A Baby Before Dawn (8 page)

That fact frightened her almost as much as the men with guns.

C
HASE COULDN
’
T BELIEVE
he’d kissed her. Couldn’t believe he’d crossed a line he’d sworn he wouldn’t. He chided himself as he stood on deck. Of all the stupid and impulsive things he could have done, getting physically close to Lily was the most self-destructive.

He’d always prided himself on his ability to keep his emotions and his physical needs in check, especially when it came to his job. But then came Lily Garrett with her sunny smile and kind heart, and his resolve had gone right down the tube. She was his one and only weakness. She was a weakness so powerful it scared the hell out of him. When it came to wanting her, every logical thought, every hope of self-preservation, went by the wayside.

Even after she’d sent him packing, he had pined for her. It was a pathetic image to say the least. But Chase had ached with missing her, with wanting her back in his life, and not just for a little while. No, Chase Vickers never did anything halfway. He’d spent months in a black hole so deep he thought he’d never find his way out. His job with Eclipse was the only thing that had saved him. Then, of course, he’d taken it to the extreme, taking on every suicidal mission offered.

Hell of a way to heal a broken heart.

Broken heart?

Where did
that
come from? Chase wanted to deny that Lily had the power to hurt him. No woman did. He’d seen to it. With every relationship, he’d made certain he never crossed that line. Once he realized things were getting too hot to handle, Chase walked away and never let himself look back.

Lily was different. He hadn’t been able to walk away no matter how hard he’d tried. She’d gotten under his skin, into his head, into his heart. Twenty minutes ago, when he’d taken her into his arms and kissed her until they were both breathless and dizzy and half-insane with wanting more, Chase would have sold his soul to the devil to get her back.

“It’s only lust, you idiot,” he muttered into the darkness.

But the words rang false.

Now Lily was pregnant with his child. He’d brought danger to her life and into the life of their unborn child. It was the one thing she’d always made clear she wanted no part of. She hated his secret work. She hated the danger, the uncertainty, the unpredictability. Early on, he’d laughed at her fears. He’d assured her he was too careful and too damn good at what he did for anything to happen. Not only to him, but anyone he got close to. After all, he took the utmost care to keep his personal life far removed from his professional life.

Evidently, he hadn’t been careful enough.

Lily had been right. Her worst fears had become reality. The irony of that burned like a red-hot branding iron.

Around him, even though it was barely dawn, the waterfront was alive with activity. It seemed as if the city hadn’t slept at all during the long dark hours of the blackout. Chase had to figure out what to do next, how to keep Lily safe. He had to get out of this mess alive and find the person responsible.

Pulling the cell phone from his belt, he snapped it open. He was in the process of punching in Ty’s number yet again when he glanced down at the display. His heart sank when he found it dark. Just like everything else in this godforsaken city. Not to mention his own mood.

Angry and frustrated, he headed toward the hatch to search the cabinets for a possible charger. He needed communication. He needed to find out if Ty and Ethan had been ambushed. More than anything, he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on and track down the son of a bitch responsible.

He descended into the galley, hoping Lily was asleep. He didn’t want to face those pretty green eyes. Eyes that accused him of everything he’d always denied. More than anything, he didn’t want to face his own shortcomings. The fact that he’d been wrong. His attraction to her. And the terrible mess he’d made of their lives.

Fate didn’t see fit to grant his wish. He found her sitting at the small galley table, gripping a steaming cup as if it were her last lifeline to the world. She watched him descend the steps with the wariness of a hunted animal, as if he posed as much danger to her as the men hunting them.

“I thought you’d be sleeping,” he said.

“I tried.” She shrugged. “Can’t.”

“Too wound up, probably.” He frowned at the cup she held. “Are you sure you should be drinking coffee?”

“It’s tea.” She smiled. “I think caffeine is the least of my problems.”

Pulling a mug from the cabinet, Chase took a moment to gather his thoughts, an impossible task considering how jumbled his emotions were. When he turned to face Lily, she was still watching him. Still wary. So beautiful and fragile, he wanted to reach out and touch her just to make sure she was real.

“I’m sorry about…earlier,” he said.

She looked away. “Things are pretty confusing right now.”

“It’s easy to get caught up in things. In the past.”

She motioned toward the stove. “Water is still hot if you want some tea.”

