I knew he was part of Reed’s team, but he always seemed to be scarce whenever I’d gotten called to the scene. In fact, I could almost positively say that I had only seen his face once or twice. I wasn’t sure if he was hiding from me or just not a fan of the things that happened after they were done with a job.
“You good?” he asked, but the tone he held said he was only asking out of niceties.
“Yeah. Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Let’s go,” he said gruffly.
I shifted my bag on my shoulder and headed to the passenger side of the car, tossing it in the back once I’d taken a seat.
It was so cramped that I could nearly rest my chin on my knees, but I wasn’t about to complain.
“Need a bed. It’s been a long fuckin’ day and I just need to rest before I make a plan,” Austin said, eyes sharply looking out the windshield.
Ithadbeen a long day, and I definitely could agree with him about needing a decent rest and a few moments to gather myself for what was next.
“Sounds good,” I said. “Is Reed still safe?”
“Yeah,” he replied as he slowly navigated the car back to the main road. “We don’t think they’ve connected you to us. Better stay that way.”
I heard the warning in his tone. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes at him. I got that he was unhappy. Who would want this job of keeping the old-ass FBI agent alive? Especially when I didn’t have the first damn clue what was going on.
The car was silent as he drove in a direction he seemed sure of.
“You’re Austin, right?” I asked, trying to be friendly.
I looked over just in time to catch the way he cut his eyes to the side at me.
“Does Reed have any idea what’s going on?” I went on when it was clear he wasn’t going to respond.
“A little,” he said evasively. “But we’re not sharing shit with you right now.” His tone was concerning. I had no idea what to do with the sharpness of his tone and the clench of his jaw. However, as soon as I blinked, it was like he switched personalities. The corner of his lips curled up. When he spoke again, his tone was lighter, almost playful. But I wouldn’t be fooled by it. “What do you know? How much of it is real? What have you done?”
“Nothing,” I said a little too defensively. I cleared my throat, pissed that he was already getting under my skin. “Listen, I don’t know exactly what they’re accusing me of, but I would never use my position to—”
“Save it,” he said, light but a little strained, like he was trying his hardest to seem calm and nonthreatening. “If Reed believes you, then I do too. I don’t need you stumbling over some declaration of how you’re a stand-up agent.”
I huffed as I turned my scowling face to look out the window.
Tires screeched. The car shook and jolted as it came to a stop in the middle of the road.
I jerked my gaze back to Austin.
He turned in the seat, pinning me with serious eyes.
“If I find out you’re a part of it, I’ll kill you myself,” he promised.
I wasn’t scared, not really. I was a little worried maybe, since I couldn’t get a read on him.
“I would hope so,” I said back, just as flatly as he had spoken.
I only caught a flash of his features softening before he turned his gaze back to the front and stepped on the gas again.
“I’m going to prove I was set up, and I’m going to put the ones who are behind it away,” I told him. “You’ll see.”
“Yeah, I’ll see,” he said, slight humor in his voice, almost as if he wanted me to come out on top at the end.
Maybe he believed me. Maybe he was just cold around people he didn’t know that well. Maybe it was simply me he didn’t like.
Part of me wanted to figure it out. The other part of me was too exhausted to care.
