Copy That
She looked over her shoulder, about to make a comment on his car choice being the same as Garrett’s except in color, when she saw a flash in the front-door window.
Jeremy took one look at her expression and his face went blank. He spun around and raced up the porch steps. He yanked the door open then slammed it shut just as fast.
Before she could blink, he shot back down the steps, his feet barely touching as he reached for her. His hands landed on her shoulders as he half pushed, half shoved her toward the street.
Her sneakers skidded across the sidewalk at the end of the small front yard before a surge of hot air swept underneath her body, sending it airborne. Her muscles went weightless as a clap of thunder exploded behind her.
As she flew, the air stopped as if sucked up into a vacuum, then rolled back out in a rush. Burning heat licked at her from every direction. Her skin itched, feeling all prickly and singed, but all she could see was the ground rushing up to meet her face.
She would have crashed headfirst into the street but Jeremy twisted, his arms coming around her, as his back knocked against the hard cement and she slammed into his chest. Their bodies bounced and her vision blurred, then focused long enough for her to see him grimace.
With his face right next to hers, she heard his sharp inhale over what sounded like a thundering drumroll. She struggled to sit up, but he dragged her back down, pulling her under him and covering every inch of her body with his. He probably outweighed her by a good seventy pounds, and the added heat from his skin nearly suffocated her.
She peeked through the small space between his arm and the ground and saw shoes and the tires of a car stopped in the middle of the street. When she swallowed, her ears popped and the muffled echoes gave way to screaming reality. She could hear sirens and talking and someone calling her name.
Jeremy lifted his body off hers and tugged on her shoulder until she flipped to her back. The burning smell hit her, like the scent of fireplaces during the few cold days of the year, but that couldn’t be right. It was summer.
“Meredith, open your eyes.”
The command came to her in a raspy voice and she obeyed without thinking. A man loomed over her, his face dark with soot and eyes filled with concern. It took her a second to put the pieces together. “Jeremy?”
He nodded. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.” She struggled to sit up.
He turned to talk to a group of people gathered around them. “Everybody step back.”
She could hear questions and bits of conversation all around her. And the crackling—it was as if someone was breaking bunches of twigs right next to her ear.
This time she grabbed on to Jeremy’s muscled arms and used him to help her crawl off the ground. He sat back on his heels, taking her with him to a sitting position.
Her heart sputtered to a stop as she sat on the sidewalk and watched the flames devour her house. The lower floor was nothing more than a mass of bright red and orange. Sparks rose into the air as the fire tore through the trees, walls, furniture—all gone.
Glass covered the grass. Upstairs, the only thing she recognized was the tattered remains of her once pretty off-white eyelet curtain blowing through the opening of what remained of her bedroom window.
“It’s just stuff,” he whispered, but his voice rose above the sirens, squealing tires and the older woman who stood in the street and wailed in horror about “the devil’s heat”…whatever that meant.
Through it all Meredith felt the heat of Jeremy’s stare and finally faced him. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?” He glanced down to where she had his shirt in a stranglehold.
“Sorry.” She forced her fingers to unclench.
“No problem.”
“Everything is gone.” She didn’t know she’d said the words out loud until Jeremy grunted. She looked at him again, watching him scan the crowd. Tension radiated off him as every muscle pulled taut. “Are you okay?”
“We need to get out of here.” He glanced at a point over her shoulder and gave a small nod.
“What are you—”
He stood, stopping about halfway up as his lips turned white and he swore.
“Jeremy.” Seeing him in pain, she jumped to her feet and slipped her shoulder under his arm to help him the rest of the way up. “You’re hurt.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said through clenched teeth, as he signaled to someone behind her. “At least we know what was probably in that mystery package.”
“A bomb.”
“I saw a guy hold up a cell phone, likely a secondary trigger, right before I bolted down the steps.”
Her mind rebelled. Rather than dealing with what he was saying, she shifted to nurse mode. “You need medical attention.”
“Later. We’re leaving.”
“Where are we going?” She struggled under his weight. “And please say ‘to the hospital.’”
