Their feet pounded through snow as they crossed the driveway toward the detached carport a few yards away. “Get in the truck, then get down on the floor. You got it?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Jack reached the truck first and yanked open the driver’s side door. Landis lunged inside, then slid across the seat. He heard a gunshot from inside the cabin, realized at least one gunman had gained entry. He jammed the key in the ignition and twisted. The engine coughed and sputtered. “Come on, baby.”
He tried again and the engine turned over. Ramming the shifter into gear, he popped the clutch. The truck jumped forward. Realizing they would be directly in the line of fire if he used the driveway, Jack braced himself and sent the truck down the steep embankment toward the road below.
“Hang on!” he shouted.
A muffled pop sounded over the scraping of rock against the underside of the truck. A hole the size of a dime blew through the windshield. Jack watched in horror as a thousand white capillaries spread across the glass. Swearing, he cut the wheel and stomped the gas pedal to the floor. The truck bounced wildly as it barreled down the embankment. Relief flitted through him when the ground leveled and the tires grabbed pavement. Spewing gravel and snow, he wrested the truck onto the highway and sped north.
For several minutes the only sound came from their heavy breathing. Eyes glued to the rearview mirror, Jack pressed the accelerator to the floor and watched the speedometer climb to ninety.
“Are they coming after us?” Landis’s voice was high-pitched and unsteady.
“I don’t know. I don’t see them.” But he knew they would sooner or later. He jerked his gaze away from the rearview mirror to assess her. “Are you all right?”
Large, dark eyes contrasted sharply with her shock-paled face. “Who the hell was that, Jack? Why are they shooting at us?”
Residual fear shuddered through him at the sight of blood on her face. He would never forget the instant when he thought she’d been shot. Dear God, he would never forgive himself if something happened to her because of him. She was too good to die a senseless, violent death. He hated it that he’d involved her, hated it even more that she was in danger because of him. Because he hadn’t had the strength to send her away when he should have.
Shoving the thoughts aside for now, Jack glanced over at her. “I’d lay odds those goons were sent by Duke. I don’t have to tell you what he’s capable of.”
He wanted to reach out and touch her, but knew that would only make things worse. If he wanted to keep her safe, he had to stay focused.
“Why would Duke’s men be shooting at us?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Landis. He knows I’ve talked to people who can finger him. Even if I’m not successful, he knows I’m going to at the very least raise some questions. He’s got cops and judges on his payroll. He knows I know his little secret, and he wants me out of the picture.” Jack thought about Duke knowing about Landis and grimaced, his stomach turning nauseous. “Now he knows about you, too, Landis. That puts a whole new spin on this mess.”
She turned in the seat to face him. Only she didn’t look scared. She looked fierce and determined as hell. “I don’t like getting shot at.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like it much, either.”
“We can’t let him get away with this.”
“Unless you’ve got an M-16 in your sock, we don’t have much choice at the moment.”
“The night you came to my cabin, you said you could offer up Duke. I want to take you up on that. I want him.”
“That offer no longer stands.”
“I want in on this,” she said. “Don’t try to lock me out.”
Jack checked the review mirror, then exited the highway and headed toward the suburb where Ian McAllister lived. “I’m taking you to Ian’s. You’ll be safe there.”
“I don’t want to go to Ian’s.”
Jack didn’t respond.
“Ian hates you. He’ll call in his cop buddies before you even get through the front door. For God’s sake, he thinks you killed Evan.”
Jack checked the mirror again, then negotiated a turn. “I’ll drop you curbside—”
“Take me back to my cabin.”
“Stay away from your cabin!” he shouted. “After what just happened, it’s not safe.”
“Your dropping me at Ian’s isn’t going to keep me from what I need to do to make this right.”
“For God’s sake, you’re stubborn.” Swearing, he rapped his fist against the steering wheel. “I never should have come to you.”
“You didn’t have anywhere else to go. You knew I was in a position to help you. Jack, I can still help you.”
“Don’t fight me on this, Red.” He glanced over at her, looked into her pretty green eyes and tried not to think about how hard it was going to be to walk away from her. “One day, you’ll thank me.”
“I’ll hate you if you shut me out of this.”
Jack said nothing.
“I’m not going to sit on the sidelines and let Cyrus Duke get away with murder. Has it even crossed your mind that maybe I want to nail Duke as badly as you? You’re not the only one who’s got a stake in this. For God’s sake, he murdered my brother!”
“I’ll take care of Duke.” He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, but he was going to stop the bastard. There was no way in hell Jack could leave the country and give an animal like Duke a chance to get his hands on Landis.
She reached out as if suddenly realizing the turn his thoughts had taken. “Jack, please don’t do anything crazy.”
He winced when her fingers closed around his forearm. The unexpected touch went through him like a hot needle. Longing and regret swept through him with a fierceness that left him raw and shaking inside. He risked a look at her, knew too late it was a mistake. A fierce protectiveness rose up inside him. And he swore that no matter how badly he wanted her, he wouldn’t let her get sucked into this mess any more than she already was.
