In the Shadow of Vengeance (20 page)

She broke the kiss and slipped off his lap. “Who is that?”

“Jared,” he said, cupping her chin as he stood. “And we are not done, Elizabeth.”

Opening the door, he yelled, “Give me a minute, asshole.” He slammed the flat of his hand on the door, making Elizabeth jerk back. He reached for her and gently tugged. “I'm not angry at you.”

“Yeah, you are.” She ran a hand over the back of her hair, pulling it into a ponytail. “Why is Jared here?”

“I need to say goodbye.”

“Which you are not doing.”

Before she could go into the hundred reasons why marrying her was the stupidest decision in his life, another thought hit her. Last night, it took them almost two hours to arrive at the cabin. “How long was I out?”

“A while.”

“Noah, are there marshals here beside Derek?” She couldn't keep the panic from her voice.

“Downstairs. They have been here for almost an hour. I told Derek if he tried to take you the way you were, he would have to kill me to get to you.”

“And the man who took me? Did he say who hired him?”

“He's dead. We didn't get a chance to interrogate him.”

Then that's it. Three attempts, three strikes. No answers.

She reached behind Noah and unlocked the door. “I'm not marrying you, not today, not ever as long as there is a price on my head.”

Before she could leave or Jared could barge inside, Noah slammed the door hard, re-locking it. “I get to have a say in this, damn it.”

“Not this time. You have no idea what you are asking.”

“Again, I'm not one of your kids. You don't get to make decisions for me.”

“No, you damn stupid jerk. I'm trying to keep you from making the worst mistake in your life.”

“Marrying you isn't stupid. It may be a little sudden, but this is an extreme situation. We could be good together, and I'm not allowing you to throw us away because you're scared.”

Elizabeth took a calming breath. There had to be a way to reach him. She took both of his hands and brought them to her lips. “What you are offering is the kindest, most generous thing anyone has ever offered me. It's not that I don't want to marry you. I can't.” She again pressed her lips to his knuckles.

“Elizabeth, please marry me.”

“You are making this so hard. I had to give up my family, and it was like ripping my heart out of my chest and stomping on it. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss them. Jared is your twin brother, identical twin.” She raised her chin and met his glare. “You could never see him again.”

“It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Contact with family members can be arranged.”

“Your family will become targets, Noah. As a cop, you know firsthand how vicious people like Mendoza and De Rousse can be.”

A deep sadness entered his expression. “I'll never relax knowing you and the kids are out there alone. Give us a chance. Our marriage will be a real one.”

“We spent one night together. Two weeks ago, you couldn't stand to be in the same room with me.”

He let out a sigh. “I was an idiot. If we had the time, I would wine and dine you until you fall hopelessly in love with us. You open this door and I'll never see you again. Aren't you a little curious where we could take last night?”

The memory would haunt her for years. But great sex, even with Noah McNeil, didn't erase the fear and violence she carried with her.

“Noah, you can walk away and, in time, find the real love of your life. If we go ahead with this crazy scheme, I see two scenarios. One, we both drop our walls and allow ourselves to fall for each other. We start believing we can live our lives like everyone else. One day out of the blue, they catch up to me, and I get to watch you die at my feet.”

“I won't let that happen.”

She raised her hands. “No, let me finish. The second scenario, what we shared last night runs its course. You begin to hate the life you have chosen and feel as trapped as I do, hating the way you are forced to live, but knowing there is no way out.” She dropped his hands and took a step back. “My heart can't take either of those scenarios. I may be making the biggest mistake in my life, but it's my mistake to make, and you need to let me go.”

“I can protect you—”

“As can the Marshals Service. We haven't had any problems in years.”

“And if they find you again?”

“We will be moved again. It's how we have to live, but it's not your life.” She kissed him gently on the lips, slipped around him, and opened the door.

Jared, his face as hard as a stone statue, blocked the doorway. The glare he gave her should have been powerful enough to turn her to dust.

