Читать книгу Interrupted Lullaby - Dana Lynn R. - Страница 13

FOUR

Maggie screamed and pulled a shrieking Rory from the car.

“Run!” Dan bellowed. She needed no further urging. With a runner’s sprint, she hurtled toward the trees. Dan was on her heels, cradling Siobhan tightly in his arms.

A car screeched into the parking lot, bullets spewing from the open window. The ground was pelted ruthlessly, dust flying. It looked like the same car that had crashed into the chief’s.

Dan looked back in time to see a bullet hit a gas pump.

“Faster!” he barked. Ducking his head, he forced himself to hold the baby tighter and push forward.

The pump exploded. A nanosecond later, the flames set off a second pump. Dan yelled as the back of his leather jacket ignited. “Take her!”

Maggie grabbed the baby and Dan dived for the ground, rolling until the flames were out. He thanked God with all his heart that his jacket had taken the worst of the fire. He had, however, twisted his knee when he’d dived to the ground. Forcing himself to stand, he limped next to Maggie. He had never seen anything more beautiful than her tired face, scratched by broken glass but otherwise uninjured. And the babies. Wailing. Fat tears dribbled down their faces. But they were alive. He hadn’t let them down. Not like before...

Remembering the car, he looked over his shoulder. Both his car and the attacker’s were smoldering chunks of charred metal. He started toward the destruction, then halted, his cop radar on full alert. Another vehicle was approaching from the other direction, slowing down. He pulled Maggie and the twins farther out of sight.

“Trees. Get to the trees,” he gritted, taking Siobhan from her arms. Maggie looked as if she might protest, but he scowled at her. He wasn’t about to let an injury keep him from doing his duty. He would protect them, no matter the personal cost.

“Your back...”

“Is fine. My leg twisted. I’ll live. Move!”

She didn’t argue. They moved as quickly as his injured leg would allow. Once they were hidden, they slowed long enough to confirm Dan’s suspicions. The car had stopped, and two men had stepped out, carrying guns. They ignored the assailant’s car but inspected Dan’s still-burning car from a distance, bending to peer inside. Dan was too far away to hear what was said, but as the men started to look around the perimeter of the gas station, Dan urged Maggie farther back into the trees. It was only a matter of time before the men started to expand the search for Maggie and Dan.

“In the zippered front pocket of my backpack, you’ll find a baggie with pacifiers. Can you get it?” Maggie turned so Dan could reach out and open the pocket with one hand. Grabbing the baggie, he held it out to her. She grabbed the pacifiers and plopped one in each child’s mouth. Ah, silence.

Muttering a prayer of thanksgiving that they were alive, Dan prayed for their continued safety. And that Rory and Siobhan wouldn’t start crying again and give them away. Especially Siobhan, who was the loudest child he had ever heard. Unthinking, he kissed the baby’s head in silent apology for his unkind thoughts. Then he swung his gaze to Maggie, hoping she had missed the action. The eyes that met his were exhausted, but he saw the smile tugging at her lips. Oops. Busted.

He led the way farther into the woods, stopping several times to listen. The third time he stopped, he caught the distinctive sound of male voices coming from where they had been. Urgency filled him as he picked up the pace, changing directions and heading in a zigzag pattern through the woods. God had heard his prayer, he noticed in relief. Both Rory and Siobhan remained quiet.

The voices died away. The men had headed in the other direction. Dan continued to push his little group through the wooded area. Several times, he glanced at his phone. No bars. Figured. Pennsylvania’s hills were breathtaking, but they wreaked havoc with modern technology. He continued walking until he finally had a single bar. He passed Siobhan to Maggie, then motioned for her to keep back. He stepped several feet away from them, his nerves stretched tight as he drew closer to where the trees ended. Close by, the whir of traffic let him know that they were near a road. Using the GPS on his phone, he pinpointed their location.

How were the bad guys finding them? Were they following him? The idea seemed impossible, but he couldn’t see any other way that they could have pinned them down so quickly. Well, if some kind of tracker was in the car, it was gone. Quickly, he removed the battery from his phone and checked it for bugs. Nothing. He reassembled the phone.

