Touch of Betrayal, A (26 page)

A response. I had to say something. “Everly?” Mitch’s breath was warm, close against my ear. I startled. “Sorry, I must have been caught in visions of decorating and hiring an exterminator.”

I jammed my hand in my pocket, yanked my cell out, and stopped just before I hit speed dial for Annie. What had just come out of my mouth?

The real estate agent blinked, eyes wide, but recuperated quickly and edged toward the parking lot. “The resort has an excellent service. As I’m sure you know, everyone living in the islands has an insect control service on retainer. The business office here would be happy to give you whatever maintenance information you might require to get settled in.” She grinned at us. “And you are such an adorable couple. You’re going to love living here at Turtle Bay.”

I nodded, hustling to keep up with her. A true saleswoman, she’d glossed over my peculiar segue between decorating and bugs with both ease and charm. Thank goodness she didn’t realize her observations about Mitch and me had slashed a deeper groove in my already-gaping wound.

And she’d been astute enough to overlook my unnatural grip on the phone. Mitch wasn’t ignoring it, however. His hand rested at the small of my back, protective, and his forehead had creased into a half dozen worry lines.

“Thanks. I’m ready to go.” I glanced at Mitch. “We can start making plans as soon as we get to Annie’s.” I was desperate to check on Madigan. Hold her. Cuddle her. I hadn’t done anywhere near enough of that this trip.

Crazy, unrelated thoughts wouldn’t stop careening around in my mind.

When we got to her car, the realtor held the passenger door open for me. I motioned Mitch inside. “I’m going to take the back because I’d like to make a phone call. Sorry, I know it’s rude, but I can’t wait to tell my friends about the house.” Another blatant lie. If I didn’t hear Annie’s voice within seconds, and know without a doubt that Maddie was okay, I’d pop a blood vessel, or maybe just go straight for a full-out stroke.

Annie answered before the first ring. “What the hell is the matter with you? You’ve been blathering since you told that woman you wanted to buy the condo.”

Oh, sweet Pele, I’d forgotten my phone was bugged and Annie had heard everything.

She was still talking. “Sounds very nice. We can make a trip over—”

“I just signed a contract, Annie,” I said, hurrying to stop her in mid-sentence. “I’m trying to act normal, but it’s so exciting. In a few weeks, I’ll be an official Hawaiian resident.”

Had she heard Grandfather talking to me? No. She couldn’t have or she’d be hysterical. Apparently, his voice was as elusive as his physical body. My phone
had
been buried in my pocket, and there’d been a strong breeze outside. Sometimes that interfered with reception.

Stop babbling and ask about Maddie, Everly.

“How’s my favorite surrogate niece?”

“She’s fine.”

Silence.

I inhaled deeply, filling my lungs for the first time since Aukele’s pronouncement. “Good. I was just thinking how great it will be to have her visit me. We can have sleepovers when you and Sean want a date night.”

Let me save her life. Please, please let me save her life.

I rang off, and contemplated how much, if anything, I should share with the home team about Aukele’s visit. Would it do anyone any good to know that my shaman grandfather had predicted Maddie would fall ill with the poison? There was no way to stop it if she’d been born with the toxin in her cells. And if it had been there for almost a year, what was the trigger that would activate it? I desperately needed to talk to my grandfather again, but there was no way to find him. Opening to heavenly suggestions, I rolled my eyes up, contemplated the roof of the car, and desperately prayed for Divine inspiration.

No celestial voices penetrated my confused thoughts. I was on my own with this one, and of course it was one of those horrible life conundrums when revealing information would devastate the recipient of the news. But keeping it inside was guaranteed to detonate my internal organs.

I was first out of the car when the realtor parked at her office, did the best I could to make appropriate parting comments, and then ran for Mitch’s truck. “Ready to go?” I asked, hurling myself into the passenger seat.

“Un-huh.” Mitch started the engine then merged onto the two-lane highway. He wouldn’t ask any questions since the truck was bugged, but his frown told me we were in for a major discussion as soon as we got back to Annie’s.

