AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What the hell!” Then Quasar swore in Spanish. He was known to lapse into Spanish when something upsethim. “I’ve got you on speaker. Striker and Stonewall are here. We’re notifying the police.”
“Is Joy with you, Ro?”
Roland could hear the panic in Stonewall’s voice. But he didn’t have the chance to answer. Just then, he saw an unmarked car headed in their direction and he had to swerve to avoid it. He fired a succession of shots that stopped the vehicle in its tracks. Literally.
“Dammit, Ro! Answer me! Is Joy with you?”
“No, Stonewall. Just Lennox. Joy is probably back at police headquarters by now.”
“She is,” he heard Striker confirm in the background. “I just called police headquarters, and she’s on the phone now. She’s sending real cops. Can you hold them off until they get there?”
“I’m not staying around. The federal agents that were supposed to protect us can handle this. I’m getting Lennox to safety.”
“Where?”
“Shake-Rattle-Roll. Be there in no less than twenty minutes with everything I need.”
The connection between Roland and his office went dead, but that was okay with him. He needed to concentrate on getting Lennox out of this. “Stay down and hold on, Lennox. I’m about to do some crazy ass driving.”
Just then, the two cars of federal agents stopped, taking a stand. Several men jumped out of their vehicles, shielding themselves behind the cars, and started engaging in some real gun-play. Roland took advantage of that distraction and floored the gas petal. But instead of ramming the car in front of him, he jerked the steering wheel to the leftand crossed the median, going back in the direction they’d come. At least the agents were stopping any cars from following them.
But they weren’t out the woods yet. Just then, another unmarked car with flashing lights emerged from a side street and began firing at them. When a bullet zinged past his head, he muttered through clenched teeth, “Looks like trying to outrun them isn’t going to work after all.”
With practiced ease, Roland turned the car completely around and then accelerated, driving head-on toward the car in pursuit of them. One of the things they taught you in the police academy was how to fire a weapon from a moving vehicle when you’re at the wheel. And more importantly, he’d learned what to do when the hunter became the prey. So that was what he was doing. And it was obvious he’d taken the occupants in the other car by surprise with his bold move. Too late, they tried to turn their car around and drive away.
That gave Roland the opportunity he needed. Taking his gun, he aimed at the front of the car, intentionally hitting the driver. The car then rammed into the side of a building and burst into flames.
He placed the gun on the seat beside him and glanced down at Lennox. She was still crouched down on the floor, staring at him with both fear and appreciation in her eyes. Somehow, he’d been able to read both.
When she made a move to get up, he said, “Stay down a minute longer, Lennox. I’ll let you know when it’s safe. Since that stunt was obviously preplanned, it looks like Special Agents Warner and DuBose haven’t totally cleaned out the bureau of corrupted agents,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Roland,” she whispered.
He frowned. “For what?”
“I heard their warning, back at FBI headquarters, but I thought I’d have time to think about what I needed to do.”
“You still have time.”
She tipped her head up to look at him. “No, I don’t. I’m a walking target. They want me dead, with or without the box. I think at this point, the bad guys assume I know something.”
Roland thought that as well. “It doesn’t matter. If you need time to think things through, then take it.”
She shrugged her beautiful shoulders. “I could tell that Special Agents Warner and DuBose thought I was being emotional, not logical.”
He brought the car to a stop at a traffic light, only because he was familiar with the area and knew they were no longer being followed. “Who gives a damn what they think?”
“I should,” she said. “What if one of the agents protecting us was killed because of me? After what happened back there, I would understand if your bodyguards didn’t want to sign on for the job of protecting me now. It would be too dangerous.”
Too dangerous? Just like federal agents, the men and women he employed expected danger to be part of the job. However, her words made it obvious that she didn’t know how things would go down from here on out. If that was the case, he needed to enlighten her before they reached the rendezvous point with Striker, Stonewall and Quasar.
“You can get up now, Lennox.” Once she’d done so, he looked over at her and said, “You got something all wrong.”
She glanced over at him, lifting a brow. “What?”
“I wasn’t going to assign any of my bodyguards to you.”
A frown settled on her face. “But when I asked you, you said it wouldn’t be a problem.”
