Tell Me No Spies (33 page)

“Yes.” I turned to
Arnie. “And yes.”

“So Jim put the
contract out on Saturday. If I was the hit man, I’d check out your
place first thing, an’ right about now I’d be figurin’ I’m wastin’
my time watchin’ an empty house for two days.”

I shrugged. “If he
even bothered to wait that long. I’ve been gone for nearly a week.
If he looked through the windows, he’d see wilted plants. It’d be
pretty obvious I wasn’t around.” I straightened up in the seat as a
thought hit me. “Hell, if he looked through the windows, Kane’s
guys would be on him like a ton of bricks.”

“Good point,”
Hellhound allowed. “So it’s prob’ly pretty safe to go to your place
as long as we don’t hafta go near the house where we’d show up on
the cameras.”

“We wouldn’t have to,”
I said. “We could stop on the road and come up the creek, hiding in
the trees. That would give us a chance to scope out the area
without being seen. Then if it was clear, I could grab the boxes
from the shed and be gone before anybody ever knew I was
there.”

“How many boxes we
talkin’ here?” Hellhound asked.

“Um.” I slumped a
little. “Probably four or five. File boxes. Shit.”

“Hafta make a few
trips, then,” Hellhound said.

I sighed. “Yeah. But
it’s almost a quarter of a mile. The boxes are too heavy to carry
that far. That won’t work. Dammit.”

“I can carry ‘em
okay,” Hellhound argued. “Just gonna take me a coupla trips, that’s
all.”

“Why not just look at
them right there?” Dave suggested. “We’ve got ten hours, and
there’s three of us.”

“Uh, there’d be less
than six hours, actually,” I corrected. “It’s a two-hour drive to
get up there, and we’d have to start back to Calgary by six-thirty.
And I don’t really know what I’m looking for, so I wouldn’t be able
to tell you, either.”

“Still, six hours,”
Hellhound said thoughtfully. “Hell, even if ya hadta look through
all a’ them yourself, ya could prob’ly still do it. That’d leave
Dave an’ me free to watch for trouble.”

“But is it worth it?”
I asked, and then answered my own question. “No, shit, it’s not
worth the risk. No matter what I find out, it won’t change anything
anyway.” I slouched down in the seat.

“But, Aydan,” Dave
protested. “Don’t you want to find out if they killed your
family?”

I sighed and sank my
head into my hands. “It won’t bring them back, no matter what I
find out. And it’s not worth putting you guys in more danger. My
family’s dead anyway. You guys might still live through this if we
don’t do anything stupid.”

Arnie gave me a
sympathetic look. “If it was me, I’d hafta know. An’ hell, we ain’t
doin’ nothin’ for the next ten hours anyway. Let’s go for a road
trip.”

After a few more
minutes of discussion, I backed the car out of our concealment and
headed for the highway. We all peered tensely out the windows as we
approached the city limits, but we saw no police cars. Half an hour
later, I blew out a long breath and tried to ease the knots out of
my shoulders.

Dave and Hellhound
both relaxed into their seats, too, and we exchanged relieved
glances. Hellhound’s battered face creased into a lopsided grin.
“So far, so good, darlin’.”

My heart lifted at the
sight of the rolling country and open highway. “Yeah. So far, so
good.”

In Drumheller, we
elected Dave as the least identifiable of our group and sent him
into the small grocery store for provisions. We all munched
steadily while we got back on the road to Silverside.

When we neared the
turnoff, I gave in to the nerves that had been twitching in my
stomach for the past twenty minutes.

“Where ya goin’?”
Hellhound asked as I slowed the car a few miles before my road.

“I’m going to make a
detour and come at it from the north. I don’t want to drive past
Tom’s place, and we’ll be able to get a better view of my place if
we come in from the north anyway.”

Hellhound settled back
in his seat. “Okay, good thinkin’, darlin’.”

A mile north of my
land, I stopped the car and pulled on the hooded jacket, hands
shaking. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all,” I said.
“Maybe we should just drive right on by and head back to Calgary
instead.”

Hellhound shrugged.
“We just drove two hours to get here. It ain’t like we had anythin’
else to do, but it don’t make much sense to chicken out now.”

“Unless it’s a really
bad idea in the first place,” I argued. “Then it would be smart to
chicken out now.”

Arnie caught Dave’s
eye. “Sorry, darlin’, you’re out-voted two to one. Drive on by, an’
we’ll check it out. If anythin’ looks outta place, we’ll keep on
goin’.”

