Hard to Stop

by Wendy Byrne

  "And yes, I've regained sensation in my extremities. Thanks for asking." He shrugged. "And it's not my fault I make a lot of money and like nice things. I have some connections. I could put a good word for you at The Alliance if you're interested. Sabrina and Jake make probably about ten times as much as you." When he slipped his arm around her waist, she couldn't be sure if it was for additional warmth or something else. "Let's make a snack bag for the road. I've heard Jersey can be a wasteland filled with bad food, casinos, and strip clubs."

  She barked a laugh. "Almost as bad as getting stuck in Brooklyn, right, Mr. Upper East Side?"

  "Brooklyn I might survive. They do have good pizza, so I've been told." He grabbed some things from the refrigerator and the pantry and threw them into a thermal bag. "I brought a couple of towels to wipe down the passenger seat." He stopped her before they made it out the door. "You going to tell me where you were going and why you were trying to lose me?"

  She chewed her lip. "I have an idea of where Mick is. I got the information from Josh."

  "The meathead outside the gym?"

  She rolled her eyes and gave him an exasperated sigh. "Mick's friend Troy moved away a couple of years ago. Troy was the older brother Mick never had. He lived next door to us for years and sort of took Mick under his wing. Troy's parents fell on hard times, and they got evicted when they couldn't pay their mortgage. Since then, Troy had bounced around a lot, and I'd lost touch. Josh gave me a possible address in Jersey. I was going to check it out later today. Alone."

  "You weren't going to invite me? I'm disappointed in you, Detective."

  "If you want me to call you Max, you need to call me Gianna or Gia, or G or bitch." She smiled. "Whatever you prefer."

  "Gianna's a very cool name. I think I'll settle for that." He turned toward her. "But why did you come back for me—outside the obvious, of course." He did a come-on sign with his fingers, showing his annoying side once again.

  "I decided it might be better if we worked on this together."

  "See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

  She sighed again.

  "Hey, what's with all the sighs?"

  "You're a walking, talking cliché. You live in one of the priciest areas of the city. You drive an expensive macho car. You survived an attack that most people would have died from. And you think you know everything."

  He laughed and escorted her out the door toward his car. After wiping down the passenger seat with the towels, he helped her inside before handing her the bag filled with goodies. She contemplated the proper etiquette before she could dig in. Immediately was probably too soon. But she was a foodie. And she was Italian. It was in her blood to enjoy eating. And what he'd put inside looked amazing.

  Once he'd settled inside, he turned on the ignition, clicked on the seat heater, and put the car in gear. "What's the address? I'll plug it into the navigation system." He looked at her.

  As much as she hated to admit it, he was a good-looking man. And when he decided to change into his slumming look, it made him a lot more approachable. Dark khaki pants, a silky T-shirt, and a Burberry hoodie made her feel woefully underdressed. Shock of all shocks, he'd even put on a pair of tennis shoes.

  As she rattled off the address and he plugged it in, she couldn't help but notice he winced as he shifted the car into gear. "I can drive if you're feeling too sore."

  "I've been worse." He turned and gave her a cheeky smile.

  She couldn't help but wonder what that might entail. Most cops had war stories to tell, and she had her fair share, but she expected his trumped hers any day of the week. Sooner or later, maybe he'd tell her. Then again, maybe he wouldn't. He didn't seem to be the sharing type. Which was fine, since neither was she.

  "So what's your theory? You've been working the streets for a while. You've got to have a hunch about what this is all about. It's already a given you don't believe your brother is involved. So tell me about this former neighbor of yours. Maybe we can work on a strategy to scout him out before we make a move. Mick is not going to be visible. He's in deep hiding, so we need to find some way to smoke him out if in fact he's with Troy."

  "All I know is that you need to stay far away when the time comes. He's not going to come out if you're around."

  He glanced into the rearview mirror a couple of times and then shifted the car into third and squealed around the next corner, ignoring the friendly voice on his navigation system, which was currently recalculating. She glanced behind them. "What's going on?"

