CHAPTER X

 

 

Emily blinked several times, climbing back to coherence.  “Okay,” She breathed.  “Brian, I—”

On the nightstand, the phone rang.  Her body jerked at the sound and even Brian, who always exhibited control seemed startled by the invasion.

“Only one person knows we’re here.” Easing across her thigh, Brian reached for the antique brass receiver and managed a gruff, “Yeah,”

“Sounds like I caught you at a bad time.”  Phil’s cheerful voice boomed unnaturally loud.  So much so, that Brian held the earpiece away for a second.

In that brief pause he glanced at the woman quaking beside him and reached with his free hand to slide it down her arm.

“Yeah, that would be a big affirmative.”

“Well rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty.  I’m two blocks away, sporting a lovely two-tone brown Impala.”

“And the neighborhood?”

“I’ve been parked here for nearly two hours, just to be safe.  No signs of the Goon Squad.”

“Good, but they are tracing you.  This has to be our last communication for awhile.”

He couldn’t stop his palm from roaming that soft skin.   Brian cleared his throat.  “What time is it?”

The rustle of a heavy parka sounded over the phone.  “Almost six.  How’s the hostage?  Behaving?”

Light had begun to filter through their haven, subtle enough that it was almost an afterthought.  In that glow, her eyes opened and locked on his.

“Like an angel.” Brian said thickly.

“And the missing engineer—any word?”

“He called, but we still don’t know where he’s at.”

Emily’s eyes widened at the reference to her brother.  She struggled to sit up, but Brian gentled her with another touch.

“Look, give us ten minutes.  Which way do we head?”

“South, two blocks, I’m on the corner.”  A wicked laugh wove into Phil’s voice.  “So come on, tell me what I interrupted.  Give me something here.  I’ve been sitting alone in the dark for two hours with nothing to occupy my time but a repeat of Mike and the Mad Dog on the radio.”

“We were sleeping, Philip.” Brian grinned.  “Just sleeping.”  He leaned across Emily, ready to hang up the phone.  “See you in ten.”

He dropped the receiver and took her mouth in an urgent kiss, a tempting reminder that he had not forgotten where they left off last night.  Reaching behind her neck, he gently lifted her from the pillow and deeper into his kiss.  Her lips parted in warm invitation and she reached up, trying to pull him back down, making mewling sounds of protest and passion.  Brian growled his frustration and withdrew.

“We have ten minutes.” He said.  “This is unfinished business between us.  Business I want us to complete.”

A pink glow flooded the guestroom, the dusky rose hue matching the warm blush on Emily’s cheeks.  “Where is,” She coughed at the hoarseness in her voice.  Using her elbows, Emily hoisted herself off the mattress.  “Where is your friend?  Did he—”

The way her eyes traced him made Brian seriously consider forfeiting a shower in favor of ten more minutes in bed with her.

“Did he get a car—is it safe?”  Emily persisted as she swung her legs off the bed.

Is it safe?   Come on, Morrison.  He had to concentrate now.  His angel was a fugitive.  If he found her brother, if he stopped Barcuda—then, and only then would he address what she had done, and stop to consider what their fate together might be.  For now, it was a matter of resorting to old skills to protect her.

“As safe as anything can be.  Now who gets the shower first,” He cocked an eyebrow, “or shall we share?”

In the blossoming sunlight, Emily’s tawny hair was aglow and lusciously tousled.  She still looked sleepy, and he could easily envision her waking up naked, engaged in a languorous stretch with the beatific smile of a woman recently made love to.

Instead, Emily swept a hand up to conceal her loud yawn, as those dusky eyes stared at him alluringly.  
         “I don’t think so.”

Brian grinned.  “You know what, Emily?”

“What?”

“This is entirely off the record.”

She nodded.

“I’m glad I caught you.”

Emily smirked. “Don’t be so cocky, Morrison.”

She approached on never-ending legs, till she stood a foot away.  The exotic color of the tropics flashed in her eyes.  “You don’t know where the pen drive is, do you?”

Brian’s jaw slipped a notch and his gaze narrowed.  Slow in coming, a grin tugged returned to his lips.  “No.  Not yet.  But I’m all up for doing a body search.”

 

All traces of the radiators that provided Edelweiss with heat were dispelled in a matter of seconds by the frigid mist of a January dawn.  Emily’s hair, still damp from the hasty shower, felt like a wig full of icicles.  She flipped up her collar for feeble protection, but the breeze still licked her throat.

Beside her, Brian’s breath steamed a cloud around him.  His entire demeanor radically changed from the sensual creature in that room.  This man bore the intensity of a hawk—the single-minded focus of a predator.  It was hard to even imagine that not less than fifteen minutes ago she lay beside him, sheltered in the heat of his body, wishing that she could ignore everything for and drown in his kiss.

