by Alexa Verde
Glass shattered again. Even if the kidnappers still had a use for her, James would be collateral damage for them. Soledad shuddered.
His hand stopped pressuring the back of her neck, and she dared to look up. His expression was grim, and his fingers were wrapped tight around the steering wheel. He didn’t seem to be hit, and she exhaled sharply. She couldn’t see him die.
“They won’t risk killing me now. If I lose consciousness and go off the road, they’ll risk losing you, too,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.
Her heart thumping in her ears, she glanced back. The van wasn’t far behind them, but no new shots were fired. Tires squealed as he took a sharp turn at full speed, and she held her breath. Somehow, he managed to stay on the road, and she exhaled.
“Did I mention I used to drag race in my teen years?” he commented calmly.
“N-no.” She didn’t realize her teeth were chattering until she spoke. “Only d-dirt-bike racing.” What things hadn’t he done during his rebellious teen years? Although she had to admit that some skills he’d gained were coming in handy.
He was probably pushing the maximum speed the little car could go. The road took an unexpected dip, and the vehicle went airborne.
She screamed again. The car landed, and she slumped in her seat. But then the lights illuminated a sign for another sharp turn.
“I know this road pretty well.” His voice didn’t betray any signs of worry, as if he was talking about a regular road trip on the weekend.
She clasped her shaking hands and started praying.
True to his word, James navigated the treacherous turn without visible effort. She stared straight ahead. Surprisingly, the road was deserted, but in the distance there were lights of an eighteen-wheeler, and what looked like several more eighteen-wheelers ahead.
The motor growled louder as James obviously pumped the gas. Though she didn’t think they could move any faster, the car jerked forward, eating up the distance to the eighteen-wheeler quickly.
“If I survive tonight, I don’t think I’ll ever want to ride shotgun with you again,” she whispered. Well, at least her teeth were not clattering anymore.
“I usually don’t drive like this. Hold on.”
“For what?” She bottled down the panic rising in her chest.
She guessed the answer to her question as they got closer to the eighteen-wheelers. He put on a right turn blinker.
Her gut coiled. Granted, he’d proved himself to be a skilled driver, but the distance between two eighteen-wheelers seemed miniscule. “We’re not going to fit.”
“We’ll see.”
She gave up and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were already between the eighteen-wheelers. Then the van appeared in the left lane. Obviously, the people who were after them hadn’t given up.
“Will they fire at us? Or kill the driver to stop the eighteen-wheeler?” She looked at him.
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “Let’s hope they still need you alive. If they kill the driver, and the eighteen-wheeler crashes, we might not survive, either.”
Chills ran down her back. But after some time, nothing happened, and hope rose in her chest.
“Dear Lord, please save us. Amen,” she whispered.
“Amen,” James echoed.
He called again on the car’s hands-free phone. “Logan, I have an update.” He gave the mile marker they’d just passed. “We’re going north at sixty miles per hour. No, can’t speed up. We’re between two eighteen-wheelers and have to go with the same speed. Don’t ask.” He disconnected.
So far, nobody seemed to be shooting at them, and his calmness started rubbing off on her, as well.
God was protecting them.
Sirens wailed in the distance like an answer to her prayers. Fear released its tight grasp on her.
She looked to the left. The black van wasn’t there anymore, but the blue and red lights of a police car appeared instead.
“Thank You, Lord,” she said softly.
The eighteen-wheeler pulled over to the side of the road, and the police cruiser did the same. James directed the car to the shoulder, too. It took lots of explanations before they were let go.
He traded the sedan for a different vehicle again, and the rest of the ride to the restaurant was uneventful, most likely because the police vehicle was right behind them all the time.
Adrenaline rush gone, she felt drained. He reached for her hand, and she realized that her hands still shook. But when he laced his fingers through hers, a sense of safety enveloped her like a warm blanket. She leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes, and let herself drift asleep.
* * *
Soledad woke up with a start. Something had changed. The car wasn’t moving anymore, and there was no sound of the motor. Why?
She opened her eyes and caught James staring at her. He reached out and brushed his knuckles against her cheek. Her heartbeat went into overdrive. It wasn’t fair she reacted this way every time he touched her. She looked away and noticed they were parked near the French restaurant.
“You looked peaceful when you were asleep,” he whispered.
By now, she expected something better than that. “Everybody looks peaceful when they are asleep,” she grumbled.
“Well, if I say you look beautiful, are you going to bite my head off?” His lips curved up. The lips she wanted to taste right then and there.
“No. Because I do look beautiful.” She unbuckled her seat belt.
“That’s right.” He glanced around, as if to make sure there was nothing suspicious outside, and moved closer to her. His gaze lingered on her mouth.
Her heart jumped into her throat. She. Had. To. Get. Out. The words registered in her mind, but her muscles didn’t obey. He was so close to her that she could feel his warm breath on her skin, could smell the clean scent of his aftershave. Then he stopped mere inches from her lips. She froze. Was he going to change his mind?
He looked into her eyes. “What do you want, Soledad?”
