Under Fire

by Scarlett Cole

  If he said it enough, he might believe it. And unlike the plumbing parts, he’d not hit the floor, which was a good sign. Wasn’t it?

  His phone rang, and he grabbed it from his pocket. The sight of Lou’s face on his screen shouldn’t be this reassuring, should it? “What’s up, Lou?” he said, throwing six packets of the locks into his basket.

  “This is going to sound really weird,” she said, her voice shaken. “But you didn’t ask one of your guys to stay near me today, did you?”

  “Where are you?” he asked. He dropped the shopping basket to the floor and hurried out of the exit. Window locks were not going to be the answer to her prayers.

  “I’m heading back from my mom’s, but I saw this car outside the parking lot at church, and then it was behind me when … when I pulled into the grocery store. I think it’s behind me now, about two cars back on the highway.”

  The highway. Damn. It would be impossible to get to her easily. He’d have to head north then turn around, attempt to come up behind her.

  “Are you close to the Home Depot exit? Can you drive straight to me, Lou?”

  “I’m a few minutes away.” Relief washed through him. That made life easier.

  “Okay, you’re doing great. You don’t need to do anything crazy, Lou. Just keep it steady but don’t stop. Jump a red light if you need to. I’m gonna put the truck in the back left corner of the lot where there is a little more room. Just drive straight over to me.”

  “Do you think it’s whoever tried to get me yesterday?” she asked, and he could hear the tears in her voice.

  Six jumped into his truck and started the engine so he could move into position. “No idea, Lou. But just keep coming to me. Describe the car to me. What does it look like?” Once parked again, he pulled his SIG from his holster and stepped around the rear of the truck.

  “It’s silver, some kind of sedan. There were two men in it. It had a silver logo … Honda … Toyota … I don’t know, on the front, but I don’t know what make it was. I just pulled off the highway. Oh my God. It followed me, Six. They’re only one car behind me.” Her voice told him everything he needed to know. She was doing her best to stay calm, but it was an almost impossible task.

  “Less than three minutes until you get to the store,” he said, roughly. “I’m waiting for you. I’m behind the truck. Just stay focused.” He witnessed the moment her Audi came into view. The silver car drove by the exit, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t go far. “Rear left, Lou. You’re headed toward me, drive straight in next to the truck then wait for me to come get you out.”

  She did as he asked, and he got a flash of her pale features and red eyes as she slid in alongside him.

  He ran to her side of the car. There was no telling how long she had lost the silver car for. They were probably parked up by the exit, ready to pick her up again. Six yanked the door open, and she collapsed into his arms. Her body shook violently.

  To keep her safe, he did the only thing he could think of—whisked her into his arms, spun her against the truck, protecting her with his own body, and pressed his lips to her neck. To get to her, they’d have to get through him, but it also had two other benefits. First, it would help snap her back into the moment, and second, there was the slightest chance it would hide her from those trying to find her. “You’re safe, Lou, for now. But I need you to hold it together for just a little while longer.”

  She gasped in surprise, and he ran his hands up her ribs for effect. He knew the move distracted her. Damn. It was close to distracting him. Louisa froze as he tried to ignore the way she felt pressed up against him and focused on the task at hand. “Relax. Wrap your arms around me, sweetheart. I’m going to lift you into the truck. Okay?”

  “Okay?” she whispered, her voice unsteady.

  Six did as he’d promised and moved slightly, lessening his weight against her body but still using himself as a shield. It was unclear to him whether the people chasing her wanted her alive or dead, but he wasn’t going to take a risk that they could get a shot off and hit her. He reached across her and opened the passenger door. In a move reminiscent of something a playful lover would do, he lifted her up onto the seat. “Buckle up, and when I pull out onto the road, duck forward and keep your head down. If they’ve been following you all day, I’ve got to believe they’ll follow us now. I can’t guarantee they haven’t seen you switch cars, so we need to act like they did. They were armed last night, so we have to assume they will be today.”

  “What will we do if they get us?” He skin was pale and her brown eyes wide as she did what he asked.

  “They won’t. Trust me.”

  He slammed her door shut, ran around to his door, and jumped into the truck. It didn’t matter who was behind the wheels of that vehicle; he’d pitch his emergency driving skills against anybody. They’d gotten him clear of trouble more times than he could remember in Fallujah. He fastened his seat belt and placed his gun on the seat between him and Louisa.

  “You don’t happen to know how to use that, do you?” he asked as they pulled off the driveway.

  “I signed the gun control registry.”

  “Of course you did,” he said with a wink as he pulled a hand-brake turn out of the hardware store.

  Louisa grabbed the handle above the door and clung on for dear life as they sped up to the junction and then braked hard. The car was on his tail. Part of him wondered for a millisecond whether he shouldn’t take her back to the Eagle Securities compound, but traffic heading into the city was always worse this time of day, so heading away made sense.

  “Please tell me you have a plan,” Louisa said as he took a hard left to double back on themselves.

  Six looked in the rearview mirror and spotted the car. It was gaining on them while he tried to avoid the other vehicles around them. “I always have a plan. I’m like Hannibal.”

  “Lecter?” she asked.

