Allegro 12

Rated PG

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Lloyd, Moore, DC and others

Dominic.

Evey gasped. He was nearly unrecognizable. His hair was plastered to his head with the rain, blood spattered his Mac from his neck to his knees, but beneath the gore, she saw his familiar dark eyes, his firm mouth and his jaw set with determination. It is Dominic. She looked down to his right hand. Healed. He is using it to untangle me from the chair. He glanced down once at her belly, then back at her face for just a moment before sweeping the cellar with a practiced eye. She barely had time to formulate a new thought before he had her by the upper arm and was dragging her up the stairs. As they crested the top he let go of her and drew his revolver from inside his Mac. His eyes followed the barrel of the pistol as he waved it back and forth from one end of the room to the other. Evey stared at the floor. Six men lay still in red relief on the cottage's wooden floorboards, their bodies crumpled where they fell. Some had been slashed, two had been shot. Evey had no opportunity to notice any more than that, for her arm was again in an iron grip and she was hauled through the cottage's front door and out into the rain. She stopped trying to see where she was going. Dominic was steering her, towing her, jerking her along without speaking. She remained silent as well, understanding that he was fully focused on the enemy. Where is Massey?

She tried to scan the darkness as he was doing, but the ground was so rough and muddy and the pace too fast for her to much more that watch where her feet were going. He stopped suddenly, she looked up. A car. He opened the front passenger door and shoved her inside. "Put your seatbelt on, Eve. Put it on now and lean over, keep your head low." Then he was gone. Eve obeyed, her hands trembling. She pulled the seatbelt out and stretched it out over her belly, fastening it under the bulge over her thighs. After the comforting click of the latch she leaned over as he had instructed and tried to see Dominic out the open driver's side door.

Nothing. The engine was running, keys in the ignition. Rain was soaking the driver's seat, thunder rumbled in the distance, visibility was nonexistent. Evey squirmed in her seat, trying to see everything at once. Two shots rang out then she heard the scrunch of wheels on gravel. A moment later a flurry of beige, the odor of wet blood and wet man blew into the car as Dominic threw himself into the driver's seat and put the car in gear. He slammed his door shut and pressed the accelerator. Evey was thrown back against the headrest. She held on with both hands to whatever she could grasp as the car sped down the gravel drive and then fishtailed as it hit the pavement and turned left.

Evey looked behind them. One of the sedans was closing on the rear bumper, the other…she looked for it. In front. The other car was in front of them, it brake lights swerved back and forth across both lanes as it tried to slow Dominic down or force him off the road. And Dominic. She watched him drive. He constantly checked the mirrors, his arms stiff, his teeth clenched as he pushed the little car to the limits of its tiny engine. Evey made herself small in her seat, holding on. He can do it. He can. A shot from behind zinged off the roof of the car. Evey ducked as Dominic swerved again, almost taking two tires onto the shoulder. He regained control immediately, his eyes narrowed as he stared into the rearview mirror. Evey cringed. She would not want to see those vicious eyes turned on her. A flush crept up from his neck to cover his face and he bared his teeth. "Keep your head down, Eve."

She tried to obey him, but she had to see what was happening. Evey raised her head just enough to see over the dash. Ahead of them, the sedan continued to weave back and forth, preventing them from passing. Dominic pressed on the pedal and forced the front of the little car into the bumper of the sedan. There was a small bump, then the sedan sped forward. Dominic matched its speed, Evey saw him gauging the distance. Ahead of them she saw the bridge over the river. He will try to pass before we get there. The roar of an engine made her look behind them. The pursuing sedan was dangerously close. Inches. She called out to him, "Dominic, behind us!" Too late. The more powerful sedan deliberately struck their bumper on the left sending them out of control. Evey squeezed her eyes shut and held tightly to her seat as the little car began to spin.

Dominic felt his heart drop to his stomach as the car careened off the pavement and toward the embankment. He had time to glance at Evey to see if her seatbelt was on before the spin demanded his eyes return to the windshield. But there was no more straight ahead. The car bounced and spun along the shoulder until he felt the front end dip. We are going over. He stopped thinking as his training took control. He turned the wheel into the skid, slowing their progress and gaining some traction, then he whipped the wheel over so the car pointed straight down, minimizing the chance it might roll. He felt the undercarriage bounce on rocks, the wheels left the ground momentarily to come pounding back and sliding even faster toward the river below. In his ears he heard the crunching of the underbrush, the metallic clang of the stones as the car seemed to find every rock on its way down. And the screaming. Evey. His thigh trembled with the exertion of his foot on the brake, his arms strained with the wheel. Every boulder wanted to rip the wheel from his hands. He could see nothing through the windshield. Branches whipped past, the rain and mud smeared by the wipers made him blind. We must come to a stop soon; he felt the wheels sliding on mud now, no more rocks. But we must not roll. The car bumped a rock again, twisted to the side. He felt the uphill wheels leave the ground. We will not roll. The muscles of his arms and shoulders bunched as he turned the wheel into the skid again, straightening the car. He felt all four wheels on the ground again. The car slowed. Then a great jolt as it stopped suddenly. He was thrown forward against the wheel, the muddy glass inches from his nose before he felt his seatbelt catch him. Evey.

