Honor (45 page)

Linc and Kenzie looked at each other.

“The box is open. Take one for her and one for yourself. And come out before I blow up that house.”

A pause.

Kenzie dodged around him to the box and yanked out a vest before Linc could stop her. She pulled out another for him, clawing off the plastic bags.

A bullet smashed into the door frame.

One in ten. No way to tell the bad from the good.

Kenzie struggled into hers. It was loose on her. She fumbled with the side clasps.

“Got ’em on?” the jeering voice asked.

A second bullet hit, an inch above the first. Kehoe was a marksman.

“Tick-tick-tick.”

Linc took a last desperate look around for a remote activator. It could be behind the square of light.

“You’re running out of time.”

Kenzie thrust the other vest at him. “Just put the damn thing on!”

She had snapped out of her trance. Cursing was a good sign.

Linc pulled out his gun. “Hold this.”

She took it from him. “Got an ammo clip?”

“No. Just what’s in it.” He snapped the vest open and dragged it over his head, then fastened it. He took the gun back from her and stuck it into the back of his jeans.

Linc moved to the open doorway to show himself.

He knew Kehoe was above them, close enough to hit his targets with accuracy.

No bullets. No comments.

“What now?” Kenzie said softly.

He turned his head to the side to talk to her. “I shoot out the two spotlights over us, we run to the rock wall.”

“Up to the catwalks?”

“If we can get there.”

A third bullet hit the door frame. Linc jumped back. He blinked and brushed pulverized fake mud from his face.

Kenzie gave him a fast once-over. “He missed.”

Linc kept her behind him while he craned his neck, trying to get a better look at the catwalks. There was a dark flash of movement. Kehoe was changing position, setting up for his next shots.

“Say when,” Kenzie muttered.

One long stride took Linc to the doorway. He took aim but the lights blinded him. He missed a few shots, then made two. The spotlights shattered into sparks and went black.

“Now!”

He stuck the gun into his pants and grabbed her hand. They stumbled over the cratered path. Kehoe opened fire and missed again. Kenzie tripped and went down. Linc yanked her up.

Another shot rang out. The impact knocked Kenzie from his grip and left her rolling in the dust, stunned and gasping. He bent down and felt her legs for fresh blood, then her torso. Nothing. His hands slipped under the vest. Still nothing. The vest had taken the hit, not her. They’d picked one good one. That was something.

His vest—open question. Linc knew it was a matter of time until he was shot. A psychopath like Kehoe would want him to see Kenzie get hurt first.

Cold fury flooded him. He swept her up in his arms and carried her at a dead run to the rock wall. Kenzie had a few seconds to get her breath back. She twisted free the second they got there, grabbing the first handhold and heading up.

“Go for it,” he muttered. He was right behind her, then to the side. Halfway up. Three-quarters. The darkness helped.

They reached the top of the wall and hauled themselves up and over onto a catwalk, lying flat.

Kenzie lifted her head and cursed. Linc looked where she was staring and saw Vic Kehoe. The other man smiled.

The rifle he’d used to take potshots at them was slung over his back. There was a .357 in his hand.

“Who wants to go first?” he asked nastily.

Linc put his hand over Kenzie’s. He could hear her raw-throated breathing. She’d swallowed dust when she hit the path. His heart banged in his chest.

The catwalk creaked. Kehoe took a shooting stance. “Answer me.” The barrel of the big gun moved from Kenzie to Linc.

They said nothing. Linc squeezed her hand.

“You must want to die together. Okay.”

He kept the gun on them and took a step back. Linc saw a control console. Kehoe pushed a button on it.

There was a clanking sound. The mobile prison was coming up.

Kenzie looked down at the slowly rising box. So did Linc. It settled with a jerk at their level.

“Let go of her,” Kehoe snarled.

Linc released her hand and looked up.

“Now get up. One by one. You first,” he said to Kenzie.

She got on her knees, then all the way up, clumsily.

Kehoe pointed the gun at the open door of the prison.

“Inside. Be a good girl. Get in a corner.”

She obeyed. Linc hadn’t reached for his gun. He figured he had two bullets left. But he couldn’t kill Kehoe without risking Kenzie’s life. The other man was too close and too accurate.

