Invincible (World of Danger Book 1) Read online

  “Lidah?”

  “Yes, Lee?”

  “Play the tape.”

  A second later, a soft voice came though his speakers. A memory from long ago that always managed to soothe him whenever weariness took root in his soul. For an infinitesimal moment, the world fell away to transport him back in time. He could still see her, the one woman he could never forget, frozen forever as a teenager who looked up at him with love in her eyes.

  “Hi Lee, it’s Lidah. I was wondering if you’d like to, um, go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me. ‘Cause, you know, girls have to ask boys. All right. No worries if you don’t want to. Um. Okay. Bye.”

  Of course, he’d accepted. He had a crush on her the moment he’d laid eyes on her his first day of high school. If life had dealt him a better hand, he would have married her one day, and the thought still broke his heart.

  “Lee,” Lidah the computer said, breaking into his melancholy memory. “You have a message coming through from an unknown IEP.”

  Lee opened his eyes and sat up a little straighter. He placed his beer on the coffee table. “Spam?”

  “No. It’s encrypted.”

  “From JD?”

  “No.”

  “Viruses?”

  “None. It is addressed to you, marked as urgent.”

  Suddenly wary, he dug out his phone from his front pocket. “Send it to my cell.”

  His phone beeped, and he swiped it to check the message. A black screen appeared, and a sentence rolled across it. “They say you’re invincible.”

  Lee frowned. “What the hell?”

  The screen went dark, only to be replaced with a picture. A photo of a woman, and although time had brought maturity and wisdom to her face, Lee recognized her immediately. Lidah! Layered red hair looking like fire in the sunlight. Kindness shining from her brown eyes. The living Lidah had developed into a beautiful woman, but just as that thought flashed through his head another message came through.

  “Is she?”

  “God damn it, who sent this?” he demanded. For a split second, panic filled him. Only years of training helped push the fear down. Not for him, but for Lidah. He’d given up everything, including her, to keep her safe.

  “I cannot track it,” the computer replied.

  “That’s impossible. Everything is traceable. Call JD.”

  It took his business partner, Joseph David Harlan the Second, two rings to answer.

  “Hello, Lee. I thought I told you to rest after this past job. I got your report on the senator, and his campaign manager assures me everything is fine—”

  “Never mind about the fucking senator. I think I’ve been hacked.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I received a threat,” he said harshly. “Sent through my private email. Get someone to run through the servers.”

  “That’s impossible. Our firewalls are unbreakable.”

  “Listen to me, JD, this … person … knew how to get to me.” Lee ran a hand through his hair. “Whoever he is, he knows things. Things I need to protect.”

  “All right,” JD said calmly. “I’ll get my team to investigate.”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “I do, Lee. Why do you always doubt what I say?”

  “I’ve always had a hard time trusting the Harlan name. You know that.”

  A sigh came through. “After all these years, after all I’ve done, I’m still clueless on what it’ll take for you to fully trust me.”

  For a moment, Lee allowed himself to remember that night when his world shattered. The only way he had survived was by never talking about it, by burying it deep, but it seemed like the past wasn’t going to stay silent for too much longer.

  “JD, I need you to find out where a woman named Lidah Wilcox is currently residing.”

  “Wait a minute,” JD said sharply. “Are you saying Lidah is a real woman?”

  “Yeah,” Lee said. “She’s real.”

  “I thought it was a name you made up for the home computer installation. Does she have anything to do with your father’s death?”

  “Only in the sense that she’s now in danger. Find her for me, JD. You can start with my hometown and graduating year.”

  “Hold on.” He heard some clicking on a keyboard. “Looks like she’s still in your hometown.”

  “The hell?” Lee asked. “You sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure!” JD replied, sounding a little indignant.

  “When you find out who hacked my information, let me know. Otherwise, you’ll find me in Kentucky.”

  “Wait, Lee. You can’t go in halfcocked. Surely you know she’s bait.”

  “She’s a sitting duck, JD! She knows nothing and now she’s being targeted!”

  “All right, calm down. At least take Lake with you. He can be your liaison with the local authority if need be.”

  Lee didn’t even say good-bye. He didn’t have that type of relationship with JD. He hung up and then headed right back out of the house he’d just entered moments before.

  Chapter Two

  “Mrs. Potts,” Lidah said brightly, smiling at the older woman. “It’s your turn.”

  With her grey curls bobbing around her forehead, Mrs. Potts rose from the waiting room chair and shuffled forward, aided by her rubber tip cane. Lidah held open the door and waited till Mrs. Potts crossed before letting it swing close. She modified her steps to follow the older woman.

  “Through that last door,” she said, pointing.

  “I remember,” Mrs. Potts said. “I was here only six months ago for you to clean my teeth. I might have lost my ability to drive, but I haven’t lost all my marbles. Yet.”

  She laughed, although it sounded more like a cackle.

  “Any problems with your teeth?” Lidah asked. “Any spots you’d like for me to concentrate on?”

  As they entered the hygienist room, Mrs. Potts sat carefully in the dental chair. “No, dearie. I’m right as rain.”

