Carol Ericson - Delta Force Die Hard

He crawled inside the trunk and his hospital gown spread open, revealing his mighty fine backside.

“Here, let’s get you decent.” She tugged the gown around his thighs, her fingers skimming his cold skin. She started to remove her jacket.

“Leave it on. You shouldn’t look any different from when you left... Shut it.”

Paige slammed the lid of the trunk on Asher, curled into a fetal position. She could do this, despite what her mother believed.

She drove through the sleepy town of Mooseville and pulled up to her room at the motel. She shouted over her shoulder. “I’m back at the motel. I’ll just grab my stuff and check out.”

After Asher gave his muffled assent, Paige slid from the car and pushed the door closed with a click. It took her ten minutes to throw her stuff in a bag. She dumped the three bottled waters from the fridge into a plastic bag, along with her leftover sandwich from the day before.

She strode to the motel office, swinging the room key from her finger. The bell on the door jingled when she swung it open.

Charlie, the motel’s proprietor, peeked around the corner of the back office. His eyes widened when he saw her. “You’d better get out of here.”

The key flew off her finger and her jaw dropped. “Why?”

“They’re looking for you.”

Goose bumps rippled across her flesh. “Who?”

“Those folks at the rest home on the hill.” Charlie looked both ways as if the two of them weren’t the only ones in the room. “Government folks.”

She stooped to pick up the key and smacked it on the counter. “They’re looking for me by name?”

“You...and others.” He swept the key from the counter and dropped it in a drawer. “They came charging in here asking about this one and that one—mostly men—but then they mentioned your name, Paige Sterling. Said you also might be using Paige Knight.”

Paige gripped the strap of her purse. “They asked for me by name? What did they want to know?”

“If you’d been here, checked into the motel.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the parking lot and her rental car with one big Delta Force soldier stashed in the trunk. “And you said...?”

Charlie folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Told ’em they’d need to come back with the cops and a search warrant if they wanted to see my guests’ names. I did tell them I didn’t have any single women staying here.”

“Thank you, Charlie. I’m not involved in anything illegal.”

He waved a hand. “I don’t trust that bunch up there. Wouldn’t give ’em the correct time of day if they asked.”

“I don’t trust them, either. I’m out of here. You can put the balance for the room on the credit card I used.”

“Will do. Too bad I already ran it. That can be traced now.”

“When I checked in here, I didn’t realize...” She shook her head. “It’s all right.”

“Safe travels.”

She slammed the office door harder than she’d intended and jogged to the car. She opened the back door and tossed her suitcase and pack onto the seat. When she slid behind the wheel, she turned her head to the side. “They’re already looking for me, and others. They must realize you had help. The guy at the motel didn’t tell them anything, so they can’t know I’m the one who’s here.”

A thump resounded from the trunk, and Paige knew Asher had heard her.

She squealed out of the parking lot and raced toward the town. As she turned down the main street, she said, “Can you pound on the trunk again or something so I know you’re still alive back there?”

Another loud thump answered her but did nothing to calm her nerves. “As soon as I get the chance, I’ll let you out of there. We need a place to go.”

She pulled up behind a white van at the one stoplight in town. The red light turned green, and she removed her foot from the brake pedal and held it above the accelerator as the car rolled forward.

The van hadn’t moved, and she slammed on the brake. The car heaved forward and back. “Sorry, but there’s some idiot who won’t move.”

Her hand slid from the steering wheel and rested on the horn in the center of it. “I’m going to give this guy two more seconds.”

In less than a second, both doors of the van swung open and a hulking man dressed in the scrubs of a hospital orderly burst out of the passenger side and into the street.

He pinned her with a menacing glare and started to charge toward her.

“Oh my God, Asher. It’s them. They found us.”

Chapter Four

Adrenaline pumped through his body, and Asher’s limbs jerked with the power of the sensation.

Paige screamed and he flushed with rage. She had to get out of here, had to move the car. Unless they had her boxed in. A car in front and one in back that she didn’t notice?

He pounded on the roof of his prison with his fist. The car jumped in Reverse, and his head whacked the side of the trunk. He didn’t even care. They were in motion.

He heard a man shouting. Sounded like that giant oaf Granger. The tires squealed and the smell of burning rubber assailed his nostrils.

The car jerked to the left. Asher felt like he was on some amusement park ride that kept you in the dark so you couldn’t see the next turn of the track.

Paige must’ve floored it, because the car leaped forward and then the back fishtailed. As the car picked up speed, a crash echoed outside the trunk. Asher braced his body for an impact, wedging his bare feet against the side of the trunk...but none came.

The car hit a bump and then...nothing. It sailed forward. “Paige. Paige, can you hear me?”

Several seconds passed, and then he heard the sweetest sound ever.

“We’re in the clear. The van that was blocking me crashed into another car.”

Asher’s lungs ached as he released a long breath in the close confines of the trunk. “Get as far away from here as possible and head south. Can you do that?”

Maybe Paige didn’t have any breath left to answer, but as long as the car kept going forward he’d leave it in her capable hands.

Because his...fiancée had proved herself to be more than capable. In fact, she was a badass.

They traveled for what must’ve been at least thirty minutes before the car slowed down. It bumped and rumbled over rocky terrain before coming to a stop.

Paige threw open the trunk, and Asher blinked his eyes at the daylight.

“Are you okay?” They asked the question in unison, so he answered first.

“I’m fine. What the hell happened back there?” He uncurled his legs and swung one outside the trunk and then rolled out.

“Do you need to stretch out before getting into the passenger seat?”

“I just want out of this area.” He picked his way to the front door of the car as pebbles and twigs attacked the soles of his feet.

Paige got behind the wheel and cranked up the heater. “You must be freezing.”

“Hadn’t noticed...until now.” He rubbed his arms. “Are you going to tell me what went on with that van?”

She cranked her head over her shoulder and backed out of the outlet she’d pulled into. “Came up to the lone signal in Mooseville and pulled behind a white van. When the light changed, the van didn’t move. I was about to pull around it when two goons in scrubs burst out of the van. I knew right away who they were. They must’ve been waiting for me—or any of your other friends on their list—to show up. They must’ve had my picture, and when they recognized me, they made their move.”

“Now they know who helped me.” And they knew that Paige was connected to him in some way. His fiancée. “How did you get away?”

“I reversed, and they jumped back into the van, but they weren’t paying attention. The light had changed, and another car T-boned them.” She smirked. “That van isn’t going anywhere.”