Hide Away (10 page)

“Joe.” Her throat was so tight, she could barely speak. She knew he'd been trained to both set and deactivate bombs when he was in the SEALs, but that didn't mean he wouldn't blow himself up. “Get out of there. You are
not
going to disarm that bomb yourself.”

“I'm only looking at it. Very powerful but basic design. No remote-control switch. Just a timer.” His hands were on the bomb, doing something to it.

“Joe, you'll set the damn thing off.”

“No, I told you, it's basic. No problem. If I'd been worried, I would have made you go back in the Jeep with Cara when I first caught sight of it.”

“Well,
I'm
worried. Get out of there.”

He crawled from beneath the car. There was a streak of oil on his cheek and on the collar of his shirt. “It was set to go off in thirty minutes, about the time you'd get back to the house.”

“You turned it off?”

“No, I reset it to allow for the time I spent here examining it.”

“What?”

“We're going to let the bomb go off,” Joe said. He handed her the keys to the Jeep. “You drive the Jeep. I'll meet you when you get off the freeway. I'll need you and Cara to be seen driving the Toyota as far as the property. Don't worry, the bomb's set for fifteen minutes leeway.”

“What are you up to?”

“I'll explain later. No time now.” He got into the driver's seat of the Toyota. “Trust me.”

Trust him to drive home with a ticking bomb on the undercarriage of that car?

Trust his word that she and Cara would be safe for that last stretch in the Toyota?

No question.

But she was going to kill him later for scaring her like this.

She turned and jumped into the Jeep beside Cara.

“Don't ask. I don't know all the answers yet.”

*   *   *

The Toyota was parked in a layby off Quinn Road a mile from the freeway when Eve exited and stopped beside it.

Joe rolled out from beneath it. “Get in. Quick. We lost five minutes.”

“What were you doing?” Eve asked as she gestured for Cara to get into the Toyota. “Something wrong?”

What was she asking? The whole situation of a ticking bomb was wrong.

“No, I just wanted to check the undercarriage for any other explosive I might have missed before I let you drive it.” He ran to the Jeep and jumped into the driver's seat. “Get out of the Toyota the minute you're on our property and the road is surrounded by trees. Jump out, and you and Cara hit the closest ditch. Don't wait until you get to the house.”

“Why?”

“The house and driveway are open and can be viewed easily by a telescope. That's where the bomb was set to go off, and Franco will want to see it. The road in the woods when you first enter the property can't be clearly viewed or accessed. When the bomb blows, he'll think he just miscalculated by a few minutes.”

“A
few
minutes?”

“Three, tops. Move!”

She moved. Her foot stomped on the accelerator, and the Toyota jumped forward.

She could see Joe in the Jeep in the rearview mirror. She was passing cars and houses as she drove through the neighborhoods bordering the lake property.

Three minutes.

“Eve?” Cara said softly.

“It's okay.” She didn't take her eyes from the road. “We're handling it. Just move when I say move.”

Cara nodded and fell silent.

Trees.

In a minute, they'd be on the lake property.

It was a long, long minute.

Trees. Shadows. Lake in the distance.

She braked, hard. A screech of metal. The Toyota turned sideways as it halted.

“Out, Cara!” She threw open the door. “Run for that ditch on the other side of the road.”

Cara didn't question. She was already running. She was at the deep ditch before Eve, sliding down the muddy side.

Eve followed her.

One more minute.

“Crawl.” Joe was in the ditch beside them. “Get as far away from the car as possible.”

Eve nudged Cara ahead of her. “Hurry!”

Thirty seconds.

Eve was panting as she moved through the mud and rocks of the ditch. She could feel Joe behind her.

“Head down!” Joe shouted.

Kaboom!

Deafening noise. Glare of fire. Flying metal hurled into the air.

She was vaguely aware of heavy weight. Joe had sprung forward and covered Cara and Eve with his body.

She struggled to move, to sit up.

