Chapter Fourteen

“This view is spectacular.” Jacie sounded calmer.

Brett had to ask a question that was driving him crazy. “We left a lot of people thinking we’re dead. Is there anyone who needs to be spared that pain? We could risk a couple of phone calls.”

“Nope. Girardi will be sad but he’ll get over it. Both of us lost our cell phones in the pool anyway.”

“I want to call my parents. They can quietly spread the word to the rest of the family.” Brett said, “Will that blow our cover? Could the bomber be checking with my family to see if they know where I’ve gone?”

Jacie shrugged, frowning, “Why would he do that if he thinks you’re dead?”

“Yeah, why would he?”

“And the FBI is probably keeping a lid on that explosion. Your family probably hasn’t been informed.”

If they did notify his parents, he had a lot of people who’d be mourning. Ben would take it like a gut shot. His parents. He hated the thought. He had to tell them, but it might put them in danger.

And all of that was better than Jacie’s answer. “How did you get here, Jace?”

“What’s this, Brett? Philosophy? Who am I? How did I get here? What is the meaning of life?”

Brett smiled across the front seat at her as he followed the Interstate. “I know the meaning of life, so we don’t have to spend any time on that one. I’ve noticed you only mentioned Girardi. What about friends? How’d you end up with a life that is so lonely?”

Jacie exhaled an un-amused laugh. “Who would I be lonely for, Brett? My mother, who is so ashamed of me she can’t talk to me without yelling? My father who never spared me a minute of his time? Maybe I should be lonely for one of those no-account men who’ve made clumsy passes at me, then insulted me when I slapped them down.”

Brett’s jaw tightened. “There are plenty of men who treat women decently, Jace. On behalf of my whole gender, I’d like to apologize for the ones that aren’t.”

“Sorry,” Jacie sniffed. “I insist each one of them apologize separately. A group apology coming from the one nice guy on the planet doesn’t cut it.”

Brett flashed a grin. “When you say slap them down, do you actually hit them, Jace?”

Jacie gave him a mysterious smile. “Let’s just say I’ve never done anything that would hold up in court and leave it at that.”

“If you’re alone, it’s by choice, Jace. I can’t believe you’re not surrounded by interested men.”

Jacie tried her best to burn a hole in Brett’s hide with her eyes. He suspected that if they didn’t have a mad bomber after them, she never would have answered honestly.

“No man wants me, Brett. I’m too ugly.”

Brett bolted upright in his seat and jerked his head around to look at Jacie.

“Keep your eyes on the road.”

“No way do you make a comment like that without me reacting.” Brett felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. He saw a scenic overlook ahead and turned off onto it.

“What are you doing? We need to keep moving.”

“Why did you say that?” He threw the car into park and shut it off.

She was still deeply relaxed. Brett watched her struggle free from her soporific state. She patted his knee. “I didn’t mean ugly. It’s just that I’m tall. I’m fat. I’m...”

“Fat?” Brett unsnapped his seatbelt and turned toward her. He studied her expression and knew calling herself ugly and fat wasn’t a plea for compliments. She really believed it. Believed it so thoroughly she didn’t even understand that her statement might strike anyone as unpleasant.

More than unpleasant, it made him furious. “What are you talking about? You’re not fat. You have the most beautiful body I’ve ever seen.”

“You haven’t seen me. I’ve been wearing these baggy sweats every since...”

He grabbed her by her upper arms and shook her, barely aware of what he was doing. “I say yours is the best. And I’m the only one around here who gets to vote. You’re wonderful! You. Are. Perfect.”

“I hate that word!”

And for a brief moment Brett thought she might hate him for using it to describe her. All her former languor was gone, replaced by barely controlled rage. He clenched his jaw tight to keep from interrupting her.

She wrenched at his grip, but, even though it would have been the nice thing to do, he didn’t let go.

“You’ve got quite a grip there, for a wimp.” She looked a little surprised that he could hold on.

“Vets wrestle thousand pound steers for a living. Of course I’m strong.” It occurred to him that right now wasn’t the time to compare her to a thousand pound steer.

“Look, Brett, you’re a nice guy.”

Brett clenched his teeth. This was the first sentence of the fond farewell he always got from women. Well, Jacie could just forget it. She wasn’t getting away.

