A Baby Before Dawn (11 page)

It was all happening too fast. Lily stared at him, not liking any of what he’d said. “I don’t want to go to a hotel. I want to go home.”

“If you want to keep your child safe, you don’t have a choice.”

It was the one point he could make that would convince her, and he knew it. While she couldn’t dispute that he was right, she didn’t like being manipulated. She didn’t like being backed into a corner with no alternative.

“Chase, damn it, I want my life back. My job. My apartment. My friends.”
I want you,
a traitorous voice added, but Lily dared not vocalize it.

“I know. I want those things for you, too. God knows you deserve them.” He smiled, but it was brittle and maybe a little sad. “This is one of those times when we don’t get what we want.”

“What if they catch the men responsible?”

“Then you get your old life back.” He shrugged. “Things go back to the way they were.”

That was what Lily had told herself she wanted throughout the entire ordeal. All she wanted was her old life back: her job at the hospital; her comfortable little apartment; a life where everything was neat and orderly and safe.

Then why did she feel as if her heart were being forcibly ripped from her body?

“What about you?” she asked after a moment.

He gave her a halfhearted smile. “I go back to doing what I do best.”

“And what is that?”

“Keeping the bad guys away.” One side of his mouth lifted into a smile that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. “Driving the limo.”

Lily wanted to tell him that wasn’t necessarily what he might be best at, but she didn’t. Sad as it was, neither of them would ever know what kind of husband and father he would be. The thought broke her heart.

“All right,” Chase interjected into her thoughts, “let’s pack up and get out of here.”

As Lily stepped into her clothes, she told herself things were better this way. It was the clean break she’d been looking for all along.

But the rationalization didn’t explain why she felt as if the world as she knew it had just come to an end.

Chase made the call while Lily dressed in the bathroom. The cell phone was dead, but since they were about to leave, he took a chance and dialed Ben Parker’s number from the cottage’s phone. He needed to know if Ben had been in contact with Shane or if he’d gotten any information on Liam Shea’s sons.

Ben answered on the first ring.

“This isn’t a secure line,” Chase announced without preamble. “What did you find on Shea?”

“We’re still digging,” Ben replied, “but so far we know that after the court-martial his wife, Margaret, divorced him and changed her name to Sullivan, her maiden name. Two of his sons, Colin and Aidan, moved to Washington State after their father went to prison. The third son is Finn. We don’t know where he lives yet.”

Chase wished for a laptop so Ben could send him photos. He had, after all, gotten a good look at the man who’d ambushed him back at Hancock Tower. In his gut he knew it was one of Liam’s sons. If he could match the face to a photo, they might get the confirmation they were looking for.

Ben continued. “I pulled up federal records, and it looks like his sons kept in very close contact with Liam the entire time he was in prison. Lots of visits.”

“Where’s Liam now?”

“We sent an agent out there, but…Chase, he’s nowhere to be found. Neither are the sons.”

“I’ll bet the farm they’re behind this, Ben. Probably taking orders from their father.”

“How do you know that?”

Chase reminded him of the foiled hostage rescue mission a decade earlier. “Liam was dishonorably discharged and court-martialed for disobeying a direct order. But he swore he was innocent. He swore one of the other men involved in the rescue mission framed him.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. But Shea vowed revenge and he was dead serious about it.”

“That kind of hatred would explain the lengths he went to in planning simultaneous ambushes. Maybe he’s even responsible for the blackout.”

“And Davis’s kidnapping. He was involved in the failed rescue mission, too.”

“I wasn’t privy to all the details. That gives me more to work with. Now that I have more information to go on, let me do some more digging and see what I can come up with.” Ben paused. “Are you still heading to Shane’s?”

“Lily and I are en route now.”

“Be careful, man.”

Chase disconnected to find Lily standing just a few feet away, watching him. “Who was that?” she asked.

“Ben Parker. He’s checking into my theory that Liam Shea is behind this.”

“Can Ben arrest him?”

