Hiding Jessica (25 page)

“When you’re ready,” Jess was saying, softly now, “go to the post office ten miles from here. Ask for post office box 7246. It will be in your name. I’ll leave a letter for you there, telling you how to find me. Please.” Her voice faltered once more, then she found her strength. “Please allow me to do this much.”

She didn’t turn around enough to see if her mother agreed or not. She wasn’t sure she could take it if Rebecca rejected the offer. Instead, Jess headed straight for the door. At the last moment, however, she found herself compelled to hesitate. She could still see Mitch in her mind’s eye. The question slipped out before she consciously willed it, but once spoken, even she understood why it was said.

“Did you love him?” she asked suddenly. “Tell me, Mama, did you love him?”

For a moment, Rebecca looked startled. Then slowly her eyes widened as comprehension dawned. “In all these years,” she whispered softly, “you never asked me that. I always thought, someday, someday when you were old enough, you would. Who is he, Jess? Is he a good man?”

But Jessica shook her head stubbornly. “I asked first,” she pointed out. “Please, I want to know.”

Slowly Rebecca nodded her head. “Harry wasn’t always a bad man. And sometimes, sometimes I did love him.”

Jess nodded, but the knowledge only added to her confusion. “Is that why you stayed?” she asked finally. “Because you loved him that much?”

Rebecca shook her head. “I stayed because I was too afraid to leave. Because I didn’t know how to support myself and I didn’t know how to support you. And because I was too proud to ask for help and too afraid no one would give it to me.”

Jess nodded, her throat momentarily tightening as she forced herself to swallow. She’d hated Harry for beating them and hated her mother for staying. And loved them both because they were her parents and she wanted to love them anyway.

“Baby,” Rebecca said suddenly. Jessica’s gaze swiveled up, her heart pounding from the unexpected use of the term of endearment she hadn’t heard in ten years. “You’re stronger than me, baby. You always were, even as a child. You don’t have to make the same mistakes. Follow your own instincts. If he’s a good man, he’ll be worth it.”

Slowly Jess shook her head. “There’s no way to know, Mama. No way to be sure.”

For one moment Rebecca Morgan straightened her shoulders and opened her mouth. But then, as quickly as it had come, the moment passed and she slumped back down to her shadowy self. She offered her daughter a weak smile, all she would allow herself to give. And even as she watched, the beautiful creature she and Harry had somehow created walked back out the door.

* * *

Jess was preoccupied going back out to the parking lot. Her throat still felt tight and she had the absurd desire to simply sit down and weep.

She never used to cry, she reminded herself fiercely. She never used to cry and she never used to care. She knew how things worked, and she was strong. She would live her life alone and she would be happy, damn it. She swore it.

She reached for her car door and found her hand swallowed by a firm, encompassing grip.

“Going someplace?”

Her heart jumped in her throat, her breath coming out in a tight gasp. But there was no mistaking it. As she turned around, Mitch Guiness stood right before her, and his eyes were practically black with rage.

“How did you find me?” she managed at last. Her heart still pounded in her chest as her brown eyes slowly swept up to see his face. His jaw was clenched, and she could see the tightly restrained anger in every line. This was no longer the grinning, mercurial man she’d met at the New England retreat.

This was the hunter. And that made her the prey.

“Doesn’t matter,” Mitch replied, now in clipped tones. “All that counts is that you have a lot of explaining to do.”

She looked at him almost desperately. Her emotions felt too raw for this. She wanted at once to break down in his arms and also to flee.

“It doesn’t matter,” she found herself saying, the words whispery. “You don’t have to follow me anymore. I violated the program, Mitch. I’m no longer your responsibility.”

His eyes narrowed, searching her face intensely. If she even knew the worry she’d caused him. He’d had to risk a call to an old friend in the Bureau’s Tech Services Division to find her. The Division had enough wire taps and surveillance on Les and his men to supply every movement. Most of their movements made sense, too, except the two men who were waiting for a “package” at the Ohio Women’s Correctional Institute. Mitch had taken the gamble and driven like a banshee to get here. Now, here, was the long-lost Ice Angel, and every time he looked at her the exhaustion wreaked havoc on his mind. He wanted to sweep her up into his arms and kiss her savagely until she swore she would never run from him again. Until she broke down and told him all the secrets she still locked so tightly in her chest.

