Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
“It’s me,” Mateo said from beside her, and Ally let out a breath as the phone call was picked up by Falcon. She might never have met the man, but right now, he was their only hope of not winding up either dead for real or captured by the end of the night.
From where she was, Ally couldn’t hear whatever the other man was saying, so she twisted in her seat to look out the back window.
Immediately, she spotted the big, black SUV.
There was no doubt it was following them, taking turn after turn with them as Mateo drove through the quiet residential streets.
So far, it wasn't doing anything but trailing along after them, but then again, they couldn’t do much without drawing attention.
The roads might be quiet because it was the middle of the night, but there were houses everywhere, and people would wake up and call 911 if there was a shootout or a crash, so they’d risk getting caught.
Maybe even before they could kill her and Mateo or take them back to that hellish warehouse.
Stretching out her cramped muscles, curling up inside the duffel bag hadn't been easy or fun, and she was glad she hadn't had to be inside it for long, Ally turned back to watch Mateo. It was hard to figure out how the conversation was going from his facial expressions alone, because he’d pasted back on his blank mask, the one he’d used when she didn't know he was undercover.
When he ended the call, she immediately tensed, unsure if they’d received good news or bad news. “What did he say?”
“That Trigger and the guys are already here,” Mateo said, a small smile curling one side of his mouth up.
“Here?” She looked around out the windows, but all she could see were quiet houses, and the black SUV following behind them. “Where?”
“Following the vehicle following us,” he replied.
“How?”
“Apparently, the guys came right back to Falcon when we didn't make it to the airfield instead of heading off on the op like they were supposed to. He gave them the address of the warehouse, and they’ve been camped out there ever since, waiting until I made contact so they knew how to best help us.”
“Won't they get in trouble?” As glad as she was that it wasn't just her and Mateo against whoever was in that SUV, she didn't want anyone to throw their career away for her, and she had no idea what the punishment was for disobeying orders.
“Falcon said they cleared it with their superiors. Prey and the Oswald family are well known in special ops circles, and when they said they were helping with something, they got permission to stay.”
“What—”
“Hold on, baby, I need to talk to them. I have an idea, but we’re going to need their help to pull it off.”
Nodding, she looked back over her shoulder at the SUV again, while Mateo called Trigger.
The man must have been waiting for their call, because Mateo started talking almost immediately.
She tried to listen, because whatever they were planning she was right in the middle of it, but nerves were getting the best of her.
All along, she’d been telling herself that she could hold it together until she was back home and safe again. But maybe that had always been an unrealistic idea. Because she was bottling up a whole mess of emotions and they were pushing against the lid she’d slammed down on them.
Now was about the worst time for them to come rushing out, for her to fall apart. Mateo needed her to be strong, and she didn't want to let him down. Especially when his plan was to fake his death for her.
She might be a complete novice at all of this, but she was pretty sure that faking a death under these circumstances could quite easily turn into being dead for real. Mateo might not have said it, but she also understood that he was willing to actually die if it meant that she didn't.
But how could she live without him?
Faking her death didn't really matter. She could easily rebuild her online tax business under a different name, and she didn't have any friends or family she was leaving behind. The only person who really mattered to her was the man sitting beside her, and he’d be coming with her.
Despite her best efforts, her breathing became labored, and her hands sweaty.
She didn't want to be here anymore. She just wanted all of this to be over. Faking her death was fine, and she didn't even care if she couldn’t go back to her apartment, she’d never really had a physical home that felt like a home anyway.
All she wanted was for her and Mateo to be safe, because Mateo was her home.
“Hold on for me a little longer, baby, you're doing fine, and I swear this is almost over,” Mateo told her as his large hand landed on her thigh and he squeezed.
But she heard the one way or another that he didn't add to the end of his sentence.
Doing her best not to let him down, she dragged in a ragged breath. “What's the plan?”
“Need you to crawl over here and sit on my lap,” he told her, withdrawing his hand and reaching under the driver’s seat to move it back as far as it would go.