It had to have been the car. Someone must have planted a tracker on it while he’d been inside Maggie’s house talking to her and Chief Garraway. Or it could have even happened earlier, before he left LaMar Pond. Was Phillip’s killer still there, still connected to the police department? Dan had put the call on speaker when that woman said she had found Maggie. Anyone in the station could have overheard, realized Dan would go to check out the lead and sneaked something onto his car before he left.

A quick glance over his shoulder assured him that the children and Maggie were fine. He ignored the tugging at his heart at the sight of the woebegone little family. Bitterness rose like bile in him at the thought of the family he would never have himself. What woman would want a man with his issues, his past? What kind of father could he possibly be?

Deliberately, he closed his mind to the dreams he’d had before the war had destroyed them. He sent a quick text to the police department, outlining his situation and his present location. In record time, he received an answer. Satisfied, he nodded to himself. Then he shot off a text to Paul, warning him to search for bugs or other surveillance equipment that might have gone missing.

Returning to the others, he kept his eyes peeled, constantly searching for movement in the line of trees behind them. He kept his voice low, cautious.

“Maggie, we need to keep moving. The department is sending us an unmarked car with enough provisions to get us through the next day or so if need be. Problem is, we’re going to have to walk a little ways yet to get to the drop-off spot.”

He focused his concerned gaze on her weary, dirt-smeared face. The twins were starting to get fractious. Rory had his fist in his mouth, gnawing on it. Siobhan was whimpering. Dan was worried. For a child as vocal as she usually was, did whimpering mean something was truly wrong? More than the situation at hand, that was?

A wan smile flitted across Maggie’s face. She nodded, then pulled the backpack off her back. She rifled through the contents and pulled out a small container filled with crackers. The kids fell to eating the crackers with a gusto that would have been humorous another time. She yanked out a bottle of water and gave some to one child, then the other, holding it steady even as water dribbled down their chubby chins. Still without a word, she grabbed a second bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Dan. Gratefully, he accepted it and took several thirsty swallows. She took a drink from the one the kids had used before replacing it in the bag.

“Here, let me take that.” Dan held out his hand for the backpack.

“But your back,” Maggie started to protest.

“It’s not really hurt. Mostly my jacket got burned. The fire didn’t even touch my clothes. But we don’t have time to argue. Got to keep moving.”

Her mouth thinned into a determined line, Maggie stood and pulled Siobhan into her arms. Dan hefted Rory onto his hip and led the way in the direction the dispatcher had indicated.

Every now and then, the small group rushed to hide, crouched down, as a car passed or as noises were heard. Once, they even heard voices nearby. Dan could feel Maggie tremble beside him. He was amazed at how quiet the children were. He kept up a steady litany of prayers under his breath.

“And there it is,” he announced almost an hour later. He could see two cars on the side of the road. A man and a woman stood there, apparently exchanging information. Dan recognized them both. When they turned toward him, his trained eyes could make out the shape of concealed weapons under their hoodies.

“Dan,” the man greeted him, his voice pitched low. “We have supplies in the trunk. And there are two children’s car seats installed, rear-facing, as requested. The tank is full. Do you need further assistance?”

Dan patted the officer on the shoulder. “Thanks, Craig. And you, too, Lori. We will take it from here. But I would appreciate it if you would tail us for a few miles just to be sure we are not being followed.”

* * *

More police officers.

Maggie had been running for so long, tensing every time she saw someone wearing a badge. Being in such close proximity with so many officers in one day was making her skin itch. They looked decent, though, and Dan clearly trusted them. Although she wasn’t ready to trust him implicitly, he had put himself in harm’s way several times to keep them safe. That had to say something about the man’s character. But she’d been fooled by men before. Her lips twisted as the memory of her stepfather crossed her mind. She shuddered in revulsion. And her real father was no prince, either. Charming on the outside, rotten on the inside. Even her husband had been hiding something. She hurried to stop that thought before she became overwhelmed.