The screaming had stopped. "Evey!" His own voice sounded strange to his ears, "Evey!"

"Dominic!"

"Oh God. Evey."

It was dark. The headlights had been broken on the first boulder. The dashboard lights flickered. The car shifted sideways and slid sickeningly a few more yards toward the river. Evey screamed again. Dominic reached for her as the car slid to a stop. "Evey. Are you hurt?" There wasn't much time.

"I don't know! I don't know!" He saw the flash of her wild eyes as the dashboard lights bathed them in an eerie green glow.

Dominic squeezed her shoulder with one hand while he reached in his holster with the other. "Stay here. Don't move. I will be right back. I mean it. Don't move."

He unfastened his belt and climbed upwards. The car had come to a rest with Evey's door against a sapling, not big enough to support the weight of the car for long. They were fully halfway down the embankment. Above him on the road he could see the headlights of the big sedan, but not the other one. He released the safety on his revolver. Listened. The sound of crunching in the underbrush from above reached him. He tried to focus his eyes, but the headlights of the car above him blinded him to anything moving, and the rain made it hard to see.

He moved laterally behind his car, choosing his footholds carefully and trying to get out of the headlights which pointed at him like searchlights. He waited, counting his heartbeats while his night vision returned. He knew to use the corners of his eyes. There. He brought the pistol up. Held his breath, drew a bead and fired, then he heard the crashing of a man as he tumbled down the bank. The body rolled over and over, Dominic leaped out of the way as the man's body bounced off a rock, became airborne and smashed with a sickening thump against the side of his car, making it lurch against the sapling. Dominic pointed the .38 up at the road. He heard an engine gunning, watched the big sedan's headlights swerve and speed away. He swung both arms, pistol straight ahead at the other car. He listened. The roar of the river made it hard to hear, but now that the headlights were gone, he should be able to see movement. Nothing. Nothing in the brush. Can I risk it? Behind him he heard Evey sobbing. Yes. I must. He holstered the .38, and then made one last hard look up the hill before he turned back to the car. The dead man lay across his door. He gathered up a wad of the man's collar and heaved him over against the rear door, then put one foot in the driver's side. Holding tightly to the car's roof he was able to climb in without falling on Eve.

"Evey." She was gasping, little sobs, hyperventilating. "Evey." He used his best calming voice. "Can you unfasten your seatbelt?"

"No. No! Dominic! My water broke! It broke! I feel it, it is pouring down my legs. Oh God!"

"Shh, shh." Dominic focused his thoughts. First things first. Get out of the car. Can't stay in the car. Already the vehicle slid a little every time he sifted position. "I will get the seatbelt. Be still." She had started to struggle. He felt along the belt that crossed over her shoulders. The latch was jammed. "Hold still, Evey. I will get you out."

"Hurry! Hurry!"

Dominic moved his foot so he could get closer. The tilt of the car required that one hand brace him lest he fall on her. He lifted one leg and put his foot on her door, testing it before allowing all his weight to rest there. The door held. He pulled on his trouser leg and exposed the leather sheath strapped to the inside of his calf.

"What? What?" Evey grabbed his wrist. "Where did you get that?" she cried.

"You are right. It's his, it's V's knife. The Inspector sent it to me, Eve. I'm going to cut you free." She held the wrist that held the blade, staring at it for a moment, then burst into tears. "Eve." He freed his arm and cut her seatbelt in two places, freeing her, then slid the long knife back into the sheath. "Listen to me. We have to get out of the car. We have to climb up and out the driver's side door. You will have to use me as a ladder. Do you understand?" Put your foot here." He took her ankle and positioned her foot against her door next to his. "Okay, push yourself out of your seat." He held her as she strained to stand in the awkward space. Her huge belly pressed against him as he lifted her under her arms and helped her straighten her legs, then he pulled and pushed until she was half way though the door. He heard her gasp.

"Dominic!"

The dead man. Yes. "He's dead, Evey. Keep going. Don't look at him. Put your foot here. He took her foot and wedged it against the parking brake. Push up Evey, climb."

"Oh my God."

"What?" He had her in his arms, ready to push her through the door, but she stopped. The car swayed against the sapling. "Don't stop, Eve. Keep going." He pushed hard against her hips, lifting, but she did not budge.

