Читать книгу In Too Deep - Sharon Dunn - Страница 16

Joseph pulled his gun and rushed toward the next object that would provide them with cover, in case someone was lying in wait for them in the pipe. He crouched behind a pile of car doors, then lifted his head above them. He could not see the interior of the pipe, but it was easily big enough for a grown person to stand inside.

Though arguing with Sierra about coming out here would have been an act of futility, he still didn’t like the idea of putting her or any civilian in danger.

She’d handled herself fine while they had been running from the drug dealer by the lake. He wondered what made her so tenacious in her need to help this messed-up kid who might have betrayed her.

Sierra leaned close to Joseph’s ear and whispered, “Should I call out for him?”

Joseph shook his head. What if someone more dangerous than Trevor was close by? “You stay here. Let me go.”

She nodded.

With his gun lifted, he ran toward the pipe. The interior came into view. He lowered his gun. There was no one inside, only evidence of what went on there—empty beer bottles and even a syringe. A magazine lay open, its pages flapping in the breeze.

The sight of the debris, of lives being destroyed, made his heart heavy. His baby brother, Ezra, had been so young when he’d overdosed. How did someone with so much to live for get to such a hopeless, dark place?

Sierra came up behind him. She must have sensed his shift in mood. “You all right?”

He pointed inside the pipe, backing away from the memories of Ezra’s transformation from a happy, bright kid to a prisoner of his own addiction. “This kind of stuff makes me angry.” Very few people knew why he had become a DEA agent. The pain still cut deep.

“Me, too,” she said. Her expression softened, and her voice filled with compassion. “I just decide every day, in whatever small way I can, I’ll work to pull a kid from the fire before he or she is consumed.”

He studied her for a long moment, feeling drawn to her. “Exactly.” They were on the same side. Both of them fighting for the same thing, just in different ways.

They searched the rest of the junkyard, finding no one or any evidence that someone had been here recently. When he tried the number Trevor had called from, the phone didn’t even ring on the other end.

“Probably a throwaway phone,” he said.

Frustrated, he slipped outside the junkyard and returned to his car. Sierra followed him. She sat in the passenger seat while he settled in behind the steering wheel and buckled his seat belt.

“Something is going on with Trevor. He sounded scared on that phone call. We have to find him.” She laced her fingers together. Her forehead furrowed.

His heart went out to her. “We need some kind of lead to find him. Kids talk when they come into the shop. They think I’m not listening. And some of them even trust me enough to let me know what they know.”

She turned to face him. “Yes, the skateboard shop is ideal for finding out what’s going on with teenagers. Even the ones who are using drugs.” She narrowed her eyes at him, expecting a response.

This was the moment of truth. “I guess you figured it out.”

“You didn’t act like a shop owner back there in the junkyard. You acted like a cop.”

He tensed. “It’s important that no one else know.”

“I’m good at keeping secrets.” A soft smile graced her lips.

“That man you saw in the forest is very high up in the drug trade.” He placed his hands on the steering wheel. “If we can take him down, it would go a long way to destroying the drug network in this area.”

“So that’s why he sent his henchman after me.” Her voice filled with anxiety.

He turned the key in the ignition and pressed the gas. He wished there was something he could say to lift the burden of worry from her. Sometimes silence was the kinder choice over saying something trite or untrue.

The car rolled up a long hill. “Kind of like a roller-coaster ride,” he said, hoping to distract her from her worry. He aimed the car downhill and coasted, lifting his foot off the gas.

“Yeah, I guess. Never thought of it that way.” She sounded a million miles away as she stared through the windshield.

The car picked up speed. Joseph pressed the brakes, but the car rolled even faster.

So that’s why they’d been lured out there.

The brake line had been cut.

Sierra’s pulse raced as she watched Joseph’s expression change. His features hardened with concern as he pumped the brakes.

He applied the emergency brake, but that didn’t seem to make a difference.