She felt as if she wouldn’t be able to take another breath if he wouldn’t kiss her right then and there. “I want you to kiss me.” She parted her lips, anticipation sending a delicious tremble through her body.
When their lips met, her bones went soft and she felt she could dissolve into the air. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her entire body responded to his kiss. She didn’t notice who moved away first, and she didn’t want to let the feeling go. She’d never experienced anything like that before. But then, she’d never met a man like James before.
She opened her eyes.
There was so much longing in his eyes. “Soledad… That was… amazing. You do take my breath away.”
That just did it. The last layer of protection around her heart disappeared, and she could do nothing about it.
As she entered the restaurant, she felt a sting of guilt. Helping her father should be her first priority, not falling for an elusive PI who’d escape to his big city as soon as the investigation was over. She resisted the urge to touch her lips. She’d been right the first time around. His kiss was the taste of danger.
The scents of fried and grilled food assaulted her senses. A waitress led them to their table, her smile, directed at James, brighter than a hundred-watt lamp. As soon as they were seated, with his back facing the wall, of course, Soledad studied the menu, avoiding looking at him.
She needn’t have worried. He got up from his seat and disappeared down the hall. He returned soon, right before the waitress came back with their drinks.
“Gumbo, please.” Soledad settled on something she could recognize.
“Steak, please. Well done. A loaded potato and a salad,” James said.
She raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound French.”
“I’m willing to try frogs if you do.” He grinned.
She felt as if steam could come out of her ears. “No, thanks. Have your steak.” She took a sip of her lemonade, welcoming its cold, tangy taste.
&n
bsp; The waitress left, and Soledad asked him, “What were you doing? Charming the waitress?”
“You could put it that way.” He grinned again.
She almost choked on her lemonade and coughed profusely. “Excuse me?”
“Thanks to my charm, we have the home address for Flor Sparrow.”
“Um, okay, thank you.” She took another sip to cool down. She couldn’t choose the circumstances, but she could choose her attitude toward them. With a “gift of a thousand minutes,” she preferred not to waste any of them on jealousy.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
“Then we’d better leave now.” Her empty stomach protested.
“It would look suspicious. We might as well eat.”
The waitress appeared with the tray, as well as a smile the size of Texas. As soon as she placed the plates on the table and left, Soledad bowed her head.
She said grace.
“Amen,” James whispered.
She lifted her head and smiled at him, glad he’d become a believer again.
He leaned forward. “Soledad, I care about you. More than I should. But keeping you safe is my job. If I’m blinded by my attraction to you, I can’t do it well.”
Her heart stopped for a moment and then started beating fast. She stared at him, afraid to believe her own ears. But had he said the same words to many women before her? Would he say them to many women after her, as well?
The pause stretched.
“How’s your gumbo?” he asked, obviously changing the conversation.
She took a forkful and gasped as fire erupted in her mouth. She grabbed the glass with the lemonade and gulped down half of it. “Spicy. Looks like a strong influence of Cajun cuisine here.” Apparently, familiar didn’t mean something that worked for her. “How’s your steak?”
He was polishing off his steak and potato with gusto. “Great. Look on the bright side. In some countries in Africa, they eat fried insects.”
“Yikes. I should be grateful for what I have.” She put a dent in her salad, and they finished their food quickly. He left the payment and a generous tip on the table, and they were out of the restaurant in no time.
She glanced at the sky. Heavy clouds hung close to the ground, and the air was cool and humid. It was dark, and so were her thoughts.
They were running out of time.
* * *
James knocked on the door of a small cottage-style home a short distance from the restaurant. Nobody answered. He knocked again. The peach-colored paint peeled in some places, and the white railing on the porch could use a touch-up. A wrought iron bench had seen better days, and withering potted plants needed the rain that, judging by the clouds, threatened to fall later. The owner of the house, however, didn’t seem to be arriving anytime soon.
James knocked on the door again, getting impatient.
Finally, some scuffling reached them from inside the house, and the door opened. A short fifty-something woman in a bathrobe, her salt-and-pepper hair in disarray, studied them. Holding a baby bottle in her right hand, she pressed the finger of her other hand to her lips.
“Quiet,” she whispered. “The baby is asleep.”
He lowered his voice. “We won’t take much time. We’re looking for a missing person.” He showed her his Texas PI license. “I’m James O’Hara, and this is Soledad Sokolova. Are you Flor Sparrow? Could we talk to you for a minute?”
The woman hesitated.
“Please?” Soledad pleaded. “The missing person is my father. Please help us?”
Compassion flashed in the woman’s eyes. “Okay, but only for a minute. Yep, I’m Flor Sparrow.” The woman wobbled inside. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I need to warm up the bottle and grab a bite before the baby wakes up.”
They entered. He swept his glance over the dark hall and living room with toys on the floor, ready to draw his weapon at the first sign of danger. Not finding anything suspicious, he followed Flor Sparrow to the kitchen. The place smelled like potato chips and baby formula.