“Somewhere safe.”
When the black SUV stopped in front of them and the back door opened, she wondered if his idea of safe looked anything like hers.
Chapter Three
The driver opened the door and slid out of his seat. Gravel crunched under his shoes as he walked the four steps to the sidewalk. The fire crackled around them and more people gathered as the wailing sirens drew closer.
The man lowered his sunglasses but gave the flames little more than a quick glance. His unblinking attention focused on Jeremy as his eyes narrowed. “Garrett?”
Through a haze of pain, radiating from his side and screaming through every cell, Jeremy conducted a visual check of his own. He detected two weapons under slight bulges and assumed there were at least twice as many hidden beneath the other man’s out-of-place black jacket and dark jeans.
The combination of the heat, fire and heavy clothing would melt most guys in a matter of seconds. Not this one. Not a drop of sweat on him. The cool cockiness almost convinced Jeremy without verification that this was one of Garrett’s men. Almost.
“I’m his brother.” Jeremy left his badge in his back pocket, since his face made his connection to Garrett clear. “You?”
“We need to leave.”
“No way am I getting in that car,” Meredith whispered under her breath as she inched her way to Jeremy’s far side.
He understood. Smart women stayed on constant guard. They didn’t trust men they didn’t know and they certainly didn’t get into cars with two strangers. He appreciated the fear, even admired her smarts, but she still didn’t have a choice. Until he knew what was going on and who had launched the attack, he planned to stay close.
First, he had to confirm the identity of their driver. Danger pulsed all around them without adding more.
“Westfield 78.” The man said the prearranged security code.
The tension strangling Jeremy’s shoulders eased. “Durham 72.”
“Excuse me?” She looked from one man to the other. “Are we just saying random words?”
Jeremy fought off a smile for the first time since this whole mess started. “An old high-school basketball score.”
Her eyes bulged. “Is now the time for that?”
The man nodded. “Joel Kidd.”
Jeremy knew the name. Garrett never talked about his operations, only the team he’d handpicked and admired. His success depended on being surrounded by loyal men who could fight, then blend into their surroundings for a quick getaway.
Joel glanced in the direction where the house had once stood. “Tell me Garrett’s not in there.”
“He isn’t.” Jeremy inhaled long and deep in an effort to bring his heartbeat out of thumping range and focus his thoughts.
“Hostiles?”
“Two in the house. One definitely went out in a ball of fire because he was unconscious. Unconfirmed on the other. Could be more on the scene.”
A fire truck raced around the end of the block and headed right for them. As it sped up, Joel’s detachment faded. “Authorities are here, which means questions. We need to leave.”
Meredith frowned. “If by ‘authorities’ you mean police, then no. They’re the good guys.” When neither man said anything, Meredith’s frown deepened. “Right?”
Joel opened the back door. “Get in.”
Meredith pivoted, her body facing away from him as if ready for flight. “Not to sound like I have trust issues, but no.”
“You know me.” Jeremy waved Joel off when his hand shifted to his hip. Jeremy knew what that meant. “It’s safe.”
One nod or an eyebrow lift and Joel would render her unconscious. Jeremy preferred to have her permission for this trip. It would make whatever came next much easier if she trusted him. He also hated the idea of taking a woman out even if it qualified as the safest way of extracting a potential victim.
“I know your brother, not you. And it would appear I barely know him.” She sneaked her third peek at the police car stopping a house away.
“Same thing.”
“Not quite.”
Joel shoved his glasses back on his nose and dropped his hands to his sides. “I can put her in the car.”
She whipped around to face him. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing good.” Which was why Jeremy refused to use that option.
She inched her feet back, edging closer to the people gathered behind them. “You’re not making me feel more confident.”
“Until I know what’s happening here, I want you protected,” Jeremy said as he continued to scan the area for easy exits and potential threats.
She nodded. “The police are right over—”
“Protected by me. Garrett would kill me if I did otherwise.” Jeremy put his hand on her elbow before she could bolt. He pulled her toward the car in a tug he hoped appeared to bystanders as more concerned and loving than covert. “And we need to go now.”
