perkins was a hell of a woman.
“Ellie, wait.”
She turned to look at him, her hand already on the doorknob. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said, his heart contracting with fear as he thought about what the Midland cops could do to her. “Maybe you should stay here.”
She watched him steadily. “I trust you to keep me safe, Michael. And you need someone to help you. I’m not staying behind.”
He hoped God would forgive him for the relief that flooded him. And he didn’t even want to think about the sense of rightness that filled him at the thought of Ellie by his side. “This is your last chance to be safe.”
“You’re wasting time, Reilly.” Her eyes sparked at him. “I thought we had a lot to do today.”
“That’s my Ellie. Nag, nag, nag,” he said, but his spirits lifted. He knew it was wrong, knew it was dangerous, but he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her behind. “Okay, let’s go.”
As they drove toward Chicago, Michael outlined a plan. “We’ll stop somewhere on the outskirts of the city and change the way we look. Then we’ll head toward the Loop and watch the FBI office for a while.” He smiled grimly. “If any trash from Mid land is floating around Chicago, that’s where it will land.”
More than three hours later they approached the Windy City. At first new clusters of houses appeared scattered among the farms. Then the farms disappeared completely, replaced by strip malls and office buildings. When he saw a large shopping center, he pulled the car into the parking lot.
“I think we can get everything we need to disguise ourselves here,” he said, pulling into a parking spot.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Nothing yet.” He gave her a cocky grin. “I’m going to go with my intuition.”
To his surprise, she didn’t give him a smart answer.
With a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes, she said, “I’ll have to trust you. You’re the one who’s done this before.”
He frowned and looked at her more closely. “Are you scared?”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “A little, I guess.”
“This from the woman who was willing to take on a bunch of cops with guns in Pinckney?” He took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward his as an unexpected wave of tenderness swept over him.
She didn’t look away, but she didn’t come back with a quick answer. After a moment she nodded slowly. “I guess I am. Now that we’re in Chicago anything can happen. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Let me get this straight,” he said, incredulous. “You’re afraid I’m going to get hurt? What about yourself? Aren’t you at least a little worried about your own safety?”
She managed a wan smile. “I know you too well, Reilly. You’ll think of some way to keep me tucked away, safe and sound out of the action, while you meet with the FBI agent and hand over your information. The closest I’m going to come to any danger is the sound of Chicago traffic outside a window somewhere.”
“And there’s something wrong with that?”
“You’ll be on your own. There won’t be anyone to help you.”
“I’m used to being on my own,” he said.
She gave him a steady look laced with sadness and resignation. “I know. Believe me, I realize that.”
He wasn’t sure why her eyes filled with pain. But he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. “I need all the help I can get here, Ellie. And I won’t be shy about asking for it.”
“All right,” she said, but the expression on her face said she didn’t believe him.
That was too bad. His first priority was keeping her safe.
He froze, still holding on to her, and looked at her as panic raced through his veins. It was more important to him to keep Ellie safe than to bring the Midland cops to justice.
“Let’s go,” he said, his voice brusque. “We need to find a Chicago newspaper and see if the story ran here.”
They hurried into the mall and he steered them to ward a coffee shop. Sitting in a corner with cups of coffee and sandwiches in front of them, he pulled out the newspapers they’d bought.
“There are pictures, but they’re small.”
He glanced from the photo to Ellie, then back again. Finally he set the newspaper aside. “If we change my look, and your face and hair, the average Joe won’t recognize us.”
Self-consciously she touched the knot of hair she’d twisted up on her head that morning. “Should I undo it?” She pushed her glasses up her nose, a habit that seemed to be unconscious. “And there’s not much I can do about my face. I’m not willing to have plastic surgery, even for you.”
He grinned. “Plastic surgery won’t be necessary.” He leaned across the table and ran a finger down her nose. “It would be a crime to tamper with this face. No, what I have in mind is much simpler.”
FOUR HOURS LATER Ellie stood in front of a mirror in one of the department stores, struck dumb by the appearance of the woman who looked back at her. She’d had no idea what had been hidden beneath her long hair, glasses and frumpy clothes.
Their first stop had been the one-hour optometrist’s office in the mall, where she’d been fitted with contact lenses. Then they’d gone to the salon.
An hour later she’d emerged with a short, shaggy haircut that feathered around her face. Subtle highlights made her hair glow with a golden sheen. The haircut had somehow made her eyes look enormous and her cheekbones high and mysterious.
Now, wearing the clothes Michael had picked out for her, she hardly recognized herself. She wore her usual brand of jeans, but a size smaller than normal. Red sneakers and a tight red T-shirt stood out like beacons in the night. Bright red lipstick made her mouth look sexy and pouty, and she wore a flashy set of fake diamond earrings and a rock on a chain around her neck that would have looked gaudy on a streetwalker.
Michael grinned at her in the mirror. “What do you think?”
“I think…” She couldn’t drag her gaze away from her image. “I think I don’t know this woman.”
