The Agent Next Door (17 page)

“I have to go,” she said.

“Erin. Don't do anyth—”

She hit the end button.

Her phone rang a few seconds later as she was
running down the hallway, but she ignored the call. She scooped up
her purse before heading out the door and down the drive. The
window of the black sedan rolled down as she marched up to its
side.

“Is there a problem?” the driver asked.

Erin felt a twinge of guilt. The man had been
sitting outside on her street for three days, making sure that she
was safe, and she didn't even know his name. Gran would’ve been
ashamed.

But there wasn’t any time for pleasantries
now.

“I need your help.” Erin thrust her phone in
through the open window. “Kallus is going after my friend.”

The agent looked at the screen for a moment
then nodded. “I’ll call it in to Agent Brannigan.”

Erin shook her head. “He already knows. I
need you to help me stop Kallus.”

“I’m sorry, but my orders are to watch over
you. And until Agent Brannigan says otherwise that's what I'll be
doing.”

The agent picked up his phone and started
dialing. It wouldn’t matter. Ty would tell the man the same thing
John had told her. She needed to stay inside and wait for the
cavalry.

A moment later, the agent put down his phone.
“Sorry. Brannigan says we’re to stick by your side no matter
what.”

Erin saw red. No one was willing to help
Marianne. Well, this time she wasn't going to stand around while
someone she loved got hurt. As long as she had a little power she
was going to use it.

“Okay, then. Well, I hope you drive fast,
cause we're going for a ride.”

Erin didn't wait to hear what he was going to
say next. She strode over to her car and threw open the door. She
tucked her phone into her pocket and threw her purse onto the
passenger’s seat. Even after a couple of days of sitting around, it
started with no problems. It felt good to be back in the driver's
seat. She pushed the pedal down. The tires squealed as she tore out
of the cul-de-sac.

She glanced in her rearview mirror. The black
car was right on her tail. The agents honked their horn, but Erin
kept going. They could honk all they wanted. But if the only way to
help Marianne was to deliver herself on a silver platter then so be
it.

She took the corner without stopping, and
pulled into traffic on the busy boulevard. More horns joined the
chorus behind her.

In her pocket, her phone rang. John again,
she was sure of it. She didn’t answer.

She needed to focus on the road. That's what
she told herself anyway. The truth was she didn't want to be talked
out of this plan. She'd spent her whole life on the sidelines
watching as things happened around her. But not today. She’d hate
herself forever if Marianne died because of her cowardice.

Erin wove in and out of traffic. She checked
the mirror again. The FBI sedan was still on her tail. The agent in
the passenger seat was talking on the phone. He didn't look happy.
Neither of them did.

Her father would have been proud of her for
pulling their puppet strings for her own purposes.

Erin smiled at the thought. Maybe her mother
was right. Maybe she was more of father's daughter than she had
ever realized.

Erin sped around another corner and headed
for the far end of town. The FBI car followed. But so did someone
else.

A shiny, silver Escalade was behind the FBI.
Erin felt her stomach sink. She hoped for a moment that she was
overreacting, but a quick check of her rearview a half a mile later
showed the luxury SUV was still there. This wasn't good. Not at
all.

As soon as traffic thinned, the Escalade put
on a burst of speed and pulled alongside the black sedan. Erin
stepped on the accelerator, hoping that the agents would follow her
lead.

They never got the chance. The Escalade
swerved suddenly, clipping the back bumper of the sedan. The black
car hit the dirt strip on the side of the road, but it was going
too fast to recover. The sedan dipped hard to the side and flipped
over. There was a sickening crunch of metal as it landed hard on
the passenger's side.

Erin's foot came off the gas. Just for a
fraction of a second, she thought about slamming on the brakes to
see if the agents were okay.

But reality rushed at her, literally, as the
SUV sped up behind her. She couldn’t outrun them, not in her little
car. She didn’t have John’s fancy armored panels. Bullets would rip
through her doors. Just like they'd rip through her.

