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“GUESS IT’S TIME for Julie and me to hit the road.”
Cutter looked up as Linney came back from the bedroom where she’d gone to check on Julie. She’d freshened up a bit, put on some lipstick and returned the escaping tendrils of red hair to the clasp at the nape of her neck.
“I’d like to go with you,” he said.
“No. I made a mistake in coming here, but I’m not going to compound that by involving you any more than I already have.”
“You’re in good hands with Goose.”
“So he says. He’s meeting me at the precinct. I’ll give him a statement of my suspicions about the drowning not having been an accident and he’ll go with me to take Julie home unless he’s gotten in touch with Dane by then. If so, he’ll have Dane pick her up. Either way, if there’s any confrontation between Dane and me, it will all be a case of police record.”
“Goose means it when he says he’ll follow up with the GHPD on your suspicions of murder.”
“I’m sure he does.”
“But you’re not convinced that it will do any good?”
“Green’s Harbor is out of his jurisdiction.”
Which could be why Cutter had this sinking feeling that he’d let Linney down. “I’ll carry Julie to the car for you.”
“Thanks. She’s heavier than she looks, but try not to wake her. I’d rather she remain asleep until I get her home.”
Cutter tried to be gentle, but he had no experience with kids. Julie’s head rolled and then settled against his chest. He felt an unexplained tightness. Poor kid. She’d lost her mother. Now her only parent was a man Linney was convinced was a murderer.
Holding Julie like this, he could almost understand Linney’s determination to see justice done. But having Linney go to prison for kidnapping was not the way to do it.
Linney led the way to her car, a silver BMW sports convertible that was waiting in a visitor’s slot on the third floor of the parking garage.
“Nice wheels.”
“A present from Al just before I left.”
He’d love to know more about that breakup, or maybe he wouldn’t.
Linney opened the back door and he placed Julie inside, fastening the seat belt around her. She squirmed and then let her head drop to the cushioned headrest of her booster seat without ever opening her eyes.
Cutter shut the back door and walked around to the driver’s door. It was standing open, though Linney was already behind the wheel and fitting the key into the ignition.
“Are you sure you won’t change your mind about my going with you?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be fine, Cutter. You know, you really should visit your aunt Merlee more. And get some groceries in your house.”
He leaned in to kiss her good-bye. Not smart, but he wasn’t feeling particularly smart right now. She turned so that his lips brushed her cheek as she shifted into Reverse. Not a lot left for him to do except close the door and watch her drive off.
He did, then slumped against the back bumper of the red pickup truck that was parked right behind him. She waved and smiled as she turned toward the exit, then gunned the engine and took off.
Feeling emptier than he’d felt since leaving the service, Cutter started back to the elevator of the parking garage, then decided to take the stairs to his fourth-floor condo. Before the accident, he would have run them. He’d be able to again soon, but never with the speed and agility he’d had when his body had been at its peak of performance.
The metal steps rattled on impact, the sound echoing around him as he ascended the lighted stairwell. The sound took him back. The clanking became Russian-made tanks in the distance rattling their way toward him and his team.
They’d been on a rescue mission, one that sane men would have called off when that kid had spotted them in the heavily forested terrain and took off running. One kid was all it took to alert a small army of the Taliban’s men.
They could have stopped him with a bullet. Not one of them ever would have. He was just a kid.
But they were not leaving their captured buddy in the hands of the enemy. It was against the code of the SEALs and everything they lived by.
Linney must feel a similar commitment to get justice for her friend Amy. He knew she wasn’t convinced that Goose could make that happen. Yet she hadn’t seemed that upset when she’d driven off, certainly not as irate as she’d been when he’d first insisted it was the right thing to do.
Cutter came to a screeching halt. What the hell had he been thinking? Linney wasn’t going to meet Goose. She was on the run again. It was an idiotic act that would likely land her in prison for the best part of her life.
Cutter spun around and raced back to the garage, this time to his parking spot. He burned rubber in his haste to exit. Not surprisingly, there was no sign of Linney’s car by the time he pulled onto the side street that fronted his complex. She had at least a five-minute head start and that could put her anywhere.
He turned right at the corner, toward Interstate-10, the most probable escape route if you wanted to get out of town quickly. East would take him into downtown Houston. West would take him toward San Antonio.
