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She realized how quiet she and Caleb had grown, how still they’d become. It was as if all the sound had been leached from the room.
A sob erupted from Tommy, breaking the silence. Compassion stirred within her, but she resisted the urge to go to him, though she longed to give him the comfort he needed.
Shelley understood grief. She understood loss and fear and heart-wrenching pain. She understood all of them and still didn’t know how to offer comfort to the small boy.
“It’s all right,” Caleb murmured and managed to quiet Tommy, to soothe whatever nightmare had caused him to cry out, and soon the boy was asleep again.
This time it was Caleb who turned his back to her. Whether he was feigning sleep or not, she understood that there would be no more sharing now.
It was too dark, and she was too alone, even with Caleb and Tommy in the same room. Without warning, her mind filled with reel after reel of pain-filled pictures. Her mother looking at her with a contempt bordering on hatred. Her disastrous last assignment with the Service. Her inability to forgive herself coupled with her gut-wrenching despair.
The memories speared through her, opening up pockets of bewilderment, outrage and heartache.
She’d believed herself to be in love, only to find that the object of that blind devotion had deceived her in the worst way possible. Jeffrey’s betrayal had cut to the core of her being. After that, how could she trust herself to know what was real and what wasn’t?
Caleb hadn’t confided the details of what had gone wrong in his relationship; then, neither had she. But she felt an affinity with him. Though it had remained unspoken, it was apparent that they both understood the importance of always moving forward, because if you remained in one place for too long, you risked being crushed by the weight of regret.
Her regrets came with two dead men, one she’d considered a friend, one she’d hoped to marry.
Still lost in thought, Shelley released a quavering breath. If they managed to find who had killed Caleb’s brother and sister-in-law while keeping Tommy safe, would that allow him to forgive himself for not being there when his brother needed him? And if she helped him, would that make it easier for her to visit the graves of the two men who had died during the botched mission?
Or were they both chasing the impossible?
She shook off the questions that had no answers and closed her eyes. Thankfully, the nightmare didn’t return.
The sun was barely making its ascent when she awoke with a start, Caleb’s question drumming through her mind. How had the gunmen found them?
Caleb had stretched out on the floor, next to the sofa where Tommy slept. She swept her gaze over the big, ruggedly handsome soldier as he kept guard over his nephew, even in sleep.
She stood and padded to the table. Once more, she searched Tommy’s belongings. She and Caleb had examined the contents of the backpack, but they hadn’t looked at the backpack itself.
Now she did so.
Painstakingly, she went over every inch of it. It was then that she found it: a tracker, so small as to be nearly invisible, sewn into the lining.
The implications sank in immediately. Shelley thought fast. Were the men who were after Tommy and Caleb already on their way? She didn’t want to wake the little boy and drag him from yet another safe house.
But could she afford not to?
An indistinct rustling from the outside caught her attention. A zing of apprehension jolted through her. It could be nothing, she told herself.
The woods where the cabin was nestled were alive with rabbits, opossums, raccoons and even a hungry bear or two. But every instinct was telling her to get Tommy and Caleb out of there. Those instincts had saved her life upon more than one occasion.
Hypervigilant, she listened closely and now heard the fall of footsteps. Careful to keep out of the line of sight, she crept toward the window. A man moved stealthily up the porch steps. A second followed.
“Caleb,” she whispered as she shook him awake. “Get Tommy. We’ve got to get out of here.”
He came to as she would. Calm. Alert. Ready to act. Or fight. “What’s going on?”
“Two men...outside...found the tracker...there all the time.”
To his credit, Caleb didn’t waste time asking questions of her disjointed explanation.
“Take Tommy out the back door,” she hissed.
“What about you?”
“I’m right behind you. Go!”
“Not without you.”
“I’ll catch up.”
“We go together.” His tone brooked no argument, and he carried his nephew into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him before rejoining her.
She didn’t have time to argue with him. By now, the men were not trying for stealth.
The men burst through the front door. The fact that they didn’t wear masks alarmed her more than did the military grade KA-BAR knives sheathed at their sides and the snub-nosed revolvers they wielded with casual expertise. They didn’t expect anyone to survive.
“Remember...no one hurts the boy,” one said.
