Bodyguard's Baby Surprise (17 page)

Chapter 20

N
ick was being followed. But he was alone, so he didn't care. He wasn't putting Annalise or Nikki in danger. His life was the only one at risk.

He couldn't give Annalise his heart. He didn't have one to offer her. But he could give her back her life—the one she'd worked so hard to build for herself. That was the least he could do for her, for all she had endured because she'd thought she was helping him.

She didn't realize he'd made peace with his mother long ago, before she'd died. He'd realized she had a disease, an addiction she couldn't beat. He hadn't been able to help her because she hadn't wanted help.

So he'd dedicated his life to the people he could help. He could help Annalise.

He could stop the person who was after them. He spoke into his phone. But he wasn't talking to anyone at the Payne Protection Agency. He asked for directions to the nearest storage facility. Whoever was following him thought he was going to get whatever the hell he thought he had.

Maybe he could lure him out in the open. Maybe he could end this now. He turned in the direction the phone had told him. He was sure whoever was following him wasn't alone. There had to be someone else back there.

A Payne Protection bodyguard...

Milek. Garek.

The only person he was certain it wasn't was Nikki. Her brothers weren't going to let her anywhere near him until this was over. And maybe not even after that.

As he thought of her, his phone lit up with her number. He touched the speaker button. “That was quick,” he said. He'd called her on his way to the White Wedding Chapel.

“It was easy,” she replied. “He gave Annalise a fake name on the rental application.”

“That was why she couldn't find any credit or work history for him,” he surmised. “But if all you have is a fake name...”

“Fake name,” she said. “Real person. Ralph Adams died over thirty years ago.”

“Ralph Adams...” The name sounded vaguely familiar.

“Your mom testified in his murder trial,” she said. “Her testimony helped put away the drug dealer who killed Ralph. Darren Snow. His nickname was—”

“The Iceman,” Nick said. After her death—after he'd found that letter—Nick had checked out everything his mother had claimed in it. He'd learned about the Iceman.

“Who was just paroled,” Nikki said, “six months ago.”

Nick glanced into his rearview mirror, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver in the vehicle tailing him. “It has to be him.”

“But what does he want?” Nikki asked. “What could your mom have that he thinks is his?”

The car was bearing down on him quickly. The driver was not even trying to hide the fact that he was following Nick.

“We'll have to talk about that later,” Nick said. “I have to go now.”

He clicked off the phone and returned to his directions to that storage facility. It had to be close—the facility and the end of the danger in which he and Annalise had been living.

* * *

Annalise shivered. And it wasn't just because of the conversation she'd overheard Nikki having with Nick about a killer drug dealer named the Iceman. It was because of the abrupt way that conversation had ended.

“What's going on with him?” she asked.

Nikki's face had paled beneath the bruises, and she shook her head. “I don't know. He seemed like he was in a hurry.”

“To get back here?” Annalise asked and hoped.

Instead of answering her, Nikki clicked another button on her cell phone. “Hey? Who's on Nick?”

She hadn't put the call on speaker, so Annalise couldn't hear the name that Nikki heard. But from the look of doubt and concern on her face, she suspected she knew.

Gage. And apparently Nikki didn't think Annalise's brother was ready for the assignment. Unfortunately, neither did Annalise.

“Does he know where Nick is going?” Nikki asked whomever she'd called—probably her brother Logan. She grunted. “Of course not.”

Nikki turned her focus back to the computer she'd brought to investigate the person to whom Annalise had rented Nick's mother's house. Because Annalise had been giving her information, she'd been sitting next to Nikki and could easily see the screen. After tapping the keyboard a few seconds, Nikki pulled up Nick's phone record.

“Yeah, I'm hacking,” she told her brother—with no shame. “Last thing Nick did was get directions to the nearest storage facility.” She gave Logan the name and address.

Even though he wasn't on speaker, Annalise could hear Logan's curse. He knew what Nick was doing.

“Is anyone else close enough?” Nikki asked. She really didn't trust Gage as Nick's only backup. And she cursed at Logan's reply.

Annalise's stomach churned with concern and with the baby's restless kicks. It was as if he knew, too, that his father was in danger. She waited until Nikki clicked off the phone before she said, “He's risking his life.”

Nikki shrugged. “Just leaving the condo puts his life in danger.”

Hers, too. Annalise had learned that the hard way. But she wanted to leave now. She wanted to be with Nick—to make certain that he was all right.

“What's going on?” Annalise asked.