“What do you mean, you’re no longer my responsibility?” he demanded instead, not trusting himself enough to even move.

She faltered for a moment. She had to tell him about her mother; then the FBI would no longer be obligated to look out for her. This man could go away and never be hurt because of her. He could walk away strong and vital, and she would never see him again.

For some reason, it physically hurt her to say the words.

“I saw my mother. I violated the agreement.”

Mitch couldn’t quite stop the surprise that slashed through him. He hadn’t understood why the Correctional Institute, but he’d never imagined that the Jessica Gavornée, who had no surviving relatives, had a mother in prison.

“Any more surprises I should be aware of?” he drawled finally.

Jess shook her head, but then her eyes widened abruptly.

“Oh, no,” she breathed.

Mitch’s body went on instant alert, his sharp gaze sweeping around as she spoke. Then he saw them, too. Two gray-suited men walking toward the prison doors. And as they moved, their jackets flapped back in the wind to reveal the unmistakable black shape of guns.

Mitch had found the Ice Angel, all right. But he wasn’t the only one.

Chapter 13

M
itch looked down sharply, his face pure business.

“Listen up,” he said, low and deep. “They know who I am, but I don’t believe they know the ‘new’ you yet. So I’m going to walk away from here, very casual, very quick. And you’re going to get into your car as if you’re just another visitor about to leave. If they look over at you, if they see you, remember everything we practiced. I’ll keep an eye on you, and if anything goes wrong, I’ll jump in. Otherwise you simply drive away from here, heading toward I-80. I’ll follow you in my truck. Got it?”

Wordlessly she nodded, her gaze still riveted to the entrance through which the two men had disappeared. She’d seen one of them before. Vitola? Victorola? Something like that.

Mitch moved back a step, and she forced her shoulders to relax. This was just like they had practiced. Taking another reassuring breath, she slipped her key into the lock.

Mitch’s hand on her shoulder momentarily stopped her. She turned enough to see him watching her with fathomless eyes. “And, Jess,” he said softly, “don’t even think about disappearing again. I don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Slowly she shook her head in agreement. And wasn’t surprised at all that neither of them believed her.

Mitch glanced at the empty entranceway; then his gaze swiveled back to her for one dark, unreadable moment. Just as abruptly, his hand slipped off her shoulder, and he turned away without so much as a backward glance. She watched him go, realizing for the first time how much she’d lost. She’d betrayed him, and the grinning Mitch was gone. This was the agent, and he would always be on the alert around her.

Her throat tightened once more, but she forcefully ignored it. Life was full of choices, and she’d made hers. He would never understand all the reasons, but that didn’t matter. She knew she would always walk away, always run to be alone, and that was all that counted. She slid her key in the ignition and turned.

The engine had just roared to life when the entryway doors came swinging open again. She did her best to appear unconcerned, sliding the car into Reverse. But she returned her gaze to the front in time to see the one man stopping and pointing straight at her. Over the buzz of the engine she heard a faint shout, and then both men began to run. She didn’t hesitate anymore. The adrenaline took over and she slammed her foot on the gas. Too late she looked in the rearview mirror and saw the approaching car.

Even as she slammed on her brakes and heard the unmistakable warning of a horn, she smashed into the vehicle, the impact jolting her forward. For a split instant, she was conscious of nothing. Then abruptly, angry words penetrated her shock.

“What the hell!”

“The lady’s very apologetic—here’s some money.”

“What the—”

Jess didn’t hear the rest. Her car door was thrown open, Mitch’s powerful arms reaching in and unfastening her seat belt while she looked at him with dazed eyes. Suddenly a cracking explosion ripped through the air and even as she was pushed down, the windshield in front of her exploded. Mitch swore low under his breath as tiny shards of glass drove into his skin, but there was no time for second glances.

He pulled Jess from the car onto the ground as a second shot penetrated the air.

