Aftershock

CHAPTER TWENTY



LAUREN HELD THE ROPE LADDER for Owen as he made his final climb.

When he reached the top, he attached his harness to the lead rope, which he would use to climb down the outside of the structure. With a jaunty salute to Garrett, he slipped through the crevice.

She watched until the tension in the lead rope eased, her eyes swimming with tears. Who would have thought she’d feel admiration for a tattooed criminal? She didn’t understand Owen’s background or his racist beliefs, but she liked him. He’d cared for Penny and been sweet to Cadence. Underneath it all, he was a good person. After this nightmare was over, she hoped he got himself straightened out.

Although Jeb hadn’t attempted to thwart Owen’s escape, Garrett stood watch for a long time, seeming suspicious of the quiet. When he rejoined her near the rope ladder, she gave him a celebratory hug.

They were going to be rescued! Soon—maybe even today.

Freedom would be bittersweet, of course. They’d go back to their former lives. She couldn’t ride into the sunset with Garrett.

“What should we do about the ladder?” she asked, releasing him.

“We’ll have to leave it up. Just in case.”

Lauren nodded her agreement. If something happened to Owen, this was their only hope. “Do you think Jeb will try to climb it?”

“It would be damned near impossible, with a busted knee and no help.”

The news relaxed her a little. She’d held the ladder steady for Owen, and the climb hadn’t appeared easy. “Sam woke up again.”

“How is he?”

“Confused. He keeps asking for his girlfriend, Melissa.”

Garrett had read the inscription on the urn, so he recognized the name. “He doesn’t remember what happened?”

“Apparently not.”

“Wow.”

Sam’s devotion to his girlfriend touched Lauren deeply. He couldn’t let go of her, not even after death.

She longed to pull Garrett close, and make the most of their last moments together. When this was over, would he miss her? She wondered how long he’d stayed with her after she fell asleep last night. Had he savored her company, or been racked by guilt? Maybe he’d counted the minutes until he could break away.

When his eyes swept over the cavern, checking once again for Jeb, she studied his face. Dark stubble extended beyond the line of his jaw, drawing her attention to the pulse point at the base of his throat. If she’d thought him handsome while covered in grime, he was irresistible clean. She’d like to press her lips to his neck, lick the salt from his skin and kiss a trail down his tautly muscled body.

His gaze darkened as it reconnected with hers, as if he knew she was fantasizing about unbuttoning his coveralls.

Mickey interrupted her reverie with a string of hoarse curses. “I can’t breathe,” he yelled. “This f*cking chain is choking me!”

Lauren glanced into the shadows. She couldn’t see his face, but anyone who could shout that loud was getting enough oxygen.

“Don’t listen to him,” Garrett said, putting his arm around her.

Mickey tried a different tack, and a softer tone: “I won’t cause any more trouble. Please. Let me go.”

She rested her head against Garrett’s chest, frowning. Mickey was like a rabid bulldog—mean and unpredictable. There was no way they could free him to wreak havoc on innocent citizens, or team up with Jeb.

Banging his chains in frustration, Mickey scrambled up on the trunk of the car. “You think you’re better than us, just because you went to Iraq? That doesn’t mean shit in the pen. Nobody’s going to give you a Bronze Star there, you f*cking traitor.”

Garrett’s shoulders tensed at the words.

“Wait until we get back, hero. We’ll take care of you real good.”

It took Lauren a few seconds to puzzle out his meaning. Jeb had called Garrett “hero” several times, but she hadn’t considered the implications until now. Mickey was aware of Garrett’s military status. They knew each other.

They knew each other.

From prison.

Her entire world shuddered to a grinding halt. She recoiled in horror. The realization was more devastating than an aftershock. “You’re a convict.”

He avoided her gaze, unable to deny it.

“Oh my God,” she said, floored.

All of the signs were there, but she’d failed to see them. Jeb’s cryptic warning: “We take care of our own.” Their similar work clothes. Garrett’s story about the bar fight... No wonder he hadn’t been home.

“She didn’t know,” Mickey crowed, his voice high with delight. “What a dumb bitch. She didn’t know.”

Garrett’s neck flushed with anger. Instead of speaking, he clamped a hand over his jaw, his blunt-tipped fingers digging into his cheek. She imagined that he wanted to storm over there and shut Mickey up, perhaps by tightening the chain around his neck.

It pained her to look at him.

“You lied to me,” she said, trembling with outrage. “You told me you were involved with someone.”

