Then the pieces fall into place. Any doubts I may have had before are wiped away. This is how they’re going to pin it on Liam: they’ve planted the bomb in his car, and creepy blond man will drive the car onto the train, pretending to be him.
Seeing as Liam isn’t here yet, and boarding is starting within the next five minutes, there’s no way he’ll get here in time to stop the attack. Instead, he’ll arrive just to take the blame. I can’t let that happen!
The scary blond man gets into Liam’s sedan and switches it on. Behind me, someone blows their horn loud enough to make me jump. Shit, I’m blocking the way and attracting attention to myself. At this rate, I’ll be spotted and ruin my element of surprise.
I pull away and straight into the other security check lane, as far away from Liam’s car as I can manage. It turns out that the Nexus guy wouldn’t have noticed me anyway, because the policeman he had just exchanged words with waves him through the barrier without even checking his car.
Meanwhile, I’m greeted by another cop who knocks on my window.
“Open your trunk, please? Routine inspection.”
Oh Jesus, you’ve got to be joking! I force a smile and hit the lever next to my foot. The policeman walks around my vehicle, inspecting it from underneath using one of those mirrors on a stick, before looking inside the back for a moment. I breathe a sigh of relief when he closes the trunk shortly after. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch up with the guy in Liam’s car and see what he’s up to now.
“Passport, please,” he says when he makes it back to my window.
A cold sweat erupts all over my body. Passport. Fuck. I hadn’t thought of this.
With shaking fingers, I grab my purse from the passenger seat and pretend to look for it in there. Think! What do I do now? They’re not going to let me through without it, and meanwhile, the Nexus guy is going to blow up the train, and I can’t do anything about it!
After wasting a few seconds with my handbag, I open the glove box and rummage around in the papers in there, while shooting the cop an apologetic smile. At least, I hope it looks apologetic and not guilty as sin.
“Brixton, help me out for a second,” someone shouts.
I look up to find another cop waving at the one waiting for my passport. He excuses himself and steps towards the other barrier, giving me the chance I needed. I wait until he’s far enough away, and put my car in first, slam my foot down and race ahead.
“Oi!” the cop shouts, while turning back in my direction. He sprints ahead just as I pull away.
My engine screams, tires squeal as I try to avoid as much of the barrier as I can by aiming for the little gap towards the right. Metal from my car and the barrier come together in a horrible crash, but my car wins, sort of, and I make it through.
In the rear view mirrors, I can see the cops collecting together, shouting into their walkie-talkies as two of them get into a car parked beside the security check area to follow me. My heart is hammering in my throat, and my hands still shaking, but I don’t slow down even through the winding road heading for the waiting area.
The signs are already instructing people with my ticket to proceed to checkin, so that’s what I do. I ignore the slow speed limit and speed past slower cars exiting the parking lot. I can’t see the black sedan anywhere, but I have to assume he’s already nearing the checkin himself.
Behind me I hear sirens, but I don’t dare look back. I skid through the little roundabout, narrowly avoiding a row of traffic cones as I race ahead, following the signs towards the tunnel. Then the road opens up into at least six lanes.
I ignore the man in the high-visibility vest who is trying to guide me into a line of waiting cars; instead, I overtake all of them and head straight for the large ramp that curves around towards the train station. One line of cars is already moving, so I follow them towards what I assume must be our platform.
Frightened drivers screech to a halt all around while I zig-zag around them. Car horns go off left and right, but I don’t let them put me off.
I’m going to be in so much trouble for this! Hopefully, they’ll believe me when I tell them about the Nexus attack.
Finally, I can see the station, where car after car is already boarding the train. Just as I make it there, narrowly avoiding other vehicles waiting to get on, I see a black car vanish inside the loading area up ahead. There he is! The bastard.
The cops are on my tail and closing the distance between us fast. Their sirens are getting louder and louder.
