A weird sort of jealousy made her ask, “And? Did she write you? Email you while you were gone?”
One corner of his mouth turned up as he reached out to brush her hair back from her face in a tender gesture. “No. She sent me a Dear John email right after we had sex. I guess that’s all she wanted.”
His face turned serious, and she drank in the heat and intensity she saw in his amazing eyes.
“She must have been an idiot,” she said.
He grinned. “You wouldn’t have sent me an email like that.”
Before she could open her mouth, a loud banging on the bunker door startled them.
“Shit,” he said as he dropped her hand and headed for the door. He glanced at the monitor. “Who’s this guy?”
She finished lacing the last shoe and hurried to the front. She saw a single face on the monitor, and a big smile broke over her face. “Thank goodness.”
Ian frowned. “You know him?”
“Yes.” She started for the door. “It’s Phil Hendricks from down the street. He’s a retired police officer. We can trust him.”
Ian nodded as she paused with her hand on the door. She knew Ian wouldn’t ease up until he’d been introduced. She quickly opened the door with a smile. The burly older man, about sixty years old, was almost as tall and strong-looking as Ian. In his prime, he’d probably been a force to reckon with. He probably still was. With a full head of silver hair, piercing blue eyes and a strong jaw, he was still something of a lady killer with the older women in this community. His wife Gillian, though, kept a grip on him and Penny had seen the real affection they had for one another.
Phil smiled when he saw Penny, and his arms opened. “Hey there, little girl! Glad to see you’re safe.”
“Phil!” She flew into his quick embrace, allowing his warmth to give her additional strength. “It’s so good to see you. Are you guys okay?”
Phil nodded and smiled as he released her. “Gillian’s in our SUV right outside with her .38 locked and loaded. We’re leaving the area. Damn cell service and land lines are shot all to hell and there’s some gang of asses roaming the street causing trouble. We couldn’t get a hold of you and thought we’d better see if you’d hunkered down in here. Gillian was damned worried.”
“We have been for a lot of hours,” Penny said.
Phil placed his hands on his hips. “Your place is trashed up there. Feared the worst.”
“It’s been one hell of a day,” she said, not wanting to get into the gruesome details.
Phil’s attention darted to Ian, his gaze narrowed. He held his hand out. “Phil Hendricks. I take it you’re the one who owns that smashed-up SUV out front?”
Ian shook hands. “You’re right. I’m Ian MacDaniel.”
Phil looked suspicious as hell. “You a friend of Penny’s?”
Penny stiffened a little, but Ian’s expression was relaxed and calm. “I work for her father. He sent me to get her.”
Not, “I’m her lover.” Her boyfriend. No, he wouldn’t say that. It just didn’t sound…correct. What would she call him if asked?
Phil’s eyebrows shot up. “Doesn’t look like that’s working so well.”
Oh, great. Phil sounded distrustful of Ian. “Ian saved my life twice today, Phil. I’d say he’s doing a very good job.”
Phil didn’t look impressed, in fact his suspicious expression deepened. “What the hell happened?”
Ian threw Penny a look full of caution, but she couldn’t lie to Phil or his wife. “It’s complicated.”
“Start at the beginning,” Phil’s eyes narrowed.
Ian planted his hands on his hips. “Don’t know if we have time for this.”
Penny reached out and touched Ian’s elbow. “We have to tell him.”
Ian’s wince said he didn’t like the idea. “All right.”
Phil’s gaze darted between them. “Somebody better start talking.”
Penny released Ian. “Those asses you mentioned had us pinned down. Actually they chased me in here. After a break in the action Ian came and the mob returned shortly after. We were trapped for quite a while before they left. Ian went out to see if his SUV was in one piece and to get his assault rifle.”
Phil’s eyes still held suspicion. “Why do I have a feeling that’s not all that happened?”
“Got that right.” Ian’s voice held a hard edge.
Penny drew in a slow breath and gave Phil a short but fairly detailed version of her violent encounter with Frank. “Ian and Frank fought.”
“Frank lost,” Ian said dryly.
