Hours before dawn, Bear and I move to Axel’s king-sized bed. Under the dog’s watchful eye, I sketch the suited man until my lids grow heavy. I must drift off to sleep because a chorus of chirping sparrows, cooing pigeons, and a whining canine wake me.
“I guess we were tired, after all.” To my right, the silver-haired man stretches, yawns, and softens his gaze.
As an adorable dimple puckers in his left cheek, images of his mouth on my clit cloud my mind, and I smile back. Sliding my fingers through his silver hair, I wish like hell he had a condom.
A mind-reader, he kisses me and lowers his voice to a sexy whisper. “Later. I promise… It’s late. We should leave.”
Yawning, he kicks off the blankets, rises, grabs a leash, and attaches it to his dog. “C’mon, pal.”
Before they exit, I point to his t-shirt. “When we get to Rehoboth, can we swing by my place for clothes?”
“Yeah. Google Maps says it'll take three hours. I’ll drop Bear off at doggy daycare and be right back.”
“Works for me. Bye.” Left with a few minutes to myself, I jump in his shower.
Imagining his hands on me, I rub his woodsy soft soap all over my hyper-sensitive body and rinse. Refreshed, I towel dry, dress in my damp, hand-washed clothes, and borrow his toothbrush.
Once I detangle my hair, I twist the length into a ponytail and rush to where he waits by the door.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Feeling more human than I have in days, I follow him to the elevator.
On the sidewalk, a headache hits me like a bullet to the brain and sends me to my knees. I swallow back bile, ignore the debilitating pain and point to the van across the street.
“Axel, over there.”
Face contorted, Wulf crawls on his belly in the opposite direction toward a man in the bushes who may already be dead.
Placing a finger on the guy’s neck, he shouts through gritted teeth. “Call nine-one-one.”
Barely able to move, I struggle to open my purse and moan at my device’s screen. “No bars.”
“Shit.” On all fours, as if fighting a hurricane-force wind, he pulls a pistol from under his jacket, slithers across the pavement to a local TV station’s van, and fires.
The parabolic device on the roof sparks, sizzles, and falls to the ground. Before it smashes to pieces, the engine roars, tires squeal, and the vehicle disappears down the road.
Noting the 5G bars, I call for help, and the operator picks up. “Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
Like I did with Henry, I mention a man down and hold back the rest. Once the ambulance and cops depart, Wulf updates his team. Done, he puts his arm around my waist and ushers me to his car.
“We need to get moving.”
My pulse rate doesn’t return to normal until corn fields replace concrete. For the hundredth time, I check out the back window. “How can you be sure no one is following us?”
“My team is tracking us via satellite. Relax. We’re safe.”
But for how long? “Why did those men try to kill us?”
“What do you think, sweetheart?” Glancing over the cupholder, he white knuckles the wheel.
Deep in thought, my head shakes back and forth. “I swear, if I knew, I’d tell you.”There are a lot of reasons. Exactly which one? I can’t be sure.
His frown indicates that he disapproves of my answer, and we spend most of the drive in silence.
Once we arrive at the hospital’s front desk, he flashes his badge. From there, a red line leads us to the elevator. Instead of up, he pushes the down button.
In the basement, he points to the sign marked surgery. “This way.”
“What happened? Did his heart give out?” As I start to freak, Wulf grabs my shoulder and turns me to face him.
