When Lightning Strikes

by Aimée Thurlo

  “Okay.”

  They decided to travel to the safe house where they could wash up, change clothes and lose the sign and boxes that provided the delivery-vehicle disguise for the SUV.

  After they arrived, Hannah helped Daniel remove the boxes and replace the rear seat. They both cleaned up then Hannah went into the bedroom, picked out a green wool sweater from her clothes bag and slipped it on. It fit smoothly and comfortably, accentuating the slimness of her body.

  When she finally came out of the bedroom, Daniel glanced at her. “That was a good choice. It fits you well.”

  “Thanks,” she answered, wishing that his compliments were more personal. Perhaps he was holding back now that she had voiced her own reasons for hesitation in their relationship.

  Daniel now wore a long-sleeved, dark-blue flannel shirt and jeans. There was a simple, masculine ruggedness about him that made her body tingle with awareness. He gave her a wicked smile as if reading her thoughts, and suddenly a shiver touched her spine. Although she tried to suppress it, he was quick to notice her reaction and now she could see pure male satisfaction shining in his eyes.

  For a moment Hannah wondered what it would be like to see that same expression on his face after making love to him. Realizing the direction her thoughts had taken without much prompting, she tried to concentrate on something else. Until the day came when she was no longer being hunted by her enemies, she couldn’t allow her feelings for Daniel to come to the surface. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them. Life had taught her many things, and at the top of the list was the knowledge that happily-ever-afters seldom happened to people like her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As they drove back to Farmington, Hannah did her best to keep her thoughts centered on what they had to do, but fear and apprehension eroded her confidence. “What if we’re wrong? What if whatever’s between Pablo Jackson and my uncle has nothing to do with the missing money? If that’s the case, we’ll be back to square one.”

  “You don’t believe that, no more than I do,” he said.

  “I’d like to think that we’re nearing the end of the line, but I’ve had my hopes dashed too many times,” she said quietly.

  Daniel could hear the frustration in her voice. As an investigator he understood that feeling well, but he also knew the danger of indulging it. “Then look at it this way. We’re pursuing a good lead. Good cases are built on them, and that’s our goal. Detective work is never a straight line. What you have to do to get through it is stay focused on the objective.”

  “All right. I’ll try,” she said, her voice firmer now.

  They arrived at Pablo Jackson’s construction company a half hour later. A large and busy fenced-in lumberyard with covered storage bins for lumber and construction supplies surrounded an unpainted cinder-block building. The large sign along the top of the building read Big J Construction.

  Daniel pulled into a customer parking slot beside the building, but remained in the SUV, watching employees load a flatbed truck with lumber and bags of premixed concrete.

  “It looks like business as usual here,” he said at last. “I doubt Jackson will give me any trouble with customers in the yard. I’ll wear a mike so you can monitor the conversation, but remember to stay out of sight. If Jackson sees you, we’ll be in a world of trouble. One last thing. Warn me if you see anyone you recognize drive up. I want to talk to Jackson alone, not with your uncle or anyone else from the church around.”

  “I’ll keep a lookout, but be careful. If we’re right, Pablo’s got a lot to lose and that could make him dangerous—not to mention he has those goons working for him,” she reminded him.

  Everything was on the line now and he knew it. He placed the small mike in his shirt pocket, and tried to focus on the job ahead. “Keep your chin up. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, handing her the vehicle keys. It was hard for him to leave her here in this place that held mostly unknown dangers. But he had no other choice. “Be very careful and keep a sharp eye out.”

  “Go,” she said. “I’ll be fine. For a second there I thought you were going to get all sentimental and mushy on me,” she teased with a tiny smile.

  “Evil woman,” he growled, then, with one last look back at her, slipped out of the SUV, leaving Wolf to guard her.

  Daniel walked inside the main door to the building, and saw the secretary’s desk empty. A man wearing a hard hat and a blue shirt that had the company name on it came in and gave him a questioning look. “You have an order to fill?”