While the milk was warming up, Flor Sparrow slapped together a sandwich. “My daughter just had a baby, but she’s too busy to take care of her herself.” She took a healthy bite from the sandwich and placed a handful of chips in her mouth. A crunching sound filled the kitchen. She extended the bag of chips to James and Soledad. “Would you like some?”
They both shook their heads. He pulled up Sergey’s picture on his phone. “Do you know this man?”
He watched her closely, but no recognition appeared in her dull blue eyes. “Nope.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Soledad sounded dejected, and he hated to see the line of disappointment around her mouth. The mouth he wanted so badly to kiss again…
Get a grip, man.
“Yep. I’m sure. You were right, it didn’t take long.” Flor munched on another handful of chips.
“The reason you quit your job at the restaurant… Was it because of the baby?” he asked.
“Yep. Somebody had to help out with the little treasure.” A sarcastic note in her voice notwithstanding, Flor’s eyes lit up with an undeniable love for her grandchild.
A demanding wail announced that the “little treasure” had woken up, and the woman waved to them. She was obviously in a hurry for them to get out.
“Just one more thing. You didn’t receive any suspicious or strange packages lately, did you?” he asked as he headed to the door.
“Nope.” Flor Sparrow patted Soledad’s arm. “Sorry I couldn’t help you more, honey. I hope you find your daddy.”
“Do you believe her?” Soledad asked him when they were back in the car.
“Yep. I mean, yes.” He gunned the engine, put the directions for Flor Dove in the GPS, and took off. He glanced in the rearview mirror, expecting the black van to show up, but so far they were in the clear.
She sighed. “So this was the wrong Flor.”
“Don’t be upset.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it, sending a wave of awareness through his body. He loved the taste of her lips and wanted to taste them again. Not a good idea. “We still have a list of other Flors to talk to.”
“That’s what scares me. I don’t know if we have enough time for it. Besides, what if ‘Flor’ wasn’t a clue at all?”
He frowned. He wanted the optimistic Soledad back. He navigated the car between lanes as they got closer to Austin and the traffic became thicker.
“In any investigation, it takes time to find the truth. Look at the bright side. We’re still alive, and right now nobody is shooting at us.”
The corners of her mouth curled up. “You’re right. Maybe the next Flor will have something for us.”
Her smile caused tenderness to spread inside him. But his body hummed with tiredness, and it took a tremendous effort to keep his eyes open by now. Soledad seemed to suppress a yawn.
“How about going back to the hotel and crashing for the night?” he asked.
“How about… Well, do you think it’s too late to call Alvin Eliseev?” She looked at him with such hope he couldn’t refuse her the request. Of course she wanted to meet her family.
“We can try.” He spotted a black van several cars behind him and tensed. “Maybe not right now. We have company again.”
Chapter Eleven
Soledad recalled Mari’s lessons and breathed slowly to calm her rapid pulse. She couldn’t behave like a coward. She wanted to be an equal partner to James.
“They probably won’t shoot at us here. Too many cars. Right?” she asked.
James weaved in and out of traffic. “Hopefully, they are here just to kidnap you again. You know, business as usual.”
She wished she could have his courage. “You’re always trying to look at the bright side.”
Dear Lord, please help us.
Unexpectedly, he drove through several lanes to his left, barely fitting in a space between cars. Furious honking erupted behind them, but not a muscle moved on his face. Her insides, however, were rather
shaky.
She had to overcome her fear. “I could try to shoot at them. But I’m afraid to hit an innocent driver.” She held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t take her up on her offer.
“No. Please stay where you are. In fact, keep low. And if I ask you to duck, do it immediately.” He moved one more lane to the left, getting into the exit lane. He put on his left blinker.
“Are you going to exit?” Her throat constricted. The van now was only one car behind them.
“Yes. But not where they expect us to. There’s an exit to the right soon. Is it clear on the right?”
She tensed but checked the lanes. “No. Hold on a moment… Now, go.”
He moved to the right, and an orchestra of angry honks made her wince. He passed through several lanes again and took the ramp.
The car practically flew forward, then turned to the left, went through an underpass, and now James was driving on the road parallel to the interstate highway.
“Missing a quiet day at your library?” He winked at her.
She shook her head in disbelief. Even in such a dangerous moment he was joking. “A little. So what now?”
“We’ll make sure that we lost the tail. And then we’ll trade cars again.” He took a road to the left.
He made one turn after another, and soon there were so many turns her head was spinning. Finally, they ended up in the large lot of a used cars dealership.
He turned off the engine and waved at a long row of vehicles. “Pick the one you like.”
She gestured at the car in the third row from them. “That one.”
He chuckled. “A blue sedan? Is it because it matches your eyes?”
“It’s because it has tinted windows. They won’t be able to see who’s inside,” she said defensively.
“I like your logic. Please stay in the car, lock the doors, and keep low. I’ll be right back.” He jumped out of the car.
She did as he’d requested, and seconds moved painfully slow. But instead of keeping low, she trained her gun in the direction he’d disappeared, just in case she heard gunshots erupt in the air. What was taking him so long? She checked the yellow digits of the car clock. Apparently, only three minutes had passed since he’d left.