UNDERCOVER TWIN (15 page)

He didn’t slow as he urged her forward. They could have gone faster if it weren’t for their awkward position with her arm behind her and his held in front of him, but still it seemed they practically flew across the short expanse of dirt that separated the woods from the house.

Footsteps pounded on the path.

Nick urged Heather around the left side of the house.

Another gunshot rang out just as she ran around the corner.

Nick grunted and fell against her, knocking her to the ground.

He was sprawled on top of her, twisting her arm at an impossible angle. The pain was blinding, as if someone had rammed a fire-hot poker into her right shoulder. She gritted her teeth against the urge to cry out and shoved at Nick to get him to move.

“Nick, Nick, get up. Come on, please.” Was he shot? She didn’t know. All she knew for sure was that if they didn’t get up, right now, they were both going to die.

“Come on.” She twisted around, using her left hand to shove at him. Her right hand hung useless at her side. Tears of pain ran down her face as she tried to ignore the fiery agony in her shoulder.

Nick blinked, looking dazed. He gasped for breath, as if air had just rushed into his lungs. He heaved himself to his feet. “I’m okay. Let’s go.”

He grabbed her shoulders to pull her up and she let out a shriek of pain before she could stop herself.

His eyes widened, but before he could say anything, footsteps pounded from around the corner. Nick turned and kicked the nearest door. It sagged but didn’t open. He kicked it again, grunting with the effort. This time the wooden frame burst into splinters and the door crashed open, slamming against the wall.

Heather ran inside before he could grab her shoulder again. She held her right arm with her left hand, trying to immobilize it as much as possible. A hall opened up on their left and right. She started to go right, but Nick steered her to the left again. He pulled her inside the first open door, a bedroom.

He didn’t shut the door. Instead, he urged her back against the wall while he stood in front of her, facing her, inches from the open doorway, once again blocking her with his body.

“What—” she started to whisper, but he vigorously shook his head and pressed his right hand against her mouth. The metallic taste of blood on her lips had her blinking in horror. Nick’s hand was covered with blood. He must have cut it when he punched the light.

Since he was watching her so closely, she realized he was waiting to make sure she knew to be quiet. She nodded to let him know she understood, and he dropped his hand. Heather wanted to check his injury, but she followed his lead, being as still and quiet as she could. Her lungs ached with the need to draw a deep breath, but instead she focused on breathing slowly so she wouldn’t make any noise. She felt so exposed, so vulnerable, waiting for a bullet to come crashing through the wall.

They both stood motionless in the nearly pitch-black room, waiting, listening. It seemed like time crawled, but it was probably only a few seconds before the sound of muted voices reached them. A man’s deep voice, followed by a woman’s softer, but somehow harder, voice. Lily.

The words they said weren’t clear, but they must have agreed to go the other way, because their footsteps faded off toward the other end of the house.

Nick pulled away from Heather. He motioned for her to follow him this time as he stepped back out of the room into the hallway. He started to turn right, but apparently changed his mind. He tugged her into the bathroom opposite the bedroom. He opened a drawer and felt inside it for a moment, then he opened another drawer. He grabbed something, shoved it into his pocket and glanced out into the hall again before pulling Heather out with him.

Instead of finding another room to hide in, he quickly retraced their steps back to the door he’d ruined and out into the night. They hurried across the side yard and headed into the brush and trees.

Again Nick surprised Heather by stopping a few feet in. He fumbled with something, but Heather couldn’t tell what he was doing. Her shoulder was aching so much she was having trouble concentrating. She still couldn’t move her right arm, but it was blessedly starting to go numb.

Her own pain reminded her about Nick’s injured hand. She wanted to help him, but he seemed to be just fine and there really wasn’t anything she could do.

She shuffled anxiously from foot to foot, turning to look back toward the house. She expected Lily or the man with her to come bursting outside at any moment.

She felt a tug on her hand and heard a click.

Her mouth opened in surprise when the handcuffs fell from her wrist. Another twist and the cuffs unclicked from Nick’s wrist, too, and dropped to the ground.