“I never said that.”

“It’s what you led me to believe.”

He seemed reluctant to argue in front of Mickey, who was still hooting with glee. Gripping her upper arm, he directed her to a more private corner, between the semi and the RV. “I didn’t lie to you. Ever.”

She jerked out of his grasp. “You’re so full of shit! I’ve been dying inside, thinking of you with another woman.”

“There’s no other woman. Obviously.”

“Are you married?”

“No!”

Her heart flooded with adrenaline, beating fast from stress. She might have a myocardial infarction at any moment. “How can I believe anything you say?”

“I’ve been honest with you, Lauren. As much as I could be.”

“You didn’t tell me you were an escaped prisoner,” she pointed out. “It’s an important goddamned detail!”

“Would you have let me be your bodyguard if you’d known?”

Instead of answering, she thought back to their first meeting. “How—how did you even get separated from the others?”

“Our transport van rolled over several times during the earthquake,” he said. “The guard right next to me was unconscious, so I grabbed his keys. We were handcuffed together in pairs. As soon as I got free, I took off.”

“Who were you cuffed to?”

“Jeb,” he admitted.

“Did you know each other?”

“Not really. It’s a big prison with thousands of inmates. For the work program, they choose men from different cellblocks, but of the same race. They don’t want us to fight or to make escape plans.”

“Are you in a gang, like Owen?”

“No,” he said, scowling.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t need to be. Nobody messes with guys my size. If they did, a group of ex-Marines would have my back.”

“I can’t believe you kept this from me.”

“What was I supposed to say? You wouldn’t have trusted a felon to protect you.”

“I wouldn’t have run away, screaming! I’m not stupid, Garrett. You could have told me the second day, or the third. We shared a lot of personal information. You had countless opportunities to come clean.”

He raked a hand through his hair, struggling to explain himself. “I didn’t want to disappoint you, okay? I enjoyed the way you...admired me. You treated me like I was one of the good guys. Like I was worth something.”

“Being honest with me wouldn’t have changed that.”

“Right,” he scoffed.

“At the very least, you should have told me before we slept together,” she said, lowering her voice to a furious whisper.

“You didn’t want to hear it.”

“Of course I did!”

“I told you that I killed a man and you still couldn’t connect the dots. Do you think veterans don’t get jail time?”

Her mind whirred with confusion, stuttering out. “I assumed...it was an accident. An unfortunate mistake.”

“It was manslaughter,” he said. “I got ten years.”

She touched her fingertips to her temples. “Oh my God.”

“Come on, Lauren. Let’s both be honest. You’re well educated and privileged. Your last boyfriend was a doctor.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you wanted to f*ck a war hero, not a convict.”

She drew back her arm and slapped him across the face. A muscle in his jaw flexed as his cheek turned white, then angry red.

Lauren was appalled by her loss of control. She’d never struck anyone in her life, besides him. It felt awful to be brought so low. Pressing her lips together to keep them from trembling, she clenched her stinging palm into a fist.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was out of line.”

So was her slap, but she couldn’t form an apology.

“If I’d confessed last night, you wouldn’t have let me touch you. You’re a sexy, beautiful woman. I couldn’t...deny myself.”

“How long has it been?”

“Five years.”

God. No wonder he’d been fast. “Is that all it was about, then?”

“You know it wasn’t.”

He was too polite to remind her that she’d made the sexual advances, culminating in that oh-so-classy display on her knees. When she flushed at the memory, the corner of his mouth tipped up.

Enjoyed that, had he? She didn’t flatter herself. A man who’d abstained for so long would get excited over anything.

“I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you,” he said, wrapping his hand around her fist. Although she didn’t unclench it, neither did she pull away. “I’m sorry I did that. But everything I told you was true. I never meant to hurt you, Lauren. I might have been able to resist...if I hadn’t fallen in love with you.”

Lauren felt like the breath had been stolen from her lungs. She searched his eyes and saw no hint of deception. But she couldn’t accept his words at face value. He’d broken her trust. She’d been tortured by the idea that he had a girlfriend.

Nothing he could say would make it okay.

“I need to be alone,” she said, turning her back to him. Shaken by the heartfelt declaration, and still stinging from his betrayal, she reacted in her typical style—by running away from her emotions.

* * *

GARRETT DIDN’T KNOW who he wanted to kill more: Mickey or himself.

