Covert Christmas by Marilyn Pappano Page A

noticed the chill or the duffel bumping against her as she ran. The van had made a left turn on the next street, disappearing from sight. As she continued her desperate search, voices came from behind her, muffled by other running feet, and a moment later an SUV passed. “Natalia. Natalia. ” The man who’d spoken to her in the shelter grabbed her arm, yanking her to a stop. “They’ll keep them in sight.”
    She twisted to free herself, but his grip didn’t lessen. “Let me go. I’ve got to—got to—”
    â€œGot to what?”
    Save Josh. She stared after the two vehicles, giving up her struggle as cold seeped way down inside her. Or die trying.
    â€œWe’ve got guys on them,” the man said. “The brothers, too.”
    Her head whipped around. “The Mulroneys are here?”
    â€œFlew in this afternoon. Apparently, they want to make sure the job gets done this time.” Realizing that “the job” meant killing the man she loved, he grimaced. “By the way, I’m Deputy Marshal Kramer.”
    She turned back to stare down the street. All she could make out was two sets of brake lights, one some distance behind the other. Anxiously she tried to determine distances in the dark. And realized the van was stopped in the vicinity of Riverwalk. Quiet, deserted at this time of night, with the Savannah River to wash away all evidence of a murder.
    Yanking free of Kramer, she began running again, darting into shadows where she could. She passed the SUV, now empty, and approached the van, also empty. Parked a short distance away was a black limo, its engine running, the driver gesturing while talking on a cell phone.
    Natalia ducked into the shadows, scaled a low fence, then climbed to the top of the levee. The sight below was close to her worst nightmare: Josh, only a few feet from the river, hands raised; Leeves and Frank facing him, both pointing weapons;Patrick and Sean Mulroney standing safely behind their thugs and three more men, strangers, guarding the entrance.
    â€œYou’re just delaying the inevitable, Saldana,” Patrick said, his voice carrying on the cold night air. “You’re going to die here and now. It’s up to you whether it’s easy or hard. Where is Natalia?”
    â€œI told your boys, I don’t know. We split up after the incident at the mall.” Josh sounded strong, his usual careless self, but she caught the hint of panic hidden in his expression. He expected to die, and he intended to do so protecting her.
    â€œYou spent all this time looking for her, and you let her walk away after less than twenty-four hours?”
    Josh shrugged. “All I wanted from her was some answers. I got them.”
    â€œAll you wanted was to spend the rest of your miserable life with her.” Sean looked like his brother but sounded much harder. Crueler. Was much crueler. “Everyone knew you were—what’d you call it? Stupid in love with her. You tell us where she is, and Clive will kill you easy. You make us find her, you’ll both suffer.”
    Natalia drew her pistol from her pocket. It was a nine millimeter, a good fit for her hand, with fourteen shots in the magazine and one more in the chamber. She was an excellent shot, but was that enough to save Josh’s life? Josh had no cover but the frigid water. By the time she’d dropped the first two, one of the others would take aim on him.
    â€œParker!” The whisper came from behind her an instant before Deputy Marshal Kramer dropped to the ground beside her. Grasping her gun hand, he bent so his mouth was next to her ear. “We’ve got people in place. Just give us a distraction.” As quickly as he’d appeared, he melted back into the shadows.
    Natalia swallowed hard, returned the gun to her coat pocket, then crawled halfway down the hill. Standing, she drew a breath and said, “I don’t know, Mr. Mulroney. I