Sworn to Protect (Vows of the Heart) (6 page)

The light turned green and Ethan accelerated. “If we get pulled over, we’ll both be ass deep in shit.”

“If you head for an airport, long term parking, there’s a good chance we can find a car that won’t be needed for a while.”

“No stealing.”

“Don’t the cops call it legal acquisition or something?”

“No stealing,” he said firmly. “It’s bad enough you’ve got your tools on you.”

“I’m a licensed locksmith so that’s not illegal.”

“You are just full of surprises.”

This time her lips lifted in a tiny smile and Ethan was glad to see it, even though he immediately tried to tell himself he didn’t care. “We’ve got to dump this jalopy and find a pl
ace to lay low,” he said. “The Marshals took my cell phone…and I don’t dare use—” He glanced at her again and did a double take, seeing her holding up a credit card. “Where in the hell did you get that?”

“I palmed it when you
gave Shanahan’s wallet to me.”

He almost missed a light changing to red and slammed on the brakes at the last minute. “You what?”

“Uh…hello…what were we just talking about? Thief sitting here, in the car, beside you. Oh and by the way, we’re even, since I saved your sorry ass.”

“Uh, no we’re not since I shot that doctor trying to kill you.”

“Doctor?”

“Yeah, the doctor wearing the scrubs and the surgical mask on his face. You know, the one pointing the gun at you? I shot him because he was trying to shoot you. I thought he was why you ran, Bethany.”

To his surprise and worry her face drained of color again. “I…I saw…oh hell.” She covered her face with her hands.

A car honked behind him and both he and Bethany jumped. The light had turned green. Ethan hit the gas
, but his attention remained on Bethany.

“I…I was going to leave you there,” Bethany said so softly he wondered if he had heard her correctly. “But then I saw you on the ground and those guys shooting at you. I couldn’t leave you like that.”

Anger roared within him, but he forced it down. He shouldn’t be mad at her, she had stopped for him after all. “Bethany,” he growled and raked his hand through his hair.

She flinched, pushing herself against the door.

Again he looked at her, trying to make sense of—Wait. She flinched when he had raised his hand.

He took a breath to speak
, but then spotted a gas station with a mini mart. He pulled in and parked away from the doors, angling the Suburban in such a way that it wouldn’t be easy to block. “Give me that credit card,” he said. She handed it over and he turned to face her. “Bethany, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m an ATF agent and it’s my duty to protect you.”

She gazed at him a long moment, her heart in her eyes. “You’re a witness, just like me.”

“I am, but you see this job I have, it’s a little different. Not many people have to swear an oath when they accept a position with a company. I did, Bethany. I swore an oath to protect and serve and I take that responsibility very seriously.”

“I…oh God, Ethan, I just don’t know who to trust anymore.”

He sighed heavily his anger fading. “I know,” he said. He removed his sunglasses and took her hand. “I don’t know who to trust either, but when it comes down to you and me, sweetheart, we don’t have a choice. If we don’t stick together, Cordova will kill us both.”

Her teeth worried her lower lip
, but she nodded.

“Now, I’m going in there to buy a throw-away cell and hope Shanahan’s card isn’t maxed out.”

“Ethan,” she said sharply. “Take a good look at that card.”

He did so, scowling.
American Express Platinum.
He looked at her in shock.

“As you said, I am a pro. Shanahan had four credit cards
, but no cash, unfortunately. One was obviously a card he used for job related expenses because it had his title as well as his name. I figured that one is monitored by the Marshal’s office and if we tried to use it, warning bells would go off. This one was separated from the others. It has to be paid off every month and doesn’t really have a set limit. So this is his personal card, one he probably doesn’t use that often. Hell, I bet his wife doesn’t even know about it. That’s why I took it. It’s less likely to be flagged because no one knows we have it.”

His jaw nearly hit the floor. “Damn it, woman, you are brilliant.”

“Huh?”

He had surprised her. “I’m going into the store.” Ethan scowled at the gages on the Suburban. “We’ve got almost a full tank of gas. So there’s only one thing I’m worried about.”

“What’s that?”

“Are you going to be here when I come back?”

She wrinkled her nose at him, an absolutely adorable expression. “Only if you promise to get some food and sodas too. If you don’t, then I’m out of here.”

A chuckle bubbled within him. Impulsively
, he kissed the back of her hand, feeling as if a spark of energy jumped through him as his lips touched her skin. “Your wish is my command, my dear.”

She rolled her eyes at him
, but smiled.

His humor faded. “Keep your eyes open, Bethany. If you see anything or anyone suspicious, come inside the store immediately.”

Her smile vanished and he wanted to kick himself. “I will,” she said softly.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

****

Bethany leaned her head back against the headrest and groaned. What the hell was happening to her? The nightmares of Aaron’s spirit were bad enough
, but now she had seen him three times in one day, for real.

Or was he?

No one else had reacted to him. That doctor had walked right through him. Her attention had been locked on Aaron and she never gave the doc more than a glance.

She had to be honest, there was a part of her that believed in ghosts. But they were supposed to be in spooky old houses or cemeteries. They were supposed to slam doors and knock pictures off of walls. They weren’t supposed to be nightmares come to life and try to kill her. She could still feel the specter’s icy grip on the back of her neck. She shivered and forced her thoughts to focus on something else.

