Deadly Race (5 page)

Halfway down the street Slade ducked into an alley. The pounding of their feet on the pavement mirrored the pounding of their heartbeats as they hurried to the end and out onto another thoroughfare.

“Thank goodness, there’re no soldiers here yet. But it’ll be only a matter of time before they cover this area,” he said, scanning the buildings, his stance ever alert.

“We can’t walk to the airport. We can’t even run to it.”

“I know.”

The fierce expression on his face made Ellie wonder what in the world the man did for a living. He said he worked for a computer company. Was business
that
cutthroat?

“Come on. We’ve got to keep moving.”

Slade led Ellie through the maze of streets, further away from the airport. Eight blocks from the hotel, he shoved her behind a mound of trash piled up against a building. He pushed her head down and clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Soldiers coming,” he whispered as he made a hole in the trash so he could look out.

Ellie quaked as Jeeps and trucks entered the end of the street and started down it. The convoy passed them and turned at the other end. But one truck stayed behind and parked two buildings away from the trash pile. Stifling a sneeze, Ellie was rooted to the spot while an officer pointed to the houses on the street and issued orders to the soldiers. She didn’t have to speak the language to understand that the soldiers were going to search the houses, and the realization struck terror in her.

Slade pushed her further into the trash, covering their bodies with it to hide them better. “Not a word,” he warned in a whisper.

She might be impulsive and reckless some of the time, but she was not stupid. She could keep her mouth shut when necessary, even when she was nervous.

The stench from the garbage accosted Ellie, and she nearly choked on the offensive odor. She tried to swat the flies that were crawling on her--at least she thought they were flies--but she could barely move. Bile rose in her throat, but fear held her immobile and silent as she struggled to keep from sneezing. The first thing she wanted to do when they were safe was take a shower.

Ellie watched as one by one the buildings were searched and the few people left in them were rounded up in the center of the street. A soldier, standing not ten feet from the trash pile, held a rifle on the group, mostly old men, women and children. When the officer was satisfied the buildings were vacant, he motioned for his soldiers to take the people inside an abandoned store. He left one man to guard the truck.

The minute everyone was inside, Slade shoved the trash off him and pulled Ellie free, the whole time keeping his gaze trained on the guard by the truck. The man was smoking a cigarette, lounging against the side.

Crouched behind the pile of garbage, his grip on Ellie’s hand tight, Slade observed the guard. “This may be our only chance,” he whispered into her ear, so softly she barely heard the words.

When the lone soldier finally finished his cigarette and flicked it into the street, he began to circle the truck. Slade let go of her and ran forward, positioning himself so that he could jump the guard when he came into view. When the man rounded the back, Slade hit him with one solid punch to the jaw. The guard collapsed to the pavement.

Motioning for Ellie to join him, Slade climbed into the cab of the truck. She remained kneeling by the trash pile, trying to digest everything that was happening to her. The revolution was very real. Her mind refused to think beyond the moment. Her body refused to move.

“Ellie!”

The harsh whisper propelled her into action. She blinked, rose and raced for the truck. By the time she was sitting in the passenger’s side, Slade was fumbling with some wires below the steering wheel.

“Where did you learn to do that?” she asked, shocked, when the truck started. “Hot-wiring a car—or in this case, truck—isn’t taught in high school.”

“Around.” He threw the truck into gear. It started forward, quickly gaining speed once it cleared the street.

She appraised him from the corner of her eye.
Around?
Again she wondered if he was more than he said he was. Now that she was sitting, she began to feel the pounding in her head, as if someone were setting off fireworks inside her skull. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, deciding she would have to rethink her love of traveling.

“I know a back way to the airport,
if
we can get by the soldiers,” Slade said.

Maybe King Kong and Godzilla hadn’t really been after her. She just couldn’t see how she was that important for Mr. Martinez to go to all the trouble he had earlier, especially in light of what she was discovering about her rescuer. “How come you know your way around this city so well?”

“I’ve been here a lot this past year.” With one hand on the steering wheel, he extracted his cell and punched in a number. After ten seconds, he shoved his phone back into his pocket. “No service.”

“The same thing has happened to me when I worked in the mountains of Colorado two jobs ago. Cell reception went in and out all the time. I complained to the company, but it didn’t do any good.”

“I don’t think it’ll do any good here either,” he said with a chuckle, although hard lines slashed across his expression.

At each intersection Slade slowed to a crawl, until he discovered if it was clear. Four blocks away he saw a group of soldiers checking some building they had to pass.

“Get down, Ellie, and stay down until I tell you it’s safe.”

She didn’t question him, but as they traveled past the men, she felt as if her heart were going to leap out of her body. She was sure they could hear her pulse thumping against her temples, the noise proclaiming to the world she was hiding in the truck.

“That was too close for comfort,” he said when they made it without anyone stopping them. “You can get up now.”

She straightened, her grip on the door handle so tight that pain streaked up her arm. “This morning makes you appreciate the good ole U.S.A. Wait until my roommate hears about this. It reminds me of that time last year—”

“Last year!” His head whipped around. “You were in a revolution last year? I thought this was your first revolution.”

“Yes, of course it is. Last year I was racing to the airport to make my flight.”

“Oh, now I see the similarity.” He looked back at the road in time to swerve the truck, barely missing a donkey grazing on the grass growing between the cracks of the pavement.

