by J M LOWE
This was about her, Sarah.
He had promised he would protect her, keep her safe, that he would get her home…and he meant it, every single god damn word, if it was the last thing he did, he WOULD get her home.
Sarah had turned the TV off, probably wise, it wouldn’t do any good to see her own face flash up on screen every few minutes reminding them that she was being hunted and it wasn’t likely the situation was going to change anytime soon, not unless the real bomber was caught, that didn’t seem likely when she was the only suspect. Would the authorities even be looking for anyone else?
She had been laid on the bed for the past hour, drifting in and out of light sleep, that was something at least.
He needed her rested, she hadn’t really had much time to recover from the episode of shock before he had stripped her naked and screwed her. Christ, what had he been thinking?
The thing was, he knew exactly what he had been thinking, no clouded judgment on his part, and he didn’t regret it, would never forget it. Best fuck of his life bar none. But it should have been a different time, a different place, not while they were holed up in some hotel room half way across the world from home.
Connor grab his phone on the first flash, before it even had chance to vibrate. He needed news, needed something, anything…
“There is a car waiting outside the back entrance of the hotel, but you’re gonna have to move, I can only blank out the cameras for so long before someone gets suspicious and starts snooping. The driver is safe, don’t ask…what you don’t know, won’t hurt you.” Em was good.
Connor listened intently as Em explained that the plane was waiting at the same airstrip he had landed at earlier, but this was one flight they had to make. Their window to get her out of the country was closing fast and it wouldn’t be so easy to get her home if he fucked this up.
Like that was gonna happen!!!
“Come on, let’s get you home.”
Sarah watched as Connor checked his gun, before hiding it around his back. It made her nervous, brought back home the seriousness of her situation.
He scanned around him, nothing had been left behind, the room was clear.
She adjusted her back pack, it would be easier to run if it was double strapped onto her back, although she had a feeling the passport it contained wouldn’t be much use to her. Certainly not on this flight anyway.
“Ready...” Connor took her hand, linking his thick strong fingers through her thin delicate ones.
Just that one simple gesture made her feel like they were invincible together, could take on the world and win, but she knew they weren’t, knew they couldn’t, she also knew he was risking everything to save her, what kind of a man did that for some one he didn’t know? This man, that’s who.
Sarah nodded, before pulling his HI baseball cap low over her eyes. She was ready, more than she had ever been in her life. But she also knew right now that if she tried to speak, she was sure she would burst into tears of frustration, of anger, of fear.
They had been screaming for release for the past few hours and she didn’t know how much longer she would be able to hold them back.
Why couldn’t this nightmare just be over.
The door closed behind them, the security of the room fading fast, but she knew there was no going back.
Sarah sucked in a deep breath, closed her eyes and took the first step towards the elevator.
It felt like an eternity before they reached the thick metallic doors, it was like she was caught in Groundhog Day, only this time the hell was just that little bit more luxurious.
They didn’t have to wait long before the bell sounded and the thick heavy doors slid open. Empty, thank god.
Sarah took a deep hard breath, she felt Connor squeeze her hand, but he didn’t look at her, instead he seemed to be looking everywhere at once, he was good, she had to give him that.
They stepped inside, why did it feel like she was stepping in to the unknown, into an abyss? Because she was, that was why. Sarah didn’t know if they would make it to the plane, hell, she didn’t even know if they would make it out of the hotel, didn’t know what would be waiting for them, for her, she wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Except Connor…she ‘was’ sure about him.
Connor counted each floor as they passed, one at a time. All eighteen of them. How fucking long was this taking? Sarah hadn’t spoken since they left the hotel room, she had just held on to his hand, if that was what she was offering, then that’s what he would take.
Keeping the button pressed made the elevator go directly to the floor of choice, not stopping at any of the others. Neat little trick he had picked up playing hooky as a kid hanging around the shopping Malls when he should have been in school. Never thought that would come in handy…until now.
The doors slid open, Connor moved forward, cautious, he scoped before giving her a single nod and then they both stepped out into what looked like a service corridor.
His phone pinged and he pulled it out of his pocket. Em had sent him a map of the hotel basement layout with their exit clearly marked.
‘Super girl’ was certainly living up to her name right now.
Connor pocketed the phone, and set off in the direction of the exit.
He knew Sarah’s face would be recognized by almost everyone they passed thanks to her being paraded on primetime news. The need to get her to that plane had taken on a new sense of urgency for him and he wasn’t about to let this whole situation go tits up, not now, there was too much at stake.
Connor wouldn’t need to look at the map again, he knew exactly where he was going, he just needed to get them there. This would have been so much easier if Harry was still with him, but it was what is was and he would deal. That’s what they did, adapt, there wasn’t any situation they hadn’t been able to get out of, maybe not always clean, but they still got out.