I blew out a breath
between my teeth and put the car in gear.

When we coasted down
the hill toward the farm, everything appeared quiet. “Check out
those trees at the edge of the creek,” I urged. “That’s where Kane
had his guys stationed last time. Watch for lens flashes. They’ll
be easier to spot now that the leaves are gone from the trees.”

Hellhound grunted. “If
they’re Kane’s guys, ya won’t see any lens flashes. They know what
they’re doin’.” Nonetheless, both he and Dave eyeballed the woods
intently as we cruised by.

I slowed to a halt
opposite the creek. “Did you see anything?” I asked.

Hellhound shook his
head. “Nah. Dave?”

“No, me neither,” Dave
confirmed. “So now what?”

“Now, I don’t know,” I
said. “I hate to leave the car out here on the road, but I don’t
want to pull into my driveway. And I don’t want to go any closer to
Tom’s place, or he’ll be able to see the car parked out here.”

“This’s as good as
it’s gonna get, then,” Hellhound said. “Shut ‘er down, an’ let’s
get goin’.”

We left the Caprice
parked at the side of the deserted gravel road and walked down
through the ditch. I stepped up on the barbed wire strand beside a
fence post and swung over it. When I turned to wait for the men, I
caught a flash of concern on their faces.

“Don’t think that’s
gonna hold me,” Hellhound observed.

“No, probably not,” I
agreed. “Here.” I moved to the centre of the span and parted the
strands with a foot on the lower one as I pulled up on the strand
above it. “Dave, can you do the same a few feet away?”

Relief filled his
face. “Yeah.” He copied my pose, and Hellhound stooped and stepped
through the opening. Dave relinquished his position to Hellhound
and eyed the fence.

“Be careful of your
back, Dave,” I cautioned as he bent.

“It’s okay,” he
muttered, and stepped one foot through the opening. He jerked to a
halt with a grunt as the barbs of the upper strand caught his
jacket.

“Hold on.” I reached
to free him. “Can you bend a little further?”

“Yeah.” He crouched
lower and lost his balance when he attempted to pull his leg over
the lower strand. His jeans caught on the barbs, and he fell with a
grunt, his leg suspended by the snagged fabric.

Arnie and I both
reached to help him, and Dave flushed. “I’m fine,” he muttered, and
jerked his pants loose. We all regarded the resultant large rip.
“Shi… crap!” Dave said.

“It’s okay, Dave,” I
said. “You really don’t have to watch your language. You’re not
going to offend me.”

Dave struggled to his
feet, not meeting my eyes. “Some things you don’t say in front of a
lady.”

Hellhound snorted
laughter. “Ya see any ladies around here?”

Dave’s fists clenched
and I grabbed his arm as he lunged for Hellhound.

“Dave, relax,” I
soothed. “If he hadn’t said it, I would have. I’ll be the first to
admit I’m no lady. There is no swear word that either of you could
use that would offend me. And if I get going, I’ll make your ears
bleed. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

“Doesn’t matter.”
Dave’s arm was tense under my grip. “It’s about respect.”

“Dave…” I touched his
face, turning his scowl away from Hellhound so I could meet his
eyes. “I really need you guys to get along. Please. Let it go.”

“But…”

“Please,” I repeated,
giving him the big brown eyes for all I was worth.

His expression
softened, and he touched my hand where my fingertips still rested
on his cheek. “Okay.”

“Thanks.” I stepped
away and changed the subject fast. “We can just follow the creek
until we’re opposite the shed. Keep your eyes open. I’ve posted the
land for no hunting, but it’s bowhunting season, and the land
around a creek is technically public. And there’s always the hit
man, if we need some more excitement.”

“Let’s keep some
distance between us,” Hellhound suggested. “I’ll lead, Aydan in the
middle, an’ Dave can cover our backs. Stay just within sight of
each other. Then if there’s a problem, we ain’t all in it
together.”

“Good idea,” I agreed
with relief. “Lead on.”

He nodded and strode
away, pushing his way through the underbrush and skirting thickets
of diamond willow. When he was almost out of sight, I followed.

Hellhound kept up a
brisk pace, and I hurried to keep him in visual range. I glanced
back at Dave toiling in the rear and considered asking Arnie to
slow down, but I bit my tongue. No need to contribute further fuel
to Dave’s midlife crisis.