Chase approached her but stopped with two feet to spare. He didn’t want to get too close. For the first time in his life, he didn’t trust his judgment or his willpower.

Images of every intimacy they’d shared flashed in his mind’s eye. Lily lying beneath him, her head thrown back in ecstasy, her hair spread out on the pillow like yards of red silk. He could still remember the way she breathed. The way she’d tasted. The heady scent of her skin filling his senses. The way her flesh had molded beneath his hands.

The urge to touch her was powerful, but Chase resisted. He couldn’t risk making another mistake and drawing this out. One time was going to have to be enough.

“The less you’re involved in this, the better off you’ll be,” he said.

“I’m already involved. I don’t like being left in the dark.”

Chase studied her face, soaking in her beauty, her kindness, the goodness in her heart. “We have to go.”

She reached out and grasped his arm before he could turn away. “Don’t lock me out of this.”

Angry with her for pressing him when he’d asked her not to, angry with himself for bringing such ugliness into her life, he shook off her touch. “No.”

Hurt flashed across her features, but he steeled himself against it. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. But life was full of pain, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. At the moment he needed distance. Pushing her away was the only way he knew how to get it. For now his number one priority was to get her to a safe place. Once he did that, he’d walk away and never look back.

L
ILY STARED
through the passenger window, watching the rain slide down the glass. Rolling farmland, miles of white rail fencing and the occasional farmhouse zipped by, but she barely noticed the pretty countryside. She couldn’t stop thinking about Chase and the magic they’d shared.

And about the cold glint in his eyes back at the cottage.

They hadn’t spoken since they’d climbed into the car and headed north on Route 93 toward Shane’s house fifteen minutes earlier. She told herself she didn’t need him. Going it alone had been the plan all along. She was independent with a nice apartment and a career she loved. Not to mention a baby on the way. But deep inside, Lily acknowledged that she was lying to herself. No matter how much she wanted to believe it, her life would never be complete without Chase.

The terrible truth was that she still loved him. If she wanted to be perfectly honest with herself, she’d never stopped loving him. But Lily didn’t want to be honest. Not when it was so much easier, so much less painful, to lie.

Damn him for doing this to her.

Damn her for letting him.

Leaning against the seat back, she shifted and tried to get comfortable, but couldn’t. Her lower back ached. Her hips ached. She tried reclining her seat back so she could stretch out a bit, but it didn’t help.

After several minutes of her fidgeting, Chase looked over, concern darkening his eyes. “Are you all right?”

“I just want this to be over,” she snapped.

He glanced away from his driving to study her, but she looked away. She couldn’t look at him without remembering what it was like to be held in his arms. She couldn’t remember without wanting it to happen again. The reality that after today she would never see him again hurt more than she ever could have imagined.

She reminded herself that she had no future with Chase. She and her child would be safer and happier without him. But while her brain was telling her all the things she needed to hear, her heart begged to differ.

All the while, the pain in her lower back nagged at her with increasing fervor, setting her nerves on edge.

“We’ve got company.” Chase’s focus went to the rearview mirror, and he made a sound of disbelief. “They’re not slowing down.” He hit the gas. “Hang on!”

Lily was in the process of turning to look out the rear window when a crash sounded and the car jolted violently. At first she thought they’d hit something or had a blowout. Then she caught a glimpse of a vehicle behind them and realized they’d been rammed. “They’re trying to run us off the road!”

“Or kill us,” he said tightly.

The car jolted again and went into a skid. Gripping the seat, Lily glanced over at Chase. He fought the wheel for control.

“How did they find us?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Chase cursed and shook his head. “I don’t want to believe it, but Ben Parker was the only person who knew where we were.”

“I thought he was—”

“So did I,” he interjected.

Lily turned in the seat to see the chrome bumper and grill of a large SUV loom closer. “They’re right behind us!”

