Fugitive Heart - By Bonnie Dee Page 0,47
the tree branches, but the world was mostly dark. It looked to be a dull, even ominous day, and she shivered alone in the blanket. Nick sat on a rock, a small pair of binoculars in one hand.
“Go on,” he said. She sat up with a start, then realized he was on the phone. “Thank Billy for me. Got it. A young guy with a lot of black hair, right. Dark clothes. And another guy who looks like who?” Pause. “Never heard of Telly Savalas, but if he’s bald—yup, yup, I know them. The one with the hair is Bert. Wait. What? They’re leaving the inn now? What the hell? Wait a sec.”
She tried to straighten her disheveled dress. “What—” She started to speak, but he put a finger to his lips and motioned for her to lie down. She obeyed without question. He whispered into the phone, “Someone else is coming. Another car. Gotta go.”
She heard it then. The gravel at first and then the hum of a car engine. Very close. Nick dropped to the blanket next to her. Lying on his stomach, he watched the car and muttered under his breath, “Jake says Bert’s on his way but they just left. So who the hell are these guys?”
Chapter Thirteen
The engine and headlights were cut when the vehicle reached the drive. It coasted to a stop. The two men who climbed out of the black SUV were lumpy figures in the darkness. One was about the size of a refrigerator. The other was shorter, skinnier and wore some kind of nylon windbreaker that made quiet shushing sounds when he moved, which Nick could hear even from yards away. The men were no sooner out of the vehicle than they each reached under their jackets. Nick didn’t need to see the guns. The efficient drawing motion said it all.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. He was not equipped to play cat-and-mouse games with professional criminals.
Nick cut a glance at Ames. Her eyes were wide, alert but not terrified. That was good. The last thing he needed was for her to panic, especially since he didn’t know exactly what he was doing. Playing it by ear was an understatement. But he wanted her to feel confident in his ability to handle this.
He leaned close to whisper to her. “Look, I don’t know who they are. Maybe Bert sent them ahead to check things out. You stay put, and I’ll go talk to them.”
She seized his arm. “No way! Those guys look like… Damn, they look plain scary. If your friend’s not with them, maybe they’re not his people.”
Exactly what he’d been thinking, but Nick didn’t know what else to do. One way or another, this situation was going to come to a head. He might as well come out of hiding, show he wasn’t afraid and was willing to do everything he could to set things right.
“Ames. Please, trust me, and please stay put.”
She clutched his arm hard enough to hurt for a moment longer, then reluctantly released him. “Okay, but I have nine-one-one on speed dial. If anything starts to happen, I’m calling.”
Nick doubted there’d be time. If something went down here, it might very well be him, with a bullet in his head, hitting the ground.
He grasped the back of Ames’s head, leaned in and gave her a hard kiss; then he scrambled up from the ground. Keeping her safe had become more than a desire. It was a driving need wedged deep, unmovable.
He wanted to put some distance between the car and Ames, so he made his way through the woods, then approached the men just beyond the curve of the long driveway. He shouted, hands raised, “Hey. I’m here.”
His heart raced as the men turned to face him. Looking down the barrels of a couple of Berettas could do that.
The big guy got into the SUV and started it. The shorter one jogged toward Nick, gun raised.
“I’ve got the package,” Nick said, hoping that would convince the skinny guy to aim the gun away from him. It didn’t.
“Nick Rossi?” The skinny guy stopped more than an arm’s length away. The other guy had driven the sixty feet and got out again in an almost lazy manner. His gun dangled from his big hand as he joined his partner.
“Yes. You’re with Bert?” Nick said again. “I’ll only deal with him. We have an agreement.” He prayed Bert thought the same thing.
The big guy scowled, then went around the