Page 14 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

Chapter Eight

"What should I do?" Haley asked. Her heart hammered against her chest as her gaze darted to the rearview mirror.

"Just keep driving for now," Matt told her. "It could be a coincidence. Leave your phone on."

She prayed it was just a coincidence, but as she navigated the twisty curves of the Hollywood Hills, the headlights of the car behind her loomed large in her rearview mirror, a constant, menacing presence.

As she got deeper into the hills and away from the city lights, the road narrowed, with one lane in each direction, the canyon walls pressing close on either side.

"I don't like this, Matt. It's getting darker, and there's no one on this road but us."

"Just keep driving. Once we get through the canyon and into West Hollywood, we'll go somewhere very public and lit up."

"Okay," she said, forcing herself to focus on the road ahead. The guy behind her probably wouldn't try anything with someone else behind him, even if he had no idea it was an FBI agent. But as his lights suddenly blazed in her mirror, she realized he was very close.

"He's right on my bumper," she said, her voice rising in pitch.

"Speed up a little," Matt said, "as if you've just noticed he's crowding you."

She pressed down on the gas, but the SUV immediately closed the gap. A second later, the car behind her hit her bumper, giving her a hard jolt. "Oh, God! He just hit me, Matt."

"I've got you, Haley. I'm coming up beside him. I'm going to slow him down. But you've got to drive faster. Give me some room."

She pushed the gas pedal to the floor, and her car jumped with the force, flying down the road. Her gaze moved to the rearview mirror. Matt's vehicle was coming up next to the SUV, crowding him, forcing him to slow down so Matt could slide in behind her.

But the other guy wasn't backing down, and she soon realized in horror that there was a car coming in the opposite direction, heading straight for Matt.

It was now or never. Matt must have realized the same thing and bumped the SUV hard, forcing him to the side of the road, but the other guy hung on, pushing Matt back into oncoming traffic.

Matt was forced to retreat, and her tail was behind her once more.

A hundred yards later, she saw a turnout on her right.

It was risky to pull over, but if she took it fast, maybe the guy behind her wouldn't be expecting it.

And she felt like she had to do something.

She waited until the last second, then swerved into the turnout, hitting the brakes so hard her car skidded toward the rail.

She braced for impact from either the rail or the car behind her, but her brakes held, and her tail was moving too fast to stop in the turnout, disappearing down the road in front of her.

Matt pulled up beside her and jumped out of his car, his gun drawn, as if he expected the car to return, but the road remained empty. Then he put his gun away and opened her door. Hands trembling, she undid her seat belt and climbed out, falling into his strong arms.

He held her tightly against his broad chest. "Are you all right?"

"I think so. I can't seem to stop shaking." She looked down the road, but there was still no car in sight in either direction. "Is he really gone? I thought he was going to knock me through the railing."

"You made a fast move. Very quick thinking, Haley."

"I wasn't sure it would work. Thank God it did." She paused. "He probably didn't want to have a witness, and he couldn't take out both of us at once." She blew out a breath of relief. "I've never been so scared in my life."

He gave her a reassuring look as he gazed into her eyes. "You're safe now, Haley."

"I can't quite believe it. I'm still shaking."

He pulled her back against his chest, and she buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in his scent, letting his steady heartbeat calm her racing pulse. She might be safe now, but what about later? What about tomorrow?

After a few minutes, she pulled away from him, looking into his eyes. "Do you think he followed me from Cipher?"

"Probably."

"AJ could be in danger. We have to warn him. We did exactly what he was worried about; we led someone straight to him."

She let go of Matt to grab her phone off the console and punched in the number for Cipher, asking the woman who answered to get her AJ, that it was urgent, a matter of life and death.

"I'm sorry," the woman said. "But AJ is gone. He left twenty minutes ago. He said if anyone called to tell them he was going on a trip, and he didn't know when he'd be back."

"Okay. Thanks." She looked at Matt. "He's gone. He left right after we did. He had a bad feeling."

"Well, that's good."

"Is it good? Is anything good? Because things appear to be getting worse."

"That just means we're getting closer. Are you going to be able to drive home?" he asked.

