Silence.
So Alex filled it. The thoughts he hadn’t yet found words for tumbled out his mouth. “She puts the pretty in pretty tough. I never thought I would find that attractive, and I don’t even know if I’m ready for a relationship, but she keeps me on my toes. She challenges me to be a better person. Even if she’s yelling and trying to punch me in the face, I’d rather be fighting with her than laying here on my couch in peace.”
The ceiling fan continued to whir. Yeah, peace…boring.
“Did you do something to deserve being punched in the face?”
Alex could take offense to such a question, but he chuckled instead. “Five years ago. Not recently.”
He wouldn’t tell Jonathan that Laney’s fiancé had broken up with her because she’d been so obsessed with arresting him. It really had nothing to do with him. It was more about her drive to serve justice. Maybe even to protect his ex-wife. It wasn’t like she’d even realized the connection until that day. But connected they were. And it seemed too big to be a coincidence.
“So how did you scare her away?”
Alex winced. His words were going to sound so stupid. “I pinned her up against the wall to make her stay and listen to how I felt.”
“Aren’t you usually a little smoother than that?” Alex could actually hear the smile in his friend’s voice.
“I don’t think she trusts smooth.”
“Good point. So what did you say when you had her pinned up against the wall, Romeo?”
Alex rubbed his temples. Maybe he shouldn't have told Jonathan after all. Then he could just pretend he hadn’t totally blown his chance with Laney. “I said that I…uh…that I don’t hate her.”
His buddy guffawed. “Apparently I need to pray more.”
“Apparently.” It would definitely take a miracle to recover from that pathetic pick-up line.
The phone beeped. Another caller. Laney? He pulled the phone away from his ear. Not a number he recognized, meaning it could be her.
“Jon, I’ve gotta go. I’m getting another call.”
“Thanks for keeping me posted, son. I’ll keep praying.”
Alex’s guts twisted as he pressed the button to switch lines. If it wasn’t Laney, who else would be calling? Maybe she wanted to grab something to eat after all. “This is Alex.”
“Alex.” The voice sounded too deep to be a woman. “This is Shadow.”
Alex sat straight up. Shadow didn’t even own a phone. He wouldn’t call unless it was something important. Was there enough money left on Alex’s business Visa to purchase a new computer for the guy? “What’s up, Shadow?” Better not sound overeager. Maybe he could barter their deal down to a Kindle.
“I usually don’t do this, but there’s something I think you should know.”
Alex’s heart pounded. If Shadow was breaking his own code, this had to be huge. Maybe it was the answer Jon was praying for right at that very moment.
“I followed your dirty cop around today.”
Yes. Alex balled his fist, ready to pump it in the air in victory. “And?”
“And he hired the Eighteenth Street Gang to take out the chick who arrested you.”
**
Laney’s phone buzzed. She glanced over at the caller ID from her pint of ice cream. Nope. She wasn’t going to talk to Alex again today. Maybe not ever. The man was pretending to be attracted to her to get her to keep from going to the police.
Sure, she felt bad for him for missing out on a relationship with his daughter. And sure, he’d been there for her when Mitch tried to poison her. And sure, she liked wrestling with him just to be in his arms. Wait. What?
Gah. She dropped her forehead to Grandma’s old Formica table.
Her phone buzzed again next to her ear. She had to have it out with him. Had to tell him she was done working with him before it was too late and she started doing stupid things like running to him whenever she got scared. Because he wasn’t there to protect her. He was there to use her.
She clicked the button to answer her phone. “Look, Alex, I know I told you that you were the reason I didn’t marry Josh, but that doesn’t mean—”
“Oh, honey, you’ve got it bad.”
Laney dropped her head back down to the table. “Hi, Gwen.”
“I didn’t know Alex was the reason you didn’t marry Josh. I thought it was because you were a workaholic. Though you were tracking Alex at the time, weren’t you? Oh my.”
This was how rumors got started. “Please don’t ever repeat this to anyone, Gwen.”
Giggle. “But you already told Alex, didn’t you? How did he take it?”
Laney’s heart constricted. Even if Alex meant what he said, it didn’t change the fact he was an ex-con, and she was the detective who’d arrested him. “He pinned me to the wall and suggested we might have a future together, because he doesn’t hate me anymore.”
“Oh.” Monotone. “Well a love/hate relationship could be exciting.” Back to her perky self.
This was not what Laney needed to hear. “No. It won’t work. So I don’t think I’m going to talk to him again. Ever.”
A pounding noise rattled the back door. “Laney, let me in.”
Laney jumped. Her heart raced to catch up. Alex? She’d already turned him down for dinner. “Go away.”
Gwen gasped. “Is that Alex now?”
“He’s at the back door.” Her friend would be sure to make much too much of this new irritation.
“Laney, it’s important.”
Eye roll. “Now he’s yelling. He says it’s important.”
“Well, you better go invite him in then, girlfriend.” Girlfriend? Was Gwen from an older generation or younger? “Oh, and make sure you check your messages. Collin found something out from his contact so now he’s looking into Sterling as well.”
“Laney, I’m going to bust through this back window if you don’t open the door.”
