Читать книгу Running Blind - Shirlee McCoy - Страница 10

Nikolai Jansen had survived enemy fire in Afghanistan and a roadside bomb in Iraq. He didn’t plan to die twenty miles from the U.S. border during what should have been an easy assignment.

He took a sharp left, smiling grimly as the squeal of tires and the sound of shattering glass filled the car. The old truck that had been following hadn’t been able to make the turn.

Good.

One less carload of bad guys to deal with.

Beside him, Jenna groaned, straightening in her seat and nearly toppling forward into the dashboard. He grabbed her shoulder, holding her up as he eased off the accelerator. She was in bad shape. Beaten and blind, the wound on her forehead three different shades of green and blue. The sooner he got her to a hospital the better, but stopping now wasn’t an option. The Mexican drug cartel that had grabbed her was notorious for silencing people it took issue with. It seemed that Jenna was one of them. Or, perhaps, it had simply been her friend the Mexican Panthers were after.

“Did we lose them?” Her words were soft and slurred, her face colorless, aside from the bruise on her forehead and the freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks. According to her brother, Nikolai’s boss, Kane Dougherty, she’d been in Mexico working as a physical therapist at a pediatrics clinic. She hadn’t gotten anything but trouble for her effort.

“For now.”

“What if they find us again?”

“Let’s not borrow trouble.”

“I’m not talking about borrowing it. I’m talking about having it handed to us on a silver platter,” she muttered, leaning her head back against the seat.

“If they find us again, we’ll deal with it the way we did before.”

“By running?”

“Or fighting. Whichever will get us out of the situation alive.”

“I’m not sure I’m in great shape for fighting.”

“No worries. I’ve got enough fight in me for both of us.”

“You said my brother sent you.”

“I work for your brother’s PI firm and was following a lead in San Antonio. Kane asked if I could take a trip across the border to see how you were doing.”

“Typical Kane. Always keeping an eye on the people he loves.”

“That’s not such a bad thing, is it?” he asked, more to keep Jenna talking than because of any real need for conversation. Twenty minutes and they’d hit the U.S. border and the medical help Jenna obviously needed. Twenty minutes wasn’t long in the grand scheme of a life, but with head injuries, twenty minutes could be all a person had.

“No. And, right at this moment, I’m really glad he likes to keep an eye on me. I couldn’t have escaped that basement without your help.” She paused, took a deep shaky breath. “I don’t suppose you have any kind of pain relievers on you?”

“There’s a bottle of Tylenol in your purse, but I’m not sure a doctor would approve of you having any.”

“You’ve got my purse?” Her head was tilted down and her hair fell forward, covering her face and preventing him from seeing her expression.

He reached over and brushed straight red hair from her forehead and cheek, and she turned her head, her light blue eyes eerily empty. Blind, she’d said, and looking in her blank stare, Nikolai had no doubt that she was right. “Do you have my purse?” she repeated, and Nikolai jerked his attention back to the road and to the conversation. He’d have time to feel sorry for Jenna after they made it to safety. Until then, all his focus needed to be on the mission.

“I grabbed it from your hotel room. I figured you might need your passport and ID.” And he’d also figured that if the police found the purse, they’d keep it until Jenna or a family member retrieved it. That would have made it difficult for him to follow through on his plan to find Jenna and to get her out of Mexico.

“I guess your foresight paid off.”

“It will if we make it to the border.”

“How far are we from it?”

“Fifteen minutes.” But it only took seconds for things to change. For good to turn bad. For easy to become difficult. He’d seen it dozens of times as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. Had nearly died when a peaceful day had exploded into violence. Expecting the unexpected was what he’d been trained to do. Returning to the United States and to life as a civilian hadn’t changed that.

“Fifteen minutes. That’s not so bad, and I guess if we’ve made it this far, there’s no reason to think we won’t make it the rest of the way,” she said.

He didn’t bother to tell her that there was every reason to think they wouldn’t. There was no point in stating the obvious. “Once I get you across the border, I’ll go back and search for your friend.”

“If that’s what you’re planning, why cross the border at all? We can both go look for her.” Her voice was weak, the adrenaline that had been keeping her going, fading.

“We’ve covered that ground before, Jenna. Right now, my priority is you.”

“Because my brother is paying the tab? If that’s the case—”

“No one is paying the tab. I came down here as a favor to a friend.”

“Then let’s go back. Magdalena—”

“Wouldn’t want you to die for her.”

At his words, she fell silent, dropping her head into her hands, her thoughts about his comment hidden. Either she realized the truth of his words, or she’d run out of energy and no longer had the strength to argue.

Nikolai wanted to comfort her, but there was nothing he could say. No way that he could convince her that they were doing the right thing. Leaving someone behind never felt right, regardless of the circumstances.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Kane Dougherty’s number. Owner of Information Unlimited, Kane had asked Nikolai to join the private investigative firm two months ago. The job offer had come at the right time, and Nikolai had accepted. Since then, he’d tracked down missing relatives for two clients, traced the money trail of a man who’d left his wife and kids for another woman, and followed a suspected embezzler from Houston to San Antonio.

And now he’d found Kane’s sister bound and gagged in the stronghold of the Mexican Panthers.

“Dougherty here.”

“Are you still in the States?”

“In Denver. I’ve got a three-hour layover here. I’ll be in Mexico at three. Do you have any news?”

“Better than news. I’ve got your sister. We’re a couple of miles from the border.”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s injured.”

“How badly?”

“She’s blind.”

