Читать книгу Driving Force - Elle James - Страница 13

She should have known Charlotte Halverson would have multiple bodyguards protecting her. A woman of her wealth and status might as well have a target on her back at all times. A person could collect a significant amount of ransom money if he successfully abducted her.

Money wasn’t her goal with the Halverson woman. Answers were worth much more to her. Why did she have those coordinates on her wrist? Why did she have a Trinity-knot tattoo? Why had she been detained and tortured in Syria? Why had she been there in the first place?

More than anything...who was she?

All the effort she’d gone to in order to gain access to the gala had been a bust. All she needed was to talk to the Halverson woman and no one else. At this point, she wasn’t going to risk interaction with a single soul other than Halverson. If the woman’s bodyguard hadn’t been so attentive she might have gotten her alone long enough to figure out the puzzle of her existence. Now she was back to square one. Not even square one. The bodyguards would think she had tried to abscond with the rich widow. They wouldn’t let her anywhere near her now, and she still didn’t know if she could trust anyone other than Halverson.

Once she’d made it past the guards, she’d circled the entire building, counting the number of security personnel on the outside at every entry or exit point. The only reason she’d gotten through the first time was she’d gone in as one of the housekeeping staff, with her dress and shoes tucked beneath the uniform she’d pilfered from the back of a laundry van. She’d helped clean rooms, stating she was new.

Eventually, she slipped out of sight and hid in one of the unoccupied rooms until close to time for the gala to begin. She’d showered, dressed and applied the makeup she’d borrowed from one of the rooms. The shoes had belonged to one of the guests at the hotel. Appropriately dressed, she’d found her way down a staff elevator to the kitchen and from there into the ballroom after a majority of the people had already arrived. She’d mixed and mingled as if she belonged until she’d spotted Charlotte Halverson.

Thankfully, by the time she’d made it to DC, her bruises had faded enough that makeup covered them. The swelling around her eye had all but disappeared.

Now, standing outside the Mayflower Hotel, frustration ate a hole in her gut. The only keys she had to her identity were the tattoo on her wrist and the woman inside, and she was stuck outside. Without a coat, the cool air wrapped around her, raising gooseflesh on her skin. She wrapped her arms around her middle and stared at the Mayflower Hotel wishing she had one more chance. Just one more chance was all she needed with Charlotte Halverson.

THE WOMAN IN the black dress haunted Gus. All the way around the massive hotel he searched the shadows for her. Damn the security guard for stopping him from capturing her and getting answers about why she’d tried to take Charlie.

Did she want to take Charlie away and hold her for ransom? Had the Halversons wronged her or someone in her family, requiring retribution? Was there another reason she’d tried to get close to Charlie, to give her something, tell her something?

Mostly, he couldn’t forget the brown-black eyes filled with mystery and a touch of sadness.

Who was she?

Once again, he had to run the gauntlet of the security personnel at the front door and the woman holding the tablet with the list of names of persons who were allowed inside.

Gus wondered if the woman in black was on that list. If not, how had she managed to get past the security personnel? And if she was able to get past them, who else had done the same?

That thought made him worry that much more. Once his ID had been compared to the names on the roster, he hurried to find Declan and Charlie.

Making a beeline for the ballroom, he searched the faces, finally finding Declan, who stood with Charlie at the far end of the ballroom. Declan was easy to spot. He was a good head taller than most of the women and many of the men in attendance.

Gus worked his way around the side of the room, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, in case they waylaid him and tried to strike up a conversation. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to strangers. Except maybe the woman in the black dress.

Ten minutes had passed since he’d left Charlie and Declan inside the hotel to chase after the woman who got away.

“Everything okay?” he asked when he finally reached them.

Charlie frowned. “I can’t get that woman out of my mind.”

Gus caught himself short of saying, you and me both, sister. Instead, he nodded. “Did she hurt you in any way?”

“No,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “She kept saying she just needed to talk to me. Something about being the key to who she was.” The older woman’s frown deepened. “There was a certain desperation in her eyes. I should have gone with her.”

Declan touched Charlie’s arm. “We don’t know who she is, or why she felt the need to drag you out of the hotel. For all we know, she could have been on a mission to kidnap you and hold you for ransom.”

