LITMIR.BIZ

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buckled himself in the passenger seat.

      “Are you?”

      “We’ll see.”

      A black SUV with tinted windows, a cliché, Shelley thought contemptuously, rounded the corner. She punched the gas, took the driveway out of the parking lot and sped into the night. At the same time, she said a silent prayer, asking for the Lord’s protection and help. She knew she couldn’t do this on her own.

      When she didn’t immediately see the SUV behind her, she allowed herself a small sigh of relief.

      Then she saw it.

      Another SUV, black like the first. She didn’t bother hoping it was just a high school boy and his date out for a late night drive. No, this was the backup vehicle, and it was heading straight for them.

      At that moment, the first SUV reappeared in her rearview mirror. A real-life car chase was nothing like what was portrayed on television. There was no dramatic music, just the relentless knowledge that the enemy was closing in. And unlike on television, there would be no hero riding to the rescue. If she were to get Caleb and Tommy out of this, she had to depend on herself. And the Lord.

      “Make sure your seat belt is pulled tight. Then hold on.” Breath hissed between her teeth even as cold sweat trickled down her back, signaling her body’s response to stress. The reaction was physiological. Over the years, she’d learned to use it, releasing anxiety while allowing her to function at peak performance.

      Shelley didn’t bother making sure Caleb complied with her orders. She was up to her neck in crocodiles, or, in this case, SUVs, and needed all of her attention for the road.

      The driver of the second SUV would expect her to slow down, perhaps to turn away. She did neither. Instead, she laid down some tread until the car was nearly adjacent to the SUV, the first in hot pursuit.

      Tommy let out a startled cry.

      It was a life-and-death game of chicken, one she was determined to win. Her smaller vehicle didn’t have size or power on its side, but it had maneuverability, and, in this instance, that trumped size.

      She didn’t let up on the gas but punched it until she was mere inches from the second vehicle. She spared a glance in the rearview mirror and saw the first bearing down on her.

      Good.

      Close enough that she could see the startled expression on the driver’s face, she nearly smiled. Would have, if the circumstances hadn’t been so dire. At the last minute, she veered sharply, shooting the car around the SUV. Sweat, cold only moments ago, now burned through her shirt and blazer.

      Shelley held her breath. Could she make it? She pushed that from her mind. She had to make it. Caleb and Tommy’s lives, not to mention her own, depended upon her doing just that.

      “Don’t let up now,” Caleb said. “Keep going.”

      Tires left pavement, bumping along the uneven ground, kicking up hunks of dirt and grass, until, with a twist of the wheel, she muscled her way back onto the road.

      A screech of tires and the inevitable crash told her that her ploy had worked, the first vehicle ramming into the second with a satisfying crunch of metal and glass.

      A grunt from Caleb and small sob from Tommy had her checking her rearview mirror once again. At Caleb’s grim nod, she refocused on the road. They weren’t out of the woods yet.

      “Hold on,” she shouted once more.

      After she let up on the gas, she spun the wheel, then executed a perfect J-turn, one even her driving instructor at the Service would have given her full marks for.

      While the occupants of the two SUVs scrambled out of their ruined vehicles and managed to get a couple of shots off, she came out of the one-eighty and had the car pointed in the direction she wanted to go.

      She gunned it. With a squeal of tires and the spit of gravel, it shot forward.

      “Jake was right,” Caleb said. “You’re the real deal.”

      Shelley didn’t waste time responding. They’d managed to escape their attackers this time. But what about the next?

      The fight wasn’t over. It had just begun.

       THREE

      “That was some driving, lady.” Caleb’s voice cut through the night.

      “Thanks. I think.” Energy continued to pump through Shelley, even though the crisis was over, at least for the moment.

      From habit, and need, she mentally repeated a scripture from Psalms: Be still and know that I am God. Calm flowed through her at the familiar words. Her breathing leveled, and her heart rate gradually returned to normal.

      “Maybe we can go back another time and pick up my heart,” Caleb added. “I think it popped out of my chest around the time you almost lost that game of chicken back there.”

      Shelley flicked a glance over her shoulder. “Liked that, did you?”

      “I don’t believe that’s what I said,” he corrected dryly.

      The muted light of the dashboard revealed a hint of a smile in a jaw that was darkening with beard shadow. Once again she was struck by the masculine appeal of the man that managed to combine bold, rugged good looks with incredible blue eyes that could warm with tenderness when he gazed at his nephew or turn glacier cold when that same nephew was threatened.

      She wondered what it would be like to meet him under normal circumstances. Nothing about the past twelve hours could be called normal.

      While she appreciated his humor, Shelley was keenly aware of the chance she’d taken. Risking her own life was one thing; risking that of Caleb and Tommy was something else. But what choice had she had?

      The protection/security business had only two rules. Rule number one: protect the client. Rule number two: refer to rule number one.

      “I was praying the whole time,” she admitted in a low voice.

      “Me, too. A soldier quickly learns that prayer is the only real protection.”

      She stored that away, to be taken out and examined later. “How’s Tommy?”

      “He just keeps staring out the window,” Caleb said.

      She was no expert in child psychology, but she knew enough to recognize that Tommy was not responding in a normal manner.

      “What’s going to happen to him?” she asked softly. “After this?” It was as if Tommy were in some kind of trance.

      “I don’t know,” Caleb admitted.

      “There’re people who can help.”

      “I know. But first we have to protect him.”

      “And you,” she added.

      His nod was brusque. She knew his own safety mattered far less to him than that of his nephew. He glanced out the window at the passing scenery.

      “How long until we reach this cabin of yours?”

      “Another hour if we were going straight there. Which we’re not.”

      “Care to enlighten me?”

      “We’re heading back to Atlanta to pick up another car. Those guys had to see what we’re driving, maybe even the license number if they had infrared capabilities. Which I’m pretty sure they did. They’ve probably already reported back to whoever they’re working for.” She’d spent the past few minutes working things out in her head. Once it had stopped spinning, that is.

      “How’re we going to get another vehicle?” Caleb asked.

      “I’m going to tag Sal, one of our operatives, to meet us with a car.”

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