Caleb looked ready to bolt. If he did, she was going with him.
“What if Avery walks right into danger?” Caleb asked in a harsh whisper.
She put out her hand and pulled him out of the way before a kid with a skateboard ran him down. “You’ll be there to help.”
Luke slapped Caleb on the back. “You heard the lady. She’s depending on you for protection.”
“I guess you win.” Caleb looked down at where her hand rested on his forearm. “This time.”
Chapter Ten
Caleb didn’t like the look of the place. It wasn’t a big-name store. More of a mom-and-pop place if mom and pop were serial killers. It sat in a rundown strip mall in Northeast D.C. The bars on the windows, empty offices on one side and a self-storage business on the other weren’t exactly welcoming. Neither was the deserted side street.
“How did you pick this location?” he asked, tensing for an answer that would drive him crazy.
“I wanted something that wasn’t too obvious.”
“What about safe? Did that criterion ever occur to you?”
She rolled her eyes at him as she slammed the car door. “It’s not a prison.”
“It’s looks like a place prison escapees would go to hide.” He toyed with the idea of making her wait in the car. He could go in and get out without ever putting her in danger. But when he realized he hadn’t seen a car drive by since they parked, he wondered if the empty lot was any safer. Holding her gave him leverage. Also gave her a shield if she needed one.
He’d never been one to ignore his instincts. They were shouting at him to put her in the car and speed away. Zach lived for this sort of thing. The more remote and spooky, the better. Caleb could bring him back here to help.
There were just too many coincidences in this situation for his liking. When he took her to the lab, they were waiting. When she came to his house, they followed. He still wasn’t sure who “they” were or how they got paid. Adam was working on that piece. But Caleb knew the men who kept coming for Avery were to be put down on sight.
Caleb tried to calculate the probability they knew to stake this site out, too.
Keys appeared under his nose. “Number eighty-one.”
When he focused on the jingling, he noted her smile and the way she shook the chain in front of him. “Excuse me?”
“That’s what we’re looking for.”
“If I asked you to stay—”
The smile didn’t falter, but some of its light faded. “No.”
It was worth a shot. Of course he could insist or even dump her in the car, but a scene was not the best idea. Then there was the issue of her determination. It ran bone deep. If she wanted something, she went for it. From the hands on her hips and lifted chin, he guessed she wanted whatever was in that mailbox pretty badly.
Since he didn’t doubt her competence to handle rough situations or his ability to protect her, he let it drop. “You heard Luke. We go in, check the box and go.”
“I didn’t plan to eat lunch here.”
“Aren’t you witty this afternoon?”
She let the keys drop in his hand. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
It was the first time she broached the subject. By the time he woke up this morning, she was in the kitchen talking with Zach. All signs of their lovemaking, the discarded clothes and sheets on only one bed, had been covered. “Are you complaining?”
“No.”
And her honesty. It was as reliable as her spirit. He’d always found that refreshing. “Good.”
“Just good?”
He had to wink at her then. “Mind-blowing.”
“That’s better.”
He was sure it was his imagination, but her hips seemed to swing a little more when she walked. Since he spent a great deal of time looking at her butt, he noticed the difference. What he questioned was the reason for the change. The sex part was obvious, but this went beyond the physical. She no longer tensed when they were together as if waiting for him to land a verbal punch so she could do the same. Which was good since he no longer wanted to.
She walked up the steps to the store. At the top, she stopped and called to him over her shoulder. “You coming?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
He held out his arm and pushed the door open in front of her. A small bell clanged. Not that the employees needed a warning of visitors. One stood behind a long wooden counter. The other fiddled with the paper tray on the copier. Both stared at the entrance and didn’t pretend not to.
Two men in their thirties, both fit with matching military haircuts. Neither of those factors was incriminating on its own, but a warning siren rang in his head. He’d seen every man they killed. The description matched these two without fail.
The fact the one by the cash register kept a hand out of sight didn’t make him guilty. Didn’t make him innocent either.
“May we help you?” The man’s voice sounded sincere and Southern. The only break from his neutral welcome was the way he looked Avery up and down.
Caleb thought about shooting the guy. If he didn’t have an only-shoot-confirmed-bad-guys rule, he might have done it. Something sleazy rolled off this guy. Uniform or not, he seemed out of place.
“Just checking a mailbox.” Avery slipped her hand through Caleb’s arm.
He thought she was sending a silent signal of being taken until he realized she had tugged him in the direction of the boxes on the far right wall. While she scanned the rows for the right number, he focused on his peripheral vision and keeping the other men in it. He had a gun tucked at just the right angle in her bag for easy access and another by his ankle. The long-sleeve oxford hid a knife that he could throw almost as fast as he could shoot.
The guy at the counter cleared his throat. “I’m afraid you have to sign in before I can let you open that.”
Avery didn’t stop trailing her fingers down the row until she hit the right number. “Why?”
“What?”
“I have the key.” She raised Caleb’s arm and showed the man her proof dangling from Caleb’s fingers. “It’s my box.”