He didn’t, but he poured it anyway so he’d have something to do with his hands. He hated feeling so awkward, hated the way she looked at him as if he were a danger to her. He hated even more the hard reality that he wanted what he could never have.

“So what do we do now?” she asked.

When he ran out of things to do at the stove, he carried his cup to the small window and looked out. “I need to recharge this phone.” But the charger he found in the cabinet Lily directed him to didn’t fit. Disgusted, he finally sat at the table across from Lily.

For a moment, the only sound came from the gentle lap of water against the hull. “How long is this blackout going to last?”

Chase shook his head. “Ben Parker told me two power plants were taken out.”

“My God. Sabotage? Why would someone do that?”

“I think maybe it’s all related. The synchronized ambushes. The kidnapping of the vice president. The blackout.”

She set down the cup. “Is this about you? About your…work?”

“I think so.”

“But how is the vice president involved?”

He sipped the tea, but he didn’t taste it. Taking a deep breath, he told her more about that mission-gone-bad from over a decade ago, and Liam Shea’s role in it.

“They’re not going to stop, are they?” she asked.

“Someone is going to have to stop them.”

“You?”

Chase didn’t answer. At the moment, unarmed and left without communication and transportation, he was in no position to stop anyone.

“We can’t hide out here forever,” she said. “You know sooner or later they’ll find us. Is there some place safe where we can go?”

“I’ve been racking my brain, trying to come up with a place.”

“A safe house?”

He shook his head. “There’s only one place I can think of, but it’s out of the city. I’m not sure we can get there.”

“Because of the traffic jams?”

“The streets and highways are jammed with cars. Tow companies are working, but many of them are inoperable because very few have access to gasoline, thanks to the blackout. I had a hell of a time getting to the Hancock Tower. I imagine all the major highways are jammed. People were panicked, thinking this blackout was some type of terrorist act. Thousands of cars ran out of gas where they sat in traffic. Everything’s blocked.”

“What place do you have in mind?”

Ugly thoughts entered his mind, and Chase hesitated. No one knew about his half-brother’s house in New Hampshire. It was a virtual fortress.

But while his half brother’s compound offered safety for Lily, it was the last place Chase would ever want to go himself. While he and Shane worked well together on their Eclipse missions, it had been years since they’d had a brotherly relationship. Chase resented his half brother. Shane reminded him of a time in his life he’d rather forget. A time when he was ten years old, alone for the first time, and powerless to change any of it. He’d worshipped his older brother. But Shane hadn’t cared. Hadn’t even noticed. And when their mother had died, Shane had gone off to college and Chase had been relegated to foster care where he traveled from family to family until he was eighteen and joined the military.

Was he willing to set the injuries of his past aside? To keep Lily safe, he was. Chase turned to her. “Shane’s,” he finally replied. “My half brother. He lives in New Hampshire. He’s a security expert. The best, in fact. His house is the only secure place I can think of.”

“How do you know these gunmen haven’t gone after him, too?”

“They have. But I can tell you it didn’t happen at his house. If we can get out of town, I can stash you there. Make some calls, try to figure out what the hell is going down.”

She stared at the cup of tea that had long since gone cold. “This baby means everything to me. I can’t let anything happen to her.”

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt either of you.”

She raised her eyes to his. “You can’t guarantee that. No one can.”

He leaned close. “I said I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I mean that.”

Her gaze searched his. After a moment, she pursed her lips. “So, do you think we can make it to your brother’s house?”

“We have to try.” He glanced toward the window. “Sooner or later they’re going to find us. We have no communication, no means of transportation. Limited ammo. Our best bet is to run.”

Tightening her mouth as if in determination, she nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“You sure you’re up to it?”

“I’m not going to sit around and wait for them to ambush us again.” Rising, she crossed to him, her eyes direct and burning bright. “But let me tell you something, Chase. Once we’re safe, I want you to go. I want you out of our lives for good. I can’t let you or your lifestyle place this baby in danger again.”

Chase thought he’d been prepared; he’d known that when this was over they’d go their separate ways. But hearing the words aloud cut with a brutality he hadn’t expected. The pain that followed sucked his breath right out of his lungs.

The instant he’d realized she was pregnant, that the baby was his, he’d resolved to provide for them financially. Monthly support. A college fund for the baby. Maybe a house. It was the very least he could do. After all, he’d been paid handsomely for the work he’d done for Eclipse. He lived simply, had few needs. The money he’d socked away would more than take care of the baby. And Lily, if she’d let him.