“Jack, my God, you’re shaking,” she whispered.
He looked away, concentrated on the road, on the rearview mirror. “You’ve already aided and abetted, Landis. How many more charges do you want levied against you?”
She looked down at her hands, then back at him. “There are extenuating circumstances—”
“That won’t save you from being disbarred. If you don’t walk away right now, you can forget about ever practicing law again. Hell, you might even do hard time.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Oh, for chrissake! Your Jeep is at Chandler’s cabin. He’s dead. They think I killed him. It’s common knowledge you and I have a history. Do you actually believe the police don’t know we’re together? Come on!”
Pressing her hand against her stomach, she looked away. Jack hated seeing her go pale, hated even more knowing he was the reason for it. But he couldn’t let this go on. As desperately as he needed her help, as badly as he wanted to be with her, he couldn’t let her ruin her life.
“What about you?” she asked after a moment. “Somewhere mixed in with all that honor and gallantry is a man’s life. A man who’s innocent and doesn’t have anyone to help him.”
That she would fight so fiercely to help him when he’d done everything in his power to drive her away moved him a hell of a lot more than he wanted it to. But then Landis had never been one to back down from a fight. That was one of the things he’d always loved about her. She fought for what she believed in until the end.
That was little consolation knowing this was a battle neither of them would win.
He took the backstreets to the subdivision where Ian lived, then drove around the block twice. When he was certain no one had followed him, he parked down the street from the tidy Spanish-style house and shut down the engine. When he ran out of things to do, he turned in his seat to face her.
She returned his gaze with stoic silence. Her eyes were huge within the pale f
rame of her face. He hated seeing the pain etched into her every feature, hated even more knowing he was responsible for putting it there. But he knew what the alternative held and decided he would rather hurt her now than let her get any more involved—or risk her being marked by Duke.
“Tell Ian everything,” he began. “Tell him what I told you about Duke. About Evan. Tell him Duke tried to kill you this morning. Tell him you need police protection.”
“I will, but I’m not sure he’ll believe me. He’s going to think I’m too…involved to see things clearly. I mean, because of our history.”
“You have to convince him, Landis. This has gone beyond my trying to prove my innocence. I never thought Duke would go after you.” He felt the words like barbed wire twisting inside him. “Ian might hate me, but he’s your brother. He’s a cop. He’ll keep you safe.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I think it’s best that I don’t tell you that.”
She glanced out the window, blinking rapidly. “I’m not giving up on your case. You can run all you want. But I’m not going to give up.”
He knew it was foolish, but hope jumped through him at the words. But it was tempered by the knowledge that every shred of hope he’d had in the past year had been taken away from him. He figured they both knew there wasn’t a whole lot she could do to help.
Clamping his jaws against the rise of emotion in his chest, he forced a smile. “No regrets, okay?”
She reached for the door handle. “This isn’t over.”
He didn’t intend to reach for her. But one moment her hand was on the handle. The next he was pulling her across the seat and into his arms. Tears shimmered in her eyes when her gaze met his. Her mouth was slightly open and wet, but she didn’t fight him. He cupped her face, taken aback by her loveliness, and put the picture she made to memory, knowing that soon it would be all he had.
“One more thing,” he said and lowered his mouth to hers. Pleasure crashed through him on contact. He told himself it was just a goodbye kiss, but knew that was a lie. His brain ordered him to pull back and regroup, but the command never made it to his body. He wanted to say something, but there were no more words left inside him. Just an edgy need that he could no longer ignore, and the knowledge that he was no longer in control.
Wrapping his arms around her, he deepened the kiss, testing her, tasting her, letting his mouth linger over hers. The sweetness of her kiss devastated him. The taste of her tears shattered the last of his resolve. He deepened the kiss, vaguely aware of her hands on his shoulders, her scent surrounded him like a drugging fragrance. He breathed in deeply, let it intoxicate him.
A moment later he broke the kiss and eased her to arm’s length. He waited for his vision to clear, then slid back behind the wheel. “I’ll wait here until you get inside.”
The hurt in her eyes cut him. Jack looked away, hating it that he couldn’t meet her gaze. He heard the door open. The truck rocked gently as she stepped out. He jolted when the door slammed. He felt her departure like a stake through his heart.
As he watched her walk to the front door, he felt his priorities shifting, changing. No longer was his goal merely to clear his name. His number one priority now was to protect Landis from Cyrus Duke. Prison. South America. Escape. None of those things seemed as important now that she was in danger.
And with that knowledge came the dark realization that he didn’t have anything to lose.
Landis should have known her younger brother would be angry with her. Still, she hadn’t expected such an icy reception when she’d shown up at his front door shaking and bleeding and trying like hell not to fall apart. Once he’d made certain she wasn’t seriously injured, he’d transformed from worried brother to hardnosed cop and started asking questions. Questions Landis had absolutely no desire to answer.
“You’ve been with him, haven’t you?” Even out of uniform, he looked like a cop. Standing in the kitchen doorway, he glared at her with eyes that were as hard and cold as ice. “Jesus, Landy, I can’t believe you would do something so stupid.”