Phil lifted one brow. “Lost as in…what? Did you kill him?”
“I was bloody tempted,” Ian said.
The quiet that dropped over the room and the look in Phil’s eyes said he understood. “I see.”
Penny worried Phil wouldn’t understand, and then all hell was likely to bust loose in who knew what sort of unpleasant way. “Frank’s been arrested and he’s on the way to the hospital.”
Phil crossed his arms, his gaze narrowed. “You put in a dent in him, MacDaniel?”
“Just enough. He probably feels like a truck hit him,” Ian said.
Phil’s tension seemed to ease. He narrowed his eyes at Ian. “Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.” Ian kept his feet spread apart, his arms at his side.
Penny didn’t think he looked relaxed, but there wasn’t a threatening appearance to his stance.
Phil sighed. “All right. If Penny trusts you, then I guess I have to.”
Ian didn’t smile. “All you have to know is that I had no choice. Frank stalked her all the way from California. If I hadn’t come back…” Ian’s tone said it all. “If I hadn’t taken him out, I don’t know what he would have done to her.” Ian’s voice dropped to a lethal softness, deep and self-assured. “And I’d do anything to keep Penny safe. Anything at all.”
A weird fluttery excitement danced through Penny’s stomach. She didn’t know whether to be sickened by her reaction or aroused. Ian’s protectiveness did things to her and generated primitive reactions. At the same time, her father’s desire to protect her had always pissed her off. She understood Ian was different, but she still wasn’t one hundred percent sure she liked it.
Phil’s stern expression gave away little, but she thought she saw understanding dawning in his eyes. “What a God-awful, damned situation. People are turning into animals.”
“Frank was an animal before the volcano blew,” Penny said.
Phil nodded, his calm over the situation a little surprising. He turned his attention back to Ian. “What branch of the military were you in, MacDaniel? You sound English.”
“Scottish. I was in the Special Air Service.”
“What type of work?”
“I blew up a lot of things and dismantled things that would have blown up. Mostly classified work.”
Phil nodded and smiled. “Well, I never served in the military, but I’m retired from the Chicago PD. Twenty-five years.”
Penny rolled her eyes. It’s dick measuring time. “Guys, I understand the need for male bonding, but standing around here is making me a bit nervous. What if the mob comes back?”
“Right,” Ian said. “You leaving the area, Mr. Kendricks?”
“Fast as we can. You want to come with us?” Phil asked.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Ian said.
Chapter 8
As the large SUV rumbled down the main road out of the gated community, Penny half expected to see people still trying to leave. But the streets appeared deserted. Gillian rode shotgun next to Phil in the front seat. Ian sat behind Phil and Penny behind Gillian. In the trunk and with them in the back seat were two assault rifles. Ian had already made certain they were loaded.
“All of these guns are creeping me out,” Penny said.
“Me, too,” Gillian said.
Phil snorted. “Guess you should be glad I have them.”
Penny was, and she wasn’
t. Sure she knew how to fire a handgun, but she didn’t know assault weapons and didn’t want to.
“Are we the last ones in here?” Gillian asked, breaking Penny’s concentration on the firepower.
“Not likely. I imagine there are some people thinking they can wait it out,” Ian said.
“Wonder what happened to those people who had us pinned down?” Phil asked.
“They seem to have a way of turning up at the wrong time,” Ian said.
Penny’s stomach growled loudly, and she almost laughed nervously. She wished she’d taken time to eat before leaving the house. They’d packed additional water and food into the Kendricks’ SUV.
“You okay?” Ian asked Penny as he rested his hand on her thigh.
She placed her hand over his. “Hungry.”
He dug into the backpack they’d loaded with provisions. “Protein bar. Eat up.” He handed her the bar. “Anyone else need one?”