“Talk some sense into your brother.”

She moved around him and came face to face with her priest. “Father Anthony, what are you doing here?”

Elizabeth had joined St. Luke's because the neighborhood had such a connection to the church. Saying that she was Catholic was one more lie on the list, and one she had hoped would be easily forgiven. Her kids spent time at St. Luke's and loved Father Anthony. She kept her distance from the priest because he seemed to know she was one big fake.

“Jared asked me to come. I understand there is going to be a wedding.”

“I'm so sorry to have wasted your time. There can't be a wedding.” She peered back at Noah standing in the doorway of the bathroom. “At least, not today.” She crossed the room to Derek, placing an arm around Danny and Erin. “We're ready.”

Derek, too, shot a glance at Noah. “I knew she would never go for it.”

Danny gripped her hand and kept her from leaving the room. “Noah said he would come with us.”

“I said if your mother agreed. She doesn't.” He leaned against the door frame, his eyes swimming with moisture.

“But you like him, Mom. I can tell you really like him. Why?”

Elizabeth clamped down on her jaw to keep her own tears at bay. Her son had to understand. She didn't have the strength to fight him. She placed her arm around his shoulder and leaned close to his ear. “Look at his brother. This is killing him. For Noah to join us, he has to leave Jared and Jennie. It's too high a price.”

For once, her words sunk in because instead of the argument she expected, Danny raised his head and nodded. Then he moved across the room to the man he called friend.

“I'll take care of my family the right way, the way you care for your family.” He gave Noah a quick hug. “Don't forget me.”

Noah wrapped his arms around her son and held him as tightly as he had held her. “Never.”

Danny backed away, grabbed Erin's hand, and followed Derek out the door.

New town, new name, new career, new story, but her heart would always be here. It hurt too much to utter goodbye. She glanced at Jennie, who stood next to her husband. After offering her friend a quick wave, she sought out Noah. If she were free to love, her heart knew exactly what kind of life she would have had with him. Intense. Mind-blowing. Incredible.

Forget me. Find someone who is free to love you the way you deserve.

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't have the strength to say them. As she turned to leave, her name came out in a pain-filled whisper.

“Elizabeth, we are not over.”

It took everything Elizabeth had in her to walk out of Noah's bedroom. Danny and Erin met her at the stairs, each taking a hand. As a family, they were giving each other the courage to face a future that was almost too frightening to bear.

Once outside, Derek held the back door of a dark sedan open for them. Elizabeth stopped Danny with a hand to his shoulder when he paused. “Don't look back. Get in the car and face forward.”

His gaze met hers and he nodded. Without a word, he did as she asked. Derek slammed the door but didn't get into the front seat. One of the other marshals took that spot. Elizabeth followed Derek's movements to the car in front of them. As soon as he was settled, the lead driver led the three-car caravan down the lane. At the intersection of the county road, the driver turned right, following the signs to the interstate.

“What happens now?” Erin asked, her whisper hoarse, raspy. “Are we going home to pack?”

“No. Our belongings will be packed up and sent to us.”

“But where will we live?”

Lightly squeezing her daughter's hand, Elizabeth answered, “We will be briefed on everything as soon as we get to our destination.”

The marshal's warm expression met hers in the mirror. If he knew the answer, he would have said something. She was sure the details were still being worked out.

A light drizzle began to fall, and the squeaky sound of the windshield wipers slowly began to scrape her nerves raw. Would it have been too much to ask for a nice, sunny day?

The rain began to come down in sheets. With both kids hugging one of her arms, Elizabeth tried to stay relaxed. She hated storms, the aftershock of having a tornado form over her head.

Maybe it was the dampness brought on by the rain, but a chill snaked down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck spiked. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

Their small caravan were the only cars on the road. Glancing out the front window, she spotted one vehicle heading toward them. The closer it got, the harder her heart drummed between her ears. There wasn't anything menacing about the vehicle. It passed them going the opposite direction.
Nothing.
It was some guy trying to get home out of the storm.