I grip the steering tighter, determined not to fail at the last hurdle. Someone needs to stop this train, by any means necessary, or all those people are going to die. I don’t see any sign of Liam, and that asshole driving Liam’s car has already gotten on unchecked.
There is no other choice, nobody to act but me. I guess this is what they call ‘the point of no return.’ The pressure to act is immense, I can’t and won’t fight it.
Checking the rear view mirror one final time, I see the flashing blue lights of the police car right behind me. I put my right foot flat down and jump ahead towards the train, aim for the ramp, sort of. Fuck it. I close my eyes and freeze as the car lifts off slightly on the way in, then hits straight into the back wall of the train. A sharp pain shoots through my forehead, and all the world goes black.
Chapter Five : Liam
I had done my best to reach the tunnel on time, but the road works had slowed my progress significantly. By the time I arrived, there was some commotion going on at the entrance. Police were scrambling to chase someone who had broken through the barrier.
I drove inside unchecked with my siren still on and proceeded straight through towards the train terminal. Then, an ambulance raced past me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was going on had something to do with Tess. Ever since her message, I hadn’t been able to reach her. She should have stayed away, but I didn’t get the chance to convince her. I doubt I would have been able to anyway.
A sick feeling made its way into the pit of my stomach; something horrible has happened to Tess, and it’s all my fault. I put my foot down and chased the ambulance down.
We turned into the first platform, and there it was: the tail end of her old Nissan was sticking out through the open doors of the train. Shit. The cops had cordoned off the area with warning tape already, and the ambulance screeched to a halt just ahead of me.
Of course, I’d expected the worst, so seeing the two paramedics carry her out of the train on an uncovered stretcher rather than in a body bag was somewhat of a relief. I flashed my ID and insisted they let me into the back of the van with her while they administered first aid.
So that’s where I am now, watching over her while she’s passed out. Her golden hair is fanned out over the stretcher, giving the effect of a halo. She looks peaceful, except for the purple bruise on her forehead and cut on her bottom lip.
It hurts to see her like this, and I can’t do anything to help her.
“How is she?” I ask the lanky brown-haired paramedic, who doesn’t look a day over twenty-one.
“Her vitals are good; pupils are responsive. Just got bumped on the head is all. We’ll know more when she wakes up.”
I nod at him and exit the back of the van. As much as I want to just sit there with her, I have a mission to complete here. Obviously, she was trying to prevent the attack just as I was meant to, and in a moment of desperation, decided that she couldn’t stop the train any other way than to plow right into it.
If she wasn’t lying on a stretcher in the back of that ambulance right now, the situation would be almost funny.
I scan the surrounding areas for anything suspicious. For anyone or anything that looks out of place.
Up ahead by the perimeter set up by the local police, a group of bystanders has collected. Tourists and businesspeople who were hoping to reach France within the next half hour. Obviously, they’re not going anywhere for a while now, not until their vehicles can be unloaded and booked onto
another train.
Except, one of them is going somewhere. A guy in black with short-ish light-blond hair is briskly walking away from the commotion. I speed up to a jog, getting closer to him as he continues to walk without even looking back once. I’m forced to slow down when I try to cross the crowd of onlookers, at which point he does finally turn around.
Our eyes meet, he notices me just as I recognize his face. He’s almost a perfect match for the dead Nexus guy lying in the morgue back at HQ. His twin? He sprints away and jumps down onto the track ahead of the train. I follow him at full speed.
With every step, I think of Tess lying in that ambulance. She must have seen him and recognized him as well and done her best to stop whatever he was up to. Now it’s up to me to finish the job. I run as fast as my feet will carry me, spurred on by the thought that I owe it to her to catch this motherfucker.
He’s not an easy target. Clearly well trained, extremely fit and quick on his feet, he jumps up onto the next platform and resumes running at full speed. I summon all I’ve got left in me and make it up onto the platform just behind him, channeling all my energy into my legs. The gap between us closes, I can almost hear him pant ahead of me.
