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Chapter 6:

"How did he get hold of this?" Mimi's fingers shook as she picked up the ripped square of fabric from Matt's palm. Like a chameleon, the fabric turned from light to dark, and then settled, taking on her skin's color and disappearing as if the fabric was invisible. Steeltex. The experimental fabric her father developed for the American, Japanese, and British armies. "How could Michael's goon get into the company? It's gated and guarded night and day."

"I don't know but we have to get out of here." The tautness of Matt's voice, the protective stance of his body and the predatory way he scanned the area around them increased her anxiety.

"Is he still out there?" She craned her neck and looked around the woods. Her body was strangely numb and it automatically moved closer to Matt.

Matt poked at the scrap of material peeking out of the top of her fist. "He's got the advantage. He can see us, but we can't see him."

He took of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "We need to get moving."

The jacket had trapped his heat and his clean scent, and both surrounded her like a security blanket. A muscle in his jaw twitched as he adjusted the lapels around her neck, then his face settled into a sharp set of unreadable lines.

"I don't need this…"

He stopped her efforts to remove his jacket. "The color of your shirt makes you a clear target."

Her gaze dropped to his chest. The pearl-gray of his shirt shimmered in the fading light. "But now you…"

"Shh…let's go. We have to get back to the convent."

This running, this constant fear wasn't going to end…not until either she or Michael was dead. "We won't make it…" Alive stuck in her throat. Their hunter was too close. Behind that tree? Behind that rock? "It's too far."

"We'll make it." He tugged on her hand, breaking her paralysis. "Let's take it one step at a time. Like old times."

Like the time she couldn't run one more step at track practice and he'd fallen back to her pace and told her jokes until she forgot the cramp in her side. His soothing voice, the warmth of his hand holding hers, the solidness of his body pressed against hers almost had her believing this could be just another training session.

Except this time there was no smile to seal the lie that everything was okay. His vigilant scanning and cautious movements erased all delusions this was anything but a hunt and they were the prey.

Trailing behind him, she felt like she was once again the girl he continually had to get out of trouble and now his taking charge was making her feel small and helpless.

Just like her father's well-meaning control.

Just like Michael's manipulations.

Just like WSP.

With Matt it was supposed to be different…comfortable, easy, safe.

At the edge of the woods Matt paused. His breath puffed close to her ear as he took in the obstacle before them. With the thick fog and darkness surrounding them, the ground continued to slope gently toward a big building that was convent. They were a good half-a-mile away from it…risky.

Three men already died trying to keep her safe. The thought that Matt might be next terrified her. "He'll see us. We won't make it."

"It's just a walk in the park, babe." He gave her a big smile, but that didn't fool her. Her removed his shirt and dropped it behind a rock. "Just think of it as racing the park ranger to the gate."

"Uh…not exactly the same." The park ranger didn't point a gun at them then.

"We'll give him the smallest target possible and take a path he can't anticipate."

"Right." Everything inside her screamed to stay in the security of the shadows. Don't move. Stay. Just until she could dig a little deeper for her last scrap of courage. "Why you? Your agency could've sent someone else."

"I figured that by now you'd need a familiar face."

She did…desperately. She gazed at the man that had given her sleepless nights, at the man she'd been looking for in the crowds for more years than she cared to admit, at the man that could still make her heart jump like a double shot of espresso. He came to her when someone could have taken the job. Had he forgiven her?

He squeezed her upper arm. His chin jerked toward the convent that seemed a hundred miles away. "Come on, Mimi. Let's make a run for it."

"If you remember correctly, I was never much of a runner."

"That's all right, I've got you covered."

Her awareness of his heat and scent, and his determination to protect her, hurt with its acuteness. For more than a decade, shouldn't she have moved on? Oh, no, not Mimi. She hung on things that did her no good. Like a magnum champagne, just one touch and her mind uncorked with all her unfulfilled childhood fantasies starring Matt. But being around Matt had always been like that…a combination of confusion and longing she'd never quite known how to handle.

"Ready?" he asked.

And just like that the fantasy disappeared. The man Michael hired to kill her was somewhere out there in the fog and storm. He was real and he was after her. For all she knew, the assassin was standing right there besides her, laughing silently, waiting for her to move. Deal with it, Mimi.

With her throat to tight to speak, she nodded.

"Stick close." Not that Matt was giving her a choice. Hand hard on her shoulders, he plunged them into open space and steered her into a zigzag path toward the kitchen door of the convent. She pumped her arms and legs hard until her lungs and muscles burned.

To their right a shape rose and darkened against the fog, then disappeared again. Something darted pass her ear and hit the pole holding the birdhouse.