“Sure you do, Ellie. She’s the woman I’ve gotten to know the last few days. Now she just looks the part.”
“You think I’m a—a high-priced tart who’s one step above standing on a street corner?” she sputtered.
His laugh rumbled from his throat and curled around her heart. “Hell, no. I’m not talking about the makeup and the jewelry and the tight clothes. That’s just the flash, what we want people to remember.”
He touched one finger to her cheek. “I’m talking about the sexy, beautiful woman I see in the mirror. The woman who should realize how gorgeous she is.”
He was completely sincere. Tears prickled in her eyes, and this time she didn’t worry that he would see her cry.
“No one’s ever called me sexy or beautiful before.”
His smile faded. “Then you’ve known only idiots. I can’t believe no one ever told you how lovely you are. All they had to do was look.”
No one had ever taken the time to look.
She glanced down at herself, her gaze lingering on the red sneakers. “I think it’s the shoes,” she said, trying to lighten the mood. “I never thought of myself as a red-shoe kind of person.”
“That’s where you were wrong,” he said, his eyes crinkling in a grin. “Ellie Perkins is definitely a red-shoe kind of woman.”
She raised her head to give him a watery grin. “Then let’s go kick some butt with my new red shoes.”
Laughing, he leaned forward and pressed a quick, hard kiss on her mouth. “That’s my Ellie.”
As they headed out of the mall she looked at the three small bags he carried. “I can’t wait to see the new Michael Reilly.”
He draped an arm over her shoulder. “Honey, he will be the perfect match for the new Ellie Perkins.”
By four o’clock, they were safely registered in an other anonymous motel and she was waiting for the new Michael t
o emerge from the bathroom.
When the door opened, she actually felt her jaw drop. Michael came out wearing baggy jeans and flashy leather sneakers with the laces left untied. It was the uniform of hip young men in any large city. His T-shirt was large and loose, but the most startling transformation was his hair.
Instead of black and wavy, he’d cut it short and gelled it into spikes. It was also now bright yellow, the artificial blond she’d seen on rap stars on television and teenagers in Midland. It made him look at least ten years younger.
He grinned at her reaction, then reached up and settled a baseball cap backward over his hair. The transformation to street punk was complete.
“What do you think? We make a good pair, don’t we?”
“The hooker and the gangster,” she said dryly. “I feel like I’ve just stepped out of a music video.”
He pulled the hat off and tossed it on the bed, then ran his hand through his short, stiff hair. “That’s the point. Trust me, honey, a hooker and a gangster are the last two people the Midland cops will be looking for. No one is going to mistake us for a librarian and a cop.”
A reckless excitement hummed through her. “Then let’s go and stake out the joint.”
At six o’clock they sat in a window booth in a small coffee shop down the street from the federal building in Chicago. They had a good view of the foot traffic in and out of the place, as well as a view down Dearborn Street in both directions. Tension hummed through Michael, the same edgy energy she’d felt when he’d confronted his partner in Midland.
“Do you see anything?” she asked.
“Not a thing.”
She watched his gaze sweep up and down the street, cataloging everything he saw. He ate as he watched, but she was sure he didn’t taste a thing.
Suddenly he sat up and dropped his sandwich. “There they are.”
“Where?” She leaned forward, peering out the window.
“Walking into the building.”
She saw the backs of three men entering the building. “Are you sure? You couldn’t have gotten a very good look at them.”
“I’m sure.” His voice was grim and he pushed his plate away. “I know all three of them.”
“What do we do now?”
“We sit here and wait for them to come back out.”
A half hour later the three officers emerged from the building. Michael waited long enough to see which way they were heading, then he threw some money on the table and hurried out the door with Ellie. The cops were half a block in front of them.
The uniforms made it easy to follow them. The trio bobbed and weaved through the evening rush-hour crowd until they turned a corner and headed for a parking garage. Once they disappeared, she and Michael crossed the street and made sure there was only one exit from the structure.
“Come over here,” he said, taking her arm and leading her to a recessed doorway. “Now pretend we’re having a disagreement.”
She stood facing him, her mind completely blank. How did a person fake an argument? “I can’t think of a thing to say,” she finally admitted.
He gave her one of his lopsided grins. “I guess I can understand that. It’s hard for most people to find any flaws in me.”
Although she saw exactly what he was doing, she responded, anyway. “Now there’s a remark I could argue with.”
He laughed under his breath. “That’s one of the things I like about you, Ellie. You’re so predictable.”
He froze as they heard the sound of a car leaving the parking garage. He immediately scowled and leaned forward in a threatening pose. The sudden transformation was startling. “Tell me I’m a complete loser. And don’t hold back. Use that vivid imagination of yours. Pretend that I’ve cheated on you and stolen from you and smacked you around. And you’ve suddenly gotten the strength to walk away from me.”
She took a deep breath and tried to imagine what she would say in that situation. “You’re more disgusting than something a dog would leave on the sidewalk,” she said, leaning toward him and allowing the words to flow out of her mouth. “Don’t you dare come near me again. If I see you I’ll kick your rear end into the middle of next week.”
