Not Without Cause

They made it to the fence a few minutes after that. Haden pushed her ahead of him and held the crowd back with his body, his hands stretched above her head where he gripped the rusty metal link. She gulped for air as he yelled something. She couldn’t hear him and shook her head. Then he tilted his head and she understood. The guard who’d searched her was to their right. Standing before the gate, he was swinging his sap wildly but losing ground with every strike, the number of the now-crazed inmates too many to combat.

They were almost to the gate when Meredith pulled her knife from the waistband of her skirt. She had to act now; she had no other choice.

A second later, they were by the prison guard’s side. Taller than the man by a good six inches, Haden ducked closer as the guard’s arm swung back. When he brought the sap down again, Haden grabbed the man’s hand and twisted it backward, lifting it up at the very same time.

His whole left side was exposed. All Meredith had to do was take one step and thrust her knife.

A second later that’s exactly what she did.

But it wasn’t the guard she aimed for.

HADEN JUMPED and the knife missed him by an inch.

His startled eyes locked with Meredith’s in the millisecond that followed and he read his fate in those dark-brown depths. Before he could react, an inmate came from behind and got between them, the fence finally falling down as the crowd pushed past the gate the guard had been trying to protect.

Haden dashed for the jungle without a backward look.

MEREDITH SHOT from the pack of stumbling inmates like a racehorse given its head but by the time she reached the clearing’s edge, Haden had vanished. She plunged into the darkness anyway, a thousand scenarios flashing inside her head as to what would happen next. Her chances of finding him were good—he was already weak so he wouldn’t get far—but she chastised herself regardless, the problem one that she shouldn’t even have had to face.

What the hell had happened back there? How on earth could she have missed? Once her knife was out of its sheath, she never failed to hit her target. Never.

As she ran, she listed her excuses: the guard’s movement had thrown her off, Haden had known she would try, the stars weren’t lined up properly… In the end, she decided with disgust it didn’t matter why she hadn’t hit him. She’d botched things and that was all that counted.

She plunged deeper and deeper into the undergrowth until she pulled herself up short, her breath coming in quick bursts of frustration. This wasn’t the way to get the job done. She was panicking and panic never got you anywhere. She had to pull herself together and come up with a plan. Bending over, she drew several deep breaths and tried to calm herself, but her brain wouldn’t cooperate. She kept remembering one frightening image after another—the guard’s horrified gaze merging with the terrified prostitute’s eyes, her wide stare morphing into Haden’s when he’d seen the knife in her hand.

Meredith bit back a curse and shook her head. What the hell had she been thinking? Why hadn’t she handled the situation in the casita when she’d realized who he was? If she’d been prepared, she would have ditched the strategy she’d worked out and used the riot to her advantage, figuring out later how to escape and what to do with the body. She continued to berate herself but the truth didn’t change. She’d screwed up. Big time.

Because she’d already decided he was dead.

Since the moment she’d walked into Haden’s house, she’d assumed that was the case. There had been too much blood. Too much gore. She’d expected the man in the prison to be Brad Prescott. She remembered her feelings at seeing Haden’s bloody home and everything clicked; she’d been counting on him being dead, she realized with a start.

Cursing out loud, she straightened and thought of her father, the sound of his voice echoing in the back of her mind. Calm down. Clear your brain. Concentrate!

Wiping her forehead, she blinked and listened to the imaginary advice. This wasn’t the time or the place to figure out where she’d gone wrong. She needed to concentrate on what was in front of her and that’s what she forced herself to do. After a second, her brain seemed to agree and settle down. Her task was really quite simple.

She had to find Haden.

Then she had to kill him.

Her senses on high alert, her body tense and ready, she headed into the brush, prepared to do just that.

HADEN SAT on a rotting log, the strength abandoning his legs as quickly as it’d come. He’d used every bit of energy he’d had to get this far but he hadn’t gotten far enough. He could almost feel Meredith’s hot breath behind him. She was good and she was fast. As soon as she recovered from the shock of missing him, she’d be right on his ass.

Shaky and queasy, Haden assessed his situation. Trying to escape was pointless; Meredith would never give up until she had him. The only reason he’d run was to give himself enough time to figure out how to handle her. If he could keep her off balance long enough, he might be able to understand what was happening before she managed to get that shank between his ribs.

“I didn’t expect…”

Her shocked words when she’d realized who he was came back to him, and he filled in the part of the sentence she’d left unfinished. “I didn’t expect you…” seemed obvious but if that was the case, then why had she tried to kill him? And who had she been looking for if not him?