He didn’t allow the next thought to materialize. The one where some treacherous little voice told him he wanted more. That he wanted to know his child, to be part of his child’s life. Part of Lily’s life. He wasn’t going to go there. Damn it, he wasn’t.

Chase shoved the thoughts away, jammed them into the deep dark hole where the rest of his emotions lay stagnant. He didn’t need them. He didn’t need anyone.

Picking up his cup, he took it to the sink and dumped it forcefully. He could feel Lily’s eyes on his back, but he didn’t turn to face her. He didn’t want her to see the pain and anger he knew were in his eyes.

He was about to escape above deck when movement from outside the tiny nautical window caught his attention.

“What is it?” Lily whispered.

“They found us,” Chase said, and slid the revolver from his waistband.

Footsteps from above deck made the hairs on Lily’s neck prickle. Someone was on board the boat. At least two of them; she could hear them talking in low voices.

She swallowed a gasp when the doorknob to the cabin rattled.

“Damn thing’s locked,” said a male voice with a strong Bostonian accent.

“Kick it in like you did the other one,” said another voice. “Boss told us to find them, so we gotta search all the boats, not just the easy ones.”

“You sure this is the boat?”

“How do I know? Kick the damn thing in.”

The next thing Lily knew she was being pulled backward by Chase’s strong hands. A crash sounded in the general vicinity of the door. Then she was in the fore sleeping quarters. Next to her, Chase worked frantically to unhinge and open the deck hatch, his eyes never leaving the thin door he’d latched behind them.

The hatch sprang open. Chase looked at her. “I’m going through, then I’ll pull you through. Once we’re on deck, I want you to run. Don’t wait for me. Don’t look back. You got that?”

She looked at the small hatch, her stomach plummeting. “I can’t fit through there.”

He looked at the hatch, looked at her bulging abdomen. His mouth opened, but for a moment nothing came out. “Okay. Plan B.” He looked around wildly. “Hide. In a cabinet. Under a blanket. Whatever. I’m going to go up, circle around and ambush them.”

Unable to speak over the rapid-fire beat of her heart, Lily nodded her head.

Chase looked as if he wanted to say more, but another crash sounded from the cabin. The boat rocked slightly, and Lily knew the men were coming down the stairs and into the galley to search for them. If the men opened the door, they would find them both.

Giving her a final look, Chase heaved himself through the hatch. Panicked, she looked around for a place to hide. Several compartments lined the walls, but none of them were large enough for her to get inside. Realizing she had no alternative but to get under the blanket and pray it bought her a few precious seconds, she lay down and pulled it over her head.

The knob to the sleeping quarters rattled. “It’s locked, too,” said the man with the Boston accent.

“Kick it down. I’m going to the next boat.”

The door burst open. She heard heavy breathing, the rustle of clothing, a whispered curse. Minutes stretched like hours as he began checking compartments. In the next instant, the blanket that covered her was jerked roughly away. Gasping, Lily sat up and found herself facing a dark-haired man with large features and the deadly blue steel of a pistol.

“I’ll be damned,” he said. “Must be my lucky day.”

Lily caught a glimpse of a dark blur coming at her from behind the man. An instant later the man grunted and pitched violently forward. In the light slanting through the port window, she recognized Chase as the attacker. Relief mingled with shock at the sight of him in action. His lips were peeled back in a snarl, his eyes as dark as night.

The other man tried to defend himself, but he was no match for Chase. Several well-placed punches and the man crumpled.

Chase’s attention flicked to her. “You okay?”

“I am now.” She looked past him toward the cabin door. “What about the other guy?”

“Out cold.”

She glanced down at her would-be attacker. “Who is he?”

“I don’t recognize him.” Frowning, he bent and quickly rifled the man’s pockets. “No wallet. No ID.”

“By design?”

“More than likely.” Chase smacked the man lightly on the cheek several times to rouse him. “Wake up, jackass,” he snapped. But the man didn’t stir.

Cursing, Chase grabbed him beneath the shoulders and dragged him up the steps onto the deck. “Start the engine,” he said over his shoulder to Lily.

Her legs shook as she climbed the steps. In the darkness, she saw Chase lift the unconscious man, cross to the gunwale and dump him unceremoniously onto the wooden dock. Turning, she searched the instrument panel for a key to start the engine, but her hands shook violently.

