Dangerous Memories (5 page)

They moved to the dining car without a problem or seeing another person. She sat on a bar stool as the stewards left.

“As frightened as I am, it is so good to be out of that room.” Relief shot through her. “I
am incredibly hungry and tired all at the same time.” She wanted to stretch out in a bed and sleep for an entire day. Then wake up and see what possibilities there may be with Levi.

“Adrenaline’s wearing off,” he said.

“Is that why the train feels like it’s slower?”

“No, it
is
slower. They’re applying the brakes.” For a split second, surprise flashed through Levi’s eyes. He quickly
hid it behind a screen of concentration. “Hear that?”

Faint shouting from the following passenger car, steadily grew louder. Screams. They were in the middle of nowhere. No town lights, just moonbeams on trees and cleared pastures. Miles from help.

“What’s happening? Why are we stopping?”

“Fire!”

The word was muted through the door, but distinctive, not misunderstood.

“This can’t be a coincidence,” she said.

“It’s not. Opening the compartment door must have been the plan to get us out in the open. They don’t want you dead, Jo.” He searched the room, still relatively empty. “The bastard wants something you have.”

A chill washed over her. Something just out of reach. A glimpse to something dark...and then it was gone.

A family came through the door.
The woman’s fear for her children was clear in how tightly she held the youngest and the terrified glazed look in her eyes. Because Jo hadn’t listened to Levi about the funeral, her parents’ murderers set a train on fire.

“This is all my fault. People are going to be hurt. What if someone’s—”

“Don’t go there. You aren’t responsible.” He pulled the bulletproof vest from his duffel and
looped the strap over her head and chest. “I should have put this on you before we left the compartment.”

Levi was right. They hadn’t started a fire today. She hadn’t done anything except come into the kitchen when the adults were talking. She knew she could get in trouble, but she’d hurt her finger and needed Mama to fix it.

Oh, my God.

“Levi, I...”

He didn’t hear her. The
alarms were sounding. People had begun pouring into the dining car. The screams and crying drowned out almost everything else. She needed to hold on to the memory from when she was five and get off this train.

When they were safe, she could tell him about the rainbow nightmare. A crystal hanging in the window had splashed color all around the room for a few minutes every day. A strange man
had a rainbow face. It was an incomprehensible memory, tangled in a child’s imagination.

“Jo? Did you hear me?” Levi asked. He tilted his head down to her ear. “I think they want you alive. Don’t freak out. The vest is just a precaution.”

I remembered the last time I saw Mama alive.
She wanted to scream the words so he’d know. So someone would know.

Levi was already on the bar,
sliding over the counter. He motioned for her to do the same. She pulled her shoes off and followed, noticing he’d put the vest on her while she’d been inside her nightmare. He helped her to the floor, then took her by the shoulders, focused only on her.

“Don’t leave my side, Jo. No matter what happens. Doesn’t matter what you hear or who asks you for help. Promise.”

“But—”

“No
buts, Jo. Promise. Whoever’s out to get you doesn’t care about innocent lives or how many people get hurt. Remember that.” He stretched a used, wet bar towel across her face. “When the train stops, we go out the door with you holding my belt. Got it?”

She could only nod. He planted himself between her and the mass of people moving toward them on the other side of the bar counter.

People
shoved trying to get closer to the door. The smoke poured into the car, gathering like a dangerous fog above their heads, slowly choking the air from the panicked crowd.

The train came to an abrupt stop and the rush of people stormed through. One of the stewards who had been so helpful earlier stumbled just to her left. The mob wouldn’t stop. It took three men—one of them Levi—to block the
flow long enough for the man to stand.

Breathing was horrible. No deep breaths like her lungs longed to do. Her eyes stung, watered, blurred. Holding on to Levi, she had only one hand to keep the wet towel over her nose and mouth.

Levi held his ground, not budging, letting the crush sweep past them. She turned her bare feet as flat to the wall as possible, but when the fourth or fifth
person stepped on them, she screamed in pain, losing her towel.

“Stay with me.”

She heard Levi’s voice through the mob and didn’t understand when he turned into the smoke. Forcing her aching feet to follow, she lost her grip on his belt and hooked her arm through the duffel strap.

More people kept pouring through the door.

“Where are you going?” a man in an Amtrak vest shouted
at Levi. “There’s no exit back there. All the other doors are locked and the dining car is the only way out.”

Another man stepped on her foot, scraping her shin along the way. The pain was so great, Jolene couldn’t stop the scream. Levi’s hand swung back, connecting with her arm, giving it a slight squeeze. His assurance helped her hold on.

She stretched the collar of the T-shirt over
her nose and mouth. The smoke was thicker and made it difficult to see. She held tight to the duffel strap afraid of being the next person trampled, even if the crowd had thinned to mainly employees.

Then the green strap fell loose in her hand.

She stretched, shoving to get to him, missing his belt.

“Levi!” Her pathetic cry went unheeded. She could only manage a wheezing shout.
She watched the duffel fall to the floor and Levi disappeared behind billowing black smoke. He had to know she wasn’t there since his bag had dropped.

