In the Shadow of Vengeance Read online

  Noah took off his leather jacket and pulled out his shirttail. He yanked his dress shirt over his head and tossed it into the back seat. He ran a hand from the back of his head, smoothing his hair down onto his forehead. “In the next block, we’re going for a stroll.”

  “We’re leaving the car? That’s crazy.”

  “Maybe. There’s always a festival down here this time a year and the Os are playing. We’re going to lose our friends in the foot traffic.” He pinned her with a stare. “Are you up to it? Can you walk?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  She took off her blazer and pulled her hair free of the bun. Everything in Noah ached to run his fingers through the mass of wavy curls.

  “Is this better?” she asked.

  He handed her his jacket. “Leave the blazer and put this on.”

  He searched the traffic. The next intersection was the problem with several lanes from a parallel street streaming into their path. Suddenly, the one thing he was hoping for came into view. He slowed his speed, allowing a car to move in front of him.

  “Why did you do that? It just brings us closer to those creeps.”

  “When we reached the next intersection, I’m going to pull in front of that box truck. As soon as we reach the mailbox in front of the sandwich shop, I want you to get out of the car. Keep your head down, move between the parked cars, and use the mailbox as cover.”

  She glanced out the front windshield, fear clouding the effects of the drug still in her system. Her lungs emptied of air as she clutched the door handle. “And what are you going to do?”

  He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be right behind you. Once I’m clear of the car, we will blend with the crowd making their way to the festival.”

  “You’re just going to leave the car in the middle of the intersection?” Her voice came out in a mixture of exasperation and admiration.

  Noah choked back a laugh. “It’s not my car.”

  “And that makes it right?”

  “It makes it the only plan I can think of at the moment. I’m open to a better one.”

  Elizabeth fingered her hair. “No, it’s a good plan. I hope that cross you wear around your neck protects you from all the hexes about to fall down on you from the drivers behind us.”

  He pulled the thin, gold chain from around his neck and handed it to her. “Put that on.”

  “Noah, I was joking. I can’t take your cross.”

  “Yeah, you can. It has a GPS chip in it. If we get separated, I want you to find a place to hide and activate the GPS by pressing down where the two poles meet. It will send an alert to my brother, Mac.”

  “Isn’t he in Austin?”

  “How do you know where my brother lives? Have you been checking up on me, Elizabeth?”

  “No, God, no. Danny just talks about you a lot.”

  He couldn’t hold back the deep laugh. “I’m sure he does.” He lifted the cross. “If you need help, Mac will contact Jared or Adam. They will come for you. And one more thing—I need your cell phone.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know who we are fighting here. If they are smart enough, they can hack the GPS on your cell phone. It’s going to be hard enough as it is to lose them. Let’s not make it easy.”

  He slowed the vehicle and inched into the intersection, keeping the nose of the sedan glued to the bumper of the car in front of him. Just as he planned, the box truck pulled behind him. Hopefully, its wide cargo area would block their escape. As soon as the passenger door cleared the mailbox, he placed the car in park.

  “Now, Elizabeth. Move, keep low.”

  She opened the door just enough to inch out, keeping her head down. Noah crossed over the console and followed her. Placing his hand at her waist, he duck-walked between the cars parked in front of the sandwich shop. He reached up and dumped Elizabeth’s cell phone into the mailbox. They waited for the people crossing the street to reach them before he stood and took Elizabeth’s hand, slipping into the middle of the crowd.

  He draped an arm around her shoulder and lowered his head near her ear. “Look straight ahead like you know where you are going. Don’t turn around. It will draw attention to us.” He brought his lips down on the tender skin of her neck. “Relax. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Hell of a promise but he meant every word. Elizabeth was due a little luck.

  His free hand itched for the feel of his Glock. He forced his arm at his side, stretching the cramp from his fingers. He’d asked Elizabeth to stay calm when his own adrenaline was making him nervous as hell.

  Shit! This isn’t working. The crowd in the next block was thinning out too quickly. If he didn’t think of something fast, they could become sitting ducks.

  As if divine grace fated him one more break, a Metro bus turned the corner and headed toward them. “Okay, change of plan. If that bus gets to the stop when we do, we’re taking it.”

  “But it’s going back the way we came.”

  “And when the men in the SUV discover we ditched the car, they’ll head this way, looking for us while we are going the opposite direction in the bus.”

  At least that was the plan. If they were forced into an all-out run, Elizabeth would fall flat on her face. As sexy as those heels made her legs look, they were useless as jogging shoes. Besides, whatever drug they gave her was still making her wobbly as hell.

  He increased his pacing speed to match the Metro bus, moving ahead of the group. As the bus pulled to a stop, he eased around a tree and stepped into the bus. He reached for his wallet, but Elizabeth scanned a plastic card twice over the sensor.

  “I use the Metro all the time.”

  She gave him one of her rare smiles. Something had changed—there was a new trust in her eyes. For the first time, Noah met the real Elizabeth and she took his breath away.

  The bus had only a few passengers. He moved to the last bench and stepped back so she could drop into the corner. They would be unseen from the outside on the right side of the bus. From the left, they were an easy mark.