She didn’t need to ask him what was wrong. They were traveling at a dangerous speed on a dirt road. This was a long downhill. Before the road leveled off, they ran the risk of the car flipping.

Sierra gripped the armrest.

Joseph stared straight ahead and clutched the steering wheel, keeping the car to the center of the road. There was a ditch on one side. The gravel at the edges of the road could function like marbles, causing the car to roll over.

Her heart raced, and every muscle in her body turned to stone as they hurtled downhill. The road leveled off a little, but the car kept rolling.

Joseph turned the wheel. The car caught air as they sailed over the ditch. She saw now what his plan was. The field beside the road contained round hay bales. Joseph steered toward one but turned abruptly.

“Still going too fast,” he said, steering around another hay bale. The car bumped over the uneven terrain as the scenery through the window went by in a blur.

“This is it,” he said through gritted teeth.

She looked away as the hay bale filling the windshield drew ever closer. The impact jerked her forward and then back. The car was too old for air bags. The seat belt dug into her skin. The wind had been knocked out of her. She wheezed in a sharp, trembling breath.

The entire car seemed to vibrate from the impact. Metal creaked and groaned.

She opened her eyes.

Joseph put his hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

She wondered if she was as pale as Joseph. Her body felt like it was being shaken from the inside out.

She cleared her throat, trying to answer, but managed only a nod.

“Stay put.” He pushed open his door.

She stared through the windshield, which was 90 percent hay bale with only a sliver of blue sky visible. Her hands trembled, and her stomach felt like it had sustained a blow.

Joseph opened her door. He reached across her and unclicked her seat belt. Gently, he took her arm and lifted her up. She collapsed against his chest.

The run through the night, the worry over what was going on with Trevor and the accident had taken its toll on her. She thought of herself as a strong woman, but this was all too much. Joseph must have seen it in her expression. He held her for a long moment. She rested her head against his chest, squeezing her eyes tight to keep from crying. Her face brushed against the soft fabric of his cotton shirt. Finally, she stopped shaking and could take in a deep breath.

She stepped away from the warmth of his embrace, embarrassed that she had fallen apart. “Sorry, I’m just not used to all this.” She pulled a strand of hair off her face and touched her fingers to her lips.

“I’m impressed with how well you held it together.” He squeezed her arm just above the elbow and offered her a faint smile.

She appreciated his effort at calming her, but she was having a hard time accepting what had just happened. “You don’t think those brakes just stopped working because of wear and tear.”

He shook his head. “The car is too bent for me to check the brake line, even if it wasn’t stuck in a hay bale.” He looked back at the car. “We won’t know until we have it looked at, but my guess is we were set up.”

His conclusion sent a fresh wave of fear through her and made her wonder again about Trevor’s innocence.

Joseph opened his door and pulled out his phone. “Might as well get a tow truck out here.”

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. This was her new reality. Being hunted and sabotaged.

“These guys play for keeps.” Her voice held a note of terror. “What do I do now? Go to the police?”

“Not the local cops. We think one of them might be connected to the drug trade.”

Not sure how to respond, Sierra let that news sink in. She knew most of the city police. Some of them she had gone to high school with. “What makes you say that?”

“I’m not the first undercover guy to come to this area. In the past, anytime we involved the locals, the investigation fell apart. I know this kind of relentless violence must be hard for you.” Joseph stopped. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and then stared at his phone. “Let me make this call so we can get back to town.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and paced while Joseph made the call. As he talked, giving the tow truck driver their location, she could feel a sense of resolve growing inside her even as she battled with her own fear. She held an important piece to a puzzle and could give kids, the kids she worked with, a fighting chance at a decent life.

Joseph finished the call. “I want to help you as much as I can to put this guy away,” Sierra said.

He locked her in his gaze. “You would put yourself at risk like that?”

“Yes. Years ago someone did that for me.” She took in a breath. “A teacher who cared about me saved me from the druggie house I was staying at.” Sharing this information about her past was always scary. “I need to pay it forward. I’ve seen what drugs do to the soul. If I can help even one kid, I have to do it.”