  Lidah made sure her client was comfortable and then proceeded to clean and polish Mrs. Pott’s teeth. Although it wasn’t a very glamorous job, it was a steady paycheck and guaranteed work. Living in a small country town, she was grateful for the position in the only dental practice in three counties. One day, she might even take over the practice. Once done, she sat Mrs. Potts up and handed her the complimentary hygiene bag, consisting of toothbrush, floss and toothpaste.

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Potts said. “I so enjoy coming here to visit you. You’re such a good girl. Why hasn’t no man snatched you up yet?”

  Lidah kept her exasperated sigh to herself. The only tough part of when the elderly came in for their cleaning was when they got on a kick of her still being single at age forty. Mrs. Potts came from a different era, when a woman had to rely on a man for a roof over her head and food in her belly, and in the shadow of the Appalachian Mountains, the twenty-first century still lagged behind a little. Lidah reined in her exasperation.

  “I don’t think that’s in the cards for me,” she replied politely, trying to dismiss the subject.

  The older woman harrumphed. “A woman isn’t a woman until you have a man to provide a steady home with a big kitchen and babies.”

  Lidah tuned her out. Partly because she didn’t like hearing the sexist remarks coming from an older woman who thought life wasn’t worth anything until a man made it bearable. It was also a safety mechanism she’d developed years ago to escape the town gossip that followed her everywhere. Her skin was so thick now she didn’t think anything could break her shell. Women like Mrs. Potts couldn’t possibly understand the concept that a big kitchen and babies weren’t the main objective nowadays to have a fulfilling life.

  “Well, dearie, when you come to your senses, let me know,” Mrs. Potts said, patting her hand. “My grandson is still available.”

  Lidah frowned. “Isn’t your grandson in high school?”

  “Oh, he graduated last year! You might be long in the tooth, but
we could always use a dental person in the family.”

  Stifling down her annoyance, it took all of her composure not to roll her eyes. The small community of Cleavon, Kentucky boasted of a population just under two hundred. If it wasn’t for the post office at the end of the very short Main Street, it would’ve officially been listed as a ghost town long ago. Once upon a time she had dreamt about leaving the small Kentucky nook, but that dream had painfully died the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance.

  “All right,” Lidah said a few minutes later. “You’re all set for another six months. Make sure you make an appointment at the front desk.”

  She helped Mrs. Potts up from the chair then fixed her dress, which had hiked up a bit, partially showing her slip.

  “Thank you, m’dear,” the older woman murmured. “Have yourself a lovely weekend, and just remember, my grandson is available for a date night!”

  Lidah shook her head, not sure if she was amused or appalled, and wondered if said grandson knew of his grandmother’s matchmaking shenanigans. She was pretty sure an eighteen-year-old wouldn’t want to date a woman old enough to be his mother.

  The rest of her work day consisted of cleaning up her hygienist room, sterilizing her equipment, and making her room ready for patients on Monday. The weekend was much appreciated, although she didn’t really have any plans. Her parents expected her over for Sunday dinner, but other than that she planned to clean her small home and catch up on reading. Sometimes she wished she had a hobby, or enjoyed the outdoors like going fishing or hunting, but she hated things that squished and discovered she simply couldn’t shoot Bambi.

  “Hey, Lidah,” Tina the receptionist called out. “I’m leaving!”

  “Okay,” she said back. “I’ll lock up. Have a great weekend.”

  “You, too!”

  She finished up her chart notes then logged off the computer and grabbed her purse. Her belly rumbled, reminding her lunch had been six hours ago. Turning off the lights, she activated the alarm then stepped outside and locked up. A hand landed on her shoulder and she emitted a little scream, jumping as she spun around, ready to do battle with whoever had decided to startle her. Instead of an intruder, however, her boss Wally Greene stood there staring at her with wide eyes.

  “Jesus, Wally!” Fright had turned her voice an octave higher. She cleared her throat. “You scared the hell out of me.”

  “Sorry,” Wally said, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Her boss had to be in his seventies, but he looked a decade younger. The amount of money he spent on plastic surgery made her head spin, not to mention the small fortune in hair care and anti-aging products just to keep his preternatural appearance.

  “S’okay. What are you doing here?”

  “I just drove back from Gilbert County and need to put all my instruments away.”

  “Oh, right,” she said. “Well, have a great weekend.”

  “You know, I’ve been thinking about retiring.”

  That was shocking news to her. “Really? You’ve always sworn you’d die with a drill in your hand.”

  He waved that mental picture off. “That was before I knew I had someone competent to take over. Not many young people want to take a position where they have to travel throughout the mountains to take care of people’s teeth. But now I know you’re committed, and I’ve been thinking that singles and sexy cruise is calling my name. What do you say, dear? Do you think it’s time you take your dental exam? You’ve got your bachelors and passed dental school.”

  Lidah blinked. “Wow. I’m … shocked. But yes! Yes, I think it’s time.”

  Wally beamed and stepped in front of her to pat her shoulder. “Well, then, you need—”

  Wally never got to finish his statement because a hiss reverberated around them, and a second later, he fell forward like a tree, toppling directly onto her. Unable to hold his weight, they crashed to the ground.

