Chapter 4
Grady swallowed the urge to curse, knowing he shouldn’t have let his guard down even for a second.
He’d stretched out on the sofa for what he called a combat nap.
The sound of glass shattering beneath the force of the bullet had completely taken him by surprise.
It burned to know he had not anticipated the threat would come through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, rather than the front door.
The elevator ride down to the parking garage seemed to take forever.
It was a straight shot down from the thirty-sixth floor to the underground parking, but it still didn’t move as quickly as he wanted.
When the car finally stopped, he drew in a deep breath and edged a bit to the side, still making sure his body covered Lauren and Lucy.
The doors slowly opened, and he waited. When nothing happened, he stepped out with his gun raised, sweeping the immediate area for a threat.
So far, so good. He glanced back at Lauren. “I’ll drive. Please get Lucy in the car.”
Lauren looked scared to death but did as he’d directed without complaint.
He continued sweeping his weapon across the area, noticing several new cars were parked in the garage since they’d last been down there.
The video he’d taken wouldn’t help him now, so he didn’t bother to retrieve his phone.
Instead, he waited until he heard the door of the Porsche slam before he quickly rounded the car and slid in behind the wheel.
He’d never driven a Porsche before, but he didn’t let that stop him. He backed out of the parking spot, then cranked the wheel to drive toward the security gate. Thankfully, the gate lifted automatically, so he didn’t have to stop.
“Where are we going?” Lauren asked as soon as he cleared the parking garage. He didn’t immediately answer, distracted by a flash of headlights barreling toward them.
“Hold on!” Stomping on the gas, he wrenched the wheel again to turn left to avoid being hit.
Lauren gasped but didn’t scream as the car flew behind them, missing the Porsche by inches.
He kept his foot down, weaving between other cars on the road to escape.
The headlights were too bright for him to make out the make and model of the car that had nearly rammed into them, but he grimly realized the shooting at the penthouse apartment had been done for the sole purpose of flushing them out of the building.
A ruse that had pretty much worked. The only reason they were still alive was because Lauren’s Porsche had a turbocharged engine under the hood, enabling him to escape the planned collision. The small size of the car had worked to their advantage too.
Yet the fancy, expensive sports car was more noticeable than he liked, which did not help their cause. He drove like a man on a mission, doing everything possible to avoid being followed.
When it was clear they’d gotten away, he murmured a quick prayer of gratitude.
Lauren shot him a questioning look but didn’t say anything.
He had learned about faith from the Sullivan family, although he didn’t attend church as often as he knew he should.
His schedule made that difficult. He hoped God didn’t mind.
Traffic was lighter at three thirty in the morning, so he was able to zip through the city streets without too much difficulty, taking several turns to help throw off any possible tail. After a few moments, Lauren broke the silence. “I can give you directions if you tell me where we’re going.”
“We need to get out of the city.” He glanced at her briefly, admiring her calm demeanor, then focused again on the road. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“We spent a few summer vacations in Big Cedar Lake down in Missouri,” she said. “It’s a long drive, though, roughly nine hours from Chicago.”
He shook his head. “That’s no good if you’ve been there before. We need to head somewhere these guys wouldn’t expect us to go.”
She shot him an exasperated look. “I’ve never been to Ohio or Wisconsin. Does that help?”
“Yeah, it does.” He quickly turned at the next intersection. “Let’s find the interstate so we can head north to Wisconsin.”
“Okay, keep going on this road for another couple miles.” Lauren turned in her seat to look at her daughter. “Are you okay, Lucy?”
“Why is this happening?” Lucy’s voice was small and frightened. His heart ached for the little girl. She didn’t deserve this. And neither did Lauren.
“I don’t know, sweetie. Some people choose to be mean and break the law.” Lauren reached back to pat Lucy’s knee. “But Grady is going to keep us safe. Are you warm enough under the blanket?”
“Yeah.” Lucy sniffed and wiped at her face. Grady belatedly realized that the little girl had been crying. She was in her booster seat, with the bedding wrapped around her. Her navy-blue parka was on the seat beside her. “Except for my toes.”
“Here, let’s wrap them up.” Lauren unbuckled her seat belt so she could stretch back to use the end of the blanket to protect Lucy’s feet. “Better?”
Lucy nodded. “Thanks.”