  "We picked up a tail." He glanced again in the rearview and shifted, stepping on the gas. "I think."

  "Where are you headed?" She guessed he was driving close to a hundred miles an hour, maybe even more. Hard to tell in this kind of car.

  "Hell if I know. I've never been to Jersey, but I think we're close to the area where Tony Soprano buried his bodies. Didn't he own a garbage business or something?"

  "Now is not the time to joke." She glanced behind the car as her heart raced. The nonstop adrenaline rollercoaster had to come to an end soon. Her body couldn't take much more. "Holy crap. It looks like one of those monster trucks, with three guys inside."

  "You're one of those 'glass half-empty' kind of gals, aren't you?" He pushed the car to its limits. "It might be bigger, but we're a hell of a lot faster. That's the half-full part of me talking."

  "I tend to be more realistic," she blurted as she glanced behind them again. Relief shimmied through when she didn't see anyone behind them.

  "How reliable is the meathead at the gym? Would he double-cross you?"

  "His name is Josh. And no, he wouldn't double-cross me." At least, she hoped not. She folded her arms across her chest to illustrate the point.

  "Are you sure?"

  Never say never. "Of course I'm sure. I've known him since I was in grade school."

  "Just because you've known him a long time doesn't make him trustworthy." He held up his right hand only, since his left was on the steering wheel. "Don't get pissed at me. I was only asking."

  "Because I've known you all of three days, I'm supposed to trust you? That's some faulty logic, if you ask me."

  "Well, you are technically taking a trip with me to another state, so you must trust me somewhat. For all you know, I could be bringing you there for nefarious purposes." He chuckled and shifted gear once again as they hit the open road, leaving the other car in the distance.

  "I'm not afraid of you."

  "Maybe you should be." He didn't look at her as he spoke, and she couldn't help but wonder what that meant. It might have been the first chink in his armor. Maybe one that spoke about vulnerabilities he couldn't or didn't reveal.

  In the end, she opted to keep their banter light. "What are you going to do? Hit me with that massive portfolio of yours?" She laughed, enjoying the respite from worry.

  "Hey, don't laugh. It would leave a mark. Sh—" His gaze focused on the rearview mirror again, and he swore. "Guess we didn't lose them after all."

  "According to the map on my phone, there's a small road on the right. If you can get enough ahead of them, it might be a solution."

  "Why isn't it showing up on my navigation system, then?"

  "I don't know. But if it isn't on your navigation system, it might not be on theirs either."

  He shook his head. "We're not going to fool them if they figure out it's the only option for our disappearance." He looked skeptical about her plan. Truth was, so was she.

  "The nearest town is about ten miles away. Get enough ahead of them, and that's what they'll count on, especially if they're looking at the same map you are."

  He shifted gear again and the car took off like a rocket. He had to be going about 120 right now, maybe more, but between the smoothness of the car and his expert driving, she hardly felt it.

  When she looked behind her and saw the car fading into the distance, she breathed a little easier. "The turnoff is less than a mile away on the right. Five, four, three, two, one, okay, turn."
<
br />   The car nearly did a 360, but he was able to keep control. "Where's the road?" He leaned closer to the window. "This is like a bad movie. There's even fog. This car isn't made for rugged terrain."

  "Knew I should have driven my car." She scanned through her phone to try to find other ideas, but came up empty. "The curve's coming up. Right…now…turn."

  The car made a sharp right, the tires spinning on the gravel road. He turned off the lights, making the journey feel even more ominous. Unless he was wearing night-vision goggles, she couldn't imagine how he was negotiating his way through the terrain.

  "I thought you said there was a road here." Too focused on driving, he didn't bother to look at her. "I'm trusting your judgment and hoping you're—oh hell no—this road you found leads to a quarry. Negotiating a Jaguar down a quarry in the dark. Yep, that sure sounds like an excellent idea. Did you learn that in detective school?" He swore as the wheels spun in the dirt. "This cluster just got worse. We're stuck. Right in the middle of this so-called road. If they come after us, we're sitting ducks."