Charlie looked up into Gus’s eyes. “I don’t think so. She didn’t hold a gun or knife to my head. I could have shaken free of her grip had I tried hard enough. I truly believe she only wanted to get me alone to talk to me. About what, I can’t imagine. I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“DO YOU THINK she might claim to be a secret daughter of your late husband?” Declan asked.

Charlie snorted. “I don’t think so. We didn’t have children. John was infertile.” Her lips curled into a sad smile. “He wanted children, but he never could have fathered them. No, the woman couldn’t have been his daughter.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m getting a headache. Perhaps it’s time for us to leave and let the younger people stay and dance the night away.” She straightened her shoulders and placed her hand on Declan’s arm.

Gus fell in step at her other side.

They’d only gone a few feet when a loud, whining sound penetrated the roar of voices in the ballroom.

Gus tilted his head and listened as the noise continued. “Fire alarm.”

The hotel concierge appeared at the opposite end of the ballroom, carrying a bullhorn. “Ladies and gentlemen. We’re sorry to disturb your evening, but what you are hearing is the fire alarm. We need everyone to leave the building through the closest exit to you.”

Declan pointed to one of the signs to the outside. “This way.” He cupped Charlie’s elbow and led her toward the exit. Gus cupped her other elbow and the two men escorted her out of the ballroom, into a long hallway with a bright red exit sign over the door at the end. In the hallway, the alarm was even louder.

The door at the end of the hallway, like the one he’d chased the woman in the black dress through, opened to the outside.

“Should we go out a door closer to the bulk of the crowd?” Gus suggested.

“No,” Charlie said. “They wanted everyone out in case there really is a fire.”

Gus pushed open the door. Before he stepped out, he looked for the security personnel first. No one stood outside. In fact, the back of the building appeared deserted.

Gus held open the door while Declan led Charlie out of the building.

“Are you guys evacuating?” Mack said into Gus’s earpiece.

“We are,” Declan responded. “We just stepped out of the building at the southeastern corner. We’ll make our way around to the front, coming up the eastern side.”

“We’re on our way to rendezvous with you,” Mack said.

As they rounded the corner of the building, men jumped out of the shadows and surrounded them.

Declan and Gus stepped in front of Charlie.

“We’ve got trouble,” Gus said into his microphone.

“How much trouble?” Mack asked.

“Six deep,” Gus said. Six big burly men, none of whom wore the uniforms of the paid security guards.

Gus braced himself as the men rushed them.

The first one to Gus swung a meaty fist at his head. Gus ducked and slammed his fist into the man’s gut.

The man doubled over but was replaced by the next man behind him.

Gus didn’t let the fact they were outnumbered slow him down. He had to keep even one of them from getting to Charlie.

Declan had his hands full, throwing punches, ducking some and taking a couple to the jaw. The men they were fighting were trained combatants. For every punch Gus threw, they hit back with equal aim and dexterity.

While Gus and Declan fought off two each, the fifth and sixth men circled around them and grabbed Charlie’s arm.

She screamed, kicked and cursed, doing her best to protect herself. But she was one woman. The two men were bigger, stronger and meaner than anything she could offer in the way of a fight.

Gus punched and kicked like a madman, but he couldn’t free himself from the two men fast enough to help Charlie and neither could Declan.

Then, out of the shadows, came a whirling dervish in a black dress. She attacked the men holding Charlie, landing a side kick in one guy’s kidney. She spun and swept her other foot around, hitting the other guy in the temple.

Both men staggered and loosened their holds on Charlie long enough for her to get away.

The woman in the black dress didn’t stop there.

When the men reached out for Charlie again, the woman grabbed one man’s arm and, using his own momentum, flipped him. He landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

The other guy, seeing his partner laid low, went after the woman in the black dress. He grabbed her from behind around the middle and lifted her off the ground.

Gus had his own hands full taking care of the two who had him cornered. One pulled a knife and lunged at him. Gus grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the knife, twisted it around and slammed the knife into the second man’s ribs. The man went down with the knife still stuck inside him.

An elbow to the nose of the man still standing got his attention. Gus brought up his knee at the same time he slammed the man’s head down. He lay still on the pavement.

Gus went after the guy holding the woman in black.

Before he could reach him, the woman doubled over, her feet hit the ground and she flipped with the man holding her around her waist. Twisting free, she rolled out of range and came up in a ready stance.

