Author: Valerie Hansen
Category: Nonfiction
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/valerie-hansen/page,11,574796-on_the_run.html
Janie smiled as she began to relax a little. There was something comforting about being with Brad, but rather than overanalyze she simply accepted it. “Next time, how about a hairbrush and toothbrush. I’m beginning to feel almost as scruffy as you used to be.”
“There are some toiletries in the bathrooms. Didn’t you look?”
She humphed. “Look? I laid down on the bed with Pixie and the next thing I remember is hearing you knock on this door.”
“Told you you were tired.”
“No kidding.” Turning, she donned her jacket and picked up the dog carrier. “I put my old clothes in here. There’s a little more room if you want to stash yours.”
“I’m ditching the shirt and jeans,” Brad said. “They were hopeless. Everything I own at this point I’m wearing.”
“Too bad I had to use that laundry detergent as a weapon. It might have gotten your clothes clean.”
“It served a better purpose,” Brad said, sobering and stepping back. “Come on. And bring Pixie. It’s time to make a run for it.”
The way he said it gave Janie the shivers. “Run? Did you see any of those guys again?”
“No.” Concern shadowed his handsome face and a lock of wavy dark hair swung to rest on his forehead.
Janie studied him. “I sense a ‘but’ coming. But what else?”
“Nothing certain. When I spoke to the chief privately, he indicated that he’d uncovered spies within his department as well as in the Springfield area. That’s why it’s so important for us to get to the airfield without being seen.”
“What if we are? Can we still go?” It went without saying that she was hoping she would not have to fly.
“We have to,” Brad said flatly. “Wes gave out false information about our travel plans, which should help temporarily. As soon as the gang figures out they’ve been tricked they’ll start fanning out and checking likely routes out of town. That’s why I didn’t want to be traveling any more than absolutely necessary. We’ll go straight to the airstrip from here.”
“Is it far?”
“No.”
Hesitating, she felt him place a hand gently at the small of her back and guide her forward. Pixie was circling and dancing at their feet so Janie passed Brad the carrier and scooped up her little pet. Holding the affectionate dog close seemed to help calm her while errant thoughts of having to board any airplane, particularly a small one, gave her the shakes all the way to her toes.
“I—I don’t know if I can do this,” Janie admitted. “I mean it. I’d rather face those thugs in their big SUVs than get on a plane.” She paused again as Brad opened the outside door. Rain was still falling, although not as heavily as it had been. In the distance she could see flashes of light and hear the rumbles of thunder.
“We’ll be fine,” he assured her.
Janie’s wry wit surfaced as a defense and she said, “I hear that’s what General Custer told his troops before Little Bighorn.”
Brad quirked a smile. “That’s better. I’ve missed your sarcasm.”
“Yeah, well, consider it a last resort. I tend to get silly right before I fall apart completely.” She sobered. “It used to get me slapped by my brothers pretty regularly.”
Brad didn’t comment until he was behind the wheel and pulling out onto the highway. “I was sorry to hear you didn’t take advantage of the escape the department offered back then. Why did you stay at home after everything that had happened?”
“They were family. Bad or good, I didn’t want to leave them and go live with strangers. I waited until I was old enough to get by on my own.”
“You were, what, sixteen?”
“About that. Once I got involved in martial arts training and made some friends through that program, I was able to rely on their support. It actually worked out better because it gave me a skill to fall back on while I studied nursing.”
“Good for you.”
“Thanks. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.”
“So, you got through all that by yourself or with the help of a few friends. Surely, you can bring yourself to trust a skilled pilot as long as I’m with you.”
Janie rolled her eyes and held Pixie closer. “Only if you happen to come with your own parachute.” His warm laugh sent a shiver of awareness singing up her spine and prickling the tiny fine hairs on her arms. It was probably better to kid around about her fears than to spell them out. Not that she could. A nameless, faceless sense of dread was hard to explain, which was another reason why it was so hard to banish.
Lightning jumped from cloud to cloud, illuminating them from within and distracting Janie from her immediate surroundings. The seconds between each flash and an ensuing boom were impossible to count because the sky was so active, so filled with menace. Surely, aircraft were susceptible to being struck the same as a tree or structure on the ground. What then? Did the electronics fail? Was she going to disappear like those planes that flew into the Bermuda Triangle?
Janie shook herself, disgusted with the direction her thoughts had taken. She sat up straighter. Cuddled Pixie gently. Glanced in the rearview mirror on her side of the new truck.
“Brad!” Staring, she was incredulous. “Look back there!”
She saw him lean to the side, trying to see what she meant. “It’s too dark. What do you think you saw?”
“A couple of big vehicles,” Janie said. “Wait for a flash of lightning, then look.”
“I still don’t...” Suddenly, he accelerated.
Pushed back against the seat, Janie knew she’d been right. Or at least Brad thought so because his speed had greatly increased and he’d begun weaving in and out of what little traffic happened to be on the road before dawn.
She could hardly breathe. Her pulse pounded. Another flash showed vehicles trailing them in that same swerving path.
