Iris Johansen - Deadlock

He blinked. "Now we're talking about my children? How did we get so far from lousy traffic?"

"I don't know." She shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to in¬trude on your privacy. Maybe you don't even want to have children."

"I do. I just never thought about it." He smiled. "I didn't realize I had to prepare the way for them. This is our exit." He got off the free¬way. "I'll have to take my responsibilities in that direction under con¬sideration." He glanced in his rearview mirror. "We may have a tail."

"What?" She glanced back over her shoulder. A tan Toyota was the only car behind them. "Why do you think that?"

"He exited behind us. He's been behind us on the freeway."

"Did you see him before that?"

"You mean at the courthouse?" He shook his head. "But I might not have noticed. I was a little distracted by the conversation."

As Emily had been. "If we're being followed, they must have been waiting at the courthouse. We wouldn't have picked them up on the freeway."

"I'm not sure it's a tail. I'm just naturally suspicious. Let's see." He sped up, glancing at the mirror. "They're speeding up, too. I don't think it's 'monkey see, monkey do.' " He slowed, then sped up again. "I'd say it's confirmed."

"They just want to see where we're going?"

"No, this isn't like one of Ferguson's guys tagging us and report¬ing back to him. I don't think this is a simple tail. They're waiting for something."

Her hands slowly clenched. "You can't lose them, can you?" The road they were traveling was a straight one, with only woods on both sides. "This isn't the city."

"It would be damn hard."

"Then what are they waiting for?"

"I don't know. A little more privacy? If so, they're going to get it soon. The turnoff for the airport is just ahead. There's a half-mile stretch that's virtually deserted."

"Maybe we should go straight ahead."

"No, I need to get rid of them. But as soon as we make the turn, I'm going to pull over, and I want you to get out and go into the brush before they see you."

"And leave you alone? Not likely."

"Emily, do what I say."

"Garrett, hell, no."

He gave her an exasperated glance as he made the turn. "Dammit, this is no game."

"Staunton may be in that car."

"Oh shit." He sped up as the Toyota came around the corner. "Keep down."

The Toyota had sped up too, and was getting closer. Emily craned her head to see if she could recognize the driver or the man in the pas¬senger seat. They weren't near enough yet.

"Emily."

"No." She was able to make out the two men now. The driver was dark-haired, swarthy. The man in the passenger seat was fair-haired and thin. "It's not Staunton."

"Then will you please get down," Garrett said through clenched teeth. "They're right on top of us."

"They're trying to pull alongside," Emily said.

"Great surprise." Garrett said.

And the fair-haired man in the passenger seat was aiming a gun at Garrett!

"Down, dammit!" Garrett swerved sideways and hit the Toyota. A bullet shattered the back window as the gunman was jarred by the impact.

Before the man in the Toyota could recover, Garrett hit the car again, sending it spinning toward the edge of the road.

Another bullet, this time burying itself in the metal holding the windshield.

Garrett went after the car, giving it another swipe that sent it off the road and bouncing down an incline and into a ditch.

"Get over into the driver's seat." Garrett was out of the car in an instant. "Get to the airport and bring Dardon and Pauley. It should only take you a few minutes. Don't argue. I'm going to need help."

Then why isn't he coming with me, she thought desperately as she stomped on the accelerator. He had darted to the side of the road and disappeared into the brush. She wanted to go after him. If he needed help, she wanted to be the one to give it to him.

But Dardon was better equipped to deal with a situation like this.

Hurry, get Dardon and Pauley.

And get back here before Garrett is killed.

"STAY HERE, EMILY." 0 A R D 0 N jumped out of the car and started slipping and sliding down the slope toward the ditch. "Pauley!"

Emily ignored him and was right behind them as they reached the car. The driver was crumpled against the wheel. There was no sign of Garrett or the fair-haired man who had been shooting at them.

Pauley checked the driver. "Dead. Broken neck."

The impact of the car or Garrett? Emily had a memory of Gar¬rett's arm around Shafir Ali's neck in that tent in the mountains.

Dardon was already moving toward the brush, examining the way the leaves were lying and the broken branches. "This way, I think."

"No." Pauley was moving toward the north. "I think I heard something…"

"Dammit, Pauley."

"I heard something."

Emily had heard it too. Low, scarcely audible. A groan? A scream? She started at a run after Pauley.

But they had gotten only a few yards into the woods when they saw Garrett moving toward them.

Dizzying relief surged through her.

"You're not hurt?"

He shook his head. "But we'd better get out of here before anyone comes. Someone might have heard those shots. Two dead bodies are hard to explain."

Dardon's gaze went to the direction from which Garrett had come. "Do you know who he was?"

"The shooter was Sal Caprini. I don't know the name of the other man. The address on Caprini's driver's license was in New Jersey." He turned to Emily. "Staunton sent him. Orders were to kill me, take you."

"He told you that?"

"Yes." He smiled faintly. "It was sort of a deathbed confession." He tossed a phone to Pauley. "See if you can retrieve Staunton's number from Caprini's phone, in case we need it. It won't be easy. Staunton would be very careful."

"A challenge," Pauley said. "You do like to keep me stimulated."

"Yes. That's the only stimulation I want you to indulge in while you're on my payroll." He took Emily's elbow. "Come on. We have to get out of here. Dardon, is the plane ready?"

"Almost. Fifteen minutes after we get to the airport."

Emily looked back at the Toyota crashed in the ditch as they reached the road.

"Forget it," Garrett said. "Caprini and his friend would have served you up to Staunton and not given a damn what he did with you."

"I know that. It just happened so… quickly." And with brutal efficiency. She realized that Garrett hadn't really needed Dardon. He'd only wanted to get rid of her. Then he'd gone down and taken care of those men, those murderers, himself. There were moments that she forgot how lethal he was, but then it could be brought back to her with jarring suddenness. Had he killed the driver, too? She wouldn't ask him. Nor would she talk to him about Caprini. He had probably saved her and certainly his own life. She had no right to question how he did it. "Will the police be after us about this?"

"They will unless I can get in touch with Ferguson and use him to run interference. He has contacts. We'll see if he can get a cleanup crew out here."

She looked at him in surprise. "Again?"

"He won't like it, but he might as well make himself useful. It shouldn't be as hard as the one in Kabul. They both died of broken necks that could have happened in the accident. I'd bet Caprini has a record as long as my arm." He shrugged. "I can only try."

And Garrett would probably be successful if he tried, she thought. He seemed to be a master manipulator. She would never have guessed that Ferguson would have agreed to the deal in Kabul. Garrett seemed to know how to press just the right buttons.

"What are you thinking?" His gaze was narrowed on her face as he opened the car door for her.

"I was thinking that you're a very talented man."

"Oh, yes." He glanced back at the ditch. "And you particularly ad¬mire one of my talents." He slammed the door, ran around, and got into the driver's seat. "I've validated your opinion again, haven't I?"