Too bad.
He pressed his lips in a tight line. Very well. What does Sigurd mean?
Nothing. She motioned with the gun. I need to leave. Youre standing in front of my car.
What does Sigurd mean? he repeated.
Before she could answer, something hit her windshield with a loud crack, spider-webbing the glass.
Get down! she shouted to Rick.
She heard a soft thud and a low groan.
Rick?
Scrabbling sounds came from the other side of the car, moving toward her. She wheeled and aimed the Smith & Wesson at the sound. Rick ducked around the front of the car, tumbling forward onto his hands and knees at the sight of the gun. May I please hide behind your car? he gritted between his teeth.
She made room for him. Are you hit?
Grazed my arm, I think. Sigurd, I presume?
Sigurds a warning, not a person. She risked a quick peek over the hood of her car. She saw a flash of black move between the pines in her front yard. Theres someone in the front yard. Dressed in black.
Rick crouched beside her, looking through the car windows. He took a hissing intake of breath as a black-clad figure slipped one tree nearer.
Is there a way out of here?
We can escape into the woods, but Im guessing whoevers out there isnt alone.
Im not so sure. Rick told her about a stranger hed spotted at the gas station. He was definitely alone, and Im pretty sure the man in black out there is the same guy.
How can you tell? Hes wearing a ski mask.
Same body build, same clothes. If you spot a Toyota Land Cruiser nearby
Amanda peered over the hood of the car. The man in black was on the move again, slipping out into open. For the hell of it, Amanda fired off a couple of quick shots in his general direction, the gunfire echoing in the surrounding woods.
Dont waste the ammo, Rick warned. Well need it.
What we really need is a vehicle. We cant hike out of these woods. She looked at Rick, her heart giving a small leap as she realized his face was only inches away.
For a moment, the rest of the world seemed to disappear, and she was back in Tablis, her body tangled with his, hot and straining for moremore pleasure, more closeness, more communion. But the crackle of footsteps on the dry leaves in her yard dragged her back to the present, a sobering reminder that there were damned good reasons not to let herself get wrapped up in anyone again.
Let me lead him away, Rick suggested. You can take the car and get out of here.
And leave you to die? She shook her head. No way in hell. I dont leave a man behind.
He gave her a quizzical look, and she dropped her gaze, hiding the chaos of emotion churning in her chest. He probably had no idea what had happened to her the day after they ended their affair. The CIA never publicized its casualties.
We cant wait here for him to reach us.
In my kitchen is a duffel bag. I packed it to run. Im going around the back and out into the woods. Ill lure him away from here. Wheres your car?
Parked down the road.
He may have seen itand if he disabled it
I hid it off the road. Didnt want it stolen.
Take the duffel. Go to your car and drive a mile east. Ill meet you if I make it.
There was a pained look in his eyes as his gaze met hers. No ifs, he said fiercely. You make it or else.
She fought against a sudden flood of weakness. Where had he been when she was rotting in a Kaziri rebel prison, wondering if anyone remembered her at all?
Youre the one who started pushing him away.
But he was the one whod spoken the final words.
Wait for me to draw his fire away from here, then go inside. Theres a first-aid kit in the duffel, but I dont think youll have time to waste.
He moved suddenly, cupping the back of her neck and pulling her to him. If you can kill him, do. He kissed her forehead.
Swallowing hard, she scooted backward, losing cover for just a moment. No gunfire came her way, to her relief. She must have caught the attacker changing positions.
She edged her way around the side of the house, straining for any sound ahead. Her house butted up to a bluff, offering little room to maneuver. But if she could get around to the other side of the house, the woods spread for almost three miles to the east. She knew Bridal Veil Woods like the back of her hand. If she could get a head start into the cover of the trees, she could outmaneuver the gunman and get away.
Or get the drop on him.
RICKS ARM WAS HURTING like a son of a bitch, but the wound was superficial, a bloody graze on his upper left arm that would require some first aid once he had a chance to breathe again but wasnt likely to cause him any real problems. He found the duffel bag in the kitchen, lying on the floor where shed left it, probably when he knocked on her door unexpectedly.
