“I’ll never be Sharon Berkley again.”
“You’re right, you won’t. Big Jim is very unhappy with you. He wants you dead.”
“And he sent you?”
Jonathan shook his head, chuckling at some private joke. “Hardly. Last time I saw your uncle, I told him where you were. He ordered me to put a hit on you.”
Serena swallowed at his words. If her uncle knew where she was, she was as good as dead. He’d never tolerated anybody going against the family, or more importantly, him. To do so had been the ultimate act of betrayal, and he’d never let it stand.
“You decided to do the job yourself?”
“Nope. Your uncle has gone ’round the bend in a big way. He’s crazy as a loon, and I want out from under his thumb. You’re my ticket to freedom, Sharon, and I intend to cash in, and I’ll never have to deal with Big Jim or anybody like him ever again.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. Get in the car and I’ll explain everything, but we need to get out of this Podunk town before the locals show up. You drive, since you know the roads, and the quickest way back to civilization.”
Serena’s brain raced, trying to come up with a plan. If she got in the car with Drury, there was a one hundred percent chance she’d end up a corpse. There had to be another option. She took a step toward her Camry. The driver’s door wouldn’t open. She’d had to climb over the center console to get out, which meant Drury couldn’t get the driver’s door open, either.
“You’re going to have to drive. My vision’s still blurry from banging my head, I’m afraid I’ll crash.”
She heard Drury murmur something under his breath, before spinning her around. “Don’t try anything stupid, Sharon. I’ve got nothing to lose at this point, because if your uncle finds out what I’m doing, he’ll kill me right after he slits your throat.”
He shoved her and she stumbled forward, catching herself before face-planting on the asphalt. Drury was steps behind her as they headed around to the passenger side. She only had one shot at this, and her timing had to be perfect. As Drury braced his hand against the door frame and began looking inside the car, she pushed the passenger door closed with all her might, slamming it on his hand. Too bad it wasn’t the hand holding the gun, but she had to hope the pain was enough to distract him.
Drury let out a shout of pain as the door collided with his wrist, cursing a blue streak. Serena didn’t wait around to see what he’d do. Instead, she took off running toward the trees along the side of the roadway. She sprinted between them, her legs pumping, her breath soughing in and out of her chest as she ran. Her only thought—get as far away from Drury as she could and find someplace to hide.
Behind her, she heard footsteps crunching on the ground, the dead leaves littering the dirt magnifying each step. But she didn’t dare stop running, because that meant certain disaster. Drury thought her uncle was insane, but she wasn’t convinced they shouldn’t be sharing side-by-side padded cells in the loony bin. She had no idea where she was headed, but it didn’t matter. The only thought she could focus on was keeping each foot in front of the other, and putting distance between her and the man with the gun.
More curses filled the air, and they sounded a lot closer. Serena didn’t dare look back. He was gaining on her, and even with the adrenaline coursing through her veins, her body was tiring. The trauma from the accident, combined with the sudden burst of activity, rapidly drained what little energy she had left. She struggled to keep running, moving forward.
Must get far away from the man with the gun. I don’t want to die.
Drawing in as much air as she could, she put on a burst of speed, sprinting toward a large patch of overgrown bushes. If she could get behind them, she’d have a chance at hiding. She stumbled forward as her foot caught on something, and landed hard, knocking the air out of her. Yet she struggled to keep going, crawling and dragging her worn-out body the last few feet, until the deep green foliage screened her from Drury’s view. Her palms were crusted with dirt, and she used the back of one hand to swipe at her forehead, which had started bleeding again after her fall.
Frantic, she looked around her, searching from something—anything—she could use as a weapon. It wouldn’t do much good against a nine-millimeter, but she wasn’t giving up without a fight. She wanted to live. She wanted an end to the running and hiding. She wanted a life with Antonio because she loved him. And if she got the chance, she’d make sure he knew how she felt.
Wrapping her hand around a thick branch, she curled up behind the bushes, making herself as small a target as possible. And prayed Antonio would find her—before it was too late.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Antonio’s cell phone vibrated on his belt, where he’d clipped it earlier. He’d turned off the ringer while he met with Rafe. The fewer interruptions the better, because he needed to concentrate on Serena, and figure out a way to extricate her from the mess she was in. SAC Williamson was on his way to Shiloh Springs, at Antonio’s insistence. He wanted to explain Serena’s situation face-to-face, and have the man meet her in person. Let him realize she was more than an FBI file, a case to be closed and shuffled off to those higher up the food