After Lauren left him, he climbed into the semi and turned on the radio, feeling surly. She’d never forgive him. By telling her he loved her, he’d only made things worse. The fact that it was true didn’t matter.

He’d tried to protect her and f*cked up. The story of his life, right?

The latest radio report wasn’t encouraging. National Guard stations had been inundated with SOS calls. They were working their way toward the epicenter, but progress was slow due to the enormity of the disaster. Residents on the outskirts of the city would be rescued first. Those within the downtown area were advised to escape by any means possible. Disaster crews were dealing with massive fires, explosions and chemical spills. Hundreds of victims were trapped inside buildings and thousands were unaccounted for.

Garrett wondered how Owen would cope with the horrors he encountered. It probably looked like a war zone outside.

It felt like one inside. He was furious with Mickey, and full of regret. The same dark feelings that had plagued him after he returned from Iraq festered within him now. Violence wasn’t the answer; five years in prison had taught him that. But the temptation to lash out at someone was still strong.

He wanted to put his fist through a wall. Why had he told Lauren he loved her? It didn’t change anything. There was no hope for them. He was a murdering scumbag; she saved lives. Even if he was free, she wouldn’t want him.

Mickey continued to yell taunts, rattling his chains and banging on the hood of the car. Motherf*cker. Garrett wished he could knock him out again. Then it occurred to him that the noise might be designed to cover an approach by Jeb.

Cursing, he got out of the semi. Hooking the hammer in his belt, he picked up a flashlight, preparing to do another sweep of the cavern. Jeb hadn’t made a peep since yesterday. Garrett figured he was holed up in his truck, doped to the gills on the drugs Lauren had given him. He’d checked every car before Owen went up the ladder, just in case.

They didn’t need any more surprises.

Ignoring Mickey’s hollering, he weaved his way through the shadows, investigating the space. Despite the cleansing rain, the cadaver smell had worsened. Garrett held his breath as he surveyed the rubble in the southwest corner. He saw no evidence that Jeb had slithered past while Garrett was making a fool of himself.

Jeb probably couldn’t walk, let alone climb a ladder, so the chances of him turning up again were slim. Satisfied that he wasn’t lurking on this side of the cavern, Garrett turned off his flashlight and headed back.

Mickey sank to his knees on the asphalt as Garrett approached. “Please let me out. I’m begging you.”

Garrett didn’t bother to answer.

“Come on, man. Let’s both go. By the time the rescue crew shows up, we could be on the beach in Mexico.”

He pictured Mickey wearing a straw hat and a pair of flowered swim trucks. “I’d rather die in prison.”

“Are you short time?”

“No.”

Mickey rose from his supplicant position. “Then why are you being such a p-ssy about escaping? This is the chance of a lifetime. It’ll take months to sort through the bodies. They’ll never know we ran.”

“They’ll know.”

“Goddamn it,” he growled, tugging on the padlock at his neck. Mickey was an ugly man on a good day. With a ravaged nose, swollen eye and blood-caked teeth, he looked hideous. “You’re going to take a beating when the other guys find out that you played prison guard. Nobody likes a traitor.”

Garrett shrugged, indifferent. He knew how to handle himself in a fight. Right now, he’d welcome a physical confrontation.

“Owen’s going to take a beating, too,” Mickey said. “And I’ll get someone to work over your bitch. I have lots of connects in San Diego. One of these days, she’ll go out in her ambulance and never come back.”

Owen had a gang of young white criminals at his disposal, so Garrett wasn’t worried about him. Lauren, however, was off-limits. He’d never been in love before, and he was fiercely protective of her. She hadn’t been receptive to his feelings, and there was no future for them, but that didn’t mean he’d let anyone hurt her.

He slid the end of the flashlight into his tool belt and removed the hunting knife he’d taken from Sam’s gear bag.

Mickey laughed when he saw it, aware that his last threat had hit a nerve. “Yeah, she’s a hot little piece, isn’t she? Whoever I send will tear her ass up.”

He rotated his wrist, letting the blade catch the light. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Lauren—including murder. “I think I’ll just kill you. We already established that I’m not short time. I don’t have much to lose.”

“Unlock me, so I can defend myself.”

Garrett smiled coldly, thinking about what Mickey had done to Lauren the first night. What he would have done, given the opportunity. Carving up this piece of shit would be a service to society. “No.”

His ugly face paled. “You wouldn’t kill a helpless man.”

“Why not? I’ve done it before.”