Hit And Run
Callahan Security Book 3
Lori Matthews
About Hit And Run
Gage Callahan knew his latest assignment with Callahan Security was going to be a disaster. He traipsed around Europe to locate the computer programmer he was hired to protect only to discover she’s actually a hacker hiding in Alaska. Tensions mount when she narrowly escapes becoming roadkill as a vicious organization comes after her. It will take all his ingenuity to rush her to safety, especially when Gage’s primary objective…get her and the prototype to New York…becomes secondary to protecting his heart from a fatal attraction to the spunky woman.
Dani Pierce is used to working on the dark web but now she is truly scared because deadly trouble has arrived at her front door. The self-reliant hacker knows she’ll need help to survive her contract to build facial recognition software. The aggravating yet handsome man hired to protect her makes it clear he detests her, but that doesn’t stop her from developing feelings for him.
It soon becomes apparent to Gage that Dani’s in deeper than she’ll admit but her answers don’t explain why the deadly gang after her is always one step ahead. It will take his military skills and her hacking know-how to save not only their butts, but the budding love they’ve discovered in the midst of danger.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Epilogue
Break and Enter
Smash And Grab
Also By Lori Matthews
About the Author
Hit And Run
Copyright © 2020 Lori Matthews
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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or the author has used them fictitiously.
For Shelley and Merrill
Forever, sisters. I wouldn’t be me if you weren’t you.
Acknowledgments
Thanks once again to all the inhabitants of my city – the one it takes to bring this book into the world. My deepest gratitude my editors, Corinne DeMaagd and Heidi Senesac for making me appear much more coherent than I actually am; my cover artist, Llewellen Designs for making my story come alive; my medical peeps who never failed to answer my questions, day or night, Dr. Shivani Srivastava and Dr. Shalabh Singhal. My virtual assistant who is a social media guru and all round dynamo, Susan Poirier. My personal cheer squad which I could not survive without: Janna MacGregor, Suzanne Burke, Angi Morgan, Kimberley Ash, Stacey Wilk. Thank you all for talking me off the ledge more than once. My mother and my sisters who told me to dream big. My husband and my children who make my life complete. You all are my world. A special heartfelt thanks goes out to you, the reader. The fact you are reading this means my dreams have come true.
Chapter One
The roaring of an engine and the crunch of metal hitting bone caused Dani Pierce to look up. Her stomach lurched as she watched the blond woman who had been crossing the street directly in front of her catapult twenty feet in the air.
The woman twisted, her eyes huge, round and glassy like marbles. Her mouth formed a perfect O. Her arms flailed as she flew, her salmon-colored jacket bright against the light blue sky. She landed with a sickening thud. Bone hitting pavement this time. Her head bounced like a deflated basketball and came to rest at an awkward angle.
For one brief instant, it seemed like the world had frozen, time had stopped moving. Dani could hear her own breathing and her heart hammering in her chest. Then it was as if the world had exhaled simultaneously, and all hell broke loose.
Tires screeched. Someone screamed while a cacophony of voices cried out, demanding help and yelling for the police. The smell of exhaust filled her nose.
The van that had caused the accident zigzagged around the body then sped off down the street. Dani craned her neck to see around the crowd and caught a glimpse of the van as it turned the corner a few blocks down. Then it disappeared from view.
Sirens drew closer. An ambulance. Dani knew there was no rush. The woman was gone. She was dead when she was flying through the air; the woman just didn’t know it yet.
Tearing her eyes away from the scene, Dani scurried through the growing crowd, shoulders hunched, chin tilted down toward her chest. Police. The last thing she needed was to get mixed up in some investigation.
There were plenty of witnesses. Many had had their cameras out, so the police were likely to have pictures of the whole thing. She bit her lip and slowed her steps. She was abandoning the woman. Her hand shook as she brushed back a stray strand of dark brown hair. Hair that had been the same shade as the dead woman just yesterday. She picked up speed again. Not to be cold about it, but her life was on the line, and that woman’s was over.
Chapter Two
Dani turned down the driveway and was heading past the little white house to her garage apartment when the front door banged open and Mrs. Williams came out on to the porch.
“Dani!” she barked. “Thought we lost you there for a minute.”
Dani blinked. “What do you mean, lost me?” Mrs. Williams looked visibly upset. Her grey-brown hair was coming out of its messy bun, and her plaid shirt was only half tucked into her old, faded jeans.