“Too much excitement, I think. With the new condo and all, you know?” My heart pounded in a stuttering gallop. I had to touch Maddie. Now.

Mitch glanced in the rearview mirror. His frown deepened. “Don’t like the looks of that truck behind us.”

I stopped myself from turning around, and caught a glimpse in the side mirror of a newish, low-slung car, weathered from ocean spray and sand. There was an eagle decal on the hood. Two guys occupied the front seat, and there were possibly four in the back. Hard to count with the sun bouncing off the windshield. I ground my teeth to stop panic from spreading through my veins. “How long have they been following us?”

“About five minutes. They’ve been holding back, keeping a few vehicles between us. Could be nothing.” The bite in his words told me different.

I slipped my hand into the top pocket of my cargo pants and touched the metal surface of the .9mm. “Good thing I wore my cargos today.”

His gaze skimmed my ankle, and I nodded. I’d strapped both knives on at the last minute. Not that I’d been expecting trouble, but having Mitch’s truck bugged with both video and audio had put my nerves on high alert.

I shuddered. Violence had become part of my life.

“You cold?” Mitch asked. “You’re wearing that long-sleeved shirt and it’s hotter ’n blazes, but I can cut the air.”

“No. I’m comfortable.” It was such a lie. The vial of antidote weighed heavy against my breast. “I wanted to protect the bandage, you know, from when I cut myself this morning.” I smiled for the hidden camera.

So did Mitch. “Got to watch the sharp edges on those shower doors.”

I nodded. Talk about stilted conversations. My palms were sweaty, and I wanted to rub them on my cargos in the worst way, but figured it might make Chad the Demon suspicious.

“Maybe we should stop for a soda when we get to Haleiwa,” Mitch said, his gaze darting between the road ahead and the car following us.

“Okay. Yeah, we can do that.” My mind screamed at the delay, but no way could I tell him about Aukele’s visit, not with an indeterminate number of rogue spy types listening in, one of them Maddie’s mother.

Mitch blew out a sigh as we hit a deserted patch of highway. “They turned off. Don’t know why it freaked me.”

I started to breathe, stopped mid-inhale.

It happened so fast that my brain processed it in slow motion.

A red truck sped up next to us and nudged the driver’s side, herding us onto an adjacent dirt road. Mitch battled the steering wheel, speeding up, slowing down, trying to shake it off.

“Damn it all to hell, that’s Burr,” I yelled, palming my weapon and flicking off the safety.

“Get down. Stay in the car no matter what happens.” The precision in Mitch’s voice sent a frisson of terror cascading down my back.

Burr picked up speed, rammed Mitch’s truck, and knocked us off the dirt road into a ditch. Pain shot through my right shoulder where the seatbelt cut in, but it wasn’t a hard enough jolt to deploy the airbag. The weapon firmly in my right hand, I dug in my left cargo pocket for my cell. “Annie? Are you getting this? Burr ran us off the road, and, oh shit, he’s out of his truck and pointing a gun at Mitch!”

I aimed my .9mm at Burr, but he’d ducked behind the front end of his truck and I couldn’t get a clear shot.

Burr leaned out, fired. The windshield shattered.

Then he shifted position, sidling toward a mound of rocks. I fired. Missed, and he took off at a run, skidding behind a huge boulder about twenty feet to our left.

My ears vibrated, ringing with the echo of the reports. I’d forgotten what it sounded like without ear protection.

Mitch’s mouth was moving, and a trickle of blood dripped from his ear. “He hit you.” I couldn’t hear my shriek through the ear-ringing.

I leaned toward him, wiping the blood off his face.

“I’m okay.” He brushed me away, prying the .9mm from my hand, checking it. “Glove box. My gun,” he shouted.

And then he ducked, hauling me with him.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Mitch pushed my head into his thigh,
leaning over me, protecting me. Chad The Demon Burr edged from behind the boulder and fired at the truck again, shattering what was left of the windshield. My ears throbbed.

I struggled from under Mitch, tossed my cell on the floor, and tried to pry the glove box open with both hands. He’d swiped my gun. It was my turn to tag his.