Too many second glances from hotel staff only confirmed that they at least though they recognized her. Yeah this wasn’t ideal, they stood out like a pair of Redskins fans at a damn Cowboys game. And it wouldn’t be long before they were snapped on a camera phone or a call made to the police or press or both. No doubt there would be some sort of reward on her head and almost everyone had their price, it wouldn’t take much for one of them to try and make a quick buck by selling them out.
To be fair, she had been made to look guilty as shit as far as anyone else knew, of course they would try and turn her in.
Sarah was starting to panic, her breathing becoming more erratic, the walls felt as though they were closing in, tighter and tighter…’don’t pass out again’ she screamed inside her head as she tried to keep herself calm.
The last thing he needed was her as dead weight.
“We need to move, this is taking too long” she felt him pull her, then he stopped, dead.
Sarah slammed into his back, the impacted hard against her chest, taking her breath, then her back hit the hard wall as he pinned her, a finger to his lips.
Both the dick moves had hurt, but she wasn’t about to start complaining when the man was trying to save her life.
Connor pointed and again signaled for her to keep quiet.
Sarah nodded that she had understood.
Now wasn’t the time for asking questions, he would do what he needed to, she had to let him, she knew that, all she had to do was keep up and shut up.
Yea, she could do that.
Connor had seen them, knew who and what they were almost straight away, and it wasn’t good.
Three of the four goons from the hotel. Fuck sake, couldn’t they take a hint? What, one ass kicking in a day wasn’t enough for them?
He wasn’t about to forget their ugly faces in a hurry. Clearly, they had regrouped since the meeting in the ally, his alarm bells ringing, whoever wanted her wasn’t about to give up quite so easily. Not if they had sent the goon squad to search every hotel in the area.
Of all the times for him to be a one man fucking alpha unit an
d he had to pick now. He knew they were probably checking out all the buildings in and around the area where Sarah was last seen. It didn’t take a strategic genius to work that one out, he would have been disappointed at anything less.
Still, what where the odds that they would be in this hotel just as he was moving her out?
Each goon was dressed in black combats, boots and tactical vests as standard, and each now carried what looked like a semiautomatic. Those were new, certainly made things just that bit more difficult, still, it wasn’t something he couldn’t handle, he would just have to make sure he took them out before they got a round off.
Not his idea of an easy get away, but he could deal, didn’t have a choice.
Connor crouched, pulling her down with him. He took small canister from the hold all before he signaled for her to stay down. She nodded, good girl.
He reached back and grabbed the cold hard steel of his weapon. Signaled again for Sarah to stay and keep quiet before he silently edged his way to the corner.
In one swift move, he pulled the pin and thrown the flash bang towards the cluster of men.
He had the element of surprise on his side, and they certainly weren’t expecting that little beauty.
Connor moved. His blood pumping through his veins, breathing hard.
First take down was easy, quick hard blow to the back of the head and the Ass dropped like a lead balloon.
But the noise had alerted dumb and dumber, and he had taken more than a few blows to the gut and dome before he had delivered a side blow to one of the men, taking his left knee out. The painful cry echoing around the empty corridor was almost satisfying.
Dick laid in a crumpled heap on the corridor floor, crying out in excruciating pain. While the other was slumped against the wall, his eyes rolling up into the top of his skull.
They might have been swinging blind, but Connor had taken a couple of good punches to the ribs, more than he should have, and he wasn’t gonna lie, they hurt like a mother.
As he rounded the corner, Sarah jumped up, fists raised, it made him smile, hell, she was getting ready to rip somebody a new one and he was glad he wasn’t gonna be on the receiving end of that particular fuck over. She was a fighter, no doubt about that.
“Sarah…move, head straight, run for that exit, the car is waiting on the other side. I’m right on your six… now GO!!!” man, it hurt like a bitch to run, but he knew this was his only chance to get her to that plane and he wasn’t about to blow it just because some fucking wanna be action junkie has managed to get a couple of good ones in. That was his own fault, he had gotten sloppy.
Wouldn’t happen again, he would make damn sure of it.
She took off, first time of asking, no second guessing him, ‘that’s my girl’ he thought as he followed close behind her. Even running for their getaway ride, he couldn’t help but steal a quick glance at her ass, man, what the fuck was wrong with him.
She was quick. The sleep and food had done her good, and she didn’t hesitate for a second as she kicked open the fire exit that lead into the back-alley.
The car, a black Nissan Qashqai was waiting right where Em said it would be. Man, he could so kiss Super girl right about now.
“Everybody in?” the driver, a man in his late sixties if Connor was to hazard a guess, didn’t wait for an answer, hell they barely had time to close the door before he was thrown against the back seat, and the soft mounds of Sarah’s breast.
He winced, fuck it did hurt, more than it should.
Yep he was definitely leaning towards a couple of cracked ribs, either way, he would be benched for a couple of weeks with Jenson moaning in his fucking ear about the god damn plane he didn’t catch.
Sarah needed to try and process what the hell had just happened. Who the fuck was this guy? He had just taken out three big ass guns for hire freaks, and he didn’t even look like he had broken a sweat.
