Interrupted Lullaby

FOUR (#ulink_fcbf710c-deed-5555-8892-1bd2ecf4adf7)

Maggie screamed and pulled a shrieking Rory from the car.

“Run!” Dan bellowed. She needed no further urging. With a runner’s sprint, she hurtled toward the trees. Dan was on her heels, cradling Siobhan tightly in his arms.

A car screeched into the parking lot, bullets spewing from the open window. The ground was pelted ruthlessly, dust flying. It looked like the same car that had crashed into the chief’s.

Dan looked back in time to see a bullet hit a gas pump.

“Faster!” he barked. Ducking his head, he forced himself to hold the baby tighter and push forward.

The pump exploded. A nanosecond later, the flames set off a second pump. Dan yelled as the back of his leather jacket ignited. “Take her!”

Maggie grabbed the baby and Dan dived for the ground, rolling until the flames were out. He thanked God with all his heart that his jacket had taken the worst of the fire. He had, however, twisted his knee when he’d dived to the ground. Forcing himself to stand, he limped next to Maggie. He had never seen anything more beautiful than her tired face, scratched by broken glass but otherwise uninjured. And the babies. Wailing. Fat tears dribbled down their faces. But they were alive. He hadn’t let them down. Not like before...

Remembering the car, he looked over his shoulder. Both his car and the attacker’s were smoldering chunks of charred metal. He started toward the destruction, then halted, his cop radar on full alert. Another vehicle was approaching from the other direction, slowing down. He pulled Maggie and the twins farther out of sight.

“Trees. Get to the trees,” he gritted, taking Siobhan from her arms. Maggie looked as if she might protest, but he scowled at her. He wasn’t about to let an injury keep him from doing his duty. He would protect them, no matter the personal cost.

“Your back...”

“Is fine. My leg twisted. I’ll live. Move!”

She didn’t argue. They moved as quickly as his injured leg would allow. Once they were hidden, they slowed long enough to confirm Dan’s suspicions. The car had stopped, and two men had stepped out, carrying guns. They ignored the assailant’s car but inspected Dan’s still-burning car from a distance, bending to peer inside. Dan was too far away to hear what was said, but as the men started to look around the perimeter of the gas station, Dan urged Maggie farther back into the trees. It was only a matter of time before the men started to expand the search for Maggie and Dan.

“In the zippered front pocket of my backpack, you’ll find a baggie with pacifiers. Can you get it?” Maggie turned so Dan could reach out and open the pocket with one hand. Grabbing the baggie, he held it out to her. She grabbed the pacifiers and plopped one in each child’s mouth. Ah, silence.

Muttering a prayer of thanksgiving that they were alive, Dan prayed for their continued safety. And that Rory and Siobhan wouldn’t start crying again and give them away. Especially Siobhan, who was the loudest child he had ever heard. Unthinking, he kissed the baby’s head in silent apology for his unkind thoughts. Then he swung his gaze to Maggie, hoping she had missed the action. The eyes that met his were exhausted, but he saw the smile tugging at her lips. Oops. Busted.

He led the way farther into the woods, stopping several times to listen. The third time he stopped, he caught the distinctive sound of male voices coming from where they had been. Urgency filled him as he picked up the pace, changing directions and heading in a zigzag pattern through the woods. God had heard his prayer, he noticed in relief. Both Rory and Siobhan remained quiet.

The voices died away. The men had headed in the other direction. Dan continued to push his little group through the wooded area. Several times, he glanced at his phone. No bars. Figured. Pennsylvania’s hills were breathtaking, but they wreaked havoc with modern technology. He continued walking until he finally had a single bar. He passed Siobhan to Maggie, then motioned for her to keep back. He stepped several feet away from them, his nerves stretched tight as he drew closer to where the trees ended. Close by, the whir of traffic let him know that they were near a road. Using the GPS on his phone, he pinpointed their location.

How were the bad guys finding them? Were they following him? The idea seemed impossible, but he couldn’t see any other way that they could have pinned them down so quickly. Well, if some kind of tracker was in the car, it was gone. Quickly, he removed the battery from his phone and checked it for bugs. Nothing. He reassembled the phone.

It had to have been the car. Someone must have planted a tracker on it while he’d been inside Maggie’s house talking to her and Chief Garraway. Or it could have even happened earlier, before he left LaMar Pond. Was Phillip’s killer still there, still connected to the police department? Dan had put the call on speaker when that woman said she had found Maggie. Anyone in the station could have overheard, realized Dan would go to check out the lead and sneaked something onto his car before he left.

A quick glance over his shoulder assured him that the children and Maggie were fine. He ignored the tugging at his heart at the sight of the woebegone little family. Bitterness rose like bile in him at the thought of the family he would never have himself. What woman would want a man with his issues, his past? What kind of father could he possibly be?

Deliberately, he closed his mind to the dreams he’d had before the war had destroyed them. He sent a quick text to the police department, outlining his situation and his present location. In record time, he received an answer. Satisfied, he nodded to himself. Then he shot off a text to Paul, warning him to search for bugs or other surveillance equipment that might have gone missing.

