He turned to Erin and hugged her tight. “Everything’s going to be all right. I know you’ll take care of your mom and the baby until I can get back.”
She didn’t cry but only gave him a look to let him know she would do whatever was needed. “Be careful, Dad.”
Little Catherine clutched her teddy bear and smiled up at him. “Trip, Grandy.”
“You’re going to have a wonderful time.” He bent down to kiss her warm, round cheek.
“Coming too, Grandy?” she asked.
“I’ll come as soon as I can, sweetheart. You take care of Mommy and Nanna for me until I get there, all right?”
From the living room window, Alan watched the car carry its precious cargo down the foggy, leaf-strewn street and into the gloomy fall day. Tears blurred his vision as the truth sank in. He might never see them again. Please Joe, take care of them if I don’t make it back.
Alan knew he should move quickly, but he was consumed with worry about his family. At least they were with Joe, who would protect them with his life. And they would have a decent place to live, the loft in Soho he had purchased five years ago from Joe. It was no surprise his street-smart friend had done well for himself as a real estate agent in New York. But even then, Alan had been careful. The title to the apartment was in the name of a holding company that could not be traced back to Alan. He had lied to Joe, telling him it was an investment, when in reality it had all been part of the preparations he’d been making for years and hoping he’d never have to use. Now he was thankful it was available when he needed it.
Alan had only given Joe half the cash he had secreted away. If invested properly, his family would be able to manage quite well. He’d tucked the other half of the cash into an overnight bag now sitting on the back seat of the Volvo in the garage. He’d packed two large suitcases as well. Looking around, he was again assaulted by the thought that he could never come back here. All the money in the bank accounts, his assets, his business, and this house were a loss. But it was imperative for him to disappear without a trace. He double-checked his new identification, which he’d also procured in anticipation of this day. His last name was Merrick now.
Finally, he entered the tiny room behind his study. The object was still encased in the heavy silk cloth he’d wrapped around it at Nuremberg. He tucked it in the inside pocket of his jacket.
He had no destination in mind. He’d just start driving and hope he’d know where he was going when he got there. With a heavy heart, he got behind the wheel of the Volvo, backed it out of the garage and drove into the overcast day.
* * * *
Kate stared out the passenger window into the grey afternoon, seeing nothing, trying to hold back the tears that kept threatening to erupt. Turning in her seat, she noticed Erin appeared equally depressed. Catherine, done in from having been awakened so early and having missed her morning nap, was fast asleep beside her in the back seat. As she turned to face forward again, Kate heard Joe mutter something under his breath. The car swerved suddenly to the right as they sped up onto an off-ramp.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked.
Joe nodded in the direction of the rear-view mirror. “Looks like we’ve got company.”
Kate twisted in her seat to look out the rear window of the car and saw Erin doing the same. A black car screeched onto the ramp after them, cutting off a van that braked just in time to escape a collision.
“Shit,” Joe said.
“They’re following us,” Erin cried. “Mom?”
Kate’s eyes were trained on the car tailing them. It was approaching far too fast, even though they were now travelling at a dangerous rate of speed. In no time the chrome grill of the black car came within feet of their rear bumper.
“Is the car seat secure?” she asked, glancing nervously at Catherine. Her granddaughter continued to sleep soundly as Erin double-checked it.
“Yes.”
She looked at Erin, whose eyes reflected her own worry. Dear God, Alan, what have you gotten us into?
They carried on that way for a while on the two-lane road, with the car behind trying to ram them, and Joe driving faster and faster.
When the car behind finally hit them, they careened off into a ditch. Joe somehow managed to keep the car upright, bringing it to a stop in the field below. The black car skidded to a halt on the shoulder above them.
“Is everyone all right?” Joe asked.
“I think so,” she said, turning to her daughter. “Erin?”
“We’re all right,” she said, trying to sooth Catherine, who had begun to whimper. The poor child must have been exhausted, for Kate saw her eyes close in sleep again a second later.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“I wish I knew,” Kate said. She felt her insides clench, sick with worry now.
“Stay here.” Joe told her, jumping out of the car.
Kate faced forward again to see two large and nasty-looking men making their way down the embankment towards Joe. She recognized trouble when he saw it, and these two, even though dressed in suits, definitely looked like trouble to her.
She rolled down the window so she could hear.
“Alan Fairfield?” she heard heavy-set one call out to Joe.
“Who wants to know?” she heard Joe say.
She watched as Joe met them at the foot of the embankment. A knife appeared in the hand of one of the thugs.
Joe turned towards the car. “Go!” he yelled over his shoulder at her.
Kate clambered frantically into the driver’s seat. She could still see Joe, but in the next instant, she watched in horror as the man plunged his knife into Joe’s chest, ripping the blade upward before removing it. Joe went down. The man rifled through Joe’s pockets, retrieved his wallet, then cried out in surprise.
“Shit. It ain’t Fairfield. We got the wrong guy. He must still be back at—”
“Hurry, Mom.” Erin shrieked from the back seat.
Kate floored the gas pedal, turning the car around into the field too fast, losing traction. She got about twenty feet before the car slowed, coming to a bumpy halt.
“They shot the tires,” Erin cried.
From out the back window, Kate could see the two men running toward their car. The barrels of the guns they carried looked very long, and Kate realized they were fitted with silencers.
Horrified, she turned to her daughter. Erin was placing her coat over Catherine, who had begun to cry. “Shh, don’t wake up baby. It’s all right. Go back to sleep for mommy,” Then, “Mom. Give me your coat. Hurry.”
Understanding what Erin meant to do, Kate quickly passed her trench coat back and watched as Erin adjusted it over her own, making sure to
