Maya Banks - No Place to Run

Rio’s gaze found hers for just a moment, and she saw steady reassurance there. Then he doubled his hands and positioned them over Frank’s heart. Face drawn and pale, Donovan tilted Frank’s neck back, then leaned down and began mouth-to-mouth.

Marlene was on her knees, her face so white that it scared Rusty. She looked like she was in shock, and worse, there was such fear in her eyes that it hit Rusty in the gut like a punch.

“Marlene. Marlene!” Rio added the last more forcefully.

Marlene snapped to awareness and looked at Rio.

“Call 911. We have to get him to a hospital.”

Rusty started to shake. There wasn’t a part of her body that wasn’t trembling violently. Oh God, not Frank. No, no, no. Tears welled in her eyes and she wrapped both arms around herself in an effort to gain control.

Rio’s expression was grim as he and Donovan continued CPR. Donovan wouldn’t look in her or Marlene’s direction. His steadfast focus was on forcing air in and out of his father’s lungs. Marlene raced to the phone, and Rusty could dimly hear her relaying the situation to the dispatcher.

Only seconds later, Marlene returned and stood anxiously over the men. “They said an ambulance would be here in ten minutes.”

Donovan didn’t acknowledge her. He kept on with the breaths.

The wait was the worst Rusty had ever endured in her life. It was like a bad video that was stuck in a replay loop. It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real. This wasn’t happening. She couldn’t lose Frank. He believed in her. No one else believed in her.

When the paramedics finally arrived, they had to force Donovan away. It was a blur. There was a tube and needles. Lines and a machine. When they paused in CPR to check for a rhythm and the thin, red, flat line streamed across the monitor, Rusty lost it.

“No!”

She threw herself forward and shoved the paramedic out of the way. She hugged Frank to her, sobbing, her heart breaking.

“No,” she cried hysterically. “You can’t leave me. Please don’t leave me. You can’t die.”

Rio plucked her off, and she kicked and fought him until he wrapped both arms around her and held her immobile. The medics quickly wheeled Frank out of the room to the waiting ambulance, and when Marlene would have followed Donovan, Rio’s man gently reined her in.

“Listen to me, Rusty,” Rio said in a low voice next to her ear. “He’s not gone. Not yet. They can save him. You have to believe that. You can’t give up on him. He’ll know.”

Tears ran down her cheeks. She’d never felt so lost in her life. Not when her stupid mother ran out on her. Not when her asshole stepfather made her life miserable. Not when she’d tried to turn tricks just to find a way out of her life.

“Rio, why can’t I go with him?” Marlene asked in a stricken voice. “Where are they taking him? I need to be with him. I need to be with Donovan.”

Rio gently set Rusty down on the couch and took the seat beside her. He cupped her cheek even as tears splashed over the back of his hand. He glanced over at Marlene.

“My job is to keep you safe. All of you. I’ll take you to the hospital. But we’ll do this right. You go with me. You don’t go anywhere without me. Understood?”

Marlene nodded numbly, her eyes glazed with fear and grief. Then she crossed the room and sat down next to Rusty, pulling her into her arms.

Rusty hugged her fiercely and buried her face against her breast. All moms needed to smell like Marlene. Warm and comforting. Rusty’s only experience with mothers’ smells was one of alcohol and stale cigarette smoke.

“Shhh,” Marlene said as she rocked Rusty back and forth. “He’s a fighter, Rusty. All the Kellys are. It’ll take more than a heart attack to put Frank down. He’s survived worse.”

Rusty choked back another sob and clung desperately to those words. She knew Marlene was putting up a brave front for her, and she appreciated it—loved Marlene for doing it—but she felt Marlene’s betraying tremble and the fear that was laced into those words of comfort.

Rio put a hand on Rusty’s back and then slid it up to squeeze her shoulder. “If you two will come with me, we’ll get you to the hospital.”

SOPHIE woke to an empty bed and the sun streaming through a crack in the blinds. She turned from the glare, reached for Sam’s pillow and hugged it to her, inhaling his scent.

She was deliciously tired and sore from their love-making, and for the first time she didn’t dread telling Sam everything. She’d confide in him about the key and trust him to do the right thing with the information. He was a good man, and she didn’t think for a minute he’d betray her trust.

Smiling, she got out of bed and pulled on one of the pairs of elastic-waisted jeans she’d found waiting for her. She’d been ridiculously touched that there had been actual maternity clothes in her size along with all the accoutrements, including a bra that fit and underwear.

With a satisfied sigh, she went in search of Sam. She didn’t want to put off the inevitable any longer. She’d tell him, get it over with, and then hopefully she could put the past behind her.

The murmur of voices from the living room grew louder as she ventured down the hall. When she rounded the corner, she was surprised to see someone standing with Sam and Garrett. She knew Garrett was supposed to arrive today, but Sam hadn’t said what he’d been doing.

All three men turned when they heard her, and now, subject to their scrutiny, she wished she’d just stayed in bed.

“If I’m interrupting, I can just go back ...”

She started to turn, but Sam strode over, his expression indecipherable. He took her hand, but tension radiated from him, and she glanced nervously over at the new guy again.

“Sophie, I want you to meet Adam Resnick. He’s here to speak to you.”

She blinked in surprise, and her gaze rapidly went from man to man. Garrett as usual stood there looking like you could break a rock on his face. The Resnick guy looked . . . eager, for lack of a better word. Sam looked . . . worried.