She jumped when two strong hands came down on her shoulders.

“Easy,” Chase said from behind her. “It’s just me.”

“I can’t find the key,” she blurted.

“I’ve got it.” Moving to her side, he tilted his head as if to get a better look at her, his expression intensifying. “You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “That was really close.”

“I know.” He turned her toward him, made eye contact. “We’re going to be okay.”

At the moment, Lily didn’t think anything would ever be okay again.

“Why don’t you go below deck and get some rest?” He punctuated the words by looking over his shoulder. “We have to get out of here. Judging from the way things are going, there are more where those two came from.”

She followed his gaze, incredulity rising inside her at the thought of some faceless, nameless person sending more gunmen. “When will this nightmare end?”

He twisted the key and the engines rumbled to life. “When I end it.”

Lily watched him traverse the impossibly narrow side deck to the fore deck where he slid a knife from his belt and slashed the moorings. He looked her way as the boat came free. “Get that last rope, will you?” he shouted.

Glad for something to do, Lily headed toward the aft deck. As she reached for the rope attached to the cleat, she spotted two men twenty yards away on the dock, walking toward them. “Chase!” she whispered. “Over there!”

The next thing she knew, Chase was beside her. He brought the knife down on the rope, severing it with a single slash. “Get below deck.” Not waiting for a response, he took her arm and ushered her toward the cabin door.

Lily swung open the door but didn’t go inside. There was no way she could hide out below deck and leave Chase to face this alone. At the very least she could keep watch. It would be only a matter of seconds before they were spotted.

A few feet away, Chase darted toward the bridge, where he slid behind the instrument panel. She could see the men walking the dock, eyeing each boat they passed. She knew the moment the taller man spotted them. He stopped dead in his tracks and pointed.

“They’ve seen us!” she said to Chase.

“Hang on.” The engines revved as he backed the boat from the slip. He glanced over his shoulder where the men had broken into a run toward them, then jammed the throttle forward.

Lily grasped the safety rail next to the control console just as Chase gunned the engine. The Bertram shot away from the slip like a racehorse out of the gate. Water spewed high into the air. Chase hit the trim with the heel of his hand and the vessel smoothed out.

A gunshot sounded over the roar of the engines. Lily glanced toward the newcomers, saw them stop at the edge of the dock, weapons raised. The boat was thirty feet out and moving rapidly away from the dock, but there was no way it could outrun a bullet.

One of the men fired off two shots in rapid succession, one of which ricocheted off the outrigger inches from her head. Clinging to the safety rail, Lily watched him line up for another shot while the other man spoke into his cell phone and gestured wildly.

Chase took the boat toward the channel, but Lily knew it was only a matter of time before the men came after them.

In moments the dock faded away. Just as she turned to go below deck, the unmistakable sound of an engine sounded behind them. Already, the men had found a boat.

“My God, they’re coming after us!” she shouted to Chase.

He glanced over his shoulder and cursed.

“How did they get a boat so quickly?” she asked.

“Same way we did,” he said. “Stole it.”

A high-pitched zing zipped past her ear.

“Get down!” Chase shouted.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

A volley of bullets slammed into the starboard side of the cabin and the window. Plexiglas and fiberglass exploded, raining down shards on her. The boat lurched. Lily glanced up to see Chase cut the wheel hard to the right. She lost her balance, made a wild grab for the bridge ladder but missed. Terror arced through her like lightning as she reeled backward toward the gunwale. All she could think was that she was about to be flung overboard.

“Lily!”

Chase’s voice cut through the jumble of fear. A scream tore from her throat as she lunged toward the bridge ladder and grabbed the bottom rung with her right hand.

“I’m okay,” she called out.

“Hang tight!” he shouted. “Don’t move!”

Lily hung on for dear life as he swung the boat left in an effort to avoid another volley of bullets. Unable to make it below deck, she clung to the ladder and prayed they survived the ride.

C
HASE TOOK
the Bertram out of the marina and into the seaport channel, its hull slicing through the water at a dangerous speed. Channel traffic was heavy for this early-morning hour. It seemed more than one boater had taken to the water to ride out the massive power outage, where they had all the comforts of home thanks to engines and batteries.