  “No, from The A-Team,” he said as he beat the lights at a major intersection, trapping the car behind them. “I love it when a plan comes together. We’re about to lose the car.” He double-checked behind them. “Shit,” he growled as the car followed them straight through. It had been gaining on them all along. “Grab the gun, Lou. If the car comes alongside and starts shooting, lean back behind the seat belt pillar, but feel free to shoot back. Aim for the tires. It will be enough to get them off the road.”

  Plus, he didn’t want her to have to deal with the reality of killing a man.

  He sped onto the highway, moving quickly across the lanes to get around trucks and slow drivers. The car followed his path. An exit was coming up, and he checked the lanes. The car was trapped with a vehicle alongside it, so Six swerved the truck straight across the lanes, across the gravelly shoulder, and up the exit ramp.

  Louisa cried out next to him. “Oh, shit.”

  He reached his hand out to pat her leg in comfort.

  “Hands on the wheel, Rapp,” she said, shoving his hand away.

  Six hollered as he checked the rearview. “Now they’re gone,” he said, keeping his foot on the pedal.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Louisa said.

  “For real?” he asked. “Because I’m not sure we’ll be cool if you puke in my truck.” Louisa gave him some serious side-eye, and he couldn’t help but grin. Civilians never really understood the need for lighthearted banter in the direst situations, but many a time it had kept him sane.

  “Well, in my quest for life or death, I’ll do my best to not soil your precious vehicle. Are you sure they’re gone?” she asked, turning in her seat to look out of the rear window.

  There was no way the car could have followed him off the exit. “Definitely.”

  “So where are you taking me?” Louisa asked as they passed another exit.

  “My house.”

  * * *

  Louisa couldn’t remember the last time she had made the drive to Encinitas, but she’d forgotten how lush and green it could appear compared to her
own neighborhood. Though the grasses were dead, they drove past shrubby hedgerows vibrantly decorated with red flowers.

  She attempted to quell the panic rising inside her. They’d called Officer Meeks from the car, and Louisa had been stunned by all the small details Six was able to recall, from the vehicle’s license plates to descriptions of the men who had been sitting inside. All she could remember was the way she’d been tossed from side to side as Six had taken the corners and turns at high speeds. Oh, and her desperation to avoid being shot. And the way Six had held her, his lips brushing her neck, before he’d lifted her into the truck. He hadn’t touched her since which told her it had all been a decoy to get her into the truck safely, which she deeply appreciated and yet …

  She’d tried to pay attention as Six explained to her why what had happened was a good thing. Something about CCTV and road traffic cameras increasing the chances of the police getting a hit on something. Louisa understood the logic, but she was still processing the sheer terror of realizing somebody really was out to get her and she didn’t know why for sure, although she’d have to be an idiot to not conclude it had to do with the lab.

  “Would you mind if we turned the air conditioning off and opened the windows a little?” she asked, flexing her fingers for a moment to try to get the blood flowing through them. They felt like icicles, and she tucked her hands between her thighs for some warmth.

  “Sorry, Lou,” Six said as they turned off the road they’d been on for a little while onto a quieter side street. “I should’ve realized you might have been cold sooner, but we’re right here. You okay?”

  She pulled the phone charger out of its socket and started to straighten the knotted cord. “I’d be lying if I said yes. For the second time in twenty-four hours, someone attempted to, what…? Kill me?”

  Six looked over at her and sighed. “It’s cold comfort, sweetheart, but if they’d wanted you dead, they would have killed you last night. They had time before I got there, plus you said they told you they wanted you to go with them. Whatever they want with you, they want you alive to do it.”

  Her stomach roiled at the thought. “I’m not sure that makes me feel much better.”

  He grabbed for one of her hands and squeezed it. “Trust me. Being alive is the best fucking thing in the world. If you’re alive, you can fight, you can think, you can even wait for someone to come get you,” he said passionately. “You’ll come back from anything they can put you through. But there is no coming back from dead. That’s as final as it gets.”

  Louisa squeezed his hand tightly. Because there was so much feeling in the words, she was confident he spoke from experience.

  “Do you mind if I make a call?” Louisa asked. “I’m gonna lose my nerve if I don’t do this now.”

  “Sure,” Six said, letting go of her hand, and she regretted it the moment his fingers slipped out of hers.

  She picked up her phone and called Vasilii.

  “Louisa. How are you?” he said in his usually pleasant tone. “What are you up to today?”

  “Why didn’t you call the police about the missing sample, Vasilii?”

  There was a long, pregnant pause on the other end of the phone line, and finally Vasilii coughed gently. “Louisa. You know how important the lab’s reputation is. We’re still trying to—”

  “Do you want to know what happened to me last night? Two men tried to break into my house and abduct me. And this morning, I was trailed by two men around my mom’s neighborhood and back home.”

  “Dear Lord, Louisa. Are you okay?” The concern in his voice sounded genuine, leaving her confused.

  “For now. Yes. But I told the police about the break-in at the lab. They were the ones who told me they had no record of it. Vasilii, I honestly think you put my life at risk, and Ivan’s.”

  Six reached his hand across the seat and rubbed her thigh, his big hands gripping her gently. She placed her hand over his and interlocked their fingers.