Returning to the others, he kept his eyes peeled, constantly searching for movement in the line of trees behind them. He kept his voice low, cautious.

“Maggie, we need to keep moving. The department is sending us an unmarked car with enough provisions to get us through the next day or so if need be. Problem is, we’re going to have to walk a little ways yet to get to the drop-off spot.”

He focused his concerned gaze on her weary, dirt-smeared face. The twins were starting to get fractious. Rory had his fist in his mouth, gnawing on it. Siobhan was whimpering. Dan was worried. For a child as vocal as she usually was, did whimpering mean something was truly wrong? More than the situation at hand, that was?

A wan smile flitted across Maggie’s face. She nodded, then pulled the backpack off her back. She rifled through the contents and pulled out a small container filled with crackers. The kids fell to eating the crackers with a gusto that would have been humorous another time. She yanked out a bottle of water and gave some to one child, then the other, holding it steady even as water dribbled down their chubby chins. Still without a word, she grabbed a second bottle of water from her bag and handed it to Dan. Gratefully, he accepted it and took several thirsty swallows. She took a drink from the one the kids had used before replacing it in the bag.

“Here, let me take that.” Dan held out his hand for the backpack.

“But your back,” Maggie started to protest.

“It’s not really hurt. Mostly my jacket got burned. The fire didn’t even touch my clothes. But we don’t have time to argue. Got to keep moving.”

Her mouth thinned into a determined line, Maggie stood and pulled Siobhan into her arms. Dan hefted Rory onto his hip and led the way in the direction the dispatcher had indicated.

Every now and then, the small group rushed to hide, crouched down, as a car passed or as noises were heard. Once, they even heard voices nearby. Dan could feel Maggie tremble beside him. He was amazed at how quiet the children were. He kept up a steady litany of prayers under his breath.

“And there it is,” he announced almost an hour later. He could see two cars on the side of the road. A man and a woman stood there, apparently exchanging information. Dan recognized them both. When they turned toward him, his trained eyes could make out the shape of concealed weapons under their hoodies.

“Dan,” the man greeted him, his voice pitched low. “We have supplies in the trunk. And there are two children’s car seats installed, rear-facing, as requested. The tank is full. Do you need further assistance?”

Dan patted the officer on the shoulder. “Thanks, Craig. And you, too, Lori. We will take it from here. But I would appreciate it if you would tail us for a few miles just to be sure we are not being followed.”

* * *

More police officers.

Maggie had been running for so long, tensing every time she saw someone wearing a badge. Being in such close proximity with so many officers in one day was making her skin itch. They looked decent, though, and Dan clearly trusted them. Although she wasn’t ready to trust him implicitly, he had put himself in harm’s way several times to keep them safe. That had to say something about the man’s character. But she’d been fooled by men before. Her lips twisted as the memory of her stepfather crossed her mind. She shuddered in revulsion. And her real father was no prince, either. Charming on the outside, rotten on the inside. Even her husband had been hiding something. She hurried to stop that thought before she became overwhelmed.

Dan was talking to the officers in a low voice. He seemed at ease. Even so, these new officers were an unknown. She listened intently to their conversation as she loaded up the kids. Her neck felt stiff with tension, and her shoulders were beginning to ache. She fully expected gunmen to erupt from the woods behind them at any moment.

She didn’t allow herself to relax her guard until she and Dan were pulling away in the car. The children were holding a babbling conversation in the back, totally unaware of the tense situation. She couldn’t remember ever feeling that carefree, that trusting, even as a child. Of course, she’d had the bullies to keep her on her toes then. I’ve hidden from someone my whole life. The revelation did not please her.

“Where are we going?” She gazed out the window as she listened for his response. The trees created a fantastic landscape with their vivid leaves against the blue sky. Dramatic.

“There’s a hunting cabin I know of. It’s not mine. It belongs to my buddy Jace.”

Maggie swiveled her head to rest her gaze on his profile. Strange to notice how handsome he was at a time like this. But he was. His profile was strong. There was something so confident about the way he carried himself. She remembered how quickly he had moved at the house.

Suddenly, he tensed.

“Okay...”

“What? What is it?” Maggie straightened in her seat. “Tell me!”

“It’s probably nothing,” he stated slowly, though his tone suggested it was very definitely something. “There is a car behind us. I can’t be sure, but my gut says we are being followed.”

The muscles in her stomach tightened, cramped. She leaned forward slightly, crossing her arms over her stomach in an attempt to hold in the pain. “The other cops—they were behind us,” she gasped.

He flashed her a worried glance. “They were. They turned off several miles back. This isn’t them.”

She peered into the side mirror just as the car sped up, gaining on them.

“Hold on.” Dan’s mouth tightened into a grim line. His foot pushed down on the gas, and he gripped the steering wheel as he attempted to outmaneuver the other vehicle. Taking one hand off the wheel, he tapped a button on the console area, then replaced his hand on the wheel. Voice control is a grand thing, Maggie mused as she listened to him calling the precinct. With as few words as possible he informed the dispatcher of their current situation.

“I’ll stay on the line with you until we can intercept you,” the dispatcher droned.