Michael's assassin was shooting at them. She was going to die. Michael was going to win. She wasn't ready to die. She hadn't even figured out the basics…like what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. For sure it wasn't running…or hiding.

Matt cursed as he pressed his body closer to hers and shifted directions, practically lifting her off her feet. "Faster!"

She was nothing more than a rag doll at the mercy of her protector and her hunter. Tears filled her eyes. Her legs were moving but she could no longer feel them. Michael promised to destroy all she cared for. He poisoned her existence and killed her father.

Another bullet went pass her, blasting rose petals on the path. She stumbled and Matt pulled her up. She couldn't see a thing, not even the convent lights. The damn tears broke and spilled.

You won't ever be free from me, Mimi. Michael's laughter echoed in her mind. I won't ever let you go. I'll be in your dream and in your nightmares. I'll follow you wherever you go.

"Hang on, Mimi. We're almost there." Matt's voice shoved her back into reality.

Life and death. The line was thinner than she ever imagined. If Michael knew about Matt, he would destroy him. Michael lived in exploiting weakness to his best advantage. She couldn't allow Matt deeper into this mess. Not unless she wanted to loose him, too.

Matt pushed Mimi through the convent's kitchen door and locked the heavy wood door behind them. His handgun wasn't a match for a sniper's rifle. Would the shooter dare to violate the sanctuary of a convent? Would he kill defenseless nuns to get to Mimi? An open target was usually riskier than into a crowd. But now it was clear he messed up. He had to get Mimi off this bull's-eye target and behind Seekers Inc.'s thick walls as soon as possible.

At their noisy entrance, Sister Berta, who was standing at the counter, gasped and turned around holding a knife like a sword. A spatter of strawberry juice stained her gray skirt. "What happened to you?" she asked, clutching the silver cross dangling at her neck with her free hand. She took in the bits of twigs and dirt that clung to Mimi's long brown hair and the mud that streaked her jeans and white shirt.

"Nothing," Mimi said, but the compulsive shaking of her hands gave away her anxiety.

"You look as if the devil was after you." Sister Berta dropped the knife on the cutting board and rushed to Mimi's side. "Are you all right, dear?" She led Mimi to a chair and gave Matt a look of accusation.

"I'm fine," Mimi said, tripping slightly over the toe of her shoe as she sat down at the chair. "I think I'll just go to bed."

She started to rise again, but Matt caged her in. "Someone shot at Mimi."

"What?" Sister Berta crossed herself and hugged Mimi. "How can that be?"

"Is there any way to get off this island tonight?" Matt asked. Ken was somewhere in Odaiba. The rest of the team was just as far away and time was of essence.

Eyes filled with worry, Sister Berta said, "The ferry comes only once a day. You won't be able to leave until tomorrow afternoon."

Unacceptable. Clothed in Steeltex, Michael's hired man was essentially invisible and able to move as he pleased. He'd be watching and waiting for Mimi to move. For anther chance to earn his pay.

"What if you had an emergency?"

"Then we call an emergency helicopter, but this doesn't qualify."

"Why not? It's a matter of life and death."

Sister Berta's puffy white hair swayed with the shaking of her head. "They answer only medical emergencies."

"Whoever tried to kill Mimi is still out there." Matt paced the span of the double-wide arched kitchen door leading to the outside, more to keep Mimi in than to keep anyone out. Her body was tense for flight and she kept looking at the door. He didn't like the color of her skin, the dazed look in her eyes or her stubborn insistence that she was fine when her body obviously showed she isn't.

Seeing her again had been a shock to his system…like jumping into ice-cold water…and knocked him straight on his back. But he could not let his teenage infatuation with her get in the way of doing his job.

"Were there any new guests that arrived since Mimi got here?" Being able to identify the shooter would make keeping Mimi safe that much better.

"Other than Mimi, you're the only one this week. Do you think there's a danger to any of our other guests?"

"No, the shooter is after Mimi."

"What can we do?" Sister Berta clutched her cross as if it would provide her inspiration. He'd leave the prayers to her and rely on a solid plan of action.

"We'll have to call the local cops."

"Matt, no! I can't go back into protective custody." Arms wrapped around her middle, Mimi turned to Sister Berta. "If you didn't tell him where I was, I'd still be safe."

"If I didn't tell him, dear, you might be dead."

Mimi blinked as if to hold back tears and made a smalls sound in her throat that made Matt want to wrap her into his arms and promise her a happy ending. She'd always been a sucker for happy endings.

