The other man stood there in yesterday’s clothes that reeked of cigarettes and stale beer, a fresh smoke already dangling from his lips. His eyes did a quick tactical assessment—the rumpled bed, her shirt, the bathroom door ajar. His mouth twisted into something predatory.
“Sounds like you’re having fun in here.”
“Just teaching her some manners.” I kept my voice casual, with just enough edge. “She needs to wash up anyway. Made a mess of herself.”
Snake’s expression turned knowing. “Bet she did. They always do the first few times. The crying makes it better, doesn’t it?”
My hand itched to crush his windpipe, but I forced a laugh instead. “Yeah, but it got boring, so I started using a gag.”
He smiled. “Thought it had gotten a little quiet. Gags definitely have their uses.”
“Speaking of fun, how about some drinks in town tonight or tomorrow? I’m buying.”
Snake took a long drag, holding the smoke and studying me before releasing it toward the bathroom. “Change of plans. Oliver contacted us. We’re moving to the buyer site tomorrow.”
The words hit like ice water in my veins. That wasn’t supposed to be the timeline.
“Tomorrow?” I kept my voice level.
“Yep. Dawn.” Snake’s eyes never left the bathroom door. “You can bring the girl or get rid of her. Your choice. But Oliver doesn’t like distractions.”
Get rid of her. Four words that meant a shallow grave.
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
“I’m sure you will.” Another drag. “Though, if you’re done with her by tonight, I wouldn’t mind handling the situation for you. After I have a little fun, of course…”
The man had no idea how close to death he was at this second. “I’ll handle it,” I repeated.
He turned and walked away, each footstep deliberate. I closed the door, locked it, and leaned against it for a second, mind racing.
Fuck. I needed to reach out to my team, let them know about Mia and get the word out that Oliver had upped the timeline. All communication went through Travis Hale, the Warrior Security tech wizard, who then passed it on to the feds. Travis was the only one I trusted to make sure our transmissions weren’t discovered. But any communication beyond my scheduled encrypted check-ins would risk detection. So right now, Mia and I were on our own. And running out of time pretty damned quick.
“You can come out,” I called softly.
She emerged from the bathroom, pulling her shirt back on with shaking hands. “I heard. No going into town like you planned.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re getting out tonight. Through the bathroom window once it gets dark.”
She looked toward the bathroom, processing. “When?”
“Whenever things settle down. Hopefully they’ll be distracted by getting ready to leave early tomorrow.”
“Which direction?” She was already thinking tactically, not questioning the plan but working through the logistics. Of course she was. That was the Mia I’d always known.
“Southeast. Stay parallel with the road but keep to the trees. The moon’s three-quarters tonight—enough light to navigate without the flashlight.” I went to my gear, pulled out a small waterproof flashlight. “Take this anyway, but only use it if you’reinjured or completely lost. Your eyes will adjust better without it.”
She took the flashlight, testing its weight. “How far to town?”
“About eight miles. Moving carefully through the woods at night, it’ll take you four, maybe five hours. But you can make it.”
I grabbed a pen, took her arm gently, wrote two numbers on her forearm. “When you get to town, find a phone. Call Beckett Sinclair or Lachlan Calloway. Beckett’s my teammate at Warrior Security. Lachlan is the sheriff of Garnet Bend. Both of them know I’m undercover. They’ll protect you.”
I stepped back, looking at her as she studied the numbers. “I know you’ll want to call 9-1-1 and tell them everything that happened. And to be honest, I wouldn’t blame you.”
“What would happen if I did?”
“If you led them here, I would get arrested with everybody else in order to keep my cover. But it would probably mean I would lose my chance at meeting or stopping Julian Oliver. He would cut his losses with all of us and find other people for his crew.”