  The driver rolled for a block before braking at the intersection. The car they had deserted a few minutes before sat where Noah had left it. One of the thugs from the garage jogged down the middle of the road toward the sedan on the left while his friend jumped into the crosswalk on the right. They met at the car and searched the block. Noah instinctively shifted lower in his seat.

  One man headed down the same sidewalk he and Elizabeth had taken while the other crossed in front of the bus and walked opposite traffic, peering through the windows at the passengers.

  Noah placed an arm around Elizabeth and pulled her against him. “Plan C,” he said with a smile. “You’re not going to like it, but please play along.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  He brushed her lips with his. Their gazes held and he waited for her to move out of his hold. Instead, she traced her tongue across his bottom lips, tasting, exploring. His hand cupped the back of her neck, and she shifted until she was almost straddling his lap. Her sweet vanilla and peach scent surrounded him as he deepened the kiss, taking what she offered.

  A rumbled groan escaped his throat as he gave into the taste and feel of her. They just fit so damn well together. What was supposed to be a plan to hide their identity became something else entirely.

  Hell, he’d always been attracted to her, but this was more. It was as if she instinctively knew what he wanted, just the right amount of softness, pressure, and passion that made every muscle in his body harden. She moved her hands into his hair and tugged him closer. The kiss grew hard, demanding. He needed more, so much more.

  The bus horn blared and he jerked back. It took an instant to get his bearings, then he scanned the windows. The bus turned the corner and made its way around the stranded car. Noah spotted both men jogging in the middle of the street behind them. Once the bus cleared the intersection, the pursuers were lost in the festival crowd.

  He wiped a hand over his mouth
and sucked in air. How in the hell had he allowed himself to lose control like that? Elizabeth’s life was in his hands, and his libido had converted to his teen years.

  “Don’t start cussing,” she whispered, touching her hand to his cheek. “You don’t even like me. How in the heck do you kiss when you like someone?”

  “I like you just fine, Elizabeth Merlot. I don’t like your secrets.”

  She swallowed and lowered her gaze to her lap. “Everyone has secrets, detective. Just because I enjoyed myself doesn’t mean I’m ready to share my soul. It was just a kiss.”

  “No, it wasn’t, or I’ve been doing it wrong for years.” He dropped the hand that still cupped her neck. “I didn’t mean for it to get so—”

  “Don’t spoil it.” She eased off his lap onto the seat and glanced through the back window. “Did we lose them?”

  He studied the woman next to him. She wasn’t acting like she was supposed to act, and it was throwing him further off his game. Why wasn’t she slapping his face, staring him down, something?

  “Noah, did you hear me?”

  “What?”

  “Did we lose them?”

  “Yes,” he said and repositioned himself on the bench, facing forward. “You’re safe.”

  “Now what?”

  “I’m working on that. Do you have any idea where this bus is going?”

  “Yes, this is the orange route of the Charm City Circulator.”

  He took his phone out of his pocket, but before he could place a call, she yanked it out of his hand.

  “How come you can use your phone, but you tossed mine into the mailbox?”

  “Because I have a brilliant sister-in-law who encrypted it. It’s almost impossible to trace.”

  “Then call my kids. I need to know they are safe.”

  The small light of trust from earlier evaporated into thin air. Noah couldn’t help feeling sucker punched. “I told you—”

  She placed her hand on his arm. “It’s not that I don’t believe your brother is taking good care of them.”

  Her eyes filled with tears, and for some reason, they hurt more than her lack of trust in him. She pressed her hands to her face and said nothing for a long time.

  “So maybe we do need to do some soul sharing.” She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Danny and Erin can’t go home. It’s not safe for them there. I need to tell them that.”

  “Adam isn’t taking them home, and he has their cell phones. Elizabeth, do you know who those men were who tried to grab you and Erin?”

  “No, I have never seen them before.”

  Apparently she felt more comfortable talking to the damn window than to him. From the tension in her shoulders to her rod-straight spine, it wasn’t hard to read that she was scared shitless. Why didn’t she just tell him what was going on? And how in the hell could she kiss him with such passion, such trust, then turn her back to him?

  He raised his hand to the taut spot at the base of her neck but dropped it back into his lap. “Come on, spit it out. What’s going on?”

  “I can’t tell you, but I do know what this is about.” Her hand reached out and gripped his. “Noah, I have to call Derek.”

  I’m right fucking here, damn it. Ask me for help.

  Shoving down the anger, he lowered his tone and asked, “Why? I don’t trust that guy.”

  His arms tightened just a notch and he eased her into him. A protective instinct like he had never known coursed through him. He wanted her safe, wanted the laughter she shared with her children back in her eyes.

  “I do. He’s a federal marshal assigned to protect me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elizabeth pushed herself away from Noah, pressing her back into the corner of the bench. How could she have allowed those words to slip out? What had she been thinking?

  It was Noah’s fault for kissing her silly and turning her into a mindless idiot. One moment she was in the most passionate embrace she had experienced in her life, and the next, her nightmare slapped her across the face.

