Locked and Loaded. HelenKay Dimon

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СКАЧАТЬ tremor shook through her. “You did this.”

      “No.” He regained his double-fisted hold before she wrenched an arm loose and started hitting him again. “I’m here to save you.”

      She stopped fidgeting. “How?”

      “We run.”

       Chapter Two

      He knew she was in witness protection. No one should know. No one could know, not if she wanted to live.

      Maddie inhaled, trying to slow her frantic heartbeat and come up with a plan. She focused on her training, on all the drills she’d run since she’d landed in the tiny town and slipped under the chilly blanket of anonymity.

      Every brain cell screamed at her to take Adam down and run as fast as she could and not stop until she cleared the West Virginia line. She could handle the racing part. The question was how to win a battle against a man who outweighed her by a good seventy pounds.

      At five-eight with long legs and a runner’s form, she rarely viewed her body as petite, but Adam loomed over her. Feeling small filled her with a twinge of vulnerability. She hated the sensation. It made her jumpy. Amazing how just when she thought she’d knocked all those useless emotions out of her brain, one came roaring back to crush her.

      But she beat the insecurities back. Right now she needed all her control and concentration. “I know the way.”

      He didn’t ease his grip on her arms. “Yeah, it’s called a back door.”

      “Too obvious.”

      “I’m listening.”

      She ignored the tickle of his hot breath against her neck. “There’s a secret exit.”

      “Show me.”

      When he didn’t ask why she would have such a thing, or even flinch at the idea, she knew Adam Wallace—or whoever he really was—was not a simple computer programmer. His wrestling moves said mercenary. His knowledge of the most private part of her life made him downright dangerous.

      So did being trapped in a small cabin with him. Attackers or not, she had to get outside. She’d get around them and then the next wave and anyone else who was tracking her down. That’s what her life had become—one long run to nowhere.

      Open space was her only chance. That meant giving away the location of her escape hatch. Not that she’d need it now. With her cover blown, she’d be shuffled to a new state with a new identity. From there on she’d pull her life in tighter around her so as not to risk a night like tonight.

      But she had to live through this mess first.

      She tried to swivel around but couldn’t move. “You have to let go of me.”

      “Not going to happen.”

      “If we’re just going to stand here, you better figure out how close our visitors are. I’d hate to die because you’re busy making a plan and not moving from the middle of a room.”

      “Fine.” He let go of her but kept his hands right by her shoulders, as if ready to grab her again if needed. “Talk.”

      Matching his caution, she turned, barely letting her feet leave the floor. His hands found her forearms and only a foot of air separated them. At this distance she saw the sweet guy who tipped big after dessert had changed into someone lethal and commanding.

      “It’s in the hallway,” she said.

      “What is?”

      “My escape route.”

      “Let’s see it.” He walked her back toward the bedroom. His gaze bounced from her face to the windows beyond.

      Even if she wanted to bolt, and she sure thought about it, she couldn’t. The timing was wrong and the man was too big. He also seemed prepared for action and that gave her an odd sense of comfort in the surreal moment.

      She pointed at the narrow closet. “There’s an opening behind the ironing board. Though to look at you, I have no idea how you’ll squeeze in there.”

      “I’ve never had a problem getting in before, no matter how tight the fit.”

      His sudden grin made her think they were talking about different things. “I bet.”

      “Where does it come out?”

      “About twenty feet away, behind the small shed before the tree line.”

      “Open it.” He glanced over her head. “And fast. We only have minutes before the doors and windows come blowing in.”

      She didn’t bother lecturing him on chivalry or issuing orders. She didn’t look behind her, either. A narrow green searchlight twice cut through the dark cabin while they stood there. She knew the men outside were getting close, had probably surrounded the house and cut off the obvious exits. Good thing she had a surprise one.

      She threw open the door and with practiced efficiency removed the ironing board and fake panel behind it. The flashlight came next. She ripped it from the wall and tested it. “You ready?”

      “I see you are.”

      “Always.” She dropped to her knees and started crawling.

      The dank air smacked her in the face as soon as she crossed the threshold. The heavy staleness stole her breath as fear raced through her mind. She couldn’t think about what lived in her makeshift safety route or what would happen if they were caught before they could get out.

      Her first handler, Rod Lehman, had insisted on her having an emergency exit no matter where she lived. The workmen who thought they were laying reinforcement pipe for the sewer helped, but she did all the work in the final connection to the cabin. Building and reinforcing the tube in the dead silence of night had been quite an undertaking.

      Once completed, she had set up an escape strategy and practiced shortening her time to the shed. One oversight was in conducting the drill in jeans. Now in her pajama shorts, the hard flooring hurt her knees and the coolness of the metal sent a chill through the rest of her.

      And then there was the issue of creeping around with an unwanted partner. One who held her ankle and crowded against her the entire time.

      “Could you move back and give me some room to move?” She shook her leg, trying to break his hold, but he didn’t let go.

      “Keep moving.”

      She did as he ordered. She sped up, trying to increase the space between their bodies and her chances of getting away. “Why should I trust you?”

      “Because you don’t have a choice.”

      Wrong. She’d let that be the excuse for the dead end her life had become. Well, no more.

      She was done paying for her poor choices. Getting shipped from Chicago to Sweet Home, losing touch with everything and everyone she’d ever known, constituted a pretty big punishment in her mind. Her bad-boy, СКАЧАТЬ