Vanishing Act (17 page)

“Ivey, what are you doing here? I thought we were getting together later today.” As soon as the words left her lips, Danielle knew how foolish they sounded. “You're not here for an extra tutoring session are you?” Her hands shook violently, and she clasped them tightly in front of her, trying to keep the quaking from vibrating through her whole body.

Ivey smirked. “Aren't you the smart one? But let me tell you, you're not easy to get alone. Ever since your bike
accident, you've been stuck to Nate like he was life support.” Her smirk turned cruel. “But don't worry. I took care of him earlier.”

This was it. She was going to die in this moment, and all she could do was pray for the forgiveness she knew she'd never get to ask Nate for.

N
ate's arm felt like it was going to fall off. Or maybe he was just wishing it would fall off. It hurt so badly that he figured not having an arm would be better than the useless one dangling by his side.

While running toward the front of the garage, he risked another glance at the blood already beginning to crust around the hole in the front of his arm. He knew there was a matching exit wound on the other side. Ivey hadn't hit the bone and really hadn't hit anything major. Just enough nerves to make him want to crawl into the garage and die.

But he had to find Danielle.

Precious time had passed while he played dead after being shot. And then he'd lost consciousness at least once. But he didn't know for how long. Ivey could have Danielle by now, and he had to hurry.

“Thank You, God,” he repeated over and over, his ears still ringing with the echo of the metal Dumpster lid slamming down. It had happened a split second before Ivey pulled the trigger. She must have jerked at the noise, sparing his life.

And the noise certainly woke Ivey's true target, which is why the hired hand had taken off before she checked to
see that her aim was true. She probably thought he would be out long enough to make her getaway with Danielle.

“Thank You, God,” he whispered once more as he looked at what really was just a scratch, knowing that God's hand of protection had been on him from the beginning. Eventually he would need to have it looked at by a doctor, but first he had to find Danielle.

Whatever it took to make sure that she was safe, he'd do it. Even if he knew his efforts weren't enough. He wasn't in control of this situation any more than every other one leading up to this moment. And for the first time, he recognized it.

Still running, he prayed silently.
Father, I know that You're hand is on this situation. I'd be a dead man without You. On our own, we're hopeless. Please protect both Danielle and I. We need You this morning.

Nate stumbled on the step of cement leading into the office but collected himself before silently slipping into the office. The room was mostly dark, and he could see the light from the garage casting a small stream into the far corner of the room, where the door had been left ajar.

His steps were silent and his hand automatically reached for his weapon. But, of course, Ivey had taken it from him when she rifled through his pockets right after shooting him.

Unarmed and completely uncertain what his next step should be, he crept toward the door that stood ajar. A single voice echoed in the large bay and carried into the hallway. “You're coming with me!” Hearing the words coming from Ivey was at odds with everything that Nate had known about her. She'd perfected her cover as a middle-aged soccer mom, which made this paradigm shift even more unbelievable.

Plastic slid along plastic as she undoubtedly put a zip tie around Danielle's wrists. “Let's go.”

“Where are we going?”

“You're needed in Portland. Right away. Mr. Goodwill's trial starts on Monday, and he plans to make sure that your father is convinced not to testify.”

Nate heard their footsteps heading right to the spot where he was standing, and he had to make a quick decision. Should he duck and hide and let Ivey get on the road with Danielle, taking her who knew where? Or did he stay put and let Ivey see him? If he stayed put, then maybe Ivey would take him with them. Maybe he'd be by Danielle's side, wherever they went.

He almost laughed at how ridiculously easy the decision was to make.

When the door flung open, revealing Ivey and Danielle in silhouette, he tried to look broad and imposing. It wasn't as easy as it had been when he had two good arms and his weapon, but his true goal wasn't to intimidate Ivey. He just needed to get taken along to wherever she was going.

“I thought I took care of you,” Ivey grumbled, pointing her weapon at his chest and dragging Danielle by the arm in her wake.

“Not good enough, I guess. Should have checked twice.”