She shifted her weight to her heels and skidded to a stop. “Are you running from the police or something?”
“I’m a different kind of law enforcement. Border Patrol. And I’m trying to get us out of here before the guy who set off the explosion finds us.”
Her body went limp at that. “You think the guy from the front door is still alive?”
“I’m not willing to wait around and find out.” Jeremy took advantage of her momentary shock and crowded her against the side of the car.
His body blocked her view of the house and, more importantly, the police’s view of her. Using his weight and height advantage, he pressed against her until she lifted her leg and slipped onto the seat.
Joel’s mouth kicked up. “Nice move.” He jumped into the driver’s seat.
Without Joel’s shoulders blocking the view, Jeremy saw the other end of the street. Spied the man standing behind a trio of neighborhood wives who were still holding a bottle of wine and glasses as they hovered in a yard three houses down. It was the same man who’d triggered the blaze.
The roar of the car engine as it turned over bolted Jeremy into action. “Hold up.”
“I never agreed…” She followed Jeremy’s gaze, peeking over the seat in front of her. “What’s wrong with you? What do you see?”
“The bomber.” Jeremy already had the door open and his feet on the ground.
She grabbed his sleeve. She weighed all of 130 pounds and she trapped his elbow in a deadlock. “Don’t you dare leave this car.”
“He’s headed between two houses near the end of the street.”
“And you are not leaving me alone—” her gaze flicked to the back of Joel’s head “—here.”
Joel eyed her in the rearview mirror. “I won’t hurt you.”
The churning in Jeremy’s gut revved up when the bomber ducked behind the house.
This time she dug her fingernails into his arm. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen enough woman-abducted-and-left-in-pieces-in-a-box television specials not to take your word for it.”
Jeremy knew he could rip his arm out of her grasp, but he didn’t want to hurt her. Didn’t want to lose his one lead either. “Not sure what to say to that, but—”
Her second hand joined the first and she started tugging him back into the car as he looked around. “No.”
One of the policemen herding the crowds onto the sidewalk picked that moment to look up. His gaze zeroed in on the SUV and Jeremy knew his time for an explosive run had passed. Scram now and he’d have the police following.
Jeremy ground his teeth together. “The guy is getting away.”
“You’re the one who insisted on dragging me along with you, so now you’re stuck.”
Joel barked out a laugh. “Guess she told you.”
Jeremy took one last look at the policeman. He waved off the woman talking to him and reached for the radio on his shoulder. Jeremy knew the drill. The officer would run Joel’s license plates. Then who knew what would happen.
“This car yours?” Jeremy asked as he closed the door again and leaned back in his seat. He winced over the ripping sensation in his side but pushed the pain out of his mind.
“It’s registered to a company.”
“A real one?”
“On paper only.”
Meredith surrendered the death grip on his arm but didn’t let go. “That’s comforting.”
Despite his fury over losing his prey, Jeremy agreed with her sarcasm. “Drive around the corner and I’ll see if I can find our guy on the next block.”
“You’re still not leaving this car.” She mumbled the comment as she stared at his profile.
Jeremy tried to remember the last time he’d let a woman’s begging derail a chase. Then it hit him…never.
ELLIS MARTIN SMOOTHED his fingers over his mustache. He’d had the thing for almost thirty years, since he graduated from college. The small action soothed him. In this case, it kept him from exploding all over his new and supposedly brilliant assistant.
His throat ached with the need to scream, but Ellis fought back the rage. “I’ve run out of patience.”
“I understand, sir. But—”
“Stop there.” All the impressive grades in his Ivy League education hadn’t taught Andrew Hare the common-sense business principle of knowing when to shut up and listen. Ellis decided the younger man had better learn quickly or he’d have one of the shortest tenures in the Defense Intelligence Agency ever—four days.
Counterintelligence demanded a steep learning curve, and so far Andrew had spent most of his time repeating instructions. Book smart, maybe. Capable of reading reactions and completing difficult tasks? Not so far.
“Excuse me, sir?”