“He picked up a tail after he left Mom's chapel.” There was more unsaid in Nikki's tone.

“And...?” Annalise prodded her.

“He's leading the tail to that storage facility.”

“He's using himself as bait,” Annalise realized. “To catch whoever's after us.” And he was out there with only her brother as backup—a man who hadn't trusted himself to protect her. Why had he trusted himself to protect Nick?

He obviously wasn't ready. And if Nick died, would Gage ever be able to forgive himself? Would she?

It was Annalise's fault that Nick was in danger in the first place. She should have sold the place the way he'd told her to—totally furnished. Then his mother's possessions would all have been gone. Nobody would be looking for something he was so desperate to retrieve that he was willing to kill.

But then, according to what Nikki had said, the Iceman had killed before. He would have no compunction about killing again.

* * *

Gage had heard the doubt in everyone else's voices. They'd thought him ready to protect an elderly woman from her own paranoia. They hadn't thought he was ready to protect Nick. Just a couple of days ago, he wouldn't have thought he was ready, either. He hadn't trusted himself to protect Annalise. But he'd been feeling better—stronger.

He hadn't been having the nightmares like he had before. He hadn't been sleeping much, so the nightmares weren't really an issue.

Maybe what he'd been through wasn't the reason the others hadn't trusted him to protect Nick. Maybe it was because of what Nick had done to Annalise.

He'd gotten her pregnant.

Gage waited for the betrayal and anger to rush over him again. But instead, he felt an odd surge of happiness. He was going to have a nephew, a child that would be equal parts of the two people Gage loved most in the world. Now.

He had loved someone else more before. But that seemed like a lifetime ago. He wasn't the man he'd been back then. That man was still missing.

Gage doubted he would ever be found. That was fine, though. Maybe it would make it easier for him to move on—at last.

What about Nick?

When they caught whoever was after him and Annalise, would Nick move on? Or would he want to be part of his son's life? Part of Annalise's?

She loved him. She had always loved him.

But what about Nick?

He touched the radio on his collar and asked, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Gage?”

“Yeah.”

“You're my tail?”

“I don't know who the hell your tail is,” Gage said. But he'd been following him since Nick had left the chapel. “He's driving a rental. And all I can see through the back window is a bald head.”

“So there's just one of them?” Nick asked.

“As far as I can tell...” Inside that vehicle. But there could have been other ones—ones that had stayed farther back so neither he nor Nick had made them.

Nick's sigh of relief rattled the phone. “That's good. We've got him outnumbered. We can catch him.”

Gage worried that Nick was giving him too much credit. “This is risky,” he said. “We haven't had time to plan. We need more backup.”

“They're on their way.” Nick was certain, probably because the Paynes seemed to travel in a pack. There would be other bodyguards close.

But Gage didn't think they would make it in time. The gate to the storage facility came into view. Nick must have broken the lock and jimmied open the gate, because that rental vehicle passed easily through. Not wanting to tip the man off, Gage hesitated a moment before driving through the broken gate himself.

The storage units were tall and deep enough for motor homes and boats. There were also—so many rows that he had no idea which alley Nick had driven down. Or the man who'd been following him.

“Nick?” he called into the radio. “Where the hell are you?”

Nick must have shut off the radio so he wouldn't give away his location to other man. But Gage needed to know where he was in order to protect him.

As he passed another row, he noticed a car parked far down the alley, its taillights burning holes in the gathering darkness. The sun was just beginning to set, but here between the tall buildings, it looked like night already.

Gage stopped his vehicle and called out his location into the radio. Nick might not be able to hear him, but the others hadn't shut off their radios. And they were on their way. But as Gage opened his car door, he heard the gunshots.

And he knew no one else would get there in time to help. It was up to him. He was Nick's only backup. His heart pounding frantically, he drew his weapon from his holster and headed around the front of his SUV. He'd parked it to block off that alley—to trap the car inside it with no escape.

The taillights turned to backup lights. Tires squealing, the car reversed—heading right toward him. Now he was the one trapped between his vehicle and the one bearing down on him. He lifted his weapon and squeezed the trigger. He had no idea if his shots struck anything but metal and glass.

He heard the metal ping. The glass shatter. But the car kept coming. Feeling the whoosh of air as it neared, he jumped, launching himself at the side of the one of the units. Metal crunched, and he waited for the pain.

But the car missed him. It didn't miss the SUV. It struck it hard, hard enough to push it back. But it didn't leave a space big enough for the car to get through. Brakes squealed again as the car lurched to a stop.