Dan was talking to the officers in a low voice. He seemed at ease. Even so, these new officers were an unknown. She listened intently to their conversation as she loaded up the kids. Her neck felt stiff with tension, and her shoulders were beginning to ache. She fully expected gunmen to erupt from the woods behind them at any moment.

She didn’t allow herself to relax her guard until she and Dan were pulling away in the car. The children were holding a babbling conversation in the back, totally unaware of the tense situation. She couldn’t remember ever feeling that carefree, that trusting, even as a child. Of course, she’d had the bullies to keep her on her toes then. I’ve hidden from someone my whole life. The revelation did not please her.

“Where are we going?” She gazed out the window as she listened for his response. The trees created a fantastic landscape with their vivid leaves against the blue sky. Dramatic.

“There’s a hunting cabin I know of. It’s not mine. It belongs to my buddy Jace.”

Maggie swiveled her head to rest her gaze on his profile. Strange to notice how handsome he was at a time like this. But he was. His profile was strong. There was something so confident about the way he carried himself. She remembered how quickly he had moved at the house.

Suddenly, he tensed.

“Okay...”

“What? What is it?” Maggie straightened in her seat. “Tell me!”

“It’s probably nothing,” he stated slowly, though his tone suggested it was very definitely something. “There is a car behind us. I can’t be sure, but my gut says we are being followed.”

The muscles in her stomach tightened, cramped. She leaned forward slightly, crossing her arms over her stomach in an attempt to hold in the pain. “The other cops—they were behind us,” she gasped.

He flashed her a worried glance. “They were. They turned off several miles back. This isn’t them.”

She peered into the side mirror just as the car sped up, gaining on them.

“Hold on.” Dan’s mouth tightened into a grim line. His foot pushed down on the gas, and he gripped the steering wheel as he attempted to outmaneuver the other vehicle. Taking one hand off the wheel, he tapped a button on the console area, then replaced his hand on the wheel. Voice control is a grand thing, Maggie mused as she listened to him calling the precinct. With as few words as possible he informed the dispatcher of their current situation.

“I’ll stay on the line with you until we can intercept you,” the dispatcher droned.

Lord, help us. Maggie startled as she realized she was praying. In her experience, prayer really hadn’t worked in the past. But as Dan’s velocity increased around the curves, she found herself again praying. Now was not the time to reject even the possibility of assistance from God. Hopefully He was still willing to listen to her.

With every twist, the other car followed. Dan’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel, but other than that he appeared calm and focused. Maggie aimed another glance at her side mirror and gasped, horror leaping into her chest. A man was leaning out the side window at an impossible angle. The afternoon sunlight flashed against his sunglasses, making it difficult to make out his features clearly. She had no trouble making out the rifle in his hands.

The rifle aimed at their car.

Dan swerved suddenly, just as a shot rang out. It missed the car, but who knew if the second bullet would miss?

“We are one mile from exit 270.” He probably didn’t realize he was shouting.

“Take the next exit, Lieutenant,” the dispatcher directed.

Dan nodded. “On my way off now.”

With a quick spin of the wheel, he sent the car hurtling across the lane beside him toward the exit. It was a good thing there was no traffic to speak of. The car following them braked hard to avoid a collision. The man leaning out the window was forced to grab on to the door. She sighed in relief as he dropped the rifle on the road. It bounced and shattered as the rear wheels rolled over it.

As they roared onto the exit, two police cruisers shot into place along the berm, lights flashing. Dan steered off, but the car following them gunned the engine and shot past the exit. One of the police cars sped up the exit ramp the wrong way in pursuit.

Maggie slumped in her seat, drained and exhausted. She stayed in the car as Dan got out to confer with the officers in the remaining cruiser. She lacked the energy even to try to listen to what they were saying. She’d had it. She closed her eyes, not even opening them when the driver’s door opened. Dan had returned. She’d known him only a short time, but she already knew the scent of his cologne.

