What You Can't See (25 page)

Danica’s nose twitched. The smell was odd, and not completely unpleasant. “Wool?” she asked.

Zach touched his fingertips to the covering. A fleece. “It’s soft.”

Danica reached out and touched it, their fingers side by side. Heat emanated from the fabric. Zach lifted the object wrapped tightly in the wool. He could feel the heat intensify and the sword at his back mimicked it. Like two long-lost lovers the sword and scabbard yearned to meet again.

“Unwrap it,” Danica softly said, realizing she was in the presence of something magnificent, something bigger than her, bigger than Zach. Bigger than life.

Carefully, Zach unwound the thick fleece. Their eyes widened as an ancient scabbard emerged. The gold was smooth but tarnished, yet the edges were honed to deadly sharpness, and several imperfections marred it. As it revealed itself they both gasped in awe. A simple yet spectacular six-pointed star of precious colored gemstones lay deeply imbedded at the wider opening. As Danica reached out and touched it, the warmth of the object, like something alive, filled her body in a soothing hypnotic fashion. Guided by an invisible hand, she turned the star counterclockwise and it moved, like a key, and cleaved to her hand. She held it up under the harsh light of the room.

“My God, it’s beautiful.” The stones glowed in blazing appreciation.

“The Star of Moria,” Zach murmured. Danica’s eyes widened in wonder as the gems glittered with fire in the light.

Deep voices echoed in the holding dock. Danica’s heart thumped. She pressed the star protectively to her chest.

“It’s Mark,” Zach said.

“Impossible! He’s at the hospital getting his thumb reattached!”

“It’s him.” Zach’s heightened senses picked up the stink.

Zach held out his hand for the star. Danica shook her head and backed up. “It’s safe with me.”

“I know it is, but the star belongs with the scabbard.” Grudgingly Danica knelt down next to the scabbard and gently replaced the star.

Zach quickly wrapped the scabbard in the wool then stood, tucking the package under his arm. He grabbed Danica’s hand and pulled her out of the holding cell and started to run in the opposite direction of the voices. He wondered if Immortals were as aware of him as he was of them.

As they raced down the hallway, Zach tried one locked door after another. Unable to go farther, they were at the end of the long cavernous hall. Trapped.

Danica pulled the Sig from Zach’s belt. “That won’t work on Santos,” Zach calmly informed her.

“Of course it will. If you remember correctly I was ranked sniper grade in the academy.”

“It has nothing to do with your aim.”

“Zach, you have some more explaining to do.”

He handed her the fleece-wrapped package. He watched her eyes widen as she took it into her arms, and cradled it like a newborn. “My God, it…feels alive.”

“It’s your destiny, Dani.”

Danica gasped and stared wide-eyed at him. He saw realization dawn, before fear clouded it. He drew the sword from his back and jammed it into the padlocked metal door behind them. The sound of slicing tumblers was music to his ears. He shoved open the door and pushed Danica through.

Zach pulled her along then slowed to keep pace with her. When he asked for the wool package back she shook her head. “Mine.”

He smiled. Her possessiveness was a good sign. Did she feel the same urgency he did?

It didn’t take long for them to maneuver through the dock buildings. As they hurried into the parking lot, Danica bit back a scream. Mark Santos along with two uniforms stood between them and her ride.

She hugged the scabbard pack to her chest. Zach pushed her behind him, pulled the sword from the small of his back, holding it before him in an attack stance. He didn’t know the uniforms by name but he recognized them. He recognized the collective stench of sulfur that among the three of them was overwhelming. He also noticed the hard sheen in their eyes.

So, Santos had friends.

“Put it down, Garett,” Santos called.

Danica gasped. “His thumb!”

Santos smiled, the gesture ugly. He lifted his right hand, and gave her a thumbs-up. “What can I say, Dani? I have a quick doctor.”

No way.

Zach spoke. “I’m only going to warn the three of you once. Step aside and let us pass or—” He held the sword higher, the glow of the golden blade flashing under the parking-lot lights. “Be prepared to die,
permanently.
”

Santos shook his head. “Just give me the scabbard.”

Danica gasped again and tightened her grip on the package.

“Come and get it,” Zach challenged.

The uniform closest to him raised his service weapon.