“Be still. Not yet. There's still flying metal.”

A minute later, Joe moved off her. “Okay?”

She nodded as she sat up and looked at Cara. The girl appeared unscratched but her eyes were wide with disbelief as she stared at the fiery inferno just yards from them. Eve glanced at Joe. “You?”

Joe didn't answer as he reached for his phone. “Get in the woods and hike toward the far end of the lake. Wipe out your footprints as you go.
Now.
Franco may turn up any minute. I'm calling the police and fire department and bringing them on the scene so he won't be eager to do any in-depth search.”

Eve grabbed Cara's hand and pulled her into the woods. She called over her shoulder. “You're not coming?”

“I'm going to stay here and appear properly devastated by the tragedy. I'll find you after midnight tonight. Get going.”

She was already running. She grabbed a branch from beneath a tree, then another for Cara. “You heard him. Erase the footprints.”

Cara didn't question but set about brushing the leaves over the faint indentations on the earth.

The air smelled of oil and smoke and burning rubber. It was hard to breathe.

Joe was alone. Would Franco get there before the fire trucks and police? No, she could hear the sirens now.

And Cara was now by her side, her expression intent, and Eve could almost feel the aura of protectiveness she was emitting. It's not supposed to be like that, she wanted to tell her. It should work the other way around. But she still felt the warmth and companionship of that protectiveness, and she would take that gift. She was feeling bewildered and had no idea why Joe had staged this explosion. All she could do was be patient and take one thing at a time.

Protect Cara from all dangers.

Get to the far end of the lake.

Erase all signs of their passing.

And wait for Joe to tell her what the hell was happening.

*   *   *

“It's kind of cold, isn't it?” Cara huddled closer to Eve beneath the shelter of a boulder beside the lake. “I think the fire from the Toyota has finally gone out. I don't see the glare any longer.”

Eve nodded. “It's been hours since the explosion.” She drew the girl closer to the warmth of her body and leaned back against the boulder. “It shouldn't be long until Joe gets here. You've been very patient, Cara. Not one question.”

“I didn't think you'd be able to answer them.” She wrinkled her nose. “You seemed very frustrated with Joe. And there wasn't much time for explanations.”

“You're right there,” she said ruefully. “On both counts.”

“But you're not angry with him?”

“I'll let you know that when the explanations start coming in.”

Cara looked up at Eve thoughtfully. “But I don't think you'll be angry with him then either. You wouldn't have done what he wanted if you thought he was wrong.”

“Right and wrong is often a question of opinion. Joe and I aren't always on the same page.”

“But most of the time?”

She nodded. “Most of the time.”

“And you trusted him to do what was right for us.”

“Yes, and I always will. It just may not be the way I would do it. Joe has great instincts, and he's sometimes way ahead of the curve.” She paused. “And you can trust him, too. If the time comes when he wants you to do something crazy like blow up a Toyota, you go ahead and do it. He'll have a reason.”

She chuckled. “But you still thought it was crazy to blow up the car?”

She sighed. “I loved that Toyota. It was like an old friend.”

“But you know he'll be able to convince you it was the right thing to do.”

“We'll see when he—” She broke off, her head lifting. “Shh, I heard something…”

Cara stiffened. “Maybe I should—”

“It's Joe.”

Joe had moved out of the shadows behind them. He pulled her to her feet, and his arms went around her. “Everything okay?”

“You tell me.” She gave him a quick kiss. “We didn't run into any trouble, did we, Cara?”

“No.” Cara scrambled to her feet. “Hello, Joe.”

“Hello, Cara.” He took off the backpack he was wearing. “I want you to know getting your violin into this backpack posed major difficulties. Everything else had to go around it.” He set it on the ground. “But I figured I might not be able to get you to budge unless it went with you.”

“Went with her where?” Eve asked.

“Edinburgh.”

“What?”

“I called Jane and told her you'd made your decision, and you'd be flying out tonight.”

