Читать книгу Undercover Justice - Nico Rosso - Страница 13

Stephanie spun one of the new rings around her finger. She slowed her breath and tried to keep the building tension from breaking her apart. Arash pumped gas into the compact racer while she sat in the passenger seat. Her cell phone rested on her thigh, ready for the next move. She couldn’t read Arash’s eyes behind the dark sunglasses she’d bought for him, but she could see his jaw was clenched. Both of them knew something was coming.

Whatever she was about to rush into, she had a sliver of confidence now that Frontier Justice had been updated on her situation. It had been a mad rush to get through the department store, then up to the cell phone place before Arash had made his way through his shopping. Luckily the young white woman set up the contract-free phone quickly, allowing Stephanie the time to call in her “stolen” car to her insurance company for the sake of verisimilitude in case Olesk was looking hard in that direction.

Texting Ty and the others from Frontier Justice her flood of information while standing in a service hallway of the mall had tested all her composure. She was sure some words were jumbled or autocorrected improperly, but she had to get everything out before sending one last message: This phone is burned. She’d pulled the battery and SIM card out, scraped the SIM card against the wall until it was unusable, then threw it all out in a trash can behind Arash before he’d spotted her.

But the man was sharp. As soon as he’d turned to her with suspicion in his eyes, she’d known he’d seen her at the phone store. She’d had all the excuses lined up, but still he’d remained cagey. Neither of them was on solid footing.

Especially once she’d given him the gifts. What had started as an honest want to repay him for helping the woman in the parking lot, and Stephanie’s selfish need to have her driver not wrapping their car around a power pole because the sun was in his eyes, turned too damn intimate too quickly. His appreciation for the gesture gave her way more of a thrill than she’d expected.

It had felt like they’d been speeding without brakes toward each other. Sometimes she longed for a reckless crash. This one, though, could have deadly consequences. Olesk’s text had come at just the right time.

Arash finished fueling the car and leaned into the open driver’s-side window. “Any word?”

She checked her phone, even though she’d looked at it two seconds ago. “Nothing.”

“Food allergies?”

“No, but I hate coconut.”

“What a shame.” He sauntered to the gas station convenience store, shaking his head the whole way.

Two seconds later her phone buzzed. Olesk texted them an intersection and a time frame. She was about to slide over into the driver’s seat when Arash returned, faster than he’d left. He tossed two bottles of water and a handful of candy bars into the back seat and rushed behind the wheel. The car was already out of the gas station and onto the street by the time he asked, “Where to?”

She read him the directions from the map, then checked the time. “Seven minutes.”

“I saw you going for the driver’s seat, but I couldn’t let you have all the fun.” His grin was wilder than his driving through the flow of traffic. She knew it wouldn’t take much for him to turn it loose. He pulled his phone from his jacket and handed it over to her. “Can you throw this on the charger?”

She hooked him up, then directed him through the next intersection. Their destination was close and they were running early for a change. Pride at a job well done was quickly tempered by the knowledge that she was aiding criminals. The same went for the rush she felt from the coordination between her and Arash. It didn’t matter who was driving and who was shotgun; they handled their jobs and kept each other moving. Her brief elation dived quickly into a sense of loss for what could’ve been in a very different world.

As soon as he hit a straightaway, Arash pulled a hair band from his pocket and swept his hair back into that small ponytail, fully revealing his sharp features. “Good call on the sunglasses.” He looked over to her for a second before turning his attention back to the road.

“They look fly.” She’d considered a couple frames before settling on these and was rewarded by him looking sexy and severe.

“You have good taste.” He shook his wrist to flash the watch. A perfect fit.

“Except when it comes to men.” If she really had good taste, she wouldn’t be feeling small electric thrills raining up through her as she looked over this car-thief criminal with his rough hands all over the steering wheel and shifter.

Instead of shutting him down like she’d hoped, it evoked a quick laugh and an even wilder smile. When he stood harder on the gas, making the engine moan, the bastard knew she couldn’t look away.

She reminded herself of everything at stake, cooled herself and flattened her voice. “After the next right is our intersection. We’re one minute early. Circle until I hear the next move.”

“Understood.” Arash must’ve known better than to push her any further and matched the businesslike tone.

Her phone buzzed. She read, “‘Run interference for white cube van with Nevada plates. Draw any cops off.’”

“I’ve got eyes on the truck.” He tipped his head to their left, where a medium-sized cargo truck trundled out of a storage-facility parking lot.