Zach was never a man to be afraid of anything or anyone, and facing such unfair odds as he did now, with only a sword to protect them and Dani wielding a useless gun with one hand, he’d never felt so empowered.

“Get him,” Santos directed his two men. The minute he opened his mouth, Zach’s heightened senses picked up the coming command.

Holding the sword like a hammer, Zach lunged toward the uniforms. He dove then rolled on the asphalt in front of them. As he came up between them he jabbed the closest Immortal in the jugular, spun to his left and backhanded the Immortal who had unholstered his gun. Air hissed from his filleted neck. The warm spray of blood flicked across Zach’s cheek. Both Immortals slid motionless to the ground.

Zach turned, the scent of blood sharp in his nose. Santos chased Danica, who shot at him as she ran, the bullets doing no more damage than gnat bites.

Danica stumbled and fell to the ground. With the fleece grasped to her chest she scooted backward as fast as her legs would move. Mark strode toward her and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, raising her off the ground. He turned with her in his right hand, just as Zach charged, his speed a blur. Danica kicked and pulled the scabbard from the fleece and stabbed at Santos with it. The attack had no impact.

Santos plucked the scabbard from Danica as easily as if he were removing a flower from a vase. She screamed and grabbed it back, Santos backhanded her, then twisted her around so her back pressed against his chest. He slid the scabbard around to the front of her throat pressing the razor edge into her skin. With every sense heightened, Zach came to an abrupt halt.

Santos laughed, the sound shrill, full of challenge. “A choice, my friend. The girl or the scabbard.”

Danica squirmed and kicked at his knees. Santos shook her like a terrier would a rat, the scabbard never more than an inch from her throat. Zach’s blood pounded, adrenaline infusing every cell in his body. “Let her go, Santos.”

“Oh, come on now. You don’t really think I’m just going to listen to you, do you? I want you to choose. The scabbard or the girl. You can’t have both. Not while I’m alive.”

Zach squatted down on his haunches. His eyes burned as he focused on the hand holding the scabbard. He gave the appearance he was weighing his choices. When in fact his choice was made the minute his nemesis touched the woman he loved. Zach sprang.

“Santos!” Zach roared. Zach let loose with the sword as Santos pressed the scabbard against Danica’s throat. The blade whizzed past his head, slicing his right ear off. Santos shrieked, dropping Danica and grabbing his bloody head. Zach rushed him, and shoved him to the ground.

While Zach had gained much in strength he hadn’t realized how strong Santos was. They rolled on the asphalt fighting for possession of the scabbard. It scraped the asphalt, sparks jumping in the air. Santos’s grasp held firm possession. Unable to pry his fingers from the metal, Zach slammed Mark’s hand hard against the ground. The force of the blow loosened the star. It popped out and fell to the ground. Mark reacted with superhuman strength. He roared and shoved Zach off his chest and in so doing released the scabbard, but lunged for the star and snatched it up.

In his peripheral Zach saw Danica gather herself up from the ground, run to the sword and pick it up. She ran to her Jeep and started the engine. Zach grabbed Mark by the foot and yanked him hard toward him, then rushed him and rolled over on top of the bastard. As Danica pulled up, Zach pushed off the Immortal and grabbed for the prize.

Air.

Santos sprang up with the aplomb of a gazelle, and without looking over his shoulder bolted. Zach snatched the scabbard from the ground and took off after him. Sirens wailed close. Santos pulled away, heading straight for his unmarked car. He’d be on the radio calling in his location and a description of Danica’s Jeep. And there damn sure was no way to explain the two sliced and diced cops.

Danica pulled up next to Zach as he ran. “Get in!”

He realized he had no choice. They needed to disappear. And they needed a plan. He dove into the Jeep. She hit the gas, the sound of peeling rubber followed by the inevitable acrid smell launching them like a rocket through the parking lot. Several bullets tore through the canvas top. Zach shoved Danica’s head down as they zigzagged out of the parking lot and onto the main drag.

In an insane feat, Danica got them back onto 880 headed north.

Her hands shook on the steering wheel. Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath. Realizing she was in a state of shock, Zach reached over to touch her to comfort her. She jerked her hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

He looked down at his blood-spattered hand. In as calm a voice as he could manage, he said, “I guess the fact those two thugs were out for my blood doesn’t matter.”

