Her Enemy Protector (30 page)

“Mr. Ferrare said not to move unless he personally told me to,” the guard responded, obviously disoriented.

Whatever. Joe was close enough now to reach around and grab the guy’s gun, which he did. A quick twist, a jab with his fist to his gut to double him over and Joe smashed the gun down on the back of the guy’s head.

He raced into Cari’s room, slipping in low and spinning to the side. No movement. He didn’t feel her presence, either. He cleared the room fast, spinning into her closet and bathroom, too. But there was no sign of her. Dammit! Where was she? He didn’t have time to go roaming all over the house looking for her. The clock was ticking! Nine minutes to go.

He sprinted back into the hall and down the stairs. Adrenaline had suddenly done wonders for his mobility and his pain factor.

The balcony! Of course. Cari was already outside. Praise the Lord.

Joe ducked into the TV room as a couple of men charged by. He’d head for Eduardo’s office and slip outside through the French doors there. He’d have to find Cari on the grounds of the estate and hook up with her out there.

It took him several precious minutes to make his way unseen to Eduardo’s office. The men were starting to retrace their tracks, starting to slow down and apply their brains instead of running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

He stepped into the white room. And lurched violently as a shadow rose from one of the armchairs. He reached for his pistol, but the figure turned enough for him to make out the. 45 revolver in the guy’s hand. It was pointed straight at him. Joe heard a click. And froze.

Out of the thick shadows, a male voice said, “I thought you might be passing through this way.”

Damn. Eduardo.

Cari ducked under the oleanders beside Gunter. “What’s going on in there?” she whispered. The house and grounds had just gone pitch-black, and men were shouting like crazy inside.

Gunter murmured back, “I’d say your boy has pulled a miracle out of his hat. Obviously, he’s done something to the power supply.”

“Why hasn’t the emergency generator kicked on?” she replied.

She felt Gunter’s shrug. “He either disabled it or cut the power wires down line. He’ll be heading outside fairly soon. I imagine he’ll go upstairs looking for you, first. When he discovers you’re gone, he’ll come out here. We’ll wait right here for him to emerge.”

She nodded, grateful not to have to sneak around anymore. She was out of breath, and shadows were flitting back and forth inside the house. Gunter studied the house carefully beside her.

“Your husband could use a little help, I think. Why don’t you call that phone number of yours and see if a little diversion could be staged at the edge of the grounds? Something loud that would pull a bunch of men outside.”

“Uh, good idea.” She fumbled with the cell phone and hit the Redial button. She winced as the electronic beeping sound sounded like a full-blown marching band.

“Go,” a voice snapped in her ear.

She whispered frantically, “This is Cari. Joe could use a diversion. Uh, something loud to draw men out of the house. Like, over by one of the fence lines.”

“What’s going on? The lights just went out,” Folly demanded, all business.

“We’re not sure. We think Joe knocked out the power. He’s still inside. I’m outside already.”

“Hide, Miss Ferrare, on the beach side of the house and don’t move. You’ve got your diversion.”

“That’s where I am. And, thank you,” she whispered.

The line went dead.

In a matter of seconds, the sounds of gunfire erupted on the west side of the house. The effect was startling. There was utter silence inside the house for a couple of seconds and then all hell broke loose. Men streamed out of the house like angry fire ants, rushing toward the sounds of gunfire.

A movement inside the now-still house caught Cari’s attention. “Gunter. Look!” She pointed at Eduardo’s office.

The French doors burst open like something heavy had just slammed into them and a pair of men grappled in the doorway. Joe and Eduardo.

Gunter swore beside her and stood up. She jumped to her feet next to him. As the German took off running, she did, too. “We’ve got to help him!” she cried.

Gunter yelled back, “I swore I’d protect your father’s life. I can’t let Joe kill him!”

Stunned, she chased after the German, who accelerated away from her. No! She couldn’t let Joe get this close to making it, only to have Gunter kill him now!

They sprinted past the swimming pool. Gunter had almost reached the two men. She had to do something, fast!

She gathered herself and took a flying leap. She lay out full length in midair, sailing toward Gunter.
Please, God, let me not be too late!
Gunter’s hand reached inside his coat for his gun. And a split second later, she came crashing down on the back of his knees. She wrapped her arms around Gunter’s ankles and held on with all her strength. The German went sprawling and his gun flew up into the air in a wide arc, landing somewhere in the bushes by the dining room.

Joe and Eduardo’s arms were locked over their heads, their chests butting up against one another. She could see the rage in both of their eyes. Only one of them was walking away from this fight alive. Joe kneed Eduardo hard, and the bigger man grunted. He fell back from Joe but came up in a half crouch. A knife glittered in his hand.

“Knife!” she screamed.

Joe didn’t acknowledge her by so much as a flicker of his eyelashes. But aloud, he grunted, “Get out of here, Cari. Run. Down toward the beach. Get away from the house!”

Eduardo attacked and she screamed again. She clambered to her feet and gathered herself to jump into the fight when something big and heavy slammed into her, flattening her against the ground. The air whooshed out of her, leaving her gasping. Gunter stared down at her. “Eduardo will kill you, too. Stay out of this.”

“You’re not going to stay out of it,” she snarled, a tigress defending her mate. “
I’m
bloody well not going to, either.”

Cari and Gunter struggled to their feet, each doing their best to hold the other back. Eduardo took a swing at Joe. He sucked in his gut and dodged the blow.

“Get her out of here, Gunter!” Joe grunted. “I wired the house. It’ll blow any second.”

Gunter’s hands froze, Cari’s wrists trapped in his unbreakable grip. She looked up at him and saw terrible indecision dancing on his face.

“Go, Gunter!” Joe roared as Eduardo swung at him again.

