22. THE DRIVING LESSON
THE DRIVING LESSON
By noon, Chris had decided Camila was either fearless or completely insane.
Possibly both.They were nearly two hours outside the city, far enough from Mateo’s immediate reach that Chris could breathe without checking every mirror every five seconds.Not that he stopped checking them.That would have been impossible.After the hotel attack, everything had changed.Roman was burned.
Mateo was suspicious.No Mateo Knows. Diego was hunting for the leak.
Diego found the leak. Chris Roman. And Chris had finally stopped pretending this operation could continue the way it had before.Camila sat beside him in the passenger seat of an old black sedan Chris had picked up from a Bureau-controlled location before sunrise.She’d been unusually quiet.Again.Chris hated that.Camila quiet meant Camila thinking.Camila thinking meant questions.Questions meant Chris lying.And he was getting very fucking tired of lying to her.She looked toward him. “Teach me.”Chris frowned.“What?”
“Teach me to drive like you.”He looked at her.Then back at the road.“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d like to survive today.”
“I’m a good driver.”Chris laughed.Camila’s eyes narrowed.“What?”
“You drive like somebody who thinks turn signals are suggestions.”
“I use my turn signals.”
“Sometimes.”
“I do.”
“You nearly backed into a fountain.”
“That fountain was unnecessarily large.”Chris shook his head.“No.”
Camila crossed her arms.“Coward.”He looked over.“You’re trying that again?”
“It usually works.”
“Not today.”
“Chris.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Christopher.”His jaw tightened.She knew he hated that.At least—he’d thought she was simply guessing his full first name.Now Camila knew exactly what was written beneath his photograph on the badge tucked inside her bag.CHRISTOPHER WALKER.She watched his reaction.Chris didn’t notice.Not yet. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“Very mature.”
“Thank you.”Camila smiled faintly.“I want to understand.”Chris glanced at her.“Understand what?”
“You.”That wiped away his smile.Camila looked through the windshield.
“You change when you drive.”Chris didn’t answer.
“When something bad happens, everyone else gets scared.”She looked at him.
“You get calmer.”His hands tightened slightly around the wheel.
“Training.”The word slipped out.Camila turned.Chris realized it.Fuck.
“What training?”He recovered.“Security.”Of course.Always security.
Camila looked away before he could see the hurt in her face.She already knew that answer was bullshit.Chris Roman had become a collection of lies she’d memorized.Street racing.Private security.Bad jobs.Bad people.Bad luck.
She wondered how many times she’d believed him because she wanted to.
“Fine,” she said.Chris looked over.“Fine?”
“Teach me.”
“That wasn’t an agreement.”
“It sounded like one.”
“How?”
“I heard the unspoken yes.”
“You need your hearing checked.”Twenty minutes later, Chris pulled onto an abandoned stretch of pavement owned by an old industrial complex.Wide open.
Nothing around them.No traffic.No pedestrians.Camila smiled.Chris pointed at her.“This doesn’t mean I’m teaching you anything.”
“You drove me to an empty road.”
“For peace and quiet.”
“You handed me the keys.”Chris looked down.The keys were in her hand.He frowned.“When did you—”Camila smiled.“Still think you’re the observant one?”
“Give me those.”She opened the driver’s door.“No.”
“Camila.”Too late.She was already getting behind the wheel.Chris closed his eyes.
“Jesus Christ.”He walked around.Passenger seat.Seat belt.Immediately.Camila noticed.“You’re scared.”
“Terrified.”
“Good.”
“Not the response I was hoping for.”She adjusted the seat.Then mirrors.Chris watched.“Better.”Camila looked over.“Compliment?”
“Don’t get used to it.”She started the engine.“Okay. Show me.”
“First lesson?”
“Yes.”
“Do absolutely nothing you’ve seen me do.”Camila laughed.“Seriously.”
Chris pointed ahead.“What I do is based on years of experience.”There.
Again.Years of experience.Camila stored it.“Drive normally.”She pulled away.
Ten seconds later:“Brake.”Camila braked.Too hard.Chris lurched forward.He stared.“What?”
“You said brake.”
“Not attempt to throw me through the windshield.”
“You’re dramatic.”
“I have scars.”
“You do.”Something about her tone made him look over.Camila smiled.
He let it go.For now.The lesson lasted almost an hour.Camila was not terrible.
Chris refused to tell her that.Mostly because she was already confident enough.
“You’re entering too fast.”
“This doesn’t feel fast.”
“That’s because you’re reckless.”
“You drive at a hundred miles an hour.”
“Not during grocery runs.”
“Usually.”
“Brake before the turn.”She did.“Not that much.”
“Make up your mind.”
“Smooth.”
“I am smooth.”Chris laughed.Camila glared.“Shut up.”
“Watch the road.”
“I am watching.”
“You’re looking at me.”
“Unfortunately.”Camila accelerated again.Chris showed her how to control the vehicle through a sharper turn.Nothing extreme.Nothing like the pursuit.
Still, Camila’s face lit up when she got it right.“Oh my God.”Chris smiled.
“What?”
“I did it.”
“You turned.”
“That was more than a turn.”
“Barely.”
“Say I did good.”