He wasnt sure why TaraAmandawas hiding out in the middle of Nowhere, Tennessee, but something had gone terribly wrong since the last time hed seen her. Hed seen it in her haunted blue eyes.
What had the CIA done to her?
He hauled the duffel bag over one shoulder and headed to the back door, waiting for the bark of her Smith & Wesson to the east, his signal to make a run for it.
When the gunfire came, it was a pair of shots. One impossibly close, the other from the woods to the right of the house.
Then silence.
Rick froze in place, not sure what to do next. After a beat, he heard footfalls on the front porch, slow but steady.
He leveled his Walther at the door, his heart pounding a familiar, rapid-fire cadence. Hed been away from war zones a year now, but some things a man never forgot.
Rick, its me. Amandas voice came through the thin wooden door. Im unlocking the door and coming in. Please dont shoot me.
He kept the Walther steady, aware she could be speaking at the point of a gun.
There was a rattle of the doorknob, the slide of a key into the lock and the scrape of the dead bolt disengaging. The door swung open and Amanda entered alone, looking pale and jittery. I shot him. Hes dead, she said. I need you to see if hes the man you remember from the gas station.
He laid a comforting hand on her arm when he reached her side. Her muscles twitched at his touch, as if she was ready to bolt at any second. Probably wasit was hard to control the physiological instinct for fight or flight, even if you were a highly trained intelligence officer.
The body of the shooter lay on the grass in front of her yard, blood still oozing from a chest shot. Good aim, he murmured, circling the body to get a look at the mans face.
What he saw there came as a complete surprise.
Its not the guy from the Land Cruiser, he said aloud, his voice tight and strained.
But you recognize him? she asked.
He nodded. His name is Delman Riggs. He looked up at her, his heart in his throat. He used to work for MacLear.
Chapter Three
We have to move his body. Amanda kept her voice low and calm, even though an endless shriek of terror played in a constant loop in her mind, echoing the memories that would never leave her as long as she lived.
But she had to focus on what needed to be done now. She could fall apart later, when she was finally alone again.
Ricks eyes narrowed. Move his body where?
I dont care, she said. It doesnt matter. We have about five minutes before the police get here. My neighbors will call in the gunfire. Weve got to move now.
Why dont we stick around and talk to the cops. Rick spoke to her in a careful voice, as if he realized how close she was to snapping. Well tell them what happened. I have the wound to prove we were under fire.
She stared at him. The Thurlow Gap cops arent cut out for a mess like this. Do you honestly think this will be the only attempt on my life? She checked the Smith & Wessons clip to make sure shed fired only four shots in the chaos. God knew how many more rounds she might need before this nightmare was over. Were wasting time talking about this.
Rick stared at her. She saw the moment he realized she was right, that they couldnt stay here and wait for the cops. But it was clear from his expression that he didnt want to bug out. He wanted to handle this mess the normal waycall the cops, make a report, then forget about it and go on with life.
Good for him. She was glad hed found his own little dose of normal in the world.
But she never would.
Sliding the pistol into the waistband of her jeans, she headed up the porch steps. If you want to talk to the locals, fine. Stay here and chat it out with them. I have to go. She went into the house, picked up the duffel bag Rick had left just inside and carried it out to the porch.
How are you getting out of here? You think they wont put out an APB for your car? Rick asked from the bottom of the steps as she descended.
Ill walk. She slung the heavy duffel bag over her shoulder, looping her arm through the canvas strap.
And get picked up before you reach the next county. Rick shook his head, falling in step with her as she headed toward the woods. Ill drive you wherever you want to go.
She stopped at the edge of the clearing, taking a good look at him. The past three years had been kinder to him than her. Hed always been good-looking, but the intervening years had added lines of maturity to his face that suited him. His dark eyes looked older, too. Wiser, maybe. A lot more jaded.
She could sympathize with that.
I dont know where I want to go, she admitted. I just want to get out of here before the people around here end up getting hurt. They dont deserve this kind of mess. And Im not ready to offer myself up as a sacrificial lamb.