He wasn’t wearing body armor, but it didn’t matter. Kenzie would die before Linc could shoot.

“Now you.”

Linc rose slowly, keeping his hands up.

“Look down,” Kehoe said. He cocked the trigger. “Do it.”

Linc bowed his head. So he would be first. He didn’t care, not if it gave her a chance to escape.

“See that? Look harder. Right below you.”

There was something on the dusty cement floor that hadn’t been there on his first trip to the SKC playpen. He squinted. It looked like two gas cans. Plastic. One red, one yellow.

“Tell me what that is, Bannon.”

“An IED.” Otherwise known as an improvised explosive device. Kehoe was a munitions expert.

“Wrapped tight and rigged right,” the other man boasted. “That thing can take the roof off this building. Want to know how it works?”

“Sure.” Keep him talking. Maybe Kenzie would find a way to escape. Linc hoped so.

“Two cans, two volatile liquids. No det cord, no activator. Ignites on impact.”

“How?”

“Chemical reaction when both cans get pierced. Like a juice box.” He looked at Linc’s impassive face. “Yeah, it’s that easy.” He started talking faster, moving Linc backward. “All plastic too. No one can find those suckers. Except for maybe a dog.”

Kehoe got him to the door of the prison.

“I used to build them and bury them just for the hell of it. I blamed it on the enemy if a soldier took a wrong step.”

Linc stepped in, meeting Kenzie’s steady green gaze.

“I’m going to drop you two right on it.”

He pushed him in. Linc fell hard to the smooth floor.

“Prepare for blastoff.” Kehoe took a last look at them both.

The door slammed. They heard the latch click.

The square of light in the wall came on.

He rolled over and crawled to Kenzie. She didn’t say anything. They both listened to the faint noises coming from outside.

The prison began to rock. Kehoe had to be moving it into position above the IED. The machinery of the crane creaked and groaned. They could feel it through the floor.

He sat up next to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

Kenzie rested her head against his arm. Her gaze moved up to the high corner.

“Did he take your gun?” she asked.

“No.” He felt for it and took it out. “Two shots left. I can blow off the latch with one and get him with the other. Worth a try.”

“Linc—” She pointed up to a corner. “That’s a camera.”

He looked. “So?”

“If you miss, I don’t want his eyes on me when I die.”

“He’s not looking now. And you’re not going to die.”

“Lift me up,” she begged.

“Why?”

“Just do it. And give me your gun.”

“Kenzie—”

“I’m not going to shoot!”

He understood. She took it by the barrel and Linc hoisted her onto his shoulder. He swayed with the force of her movement as she slammed the end of the heavy grip into the lens, holding on to her legs with his eyes closed as fine shards of glass flew outward.

They both looked at the damage as he let her slide down his body. Broken, the hidden camera dangled from the cracked lens.

He took the gun back and a second later the door to the prison swung open. They looked at each other in stunned silence.

It had to be a trick.

They stayed where they were. Then Kenzie moved forward. Linc dragged her back.

He held her so she couldn’t move. She didn’t fight him. He noticed that the noise of the machinery had stopped.

The silence became unbearable.

“Stay here,” he whispered. “One way or another, I’m taking him down. You run for it.”

She nodded.

He rose to a crouch and moved to the door. Linc maneuvered so he could see. His field of vision was cut by the half-open door.

Kenzie was on her feet but staying in the corner. He waved at her to remain there. There was still no sound from outside.

He edged into a different position and saw Kehoe in front of the console.

“Come on out,” Kehoe said, glancing his way. His fingers hovered, moving in the air, about to press a button that would send the mobile prison hurtling down. He’d put on a bulletproof vest. SKC make. Not defective, Linc guessed. Playing his evil game to the end.

He didn’t see the rifle or Kehoe’s handgun.

Linc kept his gun out of sight, watching Kehoe’s fingers play in the air as his head bobbed. He was humming under his breath.

Head or hand. Which? A bullet to the head might slam Kehoe forward, the weight of his body pressing the buttons. A bullet to the hand would be wasted. He could hit the console with the other.

Then Kehoe turned, his hypnotic gaze moving past Linc to Kenzie. “Ready to die, bitch?”