Heart pounding, she paced the length of the living room, barely noticing the Christmas tree or the silver-and-blue garland strung along the mantle of the hearth. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the cup of coffee he’d offered between the bursts of questions and hard, concerned looks. Her nerves wouldn’t stop jumping. She was exhausted, yet she couldn’t sit still. She couldn’t think straight. Every time she tried, all she could think of was Jack.
She should be thankful he hadn’t allowed her to make a mess of her life. That he’d brought her here where she was safe and among family. That he was finally out of her life for good. The truth of the matter was she’d never felt more despondent in her life.
“Are you going to talk to me?” Ian asked.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
He shook his head as if in exasperation. “You look like you’ve been to hell and back.”
She stopped pacing and looked at him. She felt as if she’d been to hell and back. Now, she was stuck in purgatory because she knew a man she cared for deeply was innocent of a heinous crime. She knew he was either going to flee the country or get himself killed. The fear and frustration were eating her alive because there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
Ian crossed to her, took her by the shoulders and guided her to the sofa. “Jesus, Landis, you’re shaking. Sit down before you fall down.”
She sank onto the sofa. He eased the cup from her hands and set it on the coffee table. “I’m going to get the first aid kit for that cut on your face. You sit here and pull yourself together. Then I’m going to ask you some questions, and I damn well want some answers.” He disappeared into the hall.
Dreading the conversation ahead, Landis picked up the cup and drank some of the coffee, not caring that the caffeine had her nerves snapping like frayed wires. She didn’t want to lie to Ian. He didn’t deserve lies. But Landis knew how much he hated Jack. She didn’t think there was much of a chance that she would be able to convince Ian he was innocent.
“What happened to your face?”
Landis looked up to see him walking toward her with a first aid kit in hand. She was pondering how to best explain to her brother that she’d been shot at when he turned to her, put his forefinger beneath her chin and angled her face toward him, his lips peeling back in a snarl as he cleaned and bandaged her cut. “Did that son of a bitch do this to you?”
“Of course not! Jack wouldn’t—”
“I can’t believe you’re defending him! I can’t believe you let him get to you. Landy, for God’s sake, he could have killed you. Look what he did to Evan!”
“Ian, listen to me. Jack didn’t hurt me. Someone took a shot at me when I leaving Chandler’s cabin.”
“The police know you’ve been with LaCroix. They found your Jeep at Chandler’s place. They’re going to have a hell of a lot of questions for you.”
A quiver of fear went through her. A terrible sense of helplessness overwhelmed her when she realized the situation was spiraling out of control. “Ian, I need for you to calm down and listen to me.”
Releasing her, he leaned back against the sofa and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You’ve put me in a hell of a position.”
“I haven’t told you anything, Ian. You’re assuming—”
“You’re here, and I haven’t called the detective who’s running the case. I know you’re aiding and abetting—not to mention sleeping with—a convicted murderer!”
“I’m not—”
“Damn it, Landy, I can’t believe you threw it all away for him.”
“Jack didn’t do it, Ian. He’s innocent. The gun. The money. All of it.”
“Oh, for crying out loud! You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Someone tried to kill us this morning, Ian. The bullet that barely missed me wasn’t my imagination.”
“So LaCroix has some enemies. Maybe Duk
e thinks he’s going to turn over on him. He’s dangerous, Landy, and you need to stay away from him. Am I getting through to you?”
“Jack saved my life this morning!”
That stopped him, but only for an instant. “You don’t know him as well as you think you do. Evan trusted him and look what happened. I’m warning you. Stay the hell away from him.”
“If you won’t help me, then I’ll find someone who will. Or I’ll do it myself.”
“Do what?”
“Help him clear his name.”
He threw up his hands and looked to the heavens as if in utter exasperation. “He’s brainwashed you.”
“He has not!”
Lowering his head, he pinched the bridge of his nose, then shot her a hard look. “Where is he, Landy?”
Landis stared back. “I don’t know.”
“I’m asking you as a cop, not your brother. You’d better level with me.”
“I told you. I don’t know.”
He stared at her as if incredulous. “I can’t believe you would lie to me about this.”
“That’s the truth.”
“Yeah, well, here’s a news flash for you. I’m not going to let you throw away your life.” Face set with anger, Ian rose from the sofa and strode to the kitchen.
Heart pounding with sudden uneasiness, Landis followed him as far as the doorway, watched as he picked up the phone and punched in numbers. “Who are you calling?” she asked.
“A lawyer. For you. Then the three of us are going to drive down to the police department and you’re going to tell the cops everything you know about LaCroix. Hopefully, your cooperation will salvage what’s left of your career and keep you out of jail.”
“Damn it, Ian—”
“You can thank me later.”
She was about to say more, but someone must have come on the line because Ian turned his back to her and began to speak. She heard him ask for Jason Bellamy, a well-known defense attorney, and her insides turned to jelly. God, he was serious about this. He was going to turn her in.