Off the Grid Christmas Read online

  “We can head up the bluff.” She nodded toward the south and the scraggly pines that dotted a steep hill. She’d walked there a couple of days ago, trying to clear her mind after hours in front of the computer. “But I don’t know how far we can take the bike. The terrain’s steep and icy and the bike’s tires have definitely seen better days. We need a vehicle, and mine’s in the lot.”

  “I parked off the street. About a half-mile from the lot.”

  A light flashed at the head of the trail, there and gone so quickly Arden would have missed it if she hadn’t been looking in that direction.

  “A signal,” Kane muttered. “They’re going to try to trap us. Can we make it to the road, or should we ditch the bike and try to make it out quietly? You know the area best. It’s your call, Arden, but make the right choice. We’re probably outmanned and outgunned.”

  “We can make it out on the bike.” It would take a little finesse and a whole lot of guts, but their odds were better on the bike than walking out.

  She started the engine and took off again, leaving the trail and bouncing onto ice-coated grass, speeding between spindly pine trees as she raced up the bluff and toward freedom.

  * * *

  Kane had been in a lot of dangerous situations, but riding on an ancient motorbike behind a woman who seemed more daredevil than computer whiz was right up at the top of his list of experiences he never wanted to repeat.

  He was concerned about the icy conditions, Arden’s driving skills and the fact that whoever was after her might have already spotted his rented Chevy Tahoe. It was unlikely, though. He’d parked behind a small copse of trees, and the vehicle would be difficult to spot from the road.

  Still, if the people who were after Arden were as desperate as she seemed to believe, they might have been scoping out the area, looking for signs that someone besides Arden was around.

  The bike bounced over an exposed root, and he tightened his grip on Arden’s waist. He’d have preferred to drive, but this arrangement left his gun hand free. Arden navigated the rocky, snow-covered bluff with surprising ease.

  Kane leaned forward, his chest pressing against Arden’s backpack. The wind whipped at strands of hair peeking out from her hat, the soft tendrils brushing against his cheek.

  She slowed as they reached the crest of the hill. Even at this speed the cold air was merciless on their exposed skin and eyes. They needed to get to the Chevy. He had a duffel of supplies there, hats and gloves, an extra jacket.

  His work required preparedness, and he’d tried to think of all the possibilities when he’d set off to find Arden. He’d been hoping to be a few steps ahead of whoever was after her, but the army that was following her seemed to have a lot of tech power behind it—they’d been able to access the PetID database and register the hit on the microchip just as he had. They also had at least some knowledge of Arden’s private life. Kane had only known about her cat and its microchip because Grayson had told him. Was it possible someone Arden knew well had set her up?

  He glanced over his shoulder, his arm still tight around Arden’s waist.

  Bright lights illuminated the path they’d left, what looked like an ATV zipping along the narrow passage.

  “They’re coming. Looks like they have a vehicle that can make it,” he warned.

  “Hold on,” she shouted, hitting the throttle and propelling them over the top of the bluff. The way down was as steep as the trip up, but the bike managed to cling to the rocky, ice-coated ground as Arden wove her way through sparse pine growth.

  There weren’t enough trees to provide adequate cover, and the hair on his neck stood on end. He may as well have had a bull’s-eye on his back. One well-trained sniper, and he’d be down.

  He glanced back. The ATV had crested the hill and seemed to be idling there. It was a good vantage point, and the shot would be easy enough to take.

  Arden must have sensed the danger.

  “Hang on!” she shouted. Hitting the throttle once more, she increased their speed and veered sharply to the right, steering the motorcycle toward what looked like a shallow ditch. Beyond that, the road curved across the landscape.

  The first shot rang out as the motorcycle jumped the ditch. Bits of bark flew into Kane’s face as the tires hit the snowy pavement. The motorcycle wobbled dangerously, yet somehow remained upright.

  “Left!” he shouted, calculating their distance from his Tahoe, the likelihood of the next bullet hitting its target, the chance that Arden would make it out of this situation alive if something happened to him.

  He’d promised Jace he’d get her home in one piece.

  He’d do it.

  A second shot rang out, and the pavement behind them exploded. A high-caliber rifle, but the gunman couldn’t seem to hit his mark.

  There are always blessings in the trials.

  His grandmother had reminded him of that dozens of times when he was a kid. Maybe she’d been right.

  He could see the patch of trees where he’d parked the Tahoe, and the dull gleam of the street sign he’d used as a marker just ahead.

  A bullet hit it, bouncing off the metal with a loud crack.

  “Just past the sign. Behind those trees,” he barked, and Arden veered in the direction he’d indicated, the motorcycle slowing as she bounced off the road and into knee-high grass.

  She cut the motor as they reached the Tahoe.

  The night had gone silent except for the wind that howled through the trees. No engines roaring, people shouting, bullets flying.

  “I don’t like this,” Arden whispered as she clambered off the bike.