“They were cops!”

“Dani—”

“Don’t Dani me!” Her voice shook in rage and shock. Her body shook, her hands on the steering wheel shook. “You’ve just made me an accessory to murder! Capital murder!” She choked back a sob and shook her head. “Oh, my God, what have we done?”

“They aren’t what they seem.”

She continued to shake her head, hysteria edging her words. “What are they, Zach? What are you? And why the hell should I believe a word you say?” Her hands shook so hard the Jeep swerved before she righted it.

Zach put a steady hand on her right arm. “Because you know in your gut this is bigger than both of us. We’re a part of it, a piece of the puzzle.”

She flung his hand off her arm and abruptly pulled over to the shoulder of the freeway and slammed on the brakes. She pulled the emergency brake and looked at him. Her skin had blanched to white and her eyes were huge dark orbs in her face. She was terrified. “I’m not going another foot until you explain everything to me.”

Zach looked over his shoulder. “Danica, we can’t stop. We need to get out of here.”

Sirens wailed in the distance. “Go!” he yelled. She blanched at the force of his words. “I need you with me, Danica, but I can’t force you.”

He opened the Jeep door. “Stay away from Santos. He’ll use you to get to me.”

Tears blurred her vision. “That’s bullshit,” she yelled after him. “Everyone knows you hung me out to dry and don’t give a shit about anyone but yourself.”

Zach slammed the door shut. Danica sat stunned. Her body quaked, her brain raced. Confusion confounded her. Desperately she wrestled for a coherent logical thought. Had Zach abandoned her? And what about Mark? He’d tried to kill her!

She gasped when the driver door opened and Zach shoved her out of her seat. For a moment she wanted to jump out the other side and run to the nearest PD and turn him in. But—she couldn’t. How could she? She’d shot Mark, for God’s sake! He didn’t even bleed. And she knew damn well she hadn’t missed. Even running from him, her aim was true. It was like Mark was hyped up on PCP or something. His adrenaline gave him superstrength. But why the hell had he tried to kill her? Was he afraid she would go back to Zach? No, that was ridiculous. There was more to it. More she didn’t want to know. Her body shook uncontrollably. Something was terribly wrong and she was smack-dab in the middle of it.

Anger pushed into her fear. Anger at Zach. How had she allowed this to happen? How the hell was she going to get out of this cluster-fuck Zach had got her into?

Zach shoved the Jeep into gear and gunned it onto the freeway. He glanced at her. “We need to hole up somewhere and figure out our next move.”

“I don’t want to be involved in a next move. Take me home.”

“I can’t take you home, not yet.”

As Zach sped up 880 then to 980 East he formulated a plan. He had the sword and the scabbard. He needed to get the star back. But first he needed some downtime with Danica. To try and convince her. Hell, convince himself that they were doing the right thing. Another thought flashed in his brain. He cursed and looked over at Danica’s rigid silhouette, and wondered how the hell they were going to convince the Oakland police department Santos was a rogue and those two Immortals playing cop were his accomplices. Shit, they needed to get out of Dodge.

“Does your friend Marcie still have that place out on the delta?”

She crossed her arms over her chest, and without looking at him said, “Maybe.”

They entered the Caldecott tunnel. The eerie echo of the tires and the low glow of the lights illuminated the inside of the Wrangler. Fifteen minutes later when they turned south onto 680 Danica said, “You’re going the wrong way.”

“We’ll need money. I’m going to stop in San Ramon and collect on a debt.”

Danica didn’t want to know what debt. In fact, all she wanted was to be left completely alone.

Almost two hours later with barely a word spoken between them, Zach punched in the code Danica gave him to the gate of a small private drive that dumped into the delta. The secluded house was on deep water, and if Zach remembered correctly, Marcie and her husband Troy had all the toys.

“How long will Marcie and her husband be gone?”

Danica shrugged. “Last week they were still down under with no immediate plans to return home.”

Zach nodded as they passed homes butted up to the water in various stages of construction or renovation.

The small community had morphed over the years from blue-collar wharf rats to white-collar wharf rats. They had a knack for rotating in and out of one another’s houses. It just depended on how fast you made your money, and how long you could hold on to it.