This was why Kallus had sent the text, she
realized. He wasn’t going to do anything to Marianne. He wanted to
draw her out. He’d known she would only have a minimal guard with
everyone at the raid. He’d known that she wouldn’t be able to
resist helping her dearest friend if she was in danger. He’d
orchestrated this whole scenario knowing it was his best chance of
getting Erin alone, and he’d been right.

The evil bastard thought he knew everything
about her.

He was wrong.

Erin swallowed hard and hit the gas. She
didn’t have time to be terrified. She needed to figure out where to
go. The drug store where Marianne was shopping was out. So were all
the other retail complexes across town. The madmen behind her
obviously didn't care who got caught in the crossfire. Who knew how
many people would get hurt. Erin refused to put anyone else in
danger. She was already sick with guilt over the FBI agents.

That only left one option.

Erin took the next left. She knew this route
well. It led over the hills, branching out into dozens of country
back roads. There was hardly anything out there. No houses. No
shops. And most importantly no people to get hurt.

But, no chance of finding help.

A mile down the road, the Escalade hit her
bumper. Erin jolted forward in her seat, but she managed to keep
the car steady.

Kallus was playing with her. He could have
easily thrown her from the road. She had to be a hell of a lot
easier to take out than the FBI. But that wasn’t what he wanted. He
wanted to scare her. He wanted her terrified and trembling when he
finally did her in.

And the truly horrible reality was Kallus was
right. She was terrified. Erin knew exactly what was going to
happen when she stepped out of the car. But at least it would end
with her. No one else would get hurt. No one else would have to
die.

Erin eased her foot off the gas pedal. She
glanced in the rearview mirror. The Escalade slowed as well. She
pulled over to the side of the road. The car slowly rolled to a
stop.

Erin looked over at her purse. John’s gun was
still inside. She slipped it out and tucked the weapon underneath
her shirt.

She knew she wasn’t going to survive, but
that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to take Kallus down with her. She
was outnumbered, and she didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell
against these hardened criminals, yet she couldn't help the urge to
fight.

Just like her father.

This was what he had felt the night he’d
died. Erin knew it down to the marrow of her bones. It had taken
this situation, but Erin finally understood why her father had
walked out onto the porch that night.

They had made different choices in their
lives, and they weren't fighting for the same ideals, but Erin
understood what he’d been thinking when he’d stepped in front of
all those FBI bullets. Sometimes you had to fight for what you felt
was right, even when the odds were stacked against you.

Erin turned around in her seat. There was
still no movement from the Escalade. She sucked in a deep breath
and swung her door open. Time to end this.

If only she could kiss John one more time,
the way her father had kissed her. One last goodbye. She had never
appreciated that until now. Until it was too late.

The outside air felt warm against her skin.
The breeze carried the scent of hay and wildflowers. Erin savored
the sweet smell as she stepped onto the pavement. The pebbles on
the side of the road crunched beneath her shoes.

She lifted her chin as she faced the car
behind her.

And waited.

No one moved inside the Escalade. Erin wasn't
sure what Kallus was doing. Wasn’t this the moment he’d been
waiting for? He had her alone. She was at his mercy. So why wasn’t
he rushing her?

Because he didn’t just want her dead. The
sadistic son of a bitch wanted her to suffer. The worst thing she
could do was deny him the satisfaction. She only prayed that her
resolve was stronger than his.

Half a minute later, the doors opened and
three sets of boots hit the pavement. It wasn't hard to pick Kallus
out of the pack. He stepped from the back seat. He was older,
fatter and gray around the temples. His suit was far finer than the
other two.

Erin’s fingers twitched so she balled them
into fists. She couldn’t go for her gun. Not yet. There was no way
she could hit Kallus when he was half-hidden behind two other guys
and twenty feet away.

The two men stopped at the grill of their
car, and put their hands on their hips. It wasn't a random gesture.
The motion pulled back their jackets and showed the guns hanging at
their sides. Erin was willing to bet that they were far better
shots than her.

If she had any chance of this working, Kallus
was going to have to get a whole hell of a lot closer.

