Decoded. Debra Webb

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СКАЧАТЬ had edged into her voice. She forced it back. “What does that make you, Slade?” A user, she didn’t say. But it was true. He’d used her to get close to Victoria and Lucas. She understood that part now. If her friends at the Colby Agency were in danger it would be her fault. That confounded quaking started deep inside her once more.

      He had weaseled his way into her life for a reason. Something that involved the Colby Agency. Maggie had a right to some answers.

      “Why the Colby Agency? They’re good people. What could they possibly have done to you?”

      He turned around, his face a hard mask she couldn’t hope to read. “You think you know people, but you don’t. Can you really be certain they’re good people? Can you? Really?”

      “Of course I can,” she retorted without hesitation. “It’s you I don’t know.”

      “At least we agree on something.”

      Maggie dared to take two steps toward him. His gaze narrowed. “You made me love you.” Her throat tried to close. She fought the aching emotions. “Just so you could do whatever it was you came to Chicago to do.”

      More of the dingy carpet between them disappeared as he took a step toward her, matching her stance. The air vanished from her lungs. “I didn’t do anything you didn’t want me to do.”

      The tremors grew stronger. She struggled to restrain the visible shaking. “You never felt anything for me, did you?” How could she love the wrong man twice in her life? Hadn’t she learned anything the first time around? That part hurt the most. Knowing that she loved him so much and he felt nothing at all.

      “Listen to me carefully, Maggie.”

      He touched her. She couldn’t bear it. She drew away.

      His hand dropped to his side. “You have one chance at surviving this. If you do exactly as I say, you’ll be safe.”

      As though she would trust anything he said. She laughed. “You said yourself that she’d seen me with you. What’s to keep her from coming after me once you’re gone?” And what would happen to him? Would he be able to win against this woman who had sought him for so long? Misery writhed inside Maggie. The idea that her child would never know his or her father abruptly tore at her with staggering viciousness.

      “I won’t let that happen.”

      How could he make such a promise? “You can’t guarantee my safety.” If that were the case, they wouldn’t be holed up in this hovel. Was he kidding her or himself?

      “It’s me she wants,” he said, his voice weary. “As long as you stay out of the way you’ll be safe.”

      He wasn’t going to give her any answers. This man she had come to love was going to leave her and she would never know if he was dead or alive.

      “Then go.” She pointed to the door. “Just go.”

      “Don’t call anyone you know. Don’t leave except to get food from the café next door.” He held up his hands for emphasis. “No matter what you hear or see, just stay put until I tell you otherwise.”

      The pain that coiled inside her as he reached for his bag was very nearly unbearable. How could she just let him go like this? But wasn’t that what she wanted? To be free of him? She couldn’t trust him. She didn’t even know who he was. Her baby would be better off without him. She would be better off.

      Then why did it feel as though her world was crashing to an end with every step he took?

      He hesitated at the door.

      Maggie felt as if her very bones had crumbled, leaving her helpless and unable to move.

      Slade turned, his gaze settled on her and he strode back to where she stood. His hand closed around her neck and he pulled her close. He kissed her hard. Made her melt against his body. How could she spend the rest of her life without him?

      By the time he drew his lips from hers she was gasping for breath. He pressed his forehead to hers. “You make me wish I was someone else.”

      He tucked something into her jacket pocket and walked away.

      Fiery tears flowed down her cheeks. She would never see him again, never—

      The window shattered, raining glass into the room.

      Slade spun around, lunged toward her, taking her to the floor and covering her body with his.

      “Stay down.”

      Her heart seized when he scrambled to the bedside table and turned off the lamp. Something thunked against the wall near the bed. Was someone shooting at them? There hadn’t been any gunshot blasts.

      He moved in close to her in the darkness. “There’s a window in the bathroom. You may have to break it to get out.”

      Was he sending her out the back way alone? Fear crowded into her throat, choking off the air to her lungs. “But what will you—”

      “Listen to me, Maggie.”

      The base of the lamp on the bedside table burst. Maggie screamed.

      “I’m going out that door to draw them away. I’ll fire three shots in a row when it’s clear for you to go out the back. Run as far into the woods as you can and stay there until you hear sirens. The police will come.”

      Before she could argue, he was opening the door.

      A bullet thwacked into the doorjamb just above his head. Fear crammed into her chest.

      Maggie struggled with the need to run after him. But she had to protect her baby. She crawled to the bathroom, crept inside and closed the door.

      For long seconds or minutes, she couldn’t say for sure which, she sat on the floor, her back against the wall, and tried to catch her breath. Her heart pounded so fast it hurt.

      She prayed hard for her child’s protection. For Slade’s protection. She checked her pocket to see what he’d put there, part of her hoping for a note that explained everything. Cash. She closed her eyes and fought the wave of tears.

      A sharp sound cut through the silence. Then a second gunshot. A third rang out and her muscles instinctively reacted. She sprang to her feet and felt for the window. It was large enough, but the lower sash didn’t want to budge. She double-checked that it was unlocked, then pushed upward with every ounce of strength in her body.

      The window slowly slid up.

      She listened for a moment, then climbed onto the closed toilet lid and thrust her head out the window. It was dark as pitch behind the motel. Trees crowded close to the back of the building.

      Maggie scrambled out, almost falling in her haste. When her feet were firmly on the ground, she steadied herself and started toward the woods.

      Another gunshot echoed in the night.

      Did that mean Slade was still okay? The other weapons hadn’t made that sound.

      “Well, well,” a male СКАЧАТЬ