Chosen (3 page)

Emma pulled frantically, still trapped. “Don’t talk to my son,” she seethed. “Don’t you bring him into this.”

“It seems to me we’re running because of him, which means he’s already in this.”

She stopped tugging and gave him a blank stare. “What are you talking about?”

Will thought she looked like she’d been caught in something, but damned if he knew what it was. “Isn’t he the one who said, ‘They’re coming?’ And you freaking believe him and start running around like they’re hot on your ass.” Will waved his arm outside the window. “Guess what? There’s no one here. But fine, we’ll leave ASAP because Jake says we need to, but…,” Will narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice, “don’t tell me he’s not part of this, Princess, because he most certainly is.”

Will let go of her hands and she slowly pulled them back as the anger returned, the shocked expression quickly replaced by rage. “Don’t ever touch me again.” She spit the words out through gritted teeth.

A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “You touched me first.” He got out of the car and pocketed her car keys. “I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t miss me too much.”

He jogged across the short parking lot. The motel had four units to a building with a gap between them. He turned back to look at the car before he slipped between them. She wasn’t looking at him, but he could see the boy’s passive face watching. What was up with that kid? And what had caused Emma to freak out?

Before going around the front of the building, he paused and looked for signs of anyone watching, but saw nothing unusual. The same tired, worn-out cars littered the parking lot from the day before. His new black Ford pickup truck stuck out in this dejected junkyard. He pulled his room key out of his pocket and edged his way to the door, checking the parking lot again before letting himself into the room. As he started to pack his belongings, he pulled out his cell phone and called his contact. Someone answered on the second ring.

“Who else is working this job?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Someone tried to grab my mark tonight. What do you know about that?” His suitcase already lay open on the other bed. He threw in the items scattered around the room without paying attention to how they landed.

“You’re the only person working this case.” But Will noticed the moment of hesitation before his contact answered.

“So what aren’t you telling me?”

“There is another party interested.”

Will paused with his hand in midair. “Go on.”

“Another group is involved and has been known to make attempts to capture her in the past.”

“And you didn’t think this was something I needed to know? I almost lost her tonight because they showed up and she took off.”

“If you had grabbed her the first day you found her this wouldn’t be an issue at all.”

“Are you a fucking idiot? You want me to drag a woman almost a thousand miles across the country against her will? Like no one’s going to notice the screaming woman in the back of my truck? I told you it would take a couple of days and I could get her to go willingly and I was right. She’s waiting for me right now.”

He couldn’t tell if it was a sound of relief or satisfaction. “She must be here within three days, sooner if you can. Our board would be most appreciative.”

The other end went silent and he stuffed the phone in his pocket. He had second thoughts about this whole job. He couldn’t figure out why anyone would want her, let alone two different groups. At first, he suspected an unpaid loan, but they wouldn’t have him drag her a thousand miles for that. They’d have someone here take care of it. And that someone wouldn’t be him. He delivered people; he didn’t beat them up. He sure didn’t beat up women. He might be a lowlife, but even he had his boundaries.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he inhaled deeply as he rubbed his forehead with his hand. Something about all of this reeked and his instincts told him to run like hell. But the money called him back. It was a lot of money, another warning sign. Why would someone pay that much money for a woman who seemed like she was nobody? Just a mother with a kid. He’d grabbed a few women before, but they were criminals. Then again, Emma could be a criminal. But his instincts told him different, and Will’s instincts were usually right. They had saved his ass time and time again in Iraq. He let out a string of curses. It pissed him off he’d thought of Iraq twice within the last hour. That shit was better left in the past.

Will heaved off the bed. He pushed aside the cheap sliding closet door and pulled a heavy metal case. The box dropped on the bed with a thud and the bed shook from the weight. He opened the combination lock and popped the lid open to reveal a small arsenal of weapons. Will liked to prepare for the unforeseen and this situation screamed for it. If Emma’s friends came back, he was going to be ready. He scanned the contents of the case, grabbed a handgun, a rifle and some ammunition then stuffed them into a duffle bag. His pistol was still strapped to his ankle. He was grateful he didn’t need to pull it out earlier. He had no doubt she’d never agree to go with him if she knew he had a gun. Let alone more than one.