The driver's door opened. The man was just a shadow. The only thing Gage saw was the gun he held, the barrel pointed directly at him. He lifted his own weapon and flinched as shots rang out.

The sound of gunfire had memories rushing over him—of other firefights. Of losing friends...

Where was Nick?

What had happened to him?

Would Gage find him as he had the others? His body bloodied, staring up at him through lifeless eyes...

Chapter 21

N
ick cursed. He'd fired shot after shot. But from how easily the man ran away—around his wrecked vehicle and Gage's—he doubted he'd hit him.

At the moment, he was the least of Nick's concerns, though. “Gage!”

If anyone had been hit, it was Gage. The man had struck him either with his vehicle or with his bullets. Nick's stomach lurched as he relived seeing Gage trapped between his SUV and the car bearing down on him.

Gage couldn't have survived hell only to die at home—because of Nick. Nick would never forgive himself. And neither would Annalise.

He rushed over to where Gage's body was slumped against the metal door of one of the storage units. Dropping to his knees, he leaned over him. He couldn't see any blood but Gage's jeans were torn and so was the sleeve of his shirt. His short golden hair was mussed, too. “Are you okay?”

Since night had begun to fall, the light above the door of the unit kicked on and shone down on his friend like a spotlight.

Gage's eyes—the same clear green as Annalise's—were open but unfocused, as if he couldn't see. Or as if he could see something Nick couldn't, something only inside Gage's mind.

“I'm sorry,” he murmured. “Sorry I didn't save you.”

“I'm fine,” Nick said.

Gage just shook his head as if he didn't believe him. But Nick wasn't sure he'd even heard him.

“Are you hit?” Nick asked. Maybe he just couldn't see the blood. He didn't want to move Gage, didn't want to risk injuring him more like he could have Nikki had she been hurt more seriously. Nothing was going to blow up here. The only risk was the gunman returning to shoot at them again.

He kept his weapon in his hand, ready to fire if he needed to. He could check Gage for injuries only with one hand. His wounded shoulder ached in protest, but he moved his arm, running his hand along Gage's ribs.

The other man flinched. He was hurt. But Nick didn't know if the injuries were new or old ones that had been aggravated. What the hell had Gage gone through all those months he'd been missing?

Nick touched the radio on his collar, turning it back on. “I need an ambulance.”

“You're hurt?” Logan asked.

“Not me,” Nick said.

“Gage?”

A strong hand clasped his. “No,” Gage murmured. “I'm fine.”

He wasn't fine. His eyes were still unfocused. And he kept flinching even though Nick wasn't touching him. He was reliving the nightmare he'd endured.

Then Nick's nightmare returned as he heard footsteps moving across the concrete behind him. He had his gun, but he wouldn't be able to fire it fast enough to save both him and Gage.

* * *

Had she lost one of them? Or both?

Candace and Nikki claimed everyone was fine. But they drove her to the hospital, both their usually beautiful faces grim with worry. If everyone was fine, they wouldn't have brought her here. Annalise was frantic.

She had nearly lost both men before. Gage all those months he had been missing in Afghanistan...

And Nick in the very hospital garage in which Candace parked the Payne Protection SUV. He'd been shot. He could have been killed then. It could have been his body she and Nikki had seen on that gurney.

Nikki reached for her hand and squeezed it. “He's fine.”

Which
he
?

They wouldn't have brought her to the hospital if at least one of the men she loved hadn't been hurt. More Payne Protection bodyguards joined them. Garek and Milek helped escort her to the elevator and up to the emergency room.

The doors slid open to Logan and Parker pacing the lobby. They looked as grim as Candace and Nikki. “What's wrong?” she asked. “Who's hurt?”

She turned toward those doors marked No Admittance and thought about forcing her way through them—just as someone stepped out.

Nick glanced at her before looking at the others. “You shouldn't have brought her here.”

“Why not?” she asked. “What's wrong?”

Oh, God, it was Gage.

“It's too dangerous,” Nick said. “You remember what happened last time.”

The gunfire in the lobby. She would never forget. But that didn't matter now.

“What's wrong with Gage?” She reached out and clasped Nick's forearms, gripping them for support.

“He's fine,” he replied, too quickly.

“He wouldn't be here if he was fine,” she pointed out. “Why did you bring him here if he wasn't physically hurt?”

Nick's face was as grim as everyone else's had been. And that muscle twitched in his cheek, his telltale sign of stress. “I don't think he was physically injured.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“There was gunfire—”

She gasped as panic overwhelmed her, stealing her breath away. She gripped Nick more tightly and ran her gaze over him. He didn't look as if he had been hit. “But you would know if he'd been shot...” He would know for certain whether or not her brother was physically injured.

