Gray, Ginna by The Witness Read Free Book Online

Certainly not fear. Or gentleness.
    The nap and the warm shower had eased her nerves a bit, but now
the tight knot began to coil in her belly again, and when an icy sensation
trickled down her spine she shuddered. If Sam Rawlins noticed he gave no sign.
    "Wh-where is Agent Owens? I thought he was going with
us." At least, she fervently hoped he was. The prospect of being alone
with this man for weeks on end was almost unbearable.
    "He's waiting in the car."
    They clattered down the last flight of metal stairs to the
basement parking garage, but when Lauren stepped toward the door Sam jerked her
back and shoved her up against the adjacent wall.
    "Stay there until I tell you to move. And don't make a
sound." He looked her over critically. "Put on the parka and pull up
the hood so it covers as much of your face as possible. When I say ready, keep
your head down and go. And I mean move. You got that?"
    Lauren nodded mutely, too terrified to make a sound. She could
barely breathe.
    Sam waited until she fumbled into the parka, then flattened
himself against the wall on the other side of the door. Her eyes widened and
her heart almost jumped right into her throat when he pulled a gun from beneath
his coat and held it pointed toward the ceiling beside his right shoulder. With
his left hand, he eased the heavy metal door open a crack.
    Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he eased the door a little
wider and peered around the edge in all directions. "All clear?"
    "Yeah. The place is empty," she heard Agent Owens reply.
    Sam looked at Lauren. "Okay, let's go."
    In a lightning fast move, he grabbed her wrist, hauled her from
behind the door and out into the garage. Lauren had a brief impression of an
unmarked gray car sitting a few feet away with the engine running and the rear
passenger door standing open. Then she was being stuffed inside and shoved,
facedown, onto the back seat.
    "Cover up with this," Sam ordered, and tossed a heavy
wool blanket over her. "And for God's sake, stay down." He slammed
the rear door, jerked open the front one and jumped inside. "Go! Go!
Go!" he yelled, and Agent Owens burned rubber peeling out of the parking
garage.
    Beneath the blanket, Lauren huddled in a ball and closed her eyes,
shivering and praying. At any moment she expected some of Carlo's thugs to
ambush them, to feel bullets punching through the car's metal exterior and
ripping into her flesh, or that they would be overtaken and run off the road
and they would all die in a fiery crash.
    Instead there was nothing—just the sounds of normal traffic all
around them and occasional terse comments between the two agents in the front
seat. After twenty uneventful minutes, Lauren finally mustered enough courage
to lift the edge of the blanket and peer out. All she could see was the backs
of the men's heads. Sam Rawlins sat in the passenger seat, his head moving
constantly as he kept a sharp lookout for trouble.
    The sounds of traffic grew less and less until they all but
disappeared. After what seemed like forever, the car turned off the highway
onto what was apparently a country road and Agent Owens slowed their speed as
they bounced over bumps and potholes. Gravel popped beneath the tires and
banged against the car's undercarriage, and with every thud Lauren jumped as
though she'd been shot.
    Finally they came to a stop.
    "Leave the engine running while I go check things out. Any
sign of trouble and you haul ass outta here."
    "Sure, Sam. Whatever you say."
    "And you stay down back there, Ms. Brownley," he
ordered. "Don't move until I say so."
    "How're you doing, miss?" Agent Owens asked when Sam had
gone.
    "I'm...I'm okay." Out of habit she had started to say
fine, but she wasn't fine. She was so scared she was afraid she was going to be
sick.
    "Don't pay any attention to Sam's gruffness, miss," Dave
Owens went on. "That's just his way. He's a bit of a lone wolf, but
there's no better agent within the Bureau. 'Course, I haven't been with the
Bureau