A rogue spell of heat rushed to Emily’s cheeks, but the crackling sound of frosted grass beneath her boots abated it.  Edgy, she scanned the empty street, waiting for that black van to screech up to the curb—for its doors to slide open and draw her into the yawning cavity and whisk her off, never to be seen again.

“You still with me?” Brian uttered brusquely.

His stride was so long she had to jog a few steps to keep up.  “Like glue.”

He hesitated and reached out to cup her arm.

“It’ll be all right, Em.  Phil will have staked out the area.”  He seemed to read her thoughts.  “They’re not here, okay?”

She nodded into her high collar and felt the sting of the wind in her eyes.  A dog barked from behind a fence making her edgy enough to miss the step off the curb, but Brian’s hand was there in support.

“Okay,” She replied, unconvinced.

Until Colin was safe she would take nothing for granted.  Not even the soft assurances of a man she nearly made love to.

“Up there,” He pointed to the Impala, its windows misted up.  A gloved palm could be discerned rubbing out a viewfinder in the condensation from inside.

“Yeah, Philip,” Brian growled, “totally inconspicuous.”

His grip on her arm constricted.  “Stay alert, Em.”

Hah.  Vigilance was a newfound trait that she seemed short of ironing out.  If she had been alert she would have known that she was being followed that icy night on Route One.

But she was a quick study.

In her periphery, Emily caught the motion of Brian extracting his gun, nestling it to his chest behind the lapel of his jacket.  When they crossed the street she mechanically fell in behind him, and then watched nervously as he wrapped his knuckles against the window, waiting for the glass to slide down an inch.

“What’s the password?” Came the muffled voice, but Emily couldn’t see within that shadowed crack.

“The password is I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t unlock the back door.”

“Bingo.”  A shuffle, and then the unmistakable click of the lock.

Brian yanked the squealing panel open and gave Emily a perfunctory nod.  “It’s okay, get in.”

He must have read the doubt in her eyes.  “Do you want the front seat?”

She gave him a skeptical look and shoved onto the back seat.  The deadening slam of the door set her to trembling, but the scent of coffee and oil-battered donuts didn’t seem like an intimidating one.  Mixed with the aroma was pungent but pleasant cologne on the man up front.  She sneezed.

A flash of light invaded the car as Brian’s long body ducked into the front seat.  His arm draped across the seatback and his eyes locked with hers.

The sharp smells and the despondency of the moment suspended when Brian looked at her.  She felt naked, nearly aroused by the appraisal. She had every right to be wary of Brian Morrison, but the woman inside responded to the tender touch of his hand as he reached behind the seat to brush his knuckles over hers.

“Any need to stick around or can I get out of here?” Phil swiped the back of his glove against his mouth and left a trail of powdered sugar.

“We’ve got an engineer to find.” Brian offered as he gave her one last compelling look and then swung around.

“Right.” A thin red hairline tipped back, and Emily was absorbed by a verdant stare in the rear view mirror.  “Aren’t you going to introduce me, Morrison?”

Brian’s profile pulled back into a smirk.  “Philip Pulkowski, meet one of NMD’s most venerable manufacturing engineers, Emily Brennan.”

“Miss Brennan.” Thick lips puckered in awe and then settled into a wide beam.

It was impossible not to respond to that genuine grin.  It was a welcome diversion in a sea of anxiety.

Emily returned the gesture.  “Mr. Pulkowski, thank you for doing this.”

“Oh heck, my pleasure.  Wasn’t doing much this morning anyway.”  Philip swiveled his colorful hair in Brian’s direction.  “I can see why we’re abetting our thief.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it abetting, Pulkowski.” Brian injected.

“And I wouldn’t exactly call me a thief.” Emily clarified.

Phil tossed his copilot a wide-mouthed grin.  “Let me guess, you’re still peeved that she got away from you that night we caught her on tape.”

Emily’s fingers curled around the edge of the bench seat.  She leaned forward in anticipation of Brian’s answer.

He brooded a moment, his eyes trained on the windshield.  “I had everything under control.”

Emily snorted and relaxed into the vinyl.  Her punishment was the quick shift of golden eyes, an expert marksman using that glance to pin her to the seat.

“You have something to add?”

Perhaps someone else might cower under his foreboding glance, but Emily no longer saw the intimidation.  She now only saw the heat.

“I could have escaped.” She challenged.

To her surprise, he smiled.

Phil took the next turn, his head tucked to search through the defrosted hole on the bottom of the windshield.  “Okay, so just run all this by me, because I’m a little slow.”  He glanced up at the mirror, only for a second before he shifted his attention back to the road.  “So Miss Brennan here stole property from NMD and now there’s a manhunt out for her?”  A bushy red eyebrow cocked in anticipation.

