Sanders 01 - Silent Run (32 page)

“Shane obviously traced Mrs. Murphy to you. That's how he showed up at your apartment."

“But he couldn't have seen Amanda take Caitlyn to Teresa's house, because if he had Caitlyn, he would have used her to get to me. Victor would have used Caitlyn. She's safe. She has to be."

“I hope you're right."

“I didn't have a lot of choices after I saw Shane in LA. Maybe it was wrong to have Amanda take Caitlyn to Teresa, but I knew Shane was going to come after me again, and if I left Caitlyn behind, he'd find her. I didn't have anyone else to turn to."

“Except me,” he couldn't help pointing out.

“You were too far away. San Francisco was a seven-hour drive. I didn't think I could get that far without a better plan."

He wanted to argue that she could have found a way to make contact with him. She could have gone through one of his friends, called him at work. Lord knew she was creative at the lies. She could have reached him if she wanted to. But it was pointless to rehash what hadn't happened.

“Okay, so where were you going when Shane chased you up the coast?” he asked. “Were you heading to Catherine's house?"

“No. I thought Catherine would be too easy to find. She hadn't changed her name or anything."

“Imagine that,” he said sarcastically.

Sarah ignored him. “I was just looking for a new safe place to hide. And I thought if Shane were still after me, at least I'd get him away from Caitlyn. I told Teresa if anything happened to me, if I died, that she should take the baby back to you."

Jake wanted to believe that, but how could he? “Sure you did."

“It's true."

She gazed at him with her heart in her beautiful blue eyes, and he forced himself to look away from her, to concentrate on the road back to his daughter.

“I don't know what I would have done if you'd been in town when Andy died,” she murmured. “But in some ways I was glad that you weren't, because I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want you to die, Jake. And make no mistake, Shane would have killed all three of us if he'd had the chance."

“Don't tell me you disappeared to protect me. What kind of man do you think I am -- that I would want to hide behind you and my daughter?” he demanded.

“I had to make a quick decision, and you weren't there. I had to protect Caitlyn."

“You could have gone to the police."

“I was in the custody of the U.S. Marshals when Shane tried to kill me. I didn't believe I could trust anyone. Maybe it was the wrong decision,” she admitted. “But everything happened so fast, and I was terrified."

“It was the wrong decision,” he said sharply. “And I told you I don't want to talk about this right now."

“You brought it back up."

“Fine, then I'm putting it away again. I just hope to God you didn't make another wrong decision when you left Caitlyn with Teresa."

* * *

Sarah hoped so, too. Every mile between LA and Santa Barbara seemed to take an eternity. When they were a few minutes away she tried calling Teresa on Jake's cell phone, but there was no answer. It could be that Teresa was simply out of the house, maybe at the park with Caitlyn or on some other innocent outing. Even if Victor found them both, he wouldn't necessarily know that Caitlyn was Sarah's child. She'd colored Caitlyn's hair before she'd taken her to Teresa's house, turning her daughter's blond locks an ordinary brown. And since Teresa was also a brunette, Caitlyn could easily pass for her daughter.

“I dyed Caitlyn's hair,” she told Jake. “It's brown now. I wanted us to match. Just so you know."

“I'd recognize her no matter what her hair color is."

“What are we going to do after we get Caitlyn?"

“Find a way out of this. I won't have my daughter growing up in fear."

“You have such confidence that you can change things. I lost mine a long time ago. I got it back for a while when I was with you. I thought I could have a normal life, a good life, but I screwed that up, too.” She stared out the window, half hoping Jake would say they could have that life again, but he didn't.

For the next ten minutes they drove in silence. Finally they neared the town of Santa Barbara. Sarah's tension increased as they exited the freeway. Teresa lived in a modest neighborhood of Spanish-style houses with red tile roofs and neat lawns. Her two-story house was set in the middle of the block.

Everything appeared quiet. There were no strange cars in the driveway. Why hadn't Teresa answered her phone when her Toyota hybrid was parked in front of her house?

Jake parked the car but put a hand on her arm as she started to get out. “Just wait a second."

