Hard to Stop (16 page)

She chewed her lip. This was going from bad to worse. A monster truck could navigate the quarry no problem and run them down. "Too late for regrets, as my nana used to say. We need to use our speed and agility to our advantage."

"And hope we don't die."

Max followed behind her as he wondered if he'd made a huge mistake. They would be trapped down there. At least they'd secured some weapons and night-vision goggles from his car. But still…it was a gamble.

Stone formations jutted onto the steep road as they walked around them. In the light it would have been okay, but in the dark it felt precarious. He heard shouting in the background when they found his car. Based on the conversation, they'd split up to see if they could find them.

He had to keep assuring himself that he could trust her. No one had been in his corner since his parents died, except for Jake and Sabrina. He'd learned to live his life on his terms and no one else's. It was the key to survival.

Second-guessing was for sissies, as he always said. Charge full steam ahead and let the world crash around him. Going into this and expecting to survive was a bit crazy. But something told him he'd figure this out by the end of their journey. He might die along the way, but he didn't think so. Right now getting to Mick, finding out what he knew, and foraging through the clues he'd been given were uppermost on his mind.

"This is bad." She succinctly summed up the thoughts swirling around his head.

"Pretty much. I'm not sure what we're going to do when we get to the bottom."

"I know this sounds crazy, but do you think you can drive one of those bulldozers, assuming they keep the keys inside them?"

He glanced at her. She was serious. "Assuming I can, what then?"

"I don't know. Scare them. Run over them. Crush them into submission." She let out a giggle. "Get giant flamethrowers to toss at them."

He laughed despite the circumstances. "I like the way you think."

"That's me. I bonded with my brother over blowing-things-up movies. Adolescent boys love that stuff."

"As do big boys." They raced to the bottom as a shot reverberated through the night. "Guns won't be much good in open space like this. They shot off the padlock, which means they're bringing the truck down. We need to head for that bulldozer before that." He grabbed her hand, and they ran for it. The vehicle was bigger up close than he'd imagined. She was tall but would have a tough climb up. "I'll give you a boost."

He helped her, then watched her ass as she scrambled up the side of the dozer. If it was the last vision he had before this thing went south, at least it was pleasant. He jumped up, grabbed on to the tracks, and climbed into the cab.

"The keys are here." She started it before he even got seated.

He squeezed inside, shutting the windowless door behind him. The thing was built for one person, so it was a tight fit for two. "We should be able to figure this out."

"Glad you're including me in this disaster."

"I was being kind. Actually, it's kind of your fault, since we were following directions from your phone."

Her response was cut off when bullets ricocheted off the metal sides. So much for guns not being any good down here. They weren't close to hitting them yet, but he wasn't sure their luck would hold out. He messed with the gears, shifting the levers up and down and side to side until he got a sense of how to operate it. "Got any idea of how I can turn it around?"

"I wonder what these things do." She pressed some buttons, and the engine died. "Crap." Her fingers shook as she tried to get it started again.

He hit the red button to the side, then turned the key, and it started back up again. "Probably some kind of safety feature. Let's try this thing." He pulled the lever, and the machine went backward. "Damn. I need to see my target in order to scare the crap out of them. Even though I'm in this badass machine, I'm not acting too badass right now."

"How about that thing that looks like a gas pedal?"

He laid his foot on top of it and pressed, and damn if it didn't work. "Okay, you've redeemed yourself by being sensible." He glanced in the mirror and swore. "Guy climbing up on the right."

She put her head out the window, aimed, and shot. "Winged him."

Gianna would definitely give his sister Sabrina a run for her money. "Nice shot. Now maybe I'll try to run them over."

"Or at least their truck."

Max shifted gears and held his foot to the pedal. To say it was cumbersome to drive would be an understatement. Satisfaction hit home when the bad guys started to head for their truck and began pulling out of the way of his lumbering progress toward them.