The man tries to change direction to evade me, but I jump ahead with my arms stretched out and tackle him onto the hard concrete ground. The impact hurts, despite landing mostly on him. We roll over each other a few times, partially as an effort to disorient him, as well as to avoid serious injury to my knees and shoulders hitting the ground.
“Gotcha!” I shout, while grabbing his throat and keeping him pinned on his back below me.
“You didn’t get shit,” he spits.
I loosen my fingers around his neck, while wrestling both his arms together, keeping them pinned to the ground underneath my hand which has my whole body weight resting right on top. I find my handcuffs on my belt and restrain him before he gets the chance to wriggle free.
“You wanna tell me where the bomb is, or do I have to find out for myself?” I ask. He won’t tell; I already know that. But at least I already know it’s probably in my car, somewhere inside that train.
He just grins at me, his smug face suggesting he’s either too stupid to realize that he’s lost and I’ve won, or he’s just plain crazy. Considering he’s Nexus, I’m going to assume he’s bat shit crazy.
Ignoring the sharp sting in my right knee, I get up, dragging him onto his feet beside me. We both limp back to the first platform, where I can already see one more black sedan, just like my own, parked up beside the police cars. Backup from HQ. As I get closer, I spot Clark pacing around Tess’s wrecked car. Great.
I continue to drag the suspect along with me. Whatever happens, I’m sure as hell not handing him over to Clark, the Nexus mole.
“Everson.” Clark squints at me suspiciously.
I return an equally distrustful glare. “Clark.”
“What’s happened here?” He looks at the suspect in my custody, then back at me.
“Nexus trying to blow shit up, same old.”
“Uhuh,” Clark grunts. “Funny, how Nexus seems to have a real hard-on for involving you and your girlfriend in their little plans, don’t you think?”
“Funny, indeed.” I stare at him as he stares at me. Neither of us shows signs of backing down.
Tess … I’ve got to check on Tess. I tear myself away from my little pissing contest with Clark and wrestle the suspect into my car, locking him inside.
“Nobody takes him anywhere without me, you understand?” I bark at Clark, who just shrugs in response. “I’m going to go question Tess if she’s awake, but meanwhile, there’s still a bomb on board this train, most likely planted in my regular vehicle. I suggest you guys get on that as soon as possible.”
At the mention of the word ‘bomb,’ Clark finally stops glaring at me and nods in agreement. He gets his phone out and tells Jenkins to call in the bomb squad, in case we find something that we cannot disarm ourselves. Then he gets the position of my car from Eurotunnel security.
Within moments, they start to evacuate the platform. My standin car and the ambulance are the last vehicles to be moved.
I call over the other agent who had arrived in Clark’s car and hand him my keys, asking if he can keep an eye on the suspect while I’m inside the ambulance. It’s a risk, letting the cuffed man out of my sights, but I have to see how Tess is doing.
When I open the rear doors of the ambulance and step inside, Tess is still lying there in the same position as when I had checked on her before.
“Update?” I ask the paramedic, who just shrugs.
“No change.”
I sit down and take her hand.
The ambulance jerks into motion, taking us further away from the train and towards safety. Within minutes, we’re parked up at the new perimeter and the engine is switched off again.
She looks so fragile. Her hand feels small in mine. What if she won’t wake up? What if the paramedic has missed something, and she’s in a much more serious state than he suspects?
It takes a lot for me not to panic, not to insist they check her again. It’s not rational. I shouldn’t be dictating how this guy does his job. The truth is, it’s not his fault I’m scared for her. It’s not even her fault, but my own. I involved her in all of this, and now she’s gotten hurt. Because of me.
Earlier today, I had been determined to call it quits. For her safety as well as my own self-preservation, I would let her go. I hadn’t planned on seeing her again, knowing that the moment I’d lay eyes on her, I’d feel compelled to change my mind.
