Forever Blue

by Suzanne Brockmann

  "Who posted bail?" he asked.

  "Does it really matter?"

  Blue shook his head. "No."

  He quickly changed his clothes, strapping his belt back on. They hadn't found the knife hidden inside the buckle. That was good. Maybe his luck was starting to change.

  The guards led him down the hallway to a locked gate. He went through it, then down another corridor toward another locked gate. He could see someone standing on the other side of the thick security wire. As he got closer, he realized exactly who was standing there, waiting for him.

  Lucy. God, it was Lucy. His luck was definitely changing.

  Her face was wary, as if she wasn't sure of her reception. She held his gaze, though, searching his eyes as the guard unlocked this final barrier.

  And then he was free. He was outside the prison, in the visitors' waiting area.

  "You paid my bail?" he asked. It wasn't what he really wanted to say to her, but it was better than just standing there, staring.

  She nodded.

  "Where the hell did you get half a million dollars?"

  Lucy nervously moistened her lips and shrugged, giving him only a ghost of her regular smile. "Remember that computer software business I own?" she said. "Business has been extremely good lately."

  "But you couldn't have had that much cash..."

  She shook her head. "No, it's almost all tied up in the working capital. I used the business as collateral, alone with some other things and some borrowed money, and... She shrugged again. "I didn't have anything to do with your arrest, Blue," she said, her voice fast and low. "I mean, I was there at the station, getting my gun from my locker, and Bradley asked me a question, and I answered it as best as I could and all of a sudden Travis Southeby had a warrant for your arrest. I didn't... I wasn't..." There were tears in her eyes, but still she held his gaze, silently begging him to believe her.

  "It's required by law that I escort you to the front gate," the guard told Blue.

  He ignored the guard and took a step toward Lucy. "I know," he said.

  She wiped at her tears with the heels of her hands, refusing to cry. "You do?"

  "Yeah," he said. He wanted to pull her into his arms, but he was oddly nervous. He was in love with this woman. Somehow knowing that changed everything. He was afraid to touch her, afraid of giving himself away. Sure, he'd just written his deepest feelings in a letter, but there was no way he could say any of that aloud. "It took me a while, but I finally figured it out. Lucy, I'm sorry—"

  "Come on, folks," the guard said impatiently. "Save the teary reunion for outside the gate."

  Lucy turned to face the guard, her chin held high, her eyes blazing. "I just paid half a million dollars so this man could walk out of here with me—and we're going to walk out of here on our own good time, when we want to, and not one minute before. Thank you very much."

  Blue felt himself smile for the first time in what seemed like centuries. "I think I'm ready to leave," he told her.

  The guard escorted them to the door, and then they were out in the humid air and finally outside the gate.

  Freedom.

  "Was it awful?" Lucy asked quietly.

  "It's over," Blue said.

  Their eyes met, but only briefly, only for an instant, before Lucy looked down, and Blue knew with a deadly certainty that if he reached for her, she would pull away.

  When he'd first seen her standing and waiting for him on the other side of that gate, when he'd realized that she was the one who'd paid his bail, he thought for a moment that it had to be proof that she loved him. What woman would risk everything she owned for a man she didn't love?

  But then he remembered her friend Edgar. Lucy had only been friends with Edgar, yet she had sacrificed much to be with him in his last few months.

  Her loyalty to her friends was clearly unswerving. But Blue didn't want to be only her friend any longer. He wanted more, God help him. He wanted more, but the fact that he'd lost his faith in her just might have destroyed whatever fragile love she was starting to feel for him.

  Blue had to reach for her, he had to try. But before he could, Lucy started walking, heading toward the parking lot and her truck.

  "Matt Parker's wife told me R.W. Fisher was paying Matt lots of money to say he saw you in the woods with Gerry," Lucy told him.

  R.W. Fisher?

  "She also said that some of the men in the police force were involved," she continued.

  Blue knew that. He'd had a gut feeling about that right from day one.

