Holding Fast, page 8
Loud shouts suddenly startled her. William drew his gun. “Get on the floor. Head down, on your stomach.”
He shoved her to the floor and stood over her.
Whoever was outside grew closer and louder. Horrible cursing and shouting grew more distinct, followed by her neighbors yelling that they’d called the police. More profanity followed. Finally, when she started to feel foolish, sirens erupted from outside.
“Stay here.” He walked so his back was to the wall so he could see out the front room window. The shrubs out there blocked her view of the street—and anyone else’s view of the inside her house. She couldn’t remember if lights out meant no one outside could see in or not. The thought worried her, even as William with his gun up and ready terrified her.
What if he gets hurt? Shot because of me?
Nothing happened. No one came any nearer to her house. The cop’s sirens and lights filled the room with their blue and red, and when they did, he glanced at her.
“Stay down.” He reached into his pocket and pulled free a coiled something that looked like some ear buds. He put one end in his ear and spoke softly. “I want her out. Now.”
She bit her lip and tried not to make a sound.
“Five, then. We’ll be in the back yard, then on through to the next street. Pick up there. Five minutes from now.” He glanced at his watch, then headed over to her. “Can you walk?”
“Yes, of course.” She felt foolish, not afraid. She got to her feet quickly and brushed her knees off. This was her house. Whatever was going on was outside, it felt safer in here than going out there were anyone could be waiting. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going to go to the store, but by cutting through the back yard. Come on, let’s go. I want you on my left, at all times, on my left. Understand. Always touching me.”
“Okay, but what about—”
“Focus on me. Now.” He pulled her into his left side, gun still out as he moved with absolute silence through the house to the kitchen door. He made them wait there, then opened it. At first the sounds of the disturbance outside were too loud for her to hear anything, then she could faintly make out someone telling him to go ahead.
“You have a…you’re talking to the men who are watching the house?”
“Yes.” He tapped his ear piece. “This com links me to them. Stay on my left.” He started again, walking in a crouched kind of way as if at any moment, he might spring into action and race off or be assaulted by someone. Her fear skyrocketed when they moved from her porch and into the back yard, but she kept up with him, expecting at any moment to get shot or worse, William to get shot. They made it through and into the neighbor’s yard then farther away from the noise from whatever was still going on outside her house.
He paused suddenly and she halted as well. He took her hand and squeezed it then gestured to the street. “You’re doing great. See that SUV? They’re here for us. We wait until they are up against those high bushes over there, then through to reach it.”
“Through the bushes?”
“They’ve cut a piece out we can get through.”
“Okay, but, William, it looks like more police are showing up.”
“You’re right. That only means more of a distraction. Let’s go.” He started off again, going slower this time. They reached the shrubs, and sure enough, there was a long, vertical cut in them, big enough to fit through. William had to duck down, but she fit easily. As soon as she left the clinging branches, the SUV’s door opened and she was pressed up and inside it by William. He crowded next to her on the back seat. She scooted over to give him more room, but he halted her from going too far by placing his warm hand on her thigh. His gun was missing, either put away or next to him where she couldn’t see it.
“What the—what’s going on?” he asked the man in the driver’s seat. She bit her lip and tried not to shiver from the anger in William’s deep voice.
They took off, not peeling rubber, but far faster than she liked.
“We’re not sure, but too many local police have shown up for two drunken men. The street is residential, but it’s too much to think that they broke out in a shouting match right there.” The driver turned his head and nodded to her. “Hi, I’m Jones, by the way. I’m on the team. This is Jake, he’s also on the team.”
“The team that is trying to catch Potter?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’d be the team.” Jones gave her a grin.
Jake, a light-haired man with an easy smile, lifted a hand in a wave. “Ms. Stevens.”
“Uh, hi.” She shot William a worried glance, but he was paying more attention to the street than her. “Are there other teams…watching other women?”
Through his grip on her leg, she felt William stiffen.
“No, ma’am.” Jones took a corner way too fast in her opinion.
“Slow down. The last thing we need is a ticket.”
She was glad William spoke up, but his priorities sucked. Jones was a lunatic who clearly didn’t need to be driving.
“Ma’am?”
William shrugged, hiding a smile by rubbing his hand over his face for a second before he hit the driver on the shoulder. “Take us to the alternative car.”
“You going to drive back with her?” Jones asked.
“What alternative car?” she asked on top of him, then blushed. “Sorry, go ahead.”
“It’s a car I stowed away. It’s safe. I put a tracking device and alarms on it if anyone tries to tamper with it. It’s blue.”
“I like blue,” she said faintly.
“Yeah, I know. So we’re going to go get it, and when this trouble rolls over, because it will, we head back, like we’d been gone to the store and missed it all. But this—” He gestured back to the house. “This wasn’t chance. This was Potter. The men will do a full sweep of the house while we’re gone.”
“Okay.” The streets sped by, insulating her from the reality back at her house. Jake spoke to someone on his com link. Jones scanned the roads as he drove, as if expecting trouble. She tried to feel safe, but her nerves were frazzled.
