Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (46 page)

Relief flooded through Carlie. Even though
they weren’t free yet, chances of that were greatly improved. While
she wasn’t sure she wanted to forgive Shelley so easily, Shelley
thought she was doing the right thing all these months and
investigating a terrorist—the same thing Nick thought. It was their
boss who lied and made them lie to Carlie. Either way, Shelley was
her only hope to get free from this grim situation.

Then, all she had to do was figure out how
to save Nick and stop Ryan from torturing innocents in Maharla.

Like that’ll be easy.

***

“Where are you going with the prisoner?” A
guard walked from the far end of the hall.

“Put your hands behind your back,” Shelley
whispered. She raised her voice, “Back to her cell. The boss is
finished with her.”

The guard continued to approach, and Shelley
propelled Carlie along the hallway. Carlie’s heart pounded with
anxiety. So far, this was the first person they’d seen.

“Why are you on the second floor?” he asked,
stopping alongside them. “She’s on the fourth floor.”

“New orders.” Shelley sounded bored, though
Carlie didn’t know how she accomplished that. “They need her close
to the loading area. She’s getting transferred soon.”

His bushy eyebrows narrowed. “No one told me
that.”

Shelley pushed Carlie slightly, forcing her
to walk past the man. “Take it up with the boss. I don’t make the
rules, I just follow them.”

Carlie kept her hands firmly together as she
walked, praying the other guard wouldn’t notice they weren’t tied.
It could all be over right here if he did. Freedom seemed so far
away. Once they exited the building, Carlie hoped Shelley’s plan
extended to getting them out of the area, since she didn’t even
know where they were.

After a few seconds, a door closed. “He’s
gone,” Shelley whispered, “but keep your hands behind your back. I
know it hurts, but we can’t risk someone seeing.”

Carlie nodded, continuing along the white
corridor. They finally reached another set of stairs, and Shelley
opened the door to them, pulling Carlie inside.

“This is the trickiest part,” she warned.
“We’ll be pretty close to the doorway for the loading area, and we
can steal a vehicle there to get away. If we’re lucky, I can
convince the guards I’ve been ordered to take you to the meeting
place.”

Rubbing her painful wrists, Carlie looked
over at her. “And if we’re not lucky?”

“We’ll have to outrun some bullets.”

Carlie shook her head. “Shelley, you don’t
have to do this. I’ll be safe. They won’t kill me, because Nick
won’t give them the bracelet unless I’m alive. Just tell me what to
do, and I’ll get away. Give me a few minutes and then raise the
alarm that I escaped. No one has to know you helped.”

Shelley bit her lip and looked at the wall
over Carlie’s shoulder, not meeting her eyes. “I knew Stephen had
orders to kill you the night of the fire, and I didn’t stop it.
It’s also my fault they found the lake house. Nick did a great job
of hiding you, and when you called to tell me you were safe, they
traced the call and found you.” She blinked rapidly, and a tear
streaked down her cheek.

Carlie already figured Shelley knew they
planned to kill her the night of the fire, so it didn’t come as a
shock for her to admit it. Then again, she didn’t understand how
they traced her call. She’d been so careful to disconnect quickly.
“How did you find the lake house?”

“Calls are easy to trace. Didn’t you know
that? The tech guy found the tower signal your call came from and
learned what general area your phone was in. After that, it was
just a matter of searching until they found the house.”

Sighing, Carlie knew she couldn’t blame
Shelley for her own mistake. “I thought a call had to be connected
for sixty seconds to be traced. I should have known better.”

“A real criminal would have, which proves
you aren’t one.” More tears slipped down Shelley’s cheeks. “I
should have trusted my gut and believed in you. I knew you were
innocent, but I let them change my mind. Hell, I had to be stupid
to think the government would actually hire a slime ball like
Stephen.” She shuddered. “It’s my fault you’re in this situation.
Let me fix things.”

Carlie shook her head. “They’ll kill you for
helping me. You thought you were doing the right thing. Paul lied.
This is his fault, not yours. I can’t let you risk your life for
me.”

“I’m not arguing about it. I’m getting you
out of here.” Shelley swiped her tears away and nodded down the
steps. “Let’s do this.”

She pulled a gun from the waistband of her
pants, and Carlie raised her eyebrows. “Won’t that seem
strange?”