  "So I followed Fisher, and sure enough, he met with Travis Southeby and Frank Redfield," Lucy told him. "I have their conversation on tape. They're involved with some kind of money-laundering scheme set up by an organized-crime syndicate from New York. The way I figure it, the mob gives them money and they inflate the income of their businesses, take a cut high enough to pay the higher taxes and then some, and give the rest back. Gerry was involved up to some point. My guess is he went along with it for a while, using his construction business to get a lot of the mob's dirty money back into circulation. But he probably started feeling guilty and wanted out. When he made noise, they killed him. The mob sent some guy named Snake down to do the deed."

  Blue was astonished. "Shoot, you've been busy."

  "There's more," she said. The dust from the parking lot coated her boots, and she stopped to face Blue, wiping the dulled leather on the back of her pant legs. "Alpha Squad is back from their training exercises. I spoke to Joe Cat. He's on his way. In the meantime Veronica contacted somebody named Kevin Laughton over at FInCOM. It's just a matter of time until the FInCOM agents get out here."

  Blue had to laugh. "You did all that and raised the money to pay my bail?"

  Lucy nodded. She started walking again. Her truck was down at the end of a row of parked cars. "All we need to do now is find someplace safe to hide until the FInCOM agents arrive."

  Blue stopped suddenly and grabbed Lucy's arm. "Someone is hiding behind your truck," he said in a low voice.

  Lucy went for her gun, but she wasn't fast enough.

  Travis Southeby stood up, aiming his gun directly at Blue. "Don't move an inch," he warned Lucy, "or I'll put a hole in him."

  "Let him shoot me," Blue told her, his eyes never leaving Travis. "Then plug the son of a bitch between the eyes. I know you can do it. You told me you were a good shot."

  "I'll kill him," Travis said. His voice was high, his hands shaking slightly, his florid face tense. "Slowly put your hands in the air."

  Lucy did. "I can't risk it," she whispered to Blue.

  Travis held his gun on Blue as he came toward them and quickly took Lucy's gun from under her jacket, from her shoulder holster.

  "Damn," Travis said. "I couldn't believe it when the warden's assistant called and told me that Blue McCoy had made bail. Half a million dollars." He looked at Lucy, using the back of one hand to wipe his perspiring forehead. "What the hell were you doing working on the police force with that kind of money in your bank account?"

  "What the hell are you doing on the police force with your kind of morals?" Lucy responded tightly.

  Travis just handed Lucy a set of keys. "My car is right here, next to yours," he said. "Get in."

  Blue took the keys from Lucy's hand. "I'll drive," he said. "She doesn't need to come along."

  "I'm afraid she does," Travis said. He was being very careful to stay at least an arm's length away from Blue. He knew if he got close enough, Blue would try for him, regardless of the weapon Travis held. He aimed his gun at Blue's head. "Get in the car, or so help me God, I'll drop both of you right here and right now."

  Lucy's heart was pounding. She knew that Blue didn't want to get into that car. She knew he wanted to stay right there, out in the open of the parking lot. She knew he was just waiting for the right opportunity to go for Travis. She knew if Blue had been the one carrying a gun, he would have jumped Travis when he got close enough. But Lucy couldn't ignore the fact that Travis's
own gun was aimed steadily at Blue.

  Blue had his thumbs hooked in his belt, one hand resting on his buckle. His eyes flicked to Lucy for half a second. "Do what he says," he told her softly. "Get in the car." He reached out, the car keys held flatly in the palm of his hand. "Please."

  Whatever Blue was planning to do, he wasn't going to do it until Lucy was at least somewhat removed from the scene. Whatever he was planning to do, the fact remained that Travis had a gun and Blue didn't. If someone was going to get hurt or killed, it was likely to be Blue.

  Lucy took the keys from him, letting her fingers linger in the warmth of his hand, well aware that this moment could be the last time she touched him.

  And suddenly all of her doubts about exactly what their relationship was, all of her doubts about Jenny Lee, all of her fears that given the choice between the two of them Blue would choose Jenny, all of that ceased to matter. Nothing mattered but the way Lucy felt.