The vehicle struck them again, hard enough to send the Toyota into a skid. Chase struggled with the wheel, but the car seemed to have a mind of its own. It crossed the yellow line, but within seconds he brought the vehicle back under control.

“Can we call someone for help? The police?” she shouted.

He didn’t look away from his driving. “Battery’s dead.”

Like us,
she thought and shuddered.

Another wave of horror ripped through her when the big SUV pulled up beside them. Lily caught a glimpse of the bumper and a shiny red fender. The silhouette of a driver and passenger behind tinted windows. An instant later, the vehicle swerved and crashed into them on the rear driver’s side.

“Hold on!”

The vehicles clashed like two giant beasts locked in battle. Steel screeched against steel, mechanical screams that grated like fingernails on chalk. The Toyota shuddered and swerved, but Chase managed to maintain control.

“Can you outrun them?” Lily cried.

“Not in this thing. Whatever they’ve got is souped up.”

She glanced over, saw sweat slick and shiny on his forehead. “What do we do?”

The SUV gave him no time to answer. The big vehicle slammed into them again. This time Chase was ready. He jerked the wheel hard, used the weight of the Toyota to hold his ground. The SUV backed off, falling in place behind them. But Lily knew it wouldn’t last.

Turning in her seat, she saw the truck’s bumper loom as the vehicle sped up and rammed them from behind. Lily tried to shout a warning, but she was too late. The Toyota fishtailed. Rubber barked against asphalt. Chase cut the wheel, but the vehicle went into a skid.

“Hang on!” he shouted.

The car spun sickeningly. Lily saw trees and a white fence flash by. Gravel and tufts of grass spewed high into the air as the car slid sideways over the highway shoulder into a ditch. A cry tore from her lips when the seat belt jerked painfully against her belly. Leaning forward, she put her hands over her belly in an effort to protect her child.

Finally the vehicle came to a stop. The next thing Lily knew, Chase was outside the car, yanking the door open.

“Are you all right?” he asked, unfastening her seat belt.

“I think so.” She tried to get out, but a cramp shot through her belly like a hot dagger. Choking back a groan, Lily closed her eyes and fell back against the seat. “Oh, God.”

“Is it the baby?”

“I’m hoping it’s just a Braxton Hicks.”

He looked blankly at her, but she knew there was no time to explain. He scanned the surrounding area for the SUV, but it was nowhere in sight.

“We’re sitting ducks here.” He yanked the pistol from his waistband. Somewhere in the distance, Lily heard an engine rev. And she knew the men in the SUV were not yet finished with them.

Chase knelt, his hand going to hers. “I need you to get out, honey. Right now, because they’re coming back. Can you do that?”

The cramp had passed for the most part, but Lily felt another one waiting at the gate. Still, she nodded her head in acquiescence. Pain edged from her back to her abdomen as she slid from the car and straightened.

“Good girl.” He guided her to the other side of the drainage ditch toward a copse of trees. “This way.”

She ground her teeth and put one foot in front of the other. “Where are we going?”

He stopped and motioned. “See that big red barn over there? I want you to run to it as fast as you can. Don’t look back. Just run. Can you do that?’

Lily nodded, but she didn’t know how fast she could run when the cramping in her abdomen came with increasing ferocity. Worse, she didn’t want to leave Chase. “What about you?”

“I’m going to put a stop to this once and for all.” Giving her a final look, he set his hands on her shoulders and pointed her toward the barn. “Run,” he whispered, and then turned in the direction from which they’d come.

Chase didn’t want to leave Lily unprotected. Damn it, he didn’t want her out of his sight. But he knew both of them would stand a better chance if he went on the offensive. He couldn’t do that with her in tow. Running was her best chance of surviving, so he let her go—and prayed to God he could stop the men with guns before they got to her.

He sprinted back to the Toyota, yanked open the door and jammed his body behind the wheel. Twisting the key, he pumped the gas. The engine turned over on the first try. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the SUV twenty yards away. At some point, it had begun to rain again, but Chase barely noticed. Standing next to the SUV, two men—one with a rifle, the other with a pistol—started toward him.

