Into Dust

Jack raced after him. Ed had reached the woman, looping one big strong arm around her from behind and lifting her off her feet. Her blue sweater fell to the ground along with her purse as she struggled.

Ed was fighting to get the cloth over her mouth and nose. The blonde was frantically moving her head back and forth and kicking her legs and arms wildly. Some of her kicks were connecting. Ed let out several cries of pain as well as a litany of curses as she managed to knock the cloth from his hand.

After setting her feet on the ground, Ed grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked her head back. Cocking his other fist, he reared back as if to slug her.

Running up, Jack pulled the gun, and hit the man with the stock of his handgun.

Ed released his hold on the woman’s hair, stumbled and fell to his knees as she staggered back from him, clearly shaken. Her gaze met his as Jack heard a vehicle roaring toward them from another street. Unless he missed his guess, it was cohorts of Ed’s.

As a van came careening around the corner, Jack cried “Come on!” to the blonde. She stood a few feet away looking too stunned and confused to move. He quickly stepped to her, grabbed her hand and, giving her only enough time to pick up her purse from the ground, pulled her down the narrow alley.

Behind them, the van came to a screeching stop. Jack looked back to see two men in the front of the vehicle. One jumped out to help Ed, who was holding the blonde’s sweater to his bleeding head.

Jack tugged on her arm and she began to run with him again. They rounded a corner, then another one. He thought he heard the sound of the van’s engine a block over and wanted to keep running, but he could tell she wasn’t up to it. He dragged her into an inset open doorway to let her catch her breath.

They were both breathing hard. He could see that she was still scared, but the shock seemed to be wearing off. She eyed him as if having second thoughts about letting a complete stranger lead her down this dark alley.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. “I’m trying to protect you from those men who tried to abduct you.”

She nodded, but didn’t look entirely convinced. “Who are you?”

“Jack. My name is Jack Durand. I saw that man following you,” he said. “I didn’t think, I just ran up behind him and hit him.” It was close enough to the truth. “Who are you?”

“Cassidy Hamilton.” No Texas accent. Nor did the name ring any bells. So what had they wanted with this young woman?

“Any idea who those guys were or why they were after you?”

She looked away, swallowed, then shook her head. “Do you think they’re gone?”

“I don’t think so.” After he’d seen that wad of money his father had given Ed, he didn’t think the men would be giving up. “I suspect they are now looking for both of us.” When he’d looked back earlier, he’d thought Ed or one of the other men had seen him. He’d spent enough time at his father’s warehouse that most of the dock workers knew who he was.

But why would his father want this woman abducted? It made no sense, and yet it was the only logical conclusion he could draw given what he’d witnessed at the cemetery.

“Let’s wait a little bit. Do you live around here?”

“I was staying with a friend.”

“I don’t think you should go back there. That man has been following you for several blocks.”

She nodded and hugged herself, looking scared. He figured a lot of what had almost happened hadn’t yet registered. Either that or what had almost happened didn’t come as a complete surprise to her. Which made him even more curious why his father would want to abduct this woman.

* * *

ED URDAHL COULDN’T believe his luck. He’d picked a street that he knew wouldn’t have anyone on it this time of the day. On top of that, the girl had been in her own little world. She hadn’t been paying any attention to him as he’d moved up directly behind her.

The plan had been simple. Grab her, toss her into the van that would come speeding up at the perfect time and make a clean, quick getaway so no one would be the wiser.

It should have gone down without any trouble.

He’d been so intent on the woman in front of him, though, that he hadn’t heard the man come up behind him until it was too late. Even if someone had intervened, Ed had been pretty sure he could handle it. He’d been a wrestler and boxer growing up. Few men were stupid enough to take him on.

The last thing he’d expected was to be smacked in the back of the head by some do-gooder. What had he been hit with anyway? Something hard and cold. A gun? The blow had knocked him senseless and the next thing he’d known he was on the sidewalk bleeding. As he’d heard the van engine roaring in his direction, he’d fought to keep from blacking out as whoever had blindsided him had gotten away with the blonde.

“What happened?” his brother, Alec, demanded now. He leaned against the van wall in the back, his head hurting like hell. “I thought you had it all worked out.”

“How the hell do I know?” He was still bleeding like a stuck pig. “Just get out of here. Drive!” he yelled at the driver, Nick, a dock worker he’d used before for less than legal jobs. “Circle the block until I can think of what to do.”

Ed caught a whiff of the blonde’s perfume and realized he was holding her sweater to his bleeding skull. He took another sniff of it. Nice. He tried to remember exactly what had transpired. It had all happened so fast. “Did you see who hit me?” he asked.

“I saw a man and a woman going down the alley,” Alec said. “I thought you said she’d be alone?”

That’s what he had thought. It had all been set up in a way that should have come off like clockwork. So where had whoever hit him come from? “So neither of you got a look at the guy?”

Nick cleared his throat. “I thought at first that he was working with you.”

“Why would you think that?” Ed demanded, his head hurting too much to put up with such stupid remarks. “The son of a bitch coldcocked me with something.”

“A gun. It was a gun,” Alec said. “I saw the light catch on the metal when he tucked it back into his pants.”

“He was carrying a gun?” Ed sat up, his gaze going to Nick. “Is that why you thought he was part of the plan?”

“No, I didn’t see the gun,” Nick said. “I just assumed he was in on it because of who he was.”

Ed pressed the sweet-smelling sweater to his head and tried not to erupt. “Are you going to make me guess? Or are you frigging going to tell me who was he?”

“Jack Durand.”

“What?” Ed couldn’t believe his ears. What were the chances that Tom Durand’s son would show up on this particular street? Unless his father had sent him? That made no sense. Why pay me if he sent his son?

“You’re sure it was Jack?”

“Swear on my mother’s grave,” Nick said as he drove in wider circles. “I saw him clear as a bell. He turned in the alley to look back. It was Jack, all right.”

“Go back to that alley,” Ed ordered. Was this Tom’s backup plan in case Ed failed? Or was this all part of Tom’s real plan? Either way, it appeared Jack Durand had the girl.

* * *

CASSIDY LOOKED AS if she might make a run for it at any moment. That would be a huge mistake on her part. But Jack could tell that she was now pretty sure she shouldn’t be trusting him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep her here. She reached for her phone, but he laid a hand on her arm.

“That’s the van coming back,” he said quietly. At the sound of the engine growing nearer, he signaled her not to make a sound as he pulled her deeper into the darkness of the doorway recess. The van drove slowly up the alley. He’d feared they would come back. That’s why he’d been hesitant to move from their hiding place.

Jack held his breath as he watched the blonde, afraid she might do something crazy like decide to take her chances and run. He wouldn’t have blamed her. For all she knew, he could have been in on the abduction and was holding her here until the men in the van came back for her.

The driver of the van braked next to the open doorway. The engine sat idling. Jack waited for the sound of a door opening. He’d put the gun into the back waistband of his jeans before he’d grabbed the blonde, thinking the gun might frighten her. As much as he wanted to pull it now, he talked himself out of it.

At least for the moment. He didn’t want to get involved in any gunplay—especially with the young woman here. He’d started carrying the gun when he’d worked for his father and had to take the day’s proceeds to a bank drop late at night. It was a habit he’d gotten used to even after he’d quit. Probably because of the type of people who worked with his father.

After what seemed like an interminable length of time, the van driver pulled away.