Shelley revised her assessment. The men didn’t expect her or Caleb to survive, but they had other plans for Tommy.
The first man advanced on her, the grim look on his face as foreboding as the weapons he carried.
Caleb faced off against the other opponent. He didn’t wait for the assailant to make a move, instead snapping out his right arm in an arc and knocking the weapon from the man’s hand. He followed up with a blow to the chest with the heel of his palm, knocking his opponent backward a couple of steps.
Before the intruder could regain his balance, Caleb threw a deadly combination of jabs and crosses to the face. So rapid were his punches that it was all the intruder could do to protect his head as Caleb rained down blows.
Another time, Shelley would have admired Caleb’s skill; now, she was too busy dealing with her own attacker.
The hard gleam in the would-be killer’s eyes promised he wouldn’t go down as easily as his teammate. “Let’s see what you’ve got, little girl.”
“Yeah.” She let her teeth show. “Let’s.” Quick as a snake, she brought the edge of her hand down on the wrist of his gun hand, sending the gun flying. She moved in fast, hooked her right leg beneath his, toppling him to the floor. With scarcely a pause, he rolled backward and jumped to his feet.
He wasn’t even breathing hard and looked as though he were enjoying himself. “That the best you got?” His mouth twisted in an ugly sneer.
She didn’t bother with an answer.
He’d obviously had top-notch military training, and deflected her flying fists and feet with little effort. She feinted to the left, spun on one foot, then struck out with her right fist. It connected with a bone-jarring crunch to his jaw. Pain sang up her arm.
She spun, hitting his throat with the toe of her boot.
He groaned but didn’t go down and withdrew his knife from its scabbard, the honed edge gleaming menacingly. She had to stay out of its reach, and, at the same time, take him down.
Knives were a man’s weapon, requiring skill, strength and, above all, reach. Though she was skilled enough with a blade, she lacked the necessary power to be really effective. Instead, she relied on moves that Jake had taught her.
When the man reached for her throat, she drove the ball of her hand upward under his nose. His agonized cry told her she’d broken it.
Good.
But self-congratulations were premature. He was still standing, still a threat. He swiped his hand across his nose, scowling when it came away bloody.
“You’ll pay for that.”
He shifted position, and she saw her opening.
“No. But you will.”
She kicked out with her leg, striking his knee, causing it to bend in a way nature never intended. The knee, a particularly sensitive spot in the body, was crucial to standing, to movement, to balance.
Injuries to the knee could reduce the toughest of men to howling babies. Her assailant was no different. He screamed in rage and pain as he crumpled to the floor, clutching his injured leg.
“This ain’t worth it,” he muttered, spittle flecking his face. “Nobody said she was some kind of ninja.”
“Better than ninja,” she said and delivered the final blow to the back of his neck.
Shelley and Caleb made short work of tying up the assailants with zip ties she carried in her backpack. But she didn’t delude herself into believing that this would put an end to the threat to Caleb and Tommy, if anything, she was more worried than ever. The enemy had upped the stakes, making it clear that Caleb was expendable. Even more chilling, what did they have in store for Tommy?
FOUR (#ulink_c1227e36-becd-568c-9390-693e26ff7986)
“When do you leap over tall buildings in a single bound?” Caleb drawled as they sped down the highway after Shelley had hustled them out of the cabin.
The Georgia countryside was a blur as Shelley coaxed the minivan to maximum speed. If he weren’t mistaken, they were heading back to Atlanta. After settling Tommy in the backseat, asleep with his stuffed bear in his arms, Caleb had climbed in the passenger side. He didn’t like not driving, didn’t like turning over that control. But clearly Shelley believed she should drive, so he held his tongue. Barely.
A dark cloud smeared the sky gray. The humidity was thick enough to slice and serve up on a platter. Much as Caleb had detested the sand that blew with unrelenting persistence in Afghanistan day and night, he preferred that to the clamminess that crawled over his skin now like a million wet ants.
She flashed a grin his way. “Haven’t perfected that skill yet. I’ll let you know when I do.”
“Seriously, is there anything you can’t do?” He ticked items off his fingers. “You drive like a NASCAR champ. You take down a man who’s twice your size. I was beginning to feel as useless as a snowball in Alaska.”