“Wait a minute.
My
decision?”

“Well, I let her believe that you were in agreement. And when she heard what was going on, she was in agreement, too. All you have to do is say no, but it would spoil all my plans.”

“Which involved blowing up the Toyota,” she said grimly. “And causing me to almost have a heart attack while you were driving all the way back here with that bomb underneath it. Not to mention sending Cara and me into the woods while you did your fancy staging for Franco.”

“Guilty of all of the above.”

“Then tell me why.”

“I decided that Margaret was right, hiding in plain sight was too dangerous. I could do all the scouting and take all the safety precautions, and there still might be a slip. You and Cara would be squarely in the bull's-eye. I checked those cars for possible explosives when they were sitting in front of the cottage. When Franco couldn't safely get near them, he waited until you left the property and went to a place where he could access them.” His lips tightened. “That can't happen again. You won't be safe, and I won't be able to concentrate on getting Salazar or Franco because I'll have to be standing guard.”

“So you staged that bonfire to make Franco think he'd managed to kill Cara and me.” Eve shook her head. “But they'll find out that there were no bodies in that car.”

“Not for a while. That bomb was very powerful and meant to make it very difficult to obtain either dental records or DNA. In short, there would be a possibility of vaporization, or at least huge difficulty finding body parts. You can be safely in the Highlands before anyone realizes you're alive and gone.”

“And where will you be?”

“Wherever Salazar is. He controls Franco. I need one to get the other.”

“Mexico City.”

“Maybe.”

“Dammit, we're going to be at opposite ends of the world from each other.”

“Not quite. And only if Franco and Salazar stay on my side. The minute one of them steps toward you, I'll be there.”

“I don't like it.”

“Neither do I. But it's how it has to be right now.” He said roughly, “Do you think I like the thought of sending you over there without me? It's the safest thing for you and Cara. Why do you think that I was asking who was on that hunt? MacDuff was in the 45 Commando of the Royal Marines and won a hell of a lot of medals. He's something of a folk hero in Scotland. Jock Gavin is young, but he might be the deadliest man I've ever met. Caleb is bound to show up, and you know what he is.”

Yes, she knew. She had seen Seth Caleb in action and still had nightmares about it. “You've been thinking about this since last night.”

“I was searching for a way out for you. This is it. It's the best I can do. It will be like having a Special Forces unit to protect you.”

“And who is going to protect you?”

He didn't answer directly. “Manez and the Federales want that coalition of cartels broken up. He wants Salazar and Castino dead. He'll help all he can.”

“If you ask him. Not if you think he's going to get in your way.”

“I've already started to use him.”

“For the time being. But you want Salazar and Castino put down regardless if you get the Mexican police to go along with you.”

He glanced at Cara. “So do you, Eve.”

“I don't want you dead.”

“Neither do I.” He smiled. “I'll see that doesn't happen. I have something very special to live for at the moment.”

She wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it, she realized in despair. “I didn't want Jane involved in this, Joe. She's just beginning to be able to cope with her life again.”

“We have no choice.
She
gave us no choice. I told her all the dangers. I'm calling MacDuff and Jock before I put you on that plane and make sure they're on board with this.”

She made a face. “You really meant it when you said that you're forming a Special Forces unit.”

“It's already in place. You have to be safe. Don't give me a hard time, Eve.”

“Why not? As usual, it seems like it's all for me and nothing for you.”

“Look, you have to protect Cara. I have to deal with Salazar. We both have our jobs to do. We can't do them together.”

She knew he was right, she just didn't want him to be right. She drew a shaky breath. “You call me. You keep me informed. I want to know what's happening to you. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you loud and clear.” He kissed her. “Under the circumstances, I'm not likely to let you run around those hills without my knowing what's happening.” He turned to Cara. “You take care of her.”

“I will,” she said gravely. “Don't worry, I know that's what I have to do.”