And he said excuse me far too often. “Hill has been out of contact and running for a week now. I’ve had enough. You bring Hill back here, now. In pieces if you have to.”
“We have a problem.”
“That’s not a sentence I want to hear.” Ellis leaned back in his big leather chair. He wrapped his fingers around the arms to fight off the urge to strangle Andrew. Human Resources hated that sort of thing.
“I know, but—”
His nails dug a little deeper. “I want results, not excuses.”
“Our man just got to the scene. He says the place is on fire.”
“What?”
“Witnesses said they heard a loud bang. An explosion. The windows blew out and the fire raced out of control almost immediately.” Andrew talked so fast the sentences ran into each other.
Ellis glanced over his shoulder. If his office had a window, if any of the offices on this floor had one, it would be right behind him. Instead, this part of the suite consisted of interior rooms. No one could look in, and thanks to a list of security procedures, no information got out. Or that was the theory.
“It was a gas leak.” He’d said the response enough times for it to become automatic. The cover worked well enough for him to have the appropriate form in his desk and an electric-company official on speed dial.
“How can you know that?” Andrew asked.
Ellis wondered if the idea of on-the-job training was such a good idea after all. From now on he’d insist on hiring the guy with street smarts and a B average over the one with the shiny résumé that appealed to a hiring committee worried about recruiting the best on-paper students available.
“Within a week we will discover the cause. It will be a gas leak. I can guarantee it.”
“I see.”
Ellis seriously doubted that. “Where’s Hill now?”
“Gone.”
With the news of the explosion, Ellis had started analyzing his options, but all of that slammed to a halt with this latest development. Every breath of air sucked out of the room until the dark-paneled room closed in like a prison cell. “Hill went up with the house?”
“I don’t…”
Ellis stood up, every muscle in his body snapping to life. “Either say what you need to say right now or I’ll transfer you to a field office in Alaska and find someone else to do your job.”
Andrew cleared his throat. When he spoke again, gone was the nervous newbie who shook enough to rattle his teeth when he talked. This time his voice rang clear and deep as his shoulders pulled tight into military attention. “Our guy on the ground is hearing reports about Hill getting away.”
“How?”
“In a car. He had help.”
“Who?”
“Unclear at the moment.” Andrew gave his report and checked his notes, suddenly acting like a seasoned pro. “Someone who drives a car registered to Foxtrot Enterprises.”
Ellis didn’t need to look up the name. Hill had created the corporate entity as part of his cover. Ellis paid the monthly lease on the car every month from the budget for Hill’s team.
“So, inside help.” An internal debate waged in Ellis as to whether that was a good or bad thing. Garrett alone was lethal. Operating with his dedicated team made him unstoppable.
“It would appear so, sir.”
“Keep in mind nothing is ever as it appears with Garrett Hill. We trained him to defy expectations, so confirm every detail before you take it as gospel.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
“You have an hour.”
Chapter Four
When the car eased around the corner and slowed to a stop, Meredith thought she’d gone to sleep and woken up in the middle of a strange action movie. She leaned forward, balancing her elbows on her knees. Her hands shook as she examined the cuts and scrapes on her palms.
Real people went to the hospital after being thrown by an explosion and nearly turned into a piece of burned toast. Real people did not chase after bad guys. Real people ran to the police and screamed for help.
Real life sure didn’t include finding out about a previously unknown twin brother or hanging out with men who carried guns. Not her life. Not anymore. She’d left violence behind in favor of stability. She didn’t run from the law.
She glanced over and saw the gun in Jeremy’s hand. Heard him tap his foot against the floor as his knee bounced to the steady rhythm only he could hear. “Who are you?”
His focus never wavered. He stared out the window. “Jeremy Hill.”
“You know what I mean.”
His gaze locked on her, all his intensity boring into her, and the next words she intended to say jammed in her throat.
“I’m going to protect you.”
The promises men made. “I’ve heard that before.”
At nineteen she’d heard and believed them. Vows of love and fidelity, talk of being together forever. But between the sweet touches and mind-blowing kisses he’d drop a line about her weight. About her friends being loud or dumb. About her leaving school and following him back to the Midwest because she wouldn’t need a job once they settled in their house.