  “No. I’m looking for Pablo Jackson,” Daniel said.

  “Grab yourself a hard hat,” he said, gesturing to one of several on wall hooks, “and go out the back.” The employee pointed to the door he’d just passed through. “He’s in the yard somewhere.”

  The moment Daniel stepped through the door and walked outside, he realized that they would have problems with the listening device. A forklift passed by, and underneath a work area someone was using a radial saw to cut plywood. The noise would easily drown out voices unless all the machinery stopped at the right time.

  Daniel tried to tell Hannah what was going on, but when he didn’t get a reply, he realized that the device couldn’t filter out the background noise. If he shouted, he’d only focus unwanted attention on himself so that wasn’t an option either. Hoping she’d stay in the SUV and not worry, he continued what he’d set out to do.

  Daniel walked down the rows of stored materials. Passing one of the loafing sheds containing bundles of shingles and roofing tar, he saw Pablo Jackson speaking to two men just under the roof, in the shade. Taking the next row, which backed up to the bin where Jackson was standing, Daniel got close enough to realize the men with Jackson were the same muscle boys who’d confronted Hannah and him before. Wanting to overhear their conversation, he moved in closer, pretending to examine a stack of plywood. Keeping his head bowed, he concentrated on their speech.

  “All I’ve heard from you losers are excuses, and I’m tired of listening to them,” Jackson said. “Find the Jones woman and get rid of her. Don’t try to take down the Indian again, just shoot him and get on with it. If Hannah Jones recovers the money and that videotape, then I’m finished, and so are you two. She’ll hightail it to the police, explain what she knows, and they’ll come looking for us all.”

  “We’ve been concentrating on the uncle, hoping he’d lead us to her. He’s the key,” one of the goons protested.

  “Was the key. Right now he’s lying low because he knows he’s helpless without the video. The real threat is Hannah, so stop wasting your time trying to get past Bob Jones’s security people. Eventually, he’ll run out of money to pay his guards, they’ll walk, and that’s when we’ll strike. But everything depends on finding the woman and the tape.”

  As they walked away, their words were lost in the background noise, but Daniel had heard enough to know that Jackson didn’t have any idea where the money or the tape were, and was determined to find them both.

  As Jackson and his men reached the opposite end of the row, Daniel stood up and glanced across the yard. For a moment he couldn’t do anything except stare. Hannah was walking down the same row with a bundle of surveyor stakes under one arm, and wearing sunglasses and a hard hat. She’d taken one of his shirts, which sagged freely over her, and was scarcely recognizable. But he would have known her no matter how good her disguise—even if Wolf hadn’t been with her.

  Daniel looked to see if anyone else had noticed her, then strode quickly over. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he whispered harshly.

  “I couldn’t hear a thing with all the saws and vehicles going back and forth. I thought you might be in trouble, so I brought Wolf.” The dog sat next to Hannah, at heel and keeping watch.

  “Bad idea. The mutt stands out like a sore thumb here. Head back to the SUV. I’ll follow. The three of us can’t be seen together.”

  As he started to walk in the opposite direction to put some distance between the
m, a pickup drove past them. The driver did a double take and, for an instant, Daniel was eye-to-eye with Pablo Jackson. Recognizing Daniel, he glanced over at Hannah, and saw the dog. In a heartbeat, he slammed on the brakes, but there was no room for the truck to turn around and, as he tried, the front bumper jammed against a pallet loaded with bags of cement. He yelled to the pair in the truck with him. But Daniel, Hannah and Wolf were already rounding the corner and heading up the next row by the time the two men were out of the truck.

  Daniel led her down the row, behind the bins of materials, trying to pick storage areas containing loaded pallets. That would slow down their pursuers since they’d have to search as they ran. Finally, reaching the last row which led back toward the main building, he stopped, keeping Wolf between them and their enemies.

  “Go without me. I’ll lead them back across the lumberyard while you sneak back to the SUV. We’re cut off, and the only way you’ll be able to get out of here is if I create a diversion.”