Will slung the duffle bag over his shoulder and picked up the two cases. Cracking the door, he looked outside and found a black SUV idling at the back of the parking lot across from Emma’s unit.
Holy shit.
He hadn’t expected that. He shut the door and peered out the side of the cheap blinds. The setting sun cast deep shadows across the parking lot fringed with spotty streetlights. Most were burnt out and the remaining few pooled light on the entrance, casting the SUV in the shadows. He saw two figures in the front seat.

With his back against the wall, he weighed his options. Chances were they didn’t even know he was involved. He could walk out to his truck and they might be none the wiser, although it was going to look suspicious leaving this late with his luggage. But the chances were that they did know. The other guys must have seen him get in her car and come out of this unit.
Shit
. This job was becoming a huge pain in the ass. He bent down and pulled the rifle from the duffle bag, along with a bulletproof vest. Stripping his shirt off, he put on the vest and then his shirt back.
Better to be prepared
. Will thrived on being prepared. He wasn’t worried about getting away, but he worried Emma might change her mind if he drove up while playing Gunfight at the OK Corral. But he might not have a choice in the matter.

He pulled the keys out of his pocket, cocked the rifle, and hid it behind his back. The SUV was parked on the driver’s side of his truck. Will’s plan was go to the passenger side, load his gear, assess the SUV occupants and then determine his next move. Best-case scenario, he got lucky and they didn’t notice him. Worst-case scenario, he wasn’t and they started shooting. Will wasn’t feeling very lucky.

Opening the door slowly, he glanced at the SUV as he walked casually to the passenger side, the rifle hidden behind his leg. The SUV’s engine idled as he opened the passenger door and tossed the bags in the back seat. Will laid the rifle on the front seat, then saw the passenger window of the SUV slide down. He reached for the rifle again, pondering his next step. The idea of walking around to the driver’s side and getting shot didn’t appeal to him, but getting in on the passenger side looked pretty suspicious. Then again, looking suspicious was a whole lot better than getting shot.

Will ducked down and climbed up into the truck while watching the SUV. He laid the rifle in his lap and started the engine. Jerking the truck into reverse, he lowered the window just as he heard a gunshot.
God, sometimes I hate it when I’m right
. He grabbed the rifle and stuck it out the window. The truck was parallel to the SUV, and slightly forward of it. He aimed the rifle low and shot several rounds, hoping to hit a tire. More gunshots filled the humid night air, and he shifted into drive and floored it. The back window shattered as he turned left onto highway and passed the bar parking lot. He sure as hell wasn’t leading them directly to Emma. He only hoped she didn’t run off.

Emma rested her head on the seat back while she watched Will walk away. She had never trusted anyone to help her escape before and now she was bound to this leech. She was furious. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists, fighting the urge to vent her frustration on Jake. What the hell was he thinking? She looked in the rearview mirror. The exhaustion on his face tempered her rage. The visions always made him tired, especially when they were intense. His head turned and he studied her in the mirror.

“You don’t like him?” he asked.

“‘No’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

He stared with unblinking eyes. “You don’t need to like him. You just need to let him help us.”

Emma’s anger erupted anew. She spun around and thrust her head between the front seats. “Why do we need him? We’ve done just fine on our own. We’ve never needed anyone before.”

“Things have changed.” His face implied wisdom older than his years. Every time Emma saw the fear and torment in his eyes after a vision, a piece of her heart withered in despair. Jake saw things no child should see. As his mother, her job was to protect him. But she was powerless to stop his visions.

“How have they changed? What aren’t you telling me, Jake?”

“You only need to know we need him and you can trust him.”