Gillian and Phil declined. Ian started eating a protein bar and so did Penny. As they drove, Penny saw the north gate of the community was bent open. Gillian seemed nervous. Her head swung back and forth as she took measure of the houses around them. Her steel gray hair was gathered down her back in a waist-length, thick braid. She’d always had a rough and a bit used-up appearance, even when she dressed up for a country club event. Life had written itself in each line and wrinkle. Her dark eyes, though, normally sparkled with kindness and good humor. Today she looked different, as if all the joy had fallen away from her. Penny gobbled up the protein bar in record time and put the wrapper away in the backpack. The apocalypse had come, but she wouldn’t litter. Some things remained sacred.
“Wow, that gate is messed up,” Gillian said as they reached the north gate.
“Someone rammed it.” Phil’s obvious statement fell flat in the air.
Ian’s voice rolled out. “Well, if they hadn’t first, we would have.”
As it was, whoever had rammed the gates hadn’t managed to shove them wide. Phil crept toward the gates.
“Gonna be a tight fit,” Phil said.
Gillian replied, “Looks like a Mini Cooper took it on.”
Penny tensed as Phil crawled closer to the gate. “Slow and easy.”
It took Phil a while, but he squeaked through. As they headed down the wide boulevard to the top of the next street, Penny had a feeling their escape had come too easily. As they reached the apex of the hill, several people came running down the sidewalk to their left. About ten men converged toward their car.
“Gun it!” Ian gripped the back of the seat in front of him. “Get us outta here!”
“Right!” Phil glanced both ways quickly and launched down the street with a roar.
A sedan coming at tremendous speed zipped into view, almost dead on their bumper. Honking, the car zig zagged behind them, then roared around to the left side of the SUV into the oncoming traffic lane.
“Stupid bastards!” Phil pounded one fist on the steering while, then swung into the far right lane.
They launched full blast toward the approaching T-intersection.
“Shit.” Ian gritted the curse out.
The two people in the sedan next to them flipped them the bird and surged past Phil’s SUV. The sedan slammed on the breaks. Penny cried out as Phil swerved around the sedan and back into the left lane. Phil sent the SUV toward the empty intersection, looked to the left and careened around the corner to the right and headed north. He gunned it onto the four-lane highway.
Penny’s breath caught in her throat as she swung around to look out the back window. The pursuit car careened around the corner and continued its mad rush toward them, rapidly gaining ground.
“They’re going to ram us!” Penny kept her attention pinned to the sedan, her heart banging furiously in her chest.
Phil cursed under his breath while Gillian let out a cry clearly filled with fright.
Penny gripped the seat back in front of her. “We’ll be all right.”
Would they? She didn’t know.
The sedan accelerated and impacted the SUV. Metal crunched as the back bumper let out a moan of metal punishing metal and the SUV swerved. If she hadn’t worn a seatbelt, Penny would have planted face-first into the seat in front of her or slid into the door. Phil punched it and the SUV leapt ahead. Penny estimated their speed at ninety. The sedan backed off and as the SUV ate up the miles, Phil blew through stoplights that no longer worked. A few cars sat at the non-functioning lights waiting to make it into the intersection, but no one pulled in front of them. At the last light out of town Gillian hoped for sanity. Maybe the nut jobs in the sedan had given up.
From the next intersection a semi swung into view. “Damn it!”
Penny’s insides felt like gelatin. Has the whole world gone mad?
“Punch it!” Ian’s harsh accent grew deeper. “Bloody hell!”
“Has everyone in Bangor gone nuts?” Gillian wailed the question, and Penny wished she could comfort the older woman.
Penny anticipated another impact. The semi kept coming into the intersection.
“Noooo!” Gillian’s voice pierced the air. “Watch out!”
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Phil gritted out his warning. “Hold on!”
Phil blasted into the vacant left oncoming lane and through the intersection. The semi had stopped in the intersection. She didn’t have time to feel relief that they’d made it through the intersection without crashing.
Seconds later she dared look around. “The sedan’s still behind us!”
Penny saw the passenger lean part way out of the window, his arm coming out as he held an object.
Right that second Ian alerted Phil. “Swerve! The assholes have a weapon!” Ian shoved Penny down in the seat. “Get down!”
