Ring of Lies (59 page)

‘
How’d you mean?
’

‘
T
he
thin-faced man in the hotel
never took his eyes off me.
’

Jack
tipped his head back and
laughed.
‘
Yeah, I saw him.
He probably thought I was a lucky son-of-a-bitch to be
with such an attractive woman.
’

‘
Its
no joking matter,
’
Grace said evenly.

His expressive face changed and became almost
sombre
.
‘
You’re right. I shouldn’t mak
e
fun of how you feel.
’

‘
And
I’m
scared
.
I’m s
cared for me, for you, and for—
’
She couldn’t say the word
s
‘
your
daughter
.’

‘
Don’t worry about me, Grace.
’

His fingers slid round her neck and gently brought her face to his until there was only a breath betwee
n them.

‘
I get frightened too. Every time I put on my badge
, strap on my holster
and step out
of
the door.
’

‘
I’m so scared I feel physically sick. Yet you seem so calm and focused. Aren’t you afraid that things are spinning out of control?
’

‘
There are times when
I’ve looked down the barrel of a gun and thought ‘this is it
,
my life is about to end
,’ but t
raining
takes over
,
and you
do what’s necessary to stay alive
.
’

‘
You mean you shot the person
aiming the gun at you
?
’

‘
I’ve fired my weapon
. But you don’t need to hear about that.
Trust me.
The FBI will do everything to
protect you while you’re here in Florida
.
’
He let his hand fall away, and without another word
she
clicked her seatbelt into place.

Grace bit down hard on her lip.
N
erves quivered just below her skin. She
closed her eyes
and
released a long breath. Her face was still warm from where he’d touched her.
She’d been so sure he was about to kiss her.
Disappointment mingled with emptiness and guilt.
The look in
his
eyes reminded her of the night he had taken her to dinner
,
the night they
had
said goodbye never expe
cting to see each other again.
N
ow her heart ached for the man she
wanted
,
but
could never
have.
When she opened her
blue
eyes again
,
they
were full o
f
pain and unquenchable warmth.

Sultry air billowed through
open
passenger window.
Her
fingers shook
as
she closed it
.

‘
How do you remain so detached
?
’
She asked after a while.

‘
I’ve
got
no other choice
.
But that doesn’t mean that some things don’t get to me, they do.
I just try not to
dwell on
them to
o
much.
’

‘
And
what
if you
can’t stop thinking about them
?
’

‘
Then
that’s the day I retire
.
Look
,
Grace
,
you’re
just a pawn in this game. Y
ou’re not responsible for what
’s
happened.
R
emember that.
’

Sh
e shuddered.
‘
You
make it
sound so cold, so clinical.
’

‘
The world of crime and corruption often is.
’

The bright lights of the city fell behind.
Ever since Daniel’s funeral she’d been forced to confront a world she knew nothing about, see
n
things she didn’t want to see, and ac
cept that the man she’d married
was a stranger
to her.

‘
What happens next?
’

‘
We wait. Whoever is behind this is getting desperate. I’m betting they’ll make contact in the next twenty-four
to forty-eight
hours.
’

Grace didn’t want to think about how she would react when that happened,
but she knew it
would destroy the fragile control she had on her life.

Jack
patt
ed her knee.
‘
I know it’s not easy, but try to
relax. We
’ll
be back on the island in
a
couple of hours
.
’

They drove on in silence. Something bad was in the air. Grace could feel it. It was more than the suffocating humid
ity.
She til
t
ed her head
from
side
to side to ease the tension in her neck
and stared at the tall sawgrass swaying in the moonlight
.

Without warning
,
the
SUV careered sideways across two lanes of the freeway.
Jack swore and
fought the wheel
.

Grace
stared at him wordlessly
.

‘
Punched a hole in the ty
re. D
on’t panic
.
’
He
lifted his foot off the gas
, and
struggled to bring the vehicle under control
. Suddenly
,
the
driver’s wing mirror
shattered
showering him in glass. Blood trickled down his face from a cut on h
is cheek.

‘
Shit!
’
he cried
, and
dashed it away.
With one hand
he
released Grace’s seat belt and shoved her
head first
towards the foot
-
well
.
‘
Get down and stay there,
’
he commanded
.

‘
But—?
’

‘
Just do it, damn it!
’

Grace reached beneath her seat for the lever, released it, and pushed the seat as far back as it would go
. Her heart pounded uncomfortably, as she
huddled down in
the
narrow space
.

T
he muscles in
Jack’s
arm cord
ed
as h
e threw t
he
wheel
first
to the right, then
the left.
The ty
res screamed in protest.
A bullet
rebound
ed off the
doorframe
inches above
his
head. He
dragged
the wheel
back to the right,
using every one of the evasive driving manoeuvres he’d learnt.
T
he
car
skidded savagely, the headlights careened dizzily across the highway
.
For a moment Grace thought
he’d
lost control, but the
sway
ing vehicle remained upright.

‘
The son-of-a-bitch is driving without lights
.
I don’t know how long the ty
re will last,
but
I’m going to
try and
lose the bastard
in the marsh
.
Hang on!
’