Chapter 39
I keep my muzzle trained on the men surrounding the truck. As soon as Evan and I spotted a truck tear down a gate and a flash of red hair, we knew we had hit pay dirt.
Now to get her the hell out of here…
Evan positions the bird so he can fire. “I’ll lay down some cover.”
“Copy that.”
A burst of machine gun fire hitting the pavement sends people scrambling.
“Steady now. Going down. Over.”
A second later, I’m boots on ground, trotting toward the truck, moving from one place of cover to another.
The previously busy street has a ghost-town vibe. Only, I know there are plenty of bad guys just feet away. If it weren’t for the chopper’s fire power, the odds of getting out of this without holes would be slim to none.
I duck behind a car and scan. Just one more push and I’ll be there.
The chopper wash coats me in dirt and debris as I peer around the corner. Twenty feet. Easy run.
A random gunshot rings out.
Evan lays down a line of fire in the middle of the street. That’s my opening.
I dash for the truck and find the door locked. One strike from the butt of my gun and it shatters. Camile shrieks as I reach inside and unlock it. “Seriously, Camile?”
“Beast!” she cries.
I’m flooded with relief, but the feeling is washed away a second later, replaced by the reality of our situation.
We still have to get out of here. “Come on. Fast.”
Camile scrambles across the console. She’s a deer-in-headlights, with her skin pale, and her lip caught between her teeth. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting your trouble-making ass out of Dodge.” I grab her arm and hustle her to the overturned motorcycle. Holding my weapon in one hand, I use the other to leverage the stripped-down café racer off the ground. I climb on, and Camile scrambles on behind me.
“Hold on. This is going to be fast and furious.”
She latches her arms around me, snaking them under the strap that my machine gun’s hanging on. Her chest is pumping with her ragged breath. Against the sides of my thighs, her legs are trembling.
I take off, cranking the throttle hard enough to raise the front wheel off the ground. Above us, the chopper pulls up and back, ready to give cover again at any second.
Flashes of color and reflections of light blur around us as I roar down the road, skirting up onto the sidewalk when I need to get around traffic.
Evan breaks through in my com gear. “Head east, I’ll grab you at a soccer field on the edge of town. Over.”
“Copy that. Over.”
Camile’s face is pressed tightly against my back as I throw quick glances at the side mirror. Another hit of relief pulses through my veins when I don’t see anyone suspicious.
But I can’t let my guard down. Anything could happen…
The ride lasts just under ten minutes. Only it feels like forever.
Up ahead the buildings are thinning.
Finally.
Before I bring the bike to a stop, Evan’s lowering down in front of us in an open expanse at a school’s ball field.
Camile’s arms are steel bands around me when I try to move. I pry them off and sweep her off the bike.
I want to kiss the hell out of her, but we need to get our asses out of here. “Move out.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
We take off at a sprint for the open door of the chopper.
“Up you go, buckle up.” I lift her, setting her into the open cargo area and climbing in after her.
As we strap in, I tap my thumb to my coms button on my ring. It automatically integrates with the chopper’s communication system. “Two on board. We’re clear for takeoff. Over.”
The engine roars. The blades speed. We smoothly lift off.
A few seconds later, my stomach dips. Camile’s eyes go wide as Evan banks hard to the right. Her hand flutters to her belly as we settle into a straight flight path.
I lean to the side so I can get a look behind us. The city is growing smaller and smaller. Thank fuck.
I let out a slow breath. Lean back and look at Camile.
She’s fiddling with her headset. Her eyes are locked on me.
I feel her gaze down to the pit of me.
For the thousandth time, I wonder, when will this madness end?
I’m not talking about the non-stop danger this woman attracts like a broken magnet. I’m talking about the craving for her that makes me want to throw her over my shoulder and disappear from the rest of the world.
I close my eyes, simmering in my own personal hell.
The chopper sails over the ground, the sound so familiar to me it’s almost like my own heartbeat.
After a while, she bumps my knee with hers. When I look up, she’s tapping her headset.
I point to the mic button on my own so she knows how to activate hers. “This one.”
“Lucas…”
Her voice—saying my name—hits me and sinks in deep.
She almost smiles, and my throat gets tight. Her color is flushed now, her eyes have the sheen that’s left after an adrenaline high.
I thought she was beautiful before…
Now she’s devastating.
“You have every right to be mad at me.”
“What I’m feeling, Camile, doesn’t even fit in the same world as mad.”
That’s the last thing that’s said until the helo starts to descend. Camile leans toward the open door. Confusion creasing her brow.
“Is that the bus?—”
I interrupt her. “The bus I thought you were on until I pulled it back from hanging over the edge of the canyon wall. It was real fun thinking you were on there.”
Her mouth slides open.
“Ohhhh. My god. I’m so sorry… The bus must have crashed after we passed it. I got off the bus not far outside town…”
“Why you did is one of many unanswered questions.”
The ground comes up to meet the skids and the rotor above us slows. I reach across and unfasten her harness. “Move out. We’re picking up my truck. Then we’re getting to the bottom of a lot of shit. I don’t care how, but it’s happening.”