Quiet. Too quiet.

A strange calm spread through my body and my mind cleared. “I want that gun back after you’ve killed him,” I yelled. “Don’t miss. That bastard is connected to my parents’ murders.”

He palmed my weapon and smiled, his dimple winking at me. “Stay in the truck, Sunshine.” And then his face went stone cold. A shield spread over his eyes, turning them dark and completely blank. I’d never seen that happen before, had never faced Mitch in warrior mode.

It scared me. But no way in hell was I staying in the truck. I worked on the glove box with both hands, broke two nails, but it cracked open. Two inches. Not far enough to get the gun out.

Shots exploded in the silence, echoing loud in the still air. I jolted upright. It made me a target, but I had to see, to make sure Mitch was okay and holding his own. He’d crouched behind Burr’s truck, and was firing a carefully aimed series of shots. The man had control under fire. Pride surged in my chest.

I ducked back down to work on the glove box. A series of shots battered against metal. Had to be Burr, losing patience. I sucked in a frantic breath, hauled back and kicked at the stuck compartment. It flew open with a clatter, and I grabbed Mitch’s gun. Another .9mm. I checked it, clicked the safety off, and scooted over the center console, my butt catching on the gearshift. I tore free, keeping my focus steady on Mitch.

Still okay. I scanned the area for Burr. Caught sight of his brown wing tip sticking out from behind the boulder. Not a good enough target for me to waste a bullet.

I tugged the vial of antidote out of my bra, pushed it into the seam between the seat bottom and back, and then snagged my cell off the floor. I held it near my mouth, and prayed Annie was listening. Hopefully, Pierce and Adam as well. Maddie’s life might depend on it. “This is important. There’s a vial of healing antidote for my mother’s formula. I shoved it between the seat cushions on the driver’s side. Get it if I don’t survive this. Then find Aukele.”

There was no response. I thumped the phone, shook it. Still nothing. Panic shot through me. If I died no one would know about the antidote. No. Grandfather would feel my death. He’d fix it. I repeated my message. There. Voices in the background. Someone had heard. Maybe. It was the best I could do without yelling.

Burr probably wasn’t monitoring the bugs in Mitch’s truck from behind that rock, and I’d spoken in a pseudo-whisper. But he could have a partner. It was the best I could do to protect Maddie. I shoved the phone in my pocket, jumped out of the truck, and ran for Mitch, skidding to a halt at his side.

“Told you to stay in the truck, Sunshine.” He gave me a tough-guy nod.

“Why is Burr after us now? Why not wait until dinner? Isn’t that why he set it up?” Panic ripped up and down my spine.

Mitch’s face was pale, his jaw set. “He’s after you. Wants me dead. You are a gift to mankind, Everly, with indefinable power. You have to be protected for future generations. And cherished.” The last was a whisper that got lost in the acrid scent of the desperation surrounding us.

A bullet zinged by. Way too close. “We need cover.” I dug the heels of my sneakers into the soft earth. Good thing I hadn’t worn slippahs. No traction, and I was just about done with defense. The desire to avenge my parents surged in my belly. Time to take this guy down.

The hell with Annie’s supposed surveillance system. I wanted to hear her voice, and punched speed dial. She answered, cutting to the chase, cool and calm. “I’m up to speed. Pierce and Adam are on the way, ETA ten minutes. You okay?”

“Yeah, considering Chad Burr ran us off Kamehameha and has us pinned behind his truck.”

“Everly Gray.” Harsh. Demanding, Burr’s voice careened from behind the boulder. “Come out. Hands up, and I won’t kill your badass husband.”

Insanity must have sucked up his common sense, because he had no clue how to get me from behind the truck. Threats wouldn’t do it. “He’s serious about killing you, Mitch,” I said against his ear. “I’m against it.”

It was crazy, but he grinned at me. “Good to hear it. Love you, Everly Gray Hunt.” He planted a kiss on my lips, and then stood straight and tall, and rounded the back of the truck.

I leaned, grabbed for his pant leg, missed. “Come back here,” I screamed.

The first shot hit him in the shoulder.