'Are you sure you're feeling okay? That doesn't sound like the workaholic I know and love.'
'I'm fine. Get out of here. I want this place cleared in five minutes.' She closed the door, and her gaze darted around the back parking lot. Nothing suspicious. God, she was turning paranoid. This was only a precaution, dammit. She unlocked the SUV, and Ned jumped into the back.
'Lie down.' Okay, go for broke. She might as well go the whole nine yards. 'Play dead, Ned.'
Ned rolled over and closed his eyes.
Why had Marrok felt he needed to know that particular trick? She tossed the plush football blanket she kept for transporting sick animals over him. 'This is crazy. I hope your friend Marrok isn't leading me down a blind alley.' She got into the SUV and backed out of the parking space. 'Because I don't like him interfering with my-'
Her driver's side window shattered, and a bullet plowed into the leather of the passenger seat!
What…
A man was running out the back door of the clinic toward her car. 'Stop, bitch.' He lifted the gun in his hand. 'Gotcha.'
A hot streaking pain seared the side of her neck.
Shot, she realized incredulously. She'd been shot.
She instinctively pressed the accelerator, but the man had reached her car and was running beside it, pressing the muzzle against the glass.
She was going to die.
There was no way he could miss from this distance. His face was only inches from the glass. Hard face. Ugly face.
Yet suddenly there was no face. His skull was half-blown away, and he dropped to the ground.
'Let me in.' Marrok was standing at the passenger door. His tone was so demanding, she automatically pressed the button.
He jumped in the SUV. 'Now get the hell out of here.'
She was staring dazedly at the man crumpled on the ground. 'You killed him.'
'Damn straight. I blew the bastard's head off. Would you rather I let him do that to you? He probably wasn't alone. Get this car moving!'
She stomped on the accelerator, and the car lurched forward. She didn't look back until she was almost out of the shopping center at the exit to the street.
This couldn't have happened. The sun was shining brightly, and she saw a mother and her two kids going into the ice-cream shop across the street. Everything was normal and as it should be.
Except someone had just tried to kill her and had died horribly in the attempt.
And there was another man running out the back door of the clinic and up the hill toward the street.
A navy blue SUV was parked directly in front of the clinic and the front door of the clinic was wide-open. She had locked that door herself. That door must have been forced only a few minutes after she had left.
Fear iced through her.
Hugh and Terry!
She stomped on the brakes. 'No, I have to go back. Hugh and Terry are-'
'I called 911 after I talked to you. They should be here any minute. But it could be too late for you if don't leave now. You're the one they're looking for. Get out of here while we have the chance.'
'What is-'
'Move!'
She pressed the accelerator, and the SUV took off. She heard the sirens in the distance. Relief poured through her. 'You did call the police.'
'I told you I did. I don't lie… unless it's necessary.'
'How comforting.'
'Your neck's bleeding.'
She'd almost forgotten the wound. She touched it. 'I think it's okay.' She looked back. They were a block away, and the clinic was no longer in view. 'I let you panic me. I have to go back and see if I can-'
'Are you nuts?' he asked harshly. 'You should have been panicked. You almost bought it back there.' He looked in the rear of the SUV. 'Ned's in the back?'
'Yes.' She was starting to think again. 'You came out of nowhere. I didn't even see you until you-'
'I came in a Saturn rental car that's still in the middle of the lot. I jumped out of it when I saw what needed to be done.'
Murder. He meant murder needed to be done. He'd taken a life. 'You killed him.'
'Of course I did,' he said impatiently.
So casual. What was this all about? What was she getting herself into by letting him control this terrible situation?' She suddenly pulled over to the side of the street. 'I'm going back to the office. Those men must have been scared off by the police sirens by now. I have to talk to the police and explain what-'
'No,' Marrok said flatly. 'You're off the radar right now. I don't want them to get a fix on you again.'
'Once more the mysterious 'they.' ' She moistened her lips. 'You only killed that man to save my life. You should come back with me and clear yourself.'
'No way.'
She unlocked the doors. 'Then get out. Take your dog. I'm going back.'
He shook his head. 'I can't let you do that.'
She looked at him in disbelief. 'You don't have anything to say about it. I'm going to go back and make sure Hugh and Terry are-' She inhaled sharply as she saw the flicker of emotion on his face. 'You don't think-You think those men killed them.'
'I don't think they had a chance once Danner's men got into the office. They were probably dead within seconds.'
'That's insane.' But it was insane for someone to try to kill her, too. So how could she say that? 'They're my friends,' she said shakily as she started to pull out from the curb. 'I can't go anywhere when there's a chance I can help-'
She felt a prick of pain on her upper arm.
'Don't be frightened,' Marrok said curtly. 'I can't let you run back there. It's only a shot. It will put you out for a little while until I can work a way out of this mess.'
A shot.
Dimness…
Drowsiness…
Nothing…
CHAPTER 5
HE CALLED BRIDGET TEN MINUTES later as he was heading for the highway. 'They hit the clinic. They came up empty, so they're probably heading back out to the farm. They'd figure that's where Devon would run.'
'I didn't think they were still here at the farm. They were in the woods, but I don't feel anything now… Ned's okay?'
'Fine.' He looked back at the Lab, who was now curled up and lying beside Devon Brady with his head on her arm. 'And so is Devon. She's got a wound on her neck, but I think it's only a scratch. At least, she'll be fine when she wakes up. Did you send someone to pick up Gilroy?'
'Yes. Now there's only the last bit to do at the farm.' She paused. 'If they think your Devon's here, they'll try to stop us. How much time do I have?'
'Probably fifteen minutes tops.'
'If they come after us, I'm not going to hold back, Marrok.'
'I'm not asking you to. I just want you all out of there in one piece.' His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