Dougherty didn’t respond, his silence speaking volumes. He was worried about his sister. Desperate to be there to protect her. Frustrated because he wasn’t. Nikolai understood all those feelings. He’d felt them all in the twenty years during which he’d been separated from his sisters. He’d been blessed to be reunited with Morgan, but Katia was still out in the world somewhere. An adult now, but still his little sister and still, in some indefinable way, his responsibility.

“Tell him I’m okay.” Jenna roused herself enough to speak, and Dougherty must have heard.

“Is that her? Let me speak to her.”

“Are you up to speaking with your brother?” Nikolai asked, and Jenna nodded.

He placed the phone in her palm, felt her hand trembling. She was still terrified and probably in shock, her skin cool and clammy to the touch. He should have grabbed the blanket he kept in the trunk of the car and wrapped it around her shoulders, but there hadn’t been time for anything but getting her in the car and getting her out of the line of fire.

“Kane? No, I can’t see anything, but I’m sure it’s not permanent.” There was confidence in her voice, and Nikolai wondered if she really believed what she was saying or if she was simply trying to reassure her brother.

He didn’t ask, just took the phone after she finished her conversation and tucked it into his pocket. The border checkpoint was just ahead. Several cars were waiting to pass through, and Nikolai pulled into line behind them.

“We’ve slowed down. What’s going on?” Jenna asked, her voice much weaker than it had been when she’d spoken to her brother. Her lips and face were colorless, the bruise on her forehead deep purple.

“We’re at the border.”

“Then I guess we’re home free.” There was no relief in her voice, no indication that she was happy to be within reach of safety.

Was she thinking about Magdalena?

Or had she realized that making it to the border and making it across were two different things?

Nikolai didn’t ask. Just inched the car forward, his gaze on a car pulling up behind him. It looked like any other car, and maybe it was, but the hair on the back of Nikolai’s neck stood on end, his pulse thrumming. Danger hung in the air, and he couldn’t ignore it.

He turned the steering wheel, maneuvering out of line, and speeding toward the border checkpoint.

“What’s happening?” Jenna’s panicked cry mixed with the roar of the engine, but Nikolai didn’t have time to answer. The doors of the other vehicle opened, and two men climbed out.

“Get down!” He shouted the command, and Jenna obeyed, diving down as the first bullet exploded through the rear window. Another followed, the sound reverberating through the car as Border Patrol agents streamed from their stations. Nikolai slammed on his brakes, the tires squealing as the car shuddered to a stop.

“Are w—” Jenna started to rise, and Nikolai shoved her down again, throwing his body over hers.

Gunfire blasted around them, the sound blocking out everything but the thundering beat of Nikolai’s heart.

For a moment he was in Afghanistan again, diving for cover as the enemy fired from a rooftop. He could smell the dirt and the coppery scent of his comrades’ blood, could hear his own desperate prayers rising from the deepest part of his soul.

And then there was silence, and he was back in the present, pressing Jenna down into leather seats, smelling flowery shampoo and fear.

Jenna tried to move, but he held her down. “Wait another minute. Let’s give everyone time to calm down. We don’t want to get shot by the good guys.”

“Right.” She panted the word, and he shifted his weight, trying to give her room to breathe. He could feel her trembling, could hear the quick, sharp intake of air as she struggled not to panic.

“It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine,” he said quietly, smoothing deep red hair from her cheek. Her skin was silky and much too cool for such a warm day.

“You. In the car. Sit up slowly. Keep your hands where we can see them.” The shouted command was repeated in Spanish, and Nikolai did as he was told, rising slowly, his hands in the air.

Jenna did the same, swaying slightly as she moved.

Nikolai wanted to put a hand on her shoulder and hold her steady, but he doubted he’d live long enough to regret it if he did.

The car doors opened, and Nikolai was dragged out.

“Watch out for my friend. She’s got a head injury, and she can’t see. We need to get her medical attention,” he said as the patrol officer frisked him.

“Let’s take things slow. Why don’t you tell me who you are and why you’ve got someone gunning for you?” The officer took a step back, allowing Nikolai to turn around and face him. A body lay on the road a few yards away, and another gunman was being frisked by a border patrol officer.

“I’m Nikolai Jansen. My friend was kidnapped and held prisoner by the Mexican Panthers. She managed to escape, and I’m trying to get her across the border and to the hospital.”

“Do the police know about this?”

“They know she was kidnapped, but I haven’t let them know that she’s escaped. I thought it would be safer to get her across the border first.”

The officer frowned, and then nodded. “There’s been some trouble with the Mexican police being on the payrolls of several different drug cartels, so I can understand your concern. How about we move inside? We’ll check out your story and see what the police have to say.”

“Sounds good.” Anything to get Jenna out of the open.

A female officer finished frisking Jenna and stepped back, nodding with satisfaction. “She’s clean.”

Nikolai took Jenna’s forearm, steering her toward the narrow border patrol station. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I even think my vision is returning.” She offered a brief smile, but her pallor and the tentative way she moved belied her words.

“Are you able to see light?” He slipped an arm around her waist, knowing that she needed the support whether she wanted to admit it or not.

“I think I’m seeing shadows moving. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wishing.”

“No, but wishes usually don’t come true. If they did, I’d wish bigger than getting my vision back.”

“Yeah?”

“I’d wish Magdalena were here with me.” Her voice broke, and Nikolai tugged her closer to his side.

“It really is going to be okay, Jenna.”

“For me, but that’s not what I’m worried about.” It was what Nikolai was worried about. He didn’t have time to say it.

One minute Jenna was walking and talking, the next she was slipping out of his grasp. He just managed to catch her, pulling her up into his arms and shouting for the border patrol officer to call for an ambulance. As he looked down into Jenna’s colorless face, he could only pray that the ambulance would get there in time.