He’d follow. He’d find her. She could trust him.

The vest weighed her down. Her collar tugged at her neck, caught on something, choking her. She frantically jerked at it as she lurched away from Levi. The bottom of the shirt ripped and
she took a deep smoky breath, stinging her throat, overpowering her lungs. Her eyes watered, but she could see the Amtrak vest inches in front of her.

The urge to drop to the floor for cleaner air was great, but she couldn’t battle those trying to escape. She could no longer breathe in the dining car and had to get good air.

One second she’d been connected to Levi, feeling more secure
headed toward the fire than safety. The next she was forced out the door, gulping oxygen.

Terrified it would be her last.

TEXT MESSAGE: Send Anonymously 06:02 A.M.

Target acquired.

Chapter Five

“What the hell happened?”

Levi grabbed the edge of a seat and hauled his disoriented body to its feet. He was alone in a passenger car full of black smoke. He dropped down to his knees coughing.

Smoke but no heat. Yet.

A glance at his watch verified he’d been unconscious for only a few minutes.

“Jo!” He couldn’t see her or anything else.

All
he could remember was his duffel hitting the back of his legs. He’d twisted to grab Jolene and thought he’d heard his name muffled under all the chaos. Then nothing. They had her. He didn’t doubt that. He hadn’t “tripped” into this passenger car.

Rubbing the back of his head, he mentally cursed his inability to protect Jolene—something that was becoming a habit. This time it might just be
fatal.

Get your butt out this door and find her!

Easier said than done. The compartment door he’d been dragged through was jammed on the other side. Back of the train was no good—that’s where the smoke came from. No duffel. No weapon.

Trains. Emergency exit. Windows? Get ’em open. How? Hammer near the door.

He couldn’t see anything and shut his eyes to the burning pain of the
smoke. He yanked his shirt over his head and secured it around his face. He took a deep breath and stood into the thicker blackness. Feeling with his hands along the wall, he remembered his quick walk-through of the train. A hammer and first aid kit were located near the door. He found the glass.

Hammer in hand, he dropped to his stomach to find some breathable air. He stayed as close to
the floor for as long as he could, crawling to the window. Another deep breath, pounding on the window, cracking glass, still no air.

Jo is in danger.

No one knows.

Levi heard shouting, felt the compartment door slide. He attempted to get to his feet but someone hauled him from the passenger car.
Jo is in danger.
He had to get air and get moving.

Blessed oxygen filled his lungs.
He gulped at the air and coughed, pushing a mask away from his face. He had no time.

“U.S. Marshal.” He took in more air. “Secure the site. No one in or out.” He got his eyes open, but focusing was another problem while they watered from the smoke. Dave and Max sucked down on their own oxygen. “Do you see her, Dave?”

“This is an open field, man. We can’t round up everyone like cattle,”
stated by some form of local law enforcement.

Levi’s eyes still burned. All he could make them focus on was a guy in uniform.

The older steward stretched taller and searched the crowd behind Levi. “She came off the train, wouldn’t leave the door and told me you were still there. Forced me to go back in after you. We heard you pounding on the window.”

Levi did some forcing of his
own to get up. Where was she?
If something happens to her on my watch...
He’d been out long enough for firefighters to arrive. They couldn’t be in the middle of nowhere like he’d originally thought.

“Where are we?”

“Just north of Texarkana,” Dave said. “The closest town is Hope, Arkansas.”

Levi stuck out his hands and the EMT helped him to his unstable feet. He couldn’t find Jolene
alone. Dammit, he couldn’t take two steps in a straight line without assistance.

“We need to get you to the hospital. You’ve got a nasty couple of cuts that need stitches, and you probably have a concussion.”

Levi looked at the guy standing next to him. An EMT. Good.

“Not happening. I need a perimeter set, not only on any roads near here, but also on any major highways.”

Levi
kept walking, addressing the men who followed him, but searched for Jolene in the crowd. She could be wearing anything by now. He looked for that sassy haircut, but a short woman wasn’t easily spotted in a crowd on a good day.

“Dave, get on your handset and check if anyone sees anything. No, wait. I think the guy who conked me was dressed as Amtrak.” He turned to the firefighter. “Get me
someone who can issue an APB.”

A local cop or deputy walked into Levi’s peripheral vision. “I’d like to see some ID before I let you take over this prank and it becomes a real train wreck.”

“Prank? A woman’s life is on the line. I need to find her...now.”

“Those smoke bombs have already caused one fatality. I’m in charge unless you show me some ID and tell me what you were doing
on that train.”

Fatality? Fatality! No! It couldn’t be her.
The normal adrenaline he’d experience may have been enough to kick him into gear, but the surge through his system was stimulated by pure fright.

He felt in his back pocket for his badge. “U.S. Marshal Levi Cooper out of Denver. I was escorting a...um, a person of interest. Now,” he looked closely at the man’s name, “Deputy
Fordham, issue my APB. White female, twenty-five years old, five feet four inches, brown hair, emerald-green eyes. Last dressed in gray slacks and an Amtrak royal blue souvenir shirt four sizes too big.”