“Delilah just called and said there was a hit and run in town. The woman was killed. She worried it might have been you.” Mrs. Williams reached out and grabbed the porch railing for support. She was deathly pale, and her chest heaved with every breath.
“Me?” Dani’s voice cracked as her hands tightened around the bag she’d been carrying, her knuckles turning white. So she wasn’t the only one who thought the woman could have been her.
“Delilah said she had on the same color coat you have, the coral one, and her hair was blond.” Mrs. Williams sag
ged against the house while still holding the railing. “Glad to see you’re okay. I haven’t lost a tenant yet, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Dani opened her mouth but closed it again. Her lungs were frozen. She was having trouble sucking in any oxygen. The woman had looked like Dani, or rather how she used to look. Dani’s hand flew up to her hair. She’d dyed her hair back to her natural dark brown last night.
She glanced down at the faded jeans and ragged blue T-shirt she was wearing. She hadn’t bothered with the coral coat today because it was so warm. It wasn’t a coincidence. That woman died because… Her insides tied into knots. Panic crawled up her throat. She slumped, leaning against the porch.
Oxygen returned to her lungs in a rush. “Ah, Mrs. Williams, I’m sorry you were scared.” She meant it. Dani was scared shitless, but she didn’t want the old woman to be upset. Mrs. Williams had been kind to her. One of the few in life who had. She reached up and gave the elderly lady’s hand a squeeze, then quickly put her shaking hand into her jeans pocket.
Dani cleared her throat. “I saw the accident in town. It was…shocking. The van didn’t even stop.”
Mrs. Williams gave her a quick nod. “That’s what Delilah said. It must’ve been tough to see. Come inside, and I’ll make you a cup of tea. I think I have some of those chocolate chip cookies you like. Did you eat dinner?”
“Um, no, but I’m okay. I don’t really have an appetite at the moment.” She took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
Mrs. Williams seemed fully recovered now and was giving Dani the once over. “You sure? I can whip up some leftovers quick-time. I ate earlier.”
Dani nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks, though. I just need a bit of time alone.” As much as she wanted the comfort of Mrs. Williams’ cozy white house with its big front porch and tiny front yard, she needed a moment to breathe. To think. Cookies would have to wait.
Mrs. Williams nodded again. “You take it easy. I’ll bring over some of those cookies in a bit.”
Dani nodded and then turned toward the garage apartment. She heard the front door of the main house close as she walked to her place. She needed to call Jameson Drake asap. As her employer, he needed to help her out of this mess. And she needed to get out of town as quickly as possible.
Whoever was after the software had found her for real this time, but Dani wasn’t finished.
Whoever. She had a pretty good guess as to who that was, or at least which group. She frowned. The prototype she had sent Drake worked, but only so far. The software still had a major flaw. Eventually, it froze, the curser unblinking permanently. She needed time to fix it. Carly was counting on her.
But why kill her? It made no sense. Wouldn’t they want her alive? At least until they had the software?
She bit her lip as she slipped her key in the lock and paused, doing a quick check for the one strand of long hair she always stuck in the doorway when she left. She looked again. The hair was gone. Her palms dampened. Could it have fallen out on its own? No. She scrubbed her hand on her jeans and stepped back from the opening. What if they were still inside? She started to turn away. They just ran over the woman in town, so they couldn’t be here.
She quickly reached out, unlocked the door, and thrust it open.
Dani’s heart galloped in her chest. The place was trashed. The furniture was turned over, and her meager belongings were scattered all over the room. She scanned the counter in the kitchen area where she had left her USB stick. It was gone. They must have thought they had the software, so they killed the woman in town. They thought they didn’t need her—Dani—anymore.
It wouldn’t be long before they realized they’d hit the wrong woman. Dani’s stomach rolled. When she closed her eyes, she saw the woman sailing through the air again.
She opened her eyes, dropped the bag she’d been carrying and her backpack on the floor, and ran for the bathroom. Her whole body shook as she violently emptied the contents of her stomach repeatedly. When she finished, she leaned against the wall. Her legs gave out and she slid to the floor.
