Trigger Page 16

  People were shouting in panic, running toward the cars. Traffic was slowing so people could stare at the pandemonium. The gendarmes raced toward the small fire, talking into their cell phones. Before I could see anything else, Chase pulled me through the door. Inside the building, he came to a standstill. I was forced to stop pressed up against him in the entryway.

  This area of the station was off to the side and not well lit. A crowd of people was hovering by the main entrance where they could look out at the scene on the street. I assumed that Chase had planted some sort of explosive device on the blue car when he had “dropped” his phone, but now was not the best time to ask. Seconds ticked by as Chase continued to scan the inside of the terminal. He squeezed my fingers, signaling me to be ready. I tensed and waited for what was next.

  “Stay close to me,” he said unnecessarily. He was holding my hand so tightly I didn’t think I could have broken away if I wanted to.

  He headed deeper into the station. His head stayed still but his eyes flicked in every direction as he walked. I looked around for anything out of the ordinary. It was a little hard to concentrate with the blood pounding in my ears, the shouts from outside, and now the approaching sirens. I glanced at my watch and saw that we had time to get on the train without running.

  There were enough people milling around to indicate at least one other train was scheduled to leave soon. Chase pointed out the large timetable reader board overhead as if we were just another set of travelers trying to locate our train.

  I kept hoping to see Anna and Max but didn’t. They must already be on the train, I thought, as we hustled to the end of Track 1. A few people were heading down the platform and boarding the train at various points. Chase breezed by other travelers until he found the rail car he wanted, and we climbed on board. He chose a compartment a few down from the end. Once we were inside, he shut the door behind us. I flopped down onto a seat while Chase crossed to the window.

  “Damn!” He cursed vehemently at what he saw outside.

  “What is it?” My voice was high pitched.

  “Stay here,” he said, slipping out the door.

  Peeking out the window, I saw two guys dressed in dark clothes walking up the platform. Both were big with buzzed haircuts and scowls. One sported a shiny silver earring. He pulled something out of his pocket before boarding the car two down from the one I was in. He was out of sight briefly while the other one continued along the platform. When the second man reached the end of that car, Earring Guy disembarked at the same end. Earring Guy climbed up onto the car next to mine while his friend stayed on the ground.

  When a shoulder holster peeked out of the jacket of the man on the platform, my body started to tingle with adrenaline. The object Earring Guy pulled out of his pocket must have also been a gun. I ducked down so no one could see me from below. A deep sense of dread washed over me. They were searching the rail cars and they were armed. With icy certainty, I knew they were looking for us. I looked around for a weapon but Chase hadn’t left anything with me. I couldn’t get off the car without them seeing me. There was no place to hide in the compartment. I was a sitting duck.

  I ventured a peek out of the window. The platform was empty except for the two thugs in black. They were talking next to the entrance to my rail car. I didn’t see Chase anywhere. The whistle announcing the train’s impending departure blew. Earring Guy boarded my car while the second brute walked down the platform so close to the train he was almost brushing up against it. I heard compartment doors open and close as they were checked. I didn’t dare breathe.

  The man on the platform was almost at my window when a sudden movement caught my eye. It was Chase. He had circled around while they were checking rail cars. Now he was approaching the one ruffian from behind to ambush him. As I watched, the man pivoted as though he was about to turn around. If he did, he would see Chase. Without hesitation, I popped up in the window, raising my arms high. The motion caught the bad guy’s attention. Recognition dawned on his face when we made eye contact, but before he could do anything, Chase was on him.

  With one swift strike to the kidney and another to the neck, the guy went down. Chase picked him up quickly. He wrapped his arm around the man’s waist as though supporting a drunk or sick friend and disappeared through a nearby doorway I hadn’t noticed. I looked up and down the platform, afraid someone had seen. To my relief, it was clear.

  The train whistle blew again as Chase reappeared alone in the entryway he had just gone through. His gaze met mine and then shifted to look over my head. His eyes widened in alarm just as I heard the door to my compartment open. Chase raced toward the train. From the look on his face, I knew what was behind me and that he would be too late. Turing around, I found myself face to face with Earring Guy.

  I should have been terrified. I should have been unable to think clearly or defend myself. I was none of those things. I was totally composed, almost eerily so, as I looked into the face of the man blocking my escape. He was taller than Chase and thicker through the upper body. His expression was menacing as he stood unmoving in front of me.

  It occurred to me that I actually had the advantage in this situation. He undoubtedly thought that I was frightened and incapable of action. Since I wasn’t either of those things, I could use those assumptions against him.

  Feigning defeat, I let my shoulders slump and my expression crumbled with terror. I raised my hands up and lowered my body as if I couldn’t manage to stand anymore. At the same time I took a small step forward with my left foot. The man remained in the doorway unsure of what to do with a helpless female who was about to derail into hysterics. I shifted my weight to my back foot as I leaned toward him.