Knowing he had only a few seconds before they started blasting, he rammed the shift into gear and floored the accelerator. The tires spun, spewing dirt and gravel high into the air. The car fishtailed. Then the tires grabbed asphalt and shot forward.

The men simultaneously dropped into a shooter’s stance. Weapons up, they swung toward the speeding car—and Chase. The first shot blew a hole the size of his fist in the windshield. Cracks in the safety glass spread like spidery veins. Something thwacked against the passenger headrest so close to his head Chase felt the concussion.

But he didn’t stop. He knew the odds were high that he would get shot before he mowed them down. But Chase was nearly out of ammo. His most powerful weapon at the moment was the car, and he intended to put it to good use.

The windshield imploded. Glass pelted him. Through the gaping hole, he saw the men scatter. Chase cut the wheel and went after the man with the rifle. A sniper was always the most dangerous.

The rifleman turned and ran toward the ditch on the opposite side of the road, but he was no match for the speeding car. Using every driving skill he’d amassed over the years, Chase took the car into the ditch after the gunman. The man jumped on a three-rail fence and tried to scale it to escape into a cornfield. Under any other circumstances, Chase would have tried to take him alive to glean information from him later. Tonight, all he cared about was keeping Lily safe.

He floored the accelerator and the engine roared as the car bounced over rough ground. Midway over the fence, the gunman turned and raised his hands as if to protect himself. Chase hit the brake, but the vehicle skidded the rest of the way through dirt and grass. It struck both the fence and the gunman. Wood splintered and flew high into the air. The impact sent the man twenty feet into the field. He didn’t get up.

One down and one to go,
Chase thought as he rammed the car into Reverse. He hadn’t noticed that the engine had died. He turned the key and pumped the gas, but the motor only groaned. Throwing open the door, he hit the ground, running toward the downed man to confiscate the rifle.

He was almost there when a gunshot split the air. The bullet kicked up dirt inches from Chase’s right foot. When he didn’t stop, a second shot tore through the material of his slacks. Chase skidded to a halt.

“Game over,” said a voice from behind him. “Get your hands up, Vickers.”

The unmistakable sound of a pistol being cocked froze his blood in his veins. Chase couldn’t believe the man had gotten the drop on him.
You’re getting sloppy, Vickers.

Chase raised his hands and slowly turned. Even with his hair wet from the falling rain, he recognized the man. The same man who’d ambushed him in the limo back at Hancock Tower.

“So we meet again,” the man said.

“Who the hell are you and what do you want?”

“You, my friend. This is all about you. And the woman, of course.” The man smiled, his eyes scanning the surrounding darkness. “She couldn’t have gotten far now, could she?” His smile chilled Chase. “I take it the baby is yours?”

Chase wanted to rip him apart with his bare hands, but he shoved the emotions aside. In this business, emotions were what got people killed.

“I have no ties to her or the kid,” he lied, desperate to buy time. If his calculations were correct, he had one bullet left in the pistol. If they were going to get out of this alive, he was going to have to make it count.

“Valiant effort,
Vic.
But you see, I’ve been a good boy. I did my homework. I know all about you and Ms. Garrett.”

“Then you know we’ve been through for a long time.”

The other man smiled. “Then you won’t mind too much when I put a bullet in her, will you?”

Staving off burgeoning panic, Chase stared at him, his mind scrambling. He couldn’t shake the same keen sense of familiarity he’d felt back in Boston. Where had he seen this guy before?

“Do I know you?” Chase asked, stalling.

“Let’s just say you know
of
me.”

“You’re familiar. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you before.”

“We’d never laid eyes on each other until last night.”

“If we’ve never met, then what’s this all about?”

Even in the darkness Chase saw hatred flash in the other man’s eyes. “I’m merely repaying a debt.”

“For who?” Willing his nerves to settle, Chase sidled closer. “Your father?”