Linc heard her draw a breath. It wasn’t going to be her last. He aimed between Kehoe’s eyes and fired.

A gush of blood sprayed over the catwalk. The shot reverberated against the metal ceiling, deafening him. Vic Kehoe fell backward, just missing the console and toppling over the low railing of the catwalk.

Toward the bomb below.

Linc had a split second to shut the door and throw Kenzie down before it exploded. He curled around her.

The shock wave hit. The door banged open again. He lost his grip and slammed into the opposite wall.

He heard her urgent voice. Linc couldn’t open his eyes.

“Wake up. Don’t die, Linc. I love you. Don’t you dare die.”

Somehow he found the strength to smile.

He couldn’t talk either. His tongue felt thick. The words wouldn’t come.

Something hot and wet fell on his face. Drops of something. Blood? A single drop hit his swollen mouth. He tasted it. Not blood. A tear.

Kenzie leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Oh man.

He was alive. He struggled to speak. Three little words. Nope. One too many. He tried for two.

“Love you.”

C
HAPTER
25

Several weeks later ...

J
im Biggers looked down at the puppy playing tug-of-war with one of his bootlaces. “Quit it,” he growled, gently shaking it off.

The puppy yapped and scampered away, bumping into Truck’s furry side and bouncing off. The big dog didn’t bat an eye, but he raised his head when he heard a car door slam outside. Another puppy tumbled off his back as he got up.

Jim rose too, looking out the window.

“She’s here,” he announced, throwing down his pencil.

In another minute Kenzie and Linc walked in. One of the puppies ran to her and she squatted down to say hi. “Oh my gosh. You are so cute!”

“I can’t compete,” Jim grumbled to Linc.

The puppy yapped and ran away. Kenzie went around to the other side of the desk to kiss her boss on the cheek. “Sorry.”

Jim grinned. “You’re forgiven. How are you doing, Linc?”

He’d noticed that the younger man was still limping. There wasn’t any need to mention it specifically.

“Better every day, thanks. How did Truck get stuck with babysitting?”

“I promised him half a steak,” Jim said. “He fell for it.”

An eager puppy chomped down hard on Truck’s ear, then put his head and paws down in play position, wagging his stubby tail.

“Poor Truck,” Kenzie said sympathetically. She looked back to Jim. “Why are they here? I mean, they’re cute but way too young to start with us.”

“Merry Jenkins is fostering them for me. But she’s gone for the next two days, so I have them. It’s been fun. I’m seeing plenty of potential.” He glanced at the floor, frowning. “And a few puddles.”

He unrolled several sheets from the paper towel dispenser on his desk and let them drift to the floor. A puppy pounced on the white stuff and dragged it away.

Jim rolled his eyes. He unrolled more paper towels, and this time he put his boot down on them.

“I can’t wait to come back full-time,” Kenzie said.

“When you’re ready. Not a minute before,” Jim said sternly. “Everything’s under control. No rush.”

Linc looked down. “Am I seeing things?”

A tiny kitten was clawing its way up his jeans.

Jim harrumphed. “That’s a stray. Buddy and Wells started feeding it, and now it won’t go away.”

“Aww,” Kenzie exclaimed. “It’s adorable.”

Linc detached the kitten from his front pocket and held it up. The warmth of his hands calmed it, but only for a minute. The kitten stared at him, bug-eyed, then batted at his nose. “Doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything.”

“Reminds me of Kenzie. I guess I’ll have to keep it. So where are you two headed?”

Linc put the kitten down. Tiny tail waving, it sauntered between Truck’s furry legs. The dog didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh—out and about,” Kenzie said.

She and Linc exchanged a look. “You tell him,” he said.

“We stopped by to see Christine first. You were next on the list.”

“Beg pardon? What list?”

“Friends and family.” Kenzie stretched out her left hand and wiggled her fingers. An oval diamond set in platinum caught the sun.

Jim’s eyes widened.

“Way to go.” He beamed at both of them. “That’s one hell of a rock. You didn’t waste any time.” He gave Linc a nod of masculine approval. “So when’s the big day?”

“We haven’t decided,” Kenzie answered.

She didn’t want to say that they were keeping a low profile for as long as possible. The media furor over SKC had died down, but they were helping with the ongoing investigation.