"I don't think I have a choice. I can't stay here."

"I can get someone to come and get your car, or we can come back tomorrow and get it."

"I can drive. Just don't let anyone get between us."

"I won't. I'll follow you all the way home, and we'll order a pizza when we get to your place."

"If he followed me to Cipher, he must know who I am, where I live. Am I going to be safe at home?"

He frowned. "I don't know. But let's check the boxes you took from Landon's apartment. Then we'll figure out what to do next to keep you safe."

Her shaking had stopped by the time she got home.

Matt had kept his promise and stayed right behind her.

He parked in front of her building, then got out of his car and got into hers as she pulled into the underground parking garage.

It seemed a little silly to need him to do that, too, but he'd offered, and she was grateful for his presence.

It was odd how quickly they had gone from wary adversaries this morning to reluctant allies this afternoon, and now, after what had just happened, he felt like a friend, someone she could actually count on.

There had been very few of those people in her life.

Which was why she quickly reminded herself she shouldn't get carried away.

He might have just saved her life, but that's because he was an FBI agent.

He was trained to protect people, and he'd done for her what he would have done for anyone else.

He was still the same controlling guy who wanted to be in charge and wanted her to stay in her lane. She probably shouldn't forget that.

They took the stairs to her apartment. "The elevator only works half the time," she told him. "After I got stuck in it once for fifteen minutes, I decided I'd stick with the stairs."

"That must have been a long fifteen minutes for someone with claustrophobia."

"I chewed every one of my fingernails down to the quick. Thankfully, the manager was able to get it restarted fairly quickly." She paused. "Do you have any phobias?"

"A few things scare me, but I wouldn't say I have a phobia about anything in particular."

"What would be one of the things that scares you?" she asked as they made their way down the hall to her front door.

"I don't like sharks. I see a fin in the water, and I'm getting out, even if it's a dolphin."

She smiled, sensing he was not being serious. "Have you ever actually been close to a shark?"

"Not the kind that live in the water," he returned.

"They might be less dangerous than the other kind."

"You are probably right."

She inserted her key in the lock and opened the door, stepping across the threshold with some trepidation, but everything appeared exactly the way she'd left it. Matt followed her inside, and she turned the deadbolt behind him.

"I was a little afraid to open the door," she said. "I wasn't sure what I'd find."

"It's good for you to be cautious. Mind if I look around?" he asked as he moved toward her bedroom.

"That won't take long," she said as he popped into her small bedroom and bath and returned to the living room. "It's not exactly a mansion."

"It's comfortable," he said as he returned to the living room.

She smiled. "I think so. My furnishings are pretty much sourced from flea markets and thrift stores, but everything is cozy and makes me happy."

"That's the most important thing."

She moved toward the kitchen. "Do you want some water or a glass of wine? Because I'm going to open a bottle."

"I'll take a glass of wine," he said, pulling out his phone. "How about I order us some pizza?"

"That would be great. Get whatever you want. I like everything." She grabbed a bottle of red wine from her cabinet and opened it, filling two glasses with generous portions as Matt ordered dinner.

Taking the glasses into the living room, she sat down on the couch and let out a sigh as she took a sip.

Matt slid into the chair across from her, picking up his glass.

"It's not super expensive wine, but I like it," she said.

"It's good." He gave her a thoughtful look. "Do you think I'm a rich guy, Haley?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought about it."

"You just pointed out your furniture is used and your wine is cheap, as if you needed to defend it."

"I guess I like to get the judgment out of the way," she muttered.

"I wasn't judging anything."

"Oh, come on. You've been judging me since you showed up here this morning." She let out a breath. "I can't believe that was just this morning. So much has happened since I went to the park last night."

"That's for sure. And I did judge you for taking Sabrina's phone. I wasn’t completely sure you were telling me the truth, but the events of the day have convinced me you were just hoping for information."

"We did get information from the phone. We found Alanna, and she led us to AJ."

"Who pointed us to the boxes. Where are they again?"

"They're in a storage unit in the garage. We should have gotten them when we were down there. We can go now."

"In a minute. Take a breath." He paused as he glanced down at his phone to read a text.

"Is that about the case?" she asked.