SLEEPER (Crossfire Series)

by Gennita Low

  She’d come to her senses then. Now she wasn’t sure what she was going to do next. She’d deliberately kept her relationships as brief and noncommittal as possible, and even though she understood why now, it was still something she wasn’t proud of. It’d been so easy in the past; if she’d felt a bit out of kilter or if she’d seen one too many sexually battered girls, she’d gone out and found someone to sexually dominate. It was as if she’d won a battle, if not the war. She closed her eyes for a second. Except the last time she became intimate with a man, she’d felt something more…and then, the cell phone had rung….

  Cold air beat at her face. They made their way to the entrance, by the coatroom. She gave the girl her claim ticket.

  “Are you parked nearby?” Reed asked.

  “I took the metro,” she said.

  “I came in my car,” he said. “It’s not parked very far from here, by the bridge.”

  He was so matter-of-fact about it. “Who said I’m coming with you?” she asked, annoyed.

  He helped her into her jacket. “Changed your mind? I thought we had an agreement.”

  She turned around, cocking her head to one side as she buttoned her coat. “Really? And what’s this agreement?” Men assumed so much, she mused.

  “That we’re going somewhere private. That you’ll let me call the shots,” he said, his voice suddenly low, with that American drawl that was both sexy and arrogant.

  She hadn’t been able to tell before, but his eyes were a mixture of blue and gray. Everything about this man was a mixture. The dance exhibitionist and the polite boy who opened doors and helped women into coats. The hot desire in his kiss and the reserved coolness in the way he’d pushed her away.

  “I don’t let anyone call the shots,” she told him.

  “Then we have a problem, since you want something from me,” he said. He bent and lifted the weight of the bag dangling in her hand, bounced it several times, and added softly, “and you have something I want.”

  Lily had spent most of her life in the company of men who gave crudity a whole new meaning. No one had ever aroused her interest with such a simple suggestive line before. But then, in the past, she hadn’t been willing to give any man what she had.

  It occurred to her she wasn’t feeling the usual disgust that always popped up when a man talked to her this way. She searched his face, looking for an answer. That’s when she noticed the traveling red dot that was moving along the wall, then across his chest, looking for a target.

  She didn’t have time to shout a warning. Lily pushed Reed to one side as hard as she could, and they both crashed against the entrance door.

  * * *

  Reed slammed into hard wood. Someone who had been behind him screamed in pain. A quick glance. He registered the splatter of blood on her clothes before people got in the way. The noise level rose as some of them realized the woman had been shot and everyone started to panic.

  He took hold of Lily’s hand so as not to lose her, and, pushing the door, he got out of the crushing humanity. Others followed them into the cold night air.

  “How did you know?” he asked, his warm breath coming out in puffs of vapor.

  “Someone’s using a laser sight.”

  Another person screamed. Reed immediately tugged Lily back into the crowd. Someone was target shooting and he had a bad feeling it wasn’t random.

  “Run,” he ordered.

  “Where?”

  Somewhere dark, where they wouldn’t be easy targets. “We’re sitting ducks if we stay out here,” he said and began to run into the dark alley by the club.

  “That wasn’t us, Reed,” Nikki’s voice suddenly came in his earpiece. “Are you sure you’re the target?”

  “Yes,” Reed replied. “They were standing close to us.”

  “What?” Lily asked as she kept up with him.

  “I said two people were hit. Do you think we’re being followed?”

  “I don’t know,” Lily answered.

  But Reed wasn’t really talking to her. If someone was after them, he was going to need Nikki’s and Amber’s help to protect Lily. Except for a small firearm, he didn’t have any other weapons on him.

  “T’s checking the situation right now.”

  He looked back. The distinct glare of a flashlight lit up parts of the darkness.

  “I think my question just got answered.” He took out his weapon. He didn’t appreciate being on the other end of a hunt.

  “I have a small weapon too,” Lily said. “There might be more than one assailant.”

  “Stay behind me,” he said, hoping she would be one of those females who didn’t get riled up at being told what to do. He didn’t want anyone in front of him when he sighted his target.

  She didn’t say anything. He slowly moved forward, gliding along the wall, watching the spotlight move closer as it searched one side of the alley and then the other. He pulled a crumbled piece from the wall. He counted to ten as he gauged where the target was, then threw the piece in the opposite direction. The beam of light immediately swung toward the sound.

  Reed dove forward and did a body roll. He started shooting, the blasts from his semiautomatic reverberating back and forth against the alley walls. The flashlight did a crazy flip and landed on the ground in several bounces as his bullets connected. His target was down. Gasps of pain echoed eerily.

  Reed got on his feet and bent to pick up the flashlight. His target, a male, tried to get up. He stepped on the man’s arm as he shone the light on the man’s face. He didn’t recognize him. “Who are you?”

  “We’re sending T out there to pick him up,” Nikki said in his ear.

  Lily came up beside him. “I don’t know him.”

  As she bent down to inspect him, another shot rang out and she yelped. Reed immediately tossed away the flashlight. He couldn’t see where she’d been hit; not wanting to waste time, he swung her over his shoulder and took off in the opposite direction from the shot. He hoped no one was on the other side of the alley.

