Chapter 20
LAUREL
The kiss Jason had just given me changed things, and the idea of him leaving now was impossible.
“No.” I said it matter of fact, and again to make sure he’d heard me. “No. You said, ‘whatever happens, you stay with me.’”
His expression was pained. “I don’t want to go, but it’s not up to me. I’ve been relieved.”
The last time I’d seen him, he’d been wearing handcuffs, so whatever he’d done, I was sure it’d been bad. But he’d have to apologize or work something out, or plead with his boss, because I needed him. I’d lost my whole life, and I wasn’t ready to lose him too.
“Do you know whose voice I heard in my head tonight, telling me to escape? It was yours.” I clutched at his t-shirt, like I could stop him from leaving, and my voice went small. “I don’t want to do this without you.”
His beautiful eyes softened before he hung his head. He wanted the same thing I wanted, but he didn’t have the power to give it to me. And it was clear he hated that feeling of powerlessness as much as I did.
I placed my hands on the stubble lining his jaw, lifted his face, and kissed him. Softly, sweetly, trying to show him he couldn’t go. When the kiss changed into more, when my tongue was in his mouth and my hands trailed down his chest—
A short knock outside made me jolt. There was barely enough time to straighten and step out of his embrace before the door swung open and Bill strode in. I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and tried my best to not look like I’d just been kissing his agent.
It was like Bill knew anyway. He tossed my duffle bag onto the dresser top with a bit too much force, signifying his anger.
“Can you be ready to go in ten minutes?” he asked, his gaze avoiding Jason.
Yet that was exactly where my focus went. “Yes. Will you be ready then?”
“Well, no. He’s no longer assigned to your—” his boss started.
“I’m not going without him.”
The older man’s face went sour, and his attention finally turned to his marshal so he could deliver a glare. As if he thought Jason had put me up to this.
Bill crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not an option.”
“Then neither is me going with you.”
Even though I barely knew him, he didn’t seem like one to respond well to threats. “You’re going to turn down the marshals’ protection, the only ones who can keep you safe.” His expression was fixed. “That’s a really great plan.”
“This?” My voice rose with every word. “This is keeping me safe?”
Frey had known where I was at every turn, even when they moved me.
Jason stood with one hand resting on his hip, his posture awkward. Uncomfortable. Was his back hurting him? Or had my question caused his discomfort?
“We’ve had a breach in security,” Bill explained quietly. “We’re looking into it.”
The admission sparked life into Jason. “Frey’s team was organized with the right equipment and the right staging.
Nobody pulls off that kind of extraction without planning.
” His tone was dark and angry. “They knew we would be here, and we hadn’t made that call until after the gas station attack, which means someone leaked the contingency plan. Who built it?”
“It’s a rolling assignment. As I said, we’re looking into it.” The older man glanced at his phone and then back to me. “They’ve authorized a helicopter, and it’ll be here soon. I can’t make you get on it, but I’m asking you to. Politely.”
I angled my head toward Jason. “What about him?”
“He’ll be out of a job if he gets on it.” Bill gave his marshal a pointed look. “I’ll be out front with the car in nine and a half minutes.”
He went, pulling the door shut behind him loudly.
Oh, my God.
Jason was going to have to choose between staying with me or keeping his job, and I didn’t want to know which one was going to come out on top.
Part of me already knew, but I didn’t want to deal with it.
Instead, I went to the duffle bag of clothes and lugged it into the bathroom, leaving the door open.
My whole body ached. My feet were filthy black.
I started the water in the shower, turned, and startled at the sight of Jason hovering just outside the doorway.
“You need any help?” He sounded business-like.
“No, thanks. I’ll just be a minute.” I was scared to ask it. “You’ll still be here when I’m done?”
“Yeah.”
He tried to close the door, but I stopped him.
“Can we . . . ? I’d like to leave it open a little. Just in case.”
In case Frey came back with his team of men. In case I wanted to know Jason was right outside. And I wasn’t entirely ready to be trapped inside a bathroom that looked identical to the one where I thought I was going to die.
He nodded in understanding and left the door cracked.
In the base of the shower, I watched dirt and red-brown blood swirl down the drain. The heat of the water and my exhaustion were temporarily distracting, until—
“Jason?” I said it loud enough so he’d hear me over the running water, but not loud enough to cause worry. “Where’s Derrick?”
There was no answer.
Had he not heard me?
Shit, had he left the room? Then a new, horrible thought sliced through my mind, turning my blood to slush. “Is he dead?”
“Yes.”
I sank down to sit in the tub, accidentally knocking the small bottle of shampoo over and sending it crashing to the floor. Everything was numb.
“Are you okay?” his flat voice asked, like he meant it in the strictest sense only.
I didn’t answer.
Even though I had no time, I let the water beat down on me for a long minute. I didn’t hurry as I pulled a paper-thin towel down off the rack and wrapped it around my body. I forced myself to focus elsewhere.
“Is that why you’ve been relieved?”
“No.”
I grabbed the clothes at the top of the bag and dressed in a simple sweater and dark jeans.
A red mark had developed in the center of my forehead, a reminder of the moment my attacker had slammed my head to the ground.
My hair was wet, the ends dripping on my sweater, but I no longer cared about how I looked.
I stepped out of the bathroom and found him sitting on the bed, one hand massaging the back of his neck.
“Is it because of whatever happened that put you in handcuffs?”
“No.”