“How much farther?” Janie shouted over at him.
“Two, maybe three miles.” Brad continued to zigzag until he reached an eighteen-wheeler and cut in front of it. The trucker laid on his horn. Brad continued to the right, slipping onto an off-ramp at the last possible second.
Janie was scared to death—and elated. “You did it. You lost them!”
“For a few miles, maybe. If they know where we’re going, they might be there waiting for us.”
“I didn’t need to hear that,” she warned, clinging to her sense of victory.
“Yes, you did,” Brad countered. “Keep your head down as best you can and hang on. This isn’t over yet.”
“Do you have any more tidbits of terrible news you’d like to share?”
“Not at the moment.”
Watching his masterful driving, Janie was struck by how much safer she felt when he was behind the wheel. Knowing she, herself, was a good driver wasn’t enough to provide a sense of relief whereas having Brad in charge was. So much for her feminist mindset, she admitted ruefully. It was one thing to feel powerful and capable in normal situations and quite another for that sense of strength to carry over into this kind of situation.
Two were definitely better than one and having the police officer as the second member of her team was an unfathomable advantage. To have ended up like this was so far-fetched she was forced to attribute it to divine intervention. That, or deny everything that had brought them this far in one piece.
Brad slowed. Turned down a dirt track. The truck’s headlights illuminated a chain hanging across the road with a No Trespassing sign swinging in the center.
“Stay here,” Brad shouted as he threw open his door and ran toward one of the posts supporting the end of the chain.
Janie held her breath. Pixie barked. Brad hunched against driving wind and raindrops the size of dimes. Lightning revealed the airstrip beyond. Unimaginable fear had reached its peak, or so she thought, until other pairs of lights appeared in the distance behi
nd them.
“Hurry,” Janie yelled out the open door. “Somebody’s coming!”
The momentary expression on Brad’s face was more frightening than anything he could have said.
Racing back to the truck he slid behind the wheel and hit the gas, letting their forward momentum slam the open door.
“Is it them?” Janie kept trying to see better.
“Almost has to be,” he shouted back. “Get ready to pile out and run.”
“Do you have the guns?” Janie asked.
“Yes.” He released one hand long enough to pull a pistol from his waistband. “Here. Take this.”
The slightest hesitation brought his ire. “Do it. Now! You don’t have a choice.”
She was reaching for the gun when he added, “You might be the only chance I have of living through this.”
That was enough. Her fingers closed around the grip, her finger beside the trigger guard as he’d instructed. She rested her thumb on a tiny button. “Is this the safety?”
“Yes!” Brad turned the wheel abruptly and hit the brakes. The rear of the truck slid sideways. Its headlights now lit the gigantic white numbers painted on the asphalt.
Above and to their right, a set of landing lights flicked on while beacons on the wings and tail of the approaching plane continued to flash.
Janie abandoned everything but her dog and the pistol as she left the truck and ran.
One glance told her that Brad had taken up a position behind the open driver’s door and was drawing a bead on the road behind, centering on the pairs of headlights.
Forgetting her qualms, Janie positioned herself on the center line of the paved runway and began waving the gun to signal the plane while clasping Pixie in her other arm. Landing gear descended. The engines changed pitch and slowed.
She looked back at Brad. He was standing firm. Defending their position until the last moment.
FOURTEEN
Brad saw the plane land, pivot and taxi back to where Janie was standing. Her hair blew wildly, her jacket flapping in the gale. Sound told him the engines were idling, ready to be pushed for takeoff.
He snatched a brief glance, saw a hatch with steps drop down and someone reach to help Janie on board. In front of him the pairs of headlights parted as one vehicle diverted. He couldn’t let them get around him and block the runway.
Aiming slightly behind the lights, he fired a burst where he thought the front tires would be. The targeted vehicle swerved abruptly, then came to rest pointed directly at him.
Someone bailed out and returned fire. Brad countered. The second set of lights was barreling closer and closer. His pistol ejected the final casing and the slide stayed back. He was out of ammo. It was now or never.
Pivoting, he dropped into a crouch and headed for the plane. To his amazement, flare from the barrel of another pistol illuminated the door at the top of the ramp. Somebody was firing, covering his escape. Was it Janie? Had she actually overcome her loathing of firearms enough to defend him?
Straightening as he took the final leap to the foot of the ramp, Brad saw her. His heart swelled. She had taken up a position in front of the open door and was laying covering fire.
“Get inside,” he shouted as he took the steps two at a time. His hand deflected the gun. His open arms scooped her up and they tumbled into the plane together while Pixie did her best to find a place to bite him.
The gangway was still rising as the pilot gunned the engines. A second man secured the hatch and returned to the cockpit. The aircraft vibrated beneath them, then lifted off at a steep angle as Brad held Janie close.
He knew he should release her but something in him kept refusing to let go. “Are you hurt?” he finally asked.
She was clinging to him. “No. You?”
“I don’t think so.”
Raising her head from where it had been resting against his chest she peered at him through the gloom of the dimly lit cabin. “You can’t tell?”