  “Another shooter,” he reported, running as fast as he could. He hoped T was okay. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m alive,” Lily said, “but it’s hard to breathe upside down, Reed. Put me down.”

  “In a minute.” He looked around when he reached the end of the alley. He slid Lily off his shoulder. “Tell me where you’ve been hit.”

  “No time. Let’s get out of here first.” She started running across the street. “You said your car is parked somewhere. Anywhere near here?”

  “See that little bridge? Over there.” She seemed to be running fine. Reed caught up with her. “When we reach the other side, dodge around the parked cars for protection.”

  Spoken too soon. The words had scarcely left his lips when a car skidded into view, moving at a speed that spelled ‘Coming at you, stupid.’

  “Run, run, run!” he yelled.

  They raced hard toward the bridge, their shoes clacking on the wet cobbled road. They had almost reached the other side when the car accelerated even more, its tires screeching like banshees. It was coming straight for them.

  Lily veered off to the left. The car careened in her direction.

  “Get away while you can!” she yelled. “They’re after me!”

  As if he would actually abandon her and let some car run her over. Reed followed in her direction and grabbed her hand. They reached the edge of the embankment. There wasn’t any option left at this point. They plunged into the darkness together.

  CHAPTER 6

  I’m going to die.

  Years ago, egged on by her older friends, Lily had jumped off the highest diving board at the local swimming pool. She remembered the feeling of indecision that split second before the running leap into the open air, twenty meters above the water. She hadn’t known anything but the doggy-paddle at that time. She’d almost drowned.

  She felt herself tumbling in the air, her stomach left somewhere above her, her hands flailing and grasping at nothi
ng. She thought she heard herself yelling, but she wasn’t sure, since everything was masked by some loud drum beating in her head.

  The splash into the water was painful. The water was icy cold, soaking through her jacket immediately, as she sank deeply. She opened her eyes. She couldn’t see anything. Her hair was caught on something. Holding her breath, she clawed at the darkness, kicking hard with her feet. It was a losing fight—her clothes had become too heavy.

  Her breath released in desperate bubbles as she pulled at the jacket on her body. She took in several inadvertent mouthfuls of water and choked. In desperation, she reached up and found air. Her hands were above water.

  Air!…She kicked as hard as she could. Come on, Lily, kick harder. But that precious air was out of reach and her strength was disappearing fast. The water felt like thick molasses. She took another swallow of water, and, choking, out of air, she began to sink again.

  Something pulled hard and suddenly Lily’s head was above water. She gasped as air filled her lungs. She coughed out water. Oh God, air. She struggled to stay afloat.

  “Hang on, don’t struggle.” She recognized Reed’s voice, even though she couldn’t see anything. “I’ve got you. Just let go. I’ve got you.”

  But she was sinking and her body refused to obey as she panicked. She desperately clung to the body next to her, thrashing at the water that seemed determined to pull her back in.

  “I’ve got you,” she heard a voice keep repeating. Why couldn’t she see anything? Why couldn’t she move? She had to get out. She didn’t want to die. She pushed hard at Reed, trying to climb on top of him.

  Somehow, he evaded her. She sank into the dark water again. Oh God, no. Then she was pulled back out. Reed was behind her this time and she couldn’t get at him. Exhausted, she finally went still.

  She didn’t know how long it took them to reach the riverbank. A voice was murmuring in her ear, but she couldn’t make out the words. Then she was hauled up against something solid. She opened her eyes. There was light and she could see again.

  “Shhhh,” the voice said.

  She coughed out water, her hands finally finding something she could hang on to. She laid her cheek against it as she tried to calm her racing heart and thoughts.

  Reed’s body covered hers from behind. It was strangely comforting, even though she couldn’t really feel anything. “Shhh…” he repeated. “Stay quiet. I don’t know what happened to the car that was coming at us. They could be up there looking for us.”

  His voice was so unflustered, the quiet words cutting through her emotions. Lily drew in more air, her breath coming out in short little gasps. Stay quiet. She could do that. Even though she felt like screaming and crying.

  She drew in another breath. She was in danger. She hadn’t felt so helpless and afraid in years, when those men had…Her eyes opened wide. Oh no. She wouldn’t go back to those memories just because she was frightened. She clenched her fists around clumps of roots and plants. Pull yourself together, Lily. She willed her breath to stop laboring.

  “I don’t hear or see anything,” Reed said, after what seemed like an eternity. “There isn’t time to be careful. We’ve got to get out of the water or freeze to death. Here, step on my knee and climb out.”

  Lily tried to pull herself up, but her soaked clothing impeded her. She found Reed’s braced knee in the water and used it as support, climbing out slowly. Her water-logged jacket weighed about a thousand pounds. She stood up on land and stared at the puddle forming at her feet. She’d lost one shoe.

  She heard Reed climbing out behind her, and she turned slowly, like some old, dawdling woman. Mud and dirt plastered every inch of him. His clothes were an unrecognizable brown. She probably didn’t look much better as she watched him peel his jacket off and struggle with his jeans.