“I checked for bugs. There are no tracking devices on the car. Do you have a cell phone?”

“No.”

“Let me check out the diaper bag and the car seats.” Fifteen minutes later, she sighed in relief when he announced all clear.

“And do we have another plan?”

“Same plan, Maggie.” His voice rumbled. “We are going to continue to the cabin, but via a different route.”

Different? The route was an impossible and ridiculous one, Maggie thought hours later. Long drives were one thing, but spending the drive coupled with two children who’d had enough of being strapped into car seats was another. They had allowed themselves the luxury of stopping once for food and diaper changes.

Maggie stepped inside the cabin, Rory sleeping peacefully in her arms. In the past four hours, Dan had made so many turns, she wasn’t even positive they were still in Pennsylvania. Not a single landmark was familiar. A bone-chilling weariness settled around her. She was one step away from sliding down that rabbit hole. Between sleep deprivation and stress, she was starting to get a little wacky.

Dan entered, carrying a whiny Siobhan, as she was setting Rory down on a makeshift bed of throw blankets. Maggie wiped her mouth with her hand to cover the smile that was threatening to escape. The poor man was a bit wild around the eyes. His hair was no longer smooth. In places it actually seemed to be standing on end. But Siobhan had taken a liking to him. She whimpered whenever he tried to hand her off to her mother. If Maggie took her, the whimper morphed into a full bellow. She’d offered Dan earplugs at one point, only half joking.

“Do you think I can put her down?” Dan whispered. “I really need to check the perimeter and call my chief. Give him an update.”

Maggie stretched out her arms. “Here. Give her to me.”

He started to hand her over, then hesitated as Siobhan let out a warning whimper. Maggie took her, anyway. And the bellowing began.

Dan’s brow creased. “Are you sure—” he began.

“Go! She’ll settle down in a minute.” Maggie pointed an imperious finger toward the door.

Dan started to walk toward the door, then stopped with a chuckle. “I can’t believe this. You’re already telling me what to do.”

He disappeared out the door, leaving Maggie standing there, her mouth hanging wide-open. She stared at the door for a couple of seconds before realizing that she was getting nothing accomplished. Shaking herself out of the strange stillness that had come over her, she got her daughter settled with Rory and went to work making the tiny cabin comfortable. She turned on the heat. Hopefully, the place wouldn’t take long to warm up, since it was so small.

It was strange. As she waited for Dan to return, she felt uneasy. His presence was so big, so sturdy, that she had felt safe when he was there. Now, knowing that it was only she and the twins, she felt herself tensing as the silence stretched and grew. The wind blew against the little cabin, making creaks and cracks and groans. She felt as if someone was watching her.

A sharp rap sounded on the door. Maggie shrieked. She blushed as the door opened and Dan poked his head around it, his face breaking into a smile. His gray eyes danced.

“Now, who did you think was going to knock before trying to get in the door?” His tone was cocky but his expression was watchful.

“You just startled me, that’s all.” She chided herself for being so jumpy. Still, the memory of that man coming at her with a knife was looming large in the back of her mind.

The heat clicked on with a loud hum. Dan smiled. “I’m glad you turned the heat on. Not to complain, but it’s chilly in here.”

“I’m surprised at you. Coming from LaMar Pond, this weather is mild. The winters there are absolutely brutal. But you know that,” Maggie responded.

“Well, I’m not actually from LaMar Pond. I’m from Hershey, Pennsylvania. I moved to Pittsburgh when I got out of the army. I moved to LaMar Pond about two years ago. I was working undercover on a case. Actually, I was working to find out what was happening to the jurors from Melanie’s trial. Once the case was over, I decided to stay. It’s a nice little community. A little slower pace, but I like it.”

“Well, anyway, I know it’s going to get cold tonight. I figured why wait to warm the place up. I’ve got warm clothes for the babies, but nothing for me other than what I’m wearing.”

“It was a good thought,” Dan remarked. “But you won’t be staying here tonight.”

What? Why stop in such a remote place, why go through the trouble of searching the perimeter if this was only a break?