The so-called employee spun a book around on the counter to face them. “Those are the rules. You sign and I compare your name to the name on file.”
The guy was as subtle as being whacked with a stick. Either he thought he could sneak her phone number or he wanted to make sure he had the right prey. Caleb didn’t like either option.
From his position, he could see the lines of writing on the pages, but that didn’t make the supposed rule real. The writing could relate to anything. “I don’t think—”
She stopped him by putting a hand on his chest. “It’s okay.”
That siren kept wailing in his brain, but he decided to trust her. When she slipped the key into his palm on her way to the desk, he knew she had a plan. He just wished she’d clued him in.
“You got this?” The second man, the one who didn’t bother to check them out or say a word, set what looked like a printer part on the counter. “I need to head out.”
“Sure.”
With a nod in Caleb’s general direction, the guy slipped between Caleb and Avery and headed for the door. “Enjoy.”
Caleb stationed his body in front of the mailbox. That gave him a clear shot of the door and whatever was happening at the counter. Caleb couldn’t see the car or where the second guy went, but no matter where he stood, he’d have a blind spot. He did watch to make sure the man who left didn’t lock them in. Last thing Caleb needed or wanted was a shoot-out in an office storefront.
Avery scribbled whatever name she’d used to set up the mailbox. If someone had traced the email from her office, it would only bring them to this building. The clerk had to match the false name Avery gave to an actual box. If this guy was dirty, he’d have the links he needed in about two seconds.
She glared at the box as she walked toward Caleb again. He assumed that meant she wanted it opened and now. As he put the key
in the slot, he heard the scrape. Metal against wood. He recognized it, analyzed it and prepared for it, all in the span of time it took for him to breathe in.
In one fluid motion he reached out for her with one arm and for the gun by his shoe with the other. The keys clanked as they fell against the floor. His sneakers squeaked as he pivoted, pushing her behind him. The weapon molded to his palm as he spun around and aimed for the spot where the man last stood. The movements blurred together as he shifted and turned with crackling speed.
Avery’s gasp echoed in his ear, but Caleb concentrated all his energy on the other man. The one with the advantage. The one now pointing his weapon right at Caleb’s head. That made two of them. The standoff, just feet apart, guaranteed instant death. The only question was who first.
“Drop it or I’ll shoot her.” The man was smart enough to see his opportunity and took it.
Caleb didn’t move except to put his body that much closer to hers. “Who are you working for?”
“This isn’t question-and-answer time.”
“You’re going to shoot an innocent woman?” Caleb knew the guy would probably shoot his own mother for the right price.
“You’re wasting your time with guilt.”
Caleb was stalling, assessing his opponent and checking for weaknesses. “What will work?”
“You have two seconds to obey.”
There was that word. He hated it. Reacted to it whenever someone used it around him. “You’re as likely to die as I am.”
“Are you willing to take the chance with her life?”
Caleb felt her fingers at his back small and almost imperceptible. She wasn’t tugging or acting like a desperate woman on the brink of death. Not his Avery. She was pressing something against him. Hard and loaded, it was the one something that could shift the odds to their side—his second gun.
The idea of putting her in danger landed like a kick to his chest. But when she jabbed him with his own weapon, he knew she wouldn’t be denied. If they were going down, they were going down shooting.
“You’ve got one second left,” the other man said.
“Okay.” Caleb lifted his fingers off the gun, holding his hands out in what he hoped looked like surrender. “Just don’t shoot.”
“Enough talking. Put the weapon on the floor.”
Caleb nodded but didn’t move.
“Ma’am?” The man wiggled a finger at her. “You come over here with me so your boyfriend doesn’t try anything stupid.”
Caleb put his hand out to the side to block that from happening. The only way he could win this thing was if he knew she was out of firing range. In front of him she could get caught in the cross fire. “She stays here.”
“You’re not in charge.” The guy frowned. “I said on the floor.”
No way was that going to happen. “I’m going.”
“While you’re at it, lie down and put your hands over your head.”
“Anyone could come in.” Avery’s voice never wavered as she drew the other man’s attention. It was as if a settled calm had washed over her.
The guy’s smirk was immediate. “Wrong.”
He might be good with a gun but his ego got in his way. Almost always happened. Keep an attacker talking and he’d tell you the one thing he didn’t want you to know. Caleb now suspected the second guy was outside in a lookout position. They had two, not one, enemies to get through.
“Now, boyfriend. Get moving. On the floor, and I’m not going to say it again. The next time, I shoot your leg and we’ll see you drop.”
Caleb let his knees bend as he slid his gun onto the floor. The timing had to be perfect. There would be a split second when the guy eased his stance, when he believed he’d disarmed the bigger threat, and focused his attention on Avery instead.
Easing down a few inches, Caleb started toward the floor as ordered. He bent over slightly, trying to block the other man’s view, and reached back. Avery shoved the second gun in his hand. At the same time, he felt something slip out of his waistband, from under his shirt. Swinging his arm as he stood, Caleb fired his shot. The air stilled as he waited for a return hit and shifted to the side for a better shot. There wasn’t a need. The guy slammed against the wall as blood dripped from his forehead. His gun thudded on the counter as he slid to the floor.
