Out of the Shadows (Falcon) (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

Kate gulped air as
she increased speed. Sweat dripped off her body like rain in a flash flood. She ran toward the main intersection two streets away. An all-night convenience store sat on the corner. She suspected the Pakistani owner kept a weapon beneath the counter. Hopefully he kept it loaded.

What she wouldn’t gi
ve for her cell phone. But it sat in the charger next to her bed. A habit she’d cultivated long ago. 

Eyes forward, Kate knew not to look back.
Turning her head would hamper her progress and throw her off balance. Besides, her pursuer was bigger and faster. How could he not be? His longer strides and well-developed muscles were a staggering obstacle.

While she trained as a runner, her strength lay in endurance
, not speed. She couldn’t continue at this pace much longer. Sweat worked to cool her body’s core temperature, but her head already ached.

Fire scorched her lungs, and the muscles of her legs tightened and bunched
, rebelling against her demand for speed. Spine straight, she pumped her arms in rhythm with the pounding of her feet.

The smell
of exhaust fumes drifted up her nose as she calculated that hope lay 500 yards ahead at a busy intersection. Hopefully someone would drive down the remote road that led to her neighborhood. But with less than ten houses, what were the odds?

Her lungs burned hot,
and her leg muscles spasmed with the threat of cramps. The hot asphalt seared the bottoms of her feet. Gritting her teeth, she spurred onward trying to get away from the maniac.

She crossed the first intersection without looking either way. Fists tight, her arms
ached from pumping them like pistons. Determined, she pushed beyond her normal stamina. The pain in her chest radiated out across her breasts and around her back.

A light came from her left as she approached the last intersection before the convenience store. Kate dashed in front of the
car, frantically waving her arms. Blinded by the headlights, the sound of squealing tires stopped her momentarily then she dove left as the vehicle veered right.

Unhurt, but pissed that the driver hadn’t stopped
, she jumped to her feet brushing the gravel off her palms. A glance back kicked up her heart rate. Her pursuer grew closer. She turned and sprinted toward her only salvation.

***

Brody’s heart stuttered when Stone tried to flag down the passing vehicle. That was all he needed, her dead or a civilian involved. Wouldn’t his boss, Frank, love that? Hell, in the end, Frank wasn’t going to love anything. Brody had an ass chewing coming, and nobody did it better or meaner than the owner of Falcon Securities.

Huffing like a
pack-a-day smoker, Brody renewed his effort to catch Stone before she made it to the corner store. While the Bedford neighborhood was upscale, that didn’t mean the all-night stores didn’t get hit. Brody had checked the place out. He’d bet his ‘65 Mustang the owner had a gun hidden somewhere close to the register.

He didn’t plan on finding out. Calling on all his strength, Brody came up behind her and reached fo
r a lock of flowing blond hair. He missed when she leaned forward and pushed harder.

They passed the threshold between darkness and light generating fr
om the store. The whizz of wheels on asphalt and the roar of big rigs grew louder. Soon the surveillance cameras would catch them.

With one last push, he grabbed her shoulder from behind and dragged her to the ground. She kicked and clawed herself free and jumped to her feet, her body braced to fight.

Gasping for air, Brody bounced up, ready for action. Fists held high, he circled. Careful to place himself between her and the safe haven, Brody took a stand. Stone looked ready for hand-to-hand combat, and he figured she knew his ploy. Inch by inch they moved back and forth. They both kept a safe distance but stayed alert.

Her chest heaved as much as his.
It pleased him that her skin glistened with sweat like his. There was a certain satisfaction in knowing even though she ran almost daily, both were both winded.

“What the hell do you want?” Fists held high. “You know you’re messing with a CIA operative? That’s federal prison.”

“I know who you are, what you do, and what you had for dinner.” His heart began to settle, but his nerves and long cultivated reaction kept him alert as they stood face-to- face. “I’ve been watching you.”

“Why?”

In the heat, her face glowed with a thin sheen of sweat. The long white T-shirt with, “Dreamboat,” written across the top, and a pair of white, bikini panties looked like they’d just been pulled out of a bucket of water. Her taut nipples pushed against the cotton top.

Brody
didn’t answer. Instead he lunged forward and grabbed her around the waist. She kicked out and knocked his leg out from under him. Unable to hang onto her wet body, he lost his grip as she spun away and turned to run. Brody flipped to his stomach, reached out, and grabbed her by the ankle.

She spun.

The CIA agent kicked with strength he didn’t think she had left. Mouth tight, Brody held on to the slippery ankle.

“Let go.”

Capturing her other ankle, he yanked. Stone landed on her butt with a jarring thud. Shoving her flat on her back, Brody crawled up her body, dodging punches. With a grunt, her shoulders came up and a powerful fist connected with his jaw twice. Not expecting such a hard punch, his head flew back, and pain shot through his body.

When he got to her c
hest, she kneed him in the groin. Bright red stars flashed before his eyes and he almost puked.

But she didn’t
stop him. Nothing could because A.J.’s life depended on him taking her, and he’d do it, or die trying.

He buried his face between her breasts while she pummeled his back. Her hot breath brushed against his hair but she didn’t let up. Instead, her punche
s and jabs grew harder. Finally he lifted his head, and her fist connected with his cheekbone.

Damn that hurt. Grabbing her hands, he managed to straddl
e her. His full weight held her hips down. Raising his face, he took a lung full of air. He couldn’t see out of his left eye. The crazy woman had probably blinded him.