Now that they were outside the capital, Slade picked up speed, his gaze alert, his body tense. Glancing up at the sun, then at his watch, he frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Her tension honed to a sharp edge, and her grasp on the door handle strengthened even more.

“I don’t know if we’re going to make it.”

“Well, if your plane is gone, we can get on the next one out. The airline I flew down on had several planes out during the day. And boy, besides a shower, I could use something to eat. I hope they have a decent meal on the flight. Once I was on a plane that I think served leather as the meat entree even though they denied it. Do you think an airline would admit to doing—”

“Ellie!”

Her gaze flew to his face and their eyes locked for a brief moment.

“The airport is up ahead. There’s a good chance it will be closed by one of the groups vying for power. Some soldiers shoot and ask questions later. I need you to do as I say.”

He was using his patient voice, and Ellie almost saluted him but with a great effort resisted the urge. “Just because I haven’t been in a revolution before doesn’t mean I can’t follow directions.”

Right before they left the truck on the side of the road to walk the rest of the way to the airport, she fingered the brooch inside her skirt pocket for good luck. She felt much better touching the cool metal and remembering the serene expression that had always seemed to be on her grandmother’s face when she had dealt with a difficult situation. This definitely would count as a difficult situation, Ellie thought, and hoped she managed to have half the serenity her grandmother had.

They made it to the fence at the runway without anyone seeing them. Squatting down in the tall grass, Slade assessed the situation. Quickly examining the planes, he searched for his company jet.

“You know, another thing I hate about airlines,” Ellie said, her nerves stretched so tautly she thought they would snap. “If you aren’t on time, they often give away your seat and they make such a big deal when you demand another one just because you were a few minutes late. Once I was—”

“I don’t think we need to worry about that. The plane is gone.”

“It can’t be!” Panic shook her voice.

“Get up slowly and put your hands on the fence,” a soldier with rifle trained on them ordered.

CHAPTER 3

“Oh, my gosh, there are bars on the window! This is an
airport
.” Ellie rubbed her arm where the soldier had held her tightly. She was sure she was bruised; she bruised so easily. “I know that airports are taking their security more seriously nowadays, but bars? I feel like a prisoner.”

“You are. Where we’re going there’ll be bars on the door, too.” Slade surveyed the small room the soldier had shoved them into, after taking the duffel bag and their identifications. Frustration evident in the deep lines that carved his face, he tried the sturdy door, pulling on its knob as if that would magically open it.

Twisting her hands together, Ellie did her own inventory of their prison. There was one window with bars and one door, locked. She had heard it click into place as though a judge had pronounced their sentence without even bothering to try them, which in their situation might be the case. Her nerves were jingling, and her heart was beating so fast she was afraid she would faint.

She needed to concentrate on something else--anything to take her mind off their quickly deteriorating predicament. “What do you think this room is used for? It certainly isn’t decorated well. I had an apartment like this once and boy did I spend time and money on it. I would paint these walls a cool, light blue. And this furniture is junkyard material, if that. Now if—”

“Ellie!”

She stopped her chattering and looked at Slade. Chewing on her lower lip to keep it from quivering, she fingered her brooch, which was supposed to bring her good luck. It hadn’t been doing its job lately. “I talk when I’m nervous, and since I prefer not to dwell on our dire situation, I thought the decor was a safer subject.”

Slade laughed. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.” He took her hand and drew her into his arms, holding her close to him.

For a long moment, she listened to the pounding of his heart that was a shade slower than hers. She tried to draw strength from the comfort of his embrace. But all the horror stories she had heard about prisons in foreign countries flooded her mind, and her fear escalated even more, which she hadn’t thought possible. She leaned back and stared into his eyes. “What are we going to do? That soldier didn’t look too happy to find us.” The understatement of the year, she silently added, remembering the brief time she thought the man was going to shoot them and leave them to rot by the fence.

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, we’d better do it fast. I doubt he’ll be gone too much longer. I’m sure he’s informing his commander right now who he has as prisoners.”

“If we could just get that door unlocked.” She tried her best to keep her voice as calm as possible, but it came out in a squeak. She began to imagine what Mr. Martinez would do to her when he found out she was here. If only she didn’t have such a vivid imagination, she might not be quaking so badly.

“Fresh out of keys. Maybe there’s something we can use in the room.” Slade made another quick scan of the area. “I’ve got it.” He scooted a chair under the light and stood on the wooden seat to unscrew the bulb from its socket. Jumping down, he smashed the light on the table.

Ellie watched in stunned silence, wondering if their predicament had finally sent him over the edge. “Don’t tell me. You’re going to attack the guard with the broken light bulb when he comes in. I guess when you’re desperate anything looks possible, but truthfully, Slade, I don’t think that will work.”

He shot her a disgruntled look as he went about picking the lock using the filament from the bulb.

“Where did you learn that?”

“Around.”

“Is that your stock answer?”

He shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I think I saw it on a TV show.”

“And they say you can’t learn anything from television.”

Slade eased the door open an inch and checked the reception room. “All clear. Our guard is gone.”

“Probably gone off to tell his buddies about the great time he had giving me a body search. That was probably his highlight for the year.” Ellie shivered again as she recalled the soldier’s clammy hands as they had run over her body, checking her for heaven knows what in places a person couldn’t hide a weapon.

Swinging the door wider, Slade hurried to the desk, stuffed their passports into the duffel bag, then grabbed it. “Ready?”

Ellie nodded, her throat tightening at the prospect of what might be on the other side of the outer door.