I checked the side-view mirror, scanned the street around us: empty, except for a bus slowly trundling toward us, “out of service” on the route screen.
It sure would be easier overall if I could just pop this guy in the head, quick and easy, but that’d be a mess, and Harris would be pissed if it got back to him. So I lashed out with the butt of the gun, catching him right at the base of his skull. He groaned, swayed forward—damn it…I had to hit him once more to put him under. They make that look so simple in the movies, but in reality, it’s actually pretty tricky.
I checked the unconscious man’s body, found a Glock and a spare clip, and stuffed the extra pistol behind the holster at the small of my back and the clip in my hip pocket. I withdrew my knife, cleaned the blade on his pants leg, left the car, trotted across the street to the condo building. It was an older building, with an intercom system; I used the same trick I had last time, pressing an intercom button at random.
“Hello?” A gruff male voice, older.
“Delivery.” I barked it, brusque, as if in a hurry.
“All right, yeah.”
The intercom buzzed and the lock clicked. I ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time until I reached the third floor, gun still drawn. I scanned the hallway as I left the stairwell, then jogged to Lola’s door. I put my shoulder to it, ear to the door, listening—all I heard was the TV.
I knocked, twice, softly.
She opened the door after a second, but with the safety chain drawn, showing only a sliver of her face, and her body clad in a thin purple robe sticking to her wet body. Her hair hung in long damp black strings beside her face.
“Thresh? What are you doing here? I thought—I thought you left?”
“Can you let me in? We need to talk.”
“Is everything okay?”
I shook my head. “Not really. Let me in, and I’ll explain as best I can.”
She hesitated, eyeing me. Her gaze slid down, lit on the pistol in my fist. “Um…you’re armed?”
I frowned at her. “You treated me for double gunshot wounds. Is the fact that I’m carrying really a surprise?” I leaned close to the cracked-open door. “I know this is going to sound like a Tom Cruise movie or something, but you’re in danger, Lola.”
“You’re right, that does sound like a line from a bad action movie.”
“Go to your front window, look out. There’s a car across the street.”
She closed the door, was gone for a few seconds, and then I heard the chain slide and she opened the door, looking pale and shaken. “Who—who is—who was that?”
I pushed in past her, did a quick, thorough sweep of her condo, and then returned to where she was still standing in shock by the door. “Someone was watching you, with orders to kidnap you when the opportunity presented itself. Next time you went to work, probably. He’s not dead, though. Just rendered temporarily unconscious.”
“Kidnap me? Why would anyone want to kidnap me?”
I tapped my chest with the barrel of the gun. “Because of me. I sort of got you pulled into some shit, babe.”
“Pulled into some shit?” She staggered backward, caught up against the door. “What…what does that mean?”
“It means you’re in trouble just for meeting me.”
“With whom?” Unsurprisingly, she sounded faint.
“Bad guys. European gangsters, mercenaries. Short version is this: the guy you treated last year, Harris—he owns a security company called Alpha One Security. We usually do personal bodyguarding type shit, but sometimes we take more dangerous assignments, and the last one put us afoul of a pretty nasty character named Cain. We pissed him off, and now he’s going after me. Seeing as you know me, that puts you in his sights. He’s the type that’s not going to have any qualms about hurting you if it gets my attention, and since I kind of like you, I’m not willing to allow that.”
Her big brown eyes met mine, reflecting a welter of fear and confusion. “So you’re…a mercenary?”
I shrugged. “Sort of.” I holstered the pistol behind my back, and then cupped her shoulder. “I can explain later, but right now we need to get you out of here. That guy out there wasn’t alone.”
“Where are we going?”
“Not sure, immediately. Anywhere but here. I have car close by, we just need to put some distance between us and the guys looking for us.”
“I still don’t get why they’d want me. I barely know you.” She tugged the edges of the robe tighter, which didn’t help my concentration any, since it only served to mold the thin, damp cotton to her breasts.
I forced my gaze away from her tits—there’d be time for that later…hopefully. “Leverage. If they can get you, they can use you to get to me.”