A look of admiration spread across his face. “Well then, I guess you better hang close to me until we can figure out who that guy you saw in the forest was. If he has been arrested before, he’ll be in our database.”

There was no judgment in his demeanor, only acceptance. She felt closer to him in that moment, knowing that she had shared the most shameful thing about herself and he had not rejected her. “I know another dealer might take his place, but every one of those guys who gets put away means my kids are helped.”

She stared out at the landscape and then out on the road. They had gone miles out of town. The tow truck driver wouldn’t be here for at least twenty minutes. Though there were fields and cows, the farmhouse they belonged to could be miles from where they were. This area was pretty far from civilization.

Joseph glanced over his shoulder. His posture stiffened, sending a new wave of fear through her. He whirled around to face her, concern etched in his facial features.

Suddenly he tackled her. She fell to the ground just as the zing of a rifle shot filled the air.

Once he knew Sierra was out of the line of fire, he rolled free of her and crawled back toward the nearest hay bale. Hardly the best cover, but it was what they had to work with. A second shot shattered the silence around them. Still crouching low, he stumbled to his feet and darted toward the next hay bale with Sierra on his heels.

He grabbed Sierra’s hand and pulled her to the far side of the bale.

Sierra spoke between breaths. “Where did that come from?”

“Truck at the top of the hill.” The straw of the bale felt itchy against his back.

“They must have been behind us. When they saw we survived the car sabotage, they decided to finish the job.” She put her palm on her chest.

“We can’t wait for the tow truck driver. We’ll have to head cross-country. Stay off the road.” He looked directly at her. “Ready to make a run for the next hay bale?”

They darted from one hay bale to the next. Joseph looked over his shoulder. The truck had made its way down the hill and was headed toward the field. They couldn’t outrun a truck.

“You keep going. I’ll let him get close enough. See if I can take out his tires with my pistol.” He pulled his gun from the shoulder holster.

She nodded and took off running. He watched her dive behind a hay bale before turning his attention back to the oncoming truck. He could see only one person behind the wheel, no passenger.

He crouched low and pressed against the hay bale. A handgun had decent accuracy at short distances. His heart pounded against his rib cage. The truck loomed closer. The roar of the motor seemed to surround him. He jumped up and took aim, hitting the front tire closest to him and then rolling free of the trajectory of the truck.

The truck stuttered but continued to roll forward. The driver turned his wheel and aimed right for him. Joseph stood and took a second shot at the other front tire. The bullet zinged off metal. He’d missed. Then he aimed a third shot through the windshield, not to kill but to disorient.

The truck came to a stop as the driver picked up his rifle and pointed through the shattered windshield.

Joseph dropped to the ground and rolled toward a rusty metal trough. Once he had some cover, he lifted his head and lined up a shot to go through the other front tire. He pulled the trigger, then burst to his feet, not taking time to see if he’d hit his target.

His legs pumped as the fear of death energized him. He sprinted toward the next hay bale. A rifle shot zinged through the air, but it was aimed toward Sierra, who was running for the cover of a cluster of trees. He breathed in a quick wordless prayer for her safety.

Joseph dove behind a hay bale and pressed his back against it. He peered around to see the shooter stalking toward him. The man wore a different colored baseball hat pulled low over his face, but he had the same build as the man who had come after them down by the lake.

Joseph glanced in the direction Sierra had run, making his way toward the trees. He entered the trees and came out on the other side. The hay field ended and the land sloped upward.

He spotted Sierra ahead, running toward the road. She slowed when she looked back and saw him. He put his gun back into the shoulder holster and headed toward her.

The land reconnected with the road. Sierra waited for him, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. He met up with her, glancing down to where he had just been. The shooter emerged from the cluster of trees.

Sierra’s eyes grew wide when she followed the line of his gaze.

Both of them crouched and headed toward the far side of the road, where there was a ditch. A rifle shot stirred up dirt on the road and pummeled his eardrum.

Staying low, they crawled along in the ditch.

