She tensed and turned to see an ambulance heading toward her, bumping over the ruts in the field.
The driver pulled up and jumped out of the cab. 'Hi, little lady. I have a package for you.' He was young, good- looking, dressed in sweatshirt and blue jeans. 'Not that he's much of a prize since I clipped him. I'd think you'd have written him off.' He ran around to the back and opened the doors. 'With Molino's compliments.' He wheeled out the stretcher. 'And mine of course.'
'You're Darnell,' she said slowly. 'You're the man who shot Phillip.'
'I won't be Darnell for long. Molino's promised me a new identity and a job out of the country if I delivered this old guy to you. It's getting a bit hot for me here. Not that it's my fault.' He adjusted the feeding tube and wheeled the stretcher over to her. 'I did everything right.'
'Killing. Crippling. Oh, yes, you do everything right. Where's Davy?'
'Oh, the kid?'
Her heart was beating so hard that she could scarcely breathe. 'Davy is supposed to be here. Where is he?'
'He wasn't as cooperative as the old guy. He fought me.'
Panic soared through her. 'What did you do to him?'
'He acted like an animal. I treated him like one.' He strode back toward the doors of the ambulance. 'Come and get him.'
She was already beside him as he climbed into the ambulance. 'Is he hurt?'
He jerked a white cover off a wire cage in the back of the ambulance. He jumped out of the ambulance. 'A little, maybe. I wasn't gentle when I was stuffing him into that dog kennel.'
Davy was bent almost double in the small dog carrier, his mouth taped shut.
'You bastard.' She jumped into the ambulance and released the latch herself. 'It's all right, Davy. You're safe.' She helped him out of the cage and carefully removed the tape. His eyes were swollen from crying and his lip was cut. 'It's okay.' She hugged him close and rocked him. 'You're going home to your Mama and daddy.'
He was holding her tight. 'I'm scared, Megan. They're bad people.'
'Yes, they are. But you're not going to have to be with them anymore.' Her hand stroked his hair. 'Did… they hurt you, Davy?' Yes.
She tensed. 'How?'
Davy looked at Darnell. 'I bit him and he slapped me and cut my lip.'
'What else?'
'They tied me up and put me in the dark.'
'That's very bad. But no one else hurt you?'
He shook his head. 'But I was awful scared.'
Relief was surging through her. Thank you, God. 'I know you were.' She took him by the hand. 'But it's over now. You're going to go home.' She helped him out of the ambulance. 'Can you be a good boy and come with me while I take a look at my friend? He's very sick.'
'He's asleep,' Davy said. 'I saw him when they put him in the ambulance. When is he going to wake up?'
'Soon I hope.' But she didn't know how much was truth or fiction in what Gardner had told her. Phillip was so pale. She took his wrist and checked his pulse. Slow but not fluttering. He smelled terrible, but not of infection. She could usually tell the difference when-
'He's alive.' Darnell's gaze was on her face. 'He's a tough old bird. I didn't think he'd make it.'
'Yes, he's tough. He's stronger than you could ever be. You've delivered them. Now why don't you go away?'
'I'm supposed to stay here and be picked up with you by Molino.' He smiled. 'And shoot them both if I see you trying to get on the helicopter with them.'
'I'm not going to try-' She lifted her head as she heard the helicopter. She said fiercely, 'You stay away from them.'
He leaned back against the ambulance and crossed his arms across his chest. 'I'm not putting a hand on either of them as long as you do what you're supposed to do.'
Her own hand gripped Phillip's, but she felt no response. She'd had so much hope when Gardner had called her. Had that window passed that would allow Phillip to come back? If he'd been present when that massacre of Gardner and the nurse had taken place, would it have made him want to withdraw permanently? Who knows? She couldn't think about that right now. All she could do was make sure he survived.
'Don't cry, Megan,' Davy whispered.
She looked down at him. 'I'm not crying.' She blinked back the tears. 'Or if I am, it's because I'm happy you're with me and everything is going to be fine.' She knelt before him. 'Now there's going to be a helicopter landing soon and you and my friend are going to get on it. When it lands, your mama and daddy will be waiting for you.' She paused. 'But I won't be able to go with you. Will you be a big boy and take care of my friend, Phillip?'
Davy looked at Darnell. 'I heard what he was saying. He won't let you go?'
She didn't answer him. 'But I'll come later. I promise you. Will you take care of Phillip?'
He nodded slowly. 'That man won't hurt you?'
'No one is going to hurt me.' She hugged him close. The roar of the helicopter was overhead now. She whispered, 'I love you, Davy.'
It took only five minutes to transfer Phillip into the helicopter and she stepped back to watch the aircraft lift off.
'What a lot of bother,' Darnell said. 'It would have been so much harder for Molino to get his hands on you if you hadn't been this stupid.'
'Shut up.'
'Molino wants to hurt you.' Darnell was smiling maliciously. 'It's all he could talk about when I went to pick up my cargo.'
She ignored the bastard, her gaze fastened on the sky.
The helicopter carrying Phillip and Davy was almost out of sight.
Good bye, old friend. Please, get well. Good bye, Davy. Stay safe.
'IT'S THE WRONG BRIDGE,' Harley said. 'There's nothing like that cliff you described. Gentle hills. It has to be Jefferson Parks Bridge to the north.'
'You're absolutely certain?' Renata asked. 'If you're wrong, it will be too late to get there and back ahead of Molino. It's going to take me at least forty-five minutes to get from here to Jefferson Parks Bridge.'
'Trust me. That house isn't near here.'
She never trusted anyone but herself, dammit.
But this time it seemed she would have to trust Harley.
MOLINO'S BLUE-AND-WHITE HELICOPTER landed in the field fifteen minutes after Phillip and Davy had been airlifted out.
She stood straight, back straight, as the helicopter sat down. Don't let him know how frightened she was feeling. He'd like it too much.
Molino opened the door. 'What a delight to see you again. You look a bit paler than last night. The sun isn't kind to you.' He smiled. 'I won't be kind to you either.' He turned to Darnell. 'Help her into the helicopter. We have to be off.'
Darnell stepped forward, but Megan jerked away from him. 'I don't want him touching me.' She got into the helicopter. 'He's as bad as you are.'
'Oh, no, he doesn't compare to me in any category.' He watched Darnell as he took a step toward the aircraft. 'He's cocky and conceited and he makes mistakes. You would have been dead if he'd done his job properly.'
Darnell's face flushed. 'It wasn't my fault. I thought you realized that I wasn't-'
'I don't tolerate excuses, Darnell.' Molino pulled a gun from his coat. 'You always have to pay for your mistakes.'
He shot him in the head.
Megan watched in shock as Darnell crumpled to the ground.
Molino shut the door. 'Take off.'