She needed to make a plan, and it had to happen now. Her hands shook. She flexed her fingers as she took deep, cleansing breaths. She’d been through so much. But this, this was beyond. It wasn’t that people wanted to hurt her; she was used to that. It was that they were willing to hurt others to get to her. Again she thought of the woman in the salmon colored coat. This was a whole new ballgame.
A couple minutes later, she got up off the floor and brushed her teeth. At least they hadn’t thrown her toothbrush on the floor.
She left the bathroom and ventured into the main living area. She righted the sofa and cleaned up the rest of the mess. It only took a few minutes, and she needed to do something to calm her nerves. Thank God they hadn’t hurt Mrs. Williams.
Once the room was passable, she retrieved her laptop and the snacks she’d purchased. She closed the door and bolted it. She even turned the lock in the doorknob. It was flimsy, but she’d take any precaution available.
She brought the bag to the coffee table by the sofa, sat down, and after setting her laptop across from her, opened the lid.
She quickly fired off an email and then a text message to Drake. He’d hired her to write the software. This was his mess. His responsibility. She needed his help to get out of it. Alive.
She bit her lip. Would he believe her? She’d cried wolf a few weeks before and demanded his help, only to walk back that need twenty-four hours later. How was she supposed to know the stalker she noticed was stalking her neighbor and not her? He was slunk down in his car on the street at all hours, staring in her general direction, and she saw him a few times in town. It was an honest mistake.
Drake’s voice had been icy when she explained the situation. Then it turned loud. He’d already had a man in the air on his way to Europe when Dani had gotten back to him. Well it wasn’t her fault he’d jumped the gun. Besides, she’d never told him she was in Europe. He’d made his own assumptions.
Drake immediately tried to cancel the project. He wanted the code as is, and he wanted her to stop. Said it was too dangerous.
So, she’d refused to tell him where she was. No way in hell was she giving up all her hard work. She intended to… no, needed to finish this project no matter what.
She knew Drake was going to curse up a storm when he got her emails and texts, no question. But the danger was real this time. The men had found her.
The phone shook in her trembling hands. Still nothing. Should she send Janet a text? The woman was Drake’s assistant. She might be able to get word to him. Dani quickly sent off the message and then put down the phone. Janet would get back to her. She was the epitome of efficiency. Dani flexed her fingers and then looked up flights out of Juneau.
The benefit of being in a small Alaskan town was not many people came here and it was easy to hide. The downside was it was hard as hell to get out in a hurry. She glanced over at her phone, but still nothing from Drake. There were no seats on any plane leaving Juneau that evening because there were no planes leaving period. That couldn’t be right.
“What the hell?” she murmured as she typed on her keyboard. A storm. A big fucking lightning storm was moving in. No more airplanes in or out. Dani looked out the window. What had been a cloudless sky twenty minutes ago was now full of angry-looking puffs of dull gray. It was summer, so it would still be light for hours, but the clouds made it appear much darker than usual.
She drummed her fingers on her keyboard. How else could she get out of town? Driving wasn’t an option. If they found her, she’ be dragged off into the woods and never heard from again. She shuddered at the thought. Maybe Mrs. Williams knew someone who could fly her out in a private airplane. Maybe she could still get out somehow. She stood up. She could use one of Mrs. Williams’ cookies right now. Hell, she could probably eat a dozen.
She grabbed her keys and carefully locked the door after she left the apartment. She paused long enough to put a hair back i
n place, her early warning system. As she walked back down the driveway to Mrs. Williams’ she studied the street. She had to be very careful. One wrong move, and she’d be the woman flying through the air.
Chapter Three
“I promise I’m not here to hurt Daniella Pierce. I’m here to help,” Gage Callahan said as he stared down the barrel of a shotgun. He had no doubt the woman aiming at his forehead was prepared to pull the trigger.
“Sure. That’s why you were sneaking around the back of my house. I know all about you. She told me. You’re a no-good piece of shit that no one will miss so don’t move a muscle. I’m tempted to use this as it is. Would make it much easier for her, and that girl has been through the wars. You can just tell.” Mrs. Williams shifted slightly, resting the double-barrel shotgun against her hip.
Gage ground his teeth. He hadn’t expected an old lady with a shotgun when he was making a circuit of the house. Perhaps he should’ve. So far, this trip had more twists and turns than a funhouse maze.
Hit and Run: A Thrilling Novel of Romantic Suspense (Callahan Security series Book 3) Page 1