  Blue looked at her again, just briefly, sending a silent message with his eyes. But the message that she wanted to give him in return, the words she wanted him to hear, were not ones she could trust to be conveyed through a single look.

  "I love you," she breathed.

  Blue looked back at her, his eyes betraying his surprise.

  She turned and climbed into Travis's car.

  Blue forced his eyes away from Lucy, back toward Travis and his gun. She loved him. Lucy loved him. She was his friend, but she also loved him.

  Blue knew that if he could just make it past the next few minutes, he was going to have a real honest-to-God shot at living happily every after. Lucy loved him and he sure as hell loved her.

  This was what Joe Cat and Veronica had found. This was why Cat had been nearly insane with worry when terrorists had hijacked the cruise ship Veronica had been on. Blue stared into the little black barrel of Travis's gun, silently willing the man to keep that gun aimed right at him. If he turned and aimed that thing at Lucy, Blue wouldn't be able to fight back. He wouldn't be able to risk it.

  And he'd just about worked his knife free from his belt buckle

  "You get in now," Travis said to Blue, gesturing to the car with his head. "We're gonna go for a ride."

  Blue didn't move. At least not his feet. "I don't think so," He said. "You're gonna have to shoot me. And then, when your gun is empty, I'm gonna walk over there and snap your neck the same way Gerry was killed. Don't worry—it doesn't hurt. I imagine the last thing you'll hear is your bone cracking. It's probably powerfully loud. But only for an instant."

  Sweat was rolling off Travis now and his hands shook even harder. "I said, get in the car."

  Inside the car, Lucy could see Blue, his hands still resting clearly in Travis's view, thumbs looped around his belt and...

  Blue's belt. Blue was working to get his knife free. As Lucy watched in the rearview mirror, she saw Blue put his hands down at his sides, and she knew he'd somehow palmed the knife.

  God, a knife against a gun. She had to do something to put the odds more in Blue's favour, and she had to do it now.

  Blue moved toward the car, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He had Travis shaken up. He just needed some kind of distraction and...

  Lucy started Travis's car with a roar. Startled, Travis looked away from Blue.

  It was only for a split second, but Blue didn't hesitate. He threw with unerring accuracy, and Travis fell with a scream, his gun bouncing on the dirt parking lot as he grabbed his wounded leg. Blue grabbed the gun, holding the barrel under Travis's chin as he took Lucy's gun from the man's pocket.

  The knife was buried up to its hilt in Travis's thigh.

  "You're still going to die," Travis hissed at Blue.

  "I wouldn't pull that knife out if I were you," Blue told him. "At least not until you get to the hospital. I aimed for a major artery. If you pull that out yourself, you'll bleed to death in about two minutes."

  Travis's pale face got even paler.

  "Get in," Lucy said urgently to Blue. "Fisher's truck just pulled into the parking lot."

  As if to punctuate her words, a shot rang out, and the rear windshield of Lucy's truck shattered.

  "At least they have lousy aim," Blue said, throwing open the back door of Travis's car and climbing in behind Lucy.

  Lucy pulled out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires as Blue climbed over the seat back into the front. She glanced at him. "I'm surprised you didn't kill Travis," she said.

  "Are you kidding?" Blue said. "And miss seeing him stand trial for Gerry's murder?" He turned around, squinting to get a better view of the truck that was chasing them.

  It was a monster truck, with big, oversized tires. It looked as if Fisher himself was driving. But someone else was next to him, riding shotgun. Literally.

  "What if he bleeds to death?" Lucy asked about Travis.

  "He won't," Blue said. "I was messing with his head when I told him I hit him in an artery. That was total bull. I was trying to immobilize him."

  Another shot rang out, but as far as Blue could tell, it didn't hit Travis's car. Lucy pushed the car even faster, but the truck kept up. Easily.

  Blue turned around, quickly scanning the interior of the car they were in. It was an upscale foreign car with a big engine, loaded with all the extra features. Travis even had a car phone built into the hump between the two front seats.

