Distress Signal, page 11
Angry, the man cried out and scrambled through the door. At least Kirk had stolen Lance’s chance to shoot Cora.
She rushed to the door and locked it. That would buy them seconds. She bounded over to the window as he broke away the shards.
“Cora, are you all right?” He wanted to pull her through and against him. Needed to feel her safe in his arms.
“Yes. What about you? I was so worried about you. How did you find me?”
“We can talk about that later. We need to get you out of here. Now let me pull you through. Be careful of the glass.”
“No.”
“Cora, what are you doing? We have to get out of here.”
“Everything we need is in these files. I’m not leaving without the information.”
“Lance isn’t dead. He could come back at any moment. We could miss our chance to leave without someone getting hurt.” What was he saying? If she was right and the file contained the information he needed, this could be the mother lode.
Except all he could think about was getting her out of here.
“But don’t you see? It won’t end until we find out what is going on.”
Right. She was right. He crawled through the window into the room.
“Okay, what did you find?” He moved to stand next to her against the desk.
She pulled a drawer open. “He set this up as a test to see if I would snoop, which I did, of course.”
Kirk wanted to question her about everything that had transpired but he let it drop for now.
“Here.” She tugged out the file she’d found.
“If he planted this, how do you know any of it’s true?”
“See for yourself.” She handed it over.
They should have taken the file and gotten out of there, but curiosity got the best of him and he opened it up.
She peered over his shoulder and pointed. “The file name. It’s a symbol, see that?”
“Trigon.” It had been next to the code name he’d found.
“That’s what Lance called the ROV. He named it after an evil character in a comic book.”
Kirk nodded. Now it was beginning to make sense. “And also the name of an old double-agent spy during the Cold War who worked via dead drops.”
“That’s what I saw. A gray box with that symbol.”
Her words gave him pause. He pulled his gaze up to her. “You saw it? When?”
“I remembered everything about the dive, Kirk. Coburn and Trip had argued about something. I followed them down. They didn’t know it. I shouldn’t have been so irresponsible. But something was going on. I followed them...”
Seeing the tears pooling in her eyes, Kirk set the file aside. He gripped her arms. “Tell me everything you remember.”
“I saw the box, the symbol and the surprise in their eyes when they spotted me. Then someone behind me cut my regulator hose.” She choked out the next words. “The man held me from behind. Wouldn’t let me escape, but I used my knife to free myself and swam away.”
“You made it on your own. I found you washed up on a sandbar. I performed CPR. I...” Now it was his turn to choke. He couldn’t finish the words. He’d thought she was dead. He hadn’t known if he could actually revive her. “The diver who cut your hose. You didn’t see his face, then?”
“No.”
“We’ll take the file and read it later. We need to get out of here. I’ll call my contact.”
“Wait. Your contact?” Her eyes widened. “I overheard Lance calling you an agent.”
Okay. Well, it was time to tell her everything, but not here. Not now. “I’ll explain later. Since Lance is somewhere in the house, we’ll just climb out the window and escape through the woods.”
“Wait. How do you know he’s not waiting for us out there?”
“I shot him. He’s wounded. It’ll take him time to see to that if he wants to live, so we have to hurry. I have a motorcycle hidden away that we can take. We’ll get on the next ferry out of here to Seattle where I can hand the file over. I’m...done.” Was he really? Would the file be enough to prevent him from disappointing Jackson regarding Drake? Or himself, if the file failed to give them the answers they needed about who’d killed his friend? He handed the file back to her. “Hold on to this.”
Through the broken window they could make their escape. Darkness stared back at them from the thick forest. Even moonlight wouldn’t penetrate. Leaves rustled and a twig snapped.
Someone was out there.
NINE
Someone was watching them!
Bullets sprayed the room.
Kirk snatched her away from the window and against the wall. His strong arms embraced her as he caught his breath. She was grateful the bullets hadn’t come through the walls.
“That was too close. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I think so.” Pulse racing, she pressed her cheek against his broad chest and listened to his heart beating strong and fast. He was scared? Worried for their safety? That wasn’t good. Not good at all.
On the other hand, fight-or-flight adrenaline coursing through their veins could give them the boost needed to stay alive.
Releasing her, Kirk took her hand and, keeping flat against the wall, led her over to the door where he flipped off the lights sending them into complete darkness.
“What are you doing?” She kept her voice low.
“What do you think? If whoever is out there can’t see us, they can’t shoot us.”
Made sense. “But now what?”
“Shh,” he whispered. “Obviously, we have to go through the house.”
“Lance is still inside, isn’t he? He could try to kill us again.”
Kirk didn’t respond. Maybe he thought they had a better chance in the house with an injured man than in the woods against an unknown foe who also wanted to kill them. He positioned her behind him and quietly opened the door, his gun at the ready. He peered out into the hallway, looking both left and right, then took a step out of the room.
Okay...
They crept down the dimly lit corridor toward the great room. What if Lance was there? Cora wished she had explored the house. If she had, she would know where the back door was and they could escape that way. She might have discovered more ways to leave. Or found more incriminating evidence.