Danny shifted. “Are you all right, Mom?”

“Yes, sweetie, I'm fine … maybe a little jumpy.”

Stop! Be the parent!
If she wanted her children at ease, she had to set the example. Noah thought she was the bravest woman he knew. He wasn't there, but she could still draw strength from the confidence he brought out in her.

The first car reached a bend in the road and disappeared from sight. As they made the same turn, the lead car's red taillights lit up the asphalt. An SUV coming from the opposite direction spun into the sedan's path, causing her driver to slam on its brakes.

“Stop,” she yelled.

An instant later, a loud blast shattered the front window, sending shards of glass over all of them. She held out her hands to protect her children as the driver's head struck the horn, the blaring noise filling the quiet countryside. The marshal in the passenger seat grabbed the steering wheel and tried to keep the sedan from going into a spin.

From that point on, Elizabeth felt as if the world slowed. With the driver's foot still on the accelerator, the car sped out of control down the middle of the road—right toward the lead car.

“Danny, Erin, hold on,” she roared as the sedan slammed into the right bumper.

Metal crunched metal. The impact caused Derek's car to spin. The marshal in the passenger seat frantically tried to remove the driver's foot from the gas pedal as he worked the steering wheel. He swung the wheel toward him and the sedan's right bumper missed Derek's door by inches. It ricocheted off the wheelbase, shot down the embankment, and smashed into a large tree.

Elizabeth jolted forward, jamming her face into the back of the driver's seat. Opening her eyes, she touched her lip and choked back the coppery taste in her mouth. Scanning her surroundings, she watched as two gunmen circled the SUV, knelt, and blasted the lead car with bullets. Her heart dropped to her stomach, but fear had a way of clearing her foggy brain. They were gunning for her, and she had to protect her kids.

Derek's vehicle blocked her car and what appeared to be three gunmen. She leaned over Erin, unlocked the right side door, and swung it open. “Erin, Danny, get out. Now!”

“Mom, what's going on?” Danny asked, but he obeyed.

She would have given anything to keep the violence from her children's eyes. The steering wheel and what was left of the windshield was covered in the driver's blood.

Dead
.

The other marshal might be alive, but the front of the car had pinned him in place when it struck the tree. He was out cold.

She quickly located the gunmen, then crawled out the back door after her kids, pulling them below the window. She scanned the top of the trees and spotted the landmark she had prayed was in sight.

“Run into the woods and head toward that rock formation. I could see it from the lake. We aren't far from Adam's property line.”

Danny scooted around her and began to move toward the lead car. Elizabeth grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

“Derek. He's stuck.”

“I'll check on Derek. Keep your heads down and go now!”

Erin gripped her hand. “Come with us?”

“Adam said a rabbit couldn't hop onto his property without him knowing. Noah will come for you. Just stay together. I'll be maybe a minute behind you.”

Erin took her brother's hand and raced into the foliage. When they were no longer in sight, Elizabeth edged around the back of the car.

Going down on her knees, she inched up the embankment. The marshals in the third car returned gunfire and kept the men behind the SUV. Someone had to hear the war zone and call for help.

Derek sat in plain view, his head leaning to the side and his eyes closed.
God, please let him be okay
, she prayed as she reached the sedan. Wiping the rain from her eyes, she opened the door.

A painful moan escaped his lips. “What the hell are you doing? Get out of here.”

“Helping you.”

“The seat belt is jammed. There is a knife attached to my right ankle. Can you reach it?”

A bullet slammed into the driver's side door, jolting Elizabeth. She lifted her head to glance over the dashboard. The gunmen seem to be concentrating their efforts on returning fire on the sedan behind them. She ran her hand down his leg until she felt the bulge. She stuck her hand under his pant leg and removed the knife from its case. “Found it.” She brought her hand back up and blood covered the side of her palm.