“Would it work?” she asked, staring up at me. “Could they get to you through me?”
“Absolutely. Which is why I’m here, to make sure that doesn’t happen. I can protect you, but you have listen to me. Right now, you need to get dressed.”
“How do I know this isn’t some game to get me naked and in bed?”
I gestured at the window. “Did that look like a game to you?” I moved closer to her until I was in her space, filling her vision. God, she smelled incredible, fresh out of the shower, still damp, shampoo and soap and lotion. “And besides, Doc, when I decide to get you naked and in bed, I won’t need games to do it.” I tugged her lower lip down with my thumb, watched her pupils dilate, her nostrils flare, her chest swell. “When I want you naked, Lola, it’ll be my hands stripping your clothes off. And when I want you in bed, it’ll be me tossing you where I want you.”
“Oh.” It was a breath, a whisper.
I trailed my index finger down her breastbone, between the edges of her robe, tugging it open just a little, down to the knotted belt. I tugged the end to untie it, and then I was treated to a widening gap of bare caramel flesh, the V of cleavage, the upper slopes of her incredible tits, a sliver of belly—I didn’t allow myself to look any lower. Save that for later. Savor it. I let myself breathe in her scent, memorizing the precious glimpses of her body…
And then I pushed her toward her bedroom. “Get going, Lola. Put some clothes on.”
She moved toward her bedroom, and I had to bite my lip and force myself to stay in place as the robe billowed open. A tug, and she’d be naked, facing me. All that flesh, all those sweet curves, bare for me.
I growled from the effort necessary to keep myself where I was, hands to myself.
Lola paused, glancing at me over her shoulder as she reached her bedroom door. “Why are you growling?”
“Because we don’t have time for what I want, and you’re pushing the limits of my self-control.”
She frowned. “I’m not doing anything.”
“You don’t have to do anything. You tempt me just by existing, Doc.”
Skin as dark as hers didn’t really flush, but I could see it in the way she looked at me, in the pause, in the confused, pleased light in her eyes. Her mouth opened, but then closed again and she shut the door between us. Probably safest for her. Within a few minutes she emerged dressed in a pair of skin-tight black yoga pants and a tight orange tank top that highlighted the exotic shade of her skin and the unbelievable perfection of her tits, hair in a tight French braid, wearing a pair of old, worn, comfortable looking, and—most importantly—sensible Chucks. No makeup, she was dressed in ten minutes flat, including that fancy French braid.
“Damn, girl, that was fast.”
She shrugged. “You gave me the impression that time is of the essence.”
“Sure as hell is, honey.” I glanced out the window again, but didn’t see anything amiss outside. “Grab your purse and any necessities. I’m not sure when we’ll be coming back here.”
She unplugged her phone from the charger cord on the kitchen counter, tossed it in her purse, and slid the purse over her shoulder cross-body. “I have to work tomorrow.”
“Well…you’ll have to call in sick or somet
hing. Not now, though. Once we’re clear of immediate danger.
“A couple things you need to understand before we really get started, okay? Number one, when we’re on the move, in a hot situation—and I don’t mean sexy hot, I mean people trying to hurt us hot—you do as I say, when I say, and you do not ever hesitate. That’s most important.” I cupped my hand around the back of her neck, drawing her closer to me. Let her see the truth in my eyes. “Second, just as important, is that no matter what you see me do, know that I’ll never ever hurt you, or let anyone hurt you. Okay? You don’t need to be afraid of me.”
She frowned. “You’re scaring me a little, Thresh.”
I drew my Sig Sauer. “You should be a little scared. I’ll get you through this, but…it ain’t gonna be a walk in the park. Now, yank open your door, but don’t put yourself in view of the opening. As soon as it’s open, get behind me and stay tight on my ass. We’re live, baby.”
Adrenaline was pumping, shooting through me, pulsing in my veins. Lola stood to the left of the door, leaned over, twisted the knob and, on my nod, jerked it open, staying out of the opening. As soon as she had the door open, I was through, pistol aimed through the frame; the hallway was empty, but I heard a voice echoing in the stairwell, speaking in low tones in the same Eastern European language the guy in the car had used.