In answer to her unspoken question, he held up a curiously bent safety pin. That must have been what he’d gotten from the bathroom.

“Go,” he whispered next to her ear, pointing in a diagonal direction off to their left. “I’m right behind you.”

Chapter Fourteen

Nick squatted down in front of Heather. He’d pulled her to a stop a few feet from the water’s edge, still deep in the cover of the trees and brush. She was sitting on the forest floor, cradling her right arm as she tried to catch her breath.

He gently swept her bangs out of her eyes. The corners of her eyes were tight, and she didn’t even seem to realize that every once in a while she let out a low moan. He hated to see her in such pain, and he hated that he’d been the cause of that pain.

“Why aren’t we going to the boat?” she pleaded, sounding on the verge of panic. “We should run down the beach until we get back to the dock.”

“We can’t go back to the boat. That’s where they’ll expect us to go. Besides, I saw your sister pocket the keys when we docked.” He didn’t tell her that he planned to go back to the house to get those keys. It was their only chance. He’d get those keys no matter what.

Even if it meant he had to kill her sister to do it.

Without being handcuffed to Heather, he had more freedom to plan and attack. But right now, there was something more pressing to take care of.

He eased himself to her right side.

“What...what are you doing?” Her voice sounded wary.

“You know what I’m doing. It has to be done.” He gently wrapped his fingers around her right forearm and braced his other hand against her rib cage.

She winced and tried to pull away, but he held on tight.

“Let me go,” she pleaded. “It will hurt.” A whimper escaped between her clenched teeth.

“I know, baby, but if we don’t get your shoulder back into the socket, the blood flow might be restricted and you could permanently lose the use of your arm. Plus, it will feel a lot better. After.”

“It’s not the ‘after’ that I’m worried about. How many times have you done this?”

“Counting this time?”

“Yes.”

He grinned. “Once.”

Her eyes widened.

“I’ve seen it done a couple of times, though.”

“Oh, gee, that’s reassuring.”

He tightened his hold on her arm and began to gently pull it toward him.

“I’m ready.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Just do it.”

He laughed but didn’t let up the pressure on her arm.

She opened her eyes. “Aren’t you going to pop it back in?”

“I’m working on it. If I try to force it, I could break your arm or damage the muscles even worse. Just give it a minute and let me know once you feel it snap back in place.” He continued the long, steady pull. “Talk to me. It will help take your mind off the pain.”

“Okay.” She scrunched her eyes shut. “Uh, why did you make us turn left instead of right when we went into the house? And later, when we ran into the woods. Every time, you turned left.”

“Because most people turn right when they’re under duress. It’s instinctive, probably because most people are right-handed. So I try to go left if I can, to throw off my pursuers.”

She opened her eyes. “You make it sound like you run from people on a regular basis.”

“It’s part of the job. If you’re undercover, dealing with dangerous people on their turf, there are times when you’re going to have to run.”

“Okay, ouch, it hurts.” Her breaths came out in choppy pants.

“I’m sorry, honey. Just a little longer.” He hoped he was right. It was killing him watching the pain lance across her face. But he had to stretch the muscles out slowly or he’d end up tearing them.

“When you fell...” Heather panted for a moment. “When you fell against me by the house, did you get shot? I mean, you were wearing your vest, and you seem fine, but...” Her voice drifted off and she clenched her jaw.

“Yeah, the bullet knocked the breath out of me. Stunned me for a second. God bless whoever invented Kevlar.”

She laughed, then inhaled sharply.

He increased the pressure, and Heather let out a little whimper.

He was about to give up when he felt a slight movement in the muscles of her arm.

“It’s in. It’s in,” she gasped.

He gently lowered her arm and sat back. “Are you sure?” He felt along the top of her shoulder, feeling for a gap.

“I’m sure. It already feels a lot better.” She opened her eyes. “Thank you.”

Unable to resist the temptation of her lips so close to his, he framed her face with his hands and gave her a gentle kiss. When he pulled back, her eyes were wide and searching.

He dropped his hands. He needed to keep reminding himself that they weren’t together anymore, and never could be. Touching her was dangerous in so many ways.