“You say I look great, but I’m not someone who lives in a dream world. I’m almost six feet tall. I weigh...” Jacie stopped and scowled at him. “Well, just never you mind what I weigh, but I’m a big girl. I shouldn’t have used the word ugly. I was just joking–sort of.”

Dropping her eyes to her lap, Brett listened while she tried to lay the word ugly off as a joke.

She took a deep breath and Brett could feel her trying to force her tense muscles to relax. When she spoke again, some of her anger abated. “I’m priceless, aren’t I? I’m mad at you for thinking I’m perfect. You poor man.” She looked at him and smiled.

He couldn’t force himself to return a smile of his own.

“You couldn’t know how sick I got of that word when I was young. Perfect. Mother dreamed of the day I’d score a perfect ten. I heard about perfect until I hated the word. And my body...” Jacie looked down at herself.

Brett couldn’t imagine what she was seeing. She wasn’t a frail, skinny woman, but there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her. She had curves, generous ones, curves so enticing they almost stopped Brett’s heart.

“Everyone treated my height and weight like a deformity. I saw something grotesque when I looked in a mirror and...I...I guess I still do.”

Brett sat immobile until he realized she wasn’t going to say anymore. He opened his mouth to talk some sense into her, but he wasn’t sure what to say. He knew a little animal psychology, but he didn’t think scratching her behind her ears would do him any good. Instead of talking, he reached out his hand and ran it through her short hair.

“You’re not petting me, are you?” she asked.

He couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “Always with the smart mouth, Jace.” He continued to hold her, marveling at the perfection he had in his hands. “You can’t be seeing what I’m seeing. I thought I’d pulled an angel out of the water. Someday when you’re old and gray with wrinkles covering you...”

She laughed.

“...and you’re as fat as a fifty gallon oil drum.”

“Speak for yourself.” Then she muttered, “Fifty gallon oil drum.”

“You’re gonna look back and think, ‘how could I have wasted my youth and beauty wanting to be different?’.” You’ll see old pictures of yourself and want to cry because you didn’t revel in how gorgeous you were. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Do you really want to be five feet tall? It might be great for winning gymnastics meets, but once you’ve got the gold metal tucked away, who’s going to reach the coffee cups on the top shelf for you? Do you want to spend your life watching the road while you drive by looking under the steering wheel? Do you want to shop in the children’s section forever? Because I’m tellin’ ya, Jace, Oshkosh B’Gosh overalls look pretty silly on a senior citizen.”

She crossed her arms and looked out the window. He prayed for God to give him wisdom and to touch Jacie’s heart with peace. She finally looked up at him and he saw that her eyes were filled with tears and her mouth wavered a little.

She took a deep breath and said, “You really think I’m beautiful, don’t you?”

“Well, Jace, it’s not my opinion. Facts are facts. You’re...” He rested one hand over her mouth and leaned to within an inch of her face and whispered, “...perfect.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Quit that!”

“Quit what?”

“You use your eyes to hypnotize me. Stop it!”

“I do?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know it.”

He grinned at her. She scowled. They had a stare down that Brett knew could only end with her in his arms.

She did relent enough to say, “That’s nice. No one’s ever said I’m beautiful before.”

“Oh, sure they have.” Brett shook his head.

“Well, yes, they have. But, they all wanted something from me.”

Brett clenched his jaw as he thought of what men would want from Jacie.

“This is the first time...I mean...I think you really believe it.”

Which wasn’t the same as her saying she didn’t think she was ugly, but it was still a huge admission.

Brett decided to be satisfied with it, for now. “You bet I believe it, Jace. If you don’t want to agree with me, that’s okay. You’re so beautiful that, once you get it in your head how pretty you are, there’ll be no living with you.”

No one had said anything about living with anyone. But Brett couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked back so intently that Brett wondered just what it was he did to her with his eyes.

He grinned. “Let’s find a place to eat. I’m starving.”

She sighed with relief and nodded.

 

 

 

 

The sun had long ago quit blinding him. The stars had emerged. A fat moon drifted across the sky. They’d stopped when they had to, to refill the car and stretch their legs, switching drivers every time. They’d walked into a fast food restaurant to grab a burger. Jacie had tried to get Brett to drive through, but he insisted that he needed the break.

They drove into the mountains and the majestic scenery lifted Brett’s spirits for a time, but the sun set and finally, the monotony of the Interstate and the darkness that denied him the view, began playing on his mind, lulling him. He jerked awake and wasn’t sure how far he’d driven without being fully alert. The highway was wide and the shoulders gave him some room for error, but it was still a steep mountainous pass. He saw an exit sign ahead of him and made a split second decision.

