by Liz Johnson
Her stomach sank, but she plastered a smile in place, encouraging him to try again.
The second address showed a large road in the middle of the desert that didn’t seem to connect to anything except a metal barn of some sort.
“That’s a runway. It’s a private airport.”
Her jaw dropped. “He owns that?”
“It sure looks that way.”
If he owned his own runway and hangar, he almost certainly owned his own airplane. While the display of wealth was staggering, it managed to produce one thought on repeat.
Two million dollars had to be chump change to this man. Not to mention whatever he was paying the guys who had been following them and placing bombs in their home and car.
The next two addresses were additional office space, and by the last of the list, Kristi had reached for Zach’s arm. Squeezing. Hoping. Praying that this last lead would let them find his home address. Let them find this man.
Zach hit a button, and a gray fortress appeared on the screen.
It was surrounded by twelve-foot security walls, and even from the overhead view, she could see the black cameras mounted at specific intervals around the property that guaranteed no blind spots.
Her mouth went dry, and her fingers dug into Zach’s flesh. When she tried to speak, her tongue felt like it had doubled in size. Swallowing twice, she finally managed to loosen it up enough to utter her incredulous question. “How are we supposed to get in there?”
Zach’s head was cocked to the side, his eyes narrowed and volleying back and forth across the screen. She could practically see his brain working out the hows. He wasn’t the type to give up—she was sure he would find a way in.
She was just a little worried about getting out without ending up in handcuffs.
A man with that much security probably wasn’t relying entirely on gadgets. Even if that was his specialty.
Nope. He’d have man power inside those walls.
And then where would they be?
“That’s our way in.” Zach pointed, but she wasn’t following.
“Over the front gate?”
He chuckled. “Through it. Preferably when it’s open.”
She frowned. “But they’ll know we’re there.”
“They’re going to know either way. Best to announce ourselves and ask for an audience with the CEO.”
“Couldn’t you get in?”
He shot her a look like he couldn’t believe she even had to ask. “Of course I could. There.” He pointed to a corner of the outer wall. “And there. And there, too.”
“But you still want to go through the front gate?”
“What I want is for us to stick together. And for neither of us to be arrested. And preferably for neither of us to get shot. Again.”
She cringed and shot a glance at his shoulder. “I’m sorry you were hit.”
He smiled. “Don’t be. It barely even itches anymore. All healed up. Besides.” He held her gaze for a long second in a way that made her insides take a painful flip. “Better me than either of you.”
There were no words to respond to that, so she nodded slowly.
“Simi Valley is only a couple hours away. You up for a little drive?”
She nodded again but shot a gaze up the stairs toward Cody’s room, where the little boy was still sleeping. Taking him with them had been fine when they were going to Denise’s office and to the Gammers’—people she had had no reason to believe wanted to hurt him. But to take him to the house of the man who might be trying to kill him? No. She couldn’t.
Zach didn’t need to ask what she meant. “I’ll call Luke.”
*
When they reached the front gate of the del Olmo estate, Zach was more than grateful that he’d made the decision not to try for an uninvited entry. Maybe the satellite picture online was outdated. Or maybe the angles had been wrong. But the front gate wasn’t just a gate. It had a guardhouse.
Complete with an armed guard.
Not that he couldn’t take the guy, if he had to. But it was clear from the way he put his hand on his holster as they drove up that the kid wasn’t used to carrying a gun. Which meant he wasn’t used to firing it.
Which meant Zach’s or Kristi’s chances of being accidentally shot rose exponentially.
God, give me the words to talk our way in. And out.
His gaze jumped to Kristi. He should have left her behind. Not that she’d have let him. Still. This could be trouble. Especially if the conversation got sticky inside.
If del Olmo was indeed the man behind these attacks, he wasn’t afraid of a little collateral damage. And that’s what Kristi and Zach would be.
If they didn’t go about this the right way, they could end up in a world of trouble. If del Olmo got hostile with them, then the best-case scenario was that they’d end up in a jail cell for the foreseeable future, with Cody on his own.
Well, not quite. Luke and Mandy were with Cody, and they wouldn’t leave him alone. Jordan knew what was going on, too. They’d step in. They’d protect him. After all, he was family. SEALs protected their family.
But he didn’t want his brothers protecting his family. He wanted to be there to do it. He wanted to be the one to tuck Cody in at night and the one to hold Kristi’s hand. And brush her hair out of her face. And kiss her cherry-red lips.
Focus on del Olmo, McCloud.
The billionaire was their only hope for answers. Zach didn’t know where else to go. He’d exhausted every lead. Even if the CEO wasn’t the man behind the attacks, he might be able to point them to the person who was. Especially if it was someone else at that benefit.
Twenty yards from the guardhouse, he slowed the car to a crawl. “There was a mall about ten miles back. If I dropped you off there, would you wait for me?”
Her lips pursed in indignation. “Why would I do that? I’m going with you.”
“What if this is more dangerous than we accounted for?”
He wasn’t worried about facing whatever threat came to himself. He could handle whatever was inside those walls.