“Keep down,” he barked to both Jess and the unfortunate driver of the second vehicle. Sirens were beginning to sound, mayhem erupting from the impact of gunshots in the parking lot. The situation was quickly deteriorating beyond Mitch’s wildest nightmare, and if he didn’t get them out quick, they were all in for a pack of trouble. His sharp gaze darted to his rental truck just ten feet away. The engine was still running and the door was open from when he’d jumped down after seeing the accident. If he could just get them that far without getting them killed.

“Do exactly as I say,” he whispered, sparing Jess a quick glance. Flattened against the pavement, she nodded at him with solemn brown eyes. Leave it to the Ice Angel not to become distressed by a few gunshots. He glanced back up, seeing the two men bearing down on them quite quickly now. Without a second thought, he rolled smoothly up, drawing the Chief’s Special from the small of his back as he did so. He fired quickly and efficiently, both hands aiming and pointing with long-practiced precision. The blast threatened to deafen them all, but the shots were effective. One man dropped immediately, his run coming to an unnatural halt. The second man ducked behind a car.

“Into the truck, now!” Mitch roared. He didn’t have to spare a glance; instead, he heard Jess scramble up and dart for the vehicle. He fired three more shots in the air, backing up as he did so. Then with quick urgency, he jumped into the truck, slamming the door shut even as another bullet cracked the air. “Head down,” he commanded, shoving the truck into Reverse and hitting the gas.

The tires squealed as the truck responded. Mitch straightened, peering over his shoulder as he deftly raced the vehicle backward through the parking lot. Dimly he heard another shot and the glass in his window exploded. He flattened his foot on the gas pedal.

At the end of the row he slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel, throwing them into a nice 180-degree spin. Then he shifted to Drive, and plunged them forward, roaring out of the parking lot while shots and sirens and mayhem erupted from behind.

“Are you all right?” he asked curtly as he fired down the two-lane road. He whipped past a car, then another, finally risking a brief glance over. Her face was pale, and he could see a faint trickle of red blood where one of the shards of glass had nicked her. But she nodded, turning enough to meet his gaze.

“They know now,” she whispered softly. He nodded grimly, screaming past another car before slamming over into a side road.

“The one man can report back your new description,” he agreed.

“The one man?”

His jaw clenched, and he wondered if he should have said anything. But then his shoulders settled rigidly. She said she hated the violence, so she might as well know the results of her little escapade.

“I believe the other’s dead,” he said bluntly, not trying to ease the words at all. He glanced in the rearview mirror, seeing empty space behind them. Another turnoff presented itself, and he took it, slowing down at last. There were few houses here, mostly just miles and miles of fields. He had no idea anymore where they were, and no idea of where they were going. He was just driving, the adrenaline racing too fast to stop.

“Mitch,” Jess’s voice penetrated, soft and low. “Mitch, you need a doctor.”

Feeling almost dazed, he looked down at his left arm. The dark skin was so shredded and cut by glass, it looked like it had been through a blender. Shards of glass winked back at him, tiny and insidious as they lay embedded in his flesh. Judging by the abrupt sting in his cheek, his face suffered the same. He clenched his jaw in sudden anger, but it only made the pain worse.

More houses whizzed by, and for a moment the exhaustion almost overwhelmed him. Where the hell did they go now? How far to run, and just how many were at their heels? Grimly, he forced the thoughts down. He was Mitch Guiness, the best in his field. He’d gotten through worse situations, he was sure, even if none now came to mind.

It was all a matter of one step at a time.

“Pull out the map from the glove compartment,” he commanded softly, his face and arm feeling stiff and fiery now from the pain. He didn’t dare turn to watch, but heard the click as she opened the compartment.

“Find where we are,” he continued, “then find a small touristy-looking place. Someplace where we’ll find a bed and breakfast. It’s too easy for them to check out hotels.”

In the meantime, he came to a more significant-looking road, and turned onto it.

Jess nodded, going over the midwest map with a careful eye. It simply wasn’t detailed enough, however, to allow her to understand where they were. In the end, they simply continued to drive in tense silence.

Twenty minutes later, they came to a small pocket of civilization. Not giving it another thought, Mitch pulled into a gas station.