The questions whirled in his mind, making as much sense as the howler monkeys overhead. After a bit, a single face emerged from his confusion and the more he thought about it, the more certain Haden became. Dean Reynolds was surely pulling these strings. The whole setup smelled like him, slick, smooth and not quite right.

Haden had tried to make Meredith see the truth when they’d been together, but she and the old man had always been thick. It seemed strange considering what she did for a living, but she’d always wanted to see the best in people. She was on the outside of the Agency now, but Haden wouldn’t put anything past Reynolds. He’d manipulated Meredith back then and Haden knew it wouldn’t bother the old bastard to use her now. Hell, Reynolds would pay off the Devil if it meant he could accomplish something he wanted.

Haden shifted his weight and a throbbing pain screamed through his head. He swayed, a wave of nausea overtaking him. He’d been in some tight spots, he thought as he struggled to stand, but it didn’t get much worse than this. Holding on to the tree trunk behind him, he fought off his dizziness and amended his thought. Things could always get worse and they would…as soon as Meredith found him.

He took two steps forward then something behind him rustled in the underbrush. He froze and listened. A whisper of movement could be heard in the clearing just to his left. Haden smiled to himself then slipped silently to his right, his fingers gripping the vine he’d pulled down a few minutes before. He was glad to know there were some things he was still better at than Meredith. A few seconds later, he was behind her and she didn’t have a clue. He took two more steps, then he was at her back.

He slipped his arm around her neck and pulled it tight against her throat.

To her credit, Meredith didn’t cry out or make any sound at all. In fact, she went limp against him but Haden didn’t fall for her trick. He tightened his hold and dragged her into the jungle, her back against his chest, the smell of her skin filling his senses to the point of overload.

She gripped his arm. “What are you doing?” Her voice was calm and even. “I followed you so I could help you, Haden. You don’t have to do this. You need to get some medical attention.”

“Yeah, sure. Help like yours I can do without.” He jerked his arm against her throat. “We both know you aren’t the Red Cross. You came here to kill someone, but you weren’t expecting me and you tried anyway! I want to know who sent you and what the hell’s going on.”

Gritting his teeth against the pain the movement cost him, he wrapped the vine around her wrists, pulling it as tight as he could. He spoke over her shoulder as he tugged on it to make sure. “What’s going on, Meredith?”

Her arms secured behind her, Meredith turned slowly. They were inches apart. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her eyes wide. “I was trying to get us out of there. I was aiming for the guard.”

“The hell you were.”

“It’s the truth!”

He was weak and light-headed, but he jerked her closer and held on to the rope. “We both know what you do, Meredith. Don’t screw with me.”

“You wouldn’t have said that a few years ago.”

“You weren’t a killer a few years ago,” he said bluntly. “You were someone I could trust and I did. Things are different now.”

“We do what we have to,” she said. “That’s how the world works.”

“That’s not how my world works,” he said. “There are rules where I come from and you’ve broken them all.” He tightened his jaw, a creeping blackness dimming the edges of his vision. The run into the jungle was taking its toll. “Just tell me why you’re here, Meredith. Your services don’t come cheaply so someone must be paying you a lot of money but you were obviously surprised to see me. Who were you looking for? And what does Dean Reynolds have to do with this?”

She looked him straight in the eye, her gaze cold. “Go to hell, Haden,” she said softly, her body still where it rested against his own. “I’m not telling you anything and you know better than to even ask.”

He blinked, then a second wave of weakness hit him hard. He held his breath and rode it out. “You’re going to tell me the truth,” he insisted, “one way or another. Make it easy on yourself. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

He heard her voice, but it seemed to come to him from a distant tunnel. “You couldn’t hurt a mouse right now, Haden. Give it up….”

“I’m not giving up shit,” he whispered. “I’ll beat it out of you if I have to….” His threat faded into silence as he felt his knees buckle.

HADEN FELL to the jungle floor like a limp dish towel, taking her with him. If the situation had been slightly different, Meredith might have seen the humor in it, but right now all she could think about was getting things under control. The undergrowth cushioned their fall but he’d landed on top on her and her breath had left her chest in a whoosh. After a few seconds struggle, she wormed from beneath him and managed to get her hands untied. Two minutes later, she had their positions reversed, but her knots were much better. If he woke up before she got back, he wouldn’t be going anywhere.

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