“Thanks, Gwen. Talk to you soon.” She’d check the message from Collin later. Right now she had to keep an irate ex-con from breaking into her house. “What?” she strode to the door but didn’t open it. “Did you forget your screwdriver to take off the doorknob like you did when you stole my computer?”
“Not the time.”
She chuckled to herself as she twisted the lock to turn the knob. If it irritated Alex, then it was the perfect time.
He barged in before she even had a chance to open the door. Did he really want to test out her self-defense moves again?
The wild gleam in his eyes kept her from asking. He grabbed her shoulders, studied her, scanned the room, and focused back on her.
Laney shook him off. His intent did not seem to be romance, which meant she had to keep some distance so her mind wouldn’t go there, either. “What’s going on?”
He grabbed her again, this time piercing her with a stare. “Sterling put a hit on you. With the Eighteenth Street Gang.”
His desperation filled her veins, stepping on the gas of her pulse and revving the engine of her heart. This wasn’t a dignified wine glass of poison threatening her life anymore. This was flying bullets. Maybe even switch blades. Anywhere she went, she could be mowed over in a hit and run.
Laney pulled away and raced to her bedroom to retrieve her Glock and went into alert mode.
Alex rushed through the door, and the action drew the barrel of her gun.
“Whoa.” He ducked.
“Sorry.” She bent her elbow to aim at the ceiling.
He stood again, arms up. “We need to get out of here. You have no security.”
Grandma could argue all she wanted when she got back from the Mediterranean, but they were having an alarm put in. And cameras. And perhaps even a safe room.
Rapid-fire gun blast broke the silence. Laney dove to the floor behind her bed to the tinkling sound of shattering glass. The hair stood up on her arms as if an electric current filled the air. Alex met her there.
“AK-47 assault rifles,” she stated as i
f they were on a gun range and not cowering from a gang who sold the weapons illegally.
“Holy crap.” He stared at her blankly.
That was right, he’d claimed not to have experience with guns. He may be there to save her, but she was the one who would have to get them out of this.
Laney motioned toward the back window. Hopefully the house wasn’t completely surrounded yet. They needed a direction to run.
The gunfire paused for reload, which gave them at least three seconds. She peeked out the window. No movement in the dim backyard. Please, Lord.
She fumbled with the lock and jerked the window away from the sill. Cool night air contrasted with the angry barrage of bullets starting up again. Drywall exploded in a puff of dust beside her head and drying out her throat when she gasped. She dove through the opening, hoping to make it to the bushes below in one piece. Then she’d focus on making it across the backyard alive. If they made it that far, she would figure out where to go next.
The weight of a body landed on top of her, pressing them deeper into the shrub. “Alex?” Was he hit?
The body rolled off and thudded to the ground beside her. She watched his shadow jump to his feet and look around. He was alive, at least. Her heart resumed its pounding.
“Stay down.”
He crouched.
The window over their head shattered. Footsteps and voices echoed through the house. The gang had gone inside.
Alex’s watch buzzed. Laney jolted. Would it be what got them caught? No response from the gangsters. She tried to take a deep breath to slow her pulse.
Alex’s silhouette looked down at his watch then pointed toward his vehicle, visible around the corner from her house. “My car is on the street.”
The gangster’s bullets would rip right though his precious sports car. Plus, Laney wasn’t going to run back toward the enemy. She had to think of another route.
Voices grew louder overhead.
“The window is open. They must have gone out this way.” The coarse tone added a few more coarse words.
Laney pressed back into the bushes and squeezed Alex’s arm, hoping he would stay just as still. If the gangsters realized where they were, they’d be dead.
Alex pulled on her arm, pointing to his car again. She pulled back, shaking her head hard enough for him to see her hair fly in the dim light. He tugged a second time.
She couldn’t speak aloud to explain. If he took off running that direction, they’d get him for sure. Help, Lord.
An explosion ripped through the air as the Corvette lit up like a jack-o-lantern. Fire shot out the sunroof, and the doors and hood went flying. They landed with the clang of scraping metal.
Alex stilled.
Laney stared in shock. That was an unexpected answer to prayer. A verse from one of Grandma’s memory cards played through her head. If God is for us, who can be against us? They were going to survive this.
“Whoo-hoo!” cheered one voice above them. “Even if we don’t get them tonight, that will make Copper proud.”
“Wicked cool. We can tell him tomorrow night. He’s supposed to meet us for payment at sunset.”
Copper. That would be Sterling—the former cop. The dirty cop. The man responsible for all of this.
“Let’s go check the backyard.”
Her heart throbbed against her ribs. They had a few seconds to get away before the gangsters made it through the house.
Alex groaned. “Your van?”
Hopefully they could get the van out of her detached garage and escape through the alley. Though it would be risky. If Alex snuck toward the garage, she could draw attention away from him by firing at the gangsters. Then he could meet her on the street, and they’d be driving away before the gang members got back to their vehicle.
She pulled keys from her pocket. “We’re splitting up. You get the van and drive toward the river. I’ll meet you there.”