Her smile died. “I told you to grab Tommy and get out.”
“You really think I’d leave you to take out two armed men by yourself?”
“Your first responsibility is to your nephew.”
“Don’t preach to me about my responsibilities,” he said, voice cold as the desert night in Afghanistan he had only moments ago been feeling nostalgia for. “I’m well aware of my duties.” Duty had defined him for as long as he could remember. Now it lay with Tommy. And it terrified him.
“Then why didn’t you go? I can handle myself.”
“So I saw. But Deltas don’t leave anyone behind. Ever.” The lash in his voice was unlike him. He chalked it up to a combination of fear, exhaustion and worry, but it was guilt that nagged at him unmercifully.
Ignoring his tone, Shelley retorted, “I’m not just anyone.”
“Duly noted.” He turned slightly so that he could see her profile. The softness of her features was belied by the firmness of her jaw. “You handled yourself like a pro back there.”
“I am a pro, Judd. Get used to it.”
Caleb didn’t argue. He had met Shelley less than twenty-four hours ago, and in that space of time, she’d spirited him and Tommy out of a motel, engaged two SUVs in a deadly game of chicken, then taken down an armed assailant who was bent on killing her and Caleb.
She had done all this with such dispatch that he could only marvel at the woman’s skill and courage. She was the real deal.
She hadn’t drawn her weapon. He had a pretty good idea why, but he asked anyway. “Why didn’t you use your gun? You had an opening.”
“I would have if I’d needed to, but I figured the police will have plenty of questions for those yahoos. There’s a chance they may even answer,” she said, confirming his guess. “Plus, taking a life, even when it’s justified, changes you. I didn’t need that. Not again.”
Caleb didn’t mind using his gun. But, like any soldier who understood what that meant, he liked not using his weapon better. Then the last part of her comment registered. He shot her a questioning look, but she only shook her head.
After securing the gunmen with plastic flex-cuffs she’d pulled from her backpack, she’d called Sal and directed him to call the local police and have the men picked up. She’d fished in the men’s pockets and had come away with nothing. “It figures.”
“What?”
“No ID. Not even a burner phone to tell who they called last.”
Caleb understood what she meant. There was no way to know who was giving the orders.
At that moment, a deer leaped from the woods, bounded over the guard rail and onto the road. Shelley braked sharply, avoiding the animal by mere inches. “Do you know that Bambi kills more people every year than Smokey the Bear?”
“I’ve heard stories.”
The clouds of earlier spilled forth in a drizzle, which quickly turned into a heavy rain. With the beat of the rain a counterpoint to his thoughts, Caleb tried to digest the events of the past day and a half. Questions swirled in his mind, questions that led only to a quagmire of more questions. Nothing about this made sense. If the killers thought Tommy could identify his parents’ murderers, why hadn’t they disposed of him when they’d killed Michael and Grace? Why try to kidnap him now?
They rode in silence for thirty minutes until Shelley broke it. “I was afraid of this,” she said, gesturing to what appeared to be an accident scene just ahead.
He got it immediately. An accident on this isolated stretch of road was too much of a coincidence to ignore. The punch of fear was not for himself, but for Tommy. “We’re not stopping.” He made a statement of the words.
“You got that right.” Her smile was hard and tight. “You boys better say a prayer.”
* * *
Shelley gunned the engine and maneuvered around the so-called accident. Angry shouts ensued, followed by the sound of car doors slamming and the roar of an engine.
“They’re on our tail,” Caleb said.
She didn’t bother answering.
The road narrowed just ahead in a series of sharp curves. The rain had worsened, sheeting down the windshield and making visibility a wishful thought.
Gunshots rang out, peppering the rear of the van like a swarm of angry bees.
Caleb twisted in his seat, stuck his head out the window and fired off two shots. The shatter of metal hitting glass told her that he’d hit the windshield. She’d expected no less.
He was Delta, after all.
In a Hollywood thriller, he would have shot out the tires, but this wasn’t Hollywood, and shooting out a tire from a speeding vehicle wasn’t as easy as the movies made it look. In fact, it was nearly impossible.
Caleb looked over his shoulder. “That slowed them down, but they’re still coming.” His grim tone echoed her own apprehension.
