Page 106 of Under Fire

“He won’t find you. You don’t have a phone which means he can’t track your cell signal. By the time anyone finds you, it will be much too late. If they find your body at all.”

Cold chills swept over her despite the soaring temperature of the day. “Matt will never stop looking. He’ll tear Harmony apart and interrogate every person connected to my disappearance. That includes you. He’ll know I left Shannon’s office with you.”

Lisa scoffed, her gun steady. “Like I care about that. I’m a good actress. He won’t learn anything from me.”

“You’re fooling yourself, lady. Matt is a trained Special Forces soldier and Fortress honed his skills even further. He knows interrogation techniques that will make you scream and beg to tell him every secret you’ve ever had.” At least, she assumed that was true. If he didn’t know the techniques himself, Delilah had a feeling one or more of his teammates would step in to obtain information.

“He’s a medic. All they do is slap on bandages. Rainer isn’t an alpha like my man. I don’t like liars, Delilah.”

She shrugged as though she didn’t care if the crazy lady believed her. “It’s your funeral. Literally. He might be a medic, but he’s a trained elite soldier like his teammates.”

For a few seconds, Lisa appeared worried, then the lines of concern on her face smoothed out. “His teammates aren’t here. I don’t have anything to worry about. Besides, my boyfriend will take care of them if they show up. He’ll do anything I tell him. All I have to do is point him at the medic and his buddies, and he’ll kill them all.”

“Your boyfriend can’t take on a group of Special Forces soldiers the government spent millions of dollars training in war tactics.”

“He’s better than any government stooge,” she bragged.

The woman was nuts. “Where are we going, Lisa?”

“Keep driving. I’ll tell you when to turn.” Lisa pulled out her cell phone and cursed. “Shannon’s called me four times.”

Hope blossomed in Delilah’s heart. Matt knew she was missing. She and Lisa didn’t have much of a head start. She had to stall for time. Matt would find her. Of that she had no doubt. How to stall was the question? Could she overpower the crazy lady with the gun and steal her phone?

Not for the first time since she was kidnapped from the lawyer’s office, Delilah wished Matt had trained her in self-defense tactics. That would come in handy about now.

In the bright sunlight, Delilah’s ring sparkled and sent another wave of determination through her to survive. She wanted the life she’d dreamed of during the darkest hours of the night since Matt Rainer arrived in Otter Creek. Against all hope, the most handsome man she’d ever met had fallen in love with her. She wanted that future and no crazy bimbo was going to steal her dream of loving the medic until they were both old and gray. “Who is your boyfriend?”

Lisa smirked. “You’ll find out soon. For a supposedly smart woman, you’re stupid, Delilah.” Without shifting the weapon from Delilah, the woman punched in a number and pressed the phone to her ear. “Hi, baby. I got her. Everything went just like you said.” A pause, then she smiled, a smile that froze Delilah to her bones. “You got everybody? Great. Shouldn’t take long. She doesn’t stand a chance of escaping us. I’ll take her to the meeting point. See you soon.”

That conversation meant nothing good for Delilah. As soon as Lisa slid the phone away, Delilah said, “It’s not too late to stop this. Let me pull over. You’ll be long gone before I get to a phone. If you move fast, the law will never find you or your boyfriend. You can skip the country and live like royalty.”

“And live my life on the run? I don’t think so. All I have to do is take care of you and play the sick assistant who ran home because I’m dealing with nausea from pregnancy.”

Delilah stared at Lisa. “You’re pregnant?”

“Two months. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to be a mother.”

She was horrified to think of this woman and her partner raising an innocent baby in a home filled with evil. “Is your boyfriend happy about the news?” She didn’t really care if the mysterious man was pleased or not, but it seemed wise to connect with Lisa on some level. It might save Delilah’s life.

“I haven’t told him yet. I’ll tell him tonight when we celebrate the end of our trouble with you.”

“What does that mean?”

Joyous laughter filled the SUV. “You’ll see.”

No matter how much she prodded Shannon’s assistant, the woman refused to say anything more about what lay in store for Delilah. Maybe it was just as well. She’d rather not prepare herself for one thing only to find out Lisa lied and all Delilah’s mental preparations were for nothing.

She tried to keep track of the turns to retrace her steps when she escaped. After taking multiple turns on back roads with no signs, Delilah was forced to concede defeat. Her best bet was to find a phone and call Matt for help. Thank goodness she’d memorized his cell phone number.

One hitch in her plan. For the last twenty minutes, she hadn’t passed a dwelling or business. From all appearances, Delilah was driving into the middle of nowhere.

“Turn right at the dirt road.” Excitement filled Lisa’s voice. “Almost there. This will be so much fun.”

For who? Delilah frowned and turned as directed. Once the wheels left the asphalt road, driving was more difficult. Potholes and deep ruts made keeping the SUV under control difficult. The last thing she wanted to do was jar Shannon’s assistant enough that she pulled the trigger by accident.

When the dirt path ended at a thick stand of trees, Delilah put the vehicle in park and turned off the engine. “Now what?”

“Get out. If you run, I’ll shoot you in the back. I’m an excellent shot. My boyfriend might be ticked off that I ruined his fun, but he’ll understand I couldn’t let you escape.”

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