“Don’t be a hero. Drop your weapon and kick it toward me.”

“Which son are you?”

“Get back.”

Chase inched closer. “Tell me why you’re doing this. If you’re going to kill me, anyway, I deserve to know that much.”

The man assumed a shooter’s stance. “I’ll kill you where you stand, you backstabbing bastard. And then I’ll kill the woman. I’ll put a bullet right through her belly. Right through the baby. And I’ll make sure you’re conscious so you can watch her bleed out.”

Rage mingled with cold, hard fear and spread through Chase’s body like ice water running through his veins. The first rule of military or law enforcement was that you never gave up your weapon. He didn’t intend to break that golden rule, but if it came down to Lily’s life or giving up his weapon, what could he do?

“In a few minutes,” Chase said, “this place is going to be crawling with cops.”

A chilling smile overtook the man’s face. “Then I guess I’d better hurry things along and get this show on the road.”

With lightning-fast speed, the man shifted the gun and fired. Shock stabbed Chase. White-hot pain knifed through his right hand all the way to his elbow. Instinctively, he used his left hand to grasp his injured right. When he looked down and saw blood, another layer of fear enveloped him.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Chase snarled between clenched teeth.

“That was for my father.” The man aimed the gun at his groin. “This one is for you.”

“Wait!” Chase shouted. “Tell me why! Tell me who you are!”

“Aidan Shea, bro.” He relaxed his grip on the gun. “I’m the man who’s going to send you to hell.”

“Why me? I barely knew your father.”

“You knew him well enough to frame him. You and your so-called band of brothers sent him to prison for something he didn’t do. Do you have any idea what that did to him?”

“I had no part in that.”

“Tell it to Satan, you lying bastard.” He took aim, the muzzle leveled on Chase’s abdomen.

Chase braced, expecting the impact of a bullet and mind-numbing pain. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Lily. This man was going to disable him, then he was going to kill her while Chase watched. He’d do anything to stop the horrific scenario. But what?

The only sound on the road was the pounding of his heart. Till the gunshot split the quiet.

His nerves jumped, and instinctively, he stumbled back, raising his hands in a useless effort to protect himself. But there was no need.

Aidan Shea crumpled to the ground.

Chase stared, disbelief and relief barreling through him in equal measure. His knees nearly buckled when he turned to find Lily standing twenty feet away, the rifle in her hands.

“Lily…”

He heard her name, realized belatedly he’d whispered it. Her gaze shifted to his. Worry skittered through him when he saw the distant look in her eyes. Her face was ghastly pale; tears glistened on her cheeks. She took a single step toward him, the rifle clattering to the ground.

Then he was running toward her, enveloping her in his arms. Her body trembled violently against him. He held her tight, wanting to calm her, protect her, thank her for saving his life. Smoothing her hair away from her face with his uninjured hand, he marveled at her beauty. At the softness of her body, so warm and blessedly alive against his.

“Are you okay?” he asked when he found his voice.

“I killed him,” she choked out.

“I know, honey.” He held her tighter. “I’m sorry you had to do that. He didn’t give you any choice.”

“He was going to kill you.” Her body vibrated against his.

“You did what you had to do.” When she only sobbed, he held her tighter. “You’re going to be okay. I promise.”

Worried that she could be going into shock, he eased her to arm’s length and set his hand against her face. “Shh. Easy does it. It’s okay.” But Chase knew firsthand how difficult it was to use lethal force. Even for soldiers and secret agents, no matter how tough or seemingly emotionally detached, it wounded the soul to take a life.

“You saved my life,” he said quietly.

Her focus went to his hand, where blood dripped from his fingertips. “Oh, Chase, you’re bleeding.”

“I don’t think it’s too bad.” The wound throbbed with every beat of his heart, but Chase was just thankful to be alive. “Let’s get you to the car,” he said. “I’m going to search the men and see if I can get a phone to call nine-one-one.”