She huffed and waved the gun around like she was trying to decide what to do with him. “Fine. Have it your way.” With surprisingly fast speed, she brought the butt of the gun up and slammed it into the side of his neck, sending him to his knees, wheezing for air. She moved quickly again, and before he knew it, his own handcuffs—the ones she'd taken from him earlier that morning—were wrapped around his wrists, cutting off circulation to his fingers.

“Walk. Both of you.” She corralled them out the front door, quickly checking for passing cars or pedestrians.

He tried to catch Danielle's eye, but she looked straight ahead as they marched in the direction Ivey pointed. The only car in the parking lot was Nate's, but Ivey had those keys, too. She popped the trunk from the remote and waved her gun into the compact space. “In.”

Nate wasn't sure he would fit in, but did as he was told. A crazy lady with a gun wasn't someone he wanted to mess with, especially with Danielle in range. He stepped onto the industrial carpeting and slid down on his back, his knees practically jammed into his chest.

Danielle gave Ivey a wild look that Nate took to mean that she thought the other woman was as crazy as he did. But Ivey just pushed her in and closed the lid as they lay side by side in the tightest space he'd ever been in.

“Are you claustrophobic?” he said in a normal voice.

He felt her wiggle a little, rubbing against his good arm, and he was suddenly very thankful he'd crawled in first. “No. I don't think so.”

“Good.”

The car shifted as Ivey must have gotten in. She started the engine and the car trembled beneath them then skidded out of the parking lot, turning left onto the highway. They were heading away from town as Ivey began talking, probably on her cell. He could hear her speaking, but could not make out any of the words she was saying.

“We should be able to talk if we keep it down to a whisper,” he said to Danielle.

“Okay,” she replied, equally as quiet with a small lilt of panic in her tone. “What are we going to do?”

“I'm not sure yet. First—”

Suddenly Danielle sobbed loudly next to him. “I'm so
sorry. This is all my fault. I didn't mean for any of this to happen.”

He would have given everything he owned at that moment to be able to wipe those tears away. “Shh. Danielle, it's not your fault. Calm down, sweetie.”

“But I was so angry. I didn't listen. I was just so sure…Why?”

“Why what?” Her mind had changed lanes faster than he could follow.

“Why did you come back for me? Why didn't you just follow Ivey and call for backup?”

“I wanted to call for backup, but there just wasn't time.” He sighed heavily. “There's no way I was going to let you out of my sight for more than a second. What if I lost you? I'd never be able to live with myself if I let you get hurt. Or worse.”

He heard her inhale deeply and swallow, but he cut her off before she could continue. “I want to talk to you about this—I really do. But first I've got to get out of these handcuffs.”

“How?”

“I'm not sure. They're too tight for me to slip out of them without dislocating my thumb. Do you have a hairpin or something like that?”

“Yes—in my
hair.
How am I supposed to reach it?”

He snorted. Good point. “Can you scoot down toward our feet, and I'll try to get my hands up to your hair to pull it out?”

Without a word she complied, and soon his fingers were running through her silky hair. For a moment he forgot about the screaming pain in his arm and the handcuffs cutting off his circulation and just enjoyed the softness of her locks.

But the feel of the edge of a pin yanked him back to the
task at hand, and he tried to pull it free without being able to see it. He snorted as the pin wiggled out of her hair and he popped it into the tiny hole on his cuffs.

Bingo! The lock on the cuffs popped, and he pulled his arms from behind his back, rolling to his back and suddenly realizing he was laying on her arm. She didn't complain, but he slid as far toward the front of the car as he could.

“I don't have anything to cut the zip tie with. Are you doing okay?”

“How much longer will it be?”

He rubbed his sore shoulder. “I don't know. And I don't have a plan. Yet.”

“We can kick out the taillights. They're designed to pop out easily so that kidnapped kids can flag down help.”

“But what if Ivey notices before someone else does? I'm sure her response would be less than pleasant.”

A soft humming noise coming from Danielle's side of the trunk filled the quiet space before she suddenly whispered, “What about the release pulls on the back of the seat to make it fold forward? Most cars have them in the trunk now. Can you feel them?”