It was already almost too late when he veered onto the off ramp. The sharp swerve threw Jacie against her seat belt and brought her head around. “Why are you pulling off?”

“I’m falling asleep. The Interstate is getting to me. I’m going to get off and take a road that requires more attention. That always works when I’m driving long distances.”

Jacie sat up straight in her seat and rubbed her hands over her face. “I don’t want to take one second more than necessary to get there. Pull over and let me drive.”

“You were asleep, too. Letting you drive isn’t safe. I know we decided to drive straight through, but I can’t make it, not on that boring Interstate. I want to clear my head by driving on a more interesting road for a few miles. There’s a town ahead so we’ll see the city lights and make a pit stop, grab some coffee. Then keep heading for Seattle.”

“We took a break not that long ago. We need to get there. The Loona-Bomber might beat us to O’Donnell.”

“Loona-Bomber?”

“I’ve been thinking of him that way since we decided he’s crazy as a loon.”

“I like it. And as far as hurrying to Seattle, I’ve been having second thoughts about that.”

“Go on.”

Brett had expected resistance. The way she reacted, he wondered if the idea of racing toward a crazed hitman might sound a little stupid to her, too.

“The Feds are there,” Brett said. “They could not possibly be more completely on guard than they are now, especially since there were probably agents killed in the bomb that was meant for us in Long Pine. So, what’s the hurry? We’ve been on the road for hours. We’re both half asleep. And the truth is...”

Jacie looked over at him when he paused. In the dimly lit car interior, it was hard to read her expression. But he thought he saw discomfort, like maybe she was reading his mind, and knew exactly what he was going to say.

Brett stared at the two-lane highway in front of him and drove for long minutes. He hated to say what he was thinking out loud, because he knew it made him sound like a wimp again… still.

The lights of some unknown town started to appear on their right. They gave way to the dark expanse of the two lane highways again. Still Jacie stubbornly refused to admit what she was thinking.

He knew she’d never go first. “The truth is...I’m rushing to Seattle to...what? Catch this guy? Confront him? Beat him at his own nasty little stealth game?”

Jacie remained silent.

Brett was sure his next comments fully qualified as ranting. “I have every ounce of confidence in the world that if a Vietnamese potbellied pig needs liposuction, I’m your man. You got a bat with malfunctioning radar? I can handle it. I once fitted a pigeon-toed centipede with fifty pairs of teeny tiny orthopedic shoes.”

“How’s he doing?” Jacie asked dryly.

“Really well. He still writes at Christmas.”

Jacie sniffed.

“This is my gift. I take care of animals. I’m better at it than the Loona-Bomber, and I’m better at it than the FBI. But when it comes to sneaking through the woods and pouncing on highly-skilled, maniac bombers, who carry large caliber automatic pistols....well, I have to tell you, the FBI has me beat. I don’t kid myself that I can do what they can’t.”

“Not the attitude of a true hero, Garrison,” she said tartly.

“I know.” He slumped down in his seat. Confessing to cowardice in front of Jacie had an up-side, though. The desire to sleep was being driven from his brains, replaced with the desire to trade places with the next road-kill raccoon they come across.

“In fact it’s a disgrace,” she said it so sharply it was like a whip, lashing against his skin.

“Tell me about it.” He wasn’t about to defend himself.

“You want the FBI to nab this guy before we get there, and have the whole crime sewn up without us.”

“I want that desperately.” Brett liked it when she was mean...mostly. This wasn’t fun.

“You’d rather survive, even if it means O’Donnell dies.”

“Put like that, I guess it’s pretty selfish. I guess I’m hoping we can all survive. And I’d especially like it if we can manage without me ending up standing between O’Donnell and a bomb-throwing fruitcake.” Brett was starting to chafe under her nagging insults.

“Just because you don’t know this guy, you...the man who risked his life and mine for a stupid cat...wants to lay back and wish the whole mess would go away, even at the expense of a human life.”

That was a low blow. He could take her abuse but now she was insulting his cat. “Siam isn’t stupid.”

“What’d he get on his SATs?”

“1200,” Brett fired back.

A fleeting smile crossed Jacie’s lips, but she controlled it.