Another crash from behind sent the big truck careening, the tires shrieking. Gunfire erupted from behind. Gillian screamed. Penny cried out in alarm, her fingers digging into Ian’s thigh as he shot back at their pursuers. The sounds cracked with ear-splitting intensity. Terror pierced Penny with deep claws. The SUV stayed on the road. Curses slipped from Penny’s throat. Another loud crash echoed, this one sounding farther away. Phil kept his foot on the gas. They sped on, the roar of the engine proving that Phil had no intention of slowing down.
“Gillian? Gillian?” Phil’s voice rose in alarm.
The back of Penny’s neck prickled. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“God damn it! She’s been shot.” Phil’s voice was ragged with worry. “Gillian!”
“They’re dropping back.” Ian kept Penny pressed to his thigh.
The SUV slowed, and Penny immediately asked, “Why are we slowing down?”
“Roadblock,” came Phil’s answer. “Looks like National Guard and maybe sheriff’s department.”
“Go around,” Ian said. “We need space between us and these assholes.”
Phil made a strangled sound. “I’m stopping. Gillian needs help.”
Ian didn’t argue, but when Penny tried to sit up, Ian kept her flat. “Stay down. The wankers aren’t retreating.”
Penny heard tires squealing and from somewhere maybe even the shout of a voice over a bullhorn. Oh, shit. How would they make it out of this situation?
Phil made a sudden movement with the steering wheel as the rat-tat-tat of gunfire penetrated the air, along with Ian and Phil’s virulent curses. A second later she heard a ping and someone in the vehicle cried out. Phil slumped over the steering wheel and the SUV went into a wild sway as he lost control. The SUV accelerated at an alarming speed and seconds later crashed into something immobile. Pain exploded in her head, and the world turned to midnight.
* * * *
The SUV crashing into the immobile military vehicle at the roadblock threw Ian to the side, but the seat belt held him. Penny’s seatbelt held but her body was limp against the seat, her eyes closed and head tilted to the side.
“Fuck!” Ian unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for her. “Son-of-a-bitch! Penny! Penn
y?”
Inside the car there wasn’t a sound but for Ian’s hard breathing, his cursing and a loud groan coming from Phil. Outside, shouts broke the air, demands Ian recognized as police or military commands. He didn’t care. In his military career he’d encountered dead and wounded, both friend and foe. He’d certainly encountered fear. Raw terror shot through him like a knife to the gut.
“Penny, come on baby, open your eyes.” He checked the pulse at her neck and it was strong. “Thank you, thank you.”
He looked up and saw Phil lying over the wheel with a bloodstain spreading over his left shoulder. Gillian was slumped over and barely visible.
Commotion outside brought his attention to the windows. The SUV was surrounded by men dressed as National Guard and police. The police pointed their guns at him and shouted for him to put his hands up.
Reluctantly he did as asked. “I’ve got injured in here! At least two with gunshot wounds!”
Police opened the doors and two pointed straight at him. He didn’t give them a chance to order him out of the vehicle.
“This woman is hurt and the other two have been shot. I’ve got a weapon in this holster. There are other weapons in the car. We were being chased from the gated community down the road by two whack jobs,” Ian said rapid fire.
An older cop dressed in tactical gear including helmet lowered his weapon and the others followed suit. “Roadblocks were for the assholes chasing you. Sorry you got caught up in it. Okay, let’s get paramedics in here.”
The next few minutes twisted in Ian’s gut as, with the help of a SWAT team medic, he helped monitor Penny, Gillian, and Phil. They didn’t move them without backboards, and Ian’s stomach felt like someone had poured battery acid in it as he watched over Penny in particular. Gillian had been shot in the head, but it was a graze along the skull. Gillian’s color didn’t look good and neither did Phil’s. Penny hadn’t gone into shock, thank God, and Ian kept a tight hold on her left hand, reassured by the warmth. It seemed to take forever for two ambulances to arrive. Gillian and Phil were immediately transferred to one ambulance after they were stabilized. Penny was checked, and the paramedics declared she probably had a concussion along with the wound to her shoulder and they worried that she hadn’t regained her senses yet.
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