He clasped the keys, but didn’t move. “Where are you—”
“Go.” She shoved him so he would get past the door before the shooters appeared.
Alex stumbled forward and ducked behind a tree as the back screen slammed open. Now he was stuck unless she diverted the gangsters’ attention. She zeroed in on a tree in the opposite direction. If she ran before they got their bearings, she’d be able to take cover by the time the bullets reached her.
Without another thought, she charged forward through the tall grass, extending each leg as far as possible for every step.
“There!”
A volley of bullets shattered the still night.
Laney sagged against rough bark as the shots sunk into the wood on the other side. This was where she had to shoot back to keep the enemy from advancing too close. She turned her chest toward the tree and checked to make sure Alex was moving. Yes. His shadow darted unnoticed behind the two shooters—the two shooters moving her way.
She pointed her gun around the tree before squeezing the trigger. The hard metal kicked back, but her hand stayed steady despite the trembling in her chest.
The gangsters shouted and dove for cover.
“What the—? Copper didn’t say she’d be armed.”
“She’s his old partner. What did you expect?”
Another round of bullets hit the tree. Dry leaves floated down.
“Bring it, woman.”
She fired again. She couldn’t let him scare her, but she also had to ration her bullets in order to get away. Her lungs burned as she preparing for another mad dash to the next tree.
Their turn. An erratic volley. Dirt sprayed up around her. So close.
She couldn’t think about it. She would just have to fire back as she raced away. Unless God provided another distraction.
An engine revved to life. Light flashed under her garage door moments before her van crashed through it.
The enemy turned to chase Alex. She couldn’t think about him. She had to run. One foot in front of another. Ankles threatening to turn on uneven ground. Calves aching. Thighs throbbing. Wind whipping her in the face.
Along Mr. McMurtry’s fence. Through his wife’s prized flower bed. Down the driveway.
A window from the ’57 Chevy parked in the drive burst behind her. One of the gangsters must have turned to chase her again. Did she have enough of a head start?
She ducked and pointed her gun behind her, firing back.
The door of her neighbor’s house flung open, light revealing the outline of Sam himself. “Sic ‘em, Angel.”
Thank heaven Laney fed the Pit Bull toast over the fence every morning. Angel had no such relationship with the gunman. She bounded past Laney, teeth bared. Good dog.
A scream. Then no more bullets zinging past.
She rounded the corner to meet Alex up at the river. There was her wreck of a van now. It had never been more beautiful.
Headlights bore down on her, the boom of gunfire following close behind.
Alex screeched to a stop. She ducked as a bullet from their pursuer ripped through the side mirror.
She yanked open the door and leaped in. Alex stepped on the gas, and Laney collapsed into the bucket seat as gunfire faded in the distance.
Now what? Not only did she have a hit on her, but she was stuck with the one man she never wanted to have to depend on again. And he’d just saved her life.
Chapter Eight
She’d just saved his life. The woman who had once chased him down with a gun had used her shooting skills to distract a couple of gangsters so Alex could get away.
“Unbelievable.”
Laney leaned back and closed her eyes. “I’m sure insurance will cover your Corvette.”
She thought he was worried about his car? Did she really think that little of him? “I’m talking about the way you risked your life to save me.”
“I did what I had to do.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for coming to my rescue. How did you know they were going to try to kill me?”
“Shadow.” The man she’
d freaked out about him talking to that morning. Probably another con she’d put in jail before. Yet his warning was the only reason she was alive.
She rubbed her hands over her face. “Oh my stars.”
Alex looked in the rearview mirror to make sure they weren’t being followed as he turned onto the highway. He probably couldn’t take her back to his place. The Eighteenth Street Gang would surely head there next. And he couldn’t take her back to her friends’ home on the lake. Not if he was going to do what he’d planned for the next day. Which he had to do now. Not only so he could see his daughter again, but so he could survive. They had to prove Sterling was a dirty cop, get him arrested, and the hit called off. The sooner the better.
They needed a place to sleep for the night and to prepare in the morning. Where would be the least likely place for the Eighteenth Street Gang to look for them?
A sign for the Lincoln Street exit flashed past. Hm. That was an idea. He slid his gaze sideways to gauge Laney’s state of mind. If she had her defenses up, she would totally attack him for this. But no. She sat there looking completely defeated.
He flipped on his blinker. She didn’t even notice.
After turning right onto First, then right again on Post, he pulled up behind a Jaguar and a Lexus to await the valet. He smiled at the sight her van probably made in front of the ornate Davenport Hotel.
Laney glanced out the window. She turned on him, eyes wide.
He yanked the door handle and hopped out of the vehicle.
She followed him into the lobby, slowing to take in the balcony, marble, gold filigree, fresh flowers, Greek statues, and baby grand piano. It gave him just enough time to slap down his business credit card at the reservation desk.
She joined him, arms crossed and lips pinching together when she noticed the name on the Visa.
“Parlor Suite with two bedrooms please,” he said before she could ask any questions that might attract attention.
She stilled at his words, probably just imagining how good it would feel to crawl into a bed and sleep for days. He certainly was.
Team Love on the Run Box-Set #1 Page 7