Chapter 4 #2
"They didn't give me many options. Either take down Spartak or take the fall for betraying my unit." He bit out the words. The memories of waking up in the hospital, cuffed to the rail. His handler stood at the foot of his bed with a confident smirk on her face.
He shook his head. "I didn't betray my unit. They were my brothers."
Taylor reached out and touched his arm. "I know. You would rather have died for them."
The sadness in her voice made him pull over so he could face her. "I tried to refuse. I told them they had no proof that I betrayed my country."
He let the memories flood in. "My handler told me that evidence would come to light. That if they could make someone seem dead, they could most certainly make them appear as a traitor."
He stared out the windshield and gripped the steering wheel. He felt her shift closer to him. Her hand slid down his arm and rested on his hand.
"I never believed that you were dead. My friends and family told me to let it go and accept the fact that you were gone."
Her voice hitched on the last word. "But the story the military told us never sat right with me. I became an FBI agent to get the clearance I thought I needed, but nothing changed the story."
She took her hand and placed it on his cheek. "Please look at me."
He leaned into her touch as he faced her.
"I would have never believed that you betrayed your men. It would have made me fight harder and louder."
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "I don't deserve you."
He leaned toward her, wanting with every nerve ending to kiss her. Not the quick one she gave him at the safe house or the one he just brushed on her knuckles. His body hadn't forgotten how her lips would mold to his or the feel of her in his arms. Every part of him longed to have that back.
His phone blared in his pocket. He groaned, but pulled away from her. That was his emergency sound, and only Max could set it off.
Target inbound. Pick up at Moose Pass.
"Empty your pockets. Take off any jewelry you have." Kam took out the SAT phone Davin had given to him and smashed it on the dashboard. Then removed the SIM card from his cell.
He got out of the truck, ripping the bottom portion of his shirt. Taylor got out of the other side.
"Care to share?"
"There is an assassin closing in on our location. Given the text I just got, my guess is they are using a drone or helicopter."
Taylor's eyes widened. "How are we going to outrun a drone or helicopter?"
"You left everything in the truck?"
"Yes. I only have my clothes on me right now."
He looked her over. "Those shoes. Were they with you when you were undercover?"
"No. Peters brought them to the safe house. I hate wearing high heels."
He smiled at the memory of Taylor on the dance floor. "But you looked good in them."
Kam shoved the piece of cloth into the gas tank.
"If I had known you would have come back from the dead when I wore them. I would have worn them a long time ago."
"You looked beautiful"— Kam turned to face Taylor— "but I like this version of you better."
She propped her fist on her hip. "The kick in the door and arrest the bad guys look?"
Kam lit the cloth and grabbed her hand. They ran straight into the woods.
Even though he knew the explosion would come, he still stumbled when the woosh of hot air threw them both.
He tucked her against him and made sure he took the brunt of the fall.
Rolling, he put her under him and prayed that they were far enough away that the falling debris wouldn't reach them.
He smiled down at her. "It's more of a faces down evil with a smile look."
She shoved him off of her. "Great. Now we have no vehicle. No communication. And no food." She stood and extended a hand to him. "What now, Ranger?"
Her nickname for him brought peace to him, like he was coming home. "Now we hike the two miles to Moose Pass. We need to keep to the tree cover, but they shouldn't be able to trace us anymore."
"You think that whoever this is can trace our SAT phone?"
"I know that they are connected. Someone doesn't frame an FBI agent as clean as you without the right connections."
The thwomp of rotors increased as a helicopter flew low over the trees. Kam ducked and dragged Taylor into a hollow log. Damp earth cancelled out the smell of the burning rubber. He waited until the thump of the rotors faded into the distance, then crawled out.
"We need to get going."
They hadn't taken two steps before the questions started. He should have known that she wouldn't let his last statement go.
"Do you know who did this?"
"Specifically? No. Who is pulling the strings? I have a good idea." He lifted a branch for her to walk under. As she walked past him, their hands touched, and she entwined her fingers in his.
"You know you're going to have to give me more of an answer than that. I'm trusting you. Trusting me isn't too hard an ask, is it?"
He wished she would have stayed with questions about her situation.
She trusted him. Those were the words that he longed to hear since the moment he saw the doubt in her eyes, but she was still a federal agent.
Revealing things to her, even if they were under the guise of taking down Spartak, could land him in a prison where he would live out the rest of his days without her.
"I see how it is." She pulled her hand from his. "I'm supposed to trust you, but you don't have to trust me."
In that moment, Kam knew that come what may, he needed her. He wouldn't lose her again because of his fears. He caught her shoulder and turned her around.
"It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't want to put you in a position to either arrest me or live with the knowledge that you should have."
"But you were undercover. I'm sure that whatever you did won't be held against you."
"You don't understand. I don't exist. If I get caught, no one is coming to bail me out. My country would not rescue me. And I would be exposed as the mastermind behind the bombing that took out my men."
Hurt, confusion then anger flashed across her face. "Well then, it is a good thing I'm not currently a federal agent." She put her hand up to stop his argument. "As soon as we get wherever it is we are going, I'm sending in my extended leave of absence."