How could I deny myself the feeling she instilled in me whenever we were together? The sense of belonging, the irresistible urge to try and make her smile, knowing it will light up even the darkest part of me. If she does wake up, she’ll be angry with me, and I’ll deserve it. But won’t she understand that this, right here, is exactly what I had wanted to prevent? Hopefully, she will.
She stirs, and my heart skips a whole lot of beats.
“Shhh…” I try to calm her as she struggles to open her eyes with a wild, panicked look on her face. “Don’t speak.”
Chapter Six
When I wake up, my entire body feels stiff. Where am I?
I try to open my eyes and look around but have to blink against the bright lights surrounding me. I can’t see anything clearly, just blurs of colors and blinding white. When I try to speak, my voice doesn’t sound like my own, I can only manage a pathetic croak.
“Don’t speak,” a familiar voice says.
Someone touches my hand, fingers thread through mine. Ouch, my head.
I try to reach up to see where the sharp pain is coming from but can’t lift my arm.
“I can’t…” I try to say, but the rest of the sentence doesn’t make it past my lips.
“You need to rest. You’ve been in an accident.”
I blink again a few times until finally my eyes adjust to my surroundings. Above me, a concerned pair of eyes meets my own. Beautiful, familiar, green. Dark brown hair frames that face I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since last week against a backdrop of clinical equipment and tubes and things. A hospital? No, there’s a lot of commotion nearby, as well as the occasional siren. I must be in an ambulance, still at the Eurotunnel complex.
“Liam,” I sigh.
Am I hallucinating? Is he really here? I blink at him in disbelief, half expecting that he’ll just vanish on me.
“Yes,” he answers.
“Did you get the guy? Did you secure the bomb?” I ask.
He looks away, avoiding my question. Then his eyes are fixed on mine again.
“What were you thinking? Driving your car into a train, really?” He sounds upset. Why is he upset? Did something go wrong?
I don’t know how to respond.
“I… Someone had to stop the train,” I explain at last.
“I was on my way. I had it under control,” he says. “Plus, you could have called in a bomb t
hreat, just like we had agreed at the airport last week.”
I press my lips together tightly. The pain in my forehead is getting progressively worse, and for the umpteenth time today, my eyes start to burn. Ugh. Why is he being such a douche about this? He wasn’t here, and the car was already on the train. Doesn’t he see that something needed to be done right then and there?
“Whatever. I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to figure it out.” I close my eyes and turn my head away, not wanting him to see my tears. Rather than showing the slightest amount of appreciation for what I’ve done, he seems more intent on giving me a lecture. “What do you care? After today, we’re probably never seeing each other again!” I complain.
“Agent Everson, are you in here?” That same horrible voice interrupts us, which had done so less than twenty-four hours ago in my own bedroom. The redhead he works for. Ugh, I hate that woman. I refuse to even look in her direction.
“Ma’am,” Liam responds.
“How on earth did this civilian end up here again? Please step out, and explain why you would go against my orders like that?”
Liam lets go of my hand and does as asked, presumably, but I don’t open my eyes. The ambulance door creaks partially shut, though muffled voices of his conversation with his boss are still filtering through loud enough for me to hear every word.
I try to ignore them. It’s harder coming face to face with Liam now than I’d thought. It hurts too much to know that he’s right there in front of me, but I can’t have him anymore.
“It’s a long story,” Liam sighs.
“Did you secure the bomb?” the redhead asks.
“Clark and the local police are on it.” Liam sounds impatient.
“And the girl, have you questioned her yet? This time, I’d like to debrief her myself as well.” Ugh. I’m not looking forward to that at all.
“She was knocked out when she drove her car into the train. She’s awake now, but it would be best to give her some rest,” Liam tries to dissuade his boss. I doubt it will change her mind, but I’m glad he’s trying anyway.
Man of Mystery: A BBW Romantic Suspense Page 9