  When the train lurched forward I pushed off of my back foot, and with all the force I could generate I kicked the guy right in the crotch. Caught completely off guard, his face went purple as he doubled over, gasping for breath. While his hands moved to protect what I had just annihilated, he fell to his knees.

  At that moment, Chase appeared in the entry. He grabbed the man from behind in a choke-hold, dragging him down the cramped hallway. The brute was in too much pain to put up any resistance. Chase had the man out on the tiny balcony of the railcar before he had recovered enough to put up a struggle. I stood at the door, watching through the dirty, smudged window.

  We had cleared the station now and were picking up speed. Chase was trying to wrestle the guy into position in order to shove him off the moving train. The bad guy had recovered enough by now to fight back. He had one hand clamped on the railing to anchor himself as he struggled to break Chase’s grip. The two were fighting right in front of the door, so there was no way for me to get outside to help.

  The man had twisted in the headlock so he was now facing Chase. With one foot braced where the wall of the railcar met the floor, Chase kicked up with his other leg and caught the arm he was using as an anchor at the elbow. There was a loud crack as the bone snapped. The man let go of the railing, screaming.

  Pressing his advantage, Chase swung his leg down, hitting the man at the knees, causing him to go down. With minimal effort, Chase swung him around as he sank to the floor so he was now standing behind the incapacitated bad guy. Rearranging his hands on the man’s head, he deftly twisted them to the side. There was a sharp snap and he went limp in Chase’s arms. With a mighty heave, Chase shoved him over the edge. The silver earring flashed in the lights from the train as the lifeless body disappeared from sight.

  Chase stood looking down into the darkness beyond the lights of the train. He was unhurt, but breathing heavy. I had never seen anything so calculated, controlled, and so lethal. In that moment, I finally allowed myself to acknowledge what I had been loath to admit, but had suspected for some time.

  Chase was an assassin.

  CHAPTER 11

  AS IF he could hear the word echo in my head, he looked up at me. He was wearing his poker face. I could not even begin to guess what he was thinking. My own mind was
a torrent of thoughts and emotions. Oddly, fear was not one of them.

  All that separated me from an assassin who had just coolly dispatched two men was a flimsy train door. Yet I was not afraid of him. Instead, I felt safer than I ever had before. The fact that he was a trained killer did not bother me because his past didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was what we were to each other.

  I felt no emotion about the violence I had witnessed and participated in. I felt…empty, as I had in Monterosso when I stood over the man I had killed. Meeting Chase’s gaze, I gave him a hesitant smile. He slowly opened the door, his eyes never leaving mine. I was wrong. I did feel something: relief that he was okay.

  “Well, that was interesting,” I said, almost shyly.

  He responded with a small smile of his own. “What did you do to him before I got there?” he asked as he stepped into the cramped hallway next to me.

  “I kicked him in the crotch.”

  He looked stunned, then he smiled, which made me blush.

  “It helped, didn’t it?”

  “You caught him off guard?” He motioned for me to head back to our compartment.

  “I pretended to break down so I was able to get close enough to kick him.”

  “Did you read about that in a book?” He eyed me as we walked.

  “No, that was just common sense.”

  He shook his head as we made it back to our compartment. “You should have waited for me.”

  My temper flashed hot at his words. “Look buddy, I had an opportunity and I took it. I’m in this thing, and I’m not completely helpless, so you better get used to the idea that I won’t be cowering in a corner while you do all the work.”

  Chase was silent as he closed the door and shut the blinds to keep prying eyes out. I let out a deep breath, searching my bag for a bottle of water. Finding it, I gulped some down before offering it to Chase, who drank the rest. We were well away from the lights of Nice now.

  “You’re right.” He was apologetic. “You’re not helpless. In fact, you have been quite the opposite. You did the right thing back there, and I appreciate it.”

  I started to speak, to accept his apology, when his words got deadly serious.

  “Don’t ever forget that this isn’t a game. These men are killers. One mistake and it’s over.”

  Stung by his words, and the chilling truth in them, I didn’t reply. The car lapsed into silence for a while.

  “Are Max and Anna supposed to come find us?” I finally asked.

  “If they made it on the train.”

  “What do you mean if they made it onto the train?” I was alarmed.

  “There’s a chance they’re in a different car and will make their way here. However, you need to prepare yourself for the fact that they may not be on the train.”

  The worry on my face caused him to speak faster.

  “Just because they’re not on the train doesn’t mean that something bad happened. It just means that something got in the way of executing the plan. Max is smart and so is Anna. If making it to the train was too dangerous, they may have backed off.”

  “If they aren’t on the train, then how are we supposed to find them?”

  “The plan was to get to Barcelona. If either of us didn’t make it on this train, then they were to figure out another way to get to Barcelona. I’m sure they’re fine and they’ll meet up with us there. Please relax. Getting all worked up doesn’t help the situation.”

  He was acting confident, but I sensed he was as uneasy as I was that they hadn’t shown up yet.

  After a few minutes of staring out the window, I turned back to him. “Max is good, right?”

  “Max is one of the best,” Chase assured me.

