In Enemy Hands Read Online Free PDF Page A

glad you like it.”
    Dante reached a stop sign, and Nadia said, “Turn left. Take me to my father.” She gave him a faint smile. “He’s probably going ballistic by now. Flat Branch Road is a little over five miles away. Take another left when you see the sign.”
    She leaned back against the headrest and squinted at him. “You know, you haven’t asked me why these men are trying to kill me. I find that a little strange.”
    Dante shrugged. “I figured you’d tell me when you had a chance. We haven’t had much time for conversation, you know. Besides, whatever you’ve done to them, I didn’t think the odds were fair.” He grinned. “But it seems maybe I was wrong about that.”
    Nadia ignored his attempt at humor. “I haven’t done anything to them,” she said, bristling. “They want to get to Nick, my father. The easiest way to do that is through me.”
    “And he lets you walk around in the open?” Dante pretended not to notice the sharp look she shot him.
    “He doesn’t
let
me do anything,” she snapped. “I come and go as I please. I’m a grown woman, in case you didn’t notice.”
    Dante lifted his eyebrows and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “Oh, yeah. I definitely noticed.”
    Nadia made a hrmmph sound in the back of her throat, but her frown relaxed. That killer smile fought its way back to the surface.
    Ruefully, she said, “If Nick had his way, I’d be locked up in a nunnery somewhere.”
    “That would be a shame,” Dante said solemnly.
    Nadia punched his shoulder and laughed. Then she shook her head. “I guess I give him a hard time, but he doesn’t understand that if I hide away like some scared little mouse, then this man is still taking my life.”
    “Why is he after your father?”
    A veil slipped over Nadia’s face.
    “It’s personal,” she said, and made a show of looking through Dante’s CDs. He could guess from the stubborn look on her face that she was through talking about it.
    She stared at the floorboard, then said, “Fred, Jack … Mortimer?”
    Dante frowned. “Excuse me?”
    “Your name. You said I can’t call you Slick, so you need to tell me something.”
    “My name is Dante.”
    “I’m Nadia. Nadia Branson. Hey, you missed the turnoff!”
    Before Dante had a chance to respond, he saw them.
    They came out of nowhere, surrounding them like a swarm of bees. A black Humvee, two four-wheel drives, a motorcycle
    … and they were not the police.
    A Ford Bronco pulled alongside them, and a man with a bullhorn shouted through the window, “Pull to the side of the road, turn off the ignition, and step out of the car with your hands in the air!”
    Dante glanced at Nadia, but she stared straight through him with an unreadable expression on her face. “Do as he says, Dante,” she said calmly.

CHAPTER 2
    N adia swung out of the car before Dante could stop her.
    He climbed out slowly, raising his hands over his head. A burly redhead in a Tennessee Volunteers T-shirt shoved Dante against the side of the car. The hot glass of the window burned his bare stomach as the man frisked him.
    “Geez, Waynie. No wonder I can’t keep a boyfriend,” Nadia complained when he emptied Dante’s .38.
    Dante jerked his head around to look at her and earned himself another rough shove from Waynie. Nadia shrugged and shot him an apologetic smile. Dante felt a rush of relief. They were Branson’s men.
    “Nadia, are you okay?” the big man asked.
    “Yeah, I’m having an epic bad hair day, though, and I’d kill for a cigarette. Please tell me you have one.”
    “Huh uh,” Dante heard a deep male voice say. “I don’t think so. A bet’s a bet, girl. You don’t want a reputation as a welcher, do you?”
    “No, Mother,” Nadia said dutifully.
    She winked at Dante and hopped onto the hood of his car.
    “Lord knows her reputation is bad enough as it is,” Waynie cracked, and Nadia administered a swift kick to his ample behind.
    “Hey, Waynie, come on … are