Brody had fought a lot of men in h
is career and on occasion had handled a few women, but not physically. In the fourteen years of action between being a Ranger and a Falcon agent, he’d never seen a woman put up a struggle like this. And here he’d never taken women agents seriously. This encounter had educated him the hard way. Stone complimented her gender.

H
e wanted to protect himself, not break bones. As he stood, he pulled her upright then turned back toward her house. Stone dug her feet in and refused to move. Out of patience, Brody yanked on her arms. Still she wouldn’t budge.

She kicked his knee backward and Brody went down. This time he brought her with him. She struggled to get free, and she had no honor in her e
fforts. Brody found himself dodging elbows, teeth, and very dangerous knees and feet.

The familiar taste of blood filled his mouth
, and Brody spit.

“You son of a bitch, let me go.”

Brody’d had enough. He jumped to his feet and pulled out his 9mm. “I’m through fucking with you, lady. Get to your goddamn feet. Now!”

CHAPTER THREE

Stone shoved the hair from her eyes and slowly stood. S
he brushed at her soiled nightshirt and bare skin, and then glared at him with a narrowed gaze.  

Brody motioned with the gun for her to start walking. “If you don’t want to end up in the morgue, do what I tell you.”

“What choice do I have?” she tossed over her shoulder. “You’ll probably kill me anyway.”

“That’s not my intent. Whether you live or die depends entirely on you. Understand?”

“I get it.”

He guided them
back the way they’d come from. When she turned toward the entrance, he shoved her in the direction of a waiting black SUV. “Get in.”

“You’re not even going to let me get dressed?”

“No need.”

She shook her head.

Guilt pricked his conscience, and for an instant Brody wished there could be another way, something besides kidnapping a CIA agent. None of this sat right, especially snatching a woman. However, she had been his immediate objective, and it had been accomplished. He had Kate Stone, CIA operative. Even if she was so sexy she had his body doing all kinds of weird things.

His task was to
save A.J., and Stone was the only thing he had to bargain with. Brody cleared his throat and held the gun on her until she scooted to the passenger’s side. He’d carefully disabled the interior lights so nosey neighbors couldn’t witness anything.

Watching her closely, he flipped open the glove compartment and took
out several zip ties. He gently secured her hands, and ankles then took a rope from the back floorboard and tied her to the seat. Once he had her secure he looked at her. “Just in case you try to jump out.”

He yanked down the seatbelt, draped it across her body
, and clicked it into place. “Don’t want anything to happen to you.” Holstering the gun, he went around to the driver’s side, got in, and started the engine. That was another reason his ass would hang. Unauthorized use of a company vehicle. Oh well, if that’s all that happened, he’d be damn lucky.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

A glance at her trembling hands had guilt pecking at his conscience like a buzzard on a corpse. He didn’t want her scared, mad or helpless. That wasn’t his plan. But it was critical to this oper
ation that she simply cooperated and let him get the job done.

Remorse mo
ved his hand to cover hers. He stared into her pretty face. “I won’t hurt you. You aren’t the intended target. Just go with me for a while.”

When she turned to him,
he didn’t need night-vision goggles to see the fierce anger and hate sparking from her black ice eyes.

“Go to hell!” 

***

Kate wanted her freedom back
, but the kidnapper had her tied up like a pig for roasting. What could this man possibly want with her? Where were they going and why? As the car engine fired to life, and pulled away from the curb, she had to find out.

“Who are you, and what agency do you work for?”

He glanced at her. In the dimness she made out light brown, almost blond hair, light-colored eyes, an unflattering nose, and a strong jaw line. Not handsome or remarkably unique, but certainly dangerous. After seeing his swollen eye, she hid a satisfied grin.

“You don’t need to know anything about me. What’s importan
t is that you play it cool. If you do I’ll have you back to your comfy bed in a matter of hours.”

“Are you an American?”
she asked.

He braked, turned, and stabbed
her with a sharp look. “Hell, yes, I’m an American.” His features hardened from the insult.

“You’re not acting like one.” Kate tossed her head back to get the hair out of her face. “You’re putting your country and its people’s welfare in danger.”

“That’s not my plan, Stone. I’m trying to save a friend’s life.”

She scoffed. “Some friend.”

“That’s right. He
is
some friend. He’s
my
fellow agent and I’m getting him out of a hellhole alive no matter what I have to do.”

“Good. At least he’s worth you spending the rest of your life behind bars.”
Kate had learned nothing from their conversation so far. The guy was a babbling idiot and didn’t make any sense at all. If he intended no harm then why not tell her what he planned to do?

“Damn right he is.”

Cars zoomed by as he turned on the headlights then headed down Central Drive toward the freeway. Inside the vehicle the scent of new car and leather surrounded her, signifying no expense had been spared on the automobile. By the way the vehicle moved, she guessed it was armor plated. Where would he get something like this?

When her abductor turned the air conditioner vents in her di
rection, Kate nearly sighed aloud with relief. Her body continued to sweat as adrenaline pumped through her veins, forcing her body to stay in the fight-or-flight mode.

She stared out at the dotted white line of the highway. “Where are we going?”

“You keep asking that, but all I’m saying is just down the road a little,” he replied.

When he left the re
sidential area and exited onto Highway 183 heading west, Kate wiggled in the seat to find a comfortable position. Her feet burned, they had to be bleeding. Her right shoulder throbbed from an injury in their scuffle. Other than that, she’d be all right.

She was t
hirsty as hell, but that was to be expected. She didn’t often jump out of bed and run an all-out race for her life but she’d die before asking for water.