“A car nearly hit him, though.”

“Nearly?”

“It missed him. But he'd had to move quickly to get out of the way.”

He'd gotten out of the way, and he hadn't been shot.

“Why did you bring him here?” she asked.

Nick released a ragged sigh. “He wasn't...he wasn't...right. Something was wrong.”

Cooper walked up. “He was probably having flashbacks,” he said. “The gunfire probably triggered it.”

“He kept thinking I was hurt,” Nick said. “That I'd been hit.” He shuddered.

And Annalise's heart ached for what both men she loved had endured. “Will he be okay?” she asked.

Nick nodded. “We brought in a doctor who gets it, who's been there and knows how to help him.”

Annalise wished she could help her brother. But he hadn't come to her when he'd finally come home. He had come to Nick. And Nick had gotten him help.

“Can I see him?” She wanted to make certain he was all right. That he was still the Gage she had known and loved their whole lives.

Nick didn't argue with her like he had when she'd first arrived. He slid his arm around her and brought her back to the emergency room. For once, Annalise wasn't the one being treated. But she felt no relief.

Nick paused outside a curtain and warned her, “He's sleeping.”

He announced it as if it was monumental that her brother was asleep. She didn't understand, but she had no intention of disturbing him. She only wanted to make certain he was all right.

Nick pulled back the curtain. Gage lay on a gurney, his eyes closed. There was no tension in his body. He looked completely relaxed. He looked like Gage again.

She stepped closer and slid her hand over her brother's.

“In all the nights he spent at my place,” Nick said, “he hadn't slept.”

Now she understood why it was so monumental that he was sleeping at last.

“I'm sorry,” Nick said.

She glanced back at him, confused. “Why?”

“If I'd known it was Gage on my protection duty...” He moved forward, too, so that he stood behind her, the heat of his body warming the chill from hers.

“You shouldn't have risked your life, either,” she admonished him. In a few months, he was going to be a father—unless he had no intention of being involved in his son's life.

“I had to try to end this.”

“Did you catch him?” she asked. She doubted that they had, though, or everyone wouldn't have looked so grim.

He sighed, and this time the breath was ragged with frustration. “No.”

Her shoulders sagged. It felt like her burden grew. A burden of guilt and regret. She should have done what Nick had asked. He'd wanted nothing of his mother's. If she'd gotten rid of it all like he'd wanted, nobody would think he had something he didn't.

His hands covered her shoulders and squeezed. “We're getting closer,” he said. “We'll get him.”

But the Iceman was getting closer, too. He'd nearly run down Gage tonight—nearly shot him and probably Nick, too, although he hadn't admitted it.

Two men had already died. She worried that more men would before it was all over. She worried that the men she loved would die.

* * *

Darren had almost had him, could have killed him. A dead man couldn't lead him to what was his. But once he'd recovered his property, Nicholas Rus was a dead man.

The FBI special agent had tried to trick him, leading him to that storage facility. If what he wanted was in storage, it was probably in Chicago. Near the place the US Marshals had relocated Carla to after she'd testified against him in River City.

But it was small enough that it could have easily been transported to River City. Nicholas Rus could have found it the last time he'd been at his mother's six months ago. He could have brought it back with him then. Or even before.

When she had died...

Too bad her death had been of natural causes—or as natural as years of drug abuse could be on a body. If Darren had known where she was, if he'd had a clue...

But he hadn't known where she was or that she was even still alive until after she'd died. Then the bitch had had some lawyer send him a letter taunting him. He'd gotten it before he'd been granted parole.

He'd been damn lucky that whoever read prison mail hadn't realized what she'd been talking about, about the evidence she would have used against him had he ever found her.

She was damn lucky that he'd never been able to find her. Evidence be damned, she would have died a long time ago—that traitorous whore. And it would not have been as painless as an overdose. He would have made her suffer for all the years he'd spent behind bars because of her.

While he couldn't make her suffer anymore, he could make her son suffer. But he wasn't sure if what would hurt Nicholas Rus the most was killing him or killing the woman and the baby she carried.

It had to be Rus's kid. In all the months Darren had followed her around, he hadn't seen her with any other man.

Annalise Huxton was a good woman.

Too bad she would wind up dying because of her love and devotion to Nicholas Rus. Yes, she was the key, the way to get back his property and to get back at the man who'd kept him from it.