“How much time do we have?”Glass splintered somewhere downstairs, and Jude nodded to himself.“None.Got it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You couldn’t have known.I should have.”He glanced over his shoulder and then he was on the move, ushering her into a room she hadn’t been in before.It appeared to be an office of sorts, massive bookshelves framing the windows and a large desk on the other side of the room.He stalked to the bookshelf against the inner wall and pulled, the entire case sliding out to reveal a doorway.
“You’ve got to be joking me.”
“This house used to be owned by a smuggler.He wasn’t as famous as some of the ones back east, but he made sure there was an exit strategy in place.Several, in fact.”
She hurried through the gap after him and waited while he closed the bookshelf.The fit was so close, there wasn’t even a seam of light to give its position away.Jude touched the small of her back, his breath ghosting against her ear.“The walls are fucking thin, so be as quiet as you can.”
“Okay.”
He took her hand, leading her down a set of narrow stairs and then to a second set that seemed to go beneath the house.It was hard to say, but when she pressed a hand against the wall, it was far colder than she expected.We’re below the ground.She shivered.
“We’re almost there.”Jude sounded tense.Focused.But not angry.
He should be.It was her stupid naïveté that had led her not to check her things for a bug.Not that she’d know what one would look like if she found it.She should have considered that Teague would have a way to track her if things went sideways, or if she decided to flee from where he’d placed her.
At the very least, she should have talked to Jude about it.
“Here.”He let go of her hand long enough to open a door, letting the barest light filter in.Outside.She stepped into a cave and looked around.It was just tall enough for her—Jude had to hunch over to get through the doorway and shut the door behind him.They stood on a small rock shelf barely an inch above the water, and there wasn’t any exit readily apparent.
“Jude?”
“You’re not going to like this next part.”He shucked off his shirt and boots.“The ledge out into the Sound is too low for a boat, so we have to swim.It’ll be cold, but not life-threatening.”
“Swim?” She looked back at the doorway they’d just come through.“You’re serious.”
“Sorry, sunshine.”He dropped his boots on the rock shelf and cocked his head to the side.“They might not find the passageway down here, but we can’t take that chance.They’re going to rip that house apart trying to find you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”He slid into the water and felt around.“There’s a spot here.You aren’t going to want to stay in the water longer than necessary, August or no.”He paused.“Shit.You can swim, can’t you?”
“Yes.”She shimmied out of her jeans—they would only weigh her down—and followed him into the water.The cold shocked a gasp out of her, but she did her best to focus.“Where are we swimming to?”
Something like approval flared in Jude’s dark eyes.“There’s an inlet if you follow the coastline north.You’ll know it because there isn’t a damn way out of the water until then.Be careful.The currents are a little strange around here.”
His phrasing wasn’t right.Unless…“You’re coming with me, aren’t you?”
“Yes.Eventually.”He cast a look up.“There’s something I need from the house first.”
She started to demand to know why he hadn’t grabbed it when they first fled, but the truth hit her.He’d put her first.Getting her out and safe had been his first priority.
Sloan warmed despite the ice-cold water.She wanted to tell him to forget whatever was back there, but some things were worth compromising and some weren’t.Jude had taken a step toward putting his vengeance aside and creating a future with her.If he felt strongly enough to go back for something, she had to grit her teeth and deal with it, despite her fear for his safety.
So she nodded.“Be safe.”
“I will.”He hesitated.“I’ll try not to kill any of your brother’s men, but I can’t make any promises.”
“Thank you.”She pulled him in for a quick kiss.“But do what you have to in order to come back to me safely.”She pushed off before she could think too closely about the danger he was going back into, swimming for the gap in the rock leading out into the Sound.She stuck close to the rock ledge, but she had to stop for a moment in awe as Jude shot past her, more seal than human, his strong arms cutting through the water.He grabbed the edge of the cliff and pulled himself out of the water, scaling it fast enough to steal her breath.
He’s magnificent.
She pushed forward again, all too aware that she wasn’t in any sort of shape to be able to swim indefinitely, even with the exercise she’d been getting since living in Callaway Rock.Already, her muscles cried out in protest, her breath coming in short gasps.
She almost sobbed with relief when the inlet came into sight.She swam harder, fighting her way to the tiny rock beach.It took a few minutes to figure out where Jude had hidden the boat—it was cleverly disguised as a boulder beneath some shrubbery—and uncover it.