  “I won’t leave you behind.”

  “We have no choice. Go with Wolf,” he said, giving her a gentle push. “And don’t look back, just run. If I’m not at the SUV three minutes after you get there, or if they get too close, take off. Go to the address in the glove compartment, and tell Silentman what happened. He’ll send help.”

  “Are you crazy? You can’t stay here alone! At least keep Wolf.”

  “No. You may need him more than I do.” He held her by the shoulders. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” she replied her voice shaking.

  “Then, go! I can’t protect both of us if they decide to use guns.”

  Hannah did as he asked, though it was the last thing she’d wanted to do.

  Without waiting, Daniel ran back down the narrow passage, hearing the men. He was outnumbered, but he’d gone up against lousy odds before. All he had to do was get their attention and let them attack. That would buy Hannah enough time to get away.

  Daniel flattened himself against one of the roof support posts and braced for a fight as the men approached. There were three of them. He saw the smallest of the trio pick up a section of pipe from the ground. They either didn’t have guns, or they’d decided not to use them here.

  Jumping out from his cover, Daniel kicked the pipe out of the man’s hand. The other two jumped in almost instantly from both sides. One grabbed his left arm, but Daniel punched him in the solar plexus, then spun and kicked him hard enough to dislocate his knee. The man bounced off the stack of four-by-fours and dropped with a howl.

  But there were reinforcements, and in seconds he was outflanked, with no direction to go. Unable to defend himself against so many in tight quarters, he had to attack. Picking the shortest distance to daylight, Daniel leaped forward with kicks and punches, blocking the blows from the surprised construction workers. He gained ground, but someone following him struck the back of his knee with a board and he fell.

  Everyone grabbed him at once, and carried him hand and foot out into the yard. Realizing he was helpless at the moment anyway, Daniel made only feeble attempts to squirm free, saving his strength. He gave thanks that they were taking him where he’d have room to maneuver again—if he could only break free for a second.

  They dropped him to the ground, and someone, maybe Jackson, kicked him in the side. Pain blinded him for a second, but he rolled with the blow and jumped to his feet.

  “Give it up. I’ll let you live,” Jackson said. The man had stepped back after getting his blow in. “Or better yet, let’s see how many punches you can take before you go down.” He motioned for the others surrounding Daniel to move in. “Grab him, and we can take turns.”

  Daniel knew only his training now, and surrender wasn’t part of the deal. While he was still breathing, he could fight, and if he couldn’t fight, he could endure until he could fight again.

  Two men moved for his arms at the same time. Daniel kicked high to his right, and caught his attacker in the chest. The man flew back. Turning instantly ninety degrees and straightening his left arm, Daniel brushed past the man’s outstretched arm and caught him in the jaw with a vicious uppercut.

  The four other men paused, reconsidering their strategy.

  “Gang-tackle him, you morons,” Jackson yelled.

  Daniel braced himself, but suddenly a car horn blared loudly right behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw his SUV sliding to a stop, scattering Jackson and another man in the way. Wolf jumped out, racing like a bullet toward them. Teeth bared, the giant dog flew into Daniel’s closest attacker, teeth anchoring onto the man’s forearm.

  The guy howled in pain as Wolf’s momentum carried them both to the ground. Daniel was instantly forgotten as Wolf, like a wild animal gone berserk, attacked anyone who wasn’t running away.

  Daniel was already moving toward the SUV as Hannah threw open the door to the back seat. “Get in,” she yelled.

  Daniel recalled Wolf, who whirled around and raced for the vehicle. The dog leaped onto the seat, and Daniel followed. “Go!”

  She slammed down on the accelerator, cutting a deep half doughnut into the ground and spewing gravel at the yard workers diving for cover. Fishtailing out the gate, she hopped the curb and flew out into the street with tires squealing.

  “Are you okay?” she managed, glancing back at Daniel and Wolf, who were still trying to recover from all the bouncing around.