Lauren’s expression was somber as she settled back in her seat and reclasped her seatbelt. Grady wanted to say something reassuring, but he was all too aware that he’d almost gotten them killed.
Again.
Once they were on the interstate, he kept their speed within five miles of the posted limit. Despite his desire to get as far away from Chicago as humanly possible, he didn’t want to be stopped by the local police.
Expensive cars like this Porsche were often targeted by law enforcement.
Silence stretched for several long minutes, then Lauren gestured to a building off to the side of the road. “My father has a plane hangar over there.”
He barely glanced toward the dwelling. “I don’t think using your father’s plane is going to help.
It’s bad enough we’re in your car.” He glanced at the rearview, noticing Lucy was still awake and listening.
“We’ll switch this car out for something else when it’s daylight.
For now, I’m hoping the trip to Wisconsin throws them off. ”
“I understand.” She turned to look at Lucy. “Try to get some sleep, sweetie, okay?”
“’Kay.” Lucy yawned and rested her head back against the seat cushion. The plush leather seats were very comfortable, but he didn’t think the booster seat was conducive to resting.
He kept his eye on the traffic behind them.
The darkness along with the bright headlights made it impossible to identify specific vehicles by make or model.
He debated getting off the interstate to use lesser-known highways, but he wasn’t familiar with the area.
Better to stay on the interstate for now, until they crossed the Illinois-Wisconsin border.
“She’s going to need clothes and shoes,” Lauren whispered.
“I know.” He offered a reassuring smile, glancing at Lucy to see she appeared to be asleep. Keeping his voice soft, he added, “We’ll find a place to shop once the stores open.”
“I can’t believe someone shot at the penthouse.” Lauren shivered. He cranked the heat but knew the temperature wasn’t the problem. It was the fear of how they were nearly caught. The crash had been designed to disable the vehicle long enough for the bad guys to grab Lucy. Or Lauren.
Maybe both.
“I think the car that tried to ram us was an SUV,” Lauren murmured. “I only got a quick glance, though. It was dark in color—I can’t say for sure it was black—and had tinted windows.”
He arched a brow. “Good job. You saw more than I did.”
A wry smile tugged the corner of her mouth. “You were busy pretending to be a race car driver.”
That was true enough. His only goal had been to get Lauren and Lucy away unscathed. One thing about this recent turn of events bothered him, though. “There has to be more than one kidnapper involved.”
“What do you mean?” Lauren frowned, then slowly nodded. “The shooter and the driver of the SUV. There wasn’t enough time between the two events to have been done by the same person.”
“Exactly.” He cut a quick glance to the rearview mirror.
So far, he was reassured that most of the cars coming up from behind were passing them.
Another good reason to stay within the posted speed limit.
“We only saw the one masked man in the video, but he likely had someone driving the getaway car.”
She frowned. “I don’t remember the police mentioning two men. Only one.”
“Maybe they decided to keep that bit of info to themselves. Or maybe Ariel was too scared to have noticed the driver.” There were several factors that could have come into play. “But now we know for sure there are two men.”
“We need to call Detective Kramer and Lieutenant Olson. I’m also worried about what Clara might find when she arrives in a few hours.”
“The bad guys will be long gone by then. Hopefully, Clara will call the police.” He glanced at Lauren. “I’m sorry she’ll walk into a mess, but my only goal was to get you and Lucy to safety.”
“I understand.” She grimaced. “I just hope Clara can forgive me.”
He nodded in understanding. He felt bad, but he was convinced Clara would be fine.
“I forgot my phone.” Lauren patted her coat pockets. “I don’t even have any cash.”
He had some cash that Rex had given him.
Emergency funds, which he realized was exactly what they’d landed in the middle of.
An emergency. Besides, he could get additional cash through Rex if needed.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you don’t have your phone.
” He lowered his window and tossed his out.
“It’s more important that we stay off-grid. ”
“But—” Lauren cut herself off and sighed. “Never mind. You’re right. I’ve never been in a position like this before. It’s a little surreal to be honest.”
“We’ll be fine.” He mentally added replacement phones to the list of things they needed to buy. “Try to get some rest. I’ll let you know when I find a place to stay.”
She glanced at him, then slid down in the seat. “Thank you, Grady.”