Chapter 10 Halo
Chapter ten
Halo
“Mission Drift”
She asked too many questions tonight, and I answered too many.
I watched the way her eyes narrowed when she was suspicious and how she smiled crookedly when she was amused.
There was a little bit of deviousness in there; I could see it.
She poked at me with her inquiries gently, carefully, trying to get a reaction like a kid testing whether the dog bites.
I was trying not to.
She asked if I ever smiled. God, if she knew what it took to survive this long, she wouldn’t ask that.
By the time I left, the back of my neck was prickling, and I knew something wasn’t right. I felt it before I saw it: a movement across the street. A car too clean for this neighborhood, parked with the engine still warm. Lights off, windows tinted. Matteo’s men again, I’d bet everything on it.
They were still watching her.
I ducked behind a dumpster and confirmed my suspicion.
No doubt they’d taken it upon themselves to try and snag her to get in Matteo’s good graces.
I would bet my left nut that he had no idea they were out here, because he would put a stop to that shit quickly.
They were fucking up my chance to kill her quietly.
My hands tightened into fists in my pockets because I knew this was the moment.
I’d wasted too much time, and now I had a choice: I could leave, pretend I never saw her, walk away and let fate do what I hadn’t been able to do myself.
Matteo would get his hands dirty, and I could go back to regular marks.
But I already knew from the second she sat across from me – with that goddamn crooked smile and absolutely no fear of anything – that I wasn’t going to walk away.
I returned to my car, thankful that I had decided to drive it instead of the bike today, and retrieved my mask.
I took off my leather jacket, tossing it into the seat.
I circled the block twice. She locked up twenty minutes later with her bag over her shoulder, hair half-pulled up.
She started walking, just like she said she did.
I followed, quiet and close. I took the mask and slipped it over my face.
It was just a simple balaclava, but maybe it would save my anonymity for now.
The men followed too, and she noticed. I could detect her suspicion and panic, even from a distance.
They didn’t make a move right away. I knew – even sloppy and with no experience – they were waiting for a shadowed spot, some corner where a scream wouldn’t matter.
She passed a prime spot, just about to step into the alley by the shuttered dry cleaner.
I moved.
My hand came around her mouth before she could scream.
I felt her jolt, her body stiffen like I’d hit her.
She kicked back, but I was stronger. I pulled her into the alley, twisting so my body blocked hers from view.
I had to haul her up against my chest, her feet swinging into the air in front of her as she tried to kick me.
“I’m trying to help you,” I growled low. “Don’t fight.”
She made a confused noise in her throat. She was thrashing, shaking. Her eyes were wide and wild in the dark. I squeezed her just a little harder, and she made a pained noise and grew still. I slowly lowered her to the ground in front of me, her back still to my chest.
“I’m going to let go of your mouth, but I need you to be quiet. There are two men following you. You noticed them, didn’t you?”
Her head slowly nodded.
“Can I trust you not to scream?”
Another nod.
My hand fell from her mouth, and she spun around to face me.
“I don’t have time to explain.” I grabbed her wrist, dragging her toward the car I had parked around the corner. She fought with me as I pulled her, but she was quiet. At the sight of the vehicle, she started struggling even harder.
I yanked open the side door of the car. “Get in.”
“No!” she whispered violently.
I stepped closer, scooping her off the ground, and all but throwing her into the backseat before I slid into the driver’s seat and gunned it away from the street.
“You’re… kidnapping me,” she said, voice shaking. She sounded so stunned, probably in shock. Anyone in their right mind would be fighting like hell to get me to pull over.
“I’m keeping you alive,” I responded, trying to see her in the rearview, but she remained hunkered low against the seat.
“Oh, my God. Never let them take you to the second location,” she muttered.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, eyes moving to scan for the vehicle that Matteo’s men had been driving. They’d be on my trail soon; there were only so many places that she could have gone after disappearing into the alleyway.
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”
I tucked my chin down when she asked me. The truth was… I didn’t know yet.
She started crying. Fuck. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, gripping the steering wheel so hard that it squeaked.
I took the road out of town – the one that led into the wooded state park.
