Dead Girl Running (Cape Charade #1)(77)

“Right. Something else was going on, but at that moment, I didn’t care what. The box was right there, and their ATV was right there, and I thought…make a little trouble.”

“What were you thinking?” Before he could answer, she gestured him to silence. “I know—you were horny and that precludes thinking.”

“I was thinking with the small brain. It happens. Damned good thing it did, too. I lugged the box over to the ATV, unhinged the seat, damned near ruptured a vertebra lifting it up and into the storage bin and dropped the seat over it right about the time the shouting started.” He watched her for a few moments. “You don’t want to say a word about what could have happened next, do you? You’re afraid to feed me information, lead the witness.”

“Correct.”

“I made a good choice when I picked you.”

His phrasing made her want to slap him. But right now, she wanted to slap a lot of people. Or shoot. Whatever. “Why did they disappear?”

“They’d spotted the resort’s security chief, Vince Gilfilen.”

“How did you know about him?”

“I didn’t. I only knew he was in those rocks fighting for his life—the bad guys had him in a stranglehold, so he must be on my side.” Nils looked her in the eyes. “We introduced ourselves afterward.”

She shook her head and half laughed. Guys.

“So Vince, that son of a bitch is skinny and he slipped down and out. He’s strong and wiry. He likes to fight, and he got his licks in, but they got a cord around his neck and the Librarian slashed at his wrists and…” Nils sat there and shook his head.

“What did you do, Nils?”

“I couldn’t watch anymore. I couldn’t be safe anymore. I couldn’t do the smart thing anymore. I got one of the ATVs, one without the box inside, started it, put it into gear, gave it the gas and bailed out right before it hit the boulders.”

“My God.” She wavered between horror and laughter at the description of the scene, of the evidence of Nils’s mad innovative fighting skills.

He painfully sat straight up in his chair. “They scattered. I slammed one guy with a rock to the head. The other guy smashed me with a rock to the arm.” Nils lifted his elbow. “Want to refill my ice pack?”

She took it and headed for the freezer. “Keep talking.”

“The guy lifted the rock again. I saw it over my head, figured I was a goner, and by God, Vince Gilfilen comes roaring out of those boulders. His hand is half-off, so he kicks the shit out of the guy’s head. Guy goes down, they’re fighting, I’m trying to scramble around and get into it before the third guy jumps in on the action. That was one helluva brawl, three against two, and Vince throwing punches and flinging blood everywhere. And then—”

“And then what?” Kellen stood, hand half in the freezer, totally involved in the action.

“And then nothing.” Nils flopped back in the chair, winced and held his arm. “The guy Vince is fighting takes off.”

Quickly, she shoveled ice cubes into the bag. “Running away?”

“No, chasing the ATV that the third guy is driving.”

“The third guy—was that the Librarian?” She slammed the freezer door.

“I have no idea. The way we were mixing it up, I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t chase them, because then Vince collapsed. My God, that hand of his.” Nils accepted the ice bag and placed it on his elbow. “Is he still alive?”

“Critical, but stable.” This explained a lot, like how Vincent Gilfilen had survived at all. “What did you do? How did you get him back to the resort?”

“I took off my shirt, wrapped up his hand, had him put that over my shoulder, and we walked back to his suite.” Nils shook his head in amazement. “Toughest man ever.”

“Yes. He really is.” She groped her way back to her chair, never taking her gaze from Nils. “But you’re not too bad, either. What happened to your face?”

“I think Vince stepped on it, but I’m not sure. You know how it is. You’re fighting, you get hurt, it’s dark, might be the enemy, might be friendly fire.”

“Why didn’t you stay with him? He almost expired before I got there.”

“He called you, then he had me stretch him out on the bathroom floor with that rug under his neck. He was pretty pissed, and so was I, and I thought he would be fine until you got there. So I went out searching for the bad guys. I figured they had to be somewhere on the resort grounds.” Nils grinned savagely. “I didn’t find them, but I found the right ATV. Still warm, and the box was still under the seat. They drove those artifacts back to the resort for me.”





35

Kellen laughed in delight. “Did you get the box out and put it somewhere safe?”

He lifted his elbow. “Couldn’t.”

“So we don’t know what’s in it or where it is now?”

“Not really, but unless by sheer chance they figured out where I hid it, it’s still somewhere on the property in an ATV.”

She stared at him in admiration. “You have balls of steel.”

Without an ounce of modesty, he said, “I do, don’t I?”

“Where was the ATV parked?”