If Potter had orchestrated such a thing as a fight between two men, he was as scary as she’d thought. The argument had sounded like some normal macho man thing. She wouldn’t have gone out, but she wouldn’t have thought to hide or leave, or…
“Try to relax. We’re beyond his reach. Even if he spotted us leaving, he can’t follow us. Not in this.”
She tried to let the lull of the car’s motion ease over her. I wouldn’t have known he could do something like this. What if he did see us? What if he is that good? Then when we return, it won’t matter how we act. He’ll know we know it was him…right?
“How are you going to catch him?” she asked.
William leaned closer. “Do you feel sick?” He spoke so low she was certain he was trying to keep his question private. The consideration, after all she’d thought of him, made her flush.
“No. I feel okay. Maybe hungry.”
He tightened his hold on her hand, then loosened his grip. “That’s good. We’ll get you something to eat at the store.”
“Okay, but…how, I mean, how can you catch him? If he can do this!”
“Potter thinks he’s smarter than he really is.” That made her frown. He went on, watching her face in an oddly serious way, as if she might have something on her chin or something and he debated telling her. “Men like Potter are used to being the smartest men in the room. He counts on being ten if not a hundred steps ahead of other men, even other, what he probably thinks of as, smart men. To him, I’m a soldier. To him, that means less intelligent, more warrior without a brain.”
“And he’s wrong?”
Jones laughed, then cut it short but a chuckle was covered by a cough from Jake. “No sign of pursuit, sir.” Jones gave them both a big grin in the rearview mirror.
“Thanks,” William said dryly.
“I meant to say, you aren’t, so you’re going to beat him by letting him think you are a, uh, you know, a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal.”
William glanced away again. A smile twisted his mouth to the side, then he straightened his expression to look at her again. She could still see the humor in his eyes though, so she smiled.
“Right?” she prompted.
“You’re pretty smart.”
“Thank you.”
“If he can be fooled by me dragging my knuckles, so be it. I think he’ll be a little bit harder to take down than that, though. Here. The car’s here, Jones. First left, third level, tenth spot on the right.”
Impressed by his memory, since she lost her car keys all the time, she watched Jones nod and follow Will’s directions. Minutes later they were inside the parking garage, then pulling into a spot. She didn’t move, sure she shouldn’t be the first out of the car.
“Stay here while we do some checking in.”
At her nod, he opened the SUV door and got out, Jones and Jake right with him. Alone she shivered and rubbed her hands over her legs. Things were moving too fast. William. This whole thing… She had just begun to feel safe. How will I go to work knowing this guy is out there?
The door opened and William was back. “Okay, we’re ready. The street’s clean. A few neighbors talking with police. The men have swept the house and no one entered. Nothing has been touched. No one got close to the exterior.”
She blinked at the information. “Then… Was this a false alarm? He didn’t set up the fight?”
“No. He set up the distraction.” He leaned closer with his arm on the SUV’s doorframe. His shirt pulled tightly over his muscled chest and snug over his biceps. She had to focus on her face so the butterflies stopped going crazy in her stomach.
“I think this was an attempt to get close, but because we also sent men to the location, crowding up the street and your yard with our guys, he was unable to get to where he wanted to go. Inside or outside your house.”
“But…why now? Why not before? What if he does have something—?”
“I did a sweep of the house. The men do one twice a day. The only bugs inside are all ours.”
She winced at the reminder.
“It’s necessary.”
“So is my period once a month, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”
He made a choked sound, then laughing, pulled her hand so she would get out of the vehicle. She left it reluctantly. The SUV was gorgeous, well-made and luxurious next to the second-hand Ford she’d picked up once she’d gotten back in Florida.
“Okay, sir. We’re off. Try not to come back too soon.” Jones waved once to her and shut the door. Seconds later the SUV, with its comfy seats and new smell was gone. She missed her Honda, but that—
“Oh, my God! Is that my Honda?” She raced to the blue car parked in front of her, amazed at how good it looked and how…new it seemed. The dent she’d put in the left side tail end was missing. So was the rough yellow scratch she’d got from parallel parking too close to a fire hydrant. It’d been only an inch long, but she’d always thought of it as a reminder never to parallel park again.
“You like it?”
She spun to stare at him. He stood a bit awkwardly to the side, watching her with a puzzled frown, hands in his pockets.
“Is it really mine?”
“Yeah. You left it in—”
“Wyoming. I know. Paris needed it…” The implications of what he’d done hit her. “You did this?”
“Yeah.”
Without thinking it through, she hugged him around the waist, briefly, but she couldn’t control it. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” She backed up and tucked her hands into her back jeans pockets. “I mean it. Thank you. You even fixed it up.”
“I had some time on my hands.”
“And you knew I was here, in Florida. Why not bring it to me?” The full impact of his thoughtfulness made her face feel hot. “Look, I’m sorry about what I accused you of earlier. I really am. I guess I have built up a bit of baggage that isn’t fair to take out on you. I’m sorry for…what I said.”
