Deadly Race (6 page)

They managed to make it outside without being seen. They hid behind a stack of cargo boxes while Slade inspected the area.

“I wish that soldier hadn’t taken your cell. We could call for help.”

“Who are we going to call?”

“The United States government. We’re taxpayers--well, you are, I’m sure. What I pay doesn’t amount to much, but--”

“Remember I tried making a call. It didn’t surprise me there was no reception. I’d take out communications if I was taking over a country.”

“If they aren’t allowing any planes to take off, then how are we going to get off this island?” Ellie asked, not feeling much hope as she watched more trucks filled with soldiers approach the airport.

“For starters, I’m not going to waltz up to them and ask permission to leave. Something tells me they won’t give it.” His survey stopped. “But I am going to borrow one of their planes. They can pick it up in Puerto Rico.”

“You’re a pilot?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, good,” she said with a sigh. “Because all I know is that airplanes use gas to make them go. They are kinda like cars, aren’t they?”

“Kinda,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well, if they need gas, how will you know which one has gas in it?”

He took her hand. “I won’t until I’m in it.”

Her eyes rounded. “Then we could run out of gas up there.” She pointed toward the sky, the prospects suddenly making her body leaden as if it could hug the ground.

“Yep. Afraid so. Once we make a commitment, I doubt they’ll allow us to shop for a different plane with more gas.” Standing, he pulled her toward a plane that was parked away from the others and near the runway, its engines warming.

“But—”

A shout behind them cut off her protest. They were committed now to using the plane, whether it had gas or not. At the twin-engine aircraft Slade shoved Ellie unceremoniously into the cockpit, then dove in behind her. Quickly situating himself behind the wheel, he glanced over the instrument panel.

As he guided the plane out onto the runway, Ellie saw a Jeep behind and to the side of them, racing toward them. Two soldiers raised their rifles and began firing. She instinctively ducked as the sound blasted the air near her.
Yes, it is possible to be so scared that your body goes numb, your mind turning to mush
. She gripped the seat, wishing this were one experience she could do without.

“Let’s see if this little baby can outrun them. I think we’ll forgo a run up.”

“A run up?” she squeaked out as another bullet shattered a hole in the side window by her and came so close she felt the air stir about her ear. She threw herself on the floor.

“A final check of the plane at the end of the runway.”

Ellie inched up to glance back at the soldiers pursuing them. “I can live with that,” she said as they began to pick up speed.

She squeezed her eyes closed as the plane rushed toward the end of the runway. She still heard shots being fired, but everything faded from her consciousness except the fact they were almost off the ground. She hated planes. The smaller they were the more afraid she was, a piece of information she hadn’t thought important when they were running for their lives. A fact at the moment, however, that was very important when the beat of her heart thumped so loudly against her rib cage that it drowned out all other sounds, and her palms were so sweaty that she couldn’t hold onto the seat anymore.

“You can open your eyes now. We’re off the ground.”

“Are you sure?” All she could think about was what she had read somewhere—that most airplane crashes happened during takeoff.

“Very.”

His laugh caused her to ease one eyelid up halfway and peer out the side window. Sucking in a deep breath, she opened her eyes completely and released a huge sigh. “I guess we’re safe now that we’ve taken off. How much gas do we have?”

“Enough.”

“For what?”

“To get us to Puerto Rico. We’re fine now that we’re away from the airport and the capital. We will have to fly across the island though. That’s the shortest route to safety.”

“I’ll never be so glad to see American soil. I think I’ll kiss the ground when we land. Next time I leave the country, I’ll make sure the place is so tranquil that the most exciting thing to happen will be the sun setting. I love to travel, but this is it.”

“I can see where this might dampen your urge to see the world.”

Ellie made the mistake of looking out the window at the mountainous terrain below them. They were so high up! She diverted her gaze and stared at his profile. “You know, this reminds me of the time I was in London and I visited the estate of Lord Sommerfield. Oh, was that a divine place to spend a weekend.” She twisted her hands together in her lap and concentrated on telling her story. She had to do something to distract her from looking out the window at the ground far below. “He had the cutest little garden with one of those mazes in it. I got lost and they had to come in and rescue me. What an embarrassing, frightful day that was! I tell you, I wouldn’t care to relive that.”

“Excuse me, Ellie,” Slade said, slanting a glance at her, his eyes dancing with amusement. “I’m curious as to how this reminds you of an estate in England.”

“Lord Sommerfield had an old plane he loved to go up in and give aerial tours of his estate,” she said as if the connection was obvious.

“Oh, of course, now I see.”

“Well, to make a long story short, no amount of persuading on Hodgey’s part could get me in that plane. I knew how hard it was to get me on the big one that flew me to London.”

“Hodgey?”

“Lord Sommerfield. He was most disappointed that I wouldn’t go flying with him. He didn’t have your form of persuasion.”

“And what’s that?”

“Bullets flying at you. That’s the only thing that would get me into a small plane.”

His chuckle was low, warm. “How do you fly on those big ones, as you say?”

“I don’t sit by the window where I can see out, for one thing. I also take a sleeping pill before takeoff, then I put my eyeshades on and listen to tranquil music. It takes all my willpower to visualize myself anywhere but thousands of feet above the earth. Somehow I usually manage, because I do love to see new places and traveling by air is sometimes the only way I can get there. For the longest time that was a dilemma of mine, until I came up with this routine that works pretty well.”

She stopped talking, her gaze fixed on the smile that lit his face, the warmth in his green eyes that caressed her features. She swallowed hard and could think of nothing else to say. Silence reigned in the
small
airplane except for the sound of its engines, a silence that was eroding her composure even more than bullets flying at her.