  “Wait. You think these things are connected,” Vasilii said. “That seems like an awfully big conclusion. You are the only child of the extremely wealthy Isaiah North. There could be other motives. What did the police say?”

  Rather than tell him, she decided to hold back. Since she was uncertain as to whether she could trust him or not, it didn’t make sense to tell him more. “They’re probably going to want to ask you some questions. About what happened. See any evidence you have collected in this internal search of yours.”

  “Louisa, I don’t like the insinuation—”

  “I need some time off,” Louisa said quickly. She really didn’t want to argue. She wanted some food, and a bed. Safety would be nice. “There are some things I need to take care of, and I just don’t feel like I can—”

  “I understand, Louisa. Take as much time as you need, then we’ll talk. Are you safe? Do you have somewhere to stay?”

  Six turned the car onto a side road and let go of her hand. He pulled a little past a driveway, then reversed into it, avoiding a white mailbox and two fence posts with a speed and accuracy that told her he’d done this a thousand times before.

  “Yes, I do,” she said. “Good-bye, Vasilii.”

  She ended the call and looked over at Six.

  “Mi casa es tu casa,” he said.

  My house is your house.

  It wasn’t her home, but it was safe, and she was incredibly grateful. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.

  Louisa hopped down from the truck and got her first real look at the pretty yellow split-level house. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. For Six, she’d imagined something sleek and glossy. Lots of glass and chrome. However, the lushly landscaped gardens and pretty terra-cotta-tiled roof wouldn’t have looked out of place on the front of a greeting card.

  She grabbed her purse from the floor of the truck and closed the door.

  “Let me give you a tour of the place,” Six said as he stepped up behind her. He placed his hand on the small of her back, and she reminded herself of his behavior in the truck. Friendly, caring, but not … more. No matter how good it had felt to have his hand on her, they were just friends, and he was just being polite ushering her up the steps. Instead, she tried to focus on the basket-weave pattern of red bricks that led up to the front door. “It’s a bit of a mess,” Six said apologetically. “I had tenants in here for several years, and I only moved back in last week. So my shit is everywhere, which I already know you’re going to hate.”

  It was funny how well he was coming to know her, and while the idea that he was living out of boxes made her itch like a cheap wool sweater, she’d bite her tongue and deal with it. “I’m sure it’s going to be fine,” she said. “I appreciate you bringing me somewhere safe so that I can make new arrangements.”

  Six opened the door, and she stepped into a narrow hallway which led straight into the living room, a large space with dark floors and white walls that was sparsely furnished. Packing boxes lined the wall next to the door, and a well-worn sofa spanned the opposite one. “Living room,” he said, leading her past two red armchairs tucked into an alcove and through an archway that led into a small dining room furnished with a small wooden table and four black chairs. A second archway led through into a kitchen with ugly yellow pine cabinets and a serviceable white countertop. “I hated these counters when Gran had them installed, and I still hate them now. It’s going to be one of the first things to go when I get the money together,” he said. “Help yourself to whatever you can find in the fridge. We’re going to need to go shopping this afternoon anyway.”

  Two things struck her almost simultaneously. One, they hadn’t discussed payment for his security services, and while it didn’t appear that he needed the money, he obviously had plans that would require it. And second, he’d said the word “we’re.” We’re going shopping. Did he think she was staying?

  They wandered down a hallway, and he pointed out an office and bathroom. “This is my bedroom,” he said as they en
tered a beautiful bedroom with large windows and patio doors that led out onto a courtyard-style terrace.

  “I’d buy this house just for this room,” she said, taking in the shoji screen wardrobes and the whitewashed ceilings with wooden beams.

  Six grinned. “I felt the same way every time I came to stay as a kid. Plus, I needed a room that could take a California king bed, because if I never sleep in a bed where my feet hang over the end again, it will be too soon.”

  Louisa looked at the bed, which was, as he pointed out, enormous. Suddenly she was very aware that she was standing in the room where he probably slept naked, and his eyes were on her. She’d never given much thought to the notion of predator and prey until today. Earlier on, during the car chase, she’d clearly been the prey, and it had been scary as all shit. But now, standing in his bedroom, the air between them positively crackling, she felt like prey of a different kind.

  Feeling bold, she looked up at him. Gone was his smile. He looked like a brooding hero from the cover of one of the romance books her mother so adored.

  “So,” she said, enunciating way more letter “o”s than there were in the word. “I should make some calls, I guess, so I can get out of your hair.”

  Six smiled again, the three little lines that had furrowed his brow gone as quickly as they’d arrived. “Not going to happen, Lou.” He walked by her, took her hand, and led her to another bedroom across the hall. “I’ve decided you’re not to be trusted alone, so you aren’t going anywhere until we’ve gotten to the bottom of what’s going on. This is your room. Bathroom through there.” He tipped his chin in the direction of a white door along the far wall.

  Not going anywhere. But she couldn’t stay here. With him. Even if it felt like the safest place in the world when he stood there, his biceps stretching the sleeves of his goddamn T-shirt and the faint outline of the gun at his waist. “You want me to stay … here … with you?”