He cleared his throat. “Be careful with that shoulder. Don’t lift your arm up too high or back behind you. It could pop right out again.”

She let out a little sigh. He wasn’t sure if it was because of that kiss, or something else. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Why would Lily do this? What does she hope to gain?”

He sat down next to her. He was quiet for several seconds as he listened to the sounds in the woods around them. Something small scurried off to their right, some forest creature probably out looking for dinner. A night bird let out a chirp, reassuring him that no humans were close by.

Lily and her helper were probably holed up in the house, figuring out their strategy. He doubted they’d chance trying to find him and Heather until the sun came up, which was still several hours away. Hopefully by then Dante and his men would have figured out that he and Heather were missing, and they’d be canvassing Key West, looking for witnesses. Maybe someone had seen them head out in the boat, and Dante would send in the cavalry.

But Nick wasn’t counting on it.

And he hoped to hell that Lily and her minion didn’t have infrared goggles.

* * *

“I
NFRARED
WHAT
?” H
EATHER
whispered, her voice slurred from lack of sleep.

Nick grinned. He’d hated waking her—not that she seemed fully awake even now as they walked through the woods—but he didn’t feel safe staying in one place very long.

“Goggles,” he said. “Keep your voice down.”

“But you said no one was out here,” she whispered, lowering her voice. “And the sun isn’t up yet. You said Lily wouldn’t come looking for us until sunrise.”

Nick held a branch out of her way. “Just keep moving,” he said. “And stop talking so much.” He squeezed her waist to soften his words.

After Heather had fallen asleep, he’d dozed for about twenty minutes, a power nap, the way he’d trained himself to do whenever he was on a stakeout with a partner. But once he’d thought about the possibility of Lily having infrared equipment, he couldn’t get it out of his head.

Lily had access to an incredibly powerful and expensive speedboat. And the house on this island wasn’t exactly cheap. The generator alone had to have cost thousands of dollars. Lily obviously had access to the best equipment Jose Gonzalez’s money could buy.

Which meant she and the man with her could be out here right now, hunting Heather and him down with all kinds of advantages.

His only choice was to go on the offensive, which meant he was circling back toward the house from another direction. He hadn’t told Heather that yet because he didn’t want to scare her. He’d decided their best option was to go back in the house and search for a weapon and a phone, assuming the house had a phone. On a small, remote island like this, there was probably at least a satellite phone somewhere. And if this was one of Gonzalez’s houses, which Nick was willing to bet it was, the odds were also high there were more guns inside. Drug dealers tended to keep a heavy arsenal wherever they were at all times.

He already knew Heather was good with a gun. Her bullet had found its target with incredible accuracy, even under extreme stress, when she’d shot one of their pursuers in the garage a few days ago. So if he armed both himself and Heather, they might have a chance.

Provided she could shoot her sister if she had to.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. With the sun coming up in less than an hour, they couldn’t afford to wait for their hunters to find them.

It was time for the hunted to become the hunters.

* * *

“S
TOP
RIGHT
HERE
,” Nick whispered.

Heather stopped, and peeked through the shrubs. The white coquina shell exterior on the house glowed in the predawn gray light filtering through the trees. Birds chirped, lending an eerie normalcy to a situation that was anything but normal. Presumably, inside that house her sister and a stranger were waiting, with guns, to kill her and Nick. A ripping sound had her looking over at Nick in question. He had his shirt off and was undoing the straps that held on his vest.

“Oh, no, not again.” Heather held out her hands and shook her head. “You are not giving me your vest again. Last night you got shot. If you weren’t wearing your vest you’d have been killed. I mean it. I will not put that on. I’m putting my foot down this time.”

A minute later she was wearing the vest and glaring at Nick as he tugged her shirt down over it.

“Glare at me all you want,” he said. “It’s not going to change my mind.”

She put her hands on her hips. “If you get shot, you’d better hope it kills you. Because if it doesn’t, I will.”