He walked up and frowned at her. “Never apologize for saying what I deserved. I did come on strong. I used some lines I’ve never used on even the most obvious party girl. I mean it. Say the truth, and if I’m not guilty as charged, I’ll let you know.”
She studied his face then bent her head to avoid staring at him for too long. “Okay.” But suddenly something else was clouding her mind. He’d done this. All this, for me. That has to mean something.
Chapter Thirteen
Sara practically bounced up and down next to Will. She’d raced around the car as if she had to see each inch of it. He was surprised she hadn’t opened the hood. “It’s like new!”
“It was pretty new.”
“It wasn’t. It was banged-up and smelled like old car. Now it smells new. It looks new. Are you sure it’s not new?”
He couldn’t help but grin at that. “I had it detailed, so shampooing the rugs does that. The engine is new, but that was because you’d broken a few fan belts and your tire bearings—”
Her smile stopped him.
“You don’t know a thing about cars, do you?” he asked.
“I get the oil changed. I think the tires were rotated recently. Here, you drive.” She tried to hand him the keys, but he didn’t unfold his hands he’d crossed over his chest.
“It’s your car.”
“I have this idea that you’re a backseat driver, and, well, I like other people’s driving better than my own.”
He laughed, again caught off guard by her and took the keys.
David had told him that Paris was so damn adorable he could watch her and the past melted away as if he’d woken from a bad dream.
That kind of romantic crap had made him shake his head. But now, with Sara, he understood David’s meaning exactly. Every time she did something or said something like that, he got a burst of happiness. Her innocent way of laughing at herself made all the hells he’d been in worth it because that road had lead him to her.
Romantic crap.
But true.
“All right. I guess I’m driving.”
“And I can check out my car, while you do.” She sounded so excited that he smiled back at her big grin. Danger was all around her, but at least he’d carved out a little happiness. Heaviness settled on his chest as soon as she was safe inside the car. The parking lot was off the main street but even through the spaces nearby had cars, no one was around. He plugged his com in and waited for the clicks to stop as he walked around the car.
“Any sign?”
“Nope.” Troy sounded as if he’d been waiting on the question. Another click and Carson entered the conversation.
“The men are claiming they were given a heavy brew of something around five o’clock. They couldn’t pick Potter out of the photos.”
“He wouldn’t be there himself,” Troy reminded them.
“He’s near though, watching somehow. Have you checked that no one is hijacked on our feed?” Will asked.
“Of course,” Jones pipped up. “No whisper of a piggy back. I’ve booby-trapped the hell out of this. If he’s watching, he’s got some skill we haven’t heard of, or else he’s got some kind of bug we can’t detect in the house.”
“Or he’s in a neighboring house,” Will put in when Jones paused.
“All the houses and occupants check out. They’ve lived there for far longer than Sara.”
Will frowned and scanned the garage as Jones went on, “The only house unoccupied is empty because the owner recently passed away. It’s five houses down, near the corner and wouldn’t have a clear view of Ms. Steven’s house.”
“All right. We’re heading back. Tomorrow’s Sunday. I hope to take the drive tomorrow to meet up with the team. But we might put that off a bit longer if we’re already getting a reaction.”
“Agreed.” Carson sighed then added, “Let’s hold our positions and hope you piss him off.”
“As long as that doesn’t force him into something drastic,” Troy warned.
Will considered that, but he’d already done his homework on Potter. “He won’t use a long-range weapon. He’s never shot a gun. He goes for other means to harm his victims. Personal, up close means.” And he wasn’t getting a chance with her.
“Agreed,” Carson muttered again. “We lay low and wait. Traps are only as good as your patience to see if they work. Keep her close. If we meet tomorrow, fine, if not, we plan for another day this week.”
“Right,” Will agreed. “I’m off. Contact me with any changes.”
“Got it.” Jones disconnected.
“Keep her close, son. As close as you can.” Carson ended his line, as well, leaving Will with a problem he wasn’t sure how to handle, except with honesty.
He opened the door and she was waiting, anxious again. He could tell by the nervous grip on her sweatshirt sleeves. She must’ve gone through a lot of the hoodies because she had the sleeves of this one already stretched. “All is still good. We have to move me into your room, but I’ll take the floor.”
“No, that’s okay, I mean—”
“I’m used to hard beds. The floor is fine. Don’t worry about it. In the desert the sand was harder than brick.” He started up the engine and smiled briefly at how good it sounded.
“Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t say it was okay if it wasn’t. Besides—” He backed the car out of the spot and glanced at her. “I don’t sleep much, so this way I won’t wake you.”
“I don’t sleep much, either.”
“I was hoping you’d rest easier with me near. See what happens tonight. A good night’s sleep might be good for you.”
“Oh, I’m sure it would be.” She gazed out of the window, much as she had in the SUV, and he wondered what she was thinking about. Most likely Potter.
“How about tomorrow we go meet the team? I think they might reassure you.”
“Jones, he seemed nice.”
“He’s solid. They all are.”
“You served with them?”
“No. Not these men, but you can tell if a man is professional or not.”