Joe stepped in and grabbed Eduardo’s arm, twisting up and away. But Eduardo broke the grip.

Her father was a renowned street fighter. He’d fought his way to the top of the food chain in back-alley fights just like this. He took another vicious swipe at Joe, who yet again managed to elude the swing.

Gunter looked up at the house towering overhead. And then down at her. He glanced over at the two men locked in mortal combat and then seemed to reach a decision. He kept his hold on her wrist but began dragging her away from the two men.

“No!” she shouted at him. “Let me help him!”

“You’ll help him most by getting out of here so he doesn’t have to worry about you!” Gunter growled back. “He knows what he’s doing.”

She gave in reluctantly and ran beside Gunter all the way to the tall fence down by the beach. They paused while Gunter tried to open the lock. Nada. The power had been cut, and the electronic mechanism failed to a locked position.

She looked over her shoulder to see how Joe was faring when, without warning, a tremendous flash of light erupted from the west wing of the house. For a brief fraction of a second, Joe and her father were silhouetted in the doorway, locked together in combat, two unyielding foes matched to the death.

Gunter leaped at her, throwing her to the ground just as an earsplitting explosion let loose. The blast wave slammed into her like a freight train, driving sand against her face like shards of glass.

A second tremendous boom rocked the night, and debris flew all around them. It looked like a giant tornado had struck, flinging the house behind her in a million directions at once.

She shoved up to her elbows. Where the house had stood was nothing but a blazing inferno. The heat scalded her skin so intensely it felt as if her hair might spontaneously combust.

Joe! He was in there, somewhere! She had to find him. Get him out of there!

Gunter pulled at her, trying to drag her away from the fire as she struggled toward it. “Cari, you can’t do anything for him now,” Gunter yelled over the roar of the blaze. “Nobody could have survived that. He’s gone.”

She stumbled backward over the mangled remains of the iron fence. Fell to her knees in the sand. And knelt there, too horrified to stand, watching her entire life go up in smoke.

A man ran down the beach toward them. Gunter spun around and dropped to one knee in the sand, reaching for his ankle. Cari looked listlessly over her shoulder and roused herself enough to call out, “That’s Colonel Folly from Charlie Squad.”

At the last second, before the two men shot each other, Gunter yanked his weapon up out of the way and pointed it at the sky. Folly did the same. Gunter laid his weapon in the sand and knelt, clasping his hands behind his head.

“Are you all right?” the colonel asked her briefly as he slapped plastic handcuffs on the German.

She nodded miserably.

“I’m sorry,” Folly muttered at her, his voice sounding nearly as choked up as she felt. “There’s no way they made it out of that.”

She closed her eyes as grief tore through her for the second time in one evening. She’d thought losing Julia was going to kill her, but that had been a pale shadow compared to this. Her heart had been ripped out this time. Her lungs, liver and stomach had been torn out of her as well. Her very
soul
had been destroyed.

Another man jogged down the beach and stopped in front of Colonel Folly. “The survivors have surrendered, sir. The Gavronese Army has them under armed guard.”

Folly gave a short nod. And then the black-haired, blue-eyed man turned beside his boss to stare morosely into the inferno.

A few minutes later, a third man came running down the beach from the other direction. He, too, stopped in front of the colonel. They spoke briefly, but Cari didn’t pay any attention to their short conversation.

Joe was gone. Everything she was and ever would be was gone with him.

A small explosion sent another round of flaming debris sailing up into the black night. How could a sky so beautiful look down on a scene of such utter devastation? Surely, the moon and stars should be hiding their faces and weeping in grief, as well.

And then something caught her attention over by the swimming pool. Something big and black had just floated up to the edge. It rolled out onto the concrete. Stood up. Dragged something large and heavy out of the pool.

She took a step forward.

Could it be?

She took several more steps toward the blazing heat. And then took off running. A man had just climbed out of the swimming pool. And he was tall. Lean. Built not like her father, but like…

Joe!

He stumbled toward her and she flung herself against him, nearly knocking him over in her frantic exultation.

“Easy, baby,” he mumbled.

“I thought I’d lost you. Oh, God, Joe. I love you. I don’t ever want to lose you. Please, just tell me you’ll give our marriage a real shot,” she babbled.

He laughed painfully. “Hello to you, too, princess.”

The other men were running toward them and Joe tensed in her arms. “It’s Charlie Squad,” she told him. “Everything’s under control. The rest of my father’s men have surrendered.”

Joe’s body went slack, but his arms stayed wrapped fiercely tight around her. “I love you, too,” he breathed. “I never want to lose you, either. Your sister’s alive—” he started.

She cut him off. “I know. I’ve already spoken with her on the phone.”

Joe’s arms tightened around her. “About your father—”

She frowned up at him, belatedly remembering that he’d been in the doorway with Joe when the house blew.

“He was between me and the house. Took the brunt of the blast. Shielded me from the heat—”

“What are you saying?” She already knew, but she needed to hear the words aloud.

“Your father didn’t make it, sweetheart. He was thrown into the pool with me by the blast, and I pulled him out. He’s dead.”

A huge hollow opened up in her gut. Whether it was relief or grief or both she couldn’t tell. But then she looked up at Joe and let her love for him flow into her, filling the empty space.

“Are you all right?” she asked softly.

Joe nodded. After a moment he murmured, “About our marriage…”

She held her breath.

“I’m game if you are.”

She laughed and squeezed him until he groaned. She loosened her grip hastily. “Oh, I’m game, all right,” she retorted. “You’re never going to get rid of me.”

He smiled down at her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, princess. I figure we’ve both earned happily ever after out of this.”

And as the sparks and ashes of her past drifted up into the night sky, they kissed. A single thought consumed her.
Happily ever after, indeed.