Brett saw it, though. He remembered his initial belief that she wasn’t in that big a hurry to die herself. Which meant she was just torturing him for entertainment.

That’s my girl!

“Know what I think about you wanting to hide out from this whole thing, Garrison, while we leave O’Donnell to twist in the wind?”

“That I’m a gutless, yellow-bellied, weenie?” He figured he’d save her the trouble of pointing it out. “That I’m a spineless wimp? That I’ve had a liver transplant and they accidentally replaced mine with a lily liver?”

“No,” Jacie said cheerfully, “I think it’s the meanest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Brett sat up straight, honored. “You do?”

“Yeah,” she slapped him on the shoulder. “Way to go. If O’Donnell really started this whole thing with some act of nastiness fifteen years ago, then I say let him sweat for a few more hours. Let’s find a place to sleep.”

It was right then, that exact moment, that Brett knew he was beyond saving. He didn’t care how much she chewed him up or whether she swallowed him or spit him out. He was completely in love with her. And what’s more, he knew he always would be. It roared through him, setting every cell in his body on fire.

He was a prudent, careful, intelligent man who knew better than to believe in love at first sight, or even love on three days’ acquaintance. But he also knew truth. And truth was Jacie. Truth was loving her. Just ahead, a truck stop blazed with light and life in the middle of the night. He pulled into it.

“I didn’t mean you had to stop immediately, moron. We could take a second to find a motel.”

Brett jammed the Camry into park before it quit rolling. She was still yapping away, when he grabbed her and shut that mean mouth up with a kiss.

 

 

 

 

Jacie knew, absolutely, positively for certain that Brett was a wimp. She knew he was pure Beta Male. He was a living, breathing marshmallow man.

But could he ever kiss!

When he kissed her, he was transformed. He held her head, taking complete charge of the way his mouth moved over her, as if he thought he knew just what he was doing.

He did.

Brett pulled away long before she was ready. “We’ve got to stop.”

Their eyes locked. When Brett finally looked away, Jacie felt like a physical tie between them ripped.

Breathing slowly, she regained control of herself. “You’re right. Let’s get out of this car and get some rest.”

Brett nodded at the dingy motel behind the truck-stop. “That looks like as good a place as any, considering we don’t dare use a credit card.”

Brett checked them in and saw Jacie to her room like a perfect gentleman. He didn’t even kiss her good-night again.

Jacie appreciated it and respected his self-control.

And she wanted to slap him silly for being so blasted nice.

 

 

 

 

It was time for O’Donnell.

There were guards everywhere. Some in dark suits, some in camouflage fatigues. They were acutely alert, heavily armed, and he slipped past them as if they were asleep.

He was invulnerable. He eased and slithered. Silent as a ghost, changeable as a shadow. He was within ten feet of his destination. His detonator at hand. But he didn’t intend to use it.

O’Donnell needed to die slowly. More importantly, he needed to understand why he was dying.

Chita punished herself still, all these years later. The Destroyer knew it had become part of her and killing her enemies wouldn’t restore her to the virgin child she had been. But it was justice.

Like water, he flowed to a slight dip in the ground. Too small to be considered a hiding place. Perfect for him.

Inches from the window, he waited, biding his time until the guards moved out of eye sight. He coiled his muscles. Ready, with one leap, to enter the building through this open window, slowly squeeze the life from O’Donnell’s cursed body, slice off a trophy for Chita, and go.

A voice wafted through the window.

“They weren’t in the building when it blew up?”

Pause. It was one side of a phone conversation.

“Neither one of them? Garrison or Moreau?”

Pause.

“You’re sure they left of their own accord and not at gunpoint?”

Pause.

“Why would they walk away from a safe house?”

Long pause.

“What are the chances that they’re the leak?”

Pause.

“Yeah, I know. Well, their timing is too good. It had to be more than luck.”

Pause.

“They may have survived the attack, but if they’re not in on it then they’re a long way from safe. Find them! And let the dogs out to patrol this area right now! I’m not accepting any excuses about O’Donnell’s protection!”

The phone cracked down onto the cradle so hard a sharp ring sounded.

The Destroyer sagged onto his back for one fleeting second. They were both alive!

He heard the baying of bloodhounds. He hesitated for one split second, sorely tempted to place the bomb and finish O’Donnell now, but O’Donnell’s death couldn’t be like that. He deserved so much worse.

The Destroyer slipped away, planning what he’d do next.