“You know them?” She didn’t recognize the driver or the man riding shotgun.

“No, but there’s Olesk and Ellie.” They were in a sport-tuned Subaru that was clearly straining against its muscle as it cruised half a block behind the truck. Olesk drove and Ellie rode passenger with a cell phone in her hand. She acknowledged Arash and Stephanie with a brief nod before swiveling her gaze to take in the area.

Stephanie did the same. “If they need us for interference, then they know someone’s onto this move.” There’d been a couple of local PD blips regarding Olesk’s gang in the Frontier Justice control center she’d helped install in Mariana’s farmhouse. It pulled radio signals, internet leads and poached cell phone conversations from law enforcement and back-channel sources in an attempt to track the Seventh Syndicate and other organizations that were attacking anyone who couldn’t defend themselves. Fitting that the hub of all this information was the home where Frontier Justice had started over a hundred years ago.

And Stephanie knew that farmhouse was still in good hands. Mariana was the perfect fit for Ty, both determined as hell. Their strong wills extended out to their unwavering care for the other, something Stephanie knew was a rarity in this world.

“Unmarked car at seven o’clock.” Arash shifted his vision from the side mirror to the road ahead. Stephanie snapped out of her thoughts and spun to check behind them. The dark brown car had state-exempt plates and a nearly invisible flasher bar in front of the visors.

“He’s driving like he means it.” The police car slipped past Olesk and Ellie, on the hunt. Instead of relief arriving with the police, Stephanie’s pulse kicked faster. Olesk and the STR couldn’t get busted before she’d pierced all the way to the Seventh. “Run him off.”

“Olesk has him.” Arash held back amid the normal traffic. The Subaru separated out and sped forward. After passing the unmarked car, Olesk swerved hard in front of it and raced up a side street. The police car couldn’t resist the bait. The light bar strobed on and its tires chirped before propelling it after the Subaru. “No discipline. Those cops should’ve stayed on their mark.”

“Whose side are you on?” she quipped, hoping no one would ever ask her that question.

“Cash money.” His mouth thinned. She locked a snapshot of the moment in her memory, to be pulled out every time she felt herself being drawn toward this man.

The cube van continued up the wide boulevard, and she started to predict the route. “They’re heading for the highway.” A police patrol car pulled quickly onto the street. “Cruiser.” There was no sign of Olesk or the unmarked car.

“On it.” Arash broke out of the normal flow of traffic but held two car lengths back from the police car. She surged forward in her seat and put her foot down like she had her own gas pedal. He shook his head. “We’ve got to know what they know. If they’re onto the truck, it doesn’t matter how many distractions we throw at them. Helicopters, roadblocks, highway patrol will come down hard.”

She knew he was right. Whatever intel the police were acting off must’ve been vague, because the patrol car seemed to be searching rather than following the truck directly. Even when it had a free lane to slide up behind the truck, it held back, and other cars filled in the space. “They’re hunting blind.”

Arash rolled his shoulders and snugged himself into the racing seat. “Let’s give them something to chase.” He downshifted and the car lurched forward with power, then it sped when he threw it into the next gear. Instead of sweeping past the patrol car, Arash steered off the boulevard and across the corner of a strip mall parking lot.

“Looks like you suffer from premature acceleration.” She watched in the side-view mirror as the police car disappeared up the boulevard.

Arash laughed and slowed the car. “He saw us,” he reassured her. “Didn’t want to make it look like we were deliberately distracting him from the real target.”

“That was Olesk’s move.”

“Exactly.” He pointed in the rearview mirror and she turned to see the patrol car coming after them along the residential street. “Too cocky.” He stepped on the gas. The cops didn’t hesitate to give chase and they were soon blasting past parked cars and winter-bare London plane trees.

It seemed like the police would catch up to them. Blue-and-red flashing lights were close enough to color the interior of Stephanie and Arash’s car. A voice came over the loudspeaker between siren blasts. “Stop the car. Stop the car and pull to the right.” Arash was only in third gear. “Stop immediately.”

Arash hung back another second, then stepped on the gas. The car shot forward, leaving the police voice a jumble behind them. The patrol car sped to catch up, but its engine could already be heard straining. She spun to watch the police, seeing the passenger on the radio. “Backup will be incoming.”

“Anyone who wants to get embarrassed is welcome to show up to this party.” Arash downshifted around a corner and put a full block between them and the pursuing police.