“To me?”

Her heart pounded harder. She broke out in a sweat, and she swallowed in vain at the knot in her throat. How would this man—whoever he was—know anything about her? Why would he want to talk to her?

Resnick stepped forward. “Sophie. Can I call you Sophie?”

She nodded stiffly and waited, her dread increasing with each second.

“I’m with . . . Well let’s just say I represent the interests of the United States government, and I’d like to talk to you about your father.”

She sucked in her breath, and her shocked gaze went to Sam. He’d sold her out. He’d actually sold her out! Sam frowned and reached out for her, but she flinched away, putting half the room between them.

For a long moment she stood, fists clenched, facing away from the occupants of the room. When she turned, she refused to look at Sam. She directed her gaze at Resnick and asked in a cold voice, “What do you want to know?”

Resnick moved toward her, and she took a quick step back. Her chin went up, and she forced calm she didn’t feel.

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know,” she said truthfully.

“Okay, where is he likely to be? If you’d give us information on his holdings we can match it to what we know of him. Maybe we’re missing something.”

“I don’t know.”

Resnick made a sound of frustration. “What can you tell us, Sophie? If you cooperate fully, we’ll make allowances for you.”

A chill went down her spine.

“Resnick,” Sam growled.

Sophie ignored Sam and stared straight at Resnick. “Allowances? What sort of allowances should I expect? What is it you’re threatening me with?”

Resnick held up his hands. “I’m not threatening you. I’m merely pointing out that we can do more to help you if you cooperate with us.”

“Oh nice,” she said bitterly. “What you’re saying is I’m on my own unless I play nice with the FBI or CIA or whoever the hell you are. You know what? I’m fine with that. I never should have relied on anyone but myself anyway.”

“Sophie,” Sam cut in, his voice hard enough to direct her gaze toward him. “He doesn’t speak for me.”

“You’re wrong, Sam.” She pressed her hands to the sides of her legs to keep them from shaking. She stared at him unflinchingly as she delivered her judgment. “The moment you brought him here, he spoke for you.”

“Sophie, damn it.”

She looked away again, anger vibrating in her throat. She wasn’t getting into this with him in front of others—or anytime.

“I’m asking you to help me,” Resnick said. “He’s hurt a lot of people. As his daughter you know this. We think he’s trying to put together technology to build a nuclear weapon and auctioning it to the highest bidder. He has to be stopped.”

“He never—that is he doesn’t—confide in me. I’m not privy to the details of his business dealings,” she said stiffly.

“Okay, yes, I understand that,” he said in a placating tone. “But there are things you can tell us about him, small details that you might not think will help.”

“Tomas is who you should be looking for.”

Resnick blinked in surprise and then looked at the others, as if gauging their reaction to her statement.

“Why is that? We were led to believe that Tomas had no power whatsoever.”

She stared coolly at him, her hands still tight against her sides. “You asked, I told you. He wants me dead, but maybe you don’t care about that.”

Resnick stared intently at her. “Is he dead, Sophie? Did Tomas kill Alex in an attempt to seize power? Is that why he’s after you now, because you’re Alex’s heir? Or do you have something he wants?”

The blood left Sophie’s face. She willed herself to keep it together. Her stomach revolted, and now her skin felt hot and clammy.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom.”

She bolted, ignoring Sam’s worried question as to whether she was okay. Okay? How could she be okay when she’d been played for the biggest fool ever?

God, when was she going to stop being so damn trusting?

Hearing footsteps behind her, she slammed the bathroom door behind her and locked it. Last thing she needed was Sam hovering over her.

“Sophie,” he called through the door. “Damn it, Sophie, open the door so I can see if you’re all right.”

She leaned over the sink and breathed deeply, sucking air through her nostrils as she fought the urge to puke. She sensed Sam’s presence for several more seconds before she finally heard him retreat and walk back down the hall.

She splashed water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror until she was sure she didn’t look like she was about to fall apart. She looked down at her hands and raised them in front of her and waited for the shaking to stop. When she was satisfied she could hold it together for however long this “questioning” lasted, she opened the door and quietly walked back into the hall.

When she reached the end, Resnick’s words stopped her cold in her tracks.

“I have to take her in. You know that, Sam. She’s too valuable to let go. She knows something. Even you can see that.”

Fear nearly knocked her to her knees. A dull roar started in her ears as her blood pounded furiously. Hell if she’d escape her uncle only to fall prey to some government lackey who was eager to put a notch in his belt by taking down the Mouton family.

She didn’t escape one prison only to enter another. Her child would have a better life than she had, and she’d do anything to ensure that. She already had.

She turned, her mind working frantically for an escape route. There were windows in the bedrooms, but she certainly hadn’t inspected them to see if they opened. Now seemed a good enough time.

“YOU are out of your goddamn mind,” Sam snarled. “Sophie stays with me and that’s nonnegotiable.”

Resnick blew out his breath and dragged a hand through his hair. “Look, Sam, I don’t have a choice in this. This is a matter of national security. Surely you can see that. I have to do whatever it takes to stop Mouton, even if that means taking his daughter into custody. Hell, I’m not going to hurt her. I’d make sure she was taken care of. She’d have the best medical care for her and the baby.”

Sam grabbed Resnick by the collar and slammed him against the wall. “My child. Mine. That’s my baby and Sophie’s my woman. I don’t give a fuck about what your superiors are saying. She stays under my protection.”