She nodded. But he could see her lips quivering. Her teeth beginning to chatter. More than anything, he wanted to get her to a place where she could decompress. A place where he could take care of her.

Alarm shot through him when she gasped and doubled over.

“Lily! What is it?”

“Just…a cramp, I think.”

“The baby?”

“I don’t know. It’s too soon.” Another gasp escaped her. “Maybe.”

A
IDAN
S
HEA COULDN
’
T BELIEVE
he was going to die this way. Gut shot by a pregnant woman and bleeding out on some godforsaken road in the middle of nowhere. He had so much more to do. How had things gone so terribly wrong? If only he could complete this leg of the mission and eliminate Vickers. Ethan Matalon and Ty Jones had been next, but Aidan knew his brothers and father would take care of them.

With the last of his breath, Aidan cursed Chase Vickers. He cursed Ethan and Ty and all of the others who’d been involved. He’d wanted to finish Vickers himself. But he knew the most important phase of the plan had already been set into motion. The bomb he’d planted. No one knew about it, other than him and his brothers and father, and no one could stop it.

And the clock was ticking….

The knowledge comforted him in a way nothing else could. He smiled through the pain of the gunshot wound, and he tasted blood. It should have been their blood, but it was his own. No matter. Soon they would be dead and his father would be avenged.

Revenge was such a powerful motivator.

Now it was time to get down to the business of dying. Such a slow process. In the near distance Aidan could hear Vickers and the woman, and another wave of fury washed over him. Damn them to hell, he thought. Damn all of them.

A groan escaped him when he shifted. The pain had receded slightly. That was when he realized he still had the gun in his hand. That he could still move.

And he smiled.

“H
ANG ON
.” Chase scooped Lily into his arms. She was amazingly lightweight. He reveled in her warmth as he carried her across the road toward the ditch where he’d left the Toyota.

They were midway to the car when a gunshot rent the air. Chase stopped, his heart dropping into his stomach.

“Put her down, Vickers!”

Chase spun to see Aidan Shea standing a few yards away, his pistol leveled on Chase. Blood oozed from his chest, shiny and red, staining his clothes in an expanding circle. Still, Chase set Lily on her feet.

“This ends here and now,” Shea said as he shifted the pistol and took aim at Lily.

“No!” Chase threw himself in front of her, but he wasn’t fast enough. The blast fractured the air and Lily fell to the ground. “No!” he screamed.
“No!”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aidan Shea’s body jerk. He spun around and fired three times in quick succession before crumpling to the ground. At first, Chase thought he’d succumbed to the bullet wound he’d sustained earlier. Then he spotted the other figure just beyond. Before Chase could identify him, the man staggered, then fell to the ground. What the hell? Another gunman? Chase considered trying to get off a shot with his left hand. But he needed to tend to Lily first.

Dropping to his knees beside her, he ran his uninjured hand over her, searching for a bullet wound, for blood. Her eyes were open, watching him. She was crying. Obviously in pain.
Oh, dear God, please let her survive this.

“Honey,” he choked. “Where are you hit?”

“I’m not.” She took his hand. “I think it’s the baby.”

“Vickers!” a familiar voice called out.

Chase fumbled for his pistol with his left hand, surged to his feet and spun

Realization dawned in a rush. Ben Parker had arrived just in time. He’d shot Aidan Shea and saved their lives. Now he was down with a gunshot wound.

“Stay put,” Chase said to Lily, then he started toward the fallen man.

“About time you showed up,” Chase said when he came upon Ben.

“Timing was off just a little.”

Chase knelt beside the FBI agent, noticed the shiny slick of blood on the asphalt. “How bad are you hit?”

“Not looking too good. Bastard got me in the chest.”

Chase grabbed Ben’s cell phone and quickly dialed nine-one-one, asking for the police and two ambulances.

When he was finished, he looked down at Ben, then took his hand. “How did you find us?”

“There’s only one major highway that runs from Boston to Shane’s place. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.”