“Nope.” Shelley pointed it at her. “They’ll
think it’s for you, but it’ll be ready if we need it.”

If Shelley really wanted to help her, Carlie
was in no position to refuse assistance. She started down the
stairway and Shelley followed. When they reached the bottom, she
put her hands behind her back again, letting Shelley open the
door.

They stepped into a cavernous room with
supportive pillars sprouting from the concrete floor. Various boxes
were stacked in mountainous piles around the space, some cardboard,
others wood. A few men carried some of the boxes to another pile.
No one glanced at her and Shelley.

“What is this place?” Carlie whispered.

“The supply center,” Shelley whispered back,
her words barely reaching Carlie’s ears above the clomping of the
workers’ shoes. “Food, guns, whatever else is needed to run
S.A.T.O., it all comes here. I understand it’s a new facility,
which makes sense now that I know Paul no longer works for the
President.” She pushed her forward, and Carlie saw a door with an
exit sign above it, about thirty feet away. “That leads to the
outside and where the vehicles are,” Shelley explained. “Let’s
hurry.”

They upped their pace, and still no one
questioned them. They were nearly to the door when it opened and
another woman stepped inside. Even though Shelley propelled Carlie
forward, the woman flung an arm out to stop their progress.

“What are you doing?”

“Boss ordered me to take the prisoner to the
transport van,” Shelley answered. “Not too long until we wrap up
this mission.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “No one told me
to get the van ready.”

“Not my problem, Jade. Get out of my way.
I’m not getting my ass reamed because you don’t know the job.”

The woman stepped back, and Shelley urged
Carlie through the door. The sun glinted down on them and the heat
was a palpable force. Wherever they were, it certainly wasn’t
Canada. Several vans were parked in the dusty lot, and more people
stood in the area.

They all had guns drawn and ready, and
turned to face them as they stepped from the shadows.

“Showtime,” Shelley murmured.

“What are you doing down here?” A man
yelled, walking quickly across the pavement. He carried a clipboard
instead of a gun.

“Taking the prisoner to the transport
vehicle,” Shelley replied. “Boss is on his way. I need the keys,
Doug.”

Doug frowned and glanced at his clipboard.
“Already? I thought it would be a few more hours.”

Carlie’s arms ached from holding them behind
her back and it was hard to keep them there. She wondered if it was
time to run. If Shelley didn’t follow, no one would know she
switched sides. Carlie was safe, even running. They wouldn’t shoot
her. At least, she didn’t think so.

Only the fact that Shelley would probably
feel honor bound to come along stopped her from that course of
action. Shelley had no protection, and Carlie didn’t think the men
would hesitate in killing her.

“Do you have the keys or not?” Shelley
snapped. “It’s hot out here and I’m supposed to get inside duty
today. I worked outside last week.”

Doug grumbled under his breath, but trotted
over to a portable awning set up on the side of the building.
Grabbing some keys, he returned and handed them over. “Black
van.”

Carlie looked across the lot. The black van
was the furthest from the opening in the chain-link fence and
closest to the men with guns. This wasn’t going to work.

“Thanks, Doug. I don’t want the boss bustin’
my chops for making him late,” Shelley said, once again pushing
Carlie forward.

Carlie glanced over her shoulder and noted
the men in the lot relax slightly as Doug walked the opposite
direction. Guns lowered marginally, but not all the way.

“Shelley, hand me the keys and let me knock
you down. I’ll get in the vehicle and leave. They won’t shoot me,
and you can say I escaped. I can’t put you in more danger.”

“No,” she replied. “We’ll get out of here
together. You don’t know how to fire a gun. You’ll need me later to
get Nick back. They have him captive too. Did you know that?
They’re driving him to the place where you’ll meet, and if he does
anything wrong, they’ll kill him and take the bracelet, then kill
you.”

Carlie doubted it would be a simple matter
to kill Nick or they would have already done so. However, knowing
he was in their power worried her. He lied, true, but she knew his
need to protect her motivated those lies.

Before she could decide about Shelley coming
along, a booming voice sounded around the compound, “Stop right
there, ladies, or Shelley dies.”

Carlie glanced over her shoulder. Paul and
Ryan stood on a balcony off the second floor, Stephen by their
side.