“Climb on your lap?”
“We need to get out of the car in a hurry, and it’ll be easier if I have you with me.”
That wasn't much of an explanation, but honestly, Ally was too exhausted to bother pushing for more information. In the end, it didn't matter. She had no idea what she was doing, but Mateo and the Delta Force guys did, so all she had to do was trust them.
Doing as he asked, she awkwardly shuffled over to sit perched on Mateo’s lap, crushed between the steering wheel and his rock-hard body.
A body that was covered in bruises. He had to be hurting, but he wasn't acting like he was.
She had to suck it up, shove her emotions back down, and hold them in for a little bit longer.
“Do I want to know the details?” she asked softly.
“Probably not, but you're going to need to know them,” Mateo replied, his warm breath on the back of her neck soothing her in a way nothing else could.
“Okay.” She could do this. Mateo was counting on her to do it.
“We’re going to crash the car into the first empty building I see.”
“Crash the car? With us still inside?” That sounded like a great way to kill themselves for real.
“There’s a half-built shopping mall up ahead, about a mile away from where we are now. When we get close, I'm going to start shooting at the SUV. They’re going to shoot back, that way I can fake losing control of the car.”
“Like with the motorcycle?”
“Just like that. We’re going to jump right before the car makes contact, and then I'm going to shoot out the engine.”
“Why do you need to shoot out the engine?”
“Because I need the car to blow up.”
Stomach dropping, she tilted her head to look over her shoulder. “And why does the car need to blow up?”
“So that our bodies will be destroyed beyond recognition in case Azure tries to confirm we’re really dead.”
“But …” Ally gulped not wanting to say the words, “couldn’t we really die in the explosion?”
“Not going to lie to you, little mouse. Yes. We could. The building around us is going to go up in flames as well, and we’re going to need to run inside as soon as we crash.
The guys are going to provide a distraction so that we can get into the building.
There is every chance that as soon as we hit and the car explodes, that the men following us are going to hightail it out of here.
Anyone close by is going to hear the shots, the crash, the car exploding.
They’re going to be calling 911. Prey will make sure first responders are aware that we’re in the building, and that this will be reported as two dead in the car.
Azure won't want to be here when the cops show up, so when they think we’re already eliminated as a problem there is no need for them to stick around. ”
When Mateo explained it, it all sounded so simple.
Crazy, but simple. But things could easily go wrong.
The car could be shot for real. They could crash for real, they could get hurt or killed when Mateo shot the engine and blew the car up.
They could get trapped in the burning building, the people following them could decide to stick around and confirm their deaths, finding them inside this half-built mall and killing them for real.
Risky as it was, she had to trust that Mateo thought this was the best way to get them out of Azure’s clutches for good.
So, when he reached over into the glove compartment and pulled out a weapon, putting down the window beside them, she stamped down her panic, and did her best to put her trust in Mateo, the Delta Force team, and this crazy plan they’d cooked up.
August 23rd
1:02 A.M.
This was, without a doubt, the stupidest thing he’d ever done in his life.
But Mateo did it anyway.
Clutching Ally against his chest, he readied himself to spring out the door with her a split second before the car hit the wall just a hundred or so yards ahead of them.
Leaning out the window, he fired at the car behind them.
He didn't bother to look to see if he hit anything, that didn't really matter.
All he wanted was for them to start shooting back.
Which they did.
Whoever was in the car behind them—Josh, or Van, or Henry, or Hank, or Adrian, or Deacon, or William, or Marvin—they weren't a very good shot, because while they had an easy view of his vehicle, they weren't able to hit it.
The small shopping mall he was aiming for was up ahead, just a few more minutes, and he’d know whether he’d saved his girl’s life or ended it.
“Open the door but hold onto the handle so that it looks like it’s still closed,” he ordered Ally.
Although she was trembling on his lap, she did what he asked without hesitation. She was holding on by a thread, but she was still holding on, and that was all that mattered right now.