THIRTEEN
The wind was blowing, the temperature dropped into the thirties by the time Frazier walked them back down the entry hall and opened the front door. Jessie waited while Bran handed the man a card with his cell number on it.
“If you need help, you can reach me here anytime,” Bran said.
“Thank you.” Frazier turned to Jessie. “I’m truly sorry about the colonel. He was a good man. He didn’t deserve what happened.”
“No, he didn’t,” Jessie said.
“I was terrified for my family. I just...I didn’t know what else to do.” Surprised flashed in Frazier’s eyes when Jessie leaned over and hugged him.
“It wasn’t your fault any more than it was my father’s. Whoever planned this—they’re the ones to blame.”
Frazier managed to nod. “Be careful,” he said as they walked out the door.
They were doing their best to stay safe, but they had no idea where the next threat might come from.
They didn’t have to wait long to find out.
“Headlights just came on behind us,” Bran said, as he turned the key in the ignition. “They must have been watching Frazier’s house.”
Jessie shot up in her seat. “Oh, God, you don’t think they’ll hurt Charles’s family?”
“Frazier did what they asked him to. I think they came here looking for us. Probably figured we’d show up to ask questions sooner or later.” Bran’s voice held a steely edge, and what might have been a hint of anticipation.
“You’ve got your seat belt on, right?”
“It’s on,” Jessie managed to say.
The Expedition was a big, heavy vehicle, but it had plenty of power. Bran stepped on the gas and the SUV shot forward so fast Jessie slammed back in her seat. He made several turns, slowing then accelerating, weaving his way out of the subdivision toward the main road, then pouring on the gas as the road widened and stretched out into the darkness.
The headlights stayed doggedly behind them, a little farther back now, but closing the distance.
“Can you tell what kind of vehicle it is?” Jessie asked, her heart racing as she turned to watch the road through the rear window.
“I got a look as it drove under the streetlight. Ford extended cab pickup. Gotta be our friends from the resort.”
“What...what do we do?”
Bran stepped on the gas. “Well, we aren’t going back to the hotel. If we did, they’d find us and we’d just have to move again. Wouldn’t want to do that.” He grinned. “Not when we both enjoy the pool so much.”
Both?She couldn’t miss the implication or the flash of heat that burned in his eyes. Her breath hitched, and her mind shot straight to sex. Then the Expedition sharply swerved, straightened abruptly, and all she could think of were the men trying to kill them.
The chase continued through the outskirts of town into the desert, the pickup’s headlights getting closer. Bran was letting the truck close the distance on purpose, she realized, and her pulse shot up another notch.
“Hold on,” Bran commanded, as if she weren’t already clinging to her armrest with a death grip. The Expedition accelerated, swerved, bounced over a drop-off at the edge of the road and shot out into a field, careening down a dirt track into the pitch-black darkness.
The headlights followed their route, the Expedition leading them farther and farther into the desert, both vehicles flying down the dirt road at a breakneck pace for about a mile. A shot of fear hit her when their headlights went off, Bran slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel, and the SUV did a one-eighty so it now faced the opposite direction.
“Get ready,” he said, his gaze riveted on the oncoming vehicle racing toward them. Every cell in her body burned with nerves as they waited, the SUV idling like a predator, the truck getting closer, thundering toward them, but in the deep, powdery dirt not able to travel as fast as it had on the highway.
Suddenly the SUV’s lights went on, the high beams hitting the pickup windshield dead center as Bran gunned the engine and the Expedition leaped forward. The pickup slammed on its brakes and veered off the road to avoid a collision at the same time Bran hit the brakes, and the SUV skidded to a halt just a few feet away.
“Get down!” Bran shouted, as his door flew open and he leaped out into the darkness. She expected the overhead light to go on, but it didn’t. She should have known he would have thought of that.
She crept up in the seat enough to watch events unfolding, illuminated by the headlights. Bran had already reached the passenger side of the truck and jerked open the door. The man inside flew out like a ball on the end of an elastic band, his gun soaring into the air, his body landing in an unmoving heap on the ground beneath the open door. Gunfire erupted, the driver shooting wildly, but his target had already disappeared into the darkness.
Jessie recognized the huge bearded bald man running toward her, his pistol pointed directly at the window where she sat. She clamped down on a jolt of fear, ducked below the seat, reached up and locked the door, though it wouldn’t do much good against a bullet.