“Shit,” Shelley murmured. “It’s time to run,
my friend. If I don’t make it, I’m sorry for everything.”

“No. We can’t run.”

“Carlie, even if you don’t run, I’m going
to. The van is ten feet away. We can make it. Let’s get out of
here.”

Shelley took off in a sprint, and Carlie
fell into step behind her, hoping the men wouldn’t shoot for fear
of hitting her instead. A few guns fired, but no bullets found
their mark and they reached the vehicle. Shelley struggled to shove
the key into the lock, swearing under her breath the entire time
while Carlie continued to shield her.

A single gunshot rang out. Glass shattered
in Carlie’s face. Shelley screamed once and dropped to the ground,
blood spreading across her chest, staining her shirt. Carlie looked
through the blown out windows to the man standing on the opposite
side of the van.

He trained his gun on her. “Don’t move or
you’re next.”

Carlie ducked next to Shelley, out of the
line of fire of the man on the other side of the van. However, that
didn’t do her much good about the men approaching from the
compound, guns pointed at her. Shelley groaned and clutched her
upper chest. Blood covered everything.

Carlie was torn between picking up Shelley’s
gun and opening fire or trying to stop the bleeding from Shelley’s
wound. Common sense won out and she knocked Shelley’s hands away,
pressing hard over the bullet wound opening. Picking up that gun
would likely get her killed.

“Shit.” Shelley raised a trembling hand and
patted Carlie’s arm. “Guess you were right. Sorry I didn’t get you
out of here.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure something
out.”

Tears leaked from the corners of Shelley’s
eyes. “All the shooting I’ve done in my life, I never considered
how bad this hurts. If I don’t make it, promise me you’ll find a
way for you and Nick to get your true love.”

Carlie’s heart skittered with conflicting
emotions. The thought of Shelley dying was too much to contemplate,
and Nick... “He never told me the truth, did you know that? All
that time we spent together in Canada, he continued lying.”

She shook her head weakly. “Don’t hold that
against him. I’m sure he was protecting you.”

That was true. In any event, it didn’t
matter unless they made it out of this alive.

“Get up, Stephanie.” Ryan sneered down at
her. Stephen and Paul flanked him on either side, guns drawn. “It’s
time to get my bracelet. I’m tired of you.”

Paul motioned to the side with his gun. “Get
in that van over there. We’ll see how much Nick really cares about
you soon. Do you trust him to come to your rescue?” Paul laughed
and the other men joined in. “Love is weakness. You ruined
him.”

Carlie didn’t respond, nor did she move her
hands off Shelley’s wound.

“I said move your ass, Princess,” Paul
said.

She shook her head. “Shelley needs a
doctor.”

He scoffed. “Shelley’s going to die. Leave
her.”

She glanced down, hoping for some guidance,
but Shelley closed her eyes, a small crease of pain between her
narrowed brows. Carlie wasn’t even sure whether she knew what was
going on anymore or if her world was focused on pain and survival.
Carlie had been in that state after the fire, so knew how it was.
Looked like it was up to her.

Grabbing Shelley’s gun from where it had
fallen against the pavement, Carlie lifted it, aiming it at Ryan
with her right hand while keeping her left hand pressed against
Shelley’s chest. “Get her a doctor or Ryan dies.”

Paul laughed. “Kill him and I have no reason
to keep you or Nick alive.”

“Fine.” She shifted the barrel Paul’s
direction. “I’m a horrible shot. There’s a fifty-fifty chance
whether I’ll hit him or you.”

Ryan held his hands out, fingers splayed.
“Let’s calm this down.”

Carlie cocked her head to the side. “Why?
You’ve made it clear that I’m going to die, no matter how this
plays out. If I kill you now, I’ll still die, but you won’t be able
to torture anyone else. Your brother will become king next. That
seems like a good reason to sacrifice my life.”

“Stephanie, I promise to let everyone there
live. I won’t hurt them, just put the gun down.”

It felt good to finally have the upper hand.
Even though she cared about her own life, if they thought she was
desperate enough to do something drastic, it could work in her
favor. “But you’re still going to kill me. I think my idea’s
better.” She squeezed the trigger slightly, staring into Ryan’s
eyes and feeling completely calm for the first time since waking up
from Terrance’s drug. “Do you have a better offer?”