“You got it. Not just green—emerald-green eyes. Right,” he snickered and stepped toward the train, pulling his radio to his mouth.

“I’ll spread the word,” Dave said. He and Max took
off quick and spry for men in their late fifties.

He turned to the EMT who treated the wound on his head every time Levi paused. “The deputy mentioned a fatality. Who and where?”

“She’s at the rig.”

“Take me.”

The smoke escaping as the doors opened made it more difficult to see the crowd. But he could tell they were moving, thinning, walking or shifting to the road.

Lying
on the ground next to the ambulance was one lone body bag waiting as if the rescuers had expected many more. Thank God it was just smoke bombs. It could have been a disaster.

His feet slowed. He needed to know. Had to kneel. Felt the damp from the morning grass seep through his jeans.

“Need some help?” the young fireman asked.

“I got it. Thanks.” No matter how many bodies he’d seen,
he’d never get used to looking at one that wasn’t breathing. He gently unzipped the black plastic, dreading that this would be his last memory of Jolene.

“That her? Brown hair, average height, blue shirt. That your gal?”

The similarities struck him harder than whatever had hit him over the head. “No.”

He resealed the bag and stood too fast, making his head spin. He shoved his hands
through his hair, completely unable to think of what he should be doing. He had expected the woman to be Jolene. Until he’d seen the unknown woman’s face, believing he’d find Jo alive hadn’t seemed possible. This woman had either been mistaken for their target and then disposed or had been intended to be a distraction while they escaped.

“Where was she found?”

“Just inside the dining
car.”

Distraction.

“Whoever was on the train may have an accomplice who drove here.” Levi turned in circles, taking in the countryside. One fire truck, two ambulances, numerous cars and trucks, people waiting to board the train.

“We were first on scene and none of the volunteers parked near here. They’re all out on the main road.”

“That’s where she is.” He broke into a run.
Clear head or not, he wasn’t going to lose Jo again. “Grab your gear. You’re with me.”

The EMT ran side by side with Levi. “Not sure how I can help you with anything, Marshal. I know I can help back at the train.”

They reached the road, both sides of the single-lane pavement had deep culverts. “He didn’t plan on a road like this. Maybe there’s still time.”

“Not so sure what you’re
talking about, sir.”

“Look. There.”

Every step connecting with the asphalt jarred a sharp pain in his head, but Levi didn’t care. A car was half in the ditch, looking like it was stuck on the incline, two men stared at the tires and scratched their heads. The long line of cars and trucks parked bumper-to-bumper had made it too difficult to steal.

His hand went to his hip. No weapon
to draw, but no one else was in sight. “You know those guys?”

“Sure, that’s Craig’s car.”

Levi crossed to the stuck vehicle. “U.S. Marshal, pop your trunk.”

The man who was obviously Craig scratched his head again but walked to the driver’s side. “I just called the sheriff. Stan noticed my car jacked at this angle. Looks like the guy got stuck and got scared off. Why’s a marshal
here?”

Could the man move any slower?

Levi, with the EMT next to him, waited to hear the latch click. His blood pounded through his body. This had to be it. Someone stealing a car, stuck, then looking for another vehicle. The two locals were lucky to still be alive.

Jo had to be here.
She has to be here.

The trunk popped and blessed relief pushed the tension and pain straight
from his body. Alive. They’d kept her alive. He staggered a couple of steps into the ditch out of the way.

“There’s a body in here. Craig, go get the sheriff.” The EMT reached through and immediately felt for a pulse, then gently shook her. “She’s alive.”

Craig and his friend ran toward the train.

Waiting for the firefighter to examine Jo drove him crazy. He couldn’t think, let
alone concentrate. He knew one thing—he wasn’t leaving her. He’d depend on the locals to handle a search for her abductors.

“I think she’s been drugged. Nothing I can do except transport.”

“I’ve got her. Do whatever’s necessary to get us out of here in three minutes.”

“Yes, sir.” The EMT jogged back the way they’d come, talking into his radio.

Levi scanned his line of sight
one last time before sliding to the ground, car tire to his back and Jolene in his arms. When he’d heard “she’s alive” his brain had jump-started.

The guy who had abducted her might be long gone, but he’d be back trying to find them soon. Levi’s window of opportunity to keep her safe was shrinking.

“Don’t you die on me, Jolene Atkins.” He smoothed her hair, tucking it behind her ears,
exposing a small scar that wasn’t there the last time he’d seen her.

But he knew all about it from the monthly report he received. She’d fallen on a rollerblade date four months ago. Three stitches just in front of her right earlobe. He ran his thumb over the healed mark. “If I ever meet Darrell Taylor, I’ll give him a strong lecture on what a good date should be. Never did tell your dad
about the ER visit. Neither did you. Hang on, hon.”

They hadn’t killed her, just drugged her to get away without making a scene. When he caught them—and he would—they’d never harm her again.