  "We can hide in the woods." Her voice went up on the end, signaling she wasn't sure this would work.

  "Let me get some stuff out of my trunk. And we'll head down the quarry. I've got some night-vision goggles." Without saying another word, he got out of the car and moved toward the trunk. "I've also got some firepower."

  "If they figure out that's where we've gone, we'll be screwed."

  "We need to trample some of bushes around the car. Make them believe we headed off down toward the road or across to the other side. Nobody but an idiot would hide in a quarry."

  After they finished leaving a trail, they delicately made their way back and squeezed through the gate of the chain fence surrounding the quarry. "Don't worry. I've got this. We'll keep close to the inner wall," she said. And hope they didn't tumble to the bottom. That would be bad. If they survived, he'd never let her live it down.

  "You okay with leading? I'm feeling fine now if you're worried I can't handle it."

  "I'm okay. It's kind of steep."

  "Let me see that Google Maps you're looking at." He forced her hand until the screen was visible. "Damn. How did that get screwed up?"

  "Not sure. Let's hope to hell we don't get stuck down there."

  "Yeah, there's that too."

  "Glad we're on the same page. Death by quarry. That would be a new one to add to my résumé of possible death scenarios after the last couple of days."

  "Now you're being a sissy. What happened to that half-full guy of a couple of minutes ago? I wouldn't imagine a guy with your background would be so fearful of a measly little quarry."

  "I might be brave, but I'm not stupid. The upside is, they do have those cool machines down there. Maybe I could try one out."

  She tsked. "You're such a guy."

  "Last I checked."

  She tapped on her phone, as if that would help dislodge the wrong information. "What the hell? Is that a truck I hear?"

  "Anything in that crystal ball of yours? Maybe we should have listened when my driving directions thing contradicted yours."

  She chewed her lip. This was going from bad to worse. A monster truck could navigate the quarry no problem and run them down. "Too late for regrets, as my nana used to say. We need to use our speed and agility to our advantage."

  "And hope we don't die."

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Max followed behind her as he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. They would be trapped down there. At least they'd secured some weapons and night-vision goggles from his car. But still…it was a gamble.

  Stone formations jutted onto the steep road as they walked around them. In the light it would have been okay, but in the dark it felt precarious. He heard shouting in the background when they found his car. Based on the conversation, they'd split up to see if they could find them.

  He had to keep assuring himself that he could trust her. No one had been in his corner since his parents died, except for Jake and Sabrina. He'd learned to live his life on his terms and no one else's. It was the key to survival.

  Second-guessing was for sissies, as he always said. Charge full steam ahead and let the world crash around him. Going into this and expecting to survive was a bit crazy. But something told him he'd figure this out by the end of their journey. He might die along the way, but he didn't think so. Right now getting to Mick, finding out what he knew, and foraging through the clues he'd been given were uppermost on his mind.

  "This is bad." She succinctly summed up the thoughts swirling around his head.

  "Pretty much. I'm not sure what we're going to do when we get to the bottom."

  "I know this sounds crazy, but do you think you can drive one of those bulldozers, assuming they keep the keys inside them?"

  He glanced at her. She was serious. "Assuming I can, what then?"

  "I don't know. Scare them. Run over them. Crush them into submission." She let out a giggle. "Get giant flamethrowers to toss at them."

  He laughed despite the circumstances. "I like the way you think."

  "That's me. I bonded with my brother over blowing-things-up movies. Adolescent boys love that stuff."

  "As do big boys." They raced to the bottom as a shot reverberated through the night. "Guns won't be much good in open space like this. They shot off the padlock, which means they're bringing the truck down. We need to head for that bulldozer before that." He grabbed her hand, and they ran for it. The vehicle was bigger up close than he'd imagined. She was tall but would have a tough climb up. "I'll give you a boost."