“Thanks for the warning. Now you need to be really quiet so I can sneak inside and look for some weapons. I don’t want you being so noisy the bad guys find us out here.”

“Too late for that,” a voice said behind them.

Nick and Heather whirled around.

A man stood several feet away, his face hidden in shadows. But there was no mistaking what he was holding and pointing directly at them—a rifle.

Nick shoved Heather behind him as the other man stepped forward.

Heather leaned over so she could see the gunman.

Gonzalez.

The only question was, which one? Jose or Luis?

Did it even matter?

Either way, they were in a world of trouble.

“You’re supposed to be in the shed,” he said. “I should have known Lily would screw this up. You might as well go on into the house while I straighten this out.” He gestured with his rifle. “Move.”

“Luis, right?” Nick asked.

Gonzalez nodded.

“You do know Lily has another man inside the house with her?” Nick said, as he turned around. He put his hand at the small of Heather’s back, guiding her toward the house, sheltering her with his body as always—even though she was the one with the vest on this time.

She seriously wished she could shake some sense into him.

“If you’re trying to make me angry or jealous so I’ll make a mistake, Agent Morgan, don’t bother. Lily and I planned this down to the last detail. I know who’s in the house with her.”

The ruined side door was still sagging open and Luis ushered them in through the opening.

“Lily,” he called out, as they rounded the corner into the long hallway. He passed through the archway on the other side into the massive living room and waved Nick and Heather over to one of the couches. He kept his rifle trained on them, his hand steady, his eyes never wavering. “Lily,” he called out again.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway, echoing on the wooden floor. Lily rounded the corner. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Nick and Heather sitting on the couch.

Heather’s stomach tightened and she dug her nails into the soft material of the couch cushion to keep from jumping up and going to her sister. She wanted to talk to her, to plead with her, to make her see reason.

But she couldn’t very well do that when her sister was holding a pistol.

“Well, well,” Lily said. “This is a surprise.” She strode forward, her hips swaying beneath the long T-shirt she’d obviously slept in, which barely reached the tops of her thighs. Her hair was mussed and she smoothed her hand over it as she reached Luis.

She smiled seductively and reached up and kissed his cheek.

He wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her close. “Miss me?”

“Always. You were supposed to be here last night. What took you so long?”

He ran his hand up and down her back, never taking his eyes off Nick and Heather. “The DEA didn’t trust me. They talked to me for hours and didn’t let me go until this morning. I made them think I needed to go set up some logistics to help with their planned assault on Jose’s compound.”

“Do they know Heather’s missing yet?”

“If they did, they wouldn’t have let me go. I figure they’ll send an agent over there this morning to check on them. Then the search will begin. Far too late.” He glanced back toward the hall, then looked at Lily. “Did you take care of our friend?”

Lily plopped down on one of the chairs. “Yep. We won’t have to worry about him ever telling any of Jose’s men that we double-crossed him. It’s all going to go down just like we planned.”

Heather shivered, and Nick wrapped his fingers around hers.

“You double-crossed your sister,” Nick said to Lily. “You double-crossed the man who helped you kidnap us. And now you plan on double-crossing Jose.” He flicked a glance at Luis. “How sure are you that she won’t double-cross
you?
”

A flash of unease passed over Luis’s face. “Shut up. You don’t know anything about her. She loves me. And she wants to make things right. My brother has spent his whole life spilling his evil drugs into this world. And Lily got caught up in that because you,” he spat, glaring at Heather, “took everything that belonged to her. You shut her out and didn’t try to help her. She did everything for you. She’s the one who worked so hard, but you stole everything from her. That stops today. She and I will bring down my brother, stop his evil, something the DEA should have done years ago. We’re the good guys here, not you. We’re going to end my brother’s tyranny and start a new life together.”

Heather shook her head. “Is that what Lily told you? That I took everything from her? Lily, is that what you believe? Explain this to me. Because I remember everything totally differently. I worked hard all my life for what little I have. And I tried to include you, but you pushed me away at every turn. Yet every time you came to visit me, I gave you money I couldn’t afford to give. And you took it and left and I never saw you again until the next time you needed money.”