  “I took some damage, but it was worth it.” He started to laugh, then coughed. “If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never forget the men’s faces when they dove out of the way of the SUV and then saw Wolf barreling down on them like a hound from hell.” He suddenly glared at her. “But you could have been killed, coming in for me! Don’t you ever listen?”

  “You were outnumbered. I don’t abandon people I care about. You should know that by now.”

  “Yeah, I do,” he admitted. “You have your own system of priorities, no matter what anyone tells you. But, for the record, despite the odds, I would have made it.”

  Her lips twitched, but she managed not to smile as she took another look at him in the rearview mirror. “Is that macho pride I hear?”

  “No, just the facts.”

  “It didn’t look like you were winning. They were all closing in on you.”

  “I had a plan,” Daniel replied unconvincingly. He tried to shift, but the pain in his side made him wince.

  Noting it, she looked back at him once more. “You’re hurt. I’ll bring Wolf up front, and you lie down on the seat.”

  “It’s nothing. I’ve just got some bruised ribs where Jackson took a cheap shot at me. I don’t think they’re broken or it would feel worse.”

  “But you’re still in pain.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll block it out. We’ve got work to do, and I can still fight.”

  “Only if you’re attacked by three-year-olds and elderly blind women. You’ve got bruises and cuts all over your face and hands, and maybe internal injuries. You need a doctor.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve been through worse and I know when something’s broken. You’re going to have to trust me on this. I’ll be sore for a few days, but that’s about it. Right now, we’ve got business to attend to. We need to go pay your uncle a visit.” He told her what he’d overheard.

  “Uncle Bob’s not going anywhere, judging from what you just said. And they’re not really after him—they’re after me, so he’s in no immediate danger. Let’s go by the safe house first. That’ll give you a chance to clean up and make sure you’re as okay as you think.” When he started to protest, she held up a hand. “I’ve got the wheel now, so be quiet, lie back, and stop trying to give me orders.”

  “Why, because you want to give them yourself?”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” She glanced back at him in the rearview mirror and winked. “For now you’re entirely in my hands.”

  He started to argue, then decided against it. All things considered, he couldn’t think of a better place to be.

/>   BY THE TIME they arrived at the safe house, Daniel looked like he’d recovered somewhat. The small cuts on his face had stopped bleeding, but it was his side that worried Hannah the most. Broken ribs were nothing to take lightly, and she wanted to see how badly bruised they were. If he couldn’t get around, then she’d take him to the clinic for X-rays even if she had to trick him into going.

  Daniel started toward the house, walking slowly. “We shouldn’t have come back here. We should be taking care of business.”

  “You’re my first priority right now,” Hannah answered.

  “It isn’t supposed to work that way. I’m supposed to take care of you, not vice versa.”

  “As of right now, I’m changing the rules,” she replied flatly. Hannah walked into the small bathroom, turned on the water in the tub, then came back out. After getting a fire going in the stove, she placed a large kettle of water on to heat.

  “You need to wash off all those cuts, Daniel, and try to take it easy for a few minutes. A hot soak will probably do you a world of good.”

  Daniel gave her a slow, masculine grin. “Then you’ll have to undress me. I’m suddenly extremely sore.”

  Hannah met his gaze. She knew what he was thinking. He expected her to back down, then once he had the upper hand, he’d insist they go to her uncle’s right away. But Daniel wasn’t in any condition for that.

  “Sure I’ll help you,” she said. Her course set, and without any other options, she began to unbutton his shirt.

  “Wait a minute.”

  “Are you suddenly feeling shy?” she teased.

  He nearly choked. “I just don’t think you’re ready for this, sweetheart.”

  “I’m doing just fine.” Seeing the uncertainty in his eyes made her even bolder. Hannah worked at his belt and pulled it free, then she slowly unbuttoned his jeans.

  “You’re playing with fire,” he said, his voice a dark whisper.

  “Lucky for me that you’re too sore to do anything about it.” She looked up at him with laughing eyes. “I mean that is what you said, and I know you’d never bend the truth.”