She looked around. Everything appeared normal. Getting out of the car, they walked quickly up to the front of the house. Sarah knocked on the door and was surprised to realize it wasn't all the way closed. She pushed it open and said, “Teresa?"

There was no answer from her friend, but at the sound of Sarah's voice, Caitlyn let out a shrill, piercing scream.

They ran for the stairs. Jake beat her to the top, pushing open the door to one of the bedrooms. Sarah was right on his heels.

A second too late she realized their mistake. Her ex-lover, her worst enemy, the man she had been running from for eight long years was here in this house, and he was holding Caitlyn under one arm. In his other hand was a gun pointed straight at her sweet daughter's head.

“Hello, Jessica. It's about time you got here,” Victor Pennington said. “You and I have some unfinished business.”

“Put down my daughter,” Sarah ordered, her heart in her throat as Caitlyn screamed in fury, her tiny face turning red as tears streamed down her cheeks. “You're hurting her. Let her go."

“I don't think so.” Victor tightened his grip on Caitlyn. “Stop right there."

“It's me you want. Just put her down. I'll do whatever you say."

“Mama!” Caitlyn screamed, her little arms reaching out for Sarah.

Sarah's heart broke at the sight of her daughter's fear and fury. “It's okay, baby. Please, Victor, leave my child alone."

He gave her an evil smile. “The way you left me alone? You betrayed me, Jessica. You turned on me. You became my enemy, and my enemies do not survive."

“I had no choice. The agents blackmailed me. They said I'd go to prison if I didn't work with them."

“So instead you sent me to prison.” His wild eyes glittered with anger. “Does your friend here know we were lovers? Or shall I tell him in exact detail what we did in bed together?"

Sarah licked her lips. She didn't dare look at Jake, but she could feel the tension emanating from his body. So far he'd said nothing, but she knew he was trying to think of some way to take Victor down. He wouldn't let Victor kill Caitlyn, not without a fight -- which scared her even more. If they weren't careful, they could all end up dead.

“This is between you and me,” she said to Victor.

“You're not going to be able to kill all of us,” Jake added.

Victor's thick lips tightened as he glared at Jake. “All I have to do is kill you first. Do you think Jessica can stop me from taking her life -- or your daughter's? Quite a little family you've made for yourself, Jessica, while I was rotting in prison. Did you think about me? Did you really believe I was going to let you live after what you did to me?"

“You did it to yourself. You smuggled the drugs. You fenced the art. The feds had other witnesses besides me, including Timothy."

“Timothy paid for his betrayal, and so will you."

“Where's Teresa?” she asked, trying to keep him talking.

“Your friend can't help you. This time you aren't going to escape. Shane is dead. Timothy is dead.

And soon you'll be dead, too. It's much sweeter this way. I thought it would be enough to know you had taken your last breath, but it will be much more satisfying for me to pull the trigger. But first your friend, I think.” He pointed his gun at Jake.

“Don't!” Sarah cried.

Her loud yell made Caitlyn scream. Her tiny fists swung in the air, her feet kicking wildly as she fought to get away.

Victor had one arm around the baby, and Sarah could see that Caitlyn's squirming was distracting Victor. Like any good toddler, Caitlyn knew instinctively how to go boneless and limp, how to use her weight to flop around like a rag doll.

“Dammit,” Victor swore at Caitlyn. “Shut the fuck up."

Caitlyn screamed again as Victor tried to get a better grip on her. Sarah took a step forward, unable to bear the sight of her daughter's struggles.

“Don't move,” Victor said. “Or I'll kill the baby first."

Sarah stopped abruptly. Victor made another attempt to get a better grip on Caitlyn, but in one wild flurry of arms and legs, her daughter knocked the gun right out of Victor's hand.

Sarah watched in shock as the weapon flew across the room and landed on the hardwood floor, sliding on a straight path toward the bed.

For a moment everyone froze. Then they all moved at once.

Victor let go of Caitlyn to grab for the gun.

As Caitlyn fell to the floor, Sarah ran to her, sweeping her up in her arms.

Jake kicked the gun farther away from Victor and tackled him. But Victor had at least forty pounds on Jake.

