Before Ashley could even gasp, the newcomer shoved her through the back door of the truck onto the floor and dived in behind her.
âStay down!â His shout was nearly drowned out by the thwack of bullets hitting metal as the vehicle squealed tires and roared forward.
Ashleyâs entire body screamed from the tension and rough treatment. Glass shattered, and small pieces showered her. Fighting the weight that held her to the wide floor mats of the truck, she found her voice and screamed.
âMake her stop. I canât think,â the driver called.
âDrive. And have a little sympathy.â The new threat hefted himself to the backseat slowly. âI think you got us out of there. Nice driving.â Hands, gentler this time, lifted Ashley from the floor. âYouâre safeâ¦for now. But donât get up off of the floor.â
Rolling to her side, Ashley prepared to scream again, but a hand lay gently across her mouth. âYouâre okay. Look at me.â The voice was low andâ¦familiar?
ONE
âDrive faster.â Captain Ethan Kincaid slammed his palm on the dash of the crew-cab truck his partner piloted. At the rate they were going it would take two days to get to the Syracuse terminal. A glance at the clock said they had less than two minutes.
Craig Mitchum cast him a hard look, though his blue eyes flashed with amusement slightly out of place considering the situation. âCanât do it, bro. I scream up to an airport running a hundred and twenty, and securityâs going to be all over us. You want to get tied up in some back office answering questions?â
Ethan huffed but didnât relax in the seat. Every second counted. That call from Sean had rattled him clear to his core. âSomeone hacked my email. They know everything. Get Ashley off that plane before they find her.â
Ashley Colson was in danger she couldnât imagine and would never see coming. Even more so than on the day sheâd nearly died in his arms. Ethan swallowed hard against the rising tide of nausea the image of her broken and bloody body brought forth. That would not happen again. Even if he needed to die to stop it.
Ethan had warned Sean involving her was a bad idea. He should have pulled the plug on the whole thing from the start, but heâd been willing to take any risk to catch the guys whoâd killed his first partner. And now Ashley might pay a steep price for it.
Please, God. Get us there before itâs too late.
âIâll swing by the drop-off and let you out so you can sweep the concourse. Iâll head for the parking deck.â Mitchum tapped the photo of Ashley that was jammed into the instrument panel. âThis late at night, there shouldnât be a lot of people milling around. Weâll find her.â
Ethan grunted, convinced he could run up the long drive faster than Mitchum was navigating. In the dark of a cool spring night, the lights of the Syracuse airport bounced off the clouds, the glow painting the surrounding area in an eerie overwash. It chilled Ethan to the core, too much like the opening shot of a horror movie where the heroâs worst nightmares came true.
âKincaid. Youâre a ball of nerves, worse than a private in his first firefight. Youâre too experienced to act like this. Do you need to...?â Mitchum exhaled loudly and eased up on the gas as they approached the low, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridges between the parking lot and the terminal.
âDo I need to what?â Ethan whipped his head toward his new partner. Assigned to work with him just under a year ago, the younger man often spoke his mind without a lot of thought to the consequences of his words. It was something Ethan admired, that ability to call it as he saw it, but Ethan was not about to let the man question his ability to do the job. Not on this case.