But he wasn’t sure Kristi could.
She squinted from him to the iron gates that loomed ahead then back. “I’ll go wherever you go.”
The absolute certainty in her words forced a smile he hadn’t expected. But he quickly shoved it away. He debated playing the Cody card. If she thought for a minute that she’d be leaving Cody alone, she’d let him turn around.
But then what?
Then they’d be separated, and if he couldn’t get back to her, she’d be alone and scared.
There weren’t any good options.
His training said to never leave a man behind and never go in alone. Decision made. “All right. We’ll go together.” And then, just in case. “But do me a favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
“The kind that keeps us both alive.”
Her jaw dropped, and he took quick advantage of her silence.
“We might have to do some fast talking. If this is our guy, he’s tried to kill both of us before. I doubt he’d hesitate to do it again.”
He could see the truth register in her eyes. It would be so easy to reach for her hand, to assure her that nothing like that was going to happen. That they’d be safe since del Olmo might not be their guy. But Zach couldn’t say that while hoping the billionaire really was.
Because if he was the one responsible for the attacks, that meant Zach knew how to end this nightmare. Cody would be protected. Kristi wouldn’t be in danger any longer.
His family would be safe.
“Here’s the deal. We won’t be safe if he thinks he can get rid of us without anyone realizing he’s responsible. So we have to make sure that he believes that the police know where we are. We have to get him to believe that others suspect his involvement, too.”
A coolness set into her eyes, but she nodded slowly. “Sure. Because he can’t be officially questioned as the last person to see us alive. Not without putting everythin
g he has at risk.”
She was a fighter, a storm-the-castle, brandish-her-fists sort. Pride sizzled in his chest. “Exactly. How’d you know?”
The corner of her mouth worked its way up, despite what appeared to be her best efforts against it. The feisty smile that found its place hit him right between the ribs. “I’ve been reading legal thrillers since I was twelve. Think I haven’t picked up a thing or two?”
Good girl.
As they reached the gate and the guardhouse—a stucco shanty on the wrong side of the fence—the guard, who was clearly a former jock who looked like he hadn’t been able to give up the juice, leaned out of the stall. Pressing a hand against the door frame, he showed off the bulging veins in his forearms. His squint was hard but lacked any real depth. He was posturing for all his worth in a way that a true professional never would.
Zach frowned. He was less than impressed with this character.
“You have an appointment?” The guard’s name badge said Nilsson, and his blond hair appeared to have received more care than any man’s should.
“No.”
“No one gets in without an appointment.” Nilsson crossed those steroid-swelled arms over his chest and sniffed. His eyes darted in the direction they’d come from. A clear invitation to head back in it.
Zach nodded. “I think Mr. del Olmo will want to speak with me.”
“You’re wrong. Mr. del Olmo won’t meet anyone without an appointment.”
Sure. Right. That made sense. Only it wasn’t going to keep Zach from talking to the man.
“Besides—” Nilsson huffed like he’d never met anyone as stupid as Zach “—he’s not back yet.”
Spine snapping straight, Zach nearly choked.
That had been easier than he expected. And a much better scenario than the ones that had been playing in his mind. If the man was due to return soon, then they could hopefully catch del Olmo when he arrived in his car—outside the house, without his entire security detail just a press of a button away.
He couldn’t have planned it any better.
As long as they could get into position in time.
“Sorry to bother you then.” Zach threw the car into Reverse, ignoring the frown and scrunched forehead of the guard. The kid stepped out of his shack in time to watch the car make a wild two-point turn, and Zach punched the gas.
“Where are we going?” Kristi’s fingers dug into his arm on the console, but her neck never turned.
“The great thing about big estates in the hills like this—one entrance.”
Her nose wrinkled like he was speaking a language she couldn’t begin to understand.
“The guard said that del Olmo is out—but he’s expected back. Soon.”
“How do you know?” Kristi said.
Zach followed the curve of the road until the gray stucco walls and big house were no longer visible in his rearview mirror. “The guard was clear. ‘He’s not back yet.’” Laying heavily on the key word, he watched realization pass across her features.
“He’s coming back. And this is the only way in.” The singsong in her tone suggested she was incredibly proud of herself for putting the puzzle together.
He hated to dash her moment, so he bit back the whole truth. This was the only way in—by land. It wasn’t unheard of for a wealthy businessman to have his own helicopter. After all, he had his own airport. But it was at least three miles away as the crow flies. So their best hope was that del Olmo had flown in on his private jet and had his driver pick him up there.
If not, they were back to square one to get inside those gates.
Besides, they had a bigger problem.
Getting del Olmo’s car to stop wouldn’t be as easy as flagging him down. A man so concerned with his personal security wouldn’t stop on a deserted road just because a stranger waved.
Zach eyed the winding road ahead of them. It wasn’t particularly wide. He could easily block it with his own car.
Except the shoulder on each side was plenty wide to accommodate a car that wanted to dodge around them. The desert sand stretched for about a dozen yards in each direction. The loose terrain might slow a town car down. But it wasn’t going to stop it. And seeing Zach’s car stopped in the middle of the road would put the other driver on high alert and make him even more determined to keep moving.