Kirk motioned for her to wait behind him as he peered around a corner to make sure it was clear. Not the first plan she would have chosen. She didn’t see them waltzing out the front door so easily, and neither should he.
After all, he was a hotshot agent of some kind, wasn’t he?
And that meant he must know a whole lot more about what was going on than he let on. That had been the whole reason for his joining the Sea Dragon crew, hadn’t it?
The front door opened. Lance could be heard swearing at someone. In the woods? Over the phone?
Kirk suddenly pressed his back against the wall. He ushered her quietly down the dark hall that led to the back of the house.
Footfalls resounded behind them.
“Hurry!” Kirk pushed her faster.
“Where are we going?”
“You!” A voice blasted from behind.
Gunfire rang out. A bullet whizzed by her head, right past her ear. Goose bumps crawled over her at the close call. Kirk tried to open a door but it was locked.
Another one.
A bullet slammed into the wall.
He shoved his foot at the door and kicked it open. Thrusting her inside, he practically tossed her to the floor.
“Stay here!” He shut the door behind him.
Cora wanted to open it. To be with him and help him. To follow him. But she could get in the way and endanger his life. Endanger both their lives.
Leaving the lights off, she crossed her arms and waited with her back against the wall far from the window. Tension corded her neck.
More gunfire exploded on the other side of the door.
Rubbing her arms, she paced the small dark space. Cora couldn’t stand it. She had to do something to help. But what? Maybe she could find a weapon in a drawer. More files. More answers. Something. Light shone from beneath the door, allowing her to see a few things. A side table. She opened the drawers and rustled through for a weapon.
Nothing!
Oh, wait. Something. A small book. She thumbed through it, the words on the pages barely visible in the dark room. Someone’s handwriting. A diary? Maybe it was important. She tucked it away in her pocket, though it wouldn’t save her.
After slamming the drawers, she let her gaze travel to the lamp on the table.
The wall shuddered. Grunts and groans met her ears. The two men were fighting now, instead of shooting? Someone growled in pain. Oh, no!
Had it been Kirk?
The brass lamp. A lamp had worked for her before against a large beast of a man.
She reached for her weapon of choice and quietly opened the door.
A man stood with his back to her and his gun pointed at Kirk. Her heart dropped to her gut. Kirk was on the floor, leaning against the wall, a horrific, dazed expression on his face. His eyes grew wide when he saw her.
The man shifted around to look, his grimacing face scruffy and shadowed. His eyes narrowed but he couldn’t react fast enough. Without hesitation, Cora swung the brass lamp full force against his temple. She squeezed her eyes shut as the lamp connected with flesh and bone. She couldn’t look at the violent act from her own hand. She didn’t want to see the blood.
Oh, Lord, please don’t let him be dead. Just...out of commission for a while. Gasping for breath, she opened her eyes as he stumbled backward and fell face-first on the hardwood floor.
Would she need to hit him again? She hoped not. She moved closer to the assailant until she stood over him, ready to swing. Recognition hit her.
“Coburn?”
She dropped the lamp to the floor.
Next to her, Kirk bent over him. She released a breath as he grabbed the gun Coburn had dropped.
“Is he...is he dead?”
Kirk looked for a pulse and found one. “He’ll survive.”
He slowly stood tall, his face wet with exertion. Bloodied with the fight.
Her adrenaline running through her veins hard and fast, and her emotions out there, too, she suddenly wanted to kiss him, and kiss him hard.
A lump grew in her throat. This wasn’t the time for crazy, but she couldn’t pull her gaze away from his deep blue eyes, which seemed to reveal the same need.
“You’re hurt.” She pressed a finger against the purpling knot on his head.
The lights suddenly went out.
Lance! Or was there someone else involved? Coburn was on the floor. Trip was dead. Judd—had he escaped?
Though she couldn’t see a thing, Kirk grabbed both her hands with just one of his and squeezed.
“Don’t worry about me.” He spoke in a low tone. “It could have been worse. Come on. We’re getting out. Lance is back there. Coburn showed up. Who knows who else.” He tugged her behind him, feeling his way along the completely dark hallway. Finding a door, he opened it, pulling her through.
“Wait,” she said. “You can’t see where you’re going. You could fall down a staircase or... I don’t know.”
He switched on a flashlight. They were in a game room with a pool table.
Cora almost laughed.
“Satisfied?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because now I’m turning it off.” The room went dark again.
“Why did you do that?”
“We don’t want to be the only light shining for miles around, do we?”
“I see your point. So, we’re taking the window now, since the front door is out, right?”
“Yep. In spite of the fact someone is out there. We can hope they’re in the house now. It could have been Coburn out there shooting at us to begin with. Or Scott or Chuck—they’re in this, too.”
She gasped. “No. I can’t believe it. They’ve always been so nice.”
“The window is our only escape at the moment, Cora. Let’s hurry. Then we’ll have to get as far away from this Trigon business as possible.”
Kirk quietly unlocked and opened the window, punched out the screen, then slid out into the darkness and down what appeared to be a hefty drop—this side of the house was built up on a hill. The moon broke through the canopy, giving her a glimpse of him as he reached up like he would catch her.