  “Wally! What’s wrong with you? Get off me!” She pushed at his shoulders, but her left hand slid off. It felt sticky and when she looked down, her whole palm was covered in blood. For a moment, she couldn’t figure out where it came from and then it suddenly dawned on her that it came from Wally.

  Panicking, she pushed at his shoulders until he rolled off her, flopping onto his back like a broken doll. He stared blankly up at the darkening sky and Lidah crab walked away, unable to take her eyes off his lifeless form. Her lungs constricted, and it became hard to take a deep breath, choosing instead to suck in shallow puffs of air. She crashed into her car, unable to move, to look away, or even comprehend what had just happened. It wasn’t until a ping hit beside her head that she turned away from Wally’s corpse and saw a bullet hole in the metal. The realization that someone was shooting dawned on her, and every mass shooting she’d seen on television hit home.

  A terror filled cry erupted from her throat as she scrambled to her feet, running away from Wally and the shooter, trying to find her keys in the vacuous cavern of her purse so she could get back inside the dental office. All coherent logic fled. Any sanity of what to do during an emergency disappeared. The need to find shelter out of the line of fire was the only thought driving her desperation, but she shook with panic and fear so much that trying to find the right key on her keychain was proving to be impossible.

  “Get down, Lidah,” came a rumbling voice just as arms swooped around her and pulled her away from the door, back to the safety of the car’s body. This time, however, she was on the opposite side, blocking the person shooting at her from hitting the target.

  Screaming, she fought against the arms that imprisoned her, her mind locked in a frozen sheet of fear.

  “Stop it, Lidah! I’m here to save you.”

  The words trickled through the hysteria, thawing the ice. “What?”

  “Listen, I’m here to rescue you. My SUV is on the other side of this building, so I need you to do exactly what I say. Understand?”

  Shadows hid his face, but he seemed familiar, so she nodded. The desire to escape with her life overrode anything else.

  “All right, keep your head down, don’t stop, and stay to the darkened areas near the wall. Got it?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll be right behind.”

  The man held a gun in his hand. He looked over the car hood once before urging her to make a run for it. Taking a deep breath, she did as he said, although she had to dig down deep to find the courage to step out into the open. Any second a bullet could end her life, like it had ended Wally’s. With the stranger pushing her onward, she did as he commanded, sticking to the side of the building and running as quickly as possible, ignoring the popping sounds of return fire as the stranger covered her escape. Although it was only seconds, it felt like hours later when she finally got to the side of the black SUV. The man opened the door and practically shoved her inside the passenger seat before hurrying around the driver side. Seconds later, they sped away.

  “Wally!” she finally gasped, breaking the paralysis that held her. “We have to go back for him!”

  “No.”

  “But he … he was s-shot,” she stammered. Her body shook as adrenaline aftermath fled her body. “I think he’s d-dead.”

  “He is,” the stranger said without any type of inflection in his tone.

  His indifference shocked her. “We can’t leave him there.”

  “Yes, we can.”

  “No, we can’t!” she stressed, practically yelling. It took every ounce of strength she possessed to bring down the crazy octave in her tone. “He’s needs help, even if that help is the police.”

  He didn’t answer, but a second later the clear tone of a phone rang through his SUV over the Bluetooth and a voice answered immediately.

  “This is Lake.”

  “I need a cofferdam,” he said, confusing her. Then again, everything confused her at this point. “Main street in front of the dental office.”

  “I see it,” Lake said. “The sheriff
has been notified and I’ll do damage control, but it won’t hold for long.”

  “Give me at least a day.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “I know you will.” The call ended, and the man resumed driving without looking her way once.

  “Who was that?” she asked, hugging herself.

  “Mason Lake. He’s going to do as you asked and take care of your boss.”

  “Did … did you shoot Wally?” she asked, even though she knew the answer. Still, she had to ask the question, to start somewhere in search of answers.

  “No, Lidah,” he said softly. “I didn’t kill him. And I don’t think the shooter was really gunning for you, otherwise, you’d be dead. I think you were a decoy.”

  “A decoy? What are you talking about? For what?”

  “For me.”

  “You? But … but … who are you?”

  He didn’t answer right away, which made her nerves string out even more. Slowly she leaned forward, trying to see him better in the muted lights of the dashboard. His nose contained a slight bump, alluding to the fact that it had been broken sometime in the past. A strong, square jaw, high cheekbones. Dark hair peppered with grey strands. Something about his profile tugged at her memory. If she didn’t know any better, he looked a lot like…

  “You can’t be,” she whispered. “He’s dead.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t know who I’m talking about.”

  “You’re talking about Lee McMasters.”

  The name crashed through her, allowing pain to punch through her carefully built walls. “Don’t say that name.”

  “I haven’t said that name in a very long time,” the man said softly. “I thought I’d forgotten it, but one look at your picture and he came roaring back to life.”

  “Lee?” she whispered achingly.

  He sighed. “Yes, Lidah. It’s me.”

  She shook her head. “But … you’re dead.”

  “Yes.”

  “No. No, no, no! You died twenty-two years ago! I saw the burned down house … the investigation. There was a funeral and a coffin, for Christ’s sake!”

  “Yes.”