  “What…are you doing?” Her teeth were clattering.

  “Trying to get the car keys out of my jeans,” he said, working his fingers into his wet pockets. She realized that she’d spoken in Croatian and he was answering in English. “We’re right under the bridge, so my car isn’t very far away, if it’s still there.”

  Lily marveled at his absolute control, as if he jumped from a bridge and swam in a muddy river all the time, whereas all she seemed to be able to do was admire her dirty clothes. She hugged herself. It was chilly.

  She heard sirens in the distance. “Do you think someone called the police?” she asked, reverting back to English.

  “Probably. There were some shootings at the club, remember?” He pulled out the keys. “Got them.”

  “I don’t want them to find me,” she told him. She didn’t want to explain anything to the police.

  He looked at her. “If they’re at the club, they’ll be searching the alley soon.”

  She remembered the man lying there. She shook her head. “I can’t be seen.”

  “Nor can I,” he said. He offered her his hand. “Come on.”

  There was nothing else she could do. She took his hand and trudged up the steep riverbank, her shoeless foot slipping on the icy parts. She concentrated on each step, trying to ignore the bite of the cold. She shivered involuntarily.

  It took all her strength to climb the steep bank. They finally reached the street level and stood in the semidarkness. There was no sign of the other car.

  “There’s my car. The blue one. Hang on a moment.” Reed looked around. “We’ll have to hurry over to it. Just in case.”

  She understood his unspoken warning. Someone might be out there lying in wait for them. For her, she corrected. She had to keep her wits about her. Someone was after her. She nodded, then, looking at the vehicle he’d indicated, she took in a deep breath as she gathered up all her remaining strength.

  “I’m ready,” she said.

  They ran—she hobbled, really—toward the car. He opened the passenger door and she tumbled inside. He was beside her in seconds. Moments later, they were out on the road, with the heater on full blast.

  “Where were you shot?” he asked after a few minutes.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, but my shoulder hurts like hell. It can’t be serious, since I’m still talking.”

  “You’re shivering and your teeth are clattering. Your body’s concentrating on getting your body temperature back to normal right now.”

  She glanced at him. “Are you a doctor now, too?”

  His eyes gleamed at her through the mud. “I want you to slowly ease out of your jacket, then your clothes.”

  She suddenly realized her clothes were probably destroying the interior of his car. “I’m sorry,” she said, “your car—”

  “Ambrosia, your not catching a chill’s more important at the moment. Take off the damn coat.”

  “I can’t. My shoulder hurts.” It was throbbing really hard now. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t focus on anything at all. Wet coat. She played with the zipper. Cold. She moved closer to the heater. She kept tugging at the zipper, but it was stuck. Her foot…she could feel her foot again. “Where are you taking me, by the way?”

  “Somewhere safe. Lie back, close your eyes, Ambrosia. I’ll get you out of your clothes myself.”

  Lily leaned back into the seat. It actually felt good to be told what to do. She released a sigh and gave in to the pain and exhaustion.

  “Call me Lily,” she muttered, closing her eyes. She thought she heard him say her name aloud before she drifted off into welcome nothingness.

  * * *

  Greta had forgotten how easy it was to curse in German. Just add the word shit in front of everything. The person on the other end of the cell phone wasn’t happy with her report. She wasn’t too happy herself, but she had better control of her vocabulary than he did.

  Finally, she snapped the cell phone shut. She would deal with that later.

  She coldly looked at the scrawny idiot who was being held up by her two men. According to reports, he was the powerful owner of this club. He didn’t look that powerful. He was so
skinny she could break him in half. “Talk,” she ordered.

  “I don’t know anything.”

  “They tell me you broker deals. This,” she said, giving the office a sweeping glance, “club’s just a front. So, tell me what you arranged between the two of them.”

  Johnny Chic studied her for a moment. He didn’t appear to be afraid of her or her men. “I do broker deals. You must be new around here if you don’t know who I am. How did you get into my club? And how dare you cause trouble? My backers won’t appreciate the police sniffing around here tonight. A woman who’s trying to break into our kind of business should be more careful who she’s threatening.”

  Greta had half a mind to kill him. But she’d been warned that Johnny Chic had many friends in the weapons business and that killing him off would anger a few important people whose deals might be underway. Damn that Scheisskerl, Gunther. He had given her just enough information but not enough. She realized now, a little belatedly, that he wanted to get her into trouble. Men and their little power games

  This was what ten years out of real action could do to someone. She had wrongly assumed too many things.

  “I’m only interested in the blonde and the man,” she said.

  “Every woman here is a blonde. That’s a club rule,” Johnny politely pointed out. He smiled. “I love blondes.”

  She’d noticed everyone here with that strange blond wig. The loud booming music outside gave her a headache, and this man was wearing her patience thin. “I’m talking about the one who came into your office. Lily Noretski.”

  He shrugged. “I talked to nobody by that name.” He looked up again. “That name sounds familiar, though. I’ve heard it somewhere before. Perhaps you could tell me a bit more about your situation and I might help you out, but, first, you have to get these goons off me. I don’t like being manhandled.”