He sucked on his front teeth for a long second as he pulled up along the shoulder. Gazing up and down the road, he sighed. Without any intel about del Olmo’s ETA, he could end up falling flat on his face.
But as far as he could see, his best—maybe his only—chance of bringing the other car to a stop might prove to be a little risky.
“You’re thinking about doing something stupid. Aren’t you?”
Zach jumped at Kristi’s quiet question. Sometimes she could read him better than he wanted to admit.
But she wasn’t wrong. Not that he was going to let that stop him.
Stupid covered a broad spectrum, and in the grand scheme of protecting Kristi and Cody, he was willing to go to either end of it.
So instead of confirming her suspicions, he smiled broadly. “It’ll be fine.” He wished he was as wholly certain as he sounded, so he shot a silent prayer heavenward.
Oh, God. Please protect us. If there’s another way, please show me. Whatever happens, be with Kristi.
He wasn’t scared of what might happen to him. But as he ran his fingers over her wild curls, his heart squeezed. She dipped her head, nuzzling his palm, and he forgot to breathe. There wasn’t room in him to care about her and worry about himself. She filled every inch of his chest, and when she blinked her big eyes at him, the truth hit him like a sucker punch.
No matter how many times he’d told himself not to let himself love her, he’d gone and done it.
He’d fallen.
From twenty thousand feet.
Without a parachute.
Man, he was an idiot.
But there was no time to dissect that terrible fact.
Not when a faint cloud of dust appeared on the horizon.
“We’re about to have company.”
Kristi’s eyes snapped forward, her fists pressed into her legs, arms trembling under the pressure. “How are we going to stop them?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to come up with another idea. Anything else. But there wasn’t time. This was his chance—his only chance—to get del Olmo to answer their questions.
“I have an idea.” Without taking time to explain, he crawled out of the car and slammed the door behind him.
Before he was fully standing, Kristi wrenched open her own door and raced around the hood. “What is it?”
He cringed and tried not to look into her face. She’d already pegged his idea as a stupid one. And if he wasn’t careful, she’d try to stop him.
Which wasn’t an acceptable outcome.
Adrenaline kicked through his veins until his skin felt like it was two sizes too small. He cocked his head from side to side, popping his neck and trying to loosen his muscles. Loose was good. Loose kept him on his feet.
Tight could spell an injury he could ill afford.
The cloud on the horizon continued to grow, cutting the distance between them until he couldn’t tell if the silver flash was a car or a sun-induced mirage.
“Zach?” She grabbed his hand and clung to it with both of hers as the outline of the car became clearly visible. It was gunmetal silver, not black, as he’d expected.
But the sleek lines and glittering paint spoke one word louder than all the others.
Money.
Maybe del Olmo didn’t have a driver. Maybe he liked zipping around under the clear blue California sky in a car that cost more than Zach could make in ten years.
Zach prayed he didn’t damage it.
Spinning back toward her, he combed Kristi’s hair behind her ear. “Stay put, no matter what—all right?”
“All right, but—”
He cut her off with a quick
kiss to her cheek. Reassurance. And, if he was really honest with himself, a sweet connection that he craved. “This is going to look a lot worse than it is.”
Then he turned and ran into the road.
THIRTEEN
Kristi grabbed for Zach’s hand. “Wait. What?” What was going to look worse than it really was?
But it was too late. He was gone. Jumping in front of the flashy gray car.
“Zach!” Her cry died on her lips as he crashed onto the hood of the sports car, a solid thump echoing down the deserted road. It reverberated in her chest, stealing her breath and sucking the life out of her as surely as if she’d been the one hit.
Tires squealed. Someone yelled. She thought it might have been her.
She imagined she could hear the agony in Zach’s scream. It twisted her stomach and punched hole after hole in her chest.
She tried to cry out again, but there was nothing behind it, no air within her to carry the scream past her lips.
And even though he’d told her to stay put, she was running toward him as fast as her stumbling steps would carry her.
Zach bounced off the car above one of the ornate headlights and disappeared on the far side just as the driver brought the car to a stop.
This was his plan? His stupid, ridiculous plan? Didn’t he know that she’d do anything to save Cody, but she couldn’t lose Zach in the process?
Asinine. Idiotic.
The list could go on and on but ended with one question.
What had he been thinking?
The driver’s side door flew open, and a large man in jeans and a button-up shirt jumped out. “Hey! Are you okay?” The mustachioed man looked exactly as he had in his pictures—save for the casual attire. But she’d have recognized Carlos del Olmo anywhere, even as he squatted down in front of the car.
A long, low moan came from the vicinity of the passenger-side wheel, and Kristi hadn’t heard anything so sweet since her son’s first cries.
As soon as she knelt by Zach’s head, Carlos jumped to his feet and backed away, his hand immediately reaching for the phone sticking out of his shirt pocket.
Zach was covered in dust, but his chest rose and fell in a steady, if rapid, motion. “What is wrong with you?” she said, the lump in her throat making it harder than usual to speak.