24. Millie
Millie
“You brought me here?” Millie’s words caught in her throat, barely reaching the breeze that carried the scent of oranges and teenage memories she’d avoided for years.
Strike worked silently with a side-eyeing Cam to erect the tent under the headlights. The chill of dusk settled around her, seeping into her bones, as the men raced to beat the darkness.
The water lapping at the lake took her back to the last time she was here—two weeks before Strike deserted her, when they’d decided to be secret boyfriend and girlfriend.
Millie held her fingers to her lips as she remembered the moment he’d told her he’d been crushing on her for a couple of years. And as the sun set, he kissed her. It was her first kiss, and it still made her tingle.
She closed her eyes, recalling the second all her dreams came true. He was barely a man then, nearly nineteen, and she was days away from eighteen.
“Millie,” Strike whispered. His heat was against her. “You’re shivering. Your jumper’s in the car.”
She opened her eyes. His voice carried the same intonations as the man from her memories, but Strike, with the creases around his eyes and the twitching fingers he held out to her, had experienced pain that had changed him.
Her mouth quivered. Under the car’s headlights, it was like she was standing in front of the ghost of her first love.
The light highlighted his stern jaw and hunched shoulders, but it also revealed his soft lips and the beauty spot near his ear.
“Can I help with anything?” she asked keenly.
“We’ve got the first tent up, but you can help Cam with the second while I touch base with Bear and explain the plan,” Strike replied.
“Will you tell me the plan?”
“Of course. We’re staying here for one night, and tomorrow morning, we’ll drive to Cornwall to Stal’s secret holiday home.”
She forced a yawn to hide the way her pulse sped at his authority. “Why aren’t we going now?”
“I want to arrive in the daylight so I can assess risk better. This place is safe because I… we know it. We can hide here until we’re safe to travel.”
She glanced at the blue tent as Cam pulled a green one from its bag. “You two are sleeping in there? It’s snug for two giant men who resemble Vikings conquering new worlds.”
Strike’s lips quirked. “Are you reading spicy Viking books this month, Doc?”
“This month?” She shook her head. “I’m just tired.”
“It’s been a day.” Strike pointed at the blue tent. “That’s for me. Cam’s taking this vehicle and swapping it with another one from our fleet. He’ll drop it off in the morning once he’s slept. The sooner your tent’s up, the sooner he can head off.”
“It will just be us two tonight?”
“Yes. A normal bodyguard and client situation in a safe place,” Strike grunted, but his fingers danced against his thighs.
Millie stared at the silver-stranded wristband slipping down his wrist, highlighted by the car’s headlights. It was a twin of the one she wore. Strike shoved it under the cuffs of his fitted black jumper.
“We have a problem,” Cam shouted from where he knelt on the ground beside the green tent awning.
“What?” Strike grunted.
He looked between Strike and Millie, lines forming across his forehead. “The inner tent is missing.”
A vein in Strike’s neck pulsed as his lips flattened. His eyes pinched as he replied with such menace that Millie stepped back, “Who had it last?”
“Stal last week. I didn’t check it before we left, and I should have. I’m sorry, Strike.”
Strike slammed his fist against a tree. “I’m having words.”
Millie dived in front of him and yanked his phone away. “Don’t you dare.”
Strike stepped closer, and she backed away. “Millie,” he warned between clenched teeth. “It could’ve been more serious than a tent.”
“He’s got enough going on without you starting on him,” she snapped.
“Fine. I won’t shout at him right now.”
“I’ll get another tent. It will be okay,” Cam replied. “I’ll be a couple of hours.”
“No. You need sleep,” Millie stated. Strike cocked his eyebrow at her, and she turned to him. “Cam needs sleep. You’re running your team ragged. He’s exhausted. He was at the shoot-out, too, and he’s still got to sort out a vehicle.”
“It’s okay. I’ve had worse than this.” He stifled a yawn.
“No,” she declared. “You need to rest, and I need sleep. Strike and I can share.” Strike shuffled awkwardly. “There are two sleeping bags, right? Please tell me there are two sleeping bags.”
Cam nodded.
“I probably won’t sleep much anyway,” Strike grumbled. “I can stay outside and keep watch.”
She rose on her tiptoes and pulled on the collar of his jumper. Watching this big man bow to her touch made her want to bury herself in his neck until he made her forbidden promises.
“You stay in the tent with me. I need you to be alert when we reach Cornwall. You’re meant to keep me safe. No wonder your team are pushed to their breaking point if you treat yourself like this. Lead by example, Strike, and take care of yourself.”
Silence descended, broken by crickets in the grass and something swooping overhead.
“I’ll go then.” Cam edged toward the car. “You can use the ground sheet of the spare tent to keep your stuff dry, at least.”
Millie eyeballed Strike. He glared back, his jaw sharper than a knife.
“Fine. See you at six tomorrow morning, Cam, and get some rest. You’ve been through a lot today, and you did really well. You kept Millie and me safe. Well done.”
Cam’s mouth briefly dropped open, but then he nodded and gathered the rest of the things from the vehicle.