Neither choice bode well for spotting her. The traffic on I-10 was always crowded with eighteen-wheelers and gas-guzzling SUVs. Her low-slung sports car would be difficult to spot among them.
Not that it was a sure bet she’d taken the freeway. She could have decided to stay on back roads. There were dozens of possibilities there.
The traffic light at the corner switched from yellow to red. Cutter slowed, then spotted a car exactly like Linney’s pulling out of a service station on the opposite corner.
He waited for the traffic to clear the intersection, then sped through the red light and passed two cars on the right to put him almost directly behind Linney as she turned onto the entrance ramp to I-10, going west, not toward the precinct where she was supposed to give a statement to Goose.
She accelerated, switching lanes quickly, jumping right in between two speeding vehicles. He kept her in sight until some jerk with a suicide wish cut right in front of him on his Harley. Stamping on the brake and swerving to the right, Cutter just managed to keep from colliding with the biker and the babe clinging to him like plaster.
Kidnapping Julie was a crazy stunt. Impulsive. Irresponsible. Coming to him tonight had probably been just as crazy, but then he seriously doubted that Linney had spent six years trying to get over their five nights of fun and games and sexual fireworks.
Cutter had grown up fast in Afghanistan and Iraq, learned the difference between instinct and impulse, discovered how one misstep could cost a life. He knew to pick his battles wisely. At least he thought he had until Linney had shown up and in trouble.
Linney switched lanes again, this time two at a time. She was going to exit, a sudden decision, he guessed. The car behind her switched lanes as well. There was no siren or flashing lights, but Cutter had a strong hunch that the nondescript black sedan held an undercover cop.
Linney pulled into the exit lane. The car behind her stayed on her tail. Cutter swerved in front of a pickup truck and exited a couple of cars behind the sedan.
Linney turned right at the first traffic light. The sedan pulled into a service station. Cutter breathed a little easier. He was certain it would go better for Linney if she returned Julie before there was any police confrontation.
She took a quick left, crossing a set of railroad tracks and turning onto a road that ran beside it. The area grew instantly darker as they left the illumination of streetlights.
A tall fence dominated the side of the road nearest the tracks. There were scattered businesses on the other side. A machine shop. A brake and muffler repair center. A white brick building with a sign promising the best prices in Texas on body work. All closed.
Theirs were the only two cars on the isolated road, and he seriously doubted that Linney had a clue where she was going. He increased his speed, narrowing the space between them as she rounded a curve.
He’d pull up next to her and let her know he was onto her scheme. Maybe she was having second thoughts. With luck, she’d be nervous on this dark road and desperate enough by now that she’d stop and listen to reason.
No such luck. Linney accelerated, leaving him behind. He’d spooked her by getting so close and now she was driving dangerously fast.
Cutter caught a glimpse of movement ahead, then watched a car that resembled the same dark sedan that he’d thought was tailing Linney on the freeway. It pulled out from a deserted lot and onto the road in front of Linney.
The car was driving slow and inching toward the center of the road, straight at Linney. She slowed and headed for the shoulder to avoid a collision if he swerved too far into her lane.
Cutter’s apprehension swelled. If the driver of the approaching car kept coming at the same angle, he’d swipe the side of Linney’s car—or worse. The car kept coming, but now the barrel of what appeared to be a machine gun jutted from the window.
Son of a bitch. This was a setup. The man was going to gun her down and there was no time to stop him.
In seconds, she’d be dead.
Chapter Three
The adrenaline rush hit the way it had hundreds of times before, producing an instantaneous honing of all Cutter’s instincts and training.
Cutter lay on his horn, then veered to the left, crossing the center line and ramming the right-front fender of the shooter’s car just as the crack of gunfire thundered in the night.
His breath burned in his lungs. His move had been worse than risky. It was damn near suicidal. But better than doing nothing while Linney’s head was blown off at close range.
The shooter’s car raked the side of Linney’s, then sped away. Linney’s sports car skidded out of control. She careened off the right shoulder, kicking up dirt and dry leaves before lurching down an incline and slamming into a ditch. Miraculously, the sports car didn’t flip.
Cutter skidded to a stop on the muddy shoulder, grabbed his flashlight from the glove compartment and raced to Linney’s vehicle.
His heart was racing as he peered through the window. The airbags had inflated and were pushed against Linney’s chest so that all he could really see was her face. Blood trickled down her left cheek but there was no visible gaping wound.
“Were you hit?”