The next time I looked
back, I couldn’t see Dave at all. I was just about to call forward
to Hellhound when Dave’s shout sent a cold wave of fear coursing
over me.

“Aydan, RUN!”

I whirled at the sound
of something large crashing through the bushes toward me, and
gasped relief when I saw Hellhound charging in my direction. He had
just reached my side when another voice rang through the woods.

“Aydan, are you here?
Are you okay?”

A very familiar
voice.

Shit.

“Who’s that?”
Hellhound snapped.

“Tom.”

Hellhound’s fist
clenched. “Shit!”

Tom yelled again, his
voice strained. “Whoever you are, if you’ve got Aydan, let her go.
Or I’ll shoot your buddy here. You’ve got three seconds. Three.
Two…”

“Tom!” I shouted
frantically. “Tom, don’t shoot, he’s a friend!”

“Aydan, where are
you?”

“Coming, I’m coming!
I’ll be right there!” I dashed through the woods in the direction
of his voice, Hellhound bringing up the rear.

So much for stealth.
We sounded like a herd of rhinos crashing through the bush.
Assuming rhinos could yell. Christ, if the hit man was anywhere in
the vicinity, we’d just made his job a whole lot easier.

I fought my way
through the undergrowth, twigs slashing at my hands and face, and
finally burst through the last thicket to see Dave on his knees,
clutching his chest. Tom’s double-barrelled shotgun swung up, and
Arnie and I froze.

“Tom,” I panted.
“Don’t shoot, okay?”

Tom’s shotgun locked
onto Arnie. “Aydan, are you all right?” he demanded.

“Fine, I’m fine, Tom,
please put the gun down.”

“Step away from her,”
Tom snapped, and Arnie sidestepped slowly. “Farther,” Tom
commanded.

“Tom, it’s okay, Dave
and Arnie are both trying to help me. Please put the gun down,” I
begged.

Dave was sweaty and
ashen again, and I could see him struggling to breathe. His
white-knuckled fist clenched a handful of T-shirt in the middle of
his chest.

“Tom, please!” I
gasped.

“Come over here,” he
said.

The pounding of my
heart shook my entire body. What the hell was he doing? I stepped
slowly toward him, keeping my movements smooth.

God, please tell me he
wasn’t living some bizarre rescue fantasy. Or worse, maybe he was
still mad at me after the scene with Kane. It felt like forever to
me, but it had only been a week. Please don’t let him take out his
frustrations on Arnie instead of me…

“Tom, please put the
gun down.” I approached him cautiously and slowly stretched out my
hand, trying to control its violent trembling. “Give me the
gun.”

“Stand behind me.”

I followed his
directions, moving carefully behind him.

“Stand closer.”

Shit, what the hell
was he doing? I stepped up to his back, frantically calculating
angles and probabilities. Could I grab the gun away from him before
he pulled the trigger?

I jerked in shock when
his arm swung around to pull me tightly against his back. Normally,
I would have appreciated the feel of that lean, muscular body
against mine. Under the circumstances, my enjoyment was sadly
limited.

“Okay, now tell me if
you’re really all right,” Tom said.

“Yes, Tom, I’m really
okay. Please don’t shoot Arnie.” My voice quavered with the
triphammer beat of my pulse, and my panting refused to slow.

Tom’s posture eased.
“Really? You’re not being forced to say that?”

“No, Tom,
please
!”

He blew out a sigh and
his shoulders relaxed as he lowered the gun and turned to face me.
“Thank God. Aydan, what happened? Where have you been?”

“In a minute.” I
hurried over to kneel beside Dave. “Dave! Oh, no…” I snatched at
his wrist, fumbling for the pulse point with shaking fingers.

“I’m okay,” he
muttered. “Just another muscle spasm.”

Arnie knelt beside me
and surveyed Dave doubtfully. “Ya shittin’ us this time?”

“No, I told you, I’m
okay,” Dave repeated. He relaxed his grip on his T-shirt and wiped
his forehead. “I’m fine.”

“I’m really sorry.”
Tom knelt on the other side, his face drawn. “Lie down.” He pressed
Dave back onto the ground. “Are you having chest pain?”

“I’m fine. It’s gone
now.”

“Did it feel like a
heavy weight on your chest? A squeezing sensation?”

Dave sighed. “No, just
a jab. I’m fine. It was just a muscle spasm.”

“Do you have any pain
in your arm or shoulder, or in your jaw?”