Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The man clamped his hand over Danica’s mouth.
She jammed her elbow into his muscled side. He grunted, but hardly budged. His other arm cinched around her waist, lifting her up.
He was dragging her backward. Deeper into the exhibits.
No. Stop him, her instincts screamed. Fight.
She dropped her weight down so he couldn’t carry her. At the same time, she hooked his arm and twisted her body to face him.
Danica now had his arm bent backward. The man grunted again, but this time in pain. She kicked him square in the crotch, a seam in her dress ripping. He stumbled back, and she got a good look.
It was him. The man with the two-headed eagle tattoo.
His teeth were bared in a snarl. “You’re going to be sorry for that,” he wheezed.
He dipped into his pocket and came out with a gun. Immediately, she kicked at his hand. The gun went skittering across the smooth floor.
But he just pulled out a long knife instead, and he held his body at an angle. She wasn’t going to surprise him again.
Danica turned and ran.
At the next doorway, she almost barreled into Noah. She didn’t even have a chance to speak.
Noah shoved her behind him just as the other man attacked. He lunged at Noah with the knife.
The metal came away red with blood, and Danica screamed.
Rosie appeared and took hold of Danica’s wrist. She had her gun drawn. “You have to get out of here.”
“No. Not without Noah. Help him.”
Rosie tried to aim the gun, but she shook her head. “I can’t get a clear shot.”
Noah had grabbed the man’s arm. There was a hideous crack as Noah slammed his free hand into the guy’s elbow, breaking it.
The knife went flying. But the man with the eagle tattoo didn’t make a sound except a muffled grunt. And he wasn’t done yet.
His leg swept forward, knocking Noah off his feet. Noah landed on his back with the other man on top of him.
Oh, god. A splotch of red was spreading from beneath Noah’s shirt.
Rosie was just standing there, gun in hand, indecision on her face.
Danica ran and picked up the knife.
Noah was grappling on the ground with his opponent. Despite that destroyed elbow, the man with the eagle tattoo fought back viciously. Like he knew this was his last chance.
His good arm barred over Noah’s neck, pressing down. Choking him.
Do something, she thought.
Danica raised the knife in both hands and drove it into the man’s side near his armpit.
He roared, arching his spine, arms flailing.
Noah’s next movements were so fast, Danica could barely follow them.
He yanked the knife from the man’s side and plunged the blade into the center of the eagle tattoo.
Danica turned away from the spurt of blood.
This was too horrible. She could hardly believe any of it was happening. That it wasn’t some nightmare.
And it wasn’t over.
A gunshot rang out, and the glass case behind them shattered.
“Get down!” Rosie cried, spinning and aiming her gun to return fire.
From somewhere else in the building, Danica heard screams.
“Dani, come on.” Noah was at her side, pulling her down behind another display case.
The gunshots continued. Rosie fired. Crouched. Fired again. Noah was shouting something to his teammates through his earpiece.
Abruptly, the shooting stopped.
Noah put his arm around Danica, standing her up. “Tanner just took out the gunman who was shooting at us, but we don’t know what else is coming. I’m getting you out of here.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine. There’s an emergency exit this way.”
“What if that’s how they got in? What if they’re waiting?”
“Rex is already seeing to that.”
“Wait!” Rosie shouted. “Ms. Foster-Grant, I’m in communication with the rest of the security team. You need to—”
“Don’t tell me to stay here.”
Rosie was cursing, but she didn’t try to stop them.
They dashed through the exhibit rooms. “Rex, are we clear?” Noah asked. He must’ve gotten an affirmative answer, because he pushed open a door marked Exit. Danica waited for an alarm to sound, but nothing happened.
Noah glanced around, then pulled her outside. They were at the back of the building.
Danica heard sirens, shouts, screams. Chaos, everywhere.
Noah’s friend—the guy named Rex—was in the parking lot a few feet from Noah’s Ducati. He held a Glock, and Danica wondered where he’d gotten it. Only the Valoris bodyguards were supposed to have guns. Yet the man with the eagle tattoo had had a gun, too.
What a disaster, she thought. The gala… The donors…
“Phones,” Rex said, holding out his hand. “In case someone can track you.” Noah handed his over, but Danica couldn’t find hers. She must’ve dropped it somewhere in the exhibits.
“I lost mine.”
“Then don’t worry about it. We’ll find it later. You two get moving.” Rex nodded at them as Noah jumped onto the bike, firing up the engine.
“Dani, let’s go!”
She climbed on behind him, thinking vaguely of helmets, but they obviously didn’t have time to go back for those.
The engine growled as Noah raced out of the parking lot and onto the road.
Her arms were tight around him, her cheek pressed to his back.
They sped onto Ocean Lane, the main thoroughfare closest to the beach. Danica noticed a silver SUV pull out of another lot, its tires screeching as it accelerated. Its windows were tinted.
Shit.
It was a different make and model from the one that had come after her before. But she felt the danger in her bones.
“Noah, someone’s following us.”
“I know. Hold on.”
They leaned side to side as Noah wove through the evening traffic. He took a sudden left and darted off the main road.
Wind tossed Danica’s hair. The fabric of her dress whipped against her legs.
She glanced back. The SUV had turned onto the road. Still following them.
The motorcycle roared through an intersection just as the light turned red. Noah made another hairpin turn, taking the entrance onto the freeway. She held on. The engine and the wind were so loud she couldn’t hear anything else, though she felt her heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Another glance back showed the SUV was still there.
Another car suddenly cut across their path, and Noah pumped the brakes. The momentum pushed Danica hard against him.
The silver SUV caught up, drawing alongside. She could see through the driver’s side window.
A man in a ski mask was behind the wheel.
He edged closer. He was trying to force them onto the shoulder.
Noah accelerated, steering the bike into a diagonal course across the lanes. They darted around a semi, barely missing running into it. Horns blared. Danica screamed. She could barely hold on.
Headlights and tail lights blurred into a haze of reddish-orange.
Oh god oh god oh god
They kept going. Mile markers flipped past.
She had no idea where they were or how far they’d traveled. Every moment was endlessly slow, and yet it also felt like they were going so fast they’d spin right off the earth.
But it seemed like they’d lost their tail.
Then Danica’s heart plummeted as she saw the silver SUV again, coming up on their side.
No.
What kind of engine did that freaking thing have? How was it keeping up?
Noah leaned the motorcycle into a death-defying turn, nearly brushing the silver SUV’s fender as he squeezed onto the next exit at the right side of the freeway.
Danica heard brakes squealing as the SUV tried to stop. But she and Noah were already hurtling onto the exit ramp.
He turned at the next intersection, blowing past the stop sign.
She saw trees. Wilderness.
They zoomed down a dark, two-lane road. The freeway faded into the distance behind them.
She buried her face against the smooth fabric of Noah’s tux jacket, and she didn’t let go.