“Cutter?” Her eyes were wide, riveted to his, though even in the moonlight he could see that her flesh was ghostly white. “How did you get here?”
“Lucky move.” His breath scorched his lungs. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. Nothing hurts, but someone just took a potshot at me.”
He gasped huge gulps of air and the burning in his chest eased to the point that he could breathe without searing pain.
Julie started to wail. Cutter opened the back door and slipped into the backseat to check on her. Linney managed to extricate herself from the airbag and tumble over the back of the seat, squeezing in between him and Julie. She cradled Julie’s head in her arms.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m right here with you.”
Cutter did a quick visual scan for injuries while Linney tried to calm her. There was no sign of a bullet wound. “She appears okay,” he said.
“Thank God! Does anything hurt?” Linney cooed.
Julie wrapped her arms around Linney’s neck and clung to her as if she were afraid her protector would disappear into the darkness if she let go. “I want my mommy.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
Linney’s voice dissolved into a quake that felt like shrapnel exploding in Cutter’s gut. Linney had come to him for help and he’d practically kicked her out of the condo.
Chances that the attack was random were slim to none. She’d been ambushed. Was that why Dane hadn’t called? Had he killed his wife and then tried to kill Linney to silence her and her suspicions? If he had, he’d risked killing his own daughter as well.
But then he wasn’t expecting interference from Cutter. A sharpshooting cop would have been able to place the bullet exactly on target at that speed and distance.
Cutter crawled from the car and did a quick assessment of damage to the vehicle. It would require towing and bodywork, but there were no bullet holes. Apparently, the shooter had missed his target altogether. But if Cutter hadn’t been here…
He swore under his breath as fury raced through his veins like a roaring river. He scanned the area. The road was deserted. No sign of headlights. No sign of trouble, but that didn’t mean this was over.
Let down your guard for an instant and the enemy gained the advantage.
This enemy was already armed, while he wasn’t. And the enemy had known exactly where to find Linney, had likely followed her when she left Cutter’s condo. There was only one valid explanation for that.
With the help of his flashlight, Cutter searched every inch of the car, working quickly, and making a call to Goose as he did. He explained the latest developments.
Goose let fly a few expletives Cutter hadn’t heard since leaving the Navy.
“Were you able to get in touch with Dane?” Cutter asked.
“I left a message at the phone number the GHPD gave me. He hasn’t called me back. The clerk on duty said he’s on the scene of a major crime and has been for hours. He promised to let Dane know that his daughter’s with Linney Kingston and that she’s fine.”
“Does that mean there’s not an APB out for Linney?”
“Nope. I’m assuming the day-care center got the word to Dane that Julie was with Linney. He must be okay with it.”
“Then I guess we’re covered on that score.”
“As long as Linney cooperates in reuniting father and daughter at the earliest opportunity.”
“I’ll see that she does.”
“I suggest you all go to bed and try to get some rest for now. I know I am. But be careful.”
“Yeah.”
Cutter finished checking out the car. When he was done, he stuck his head through the open back door. “We need to get out of here. I’ll help you get Julie to my truck.”
“I can’t just leave my car here.”
“You won’t be driving it out of that ditch. It’s practically standing on the front bumper. I’ll call a tow truck.”
“I can’t go to the cops, Cutter. You saw what—” Linney stopped herself before blurting out Dane’s name. She buried her face in Julie’s soft hair, kissing her on top of the head. “You saw what he’s capable of.”
“I saw what someone’s capable of. Now let’s get moving. We can decide on an operational plan later.”
“Forget a plan,” Linney said. “I just need a ride back to my house in Green’s Harbor. I’ll handle things from there.”
Linney stayed entangled with Julie, but turned her face so that she was looking at Cutter. Her disheveled mass of red hair was loose now and bouncing about her shoulders. Arbitrary curls rested against her bloody cheek.
Her chin was jutted at a defiant angle and she had a determined strength in her stare that the more youthful Linney of six years ago would never have been able to pull off. Unfortunately, she was as damn irresistible as ever.
“I’m not leaving you,” Cutter said.
“You saved our lives. You’ve done enough.”
It sounded reasonable, but Cutter knew that the instant he’d spotted that gun pointed at Linney’s head, his choice in this was gone. He could no more walk away now than he could sprout wings and fly or whisper some kind of chant and have his old life as a Navy SEAL back.