His unyielding gaze infuriated her. “Jake, I demand you tell me what you know right now.” He wasn’t usually a defiant child and his behavior unnerved her. What did he know that he wouldn’t tell her?

He scrutinized her with ice blue eyes. The only response was the country music drifting from the propped-open back door of the bar and cicadas singing in the trees. Somehow, she knew he wouldn’t answer. She flopped back in the seat, resting her head on the headrest.

The sky had darkened. The poorly lit parking lot behind the bar made her jumpy. She felt vulnerable and trapped, like a noose tightened slowly around her neck. Emma reminded herself she was the one who picked this place to hide. As she wondered if she should have parked in the motel parking lot, she heard a gunshot and jolted upright. She scrambled to grab the gun in her purse.

“We need to get out of here.” She realized she didn’t have the keys, and then remembered the flat tire. They were trapped. More gunshots echoed, coming from the direction of the motel.

“We’re waiting for Will,” Jake said.

“The hell we are! We’re not sitting here waiting for them to show up.” Her throat constricted, choking her last words. They had never come this close to being caught before. Will’s piss-poor plan didn’t help her anxiousness.

“We’re not leaving. We wait for Will.”

Emma expected his usual terror, but he was calm, unfazed by the gunfire.

She climbed out of the car with her purse and opened the back car door. She leaned in and reached in for Jake. “We’re not waiting outside like targets. We have to hide in case they find our car.”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then smiled. “We can hide inside the bar. It’s better than hiding in the trees.”

Emma knew she should be irritated by his attitude, but at this moment, she didn’t care why he came with her, as long as he came with her willingly.

Tall, barren trees lined the area behind the parking lot. They would fail miserably at hiding someone. She pulled Jake out of the car and she realized how backward everything was. She never thought she’d be raising a mini-tyrant, but experience trained her to trust him. This was only the second time she questioned his revelations. The first had been when he was two years old, when it all began.

She hid the suitcase behind a bush along the building, after removing a shirt. With a firm grip on Jake’s small hand, she walked to the back door. She patted the gun in her purse for reassurance then opened the door to get her bearings. It opened to a storeroom with two other doors on the same wall. Her experience working in bars told her that one most likely opened to the bar area and the other to a hallway. If she were alone it wouldn’t be a big deal, but bringing a five-year-old into a bar presented a host of challenges, not the least of which was it made them conspicuous. She pulled Jake into the building and heard the distant wail of sirens.

Emma decided the door to the left most likely led to the hallway, and it didn’t disappoint. The storeroom door was at the end of the hall, with the bathroom doors on the wall to the right. The bar was at the opposite end of the hallway. They slipped down the hall and Emma dragged Jake into the women’s bathroom before anyone spotted him. Relieved to see it had two stalls, she locked the door behind them. She stood in front of the mirror and took her ponytail holder out of her hair, fluffing it with her fingers.

“I want you to hide in one of the stalls while I go out to the bar and wait for Will.” She hoped Will was smart enough to look for them here. If he was still alive. He could have been caught in the gunfire.

“Okay, Mommy,” Jake answered, to Emma’s relief.

She put on lipstick, powdered her face and dug out a small bottle of perfume, hoping to mask any BO. Not that she needed to worry; it was already obvious the building was poorly air-conditioned. Her goal was to fit in without drawing too much unwarranted attention and a quick glance in the mirror confirmed it. The only thing left was her shirt. She stripped off the one she wore and replaced it with the one in her purse.

Emma ushered Jake into a stall and lowered the toilet lid. “Lock the door behind me, then sit on the toilet seat with your feet up so no one can see you. Okay?”

Jake nodded.

She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll come get you as soon as Will gets here.”

“I’m not afraid. Will is coming.”

“Shut the door behind me.” Jake obeyed and she heard the lock sliding into place as someone pounded on the bathroom door.

“Hey, open the door! I gotta pee.” A woman’s slurred voice was muffled by the heavy wooden door. “What did ya lock the door for?”

Steeling herself, she turned the lock.