Slowly thoughts returned and because she began to think about their situation again she wished they hadn’t. “How far is it before we leave the island behind?”

“This mountain range and we’re home free.”

To take her mind off the fact that once they left the island behind they still had miles and miles of sea to fly over, Ellie laid her head back against the seat cushion and studied Slade. Again she was struck with how handsome he was. The vivid green of his eyes stood out against his dark features and was what drew her attention to his face first. What kept her looking at him, though, was his dynamic combination of strength and intelligence.

His black hair curled loosely about his head. She had a strong urge to run her fingers through it; she clasped her hands tighter together in her lap. Her impulsive streak had gotten her into this awful mess. She certainly didn’t need to complicate it anymore than it already was by becoming attracted to this man. Of course, she strongly suspected it was too late. Hard not to be when he’d saved her life, but when they landed on U.S. soil, she’d be able to put this “adventure” behind her--and Slade Calvert, because she wasn’t blind. They came from two different worlds.

“Next to your name, I know practically nothing about you,” Ellie said, trying not to think about Slade’s physical appeal. Boy, she would like to roll down the window like in a car and get some much-needed fresh air inside. She felt hot and she knew it didn’t have anything to do with the temperature in the cockpit.

“I own a computer company in Boston.”

“You own the company? I thought you worked at one.”

“I do work at it. Practically every day for ten or twelve hours. How about you? Where do you live when you’re not traveling?”

He flashed her a smile, packed with a compelling male charm that Ellie knew could be dangerous to her peace of mind. “New York.” Thank goodness they would be in Puerto Rico in a few hours and she could go her merry way.

“You said you were a governess. I must admit you don’t seem the type.”

Again his gaze slid to her, just a brief touch but electrifying anyway. “Type? What type is that?” she asked, knowing exactly what he’d meant. More than once she’d had trouble with that notion when she had gone to a job interview. She had learned to play down all her physical attributes in order to get the assignment.

He laughed. “I think you know. You’re one good looking lady.”

She actually blushed at the compliment and made the mistake of glancing out the window. They were flying awfully low, which should comfort her since the ground wasn’t so far away, but in this case she wasn’t relieved one bit. A mountain loomed before them, tall, menacing. Automatically she squeezed her eyes shut and looked away.

“I love children. Being a governess has given me the opportunity to do some traveling I wouldn’t have been able to afford. I work with an elite service in New York City that specializes in filling wealthy clients’ temporary needs. I’m sorta like a temp worker in an office.” She didn’t particularly want to talk about her being a governess, which might lead to a discussion of Mr. Martinez, a man she definitely wanted to forget. “Are you married?” she asked the first thing that popped into her mind.

“Married?” Slade asked, surprised.

“I was just wondering. The best catches are always taken.”

His astonished gaze riveted to hers. “Are you fishing?”

“Me! Heavens no!” She waved her hand as though to dismiss the subject. “Just curious.”

“No, I’m not married. I was caught once, though.”

“Divorced?”

He nodded.

Something inside of Ellie relaxed, and she was amazed by her reaction to the fact the man was free, free to pursue other relationships. Oh, my, the temperature in the airplane was soaring. She fanned her face but that did little to cool her heated cheeks. “I’m sorry about that,” she said, trying to alleviate the strained silence that had descended.

“Don’t be. It was for the best.” His words were clipped, his expression hardened.

“I find subjects to avoid are politics, religion and ex-spouses. So tell me about your—”

An explosion rocked the plane. Ellie gripped the seat and looked out her side window, praying it wasn’t one of the engines blowing up. It wasn’t, much to her horror. Another shell exploded near her, and she jumped back, nearly into Slade’s lap.

“Someone’s shooting at us!” she shouted above the noise.

A shell hit the plane, jerking Ellie forward. They were in the middle of the last group of mountains before the sea. They had been so close to freedom. Now, though, it didn’t matter. The plane started losing altitude—quickly, and Ellie’s stomach plunged right along with it.

“Tell me we aren’t going to crash,” she said, her eyes wide.

“We aren’t going to crash.” Slade spared her a glance. “Do you feel better now?”

“No.” She watched Slade scanning the terrain below while he tried to steer the gliding plane to a safer place to land than into the side of a mountain.

Ellie braced herself as their means of transportation descended rapidly toward the blanket of green trees that covered the valley nestled between the mountains. Terror forced everything from her mind except her survival instinct. She wouldn’t let Mr. Martinez have the last word; she was sure getting tired of running for her life in the past thirty-six hours. Now, she was fighting mad. She made sure she was strapped into the seat, then leaned over and covered her head with her arms. She began to pray as she never had before.

When the jarring impact with the treetops came, even with her preparations Ellie wasn’t really prepared. There was so much she hadn’t done. She didn’t have anyone who really cared if she died here. She made it a practice never to stay in any one place for long. New York, her so-called home, was only a temporary base between assignments, she thought, as the belly of the plane grazed over the trees and plunged down into the wall of green.

Sounds—the crunch of metal, the shattering of glass, the scrape of branches—filled her mind until something struck the back of her head and blissful darkness calmed the terror.

* * *

Moan.

Ellie wasn’t sure who moaned, herself or Slade. But the sound meant she was alive. Painfully alive. She was instantly aware of a throb pulsating between her temples, threatening to push her back into the black void of unconsciousness.

She took a deep breath and slowly, inch by inch, raised her head, placing her hand out to steady herself. She was seated almost upright, but could feel she was cocked at an angle. She finally opened her eyes, almost afraid to look. The plane was suspended partway in a tree, supported for the time being by its massive branches. They were sitting at a precarious slant that she realized could change at any moment.