“Sometimes not,” he answered truthfully. “Adrenaline can mask pain for a short time. I didn’t feel anything hit me, though.”
“Neither did I.”
When she pressed her cheek into his shoulder, Brad felt her shudder. He said, “That was a very brave thing you did.”
A delicate snort preceded, “And stupid?”
“Not in my opinion. If you hadn’t pinned them down, I don’t know if I’d have made it.”
“Well, I can’t take all the credit,” Janie admitted. “One of the pilots was shooting, too. He’d stepped back to reload so I took over.”
“Whatever. You stood your ground. I’m very proud of you.”
Feeling her starting to relax, Brad loosened his hold and got to his feet, reaching out to help her stand while he braced himself on the side of a passenger seat.
Janie never left her knees. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not stand up. This thing is tilting and pitching like a rowboat at sea.”
“We’ll smooth out as soon as we gain a little more altitude.”
As soon as he’d helped her into one of the seats, Pixie made a dive for her lap. Brad made sure Janie’s safety belt was fastened before he sat next to her. It wasn’t a big surprise to feel her try to snuggle closer, dog and all.
Relief washed over as if somebody had poured warm water from his head to his feet. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and drew her even closer. In retrospect, it seemed impossible that they had weathered so many attacks and come through unscathed. Yet they had.
It wasn’t over, of course. Not by a long shot. But this was a much-needed respite and he intended to take advantage of it.
Lightning continued to flash outside the small, twin-engine plane. Air turbulence hadn’t decreased the way Brad had expected and he sincerely hoped Janie could take the rough ride without experiencing motion sickness. He wanted her to be able to relax. To rest. To recoup enough for their next challenge.
Time passed. Her head stayed against his shoulder and he continued to hold her, relishing every moment. Pixie didn’t seem to mind, either. When he reached across and completed the embrace with both arms, she licked his wrist. Including the feisty little mutt wasn’t exactly Brad’s idea of the perfect hug but he went ahead. At this point, he’d have used any excuse to hold the woman who had become so vitally important in his life.
“Whatever is left of it,” he murmured, checking to see if she reacted and finding her nearly asleep. He leaned close enough to place a light kiss on her hair, then her forehead.
His eyes met Pixie’s. One side of the little dog’s mouth twitched in a half-hearted snarl.
Brad smiled at the dog. “It’s okay, girl. You and I can look after her together.”
The black button eyes blinked.
“Yeah,” Brad whispered. “You can tell how I feel, can’t you?”
Another blink. Then a lick of the nose.
Brad barely uttered a sound when he added, “Yeah. I love her, too.” Smiling, he added, “It’ll be our secret.”
* * *
Janie had tried to keep her eyes open as they flew but there was something soothing about the vibrations of the aircraft despite its pitching and yawing. It had also felt good to have Brad’s arms around her, although if he had asked she would have denied enjoying it so much.
Her mind had drifted, reliving bits and pieces of their prior moments together and marveling at their survival against attacks that should have been overwhelming. Yet here they were.
Sighing, Janie had felt herself falling asleep and quit fighting her drowsiness. There had been times in the past when her dreams had been supersweet but none had come close to the emotions she was experiencing at present. She envisioned herself as a princess in a beautiful ball gown being whirled around a dance floor by a handsome prince. No one else existed. Just the two of them.
&nbs
p; The music began to fade. The prince pulled her closer. She felt his warm breath against her forehead just before he kissed her there.
His expression of adoration carried over into reality and Janie smiled, stirring slightly. She sighed just as she heard him mention love and held perfectly still, waiting to hear more.
Brad’s cheek was resting against her head, his breath tickling the fine hairs by her temple. She felt his muscles starting to relax, heard his breathing slow and even out. He, too, had surrendered to sleep. The poor man had to be exhausted, she reasoned, determined to stay quiet and let him enjoy what respite he could. He deserved weeks of R and R instead of a few stolen minutes here and there.
Janie lifted her right hand off Pixie and slipped it around Brad’s waist above the safety belt. That was the best hug she could manage so she added as much as possible by turning her head slightly and kissing his shoulder.
The leather of his jacket lay between them but Janie didn’t care. As far as she was concerned she’d kissed him.
Her fondest prayer, other than survival, of course, was that she would someday have the chance—and the courage—to show him how she felt when he was awake.
“I can. I will,” Janie whispered to herself before realizing they first had to live through their current ordeal. She added, “Lord willing,” and asked God for His blessing and ongoing protection.
Without raising his head or giving any other sign he might be awake, Brad pulled her closer. Janie was already sighing softly when she heard him murmur, “Amen.”
* * *
A sense of peace encompassed Brad as he fought to awaken. The more alert he became, however, the more that feeling faded. Finally, he couldn’t stand sitting still and eased his arms from around Janie so he could get up and speak with the pilots. She did stir, as did Pixie, but quickly settled back against the seat with her eyes closed.
Attempting to walk forward he caromed off the bulkhead twice before he was able to put a steadying hand on the back of each pilot’s seat and lean between them to ask, “How much farther?”