In the morning light, he could see the outskirts of Scenic View and the lake shimmering in the distance. Though cutting across the field had brought them closer to town, it had to be a long jog to get to the edge of town, longer if they had to dodge bullets and stay off the road. He doubted the shooter wanted witnesses, so once they were around people or on a part of the road where there was traffic, they’d be safe. Or maybe they could flag down the tow truck when it came.

Sierra was still breathless from running. “We can cut across country. Head through that field there.” She pointed toward a barbed wire fence where cows grazed and plodded around.

She knew the countryside better than he did. He followed her lead, slipping through the barbed wire and climbing over. When he looked back, he didn’t see the shooter.

“Pick a cow,” he said.

He rushed over to a black heifer who chewed away at a tuft of grass. He lined his feet up with the cow’s back feet so they wouldn’t be spotted. He’d been a DEA agent for nearly ten years. In all that time, there had never been a training exercise in which they had to use livestock for cover. Despite the danger they still faced, something about that struck him as funny. He smiled and shook his head as he ran to hide behind another slow-moving cow.

Sierra darted behind a cow shelter, a three-sided wood structure. Joseph lifted his head just above the cow’s back, stepping sideways as the cow ambled toward some grass. The shooter paced up and down along the road, looking out across the field and then up the road, clearly confused as to which way he and Sierra had gone.

Joseph heard the rumble of a truck engine in the distance. The tow truck he’d called came into view around a curve. The shooter darted off the road and headed toward the cluster of trees, probably not wanting to be spotted.

The driver was going too fast to give Joseph time to get up to the road and flag it down. He watched the tow truck disappear around another curve. They couldn’t get back to their wrecked car without being shot at. The shooter blocked that path to safety. He was in the cluster of trees between the road where the tow truck had gone and where they were. The tow truck’s appearance bought him and Sierra valuable seconds when they would not be shot at. He ran toward the cow shelter where Sierra waited. If they crouched and ran in a straight line, the shelter would keep them from being spotted.

He held his hand out to Sierra. Her fingers gripped his as she pulled herself to her feet. He locked her in his gaze as her touch sent an electric charge through him.

“Stay low. I think we can make it back into town,” he said.

Fatigue settled into his muscles as he made his way to the edge of the field and climbed through the barbed wire fence. Sierra seemed to be tiring, too. They cut across country through an aspen grove.

He stopped, leaning against a tree and looking over his shoulder. No sign of the shooter. Sierra pressed her back against a tree and slid to the ground. Even though weariness was evident in her features and she was muddy from their run through the field, he was drawn to the light he saw in her eyes and the way her mouth turned up in a faint smile.

She rested her head against the tree trunk and let out a heavy breath. “That was something.” Her expression grew serious. “I suppose we shouldn’t stay here for long.”

“I don’t see him, but yes, we can’t take any chances.”

She pushed herself to her feet. Her blue eyes studied. “Let’s get moving, then.”

The green aspen’s leaves shimmered like coins in the morning light, making a melodic rustling sound in the breeze. His heart beat a little faster when she looked at him. Sierra had shown herself to be a brave, quick-thinking woman. “You do okay for a bookkeeper.” He reached over and pulled a piece of straw out of her silky dark hair.

The gesture seemed to make her aware of her appearance as she brushed her dark hair off her face and then looked away. “Thanks.” Color rose up in her cheeks.

He pulled himself free from the moment of attraction and angled his body around the trees. The shooter was making his way across the field, slowed by having to carry the rifle but tenacious in pursuit of his prey.

Joseph’s heart revved up a notch. His muscles tensed, ready for fight or flight. “Let’s get going. I’m calling the tow truck driver to see if he can pick us up on his way back into town. The shooter has made it clear he doesn’t want to be spotted.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “In the meantime, let’s keep moving.”

The trees provided them with a degree of cover as they rushed toward town and safety. Maybe they would get away this time, but he knew it would just be a matter of hours before the assassin came after Sierra again.