The two men who’d fought with the woman took off, running for the shadows.

Declan’s two attackers broke free, grabbed the man on the ground by the arms and hauled him to his feet. Then they ran after the others.

The man with the knife in his ribs lay groaning on the pavement, his voice trailing off as blood spilled onto the ground.

Declan ran for Charlie who stood nearby.

Gus approached the woman in the black dress.

She raised her hands. “I’m not here to hurt Mrs. Halverson. I only need to talk to her. Nothing more.”

Security guards ran toward them.

“I can’t stay,” the strange woman said, her eyes wide as the guards came closer. “I can’t let them question me.”

“Meet us at the corner three blocks in that direction.” Charlie pointed. “We’ll pick you up in my car.”

The woman hesitated.

Charlie reached out and touched her arm. “Trust me. We’ll be there.”

After a solemn nod to Charlie and a glance over her shoulder at the people headed toward them, the woman ran.

“What were you thinking?” Declan asked. “You don’t know who she is or what she wants. She could be after the same thing those men wanted. You for ransom.”

“If she hadn’t shown up when she did, I might not be standing here,” Charlie said. “You two were outnumbered.”

Gus nodded. Charlie was right. The men they’d fought had been trained in hand-to-hand combat. They hadn’t been easy to overcome. If the mystery woman hadn’t come along when she had, Charlie could have been taken or killed.

“Now, let’s get past all the police questions and on the road home. I want to know more about our mystery helper.” Charlie started for the front of the hotel. “First off, where did she learn to fight like that? I need her to teach me a few tricks so I don’t get into another situation like that. I don’t like feeling helpless.”

Gus would like to know more about the woman, as well. She’d impressed the hell out of him with her fighting skills. He had questions for her, too. And he wasn’t so sure they could trust her. Obviously, she could take care of herself, but would she use those skills on them to overtake the team and the driver and abscond with Charlie?

THREE BLOCKS DOWN the road from the Mayflower Hotel, she waited in the shadows, watching for a limousine. Had the Halverson woman told her she’d collect her to get her to leave her alone?

Wearing only the dress and the high heels she’d worn to the party, it wasn’t long before the chill night air set in. She rubbed her bare arms and stamped her feet, praying a limousine would drive up, she’d get in and the heater would be on full blast.

She’d ask all the questions after she’d thawed her cold hands and quit shaking like a blender on full speed. And she’d thought the heat intolerable in Syria.

At that moment, she could stand a good reason to sweat. If she weren’t wearing the heels, she’d jog up and down the alley to get her blood moving. Alas, the straps were digging into her skin and making blisters. Running was only an option if her life depended on it.

Without a watch, she couldn’t tell how much time had passed since Charlotte Halverson had promised to pick her up. Several vehicles had gone by, but none had been a limousine.

Giving up wasn’t an option. She had nowhere else to go. No money, no home, no extra clothing. The jeans and T-shirt she’d arrived at the hotel in were where she’d left them when she’d changed into the staff’s uniform.

She didn’t think she was the kind of person who stole items on a regular basis. When she had, it had been purely a matter of desperation. Until she knew who she was, she didn’t know whether she’d had a job, a bank account or a home. Surely someone missed her somewhere. Someone who knew her life history. Her name.

One thing she’d learned about herself in her journey to that corner in DC was that she knew how to fight. Her moves were instinctive. Though she’d bet they were learned. The kind of learning that required lots of practice and repetition. Training.

Had she been in the military? Perhaps she was a member of the CIA. That would explain why she had been captured and tortured. It would also explain why she had no identification papers on her.

If the Halverson woman didn’t know who she was, perhaps she’d go to the CIA and ask if they were missing an agent.

Unless...she was wanted by the CIA. In which case, she would be trading one prison cell for another. And she couldn’t go back into captivity. She’d die fighting before she would allow anyone to capture and torture her again.

A dark SUV slowed at the corner Charlotte Halverson had indicated. Since it wasn’t a limousine, she had no intention of stepping out into the open. What if the men she’d fought with that night had come back to seek revenge on the woman who’d foiled their attempt to abduct the rich widow? She’d overpowered them once. What were the chances they’d let her get away with it again? Slim to none.

The SUV continued a little farther down the road, inching along until it came to a full stop. A man got out and stood waiting.