Theres going to be a mess, no matter what we do, Rick warned. If you disappear, no warning, no goodbyes, and the cops come here and find bullet holes riddling your carport
All right! Youre right. Theres going to be a mess. A manic energy bubbled in her chest, driving her relentlessly toward desperation. So lets make it a big mess.
Reversing course, she jogged around to the back of the cabin, where she kept the gasoline generator that had gotten her through one frigid winter when the mountain snowfall had knocked out her electricity. Next to the generator stood the weatherproof bin where she kept a five-gallon container of gasoline. Shed just stocked up a couple of days earlier, in anticipation of next weeks promised thunderstorms.
She didnt like to be stuck in the dark. Not anymore.
Rick caught up with her. What are you doing?
Amanda pulled the gas can from the bin and pulled off the cap. The pungent odor of gasoline fumes wafted around her, fueling her sense that shed reached a point of no return. She met Ricks troubled gaze, her lips curving in a ghost of a smile. Remember Choqori?
His eyes widened. Youre not going to
Burn it to the ground? A ripple of laughter escaped her throat. It sounded like madness. Oh, yes. Yes, I am.
WITHIN TEN MINUTES, theyd made it through the woods undetected and headed out of Thurlow Gap, driving south, leaving behind one hell of a bonfire. Theyd already heard sirens heading for Amandas property, which meant the fire would be put out sooner or later. And, eventually, people would probably be seeking Amanda for questioning about the charred body inside.
But they could worry about that problem another day, Rick thought as he tore off a piece of his shredded shirtsleeve to get a better look at the bloody groove in his upper arm. He grimaced at the sight of the torn and friction-burned skin.
Its not as bad as it looks, Amanda said from her position behind the steering wheel. She was keeping to the speed limitnot too fast, not too slowalthough Rick could see a frenetic glow in her smoky-blue eyes that suggested it was taking all of her willpower to keep from gunning the Charger up the highway.
I need to clean it out before infection sets in. There were pieces of singed shirt and probably pieces of bullet shrapnel embedded in the groove of flesh, rendering the wound a fertile environment for bacteria.
As soon as you drop me off in Chattanooga, you can go find a doctor.
He shot her a look. Drop her off? Did she really think that was going to happen? Doctors have to report gunshot wounds. You know that.
She shrugged. Tell him you gouged it on a nail.
Theres not a nail in the world big enough to make this kind of wound.
Then tell him it was a railroad spike.
He clenched his jaw, pain from the gunshot wound exacerbating his growing frustration. How about this instead? We find somewhere outside Chattanooga to hunker down for the night, and you help me bandage up the gunshot wound I got trying to help you while we figure out what to do next.
She slowed the Charger as they came up to a traffic light, taking advantage of the wait to look at him. The fiery determination evident in the set of her square jaw was so familiar it made his chest ache. She had always been the most stubborn creature hed ever known.
Theres no we, Rick. You never should have come here. Were going to pretend that you didnt.
You were always better at pretending than I was.
The look she gave him held a hint of hurt. Just a hint, as if the life shed lived since theyd last said goodbye had mostly cauterized whatever wound had remained from their breakup.
He wished hed been able to rid himself of the painful memories as efficiently as she had. She still haunted him, usually deep in the night when he was alone and pondering the mess his life had become since that day when he walked away from her for what he thought would be forever.
Its one night, Tara
Amanda, she said sharply. Tara Bradys dead. Shes not coming back.
He clamped his mouth shut, then started again. Amanda. Just one night.
I never did tell you my real name, did I?
He shook his head.
I guess it wont hurt now. It was Audrey. Audrey Scott.
From somewhere in south Mississippi, he murmured.
She slanted another look at him. What makes you think that, hotshot?
In Kaziristan, you had your accent almost completely contained, he said, pleased that hed managed to surprise her. But youve been living in Tennessee for a while now, surrounded by people who talk a lot like the people from where you grew up. Your accent has come out to play again.