Chase made the turn and entered the main harbor, but only a fraction of his attention was on outrunning the bastards behind them. He couldn’t get the image of Lily clinging to the ladder out of his head. She’d come very close to going into the water. She’d come even closer to getting shot. The thought of her being hurt, or worse, filled him with a cold, hard terror he’d never before experienced, even in all the years he’d been with the military and Eclipse.

He didn’t like what that told him about his frame of mind. The bottom line was he was letting his emotions get in the way. A mistake he’d seen many a good man make—and pay dearly for in the end, either with his own life, or someone else’s.

Chase wanted to blame his lack of clarity on fatigue or adrenaline or maybe even his lack of communication and tools. He wanted to blame it on anything but the truth: his feelings for Lily and the child she carried.

He tried not to think of that as he shoved the dual throttles forward as far as they would go and headed north. He could see Logan Airport to his right, the Water Transportation Terminal to his left. Twenty yards behind him, a fast-approaching vessel told him they weren’t making much headway.

He pushed the Bertram as hard as he dared, until the odometer needled well into the red zone. But the yacht was no match for the smaller vessel zigzagging through the water twenty yards away.

“They’re following us!”

He glanced to his left to see Lily standing at the bridge ladder, clinging to a rung. More than anything, he wanted to stop and make sure she was all right. He wanted to touch her, take her into his arms and promise her that he would keep her safe.

There was no time for any of that.

Chase used every nautical skill he’d ever acquired to outrun the speedboat. He thought he heard gunshots, but the sounds were drowned out by the roar of the wind and the scream of the engine. A dozen boats appeared ahead, stopped and bobbing in the choppy water. Red and blue strobes flashed, and he realized they’d encountered some kind of police blockade. He could hear a voice booming over a loudspeaker, but he couldn’t make out the words. Did the blockade have something to do with the kidnapping of the vice president?

Chase made a sharp turn toward the New England Aquarium. Beyond, he could see the low profile of the Long Wharf Marriott Hotel and Christopher Columbus Park. Knowing they weren’t going to be able to escape on the water, Chase headed toward the park.

If he and Lily could disembark safely and he could get his hands on a car, they would be home free. No one could outdrive Chase Vickers. He could lose them in the chaos and traffic then drive Lily to Shane’s house in New Hampshire. From there they could put their heads together and try to figure out what the hell was going on.

Chase didn’t slow when he entered the hotel marina’s no-wake zone. Twenty yards from the dock, he cut the engines and cranked the wheel hard to the right. The Bertram slipped sideways through the water. Chase saw the pier approach at an alarming rate of speed. Old tires were chained to the concrete piers as bumpers. Hopefully, the rubber padding provided by the tires would be enough to keep the impact from breeching the hull.

“We’re going too fast!” Lily shouted behind him.

“Hold on!”

Chase jumped from the bridge to the deck. Lily spun toward him, terror registering in her eyes. A glance at the dock told him they would impact in just a few seconds. Wrapping his arms around her, he pushed her to the deck just as the big boat slammed into the pier.

Fiberglass crunched as the pier tore into the starboard hull. The impact knocked him hard against the live-bait well, but he rolled and was able to use his body to protect Lily.

Abruptly, the vessel went still. Chase jumped to his feet and looked around. His legs were shaking. He glanced down, saw Lily on her hands and knees, and guilt stabbed him like a dagger.

“Easy does it.” Bending, he set his hands on her shoulders and gently helped her to her feet. “Are you all right?”

Brushing flyaway hair from her eyes, she raised her eyes to his and jerked her head once. “That was some parking job, Vickers.”

“Miscalculated. Came in too fast. Guess I’m getting too old for this.”

An emotion flashed in her eyes, but it was gone so fast he wasn’t sure of its meaning. He glanced over his shoulder at the mouth of the marina. He saw the men in the speedboat fifty yards out. He could hear the engine idling down.

“Let’s get out of here.” Stepping onto the gunwale, he took her hand and helped her onto the dock. “We need a car.”

“Do you know someone in the area?”

He shook his head. “Might have to borrow one.”

“What’s one more felony on top of a dozen others?” Glancing back at the damaged Bertram, she choked out a laugh. “Remind me not to ever let you borrow my car.”

“Spoilsport.” Spotting the low profile of a well-known waterfront hotel, he took her hand. “Come on. There’s a parking garage not far from here.”

They left the dock and crossed the asphalt to the grassy plain of Christopher Columbus Park. Chase felt exposed being out in the open. Every couple of seconds he looked over his shoulder.