Adam winked at her. “Certainly far stranger.”
“I’m driving a red sedan. I don’t know the license plate, so you’ll have to hit the automatic locks if there’s more than one of that color.” Her hand shook as she brushed her hair off her face. “It’s up the street on the left.”
One piece of information didn’t mesh with what Caleb knew about Avery. “Why don’t you know your license plate?”
“It’s my neighbor’s car.”
“Does she know you have it?”
“He doesn’t. I took it without asking.”
Caleb pushed the male reference out of his mind. They didn’t date anymore. She could see anyone she wanted and it wasn’t his business. He repeated the comment in his head three times, and the reality still refused to sink in. The idea of her with someone else made his back teeth slam together.
“With our luck the guy reported it and Adam will get picked up for stealing it,” Caleb grumbled, more at the idea of the neighbor than anything else.
She reached out and touched his arm. “My point is that the bad guys shouldn’t recognize the car, so Adam should skip the driving around part and come with us.”
“Negative.” Caleb made the comment right as Adam started shaking his head.
She dropped her hand back to her side. “Both of you?”
“It’s a safety measure,” Adam explained.
“And we’re done talking.” Caleb gave his command and then turned to Adam. “Head for the street. If the situation is too hot, ping me, keep walking and I’ll send someone to come around to pick you up.”
“Someone?” she asked.
“Another agent.” Caleb wondered if she thought he and Adam worked alone.
Her mouth dropped open. “How many more of you are there?”
Adam chuckled. “Three. Does that scare you?”
The shock turned into a small smile. “The exact opposite, actually.”
“Let’s go.” Caleb slipped his hand under her elbow and used his key to open the outside door to the garage.
Chapter Four
To anyone watching they might have looked like a loving couple. In reality, Caleb had a death grip on her skin as he pulled her out and onto the underground garage floor. If he thought she would run, he was wrong. She was too busy trying to keep her dinner in her stomach rather than on the cement in front of her. The internal muscles heaved and rumbled. Everything sloshed and moved.
She’d never had a run-in with the police. Never had men track her down, or seen a door explode either. Car chases and gunfire—if this was Caleb’s life now, she almost felt bad for firing him. He had been insubordinate and difficult, rarely followed the rules and liked to solve cases instead of limit his work to DNA testing, but he was safe there. So was she. A few more minutes of this level of panic and she was going to throw up. Or worse.
Caleb scanned the large open floor from one end of the cement block area to the other. It didn’t take long, since the floor consisted of four rows of cars separated by two lanes. There was an elevator and a guard cubicle where the cars entered and left but it appeared empty, as opposed to most of the parking spaces. They were full.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
“Probably up on the street.”
His gaze stopped searching and fell on her. “You’re turning green.”
“I’m terrified.” Her teeth rattled to prove it.
“I’ve never known you to be scared of anything.”
“I could make a comment about you not knowing me at all, but now probably isn’t the right time.”
A sharp honk of a horn grabbed his attention, but when the car pulled out and left the garage he stared back down at her. “You think?”
“Believe it or not, I’m not a complete idiot.”
“Never said you were. Never thought it either.” His gaze flashed over her shoulder for the briefest of moments as he hurried their steps to a parking spot near the stairwell.
She would have missed his look if she hadn’t been concentrating on the unique mix of green and gray in his eyes in an effort not to double over. “What is it?”
“There’s a guy to our far right, standing just inside the garage door exit. Pretend to cough and give a quick peek over at him. Ready?”
“Yeah.” She concentrated, making sure to keep her head down as she did what he asked.
“Look familiar?”
“Not at all.”
“Did you see the guys who were following you?” Caleb aimed the key chain at the small black truck as he whispered his question. The click echoed through the floor as the automatic locks opened.
“I didn’t know anyone was behind me until your front door caved in.”
He opened the truck door for her. “Put the seat belt on and then lean down as if you’re checking in the glove compartment. I want your head out of shooting range.”
“Does this thing have air bags?”
“Adam took them out just for this type of situation.”
She thought it made more sense to load the truck with them. “Why?”
“You’d smother if we got hit.”
“You’re not making me feel very confident.”
“Right now my job is to keep you alive. We’ll worry about how happy you are later.” He walked around to his side and slid in. He jammed the key in the ignition as he strapped the belt across his lap and put the shoulder strap behind him.
“What about your head?”
“I’m going to need it to drive.”
“That’s comforting.”
“See, I’m getting better at the making-you-feel-confident thing already.”
She wanted to snort, but she followed his orders instead. Well, most of them. The not-moving part proved impossible as she glanced over the dashboard. The sight in front of her sent fear whirling through every cell and muscle. The man who stood around smoking a cigarette earlier now ran toward them, his face red and his arms pumping. “The guy is moving.”
“I see him.” Caleb pressed a hand against her shoulder and pushed her cheek closer to the leather seat. “No matter what you hear, stay down.”
“Why?” Footsteps thundered closer. A deep voice shouted for them to stop.
“He’s aiming his gun.” Caleb ducked even as he sent the truck flying out of its spot and screeching into the lane. “Down!”
Gunfire rang out all around them. Loud pings sounded as the bullets hit metal. She crouched into a tight ball and pressed as close to Caleb’s thigh as the seat belt digging into her thigh would allow. The smell of heated rubber stung her nose as the vehicle lurched for ward then picked up speed. Tires squealing, they headed in the general direction of the exit.
Before they had gone ten feet, an engine revved off to her right. At least she thought it was that side; at the awkward angle everything sounded muffled and distorted. This wasn’t just someone pulling out. This was someone looking to ram them. She knew that as sure as she knew she’d never make it out of this situation without Caleb’s help.
The whirl of tires grew louder, as if another vehicle