  “Get in!” he urged, opening the driver’s side door. “They’re probably coming from the parking area.” Before the words were out of his mouth, she was scrambling across the bench seat; he rushed in after her, pulling the door shut behind him.

  Shoving the keys in the ignition, Kane cranked the engine and hit the gas. The SUV lurched out from behind the trees and screeched onto the road.

  “Keep down!” Kane ordered as he floored it.

  He didn’t know how many vehicles were coming from the parking area, but he could already see a set of lights in his rearview mirror. He might be able to outrun them.

  Might.

  He’d flown into a small airfield three miles away, just outside of Lubec. Bringing the Cessna had been faster and easier than driving or booking a commercial flight.

  With the weather getting bad and the enemy on his tail, he wasn’t sure it had been the right decision. The airfield shared space with Tommy’s Truck and SUV Rentals, the town’s only car rental business; the pickings had been slim—mostly older model pickup trucks—and he’d thought he’d been fortunate enough to rent the Tahoe. Now he wished there’d been a faster vehicle to choose.

  Arden shifted, and before he realized what she was doing, she was on her knees, peering out the back window.

  “They’re gaining on us,” she commented.

  There didn’t seem to be any panic in her voice. So far, she’d been unflappable. That was good. Panic only ever caused people to make mistakes that could get them killed.

  “Get out of your pack and get your seat belt on.” He issued the order and ignored her comment.

  “Are you expecting to crash?” But Arden shrugged out of her backpack and fastened the seat belt around her waist, carefully positioning the shoulder strap behind her so it wouldn’t bother her cat.

  “I’m expecting that they won’t give up easily,” he responded.

  “Logic agrees.”

  “Does it?” he said drily as he sped around a curve in the road. The light disappeared from the rearview mirror. Gone for now, but not for long. If they hadn’t been on a two-lane highway that overlooked a twenty-foot drop to the ocean, he’d have looked for a place to pull off and hide unti
l their pursuers passed.

  “Of course,” Arden replied. “Now that they’ve used their weapons and shown their hand, they can’t let us escape. They’ll need to kill you to keep you from contacting the police once they’ve gotten their hands on me, so any way you cut it, they’re not going to give up easily.”

  “Kill me, huh?”

  “Does that surprise you?”

  “No, but I’m curious.”

  “About?”

  “Their reasons for wanting to take you alive.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Yeah?” He glanced at the speedometer, its needle hovering around eighty-five. Any faster and the vehicle would start shaking like it was in need of a front-end alignment.

  “Very.” She answered absently, giving no further explanation.

  “Care to tell me exactly who wants to keep you alive?”

  “In actuality, there are several entities who might be responsible for this. I am on the FBI’s most wanted list.”

  “You’re avoiding my question.”

  “No. I’m just avoiding giving you an answer.”

  “Why?”

  “My reasons are not your concern.”

  She obviously didn’t trust him. He’d drop it. For now.

  Arden twisted once more in her seat, looking out the back window. “Can this thing go any faster? I’m pretty sure I see headlights behind us again.”

  He could see them, too, but he’d already accelerated as much as the Tahoe could. “We’ve still got some distance between us.”

  “Not enough. Lubec’s less than a mile away. If you avoid Main Street, we might be able to give them the slip.”

  “It’s a small town, and there aren’t many places to hide. I won’t feel safe until we get you out of Lubec, and Maine altogether for that matter.”

  “That’s unrealistic. If we can’t beat them on this curved and twisting road, we can’t beat them in a race on the open highway.”

  “You’re assuming I’m planning to drive us out of here.”

  “Is there another option?” Her voice was sharp.

  “I left my Cessna at the Coastal Airstrip just outside of town.”

  “Cessna?” she said a little too loudly, her voice tight. “That’s your plan?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t fly,” Arden stated firmly.

  “You’re about to.” He took a sharp curve in the road. The turn into the airport access road was up ahead, and the headlights behind them had disappeared again. If he was fast enough, he could turn onto the road, cut the lights and wait for their pursuers to pass.

  As the SUV approached the turn, he cut the headlights and swung into the access road, tires squealing as they tried to gain traction.

  “This is the airport,” Arden said.

  “I told you. We’re flying out.”

  “I told you, I’m not.”

  She was.

  Even if he had to throw her kicking and screaming onto the Cessna. He’d committed to getting Arden back to her family. He was going to do it. No matter who was after her. No matter what kind of trouble she’d gotten herself into.

  No matter how determined she was to keep him from doing it.

  He didn’t back down from challenges. That was one of the reasons Jace had asked him to do the job. It went deeper than that, of course. They’d served together, fought together. They’d saved each other’s hides more than once. Their bond was a brotherhood, and it couldn’t be broken. They’d do anything for each other.

  Even fly a Cessna through a storm with a passenger who obviously didn’t want to be there.