  They were heading north on Philips Road. Lucy was taking the curves faster than she should and the tires squealed and moaned. Blue tried to visualize exactly where they were. Philips Road intersected with Route 17 not far from North-gate prison. And somewhere west off Route 17, between Philips Road and the turnoff to Hatboro Creek, was the local television station where Jenny Lee worked. Bingo. Blue picked up the car phone. He had a plan.

  He glanced back at the truck just as the rear windshield shattered. The shooter had put a scope on his rifle. They were in trouble now.

  "Faster," he said to Lucy. "And keep your head down."

  "I can't do both," she said tightly.

  "You have to," he said.

  "Shouldn't you be shooting back at them?" Lucy asked.

  Blue shook his head. "Handguns don't have the same range as a hunting rifle. It'd be a waste of bullets."

  "Blue, I can't take this road any faster!" There was more than a touch of panic in her voice.

  He put down the phone and drew Travis's gun, instead, then braced his arms on the back of the seat. "Hit the brakes," he said to Lucy. "Now."

  She looked at him in shock. "What...?"

  He raised his voice. "Do it!"

  She did. The car slowed, shuddering slightly, and the truck roared into range.

  "Drive!" Blue shouted, emptying the magazine of the gun in rapid succession. He saw the truck's front windshield shatter, saw the telltale spray of red on the back windshield, and he knew someone had been hit.

  If it was the driver, he hadn't been killed. As Blue watched, the truck pulled over to the side of the road and came to a stop. Lucy was watching, too, in the rearview mirror. "Keep going," Blue said to her. "As fast as you can."

  "They stopped," she protested.

  "That doesn't mean they can't start after us again," he said.

  Several minutes passed in tense silence as Lucy drove as fast as she dared and Blue watched out the back for any sign of the truck. They were going up a small hill, and bits and pieces of the road behind could be seen in the valley below. He caught a glimpse of the monster truck, back on the road, still following them.

  Lucy swore like a sailor when he told her. She glanced at the speedometer, pushing the car even faster, but otherwise didn't take her eyes off the road. "We're coming up on Route 17. Which way?"

  "West."

  Blue picked up the car phone again, dialling a number he obviously had memorized.

  "Who are you calling?" Lucy asked.

  "Jenny Lee."

  Lucy felt herself grow very, very still. Jenny Lee. Blue was using the car phone to call J
enny Lee. She shouldn't have been surprised, but somehow, foolishly, she was. She was surprised and hurt. God, it was shocking how much it hurt. She'd anticipated this scenario. She'd been prepared for it. Or so she'd thought.

  Somehow Lucy managed to keep on driving. Somehow she made the turnoff west onto Route 17. She had told Blue that she loved him, and he didn't even have the decency to wait until they were out of danger before he called Jenny. Maybe that was what hurt the most.

  "Jenny Lee Beaumont, please," Blue told the receptionist, then waited while his call was connected.

  Lucy was really able to open up out on the state road. She pushed Travis's car faster, listening to the rush of the tires on the road, trying not to listen to Blue talk to Jenny Lee. But it was hard not to overhear him.

  "Remember when you came to the jail and I told you to be ready for me?" Blue said to Jenny. "Well, I'm on my way." There was a pause, then he said. "Ten minutes." Another pause. "Right." Then he hung up.

  He turned to Lucy. "You know where the turnoff is to the television station?"

  She nodded. She knew.

  He looked at her closely. "You all right?"

  Lucy nodded. "I'm fine." She glanced at him. He really didn't have a clue. He was gazing at her, concern in his eyes, puzzlement on his face. "Considering people who want to kill us are chasing us in a truck that can probably go a lot faster than this car," she added.

  Blue turned around, looking out the broken rear window. "I winged one of them," he said.

  "I thought you were supposed to be a sharpshooter," she said.

  He turned to her again, and she could feel him studying her face. She held her jaw firmly, her mouth tightly, her eyes carefully on the road.

  "I am," he finally said. "Travis's gun really sucks. I didn't have time to figure out which way it pulled. I didn't have time to compensate."

  Blue turned around to watch out the rear window. Several more miles sped by with only the sound of the wind whistling across the broken window, breaking the silence.