I motioned for Lola to stay where she was, replaced my gun in its holster, drew my knife—no sense making more noise than I had to, or using rounds that might come in useful later.
The hallway was clear to the elevator, so I motioned for Lola to join me at the doorway to the stairwell. I had her open the stairwell door for me, listened, heard nothing.
We descended, Lola close behind me, down to the first floor.
Something warned me. That unease.
I held the KA-BAR so the cutting edge was facing up, easing forward on silent feet to stand beside the stairwell exit. I waited, tensed, barely breathing. I blocked out Lola, blocked out my own nerves; if you’re not a little nervous, a little scared going into a fight, then you’re either crazy or a liar, and I’m neither.
I watched as the doorknob to the stairwell door twisted, and then the door swung inward, and a body appeared in the doorway.
He saw me, I saw him…
I struck first, and I struck hardest. There’s a spot, on the left side of the body, midway up the torso. Angle the blade to slide in under the ribcage….
He hit the ground like a sack of meat, blinking, gasping, dying.
I wiped the blade on his clothes, hauled him fully into the stairwell out of view of the thankfully-empty lobby, and then straightened.
Lola had seen the whole thing. When someone with the kind of dark, exotic skin that Lola had went pale as a ghost…ugh, not good. Not good at all.
I sheathed the knife, kept my hands visible, and approached her slowly. “Lola. He had a gun, okay? These guys aren’t playing around.”
She backed away from me. “You—you just…” She jabbed her fist upward in a parody of the move I just used. “It was…like…easy. So fast. You just—killed him. He never even had a chance.”
“That’s the point, babe.” I got a little closer, keeping my voice low and smooth and soothing. “No point in giving him an opportunity to hurt me, or you. My job is to keep you alive, and out of the hands of the bad guys. I’m not gonna fuck around.”
She just blinked at me. “You’ve done that before. Lots of times.”
I sighed. “Yes, Lola. I’m not gonna lie about it. It’s part of my job.”
“That’s why you told me I don’t need to be afraid of you.”
I nodded, and she let me get within touching distance. I put my hand on her arm, then slid it up to cup her neck, which seemed to calm her nerves for some reason. “I can do bad things, but only to people who deserve it, okay? You really don’t want to know what could happen to you if these guys get hold of you. Now…we gotta move. I know there are at least two more out there, and I got no time to deal with the cops once the body gets reported.”
She started shaking when she passed the corpse on the floor, with the pool of blood spreading beneath him.
“Don’t look, Lola,” I said, drawing my Sig. “You don’t need to see that.”
She shook her head, and looked away, and then we were trotting down the stairs. “I’m a doctor, Thresh. I did my rounds in the ER, and I work in the ICU. I’ve lost patients before. I’ve seen dead people before.”
I beckoned for her to follow me across the lobby. “Yeah, I get that. But it’s different when you watched the person get killed in front of you. Even fixing gunshot wounds like you did for me is different than fixing gunshot wounds you watched occur. Dealing with the aftereffects of violence is not quite the same thing as being involved in the violence.”
She shuddered. “So I’m learning.”
Once we hit the street, I put away my pistol and draped my shirt tail over it, then took Lola’s hand in mine, threading our fingers together. There was no sign of cameras, which meant hopefully, given the fact that I’d worn gloves and that there hadn’t been any witnesses, there wouldn’t be any way to trace either the unconscious guy in the car or the dead guy in the stairwell back to me. What I did see was a Range Rover a couple blocks away inching around the corner toward us with two men in it; one of them lifted a cell phone, dialed a number, and held the phone to his ear; he spoke briefly, and then ended the call.
“Shit.” I tugged Lola into a power walk, away from the scene, toward the Jeep.
“What is it?” Her voice was surprisingly even and steady, considering the events of the last few minutes.
“We’ve been made.”
“What does that mean in normal person lingo?”