Her heart tumbled just a little at the sight. If only...
On the other hand, was he kidding? She wasn’t about to attempt to jump into his arms in the dark. “I can make it.”
Cora climbed through the window, then gripped the edge as she hung from it, reducing the distance. She prepared to drop the rest of the way but Kirk caught her by the waist and lowered her.
Without a word or a whisper, he took her by the hand.
She hoped he could see where they were going because she couldn’t, and she would trip and fall a thousand times without something to light the way. And she did just that.
Her foot caught on a fallen branch and she fell forward, letting out a yelp. Give her a murky, dark dive in the ocean any day of the week.
Kirk hefted her into his strong arms. She didn’t need his help but the guy was relentless in his effort to protect her now. He would barely let her get a foot away from him.
“What are you doing? Put me down.”
“Keep quiet, please,” he whispered. His breath fanned her cheeks. He was entirely too close.
“How can you see in this?”
“I’m wearing night-vision goggles.”
“Why didn’t I know that? Oh, that’s right. There’s a lot I don’t know about you. You’re a special agent. Lance said so.”
“First, I pulled these off Coburn when we were fighting. It’s how he made his way around out here. And second, it sounds like you think that Lance is someone you should believe.”
“Well? Was he lying?”
She gripped him as he trampled through the forest, taking entirely too long to reply.
“No.”
Cora waited for further explanation but got none. Would she ever? She didn’t press him at the moment because they were making their escape. Finally, he stopped and lowered her next to a large boulder at the base of a ridge. The moon broke through and she could see him well enough. He tugged off the goggles. Brandished his weapon.
Bent over his knees and caught his breath. “It’s gone.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I left an old motorcycle here. It’s how I followed you. I bought it off someone in town.” He shot her a disbelieving look. “I saw that crazy move you made to get away from Lance, by the way—the one where you opened the door and planned to jump out of a moving vehicle.”
“I thought I could make it but I changed my mind.”
“Glad you did. As for the missing transportation, we could have made our mad escape on it. But someone took off with it. It’s not here where I left it.”
“What kind of secret agent are you? Or are you a double agent, like the Trigon character you mentioned?” And Cora knew too much. Oh, Lord, please, don’t let him be a bad guy, after all. I’ve spent the last several hours convincing myself he was the good guy.
He huffed a laugh and settled on the ground against the rock to rest. “Nothing so intriguing.” He hesitated, as if reluctant to say more, then offered, “Thank you.”
“For what?” Cora decided to join him and dropped to the ground next to him. The night was cool but they’d been making their way through the woods. She wasn’t chilled yet.
“For saving my life. You’re very good with a lamp, by the way. Almost as good as you are with a speargun.”
“I don’t know. I think I might be better with the lamp.”
He chuckled. She loved hearing the sound. It was a welcome reprieve from everything. Except... “So, tell me who you are. What kind of agent are you, Kirk?”
“I’m NCIS.”
“NC... Naval Criminal Investigative Service.”
“That’s right.”
“So you weren’t looking for a job on the Sea Dragon, after all. You wanted to be part of the crew to investigate this...this whatever it is. Trigon.”
“I didn’t know about Trigon. I was trying to find out what happened to another crew member.”
She tried to control her breathing and the way her heart hammered inside. She hated lies. Hated that she always seemed to trust the liars. Fury crashed over her. All those times he’d asked her to trust him...
“All this time, and you’ve been lying about your identity.”
“Cora...”
“It’s okay. It makes perfect sense. It rings true that you lied.”
* * *
His heart seized up, then stumbled around. She’d meant like Stephan. A man who had betrayed her in the worst way. Stunned at how much her accusation, her comparison hurt, he blinked away the burn in his eyes.
What could he say to that?
He didn’t blame her for making that connection. But didn’t she get it? “This isn’t the same. I was—I am—working undercover. It’s my job to get answers. Although maybe not anymore, since I’m pretty sure that my cover is blown.” He scraped a hand through his hair.
He was running out of time to get the information back to Jackson. Soon he’d have to report in to Matt, his NCIS superior, and he still didn’t know whom he could trust in all this.
“I get it,” she said, but nothing more. She didn’t expound after making her proclamation.
Insects chirped. A couple of bats swooped and dove, searching for dinner. While the night sounds could relax him, he would prefer hearing Cora telling him that she understood.
That she...forgave him.
Through all of his efforts to keep her safe, he’d realized that, without a doubt, years ago he should have tried harder. He should have stood his ground when Stephan had made moves on Cora. Of course, she might have preferred his brother to begin with, but he could still remember that hurt look in her eyes when Stephan asked her out. She had looked to Kirk for some sort of confirmation that she belonged to him or was with him or even that he was interested in her. Fighting for her, maybe. At the time, he’d thought he was letting her choose—he had wanted her to choose him over Stephan. Stupid, stupid mistake. He hadn’t been surprised when she had chosen his more charming brother. It had happened before, after all. If only he could do it over again, he would have shown Cora exactly how he felt about her.