As Michael leaned toward her, snarling, a car zoomed out of the parking structure. His eyes followed it until it rounded the corner.
When the vehicle was out of sight he drew in a deep breath and stepped back, taking her hand. “Well done,” he said, smiling. “And remind me never to get on the wrong side of you.” He glanced down at her red shoes. “I don’t want to be on the receiving end of those things.”
Ellie realized she was shaking. “Do you think they noticed us?”
“Nope,” he said, taking her hand as they walked back toward the elevated train. Michael had parked the car at a station close to their motel and they’d taken the L in case someone knew what they were driving. “They didn’t give us a second look. Stupid bastards.”
“Why stupid?”
“They should have been watching everything, noticing everyone around them. But I guess they’ve gotten too arrogant to think they could be taken down.” He smiled grimly. “That’s why they’re stupid bastards.”
Suddenly he tensed and stared straight ahead. After a moment he grabbed her hand and yanked her into an alley. Then he pressed her up against the wall, fastened his mouth to hers and shoved his hand up her T-shirt.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THERE WAS NO PASSION in the kiss, no feeling. She tasted only tension and strain and knew the kiss was for show. But desire still fluttered inside her and she wrapped her arms around him and curled one leg around his thigh. She felt her touch jolt through his system, and his hand trembled on her belly. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he lifted his head.
“Let’s go,” he muttered, pulling her down the alley away from the street.
Garbage littered the cracked asphalt, and the smell of rotting food saturated the air. Out of the corner of her eye she saw small animals scurry beneath the dumpsters, and she tightened her grip on Michael’s hand.
Watching her feet, she darted around the broken bottles, crushed cans and scraps of cardboard that littered the alley. When Michael stopped suddenly, she bumped into the solid wall of his back.
“Stay here,” he whispered, pushing her into a narrow seam between two buildings. “And make sure you’re hidden.”
The space was barely wide enough to hold her, but she edged her way into it. Michael disappeared from view and she strained to listen.
She heard nothing beyond the normal sounds of traffic—the roar of engines, horns honking and brakes squealing. Five minutes passed, then ten.
She was just about to burst from the crack and go look for him when he reappeared in front of her. “Let’s go,” he said, his voice normal.
“What happened?”
“Not now.”
He hurried them to the elevated train platform, then stood at the back of the crowd, watching everyone around them. His face was hard and set, his eyes cold and penetrating. There was no trace of the easygoing Michael. He was a hunter, she realized uneasily. And he was waiting for his prey.
When the train pulled into the station, he led her to the door and paused for a few moments as he scanned the passengers. Apparently satisfied, he pulled her along behind him as he wove his way through the people crowding the aisles of the train.
As they pulled out of the station the train swayed from side to side, and she leaned into Michael. “What happened back there at the parking garage? Why did we duck into that alley?” she murmured into his ear. The clatter of the wheels on the tracks was so loud that she wasn’t afraid of being overheard.
“I saw two more of them. Apparently they’d stayed behind the first three to make sure they weren’t followed.” His mouth tightened. “Maybe they’re not as stupid as I thought.”
“Did they see us?” she asked, clutching his hand more tightly.
“Oh yeah, they saw us all right.” His voice was dry. “
They could hardly miss us. I had my hand up your shirt and my tongue down your throat. But I don’t think they recognized us. They didn’t give us a second glance.”
“So they don’t know we’re here?”
His face tightened. “I didn’t say that. We have to assume they know we’re in Chicago. Or at least that we’re heading in this direction. Why else would they be afraid of being followed?”
She gnawed at her lower lip. “Are we going to go ahead with the meeting tomorrow?”
“We don’t have a choice. The longer we wait, the more chances they have to catch up with us. You’re not going to be safe until that information is in the hands of the FBI.”
“And you won’t be safe until then, either.”
“I still won’t be safe,” he said, his voice flat.
“Without me as a witness, a lot of that information is worthless. And I’m the only eyewitness to the murder of Rueben. They’re going to need to get rid of me, too.”
“What will you do?” she asked. She braced herself for his answer.
“The FBI has a lot of safe houses. I’ll stay in one of those.”
The pain in her heart was so swift and so intense that she pressed her hand to her chest. He would disappear after tomorrow and she’d never see him again.
Of course he would disappear tomorrow, she told herself sharply. She’d known it all along. What was the matter with her?
She knew perfectly well what had happened to her.
The last two days with him and the night of passion they’d shared had changed her forever. It had opened up a whole new world for her, showing her what lovemaking could be when two people cared about one another.
At least be honest with yourself, she told herself brutally. You’re in love with Michael and you know it.
The problem was, he wasn’t in love with her. She knew it and still she’d woven daydreams about happily ever after. Well, that fantasy ended tomorrow. And then it was back to Eleanor Perkins, frumpy children’s librarian.
Two on the Run (Harlequin Super Romance) Page 18