“No.”
“Chris.”
“No.”
“Say it.”
“You were acceptable.”She slapped his arm.Chris laughed.And suddenly—they were just them.No Mateo.No FBI.No warehouse.No raid.No badges.Just Camila laughing behind the wheel while Chris teased her.For a few minutes, he forgot how close everything was to ending.That was his mistake.Eventually Camila stopped the car.Dust settled around them.Chris looked over.
“What?”She didn’t answer.Her hands remained on the steering wheel.
“You’re thinking loudly again.”Camila smiled faintly. “You noticed?”
“Always.”She turned toward him.“Where did you really learn this?”
His smile disappeared.There it was.Again.Chris looked away.Camila watched him.
“Street racing?”Silence.“Private security?”Nothing.“Chris.”He looked at her.“Where?”Nothing.His jaw tightened.The lie was ready.It always was.But something about her expression stopped him.No teasing.No accusation.Just sadness.
Camila whispered:“Someday you’re going to answer me.”Chris’s chest tightened.
He knew.God, he knew.And he was terrified of that day.“Camila—”
“Today works…..Walker.”Chris frowned.“What did you call me?”She reached into her bag.His entire body changed.Instinct.Alert.Her hand came out.Holding black leather wallet. Chris stopped breathing.No.Camila placed it on the center console.
Gold flashed in the sunlight.Chris stared.FBI.The world stopped.His eyes moved from the badge—to Camila.Back to the badge.His face emptied.Not Roman.Not sarcasm.Nothing.“How…”His voice barely worked.Camila opened the credential case.His own face stared up at him.Younger.Federal photograph.
CHRISTOPHER JAMES WALKER
SPECIAL AGENT
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONChris closed his eyes.“Fuck.”
Camila didn’t move.His eyes opened again.“You knew.”It wasn’t a question.
Camila swallowed.“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Your apartment.”Chris’s face drained.“The morning after your nightmare. When you had to mysteriously go. After your phone call
”Fuck.The phone call.She’d been awake.He stared at the badge.Then at her.
“Fuck.”He shoved his door open and got out.“Chris.”He paced away.Both hands went into his hair.“Fuck.”Camila climbed out.“Chris—”
“You went through my apartment?”
“I heard your phone call.”
“You went through my fucking apartment?”
“You lied to me!”He turned.“I was trying to protect you!”
“Protect me?”
“Yes!”
“By lying about your name?”
“I couldn’t tell you!”
“Your job?”
“Camila—”
“The guns?”
“I had no choice.”
“My brother?”That stopped him.Her voice broke.“You were investigating Mateo from the beginning.”Chris stared.Tears filled her eyes.“The garage.”He looked away.
“The first day I met you.”
“Camila.”
“The driving.”Silence.” The way you drive Chris.”
“The jobs.”Silence.“You were there because of him.”
“Yes.”Her face crumpled.Chris stepped toward her.She backed away.That hurt worse than anything.“Don’t.”He stopped immediately.Camila looked at the badge in her hand.“FBI.”A bitter laugh escaped her.“Chris Walker. Really?”Chris swallowed.“Yes.”
“I knew it.”She wiped at her eyes angrily.“I knew something was wrong.”
“Camila—”
“I knew you didn’t move like the rest of them.”Chris said nothing.“You didn’t think like them.”Nothing.“You didn’t react like them.”Her voice shook.“And every time I asked, you made me feel like I was imagining it.”
“I never meant to—”
“You lied.”
“Yes It is my fucking job.”The answer shocked her.No excuse.No deflection.
Chris stepped closer.“I lied.”Camila stared.“My name is Chris Walker.”
His voice was quiet.“I’m a Special Agent with the FBI.”Tears slipped down her cheeks.“I’ve been undercover investigating Mateo’s organization.”
“And me?”
“No.”Immediate.Hard.“Never.”She shook her head.“My file was in your apartment.”
“Because you’re Mateo’s sister.”
“So you investigated me.”
“We documented you.”
“That’s different?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You were never a target.”Camila laughed bitterly.“I’m sure that makes everything better.”
“It doesn’t.”Chris moved closer.“I’m sorry.”She shook her head.“Don’t.”
“I am.”
“You don’t get to say sorry and make this disappear.”
“I know.”
“Was the first chase real?”Chris’s face changed.Camila saw it.“Oh my God.”
“Camila—”
“It wasn’t.”
“The first one with Mateo was controlled.”She stepped backward.“You staged it.”
“The Bureau did.”
“You were part of it.”
“Yes.”
“So he would trust you.”Camila laughed through tears.“The attack against us was real.”
“Does that make the fake one okay?”
“No.”
“Was coming back for me real?”Chris didn’t hesitate.“Yes.”
“Was sleeping with me?”
“Yes.”
“Was any of that part of your assignment?”
“No.”Her eyes met his.“Loving me?”Chris froze.Neither had said it.Not like that.
Not directly.Camila realized what she’d asked.Chris didn’t look away.“No.”
His voice broke slightly.“That wasn’t part of anything.”She stared.“I love you.”
Camila closed her eyes.“Don’t.”
“I love you.”
“Chris.”
“That is the one thing I never lied to you about.”