Headlights indicated the approach of another vehicle.

She watched from the shadows of the alley, shivering in the cold.

Hope blossomed in her chest as a smooth black limousine pulled to a stop against the curb.

Still, she waited, not willing to expose herself to trouble when there was already one man waiting nearby. He could be there to make another attempt to nab the Halverson woman.

Another SUV pulled in behind the limousine. A second man emerged. The two men standing guard were big, muscular and held themselves with the confidence and bearing of those who’d known military service.

The limousine driver got out of the vehicle and opened the back door.

The same man who’d chased her out of the hotel in the first place emerged from the vehicle and bent to assist the rich widow out, as well. She was followed by the other bodyguard who’d been inside the hotel with her.

They stood for a moment, all looking around.

“I don’t like this. You’re far too exposed out here on the street,” said the bodyguard who’d forced her out of the hotel.

“Gus, we promised we’d come to pick her up,” Mrs. Halverson said. “I keep my promises.” She turned to her other bodyguard. “Declan, have your men look for her.”

The one called Declan nodded. “I will, Charlie, after you get back into the limousine with Arnold.” He nodded to the driver. “If anything happens, I want you to drive. Get Charlie out of here as fast as you can.”

Arnold, the driver, nodded. “I will.” He held the limousine’s back door open. “Mrs. Halverson, please. Let Declan’s Defenders do their job. If the woman is here, they’ll find her.”

The widow frowned. “Fine. I’ll get into the limousine...in a moment.” She turned a full circle, staring into the shadows in all directions. “Young lady, don’t be afraid,” she called out. “I only want to thank you for helping us. Please, let me return the favor.” After a long moment, she sighed and slid into the limousine.

Afraid Charlotte Halverson would leave before she told her who she was, she stepped out of the shadows into the dull yellow glow of a streetlight. “Wait. I’m here.”

If it was a setup to grab her and take her to the police, so be it. With no better options and nowhere to go, she figured it was worth the risk.

Mrs. Halverson started to get back out of the limousine. “Oh, thank God. I was worried you’d been hurt in the fight. Please, get in.” The older woman changed directions and scooted across the seat, making room for her in the limousine.

The man called Gus stepped in between the Halverson woman and her. “Perhaps it would be better if she rode in one of the SUVs.”

“Nonsense, Gus. She’s riding with me,” Charlotte said. “I’ll be safe with you, Declan and Arnold to protect me.” She patted the seat beside her. “Come on. Let us take you where you need to go.”

“I understand your hesitation to trust me.” She stared into Gus’s eyes and raised her arms. “If you want to frisk me, you can. I’m not carrying any kind of concealed weapon.”

Gus snorted. “You don’t need to. Your hands and feet are lethal by themselves.”

She held her wrists together in front of her. “If it will make you feel better, you can bind my wrists and feet to keep Mrs. Halverson safe.” The thought of being held captive made her quiver inside. But she reassured herself that she could escape if she had to.

Gus glanced toward Declan. “Did you bring zip ties?”

Declan nodded. “I did.” He reached into the front of the limousine and pulled out a handful of plastic zip ties.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Mrs. Halverson said.

“No, really. I don’t mind,” she said. “They are only doing their jobs and keeping you safe from me. I would expect no less.” Again, she held out her wrists.

Declan slipped a zip tie around them and pulled it snug. “I’m sorry, but we don’t know you, or what you want from Charlie.”

Gus frowned. “Aren’t you going to secure her legs?”

“Absolutely not.” Mrs. Halverson glared at her bodyguards. “This woman is my guest. I won’t have you treating her like a criminal. Now, let her get into the vehicle before I fire all of you.”

Gus frowned heavily before he finally moved out of the way and allowed her to get in beside Mrs. Halverson.

He slid in next to her and Declan sat across from them.

“Make one wrong move,” Gus said, “and I’ll make sure you regret it.”

The woman nodded. “I’m not here to hurt Mrs. Halverson. I only want information.”

Arnold closed the back door, slid into the driver’s seat and pulled in behind the lead SUV.

“Okay, now that you have my undivided attention,” Mrs. Halverson said. “Who are you, and what is it you want from me?”

“That’s just it,” she said, her heart sinking. “I don’t know who I am. I was hoping you could tell me that.”