“You got your wish.” They pulled back onto the main boulevard just as two more marked police cars hurried into the area. The cops were quick to turn on their sirens and clear a path to Stephanie and Arash.

“Any sign of the truck?” Arash upped their speed but maintained a calm approach that never felt reckless.

She searched over the street and saw they were right by an on-ramp for the highway. “No truck. They must’ve hit the highway.”

“What the hell’s our next move?” Arash bared his teeth as he made another hard turn off the boulevard and into another neighborhood. The police had to stack one in front of the other, limiting their tactical maneuvers.

Stephanie looked over the map on her phone for any areas where they could lose this kind of pursuit. “Train tracks four blocks ahead and to the left might lead to a depot or warehouses we could lose these rollers in.” Her phone buzzed in her hand. “Text from Olesk. They lost their tail. We’ve got to do the same and hit the highway east. Clock’s ticking before the police scramble a chopper.”

Arash muscled the car around another hard turn, gritting out, “You know, this would go a lot better if that freaking mastermind let us in on the plan beforehand.”

“Don’t go right,” she called out after looking at the map. “Cul-de-sac.”

“I can work with that.” He veered right and slowed enough for the police cars to catch up.

“I’d have tried a different approach.” She tensed in her seat and braced her hand on the door panel.

“We can’t agree on everything.” He sped forward again, then yanked up on the emergency brake and jammed the steering wheel to one side. Tires screamed as the car’s rear swung an arc in the cul-de-sac to bring them one hundred eighty degrees around. Once they were facing the oncoming police cars, Arash released the brake and hit the gas. “That would be boring.”

The cops knew better than to play chicken and slammed on their brakes. The two cars staggered, blocking the way out. Arash charged forward, a small smile on his lips. She clenched her jaw and wrapped her fist around the handle above the side window. A hard impact could come any second. They were going fast enough to kill. At the last second, Arash swung the car off the road and into a driveway to the right. They bounced onto the sidewalk and paralleled the street for a second, sending the police cars to scramble into reverse.

Arash turned hard again, taking them over the curb and crossing onto the street between the two cop cars. One car slammed to a stop. The other swerved and fishtailed before jamming its rear into a parked car, blocking the first car from the action. Arash drove back off the street and onto the opposite sidewalk, which was clear enough to get them completely away from the cul-de-sac.

They cruised back onto a normal road, free from police. The engine calmed, but her heart still pounded. She gathered her breath and navigated Arash to the freeway on-ramp. He let out a long sigh once they were moving with the flow. But when they both spotted a highway patrol car stalking about a quarter mile ahead, the atmosphere tightened again in the car.

“Use that semi for rolling cover.” She pointed to a truck hauling a tall load of cargo. Arash nodded and eased the car alongside, between them and the highway patrol.

He kept pace with the truck, even though they had plenty of lane to pass and speed ahead. He grumbled, “Goes against everything I know about driving next to trucks.”

“I feel you.” She always gave the rigs a large halo of space. “But it’s working.” From her perspective, there was no sign of the highway patrol, meaning they must be parallel with them. “I think we’re good to get up front.” Arash added speed and merged into the semi’s lane. She checked all around and couldn’t see the police, so they couldn’t see them.

After two miles of staying within cautious cover of the truck, Arash moved into the faster flow of traffic. She stayed alert for highway patrol, but allowed her body to calm in waves. Her legs ached as she drew her feet back from being braced hard on the floor. The slowing of her heartbeat allowed for a new elation to take over through her limbs. Damn it. It was like good sex.

Arash leaned more casually in his seat, one hand on the steering wheel, jaw relaxed and mouth less severe. She stared at the cords of his neck too long, wondering if she’d be able to feel his pulse match hers. He kept his face forward and put out a fist to her. “Job well done.” But there was a minor note in his voice, barely detectable.

“I guess you can drive.” She bumped his fist with hers.

He sneered a small smile. “Ask those cops.” Through his bravado was that dark thread. She tried to follow it, but the trail deeper into him dissolved before she could grab hold. For the best, she convinced herself. Keep him at a distance. But she still wanted to know.

A text came through on her phone. “Olesk,” she reported. “Next stop—Reno.”

Miles farther away from any safety. Deeper into the danger. Exactly where she needed to be going. Though, traveling there with Arash at her side shook her compass. She knew she would not waver in helping the victims in need, but she now questioned who she would have to become to get this mission accomplished, and how far her hunger for Arash would take her.