31. Chapter 31
Chapter thirty-one
Ashley
I suck in the smoke billowing around me, flames already encroaching on the place where Smith and I stand in the Airbnb’s living room. Smith grabs me and pulls me close. “Use your shirt to cover your face.” I’ve barely done as he says when he’s moving, pulling me around the couch.
Aaron intercepts us, snatching me from Smith’s grip. “Blake and Savage are outside covering us,” he says, eyeing Smith. “Back left window per Blake’s direction.” Smoke expands, and the flames grow closer. He leans in and whispers, “Keep your face covered, baby.”
We’re running down a hallway then, flames licking through a door to our left, but we make it to the end of the hallway to the bedroom. Even before we enter, I can feel the air rushing into the room. It’s with great relief that I spy Blake, leaning inside an open window while sirens lift in the air. The next few minutes are a whirlwind. Aaron lifts me and hands me over to Blake, and the minute I’m on the ground, I’m aware of Savage in front of me, his back to me, as he fires into the distance that I can’t see. I can’t do anything but gasp for air, and then suddenly, I’m coughing and choking, it feels like I’m going to suffocate.
Aaron lands on the ground next to me, and just that fast, he has my hand, running with me, giving me no chance to do anything but suck in good air and force myself to just breathe. I have no idea how he knows where to go to avoid danger, but Savage is there, and he’s still shooting at someone somewhere behind us. My heart thunders in my chest, adrenaline surging through me when Aaron cuts right and leads me down an alleyway where a black SUV is parked. We charge toward it, and in a matter of minutes, we’re inside the back of the vehicle with Savage on one side of me and Aaron on the other. “Where’s Smith and Blake?” I ask, as the driver, who I really can’t even see at this point, guns the engine.
“Covering our pretty little arses,” Savage says, as Aaron turns me to him, cupping my face. “Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay.”
“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. How are you even here? I thought you left. I thought you were gone.”
“I had a gut feeling. I stayed close and called in backup.”
“How did whoever did this find us?”
He eyes Savage over my shoulder. “Someone in your operation is behind this.”
“No fucking way,” Savage replies. “My men, my people, they don’t betray each other. Ever.”
“Bullshit,” Aaron says, turning back to me and kissing me. “This isn’t going to work.” He releases me. “Stop the vehicle. We’re getting out.”
“Do not stop this fucking vehicle,” Savage orders.
Aaron releases me and pulls his gun, aiming it at Savage. “If you think I won’t shoot, this ends with you dead.”
“Yeah, well, I’m the guy who doesn’t give a fuck, but you should. Someone has your number. That means they have hers. You need me. If you won’t trust my team, trust me. Come to my home. Stay with me, and we’ll figure this the fuck out.”
“Why would I trust you?”
“I get that you CIA guys have a hard-on for doing things yourself, but, my man, I’m here to tell you from experience, that shit gets difficult.”
Aaron’s jaw clenches, seconds ticking by, before he says, “Your place is the first place someone looking for us will go.”
“I also get that you CIA agents think the rest of us don’t do shit right and take precautions. But guess what, asshole, I do.”
“I’m not CIA, not after this, never again. I’m not stupid.”
“Cool, cool. We can be not stupid together. We didn’t betray you. We can, however, help you figure out who did.”
“At the very least,” Aaron says, “You asked too many damn questions. You exposed us.”
“This isn’t us fucking you,” Savage says. “And in case you don’t remember, despite living this shit, you were getting bent over without even a slather of Vaseline before you met us. And we, voluntarily, bent over with you tonight.”
“Six months,” I interject, wiping ash from his face or trying to unsuccessfully. “Six months on the run, Aaron. You need help. We need help.”
“My place is wired like Fort Knox,” Savage adds. “No one is getting in or even out, for that matter, if I don’t make it happen. At least come with me until you can figure out what comes next.”
Aaron cuts his stare, and it takes him a good minute to lean in, kiss me and then look at Savage. “On foot. Stop the vehicle. We go on foot.”
“All right,” Savage agrees. “I haven’t gotten in a good cardio kick today, so, yeah, man, we walk.” He leans forward and taps the driver’s seat. “Pull us over.”
I’m not sure if Aaron is planning on us leaving with or without Savage, but he gets what he wants. The driver responds instantly and maneuvers the vehicle to the curb. Savage opens the street-side door, and Aaron urges me to follow him, which answers my question. We’re going with Savage, and this delivers a burst of relief. We need help, and I trust Walker Security enough for both of us. Savage motions to the alleyway to our right, and we head in that direction.
“Watch where you are,” Aaron reminds me, pulling me under his arm, as the two men sandwich me between them again. I take it all in, looking for people, looking for escape routes, learning this new life, leaning into it, because that’s what it’s going to take to survive. There’s a part of me that could panic at the idea that from this point forward, I will always have to look over my shoulder. But there’s another part that is oddly comfortable in this new life. The high of running, surviving, and winning driving me forward is surprisingly exhilarating. I want to be as good as anyone chasing me. I want to train. I want to learn.
It takes a good fifteen minutes before we enter a high-security building, and Savage leads us past the elevator to the stairs. “You do know the stairs will torture my smoke-filled lungs, right?” I ask.
“That’s my thing,” Savage says, opening the stairwell door. “Torturing people.”
The scar down his cheek has me wondering if someone tortured him, but I don’t have much time to consider how that might have shaped the life of the man we’re trusting with ours. Aaron steps into the stairwell, scans and then catches my hand and pulls me inside with him, but off to the side to allow Savage to join us. “Elevators are small boxes where you could be trapped and killed,” he explains. “Stairwells let you go up or down or even over a railing.”
Trapped and killed.
I’m now living a life where everything is a potential place to be trapped and killed. On that thought, Savage joins us and starts up the stairs. Aaron positions me in front of him, and with him at my rear, we start what turns into a ten-floor climb.
At the door, Savage holds up a hand. “I’ll clear the way.”
Aaron nods, and Savage leaves. The minute that door seals me and Aaron inside alone, Aaron turns me to face him, his hands sliding under my hair as he presses me against the wall, his big body caging mine. “Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was of losing you?”
His voice is low, rough, punched with emotion, but I have some emotions of my own right now, namely anger. “Then here’s a little tip,” I say, cupping his hands, “stop walking out on me because, no matter what, that’s what you did. You left me six months ago, and you left tonight.”
He pulls back to look at me. “Six months ago, I left to protect you. Tonight, I left to protect you and go after Mick.”
“To hide from the truth,” I accuse.
Now he’s angry. It glints in his eyes. “I told you the damn truth.”
“And judged yourself for me. Stop doing that because, Aaron, Noah, it seems to me like you didn’t leave me behind because you thought I’d be safer without you. You left me behind because you didn’t want to face the many ways you lied to me.”
The door opens. “Okay, cupcakes,” Savage announces, “all clear.”
Aaron grimaces at him, a low growl escaping his throat. “Obviously, I interrupted,” Savage adds. “But don’t fret, you get your own room in my place. You two can play kissing games and whatever else turns you on once you’re there.”
Only kissing games isn’t what’s in the air. It’s love and war.