Caleb took in the open eyes and mouth. It was another moment before he noticed the knife sticking out of the guy’s chest. Not a direct hit to the heart, but a wound that would have stopped him. Would have saved them.
Avery. Caleb spun around and saw her, arm still extended, staring at the horror in front of her.
“Damn, woman.” His whisper carried a mix of pride and concern.
“I did it.”
“You okay?”
“He’s dead.”
“Very.” Caleb lowered her hand and pulled her into his arms, letting his warmth calm the violent shaking of her body.
Stiff and still, she stood wrapped in his arms. She didn’t cling or return the touch. He almost wished she would cry or scream. Something to let the emotions out. With the lab gone as a buffer, she had to face this side of death. The real side.
He tried to tell himself the hug was for her. In reality, he needed it as much as she did. In those crucial minutes when he formulated his plan, only one goal stuck in his mind. He had to save her. And she was fine. He repeated that over and over as he brought her to the side and out of the line of sight of the front door. If there was a second gunman out there, and he suspected there was, Caleb didn’t want the guy to have an easy shot.
When he tried to pull away, to trick his brain into wanting something other than the comfort of her body, she grabbed hold of him. Fingers grabbed at his shirt as she buried her face in his neck.
Aftermath. It flooded through her, shaking her hard enough to rattle her teeth.
He brushed his lips over her ear and across her fore head. Anything to soothe and calm her. “I know, baby.”
“I thought he’d kill you as soon as you laid down the gun. The knife was the only thing I could think to do.”
“You did great.”
“I was scared to death.”
“You think I wasn’t?” Terrified, panicked. All the words fit. Caleb had never worried about his life. He lived by the theory that if it was his time, he would accept it without regrets. Gambling with her life was not a game he wanted to play.
She snorted. “You don’t get scared.”
The woman had no clue. The key was to conquer the fear and let it fuel the fight. “We need to grab that paper and get out of here.”
She stared at him for an extra beat and then nodded. Stepping back, she picked up the key and went to the box. She tried to unlock it. It took her three tries to get the key in the slot, and she only then managed it when Caleb held her hand steady.
She clenched the document in her fist while he watched the door. Nothing moved outside. He waited for cars to go by or the other man to appear. The sound of gunfire should have gotten the guy’s attention, should have brought someone running. All the scenarios Caleb ran in his head didn’t happen. Hard to imagine the dead attacker worked alone, but it was possible.
“I’m ready.”
Her shaky smile said otherwise, but he let it go. When she headed for the front of the office, he shook his head. “Through the back.”
“You don’t think it’s over.”
“I know it’s not.”
Chapter Eleven
If Caleb was trying to scare her, he was doing a fine job of it. She’d just gotten her legs to stop wobbling. The only thing keeping food in her stomach was her refusal to glance in the dead man’s direction.
Avery didn’t regret the knife or the gun. The man behind the counter had made it clear he planned to take Caleb out and do heaven knew what with her. He was one in a long line of bad guys sent after her. In a battle of them versus her, she wanted to win. With Caleb she could.
He leaned over the slumped body, searching
in his pockets and checking for a pulse. Then he scanned the shelves behind the counter and picked up the phone, only to hang it right back up again.
When his gaze went to the ceiling, she gave in to her curiosity. “What are you doing?”
“He didn’t have any identification.”
“And you thought he might have thrown it up in the air?” She didn’t fight the sarcasm that crept into her voice.
“I’m looking for cameras, anything that will lead us back to this guy’s boss.”
Caleb had a reason for everything he did. No wasted motion or random thoughts. He analyzed a scene and acted. There was a huge comfort in seeing him work. “Makes sense. See any?”
“There.” He pointed to the far corner. “The light is off. This guy likely disabled them.”
“No question they’re pros.”
“None.”
“I may never sleep again.”
“I can probably help you with any bedroom problems you may have.” Caleb held out his hand. “Come on. We’re leaving.”
She didn’t argue. Being in the same room with a dead guy made her dizzy, even if she’d seen death. When she was fourteen she found her mother dead of a heart attack in the middle of the kitchen. One minute she came rushing in the door to share her news about making the field hockey team. The next she was on her knees rocking back and forth while the emergency operator shouted CPR instructions.
The memory of that moment stuck with her. She knew this one would, too.
Caleb crowded in front of her as they walked sideways to the back of the store. Every few seconds, he would glance over her shoulder at the front door, keeping every entrance covered.
On one side of the short hallway was a small empty bathroom. The other had a door marked Storeroom. He motioned for her to stand to the side. He counted on his fingers then threw open the door. From her vantage, she couldn’t see inside, but whatever was in there had him lowering his gun.
His breathing slowed and his mouth set in a grim line. “We’re too late here.”
“What?” She got a quick peek inside before he pulled her back. She saw the outline of two bodies, male and partially undressed, and that was enough. “Who are they?”
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