Was he purposefully being vague? “Then why?”
“Because Bill knows I kissed you. There was a security camera in the restaurant.”
I leaned against the dresser to keep from collapsing. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
His gaze snapped to me, and his expression was incredulous. “This is not your fault. You didn’t make me kiss you. I did that.”
He rose from the bed, moving slower than normal, obviously in pain. He advanced toward me until there was no more space left between us then dipped his head, so he was only inches away. The corner of his mouth lifted in a sad smile, and his voice dropped to a hush.
“You could have made it less difficult on me,” he said, “not to kiss you, though.”
He leaned in and set his lips on mine, and when his arms wrapped around me, I wanted to melt into him. There was a safety in his embrace which the logical side of my brain didn’t understand. It half expected him to pull away at any moment.
But he didn’t. His hands pressed me deeper into his reckless kiss. Maybe he felt he had little left to lose.
As much as I didn’t want it to end, we were running out of time. I placed my hands on his broad shoulders and eased him back. “Why were you in handcuffs?”
“Because when I came to, you’d been taken.” His brown eyes were serious and intense. “There was some FBI agent being a real dick about needing my statement when there were,” he considered how to phrase it, “better uses of my time.”
“Did you break his nose, too?” I frowned as the horrible image of Jason breaking the man’s jaw flashed through my mind.
“No, all I did was shove the guy out of my way. But I can tell you, he did not care for that.” He made a tight noise when he righted himself.
“Are you okay? I thought maybe the vest—”
“I’ll survive,” he said. “And you? Did he hurt you?”
“No, I don’t think he planned to, at least not in the van.”
He clearly did not like the sound of that, but he held back any other emotion he was feeling. “What did he say? Try to be exact.”
I hurried through the story with Jason’s arms around me, and his hold tightened when I shuddered and described Frey’s tongue on my skin. The shower had done little to wash the revulsion off me, but his presence was a powerful distraction.
We couldn’t stay like this forever, though. It had definitely been longer than ten minutes, and each second was likely to piss Bill off even more.
“What happens now?” I asked, unintentionally holding my breath.
His arms fell away and he stepped back, his gaze running from mine. “I need a minute.”
I swallowed thickly. I understood this wasn’t an easy decision for him, and it was beyond selfish for me to ask him to make this sacrifice, especially when we barely knew each other. But it hurt regardless when his answer wasn’t immediate.
The silence was utter agony and lasted forever.
“Will you get on the helicopter if I don’t?” he asked finally.
There was no air left in my lungs, but somehow, I managed to speak. “No.”
His face went oddly blank, and then he uttered the words I was hoping for. “Then let’s go.”
Bill’s scowl covered his entire face when we came out and moved toward the car. I pretended I didn’t see it and ducked into the back seat.
It was surprising when Jason followed, slipping into the seat beside me, as if his boss were our chauffeur. Bill’s aggravated gaze caught mine in the rearview mirror, but I broke it off and pressed my lips together.
We’d barely pulled away before Jason leaned toward the driver’s seat. “What did the log say?”
Bill didn’t get a chance to answer him because his phone rang. He tapped the screen and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hey. Thanks for calling me back. Did you—”
Whatever the person on the other side had to say, it was urgent. The car was quiet as he drove and listened, and although I could hear a voice on the phone, I couldn’t make out the words.
Could Jason? He grew more tense with every second, and one of his knees bounced nervously, but when I flashed him a questioning look, he didn’t explain.
Bill’s phone call was still going when we pulled into the parking lot of what seemed to be a high school football stadium. A black helicopter was perched in the center of the field with its rotors still spinning, the choppy thumps amplified by the empty metal stands.
It stole my breath that it was here because of me.
There was no directive from Bill, but it was obvious he wanted us to follow him. He shut off the car, climbed out of the driver’s seat, and headed toward the fence surrounding the track without looking back. His conversation was too serious to spare us any attention.
I pushed open my door, got out, and wrapped my arms around myself. The sweater I wore was thick, but the cold air easily cut through it, and my hair was still wet. My teeth immediately began to chatter as I strode toward the helicopter.
“Wait.”
Jason’s voice was hesitant, putting me off balance as I turned to look back. He wore a conflicted expression, and before I could open my mouth to ask what was wrong, he captured my lips with his.
His boss had his back turned, but it was stunning he was willing to risk this. To not only disregard the rules, but to flaunt it so publicly, and at this moment. But his kiss was its own flash grenade, voiding everything else out.
But it ended so quickly, it was jarring. I was dizzy in its aftermath, swaying on my feet. What the hell? Jason pumped more confusion into me when he grabbed my hand, laced our fingers together, and pulled me toward the open space in the fence.
By the time we reached Bill, he was on the track and his call had ended. He peered at our linked hands, shook his head, and then motioned to the waiting helicopter.
“Go on, get in,” he shouted.
We scurried across the grass, both of our heads down to avoid the spinning blades, even though we probably had plenty of clearance.
My still-damp hair whipped around in the current, smacking me in the face, blinding me.
The door was open, and he helped me into the cabin, but he didn’t step up to climb in.
His feet stayed on the grass as he pulled me close so he could speak into my ear.
“You do whatever they tell you, you hear me? Stay hidden and you stay alive.” Even over the powerful engine, I could hear every ounce of his desperation. “I’ll find you when it’s over, I promise.”
Dread prickled down my spine. “What?”
“I can’t go with you.”