Flee the Night (28 page)

He shook his head.

Frustration flashed across her face. “If you care about me or Emily at all, you’ll stay here.” She got up and tucked the rabbit’s foot into her pocket. “Give me the CD case.”

He fished it out of his belt pouch and handed it to her. “I have eyes on you at all times. You get into trouble, I’m not staying put. That’s my promise.”

She swallowed, and he thought he saw a flicker of pain in her eyes. “Don’t get us killed.”

Then she turned and sprinted for a chert, a slice of limestone in the folds of a long ridge known as Swallows Cave. She crouched at the entrance, looked around, and dropped the CD case. She spun around, as if to sprint back.

A shot chipped off the rock right above her head.

Lacey dived into the darkness.

Micah was on his feet, pulse roaring. It was a trap. Whoever was after Lacey’s program had no intention of letting her live.

Another shot.

Micah searched for the shooter, but he didn’t have his night visions or even a shotgun to scope through. “Get out of there!” he yelled toward Lacey.

A barrage of shots flaked off wood over his head. He hit the ground, army-crawled toward the cave entrance. “Lacey, are you okay?”

Nothing.

His heart climbed into his throat. Why hadn’t she stayed in the truck? He was poised to leap into the cave when another shot clipped the air. His shoulder burned, a pain so sharp it swiped his breath, his every thought. He went down, not sure where he was hit, fighting through the folds of shadow and gulping in air.

“Mommy!”

He pushed himself to his elbows, clenching his teeth against agony.

Emily had stepped out of the cave, her face white.
No, Lacey!
But he couldn’t push the words out through the pain. Micah’s gaze fixed on a light, then on the silhouette of a little girl holding a teddy bear.

Mommy!” she screamed again.

Lacey stepped away from the cave entrance, hands up. Like a sacrificial offering. Her face was stoic and she spoke calmly. “Mommy’s here, honey. Don’t cry.”

“I thought you were told not to bring anyone with you,” came a voice from the shadows. An accent-laden voice.

Lacey didn’t flinch. “He followed me. I didn’t invite him.”

That much was true. Micah crawled out of his position, got to his knees, and struggled to flank the speaker. The pain had released him, adrenaline cutting off the nerves to his brain and reducing the wound to a gnawing burn. He picked up speed.

“Do you have Ex-6?”

Micah heard Lacey say, “It’s in the entrance to the cave.”

“Good. Go back to your truck.”

Micah glanced at her. She was barely outlined by the moonlight, but her expression could stop a small army. “Not without my daughter.”

“If you want her to live, you’ll leave.”

Micah could see the shadow now. His blood went cold in his veins when it cocked a handgun and pressed it against the little girl’s head.

Lacey was right; Emily looked just like John. Blonde hair, cute, pug nose. He shoved his feelings into a hard ball to deal with later and forced himself to move behind the man.

“Please, I’ve given you what you want. Let her go.”

A bitter laugh came from beyond the shadow, and it razed Micah’s nerves. “Should I trust you? Like John did?”

Micah eased closer.

“Go home, Lacey. Or I’ll deliver your daughter in a body bag.”

Micah leaped. He tackled the shooter as Emily ran, screaming. A shot, and Micah heard Lacey yell. The shooter turned, cuffed him across the forehead. The blow made him see white.

Another shot, and this time Micah felt it in his leg—wet and hot. He groaned but held on to the struggling figure. “Run, Lacey!” He felt something rake his head and blinked against the pain.

“Don’t let her get away!” The man under Micah yelled to his partner and threw him off.

Micah faced the sky and saw the buttstock of a Colt Commando assault rifle arrow toward his face. He rolled. It landed in the dirt. His assailant swore when Micah grabbed his ankle. He tried to rise, but his leg wasn’t working, and the butt came down on his wounded shoulder. He howled in agony.
Run, Lacey!

The last thing Micah saw was a foot aiming for his head.

Lacey scooped up Emily, put her on her hip, turned, and sprinted. She heard Micah howling in the background, but her legs churned as she put distance between herself and the Korean on her tail.