Nate groped along the upper edge of back of the seat until his fingers wrapped around a plastic tab. “Perfect—it's right here. Good thinking. I'll use it as soon as Ivey pulls over and gets out.”

“Why do we have to wait?” He could hear her shifting uncomfortably. Her wrists and shoulders were undoubtedly killing her.

“We can't afford to have an accident where one or both of us are injured. If we surprise her while she's driving, we could wind up in a rollover accident. If we're injured, she's got the upper hand again. Worse, she might have time to signal Goodwill that something's gone wrong.” He exhaled
sharply. “If he gets more of his guys here before we can get back up, we'll be in even deeper trouble.”

“So what's Plan B?” she asked.

“We have to surprise Ivey in a place where she won't be able to get him on the phone. Ideally that will be when she pulls over at a gas station or rest stop.”

Danielle was silent for several long seconds. “I guess that makes sense. But you haven't really answered my earlier question. Why are you in this trunk with me? Is this about the case? I know you don't want to fail on this assignment.”

He thought he heard her voice break, and it made him smile. She was beautiful when she let herself be vulnerable. He wished he could see her, but had to let her tone speak for her now.

“No,” he whispered. “That wasn't it at all. I mean, of course I don't want to fail this assignment, but that's not why I'm tucked into this trunk with you.”

“It's not?”

Suddenly the car slowed, and he put his finger to his lips, forgetting she couldn't see his movements. “This could be our chance,” he whispered.

“Will you be all right?” Her words felt like a hand on his arm, warm and comforting.

“I'll be fine. Stay put until I come back for you.”

“You will come back for me, won't you?” Fear laced every word, and he knew she was worried for him. He rested his forehead against hers as the car bumped to a stop. He wanted so much to see her face, to see the worry there and offer her reassurance.

More than that, he wanted one final kiss.

There was no way of knowing if he'd ever have another chance to do so. He could feel her rapid breath on his chin, and he knew this was his chance.

But it was also his chance to prove to both her and himself that he was worthy of another kiss if the opportunity ever arose.

Pulling back, he knew that he'd do anything he could to make himself worth just one more. Maybe, just maybe, that one more might lead to another one, and another one. Maybe one every day for the rest of his life. And he knew she was worth fighting for. Worth doing whatever it took to never hurt her the way his father had hurt his mother.

Instead of stealing that last kiss, he cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. “Will you pray for me? I think I'm going to need it.”

“I will.”

At that moment, the engine turned off, and the driver's door opened and closed with a thud. Nate waited two seconds, then rolled onto his injured arm and yanked the release tab. Cracks of light filtered into the trunk as the seats popped forward, and he blinked against the pain in his eyes. Unable to wait for his vision to adjust, he rolled into the backseat, shooting Danielle what he hoped was a reassuring grin before slipping to the floor in front of the bench seat and pushing the back rests into place again.

He popped his head up to peek out the window. Perfect. They were at a rest stop, the only other vehicles in the area were two tractor trailers parked in the overnight lot. It seemed as if a lot had happened since he last slept, but it was still early morning, so there were few travelers on the roads. Maybe he could take Ivey down without attracting any unwanted attention.

He tried to plan how this was all going to work, but he had no idea what he was facing. A quick scan of the front seat showed no weapons. She probably had both his and her own with her.

And then through the windshield he saw her, walking
back toward the car, a can of soda in one hand. Her other hand appeared to just be relaxing in her pocket, but he could make out the shape of the butt of a gun there also.

Well, the gun was inconsequential. He didn't have a choice. He had to act now or there might not be another chance.

Flinging open the back door, he lunged forward, sending up the only prayer he had time for.
God, please watch over me!

If he had expected Ivey to look shocked, he would have been surprised. Her face was resolute and angry as she swung the gun from her pocket into her outstretched arm and fired it twice in his direction as he dropped to the ground, rolling toward her. His head told him to get away, but all of his training reminded him that if he let her get away now, he'd probably never find her again.

He crawled two steps, closing the distance between them to about fifteen feet. His ears rang with adrenaline, but he could see her mouth forming words that would have earned him a severe spanking as a child.

Ignoring it all, he pressed forward.