“Not long,” she said. “Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. Small dose.”
Janos put his gun to the nape of the guy’s neck.
She jerked upright. “Don’t you dare!”
He gave her an incredulous look. “Excuse me?”
“You asshole!” she hissed. “Not in front of the child! Are you crazy?”
He rolled his eyes but let Thick Neck be and proceeded to the front of the van. He gently lifted the bloody, dripping head of the dangling driver and peered into his eyes. He reached for the man’s wrist, felt for a pulse. His eyes flicked to hers. He shook his head.
He grabbed the driver’s big, heavy body under the armpits and heaved him into the first passenger seat without apparent effort. The man’s legs draped obscenely across the aisle. Tam hugged Rachel’s face to her chest. Not that the kid was noticing anything. She was locked in her own inner world, and from the looks of her, it wasn’t a pretty one.
Janos slid into the driver’s seat and put the vehicle in gear. They peeled out onto the road, tires squealing, and picked up speed.
“Where are we going?”
“The lot where you parked,” he said.
“How do you know where I—”
“Later,” he cut her off brusquely. “I’m thinking.”
Oh, indeed. God forbid she should keep a man from actually doing that. She almost said it, but until she knew exactly what the fuck was going on, even she knew how to keep her big mouth shut.
On a temporary basis, anyway.
It scared her that Rachel wouldn’t speak or make eye contact. Nor was she clinging to Tam’s neck as she usually did when she was terrified. She was limp, clammy, and pale, which frightened Tam more than the bullets had. She preferred a screaming, writhing meltdown to this total withdrawal. Cold air blew in the bus’s shattered windows.
The van slowed, slewed into a sharp turn, and bumped over the barrier into the long-term lot where she’d left her car. The bar rose for the shuttle automatically. The guy in the window didn’t even look up from his magazine.
No one was waiting for a ride when Janos braked at the bus shelter. Unheard-of luck. She’d been bracing herself for a nasty public scene when the bus stopped, and she hadn’t been looking forward to it.
Janos looked over at her. “Get out,” he said. “I’ll deal with the last one when you and the child are clear of the bus.”
She slung the diaper bag and purse over her shoulder, pressed Rachel’s face to her chest, and clambered over the legs of the driver.
They climbed out of the death bus into the fresh morning air. Dawn wasn’t far off. She dragged in a breath.
Thud. She felt the silenced gunshot vibrate in her gut as Janos’s bullet punched into Thick Neck’s nape and finished off the job.
Janos came out, jerking his chin for her to follow him.
She clutched Rachel more tightly to her chest. “I’m not going to let you take me to Georg Luksch,” she said, suddenly exhausted. “I would rather die.” It was a pointless declaration, but she made it on principle.
He stared at her, eyes narrowed. “I’m not taking you to Georg.”
She blinked at him, bewildered. Her eyes burned and stung in the breeze that kicked up. “Ah…no? Then what are you doing here?”
“I am helping you,” he said curtly. “Follow me. Quickly.”
After a second, Tam followed him, for lack of a better plan.
“Somebody’s going to get a nasty shock this morning when she tries to get the shuttle to her flight,” she said.
Janos walked quickly, not looking at her. “Not our problem.”
“It will be when they dust for prints, and investigate that goddamn passport,” Tam said sourly. “Just what I need. A murder rap, and I didn’t even have a gun. Like I don’t have enough problems.”
“Faster, please. Do you want to talk to the police about it now, while half the world is trying to kill you, or later?”
She speeded up to a shambling trot. Rachel wasn’t heavy at all, but those oft-repeated adrenaline zaps were taking their toll on Tam’s motor control. “Later is fine,” she said. “In the next lifetime, maybe.”
“We’re in agreement then.”
They hurried along. Tam panted, the muscles in her arms trembling with strain. Legs wobbling. She could not crash yet, goddamnit. “How did you know where I was?” she demanded.
He let out a sharp sigh and slanted her an irritated glance. “A radio frequency transmitter. In your jewelry case.”
She stopped in her tracks, mouth open. “How did you—”
“Later. Move.” He yanked her arm, getting her going again.
She noticed that they were passing the fogeymobile. “Stop,” she said.
“We’re not taking this car,” he said. “Hurry. We don’t have time for—”
“I have to get Rachel’s car seat,” she told him.
The blank disbelief on Janos’s face bugged the shit out of her.
“It’s the law,” she said more loudly. “Children have to be properly restrained. You can’t let them rattle around in a vehicle. It’s not safe.”
That you-have-got-to-be-fucking-kidding-lady expression pushed her raddled nerves right to the snapping point. “Look, asshole, I have left everything behind!” she said, her voice shrill. “My home, my stuff, my friends, my work, my stroller, Rachel’s Tylenol and diaper wipes and allergy medicines! I left our entire fucking identity behind, thanks to you! I am not leaving Rachel’s car seat, so get the fuck out of my way!”
Janos lifted both hands in the air, eyes wide behind the weird glasses. “Calmati,” he murmured. “Keep it down. And hurry, please.”
He looked incredibly different with that hair and bushy beard and that stupid-ass knit cap stretched over it. Tam stared at him for a second, shook her head, and stuck Rachel right into his arms. What else could she do? No way was the kid capable of standing on her feet.
She dug keys from her purse with stiff, shaking fingers, opened the door, and struggled with straps, clamps and tethers until she got the car seat out of her vehicle.
Then she wrenched open the trunk and grabbed the jewelry case too. What the hell. It didn’t look like she was going to be taking a plane trip anytime soon, and the way things were looking, some of this stuff might well come in handy. And she could always melt it down for gold and gems later on if she got desperate. Which was looking more and more likely, the way she was running through money.
She had to get her hands on a gun. Preferably more than one. The McCloud Crowd could help her, but she hated to involve them. They were so inquisitive, so damn protective. She didn’t want to put their families in danger. But she would, for Rachel. Oh, yes, she would.
She’d gotten out of the habit of packing heat, having a curious three-year-old crawling all over her, but what happened in that bus was a brutal reality check. She’d gotten sloppy. She gave herself a mental slap as she jogged alongside Janos, clutching the heavy seat.
Rachel was as slack as a doll. She looked so small, curled up against his huge chest. He stopped at a black van with tinted windows, and opened it without the benefit of a key. “Is this your car?” she asked.
He gave her a significant look. “No.”
She flung open the back door, and hoisted the car seat into place, again struggling