Damn… if that wasn’t a fucking major turn on.
“You know where to go?” Connor had righted himself after falling heavily against her in the back of the car.
“Oh, don’t you worry. Arto will get you to your plane Mr. Parry.” The driver took a sharp right out of the alley and in to the main street, where he slowed, surprisingly, blending effortlessly into the free-flowing traffic, much to the relief of both Connor and Sarah.
She had been worried she would have to scream at him to slow down or they might as well flash a bright neon sign announcing where she was.
“Good to know Arto. Thank you.”
Had Connor just grabbed at his ribs? Shit… he was hurt.
What hadn’t she noticed, why hadn’t he said
anything?
“Connor…” she pulled open his jacket and he winced, then coughed. Shit… this was bad.
Connors eyes were closed, his breathing becoming shallow. “listen to me, I think you’ve hurt your ribs, I need you to breath, I know it’s painful, but you need to try and breathe as normally as you can ok…”
Sarah had suffered more than her fair share of bruised ribs from falling on the ice. She should have seen something was wrong, was she so selfish, so blind that all she was thinking about was herself?
“Arto, do you know any short cuts? I really need to get him to that plane.” No mistaking the worried desperation in her voice.
“Five minutes. Don’t you worry Miss”
Alto hit the gas, and weaved his way through the steadily growing traffic like the roads where clear and he was out for a leisurely Sunday drive, no panic, just smooth and controlled.
Sarah saw the sign for a ‘private airstrip’ and allowed herself to breath for what felt like the first time since she had climbed into the car.
Could she dare to hope that they could be on that plane and away from this god forsaken place before anyone figured out where she was?
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Hey Ray…” Connor greeted the older gentleman with a familiar and friendly smile as Ray and Alto helped him up the steps of the waiting plane.
Ray turned, shook Altos hand before the man who had driven them safely to the airstrip helped get Connor to his seat.
A brief exchange between the two older men was followed by a nod from the driver, another hand shake and then as mystically as he had appeared, Alto was gone.
“Connor, you do know Mrs. H is going to have my guts for garters if anything happens to you, don’t you?”
Sarah listened to the exchange between the two men. ‘Ray’ spoke in a quintessentially British accent, and Sarah was intrigued.
It was clear there was a warm affection between both men, almost like a father and son, maybe uncle and nephew.
Either way, it was endearing to watch the exchange.
“Naaa… that woman worships the ground you walk on” Connor hobbled his way towards her, Sarah was sure her heart had just stopped, or at least missed the last few beats as she watched him making his way down the central isle of the plane.
She let out a long deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, now she was on the plane, she was letting her mind run overtime, not sure what would be waiting for her when they landed.
Right about now, she couldn’t see a way out of this whole damn mess and she wasn’t ashamed to admit, she was scared, more than she had ever been in her life.
“Come on, let’s get you seated. Anna, tell James we are ready.” Ray helped Connor to his seat.
A smartly dressed woman who Sarah hadn’t noticed before, nodded and made her way to the front of the plane.
Connor chose the seat next to hers.
The plane was small, not like the commercial flight she had taken a few days earlier, and this was as far from coach as she could imagine.
The plane was kitted out with soft plush leather seating, thick carpet and a bar for Christ sake, hell this plane was nicer than her whole damn apartment.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she was angry with him, but was fighting the urge not to crawl into his lap and smother h
im in hungry kisses. The man had just saved her life after all…again!
“I’m good, honest, just winded. Took a couple of knocks, but I’m fine, don’t worry.” But she was worried, hell, he had gotten hurt because of her, because she had fainted and they had missed their original flight.
If she hadn’t been such a fucking wuss, they would have been home hours ago, this was all her fault.
“You’re a shit liar Connor Parry, d’you know that?” Sarah sat back in her seat, the cool leather molding around her.
“Sarah…” she looked up to see the gentle face of the man Connor had addressed as Ray.
He took the seat opposite her and gave her a warm smile. Ray reminded her of her Dad, and that thought brought a sting of tears to the surface, a deep controlled breath needed to stop them crashing through the barrier she had erected. “Time to fasten your seat belt. Let’s get you home.” He even sounded like a Dad. She nodded.
“Ok…” a list of questions had formed and were now racing through her mind, getting longer by the second.
What the hell was happening, who had set her up, why, how? And most importantly, what was she gonna do about it?
This wasn’t a situation you ever actually planned for, well not her anyway.
She was an ice skater, that was it.
In the scheme of things, it wasn’t really important, but it was what it was.
So, who in their right mind would think she was a god damn terrorist? She didn’t know the first thing about bombs, except what she had seen on TV or movies. The hero would always disarm them with 0.5 seconds left to spare, wasn’t that how it went?
That was it, that was the extent of her knowledge and that was as much as she ever intended it to be.
Anyone with half a brain cell could see she wasn’t some criminal mastermind, so what they hell was going on?