They could outmaneuver him for sure, as they spun circles at the base. Intermittent shots pinged along the side, but given the size differential, they weren't going to get anywhere close to them. Unless they were aiming at the fuel source. That would blow them both sky high.

Shit.

New course of action. He was going to run them down any way he could. They swept past him, fishtailing. Now he was pissed. "We need to trap them somehow."

"Maybe get them to think you're going to block their way out—and then back up over them."

"You have a violent streak that I'm loving." He pulled toward the road out and turned off the engine with a sputter to make them believe they'd hit something critical. The assailants got closer and closer and one of the guys popped out of the sunroof and managed to shoot the left mirror.

 "This is it. They're close. Start it up and floor it backward. I guarantee they'll scatter." She aimed her gun out the window, ready to get rid of any takers.

Max backed up, then bumped the side of the truck. Hearing the crunch of metal was satisfying. He wedged them in. They began another barrage of random and pointless shooting.

"Like taking candy from a baby." He patted the instruments. "I'm going to have to buy one of these things. They're a crapload of fun." Despite his words, the cab lumbered along the clay at the bottom, squeezing the truck between the quarry side and the bulldozer, trapping them. No way could they move without sheering something off their fancy wheels. He got closer.

But still they managed with the few inches of clearance to wiggle through the opening. The truck resembled a severely dented tin can, and the tires looked jacked, but it was able to move, and it lumbered up and out of the quarry.

"They'll be waiting for us on top," she said as she squirmed in her seat. "What now?"

"They might come down on foot. We can find the best place to hunker down and ambush them when they do. If they're going to play with the big boys, they've got to expect to get hurt."

"But we're sitting ducks down here without a car."

"That's what they think. But we have the night vision. We can pick them off, then steal their stupid truck."

"Which reminds me, where do you get all that fancy equipment from?"

"A guy named Jennings who heads up The Alliance."

"I thought only your siblings worked there."

"He recruited all of us to work for The Alliance."

"Us?" She let the question hang in the air.

Why had he decided to go a different route that fateful day when they arrived in the States? The same question he'd asked himself for eight years now. "I opted out of the agreement at the last minute."

She chewed her lip. "I'd like to ask why, but I think you're not ready to tell me yet."

"I don't divulge my deep, dark secrets until at least the third date."

She laughed. "You're kind of fun when you don't have that stick up your ass."

"Hey, you're the one always busting my balls about little things, like stalking you and your brother." He climbed out of the bulldozer and helped her out.

"You forgot about telling me what to do." She got to the tires and jumped down.

"Who said I couldn't show a lady a good time?"

"Are you ever going to tell me what you did before you came here?"

"Maybe when I get you naked." He smiled. He hadn't expected to say that, but he shouldn't be surprised, since the idea had been simmering in his brain since he'd first laid eyes on her at the police benefit. Long before he even knew who she was and how she'd become entangled in his life. No doubt about it, she was a very sexy woman.

"I wouldn't hold my breath about that, Mr. Fancy Pants. This is about finding my brother and making sure he's safe. In order to do that, we've got to get out of here."

"Trust me. I've been in a lot worse situations. Ask anybody. I'm hard to stop once I set my mind to something."

"I'm definitely getting that vibe from you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you slide on this."

"Stick with me. We'll get out of this." He pulled her in close and kissed her. What in the hell was he thinking? Clearly he wasn't. This whole thing was going to add up to nothing but trouble. "For luck." Did she buy his excuse? Probably not. But hell, it felt right.

*   *   *

Gia let the shimmy take over even while she pretended he hadn't kissed her. Yeah, that was pretty much impossible to do, considering her legs felt like Jell-O. Instead of focusing on that, she slipped on the goggles he'd handed her and soldiered on. That was the key to avoiding anything tricky. And Max Shaw was one tricky guy.

"It's nearly ten. Do you think they've given up by now?"

"Doubt it. Bad guys don't give up that easily." He ushered her to the side closest to the wall. "I'll take lead. Let me know if you see anyone."