Sarah wanted to help, but she needed to protect Caitlyn first. Jake would want her to run. And that was what she would do. She turned toward the door, then gasped in horror when she realized the door was blocked.

There was another man facing her now -- another gun pointing straight at her head. And on the man's wrist was the tattoo of a tiger. Rick, another Harvard boy gone bad.

Casting a quick look over her shoulder, Sarah saw Victor shove Jake against the far wall. Jake's head bounced against it so hard a picture frame came crashing down. Jake fell to the floor while Victor staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth and nose, fury in his eyes.

Jake looked like he'd blacked out, Sarah thought as she saw his eyes flutter closed. It was over. There was no way she could escape now. They were going to die.

“Should I shoot her?” Rick asked.

“No, I want the pleasure,” Victor answered, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. There was an evil light in his eyes as he looked at her. “First your baby, then you."

“You just got out of prison,” she argued desperately. “You have your life back. If you kill me they'll track you down. You'll go back to jail."

Victor shook his head. “No one will ever know it was me. They'll think it was him. Everyone knows you were running from someone -- who better than your ex-lover? Time to say good-bye, Jessica."

Sarah couldn't say a word. Fear paralyzed her throat. There was not a damn thing she could do to stop him. Or was there?

She pressed Caitlyn's tiny head against her breast. “She's just a child. She's innocent. Let me put her down, and then you can kill me. Please, Victor. I'll do anything you want. Just don't kill my baby.” She knew her pleas were falling on deaf ears, but she had to try. If Victor had one ounce of humanity in him, he'd let Caitlyn go. But as she looked into his eyes, she knew that whatever humanity he'd had was long gone.

“She has your blood, the blood of my enemy.” Victor bent down to pick up the gun that had slid halfway under the bed.

She turned back toward Rick, hoping to find some compassion in his eyes, but they were ice-cold. The man had no heart, no soul. He'd spent just as many years in prison as Victor had. There was no way he would let her go. He would have killed her already if Victor hadn't said he wanted to do it himself. “She's just a baby,” she said helplessly.

Caitlyn began to cry again, obviously sensing Sarah's growing panic.

And then the unthinkable happened. Dylan came out of nowhere, ramming Rick from behind, sending the large man sprawling across the room, colliding with Victor. The two men got tangled up together.

The gun skittered out of Rick's hand, hitting Jake in the side of the leg.

Jake's eyes flew open, and he scrambled to his feet.

As Dylan went after Rick, Jake rushed Victor again.

With the doorway free and clear, Sarah ran from the room. She had to get Caitlyn to safety. To her shock Catherine was running up the stairs, determination in her eyes, a baseball bat in her hands.

“Take Caitlyn. Give me the bat,” Sarah said.

“No way. She needs you, Jessica. You're her mother. Now get the hell out of here."

Catherine charged into the bedroom like a female warrior.

Sarah heard a thud, then a boom as a gun went off.

God, she prayed the bullet hadn't hit Jake or Dylan or Catherine. She covered Caitlyn's ear with her hand and raced toward the stairs. As much as she wanted to help, her first priority had to be Caitlyn. She had just reached the bottom of the stairs when her name was called.

“Sarah."

Her heart came to a thudding stop.

Jake stood at the top of the stairs. His face was bloodied and bruised, but his eyes were triumphant. “Victor is dead."

“What about --”

“Knocked out,” Dylan said, dragging Catherine toward the stairs. “Thanks to our leadoff hitter here. Someone call 911. I want to make sure that guy doesn't wake up.” Dylan headed back toward the bedroom as Catherine dashed down the stairs past Sarah, heading for the phone in the living room.

Jake walked down the stairs, his gaze never leaving his daughter. Caitlyn was still crying, her face buried against Sarah's breast.

Jake looked like there were a million things he wanted to say, but no words crossed his lips. His hand came to rest gently on Caitlyn's back. He closed his eyes as if he couldn't believe he was touching his child again.

Sarah felt her eyes fill with tears. She was sure Jake wanted to rip Caitlyn out of her arms and take her into his own protective embrace. But he wouldn't do that to his child. He wouldn't scare or hurt Caitlyn by taking her away from her mother -- the woman who had also betrayed him.