"Ha…Dominic."

"What?"

"A contraction."

He paused in the dark. He felt her body tense against his arms. The lights from the dashboard winked out as the battery failed. The car slid another foot, tilting them towards the river below. "We can't wait, Eve!" he said. "I am going to push you and you must climb out, do you hear me?"

She did not answer, but when he pushed her he felt her legs move as she scrambled through the door. A moment later he was alone in the car. Then he was out, his final kick against the parking brake sent the car and the dead body sliding off the sapling and down to river below. He watched as it bounced and rolled to the bottom, and then looked up to see Evey on the ground above him. Next thing.

"Evey. Are you injured? Do you have any pain in your arms or legs? Are you cut? Are you bleeding?"

Her voice was small. Scared. "I don't think so."

"I'm going to pull you up this embankment. It is slippery, it looks like a long way, but we can't stay here, Eve. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Dominic could not see her eyes in the dark. Her voice told him she was still in shock from the crash. He set his shoes firmly against a rock, lifted her to her feet and pressed her to his body. "Tell me if you have another contraction and we will stop," he said gently. She nodded against his chest. He tested each foothold before lifting her each step of the way. They almost reached the top before she clutched at him.

"Contraction. Stop."

He did, holding her as he felt her stiffen again. She made no sound. When she relaxed he took another step and lifted her to the roadway and set her firmly on the tarmac. The rain had diminished to a drizzle and there were no streetlights, no moon. The other car was mere yards from him, crunched against the guardrail of the bridge. No traffic. Dominic turned to Evey and put his hands on her shoulders. "I have to check out that car. I want you to sit down here. Sit down and rest." She sank down wordlessly, he waited a moment before drawing his pistol, to make sure she wasn't going to faint. When he was certain she would be all right, he stalked the other car, flanking the driver's side with his .38 cocked, both arms stretched out in front of him. The car was dark and silent. Every step brought it clearer into focus until he was a few feet away.

He straightened, took a deep breath and holstered the pistol. From the side, nothing appeared to be wrong, but from the front he could see where the grill had met the guardrail and stopped the car with such force that both men had sailed through the windshield. One body lay mangled on the hood, the other lay draped across the pavement in front of the car. He glanced back at Evey. She doesn't need to see this. Next thing. Is this good or bad? The next passing car will phone the police when the occupants see the wreck. We can wait here for help. Back up should be here in an hour. Maybe. Or the next passing car will contain more of Massey's men. The other car sped off. How long ago? He checked his watch. A call on a mobile, they could be here any minute. In this remote place any passing car might be them. Massey won't give up this easily. He had half a million pounds in his hands. He will be back with reinforcements.

And InterPol? He patted his chest. His mobile was gone. I can't call them. But I have a transponder too. Did I lose the phone in the fight or in the wreck? No time to think about that.

He looked back at Evey sitting by the side of the road. And how far can I drag a pregnant woman in the rain? Oh God. She's in labor. He grimaced. That detail had not sunk in until just now. Shit shit shit. His sharp eyes scanned the terrain. Can't take off across country here. The ground is too steep, uneven. Slick. Under the bridge? That's the first place they would look. Unless…he turned to the wrecked car. Dominic walked around the front, estimated damage to the engine for the impact. Pretty serious, the engine is dead. He reached in, turned the ignition off and then tried to start the sedan. Lost cause. Can I move it? He opened the driver's side door and put the car in neutral, then pushed on the front bumper. He rocked it back and forth until the guardrail released it, then called to Evey.

"I'm sending this car over the edge, Eve."

"Okay," was her faint reply.

If Massey returns he will think we have escaped in this car, but InterPol will track my phone…if it's not in the river. He reached inside, turned the wheel then with his back against the guardrail, pushed with all his strength on the front bumper, one eye on the dead man lying on the hood. He heard the crunching of the tires on the gravel then gravity took charge and swept the car down the embankment, rolling over and over to the river. He glanced up to make sure Evey was not startled by the noise. She was kneeling now, head bent to her chest. Not too much longer now, Eve, I will be right back. Dominic went to the bridge, searched the dead man for a phone. No phone, but he took his gun, then he picked him up and heaved him over the side to follow the car to the rushing water.

He was at her side a moment later. "Have you had any more contractions?"

"One."

"Tell me when you have another, I will time them for you." He went down on his heels and put his arms around her. The rain began to come down harder. They were both soaked, muddy and scratched from the underbrush. He took off his Mac and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Come, Eve. We are going under the bridge."

"Oh." She looked up at him with big eyes. "I am supposed to be in hospital." Dominic swallowed. For the first time that night he felt afraid.