“It means that Range Rover over there is a very bad thing, and those two guys in it are very bad men.”
“What about the good guys? Does the man you work for, Harris, does he know you’re in trouble?”
We reached the Jeep, and I gestured for Lola to get in. “I’m assuming he does by now. I made a call of my own. We should have help at some point, but for now…we’re on our own.”
Once in the Jeep, I started the engine and pulled away, resisting the impulse to floor it. We didn’t need attention, just now. The Range Rover followed closely behind us.
Things were about to get fun, and quick.
I turned left at the nearest intersection, and as soon as I was around the corner, I buried the pedal. The engine roared, torque kicked in, and we were both pressed back into the bucket seats as the powerful SUV leaped forward, hauling ass past the slower-moving cars. I had to do a bit of creative driving, jinking and swerving into oncoming traffic, back into the proper lane, then far right, left again…I chanced a glance in my mirrors, and saw the Rover following close behind, wending its own route through the traffic.
“Which way to a freeway?” I asked.
She blinked, hesitating a split second to think. “Left here,” she said, giving me just barely enough time to hit the brakes and drift around the corner, tires squealing, smoke curling, the suspension doing its damnedest to keep us level as centripetal force fought to push us into a roll.
Two blocks passed in a matter of seconds, but it felt like minutes as I constantly swerved and braked to avoid cars and pedestrians and buses. Then she indicated left again, and then a right after another few blocks, and then the on-ramp was angling away and down. I hit the gas hard and we barreled down the on-ramp and onto the freeway, which one I wasn’t sure and I really didn’t care. Away, that was all I cared about.
It was oddly calm and quiet for a minute despite the fact I was doing 110mph and was still accelerating. The Rover was behind us, seemingly content to merely follow us for now. No shootouts on the freeway, I guess? I wasn’t complaining. Hitting anything from a moving vehicle is hard enough as it is, much less trying to manage it one-handed. God, seriously, fuck this gimpy arm.
I kept an eye on our pursuers, who stayed a couple of car lengt
hs back. When it became obvious they weren’t going to mount a mobile assault, I backed off the accelerator until we were back to legal speeds.
Once we were cruising smoothly, Lola dug out her cell phone and called the hospital, claiming an unexpected family emergency that would keep her occupied for several days. After that, we drove in silence for a while, passing out of Miami and away from the urban and suburban areas.
“Where are we going?” Lola asked.
I shrugged. “No idea. They’re just following us for now.” I eyed her, noting her thoughtful expression. “Why? You got an idea?”
She bobbed her head side to side in a maybe gesture. “Well, there is a place, but…I’m hesitant for a couple of reasons. First, it’s hard to get to, which is part of the reason I’m even considering it, but when I say hard to get to, I’m really not kidding. Remote doesn’t even begin to cover it. Second, I really don’t like the idea of leading anyone there, because it’s…it’s my dad’s place. I don’t want to pull him into this mess, too. He’s…kind of a hermit.”
I considered. “Where are we talking?”
“He’s got this place way down in the Ten Thousand Islands area, the kind of place you have to know exactly how to get into and out of, or you’ll be totally lost forever.”
“And you know how to get there?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I half grew up there. It was our summer getaway. We’d pack up as soon as school let out and take his boat out there, and we wouldn’t come back until the day before I started school again. Then, when Mom died, Dad moved out there full-time. Hasn’t left since. He has this friend who delivers supplies, and I visit him sometimes when I can.” We were nearing an exit ramp for a different freeway, and she directed me to take that exit, which put us on a smaller, two-lane highway heading south and west out away from Miami.
“So I’m assuming it’s not accessible via a vehicle,” I said.
She snorted. “Yes, Thresh, there’s a nice highway leading right up to my dad’s handmade cabin deep in the Everglades.” Not only did I get the snort and the sarcasm, I also got an eye roll. Bonus points. “That’s the tricky part.” She looked at me sidelong, chewing on a thumbnail. “I’m kind of assuming you didn’t just happen to purchase this vehicle since arriving in Miami…”