Kallus stepped out in front of his
bodyguards. It was obvious he didn't see her as a threat.

“Erin Holliday,” he said. “What a pleasure to
finally make your acquaintance.”

“You call this a pleasure?” Erin said. She
cursed the shake in her voice. She tried to slow down her pounding
heart but it refused. “What do you want?”

“You are far too smart of a woman not to know
the answer to that question.” He chuckled, a low, greasy sound that
made Erin pull back a fraction of an inch in disgust. “But I should
commend you, Miss Holliday. When this whole game started I never
would have guessed that this is the way it would end.”

“Then I guess you don't know much about us
Hollidays,” she said.

Erin forced her chin up a little. Just like
she had seen her father do that night.

“Such bravery.” He smiled again, and took a
step forward. “And here I took you for a timid little creature,
always hiding behind John Ryman for protection.”

“Funny. I’m not the one who brought two armed
guards to do my dirty work.”

“Oh, rest assured, they won’t be doing, as
you say,
the
dirty work
.”

Erin held her breath as Kallus halved the
distance between them. She needed him to come closer. Just a little
closer.

“You know this isn’t going to demoralize John
don't you?” she said, trying to goad him to taking a few more
steps. “He'll only come after you harder, and he won't stop until
he’s destroyed you and everything you’ve ever touched.”

A hard gleam shone in Kallus’s eyes. His lip
curled up, showing a gold capped tooth that glinted in the sun.

“That is where you are wrong, Miss Holliday.
Heartbreak, true heartbreak, is debilitating. It wears us down. It
shows our vulnerabilities.”

“You underestimate John,” she said.

“Your precious Mr. Ryman puts on a good show,
but he is human like the rest of us. And he is most human when he
is with you. Pluck you from his life and he is mine, Miss Holliday.
That is the truth. And I will see the pain in his eyes before I put
a bullet in his head. Right after I put one in yours.”

Kallus’s hand slid down to his hip.

Erin was just about to pull her own gun
before Kallus had a chance, when her phone went off in her
pocket.

Kallus stilled. He tilted his head to the
side. A satisfied smile spread across his face. They both knew who
it was.

“Answer it,” he said. “Put it on
speaker.”

Erin thought for a second about refusing, but
figured Kallus would only overpower her, or worse, shoot her on the
spot. Either way, he'd get what he wanted. This way at least she
could say goodbye to John.

Erin slipped the phone out of her pocket and
held in in her open palm. She hit the accept button.

“Erin. Thank God. You need to turn around and
go home now.”

Erin’s lips started to quiver at the sound of
John’s voice. “That's not really an option.”

He went quiet. Even over the phone she could
feel the weight of his realization.

“No, Erin.”

“I love you.” What else could she say? She
couldn’t tell him she had a plan. A bad one, sure. One that was
certain to leave her a bloody mess all over this back road. But one
that would end Kallus for good. All she could do was let him know
how she really felt.

“I love you too.” His voice broke, and Erin’s
heart broke with it. She could almost bear the idea of her own
death, but knowing how much pain it would cause John made it
unbearable. All the things that were so clear just moments ago, now
seemed convoluted and hazy.”

“It sounds as if you don't trust me with your
precious girlfriend, Mr. Ryman,” Kallus said. He stepped close
enough to shout into the phone, close enough for Erin to catch the
stench of his cologne. Surely, that was close enough. It would have
to be.

Erin reached behind her back with her free
hand. The move was every bit as desperate as she felt. The thugs
pulled their guns and trained them on her. Erin’s reflexes kicked
in, and she pulled her hand back empty. She held both of them out
in front of her.

She prayed that she hadn’t lost her only
chance.

“Damn you, Kallus. If you hurt her—”

“How little credit you give me, Ryman. I
would never hurt an innocent,” Kallus said, his eyes filling up
with malicious glee. “She won't feel a thing when I put a bullet in
her head. But you? You'll feel every last bit of pain that she
doesn't. You'll die a thousand deaths before I get to you.”