Her gaze returned to the store. What about Ethan? Should she trust him? He had saved her life…twice…even though she hadn’t realized that fake doctor was shooting at her. She had been so focused on stealing the Suburban she had heard the shot, but not realized where it came from. Actually, the guy was probably one of Cordova’s goons who swiped some scrubs out of the doctors’ lounge.

Bethany’s pulse finally started to slow. Ethan was right, if they didn’t stick together, Cordova would
kill them. Despite her fear, a smile tugged at her lips when she remembered the look on his face as she drove. She had not only scared the hell out of him, she had impressed him.

She had impressed Aaron too. Hell! She had to stop thinking about him. No doubt this was all in her head. She was a protected witness who wasn’t very protected. The spirit was an hallucination caused by stress and fear.

The car door opened and she jumped.

“Here,” Ethan said handing her a bag. “I didn’t know what you liked
, so I tried to grab a variety.”

She dug through the bag pulling out some Doritos and a Pepsi. Then she spied a Hershey bar on the bottom. “Chocolate!”

Ethan ripped open the plastic case from the phone he had purchased. He looked up and smiled. “Now that I thought you would like.” But he paused and scowled. “Although, you’re the first female I’ve met who didn’t take the diet soda.”

She thought for a moment then held up the bag of Do
ritos in one hand, the Hershey bar in the other. “What would be the point?”

Ethan roared his laughter. Bethany blinked in shock, his smile was the most beautiful she had ever seen. He removed his sunglasses again, his mercury eyes glittered with a fire she could not describe
, but it stole her breath and warmed away the chill clenching her gut.

He wiped his eyes. “Sweetheart, thank you. I needed a good laugh.”

She giggled, marveling at the change in him happening before her eyes. Maybe he did have a soul.

Ethan plugged the cell phone into the charging outlet in the Suburban. He waited a moment then followed the instructions to activate it. He glanced at his watch then pulled out of the parking lot. Turning onto a highway that led out of town, he set the cruise control and dug into the bag and pulled out a Pepsi and some pretzels.

“Let me open those for you,” Bethany said.

“Thanks,” he said.

“What’s the plan?” s
he asked, handing the snacks to him.

“Well, I’m worried about using that card for a motel room. We need a safe house.” He glanced at his watch again. “Right now my captain is getting slammed with phone calls and people in his office about what happened today. I’m going to wait about two hours then it should calm down. That way when I call him, I have a greater chance of catching him alone in his office.”

“And you trust him?”

“Captain Edwards I trust with my life
, but he’s the only one.”

“Okay,” she said
, but didn’t sound convinced.

“I know,” he said, taking her hand. “But if we get a motel room…I know that card’s going to show up on someone’s radar somewhere.”

“So we’re just going to drive around for two hours?”

“Yup. I’m heading for the back roads. You know, less traveled. But let’s hope we don’t get a cop behind us running our plates.”

She drew a deep breath and released it slowly. “I’m not cut out for this, Ethan.”

“What do you mean? I thought
—”

“You t
hought wrong,” she snapped. Her shoulders sagged and she stared at the floor. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I was a runner…and an unwilling one at that. I would get a text with coordinates. My job was to steal a car, bring it to one of the coordinates which was the pickup point. The supplier would load the drugs, then I drove to the next set of coordinates, which was the drop point. Money was wired to the specific accounts – including mine. I got all of the transaction confirmations on my cell phone.” She paused looking at him. “That’s one reason why I’m a witness. I kept all of that information. I knew I would need it someday.”

Ethan gazed at her a long moment. “After the money transferred, then what?”

“I walked away, grabbed another car and disappeared. That’s it. While I have been involved in a number of car chases, I never had anyone shoot at me. I didn’t want to be involved any more than I already was. Hell, I didn’t want to be involved at all. Despite my objections Cordova brought me into his inner circle.”

“Did you strike an immunity deal?”

She shrugged. “Yes, but I was never caught. I never got in trouble with the law. I have immunity for testifying since I’m admitting my own involvement – self-incrimination and all that garbage.”

“So if you were never caught, what broke? What made you turn state’s evidence?”

“My father died and then Cordova killed Aaron.”

“Aaron? Was he your lover?”

Bethany snapped a curse, sudden tears streaming down her face. Ethan inexplicably felt like a heel. “I thought Aaron was my friend, the only real friend I ever had. He worked for Cordova too, but then I found out he was the DEA’s undercover agent.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched. “What happened?”

She shook her head, her tears increasing. “I…I can’t talk about it, not yet.”

Ethan looked at her, his suspicion levering up a few notches. His gut told him she wasn’t being entirely honest with him. Hiding behind the pain was an excuse. So what was she really hiding?

They drove in silence for the next two hours. Ethan unplugged the phone from the charger and after debating a moment, dialed the eight hundred number to his office. The cheap cell didn’t have GPS and Doris could give him a heads up, he hoped.

“Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. How may I direct your call?”

“Doris?” he asked softly. “This is Ethan.”

“Ethan?” s
he whispered. “Are you okay? Everyone is buzzing over here about you.”

“I take it you heard what happened.”

“Yeah, this place is nuts.”

“How’s the captain? Is he alone?”

“Right now he is. I’ll transfer you.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Ethan, watch your handsome butt out there.”

“I will.”

“I really mean this. They think you murdered those Marshals.”

Alarm cut through him. This was exactly why he had called
Doris first. “Shit, Doris, the Marshals I shot were on Cordova’s payroll.”

“That’s what I thought…but, Ethan, I’m in the minority.”

“Dear God, Doris, you’re fucking kidding me.”

“I wish I was.
Hold on.”