"Your young man is right, Mimi. This is too dangerous. You can't handle this alone. You have to trust someone. I wouldn't have sent him after you if I didn't remember him from your tenth birthday party, when you got hit with the piñata bat. He was the one who held a napkin to your head until your father could carry you off to get stitches. He has your best interests at heart." She patted Mimi's hand with obvious affection. "I'll go make that call now."

Mimi hung on to Matt's jacket that was still draped over her shoulders. "I can't go back, Matt. I can't just sit there and wait for the next shot through the window."

He crouched beside her and reached for her hand. It was cold…as cold as the diamond ring on her finger. Her rubbed her fingers to bring back warmth and tried to ignore the kick-in-the-gut need of touching her brought. "You'll be safe in Seekers Inc. It's filled with the latest security technology. No one will be able to get to you there."

"Except Michael. You don't know him, he's a manipulator. He'll use you to get to me and you won't even know it until it's too late."

"Is that what happened to your father?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

He didn't like the stiffness of her body or the flat look in her eyes. She tried to pull her hand free but he hung on to it, needing to keep that small connection between them. "A bully has power only as long as people believe in what he says."

"My point exactly."

Eyes burning with fear, Mimi leaned forward and her scent of warm vanilla sugar teased him. "I can't go back, Matt. I can't just sit there and wait for the next shot through the window."

He crouched beside her and reached for her hand, trying to ignore the temptation of touching her brought. He thought the distance of years made him immune to her power to dazzle him. But there it was, fizzing through his veins like a shook-up can of soda. "If you testify, you destroy his make-believe world. Without that power he loses everything."

"You don't get it."

"He's just a man, Mimi, not some sort of superhero."

"He owns me."

Matt pounded a fist against the tabletop. "Nobody owns anybody."

She turned her face away from him.

"Mimi…"

Her restless fingers held the hem of his jacket. "I know I have to testify. My father used to tell me that with privilege came responsibility. He owned the company, but he was responsible of the well-being of the people who worked for him. He believed that if he took care of his people, they would return his loyalty."

"I read about the fire and his keeping his employees on the payroll while the mill was rebuilt." Her father's selfless actions turned him into a hero. And a hero's image was a tough one to uphold.

"To keep his promise he had to take a partner. When George Sheer died, Michael inherited his father's position in the company. Without Michael's money dad couldn't have bid successfully on the Steeltex project and the company desperately needed to win that contract. I owe Daddy. I owe the employees who trusted him."

She turned to look at him, her eyes an open window to her soul. "But don't you see? As long as he is alive, he will find me."

"Not if we destroy him." For her he'd do anything. She had to know that.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that? He's already in jail, Matt. What will a life sentence do to him? He'll still have his pack of goons to send after me. Once he's convicted, he'll be even more desperate for revenge. I will never be safe."

Matt plucked a piece of twig from her hair and tucked a soft strand of hair behind her ear. "Remember that guy who was stalking you back in ninth grade? I got rid of him didn't I?"

Her eyes shimmered as she touched his cheek. "Good thing he didn't beat you up with that chain he was always holding."

"And remember when that dog chased you because you trespassed at the apple orchard?" His voice was rustier than he expected. "I got him away from you."

Her gaze slid down to the floor. "You got into so much trouble because of me."

It was worth every sweat to have Mimi fuss over him. The way she held on to his arm all the way back to the mansion had him smiling proud for days

Don't go there, Matt. His brain frantically fired warning messages. The past wasn't someplace he wanted to get stuck. "Good thing I was a fast runner."

"But that won't be enough for Michael. He has no conscience."

"Men like him rarely do."

"It's not the same, Matt. He'll kill you to get to me."

In spite of her situation, she still belonged in a world of light and color. She'll always be his dream girl, but he was the wrong kind of man for a woman like her. He saw that now. She needed someone who could share the company and the responsibilities that went with privilege, money, and position.

"Failure is not an option."

Not then…not now.

"Four people already died because of me; three bodyguards and my father."

"And you're thinking that you should go alone because of that?"

She gave a small nod and her voice dipped into a whisper. "I have to."

Mimi…his brave and foolish girl. Her willingness to sacrifice herself for the things she loved was one of the qualities he admired about her. But he sacrifice wasn't acceptable. Protecting Mimi was his job. Getting her to Seekers Inc. was his job. Seeing her alive and in one piece to testify was his job. "It's out of your hands. There's too much at stake."

Sister Berta returned. "Because of the weather, the police can't come until morning."

"Then we'd better lock up tight."

He always got the job done.

A/N: So far this was the longest chapter I've written in this story. The next chapter will be another one with Michael (yes, it's short!). If you guys have any questions about this chapter, let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

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