The same large Korean who’d brought her the cell phone in the hospital. And on the train.

Idiot, idiot!
She couldn’t believe she’d not processed these info bytes before now.

“Mommy!” Emily screamed. Her arms and legs wrapped around Lacey’s body in a death clench.

Lacey tucked Emily’s head in close, protecting her from the slap of brush. She felt a trickle of blood on her chin as a branch caught her mouth, but she’d memorized her path and ran with surety. The sound of crashing behind her diminished. Along with Micah’s howl.

She ran faster, hoping to outrun her grief. She reached the truck and piled in. “Go, Go!”

Dannette stared at her. “Where’s Micah?”

“Go!” Lacey crushed Emily’s body close, every nerve rippling. In a couple seconds she was going to unravel.

“We’ll wait for him.”

Lacey reached over and put the truck into drive. “Go. Micah’s dead.” She grabbed the wheel with one hand and crunched the gas pedal. They shot up the path.

Dannette pushed Lacey’s arm away, then kicked her leg. She was visibly shaken. But when a shot pinged her truck, she floored it. In the container in back, her dog let out a barrage of barks and growls.

They careened through the forest in silence until they hit Service Road 20. Conner was there, his lights bathing the road. Dannette slammed on the brakes, breathing hard. Tears glazed her eyes as she stared at Lacey. “Dead?”

Lacey could barely speak past her heart jammed in her throat. “He took the shooter out so Em and I could get away.” She’d wanted to scream when she saw him go down, but going after him without protecting Emily first would destroy everything he’d sacrificed his life for. She put her daughter away from her, held her face in her hands, and examined her. “Are you okay, honey?”

Emily sobbed. Lacey gathered her in as Conner and Sarah approached. Andee remained in the pickup talking into the radio, her big brown eyes on Lacey. If she was trying to raise Micah, she’d only get static. Lacey had seen someone shoot him at least once. If not twice.

Lacey closed her eyes and fought the darkness closing in on her.

Chapter 18

“DANNETTE, YOU TAKE Sherlock and see if you can pick up Micah’s trail. Andee, you track with Dannette and take the first-aid kit.” Conner had suddenly morphed from goofball to general.

Lacey watched, nearly numb, as Conner moved into action, barking orders like Micah or perhaps the officer he’d been. “Sarah, check out Emily. Lacey, I need you to tell me everything. Leave nothing out.”

Lacey felt the devastation and tried to find words that might explain Micah’s death.

Sarah took Emily from her arms, and Lacey couldn’t bear to meet her eyes. But there was compassion on her face. “He’ll be okay, Lacey. He’s a fighter.”

Lacey didn’t argue, even though she knew the kind of men Ishmael Shavik had worked for. Horror speared her soul. She should have never, ever called Micah. Her selfishness had cost another man his life. She wrapped her arms around herself, holding back the urge to writhe from the inside out.

Conner crouched before her and put his hands on his knees. “What happened?”

She shook her head. “I should have said no. What was I thinking? I should have never called him—”

“Calm down,” Conner interrupted. “Micah’s no dummy. He’s a Special Forces captain with years of training. Now, if we want to find him, we need you to get past your guilt and focus on hope. Take a deep breath.”

Lacey concentrated on his eyes. When she saw no indictment in them, it nourished the wounded places inside. “Okay.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know. I left the package where he instructed, and suddenly someone started shooting. As if it were an ambush. Micah yelled and I think he was shot. Then I saw Emily.” She laced her shaking hands together. Some operator she was. Falling apart on the spot. She glanced at her daughter, who was draped in a blanket and being soothed by Sarah’s gentle touch.

“The kidnapper told me he was going to shoot Emily, so I thought if I could just get him to shoot me instead maybe she’d run, or Micah could grab her. Somehow I thought Micah would read my mind and he’d move around behind him. And I think that’s what he did. Only … Emily ran to me, and Micah tackled him. And … he …” She closed her eyes. “Micah told me to run.…”

Conner touched her cheek. “Okay, listen. You did the right thing. Emily matters first. Micah walked in there of his own choosing. We’ll find him.” He stood. “Dannette, you ready?”