She justified his behavior and made excuses for the way he isolated her. The latter made her nuts. She sneaked out to meet friends for coffee and ignored their concerned stares and dropped comments about male friends they knew who would love her. She pretended she didn’t hear the whispers as she walked away and fell deeper into his cocoon of supposed protection.
Just thinking about those days made her stomach tumble until she thought it would roll right out of her and land on the floor. The familiar fear rushed back and momentarily panicked her. The bile in her throat and trembling in her muscles—it all played like a broken record of a song she’d rather forget.
Clint had stolen something from her and she’d been fighting her entire adult life to get it back. Dignity. Selfrespect.
The safety classes and hours logged at the shooting range helped. But now, sitting in a car with men she didn’t know, all those old insecurities rushed over her. She fought off waves of debilitating self-bashing and reached for that inner balance she’d vowed never to lose again.
Jeremy’s eyes narrowed. “What does that cryptic comment mean?”
“I don’t need a man to take care of me.”
“This isn’t a liberation issue or some sort of battle of the sexes.”
“Really? Feels like it.”
“No one appreciates a strong woman more than I do. I saw you kick and fight and go after that intruder. You’re a survivor and there’s nothing more attractive to me than that.”
Joel cleared his throat. “Uh, Jeremy? Maybe we should focus.”
Jeremy talked over him. The rise in his voice’s volume was the only nod to the fact that Joel had made any noise. “But, like it or not, we have to be realistic about men’s physical advantages. Weight and strength all matter. I’m not saying you can’t win, but it’s not easy.”
She didn’t want size to play a role, but she was smart enough to know it did. Her self-defense instructor made that clear. He also gave some hints on how to even the battle.
“I’m quite familiar with men who lead with fists,” she said.
Jeremy’s gaze wandered over her face. It felt as if an hour passed before he spoke again, though it was probably more like seconds. “I don’t want the guy hunting for Garrett to target you. He’ll have a gun—”
“I can shoot.”
Jeremy’s head snapped back as if he hadn’t expected that answer. He glanced at Joel in the mirror then back to her. “Practicing on a target or cans of whatever and actually aiming at a person are different things.”
She knew that all too well, but she had no intention of sharing that information. “And?”
“I’ll shoot without blinking.”
“People will look for me. I have friends and neighbors. People are going to ask questions.”
At least, she hoped that was true. She hadn’t lived in Coronado long. She spent her time reading in the park and dreaded any invitation to hang out in a bar with coworkers looking for men. The whole “get drunk and find some random guy to sleep with” thing left her feeling hollow. She wasn’t a prude but the bar scene, complete with all the stupid games and fake attraction stunts, had never appealed to her.
Joel stretched his arm along the back of the seat. “She’s right. Her absence will cause questions.”
“I’m only asking for a few hours.” Jeremy’s jaw tightened to the point of cracking with each word. “You can trust me that long.”
“Not if you’re running around shooting at people.”
“Last time I pulled a weapon I stopped a guy from touching you.”
The memories of the horrible morning bombarded her. The headache kicked in a second later. “True.”
“Sorry.” He exhaled as he put his hand on her knee. “Look, someone tried to kill my brother, to kill you. I need to know who and why so I can protect you both. And time is slipping away. The guy has a huge head start. It may already be too late to find a trail.”
“Good.” The answer worked for both his comment and for the warmth spiraling through her body at the touch of his palm against her bare skin.
“I’ll be careful, but I do need to do this.” He gave her leg a quick squeeze then tapped on the back of Joel’s seat. “Stay here.”
She was no longer panicked about her safety. Now she was ticked off. Being dragged around without any explanation did that to a woman.
“Absolutely not,” she said in her best teacher voice.
The locks clicked right before Joel turned around. “For the record, I agree with the lady.”
“My name is Meredith.”
“Meredith.” He smiled at her before his mouth flat-lined and his attention returned to Jeremy. “How does this play out? There are cops everywhere. We have a civilian in the car.”