Brian gave a terse nod, but his stare was focused on the vaporous mist that blanketed the crisp front lawns.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Phil continued.  “But you and I are NMD’s security officers, are we not?”

Brian’s hand rose and then settled on the pain throbbing beneath his drying hairline.

“And Barcuda got involved because?”

“Because,” Amber swords converged on the driver.  “I didn’t bring her back in time.”

Brian didn’t see it, but Emily witnessed the secreted grin on Phil’s lips as he turned to look out the driver side window.  The plump redhead was baiting Brian Morrison.

“And that was because?”

“I wrapped myself around a tree for Christ’s sake!”

“Well all-righty then.” The car idled at a four-way stop sign.  “And the missing engineer that Barcuda is all hot under the collar about?”

“My brother.” Emily tipped forward, the words torn from a scratchy throat.

His sympathetic gaze locked on hers in the mirror.  “Ah, that explains a lot.”

“Yeah, for me too.” Brian grumbled.

“Okay, last shot—this one you have to field, Morrison.”

“Yeah,”

“Why are we running from Barcuda?  Why haven’t you just turned over our venerable engineer?”

Except for the crunch of ice stuck in the undercarriage of the car as they hit a pothole, the Impala’s interior was silent.  Emily listened to the distant beep of a garbage truck.

Gradually, Brian’s head turned, the line of his jaw stark, with a muscle pumping down his neck.  His glance seized Emily, and she felt a shiver of fear run down her spine.  That gaze dropped to her lips, lingered, and then swept up again.

“Because,” Brian began gruffly, holding her stare.  “I won’t let Emily or her brother fall into his hands.”  Those eyes grew darker.  “Because—”

It was impossible to breathe.  Every nerve in her body awaited the end of that sentence, trying to fill in the blanks.

She blinked to break herself from Brian’s trance.  Was her mind so traumatized that she was fantasizing about a relationship with the man assigned to bring her to justice?

Brian seemed to be a righteous man, she thought.  Initially he sought her and Colin with the intention of hauling them into NMD for reckoning.  Now he apparently saw through Barcuda’s corruption.

His voice came out husky.  “Because she deserves so much better than that.  Because she—”

The silence ticked seconds off the clock, till the driver shifted restlessly.

“Okay then,” Phil cleared his throat.  “That just clears it right up.”  He tried to draw a glare from Brian, and then tipped his head to look back at Emily.    “Yeah, well, all right, let’s get you two on your way, shall we?”

Emily wrenched from Brian’s stare. She wanted to tear open the door and launch into the snow—to run to a place where his tempting eyes couldn’t find her.  She was scared.  Scared of this unbalance, and scared of the predicament of having feelings for him.

Colin.  She needed to find Colin.  Concentrate on that.  Use Brian Morrison if you have to, but don’t fall under his spell.

Tension of a more tangible nature suffused the car as they turned onto the road where the Blazer had been abandoned.  Slinking deeper into her seat, Emily scrutinized the sidewalk, afraid of every parked vehicle and afraid that each colossal tree concealed their foe.

There it was, still isolated in the shadow of the stately church.  Only a few days ago, the black and silver grill of that Blazer had loomed menacingly in her rear view mirror.

Only a few days before that she had been an honorable citizen.

“Keep going.” Brian commanded quietly.

“But why?  I’ve staked this road out for the past three hours.  I’m telling you Brian, they’re gone.” Phil’s mottled face spun sideways as the Impala idled past the frosted vehicle.

“Humor me.”

“Alright, but—”

“Pull over at the next intersection.”

Brian’s voice did little to warm the chill in Emily’s body.  She hugged her arms tight about her and peered over her shoulder through the rear window to see if they were being followed.  The residential road was empty, not even a morning jogger as a sign of life in this still slumberous community.

Her head snapped back as Phil coaxed the car close enough to the curb to grate the tires against it.

“What now?”

“Yeah,” Phil echoed her.  “What now?”

Brian took his time in answering.  His silhouette was a chiseled cameo of resolve.

“I don’t like this.” He proclaimed in a solemn tone.

“Come on, Brian.” Phil whined.  “Let me just take the Blazer and get back to NMD.  I’m of better use to you there.”

“You can’t go back there.  They are after you too, and if not after you directly, they’re using you to get to us.”  Brian swiped at the tension in his neck.  Guilt and indecision reigned in his eyes, and Emily felt a stab of regret for placing Brian and his loyal friend in this position.

“Give me the keys,” she ordered softly.  “This is my problem, I’ll take the Blazer. And when I find Colin I’ll bring the car back to you.”