  THREE

  Intellectually, Arden knew that the one-in-ten-million chance of being killed in a plane crash was much lower than the one-in-one chance of being killed if GeoArray got its hands on her. Once GeoArray got what it wanted, her pursuers would have no use for Arden and no reason to let her live. She’d been on the run for almost two weeks and was certain that with a few more days, she could crack the encryption that protected the files. If she was caught and the files confiscated before she had the chance to extract the information she needed, she’d have no way of proving Marcus Emory was a murderer—and maybe worse. She’d also have no way to prove her innocence.

  Yep. Her chances were better on the Cessna, but she wasn’t boarding it. She didn’t fly. Not ever. She’d find another way out of the mess she’d gotten herself into. Of course, to do that, she had to lose Kane.

  She shot a quick look in his direction. He was focused on the icy access road, concentrating on getting them to the death trap of an airplane before their pursuers. If he’d been driving a little more slowly, she would have chanced opening the door and jumping. She probably had a good shot of landing without injury—but not when they were traveling nearly blind in excess of fifty miles an hour, and not with Sebastian strapped to her chest.

  She’d have to make a break for it after they reached the plane. Even if she weren’t terrified of flying, there was no way she could let Kane bring her home.

  As much as Grayson wanted to help her, until she could prove her innocence, she couldn’t ask him to take her side against the FBI. Law enforcement was his calling and she would not be the one who caused him to lose his job with the FBI. She wasn’t sure what story Marcus Emory had fed the FBI, but his clever move had made her an enemy of the state. She was wanted by the United States government and, by now, possibly a half-dozen other entities.

  She had to finish what she’d come to Maine to do.

  She had to decrypt the files she’d intercepted from GeoArray. The fact that GeoArray was willing to engage the FBI in its search for her meant that Emory was desperate. Any doubt she’d harbored about the importance of those files was gone. Her gut told her the content of the files would expose the criminal activities behind GeoArray.

  She glanced out the back window and saw a vehicle pass the airport access road.

  “You can slow down,” she said. “They’ve passed us.”

  “Not if we want to get to the plane before they realize we’ve turned off.”

  “What’s the plan once we reach it? We can’t just climb aboard and leave.”

  “Sure we can. It’s unlikely other planes are flying out of here tonight. I can be cleared for takeoff in minutes.”

  “If there’s anyone at the tower.” And she hoped there wasn’t.

  “There is. I put in a flight plan for this evening and was given a three-hour window to fly out. We’re within that time frame.”

  “I don’t like it,” she muttered. “How about you come up with a different plan? Because I already told you, I’m not flying out of here.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Did you hear me?”

  “I heard.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t change plans. Not when they’re good ones.”

  “Often, it’s opinion that determines whether or not something is good,” she pointed out. “Your opinion and mine are very different on this issue.”

  “Are you aiming for an argument, Arden? Because now isn’t the time for it.”

  “There’s no time like the present for me to state irrevocably that I think your plan stinks.” She didn’t care about the argument. She didn’t care about his plan. She needed him to think she did. That would put him off guard when they reached whatever death trap, winged vehicle he thought they were flying out in.

  He didn’t take the bait.

  “Who’s after us?” he asked instead.

  “You asked me that before. I chose not to answer.”

  “I asked who you were running from. Now I want to know who’s behind us.”

  “Sorry, I—”

  “If I’m going to go head-to-head with an ene
my, I want to know who the enemy is.”

  “Ever heard of GeoArray?” she asked. She’d let him think she was cooperating. If he believed she was going along with his plan, he’d be a lot less likely to anticipate her escape.

  “GeoArray is after you?” he answered. Obviously he’d heard of the defense contractor.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I was...helping a friend and I stumbled on some information that GeoArray would rather I not have.”

  “What kind of information are we talking about?”

  “The kind that could get you killed if you knew about it.”

  “There isn’t a whole lot going on tonight that couldn’t get me killed,” he responded, glancing in the rearview mirror and frowning.

  She looked over her shoulder. “Do you see them?”

  “No, but once they realize they’ve lost us it won’t take long for them to figure out that we turned into the airport access road.” He parked the SUV near a hangar, grabbing her arm before she could jump out.

  She could have pulled away. He wasn’t holding on that tightly, and she knew how to break someone’s grip, but the look in his eyes held her in place.

  “Don’t try it,” he said quietly.

  “What?”

  “Whatever you’ve been planning. We don’t have time to fight each other.”

  “We aren’t fighting. I’m—”

  “You’re going to get us both killed, Arden. Is that what you want? Because, if you run, I’m going after you. That will slow us down and give whoever’s following us plenty of time to catch up.” He released her arm, reached over the back seat and grabbed an army duffel bag, then opened his door.

  She opened hers as well, stepping out of the vehicle and shivering as a few flakes of snow landed on her cheeks. She didn’t fly, and she especially didn’t fly when the weather was bad.

  Her plan had been to run as soon as her feet hit the ground, but she couldn’t ignore Kane’s warning and feel good about it. She glanced at the road running parallel to the airfield, spotting a vehicle creeping along it. It had to be them. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out she and Kane were at the airport.