"You'll be the first to know, believe me." They trudged up the road heading back out of the quarry. "This seems a lot further on the way up."

"The incline didn't seem this steep while going down." No need to do any StairMaster work after this debacle. Damn her stupid map. She grabbed his arm and pointed toward the top. "One o'clock. I think I see somebody."

 He looked in that direction. "We're not going to be able to shoot them until we get closer. Is that going to work?"

"Not sure. Can you think of another idea? How about that Jennings guy?"

"I'm not sure he can get here in time."

"You a good shot?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Hell yeah. No need to worry about me. How about you?"

"Yep." She didn't need to get braggy and tell him about all the marksman awards she'd garnered. All that mattered was, she could hold her own if push came to shove.

"Okay, let's get this thing done." He grabbed her hand. They inched along the wall of dirt until they neared the top. They pointed and used other hand signals to communicate as they got closer to the men set up along the perimeter.

As they neared the top, the conversation became clearer. The voices filtered through the quiet night in contrast to the soft breeze.

"Maybe one of us should go down there. We might have hit one of them," one shouted.

"No way. That guy is a trained assassin, from what I hear. We don't want to get too close. Besides, they can't stay in that bulldozer forever."

Gia glanced toward Max and raised her eyebrows.
A trained assassin? What the hell?
In response, Max shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you afraid?" the other shouted.

"Hell no, but we want to be smart about this. No sense taking any unnecessary chances. He's evaded every hit so far—even Sammie, who tried to take him out with a garrote, couldn't bring him down. But we can wait them out. Sooner or later they'll surface."

"Even if we have to wait until sunrise?"

"We'll be able to pick them off like fish in a bucket."

This was much bigger than her brother. And it involved Max somehow. But for the time being, he wasn't saying, and she wasn't asking. But later they'd have a talk about exactly who was after him and why. For now, they needed to both get out of this alive and find her brother, and then whatever happened, happened. Protecting Max Shaw wasn't part of the process. He was a big boy and clearly could protect himself. But even so, there was something about him…that glimmer of vulnerability she spotted in his eye every so often that made her believe he wasn't as omnipotent as he pretended.

He grasped her arm and pointed with the slightest of motions toward two men standing nearly side by side along the ridge. Using a finger tap along her palm, he counted backward—three, two, one.

With timing that only longtime partners could execute, they crested the last ridge and shot. The two men went down like targets in a carnival shooting range. One more guy unaccounted for. But he and Gia had the advantage of night vision.

"Stick together, or stay close?" he whispered into her ear.

"Stick together."

He grasped her hands and pointed as they set off together. "Let's find their truck."

She nodded her approval, although she didn't know quite what they'd do if the keys weren't inside. She guessed they'd have to move on to a plan B, whatever that might be. "You look right. I'll look left."

He nodded as they tramped through the woods looking for signs of life—or if that failed, a really big truck. Either one should be easy to find, but that didn't seem to be happening as quickly as she'd anticipated.

The crack of a branch sounded overhead before a guy plopped down in front of them. Before they had a chance to react, he shouted, "Drop your weapons."

They both complied. Max stared straight at the guy. She could almost read his thoughts through his intent eyes.
Ice water in his veins
.

"What's this about?" Max growled.

"Someone paid me to make sure you suffer. In fact, I'm supposed to film the event for viewing pleasure."

"That's a pleasant thought. Anyone I know?" Sarcasm dripped from his lips.

"For right now we'll keep their names under wraps. Maybe as you get closer to burning in hell, I'll satisfy your curiosity."

Faster than she would have thought possible, Max reached behind his back, pulled out a weapon, and shot the guy in the middle of his forehead. Her heart pounded a million beats a minute while he calmly gathered up weapons. The scary part was that he seemed to have done this more than a few times before. The idea that he really was or could have been an assassin swirled around her brain. The Max she'd gotten a glimpse of could very well be an assassin.