I could circle us around – it would take maybe a half hour – then I could take her to my apartment and debrief her.
I wondered how she’d react and if she’d believe me.
The sound of the back door opening had my head snapping up to the rearview again.
I barely saw her dive out of the open door, and then I saw her body bounce against the shoulder of the road before she got to her feet and she started running into the treeline.
She was lucky she didn’t hit her head or break her neck, but thanks to the park’s speed limit and winding roads, I hadn’t been driving very fast.
“Shit,” I growled, slamming the car into park.
I sprinted after her.
Branches slapped my arms as I pushed through the woods after her, boots pounding soft dirt and slick pine needles. She was faster than I expected, but she wasn’t trained. Her fear gave her adrenaline and also made her reckless. She would have burned out, even if I hadn’t caught up with her.
I caught a flash of her pale shirt through the trees and followed the sound of crashing undergrowth.
“Stop!” I shouted.
She didn’t, because of course she wouldn’t. I don’t even know why I said it.
I cut left, angling to intercept her. She was heading downhill now, toward the drainage ditch, and I knew if she hit it at full speed, she’d either twist her ankle or—
She hit it.
She fell hard, skidding down the incline, tumbling once before landing flat on her side in the leaves. She let out a defeated groan.
“Eden!” The name tore out before I could stop it.
She was crawling, dirt clinging to her palms and hair. I reached her just as she started to rise again, her legs shaking. She turned when she heard me coming, eyes wide with not just pure, unfiltered terror… but determination. She wasn’t done yet; she was going to keep trying to run.
I lunged, wrapping both arms around her, dragging us down to the ground.
“No, let me go!” she screamed, nails digging into my forearm, kicking wildly. She drew blood, I knew she did. I could feel the cool sting of the air against the fresh wounds.
I rolled, pinning her beneath me, holding her arms above her head with one hand as she twisted beneath me like— well, like a woman fighting for her life.
I could easily grip both of her wrists in one hand, and as she pulled, I felt them try to separate from her hand with the force of her struggle.
I caught her leg between my knee and the ground so she couldn’t get leverage.
“Stop,” I growled. “You’re hurt.”
“I don’t care! Get off…”
“Look at yourself!” I pressed against her to stop the frantic squirming. My masked face was nearly totally against hers, eye-to-eye.
She paused just long enough to notice her forearms scraped raw. Her leg was bleeding from where she must’ve caught it on a broken branch. Her breath hitched.
“You dove out of a moving car,” I snapped. “Do you want to die? Because I can take you back to those men, if you want. Or you can shut the hell up and listen.”
Her chest heaved, and her lower lip quivered in a way that hurt me. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because they want you dead.” My voice dropped. “And I didn’t spend this long not killing you just to have someone else do it.”
She stared at me. Her eyes drifted to my arms: the tattoos that covered my flesh. I saw it click in her face.
Even with the mask, she knew.
She swallowed. “You’re the guy from the cafe. The one always at the corner table.”
I didn’t respond.
“You’ve been watching me,” she whispered, the realization settling in her gaze.
“I was supposed to kill you,” I said, putting the truth on the table. “And now I’m not. That should tell you everything.”
She went quiet.
My voice lowered. “I’m going to take you somewhere safe. You’ll get patched up. You’ll get the answers you want.”
I pulled back just enough to meet her eyes.
“But I need to trust you. If I can’t… if you run again, I’ll knock you out and throw you in the trunk. And I won’t feel bad about it at all.”
She blinked, breathing ragged as she stared up at me. Then she gave the smallest nod.
“I won’t run,” she said.
I didn’t move right away. I studied her face to make sure.
Then I slowly stood, brushing pine needles from her shoulder, and scooped her into my arms. She didn’t fight me this time, but she protested: “I can walk. I’m fine.”
“I’m not putting your feet on the ground again. Got my steps in for the day. You’re a serious pain in the ass, you know that?” I huffed, carrying her up the embankment slowly as I struggled for footing on the steep and rough terrain.
Her arms slid around my neck tentatively, full of uncertainty. She was still trembling.
I carried her back to the car in silence.