  He helped her, then watched her ass as she scrambled up the side of the dozer. If it was the last vision he had before this thing went south, at least it was pleasant. He jumped up, grabbed on to the tracks, and climbed into the cab.

  "The keys are here." She started it before he even got seated.

  He squeezed inside, shutting the windowless door behind him. The thing was built for one person, so it was a tight fit for two. "We should be able to figure this out."

  "Glad you're including me in this disaster."

  "I was being kind. Actually, it's kind of your fault, since we were following directions from your phone."

  Her response was cut off when bullets ricocheted off the metal sides. So much for guns not being any good down here. They weren't close to hitting them yet, but he wasn't sure their luck would hold out. He messed with the gears, shifting the levers up and down and side to side until he got a sense of how to operate it. "Got any idea of how I can turn it around?"

  "I wonder what these things do." She pressed some buttons, and the engine died. "Crap." Her fingers shook as she tried to get it started again.

  He hit the red button to the side, then turned the key, and it started back up again. "Probably some kind of safety feature. Let's try this thing." He pulled the lever, and the machine went backward. "Damn. I need to see my target in order to scare the crap out of them. Even though I'm in this badass machine, I'm not acting too badass right now."

  "How about that thing that looks like a gas pedal?"

  He laid his foot on top of it and pressed, and damn if it didn't work. "Okay, you've redeemed yourself by being sensible." He glanced in the mirror and swore. "Guy climbing up on the right."

  She put her head out the window, aimed, and shot. "Winged him."

  Gianna would definitely give his sister Sabrina a run for her money. "Nice shot. Now maybe I'll try to run them over."

  "Or at least their truck."

  Max shifted gears and held his foot to the pedal. To say it was cumbersome to drive would be an understatement. Satisfaction hit home when the bad guys started to head for their truck and began pulling out of the way of his lumbering progress toward them.

  They could outmaneuver him for sure, as they spun circles at the base. Intermittent shots pinged along the side, but given the size differential, they weren't going to get anywhere close to them. Unless they were aiming at the fuel source. That would blow
them both sky high.

  Shit.

  New course of action. He was going to run them down any way he could. They swept past him, fishtailing. Now he was pissed. "We need to trap them somehow."

  "Maybe get them to think you're going to block their way out—and then back up over them."

  "You have a violent streak that I'm loving." He pulled toward the road out and turned off the engine with a sputter to make them believe they'd hit something critical. The assailants got closer and closer and one of the guys popped out of the sunroof and managed to shoot the left mirror.

  "This is it. They're close. Start it up and floor it backward. I guarantee they'll scatter." She aimed her gun out the window, ready to get rid of any takers.

  Max backed up, then bumped the side of the truck. Hearing the crunch of metal was satisfying. He wedged them in. They began another barrage of random and pointless shooting.

  "Like taking candy from a baby." He patted the instruments. "I'm going to have to buy one of these things. They're a crapload of fun." Despite his words, the cab lumbered along the clay at the bottom, squeezing the truck between the quarry side and the bulldozer, trapping them. No way could they move without sheering something off their fancy wheels. He got closer.

  But still they managed with the few inches of clearance to wiggle through the opening. The truck resembled a severely dented tin can, and the tires looked jacked, but it was able to move, and it lumbered up and out of the quarry.

  "They'll be waiting for us on top," she said as she squirmed in her seat. "What now?"

  "They might come down on foot. We can find the best place to hunker down and ambush them when they do. If they're going to play with the big boys, they've got to expect to get hurt."

  "But we're sitting ducks down here without a car."

  "That's what they think. But we have the night vision. We can pick them off, then steal their stupid truck."

  "Which reminds me, where do you get all that fancy equipment from?"

  "A guy named Jennings who heads up The Alliance."

  "I thought only your siblings worked there."

  "He recruited all of us to work for The Alliance."