Brian regarded her with an arch of his brow.  The hint of a bittersweet smile toyed with the corner of his lips, and just that small gesture made Emily’s own lower lip tremble.

“No way, Em.” He whispered.

“Exactly,” Phil startled them both when he wrenched open the car door.  “Morrison,” He demanded with his palm thrust forward. “the keys.”

Brian’s hand was fisted around a Chevrolet key ring, his knuckles white with exertion.  “It’s not safe.”

“I told you, man.” Again the gloved palm jabbed forward.  “I searched that baby from stem to stern.  There is nothing on that frame to trace me.  And if so, so what?  What the hell are they going to be able to get out of me?  The truth?  I’ll tell them the truth.  Yeah, yeah I saw them, George.  Last time I saw them they were heading north out of Saratoga.  Where were they going?  I have no friggin clue!”  Phil’s arm dropped and he hunched in the open doorway.

Affected, he said again.  “I have no friggin clue.”

Brian turned away and focused on the road, the subtle thump of a muscle pounding at the crest of his jaw.  On a quiet oath he slammed the keys down on the driver seat.

As Phil reached for them, Brian seized the man’s wrist.  “Get the hell out of here—and watch your back.”  His grip relented some, and he came close to managing a grin.  “Think about Washington.  You don’t belong compromised by the likes of Barcuda—neither of us do.  There are places I can get you, Pulkowski.  Think about it.”

Awe brightened the red splotches on Philip Pulkowski’s plump cheeks.  “Wow, D.C..  The big show.”  He swung a wide smile towards the back seat.  “You take care, you here?”
     Emily knew the real words were you take care of him, you here?  Phil worshipped Brian Morrison—that much was evident.

“Thank you so much for your help.” She resisted the urge to touch her fingers to the gloved hand soiled by powdered sugar.

Instead Emily smiled her sincerity and added.  “You’ve gone out of your way for someone you don’t even know, someone who just broke the law.  That’s—all I can say is thank you.”

Rose stains permeated the rotund cheeks, capillaries brightening a path down Phil’s throat.  He smiled sheepishly.  “God’s honest truth, it was Brian I was worried about, but now—” Green eyes darted from Brian to the rear passenger, “Well, Brian can take care of himself.  And you, Miss Brennan, I don’t doubt for a minute that you can’t handle yourself.”  His hip slowly edged the door closed.  “This has certainly been a pleasure.”

With a wink and a quick bow, Phil slammed the door shut.  She watched the stout figure jog towards the Blazer, his head rotating once, twice—like a crossing guard waiting for that car that was two miles down the road, and wondering whether to chance letting anyone cross.  With jerky movements he climbed into the SUV and revved up the engine, the plume of exhaust blanketing the street with smoke.

“I have to have that muffler replaced one of these days.” Brian reflected.

Emily was stirred to touch him again.  His frown was so intense she was reminded of her mother’s childhood command, keep that up, and your face will stay that way.

Oh Mom, where are you?  What are you thinking up there when you look down on me?

“He’s a good friend.” She observed quietly, watching Brian’s expression relax as the Blazer safely merged onto the intersecting avenue.

Brian cleared his throat.  “When I moved up to Connecticut and took on the job at NMD, everyone gave me a wide berth—considered me somewhat of a mystery.”  He turned his head and smirked.  “They said they found me brooding?”

Her smile came naturally.  “Whereas I would classify you as more of a stand-up comic kind of guy.”

As fleeting as the glimpse of sun between bulbous gray clouds, his grin disappeared.

“But Phil,” he explained, “well, he was hell-bent on having a friend.  No matter how much I ignored him, no matter how foul my mood was—everyday he would hit with me with some stupid-ass joke the moment I walked in.”  Brian shook his head.  “One day I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Emily leaned forward, intrigued.  “What did you do?”

“I laughed.”

She laughed too.  “Well, sounds like a match made in heaven.” But then her expression changed.  “I’m sorry, Brian.”

“For what?”

“For putting him in this position.”

Brian shifted, the sound of jeans scraping velour as he climbed into the driver’s seat.  “Let’s not talk about it, alright?  Why don’t you come sit up front?”

For a moment Emily hesitated.  Her hand was on the seatback, her gaze warily studying the empty street.  With a swift inhale, she launched the door open and quickly clambered in beside him.  Her face felt flushed, and the indolent dusting of his eyes only enhanced the sensation.

“Okay, Em.” Strong hands gripped the steering wheel as his gaze slid from hers to the windshield.  “Got any ideas as to where to find your brother?”

“Yes.”

His gaze swept back in shock.  “Please then, do tell.”

“I know where Colin’s at.”