Dannette stood by the truck, holding her keys. “Yes. I’m driving back up to the LKP. I’ll give Sherlock the scent there.”

“I’m going with you.” Lacey walked over to the pickup.

“Hardly. I know what I’m doing.” Dannette’s eyes flashed anger. “Thanks, but you’ve done enough damage.”

Lacey froze. The accusation speared her. Maybe she’d been right in guessing that Dannette and Micah had a relationship. She forced an even tone, pushing past the guilt. “Yes, I have. But I know where we were, and if you want Sherlock to pick up Micah’s trail, that’s a good place to start. Micah may still be there.”

Lacey saw sadness flicker across Dannette’s face, but she ignored the twist in her heart. If Micah made it out of here alive, he deserved to have someone like Dannette who could love him and never endanger his life.

“Get in,” Dannette said.

Lacey nodded. Then she turned and ran to Emily, who was sitting on Sarah’s lap. Fat tears ran down her face. “Emily, Mommy is going to look for a brave man who tried to help us. I will be
right back
. Sarah will take care of you, okay?”

Emily’s lower lip shook. “No, Mommy.”

Lacey touched her daughter’s cheek. “Yes. I promise I’ll come back.
I promise
.”

Emily’s big eyes traced hers. “Okay.”

Sarah cuddled her. “I’ll take good care of her,” she said to Lacey.

Lacey could hardly speak when she climbed in the truck between Andee and Dannette. They drove up the service road in silence. She’d have a hard time cutting the tension in the truck with a chain saw.

“Stop here,” Lacey suddenly ordered.

“No, we were farther,” Dannette argued.

Lacey shook her head. “See that indentation in the ground and the scrape of dirt? Those are your tire tracks.”

Dannette stopped the pickup. “I’ll get Sherlock. There are flashlights in the back. And a first-aid kit.”

A first-aid kit wouldn’t begin to touch Micah’s injuries. Still, Lacey couldn’t help but feel hope as they quickly filled the pack and grabbed flashlights. “Follow me,” she said and marched into the forest.

The light transected the darkness and showed a few broken branches where either she or her tail had parted the wilderness. She followed her trail and found the place where Micah had lain as she crept to the chert in the rock.

She crouched and her pulse filled her ears when she saw blood soaked into the leaves.

Andee pulled up beside her and said nothing.

Dannette let Sherlock take a whiff. “He can start tracking from here.”

Lacey climbed over the log, eased up to Swallows Cave, painfully aware that whoever had ambushed her could still be lurking. Nothing happened as she scanned her light over the cave entrance.

But the CD case was gone.

She stood at the entrance. “They were over here,” she said, shining her light toward the place where she’d seen Emily illuminated, her eyes big, her little body trembling.

The urge to find the kidnapper and do something very, very painful to him clutched her. No one should be allowed to scare a child.
Ever.
Lacey closed her eyes, fighting a surge of rage.

Find Micah
. His howl of agony rang in her mind. She opened her eyes and ran toward his last known position.

Dannette met her there. Sherlock was off his leash, wearing his shabrack, and sniffing.

“See the broken branches and the matted dirt?” Dannette said. “Micah was here.”

Lacey flicked her flashlight over the forest. Dark splatters on the leaves and a trail of damp ground. “And he was bleeding badly.”

Sherlock alerted, two short barks.

“He’s found the trail,” said Dannette. “Find!” she yelled to the dog.

Sherlock took off through the forest.

Dannette followed, then Andee and Lacey. Lacey heard the ladies cutting through the bramble ahead of her, but she’d gone numb. Micah wasn’t here. Which meant, if he was still alive, he might be in the hands of … whom?

They emerged to another road. Andee ran her flashlight over her map. “This one isn’t marked on the map.”

“It looks like an old logging road, from the grass cover and deep ruts.” Dannette pointed her light on the strip of grass where Sherlock ran to and fro, his nose down.

“What’s he doing?” Lacey asked.