  She threaded a hand through her hair and tried to focus. Maybe she could laugh it off, or imply she said that to shut him up. If Noah bothered to look up Derek, his cover was as solid as hers.

  As each lie formed, she rejected it. There was one truth about the man glaring next to her: He wasn’t anyone’s fool. Nope, she couldn’t take those words back. And from the tense expression in his eyes, Noah heard every word and was slowly filling in the blanks.

  “You don’t get to say something like that and go quiet on me.”

  She scanned the bus. No one was glaring at her, so maybe Noah was the only one who heard her confession. He placed an arm around her shoulder and drew her next to him. His irises seemed to turn a darker blue, almost black. She had seen that look on his face the night Danny was attacked.

  “Your boss, the guy I met in your townhouse, is a federal marshal?”

  She could only bob her head up and down because she couldn’t get the words past her throat. Every lie she’d told him was probably parading like proud soldiers in slow motion. Part of her wanted to apologize for the lies, but every decision she had made since her nightmare began was for her children. She refused to ask forgiveness for being a good mother.

  “How long have you known Derek?”

  “Almost fourteen years. He was part of the task force assigned to protect me.”

  His expression hardened and the little vein at his temple began to pulse. She ached to massage it with her finger, but she kept her hands pressed into her lap.

  “Are your parents dead?”

  “Just to me,” she choked out.

  “Brothers and sisters?”

  Her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs, she had trouble hearing herself think. Why did she believe ending the lies, at least with one person, was going to be easy?

  “I’m a middle child, two older brothers and one younger sister.”

  “And what do they believed happened to you?”

  “My family believes Erin and I are dead.”

  “And Danny?”

  “They don’t know he exists.”

  Overwhelming grief so raw and painful cut through her. It didn’t matter how many sacrifices she had made to keep this day from ever happening. They had found her anyway.

  She leaned her head against Noah’s shoulder. “I’m in witness protection and my cover may have been blown. I have to contact Derek. He’s going to have to move us, and fast.”

  Derek had talked himself hoarse trying to convince her to open up to Erin and Danny about their father and the program for years. She came up with one excuse after another for keeping them in the dark, praying this day would never come.

  If the U.S. Marshals Service ruled Elizabeth’s identity was compromised, she would be given a new name, new everything. Danny’s and Erin’s lives would be erased as well and new identities created. If that weren’t terrifying enough, she would have to tell them who their father really was. How would they ever trust anything that came out of her mouth again?

  For years she kept their father’s memory alive for them, or at least the man she thought she’d married. She made their father out to be a hero when he was a monster. Danny already had such low self-esteem. What was going to happen when he found out who his father really was?

  Best-laid plans and all that crap. The ugly truth was she had no choice but to allow the U.S. Marshals Service to rip her kids out of the only home they had ever known. Everyone in their lives would be lost to them, including the man sitting next to her.

  She gulped down a sob because she refused to cry over something she had no power to change. She pulled away from Noah’s shoulder and straightened her spine. “I need to make that call.”

  “Let me talk to Adam first. Once you notify the marshals, I can’t help you.”

  “What would your brother be able to do? Just having the kids with him could place him in danger.”

  He let out a rough laugh. “
Adam is a super soldier, a real badass. Danny and Erin couldn’t be safer.” He took her hand in his. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but there may be something else going on here. We need to find somewhere we can talk in peace. Just give me time to explain what I think is going on.”

  Avoidance had become a game she played very well. What would an hour matter? The little devil on her shoulder screamed the answer in her head before she could shut it up. In sixty minutes, all hell could break loose.

  Everything she had learned about Noah through Danny gave her hope that taking a small leap of faith and trusting Noah might not be a bad thing. He had strength of character that couldn’t be faked. While she still considered her taste in men her worst quality, at least her judgment of men had grown with her maturity. She was not the same naïve or gullible young woman who married Spencer.

  Noah waited patiently for her decision. It was her moment to step off the cliff.

  “Okay, make your call to your brother.”

  Elizabeth had followed the rules of the program almost to the letter for years, never daring to venture off into the unknown. In the last few minutes, she’d torn those rules into tiny pieces.

  As the bus maneuvered around the harbor traffic, bits and pieces of Noah’s conversation with his brother slipped through. The brief, one-sided dialogue sounded so cryptic, by the time he placed the phone in his back pocket, she was ready to jump out of her own skin.

  Paranoia had become a comfortable blanket. Most days, she had to force herself to fold it up and hide it away. Today, that blanket sharpened her focus and kept her safe. What did Noah need to talk to her about and how was it related to the men who tried to kidnap her and Erin?

  “Adam asked me to reassure you that the kids are fine. They will love my niece, Anna. She will probably talk them into one of her Disney marathons.”

  “How old is your niece?”

  “Six going on thirty.”

  The unease grew tenfold. “Are you sure we aren’t placing your brother’s family at risk?”

  He pressed her fingers gently. “They are very safe, and he has a vehicle we can borrow in a lot about twenty minutes outside the city. Are you up for a subway ride?”