  “Better than those guys back there?”

  “Without a doubt. Our people are the best, and Max is one of our top operatives.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “I trained him.”

  I raised my eyebrows indicating I wanted more.

  “He’s cautious despite all of his bravado. If it was too dangerous to get on the train, he would’ve backed off.” He paused for a moment. “You have to remember that you’re the primary target. She was merely associated with you. If she’s no longer near you, the danger to her drops significantly.”

  After considering this point, I felt a little better.

  “It’s also not as important for them to get to Barcelona as it is for us. We need to get there as soon as possible to get answers.”

  “Can we get ahold of them somehow?” Despite his reassurances, I wanted to know that they were ok.

  “If they don’t meet up with us in Barcelona, I’ll contact Max and find out where they’re at,” he promised.

  “What exactly did you do to that car to make it catch on fire? Did you use some sort of IED?” I asked him.

  “You know what an IED is?”

  “It’s an Improvised Explosive Device. Before you ask, I got it from the news, which is always full of pithy military acronyms,” I explained.

  He shook his head from side to side. “You never fail to surprise me. It was a type of IED.”

  “Do you think all the commotion kept Max and Anna from getting to the train?”

  “I think they saw those thugs and decided to stay back. If I had seen them checking the train before we got onto it, I probably would’ve tried to find another way to get to Barcelona as well.”

  I sat lost in thought for a while.

  “You should get some sleep,” Chase suggested as he flicked the light switch, plunging the tiny room into darkness.

  “I’m not sure I can sleep.” Even though I was physically drained, I felt charged up like I had downed a bunch of energy drinks.

  “If you lie down and shut your eyes, I bet you’ll drift off.”

  As he said this, he repositioned himself so he was propped on his pack at a reclining angle against the wall, with his legs sprawled across the length of the bench seat facing the door. He looked pretty comfortable. I emulated his position and had to admit that it felt nice to lie down. I could feel myself relaxing as I focused on my breathing. My eyelids got heavier and heavier as the train sped toward its destination, rocking me gently to sleep.

  Hours later I was jolted awake while in the grip of a nightmare where Anna didn’t make it onto the train because something bad happened to her. In an instant, Chase was by my side. He made soothing sounds as he stroked a hand over my hair. It took me a minute to remember everything that had happened. Comforted by the knowledge that I was not alone, I settled down. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room, I noticed that Chase had draped his jacket over me to help keep me warm.

  “Bad dream?” he asked unnecessarily.

  “Yeah, it was all about why Anna didn’t make it onto the train.” I didn’t need to explain anything more.

  “Did you sleep?” I asked, pushing away from him.

  Chase moved back to his side of the railcar.

  “I got a cat nap in.”

  “Is that going to be enough?” I gave him a scrutinizing look. I was willing to bet he hadn’t slept at all. Despite the lack of rest, he seemed unaffected, and even appeared refreshed.

  He shrugged one shoulder, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. I wondered if he was worried about something.

  “I wanted to keep an eye on the door while you slept.”

  So it wasn’t that he couldn’t sleep, it was that he wanted to stand guard through the night. Well, he wouldn’t be much good if he didn’t sleep. “I can take a turn on watch.” I would not be able to go back to sleep after that horrid dream.

  “That won’t be necessary,” he assured me.

  “I don’t think I could sleep anyway, at least not for a while,” I tried to insist.

  “Then you can keep me company,” he suggested, and turned the overhead lights on dim so we could see each other while we talked.

  “What time is it?” I had no idea how long I had slept, or where the tr
ain was now.

  “About five in the morning,” he said. This startled me. We were more than halfway through the trip.

  “Are we still in France?” I asked.

  “Yes, it isn’t that far to the border,” he replied.

  “I take it Max and Anna didn’t show up while I was sleeping?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “No.”

  I nodded glumly and stared out the window.

  “You still upset about that?” he asked.

  I thought about it before I responded. “Being upset doesn’t help anything. If I’m going to make it through this whole thing, and be of some use in the process, then I need to focus on the here and now. I can’t worry about what may, or may not, have happened to Anna. I can’t dwell on things that are beyond my control.”

  He gave me an appreciative look. “One of the reasons I like you is because you have a brain and you use it. So many people are completely illogical or unreasonable. You’ve no idea how frustrating that can be.”

  “Yeah, I do, actually.”

  “This would be much more difficult if you were irrational. Then again, I suppose if you were, I wouldn’t be here,” he added as an afterthought.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I just mean that if you were a ridiculous bubblehead, I wouldn’t have broken protocol to help you.”

  “Not the most romantic thing you could say, but I guess I’ll take it.”

  “You aren’t like anyone I have ever met before. Just when I think I have you figured out, you throw me a curve ball.” He flashed a ghost of a smile. “I kind of like that, though.”

  “Sorry to be such trouble, I guess.” I wasn’t sure what he was saying exactly. It was almost like he was talking to himself. The early hour and lack of sleep must’ve been getting to both of us.