Eloise sighs heavily.
I glance at her again.
She sits up taller and meets my gaze in the rearview. “I’m fine,” she mouths.
I twist around and reach a hand out to her. When she sets her fingers in my palm, I squeeze and mouth, “I love you.”
She smiles and returns the silent words.
Ghost interrupts our quiet communication. “There is only one car in the lot with someone waiting. It’s a man, but he’s wearing a baseball cap low over his eyes. I can’t see his face.”
“Which car?” I ask.
“Red Corolla.”
I immediately spot it. I also note the plates are from Nevada. “It’s a rental.”
“Yeah,” Ghost agrees.
“Mace, can you run the plates?” I rattle off the letters and numbers.
“On it,” Mace responds.
“I feel so exposed just sitting here,” Eloise mutters.
“No one can see in, angel,” I promise her. “The only window that’s not tinted is the windshield.”
“Fuck,” Ghost shouts. “He’s made us.”
Ghost jumps back into his car, but Larkin is already peeling out of the parking lot.
I have no choice but to tail him. The others will catch up, but I can’t risk losing him. “Seatbelt, Eloise,” I bark out, putting the SUV in drive and follow the Corolla.
This has to be Larkin. I can feel it in my gut. He turns right out of the lot, and I follow. He can’t possibly know that my SUV is behind him yet. In his head, my tailing him is a coincidence.
“We’ll be right behind you,” Tank informs us. I assume he and Rachell have exited from the back of the building.
Larkin goes through two lights, glancing back at me several times.
I don’t bother to hang back. I don’t give a fuck if he knows I’m tailing him.
“I’m two cars behind you,” Ghost says.
“We have eyes on Ghost,” Rachell adds.
I’m still perplexed by Rachell’s involvement in the field. I don’t know her story, but she prefers to stay behind the scenes. I’m equally certain she could be a badass field agent on any job if necessary. Apparently, today was necessary.
It wasn’t a bad idea. Of all of us, Rachell was the best choice for pretending to be a student—the least conspicuous. Most of us are built. The only guy working for Black Blade who doesn’t look like he stepped out of a boxing ring is Mace, and he’s still fucking fit. Just not quite as huge as the rest of us.
Mace doesn’t often work in the field, either. We need him behind the computers.
Larkin takes a left, and I follow. When I glance at Eloise, she looks pale. She’s gripping the back of my seat, lips pursed, eyes wide with fear.
Larkin picks up speed. He definitely knows he’s being followed. I stay on him. We’re only going slightly over the speed limit. There’s too much traffic around for us to go any faster, and I’m certain Larkin doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. He wouldn’t want the police involved.
He takes another turn and then another. He’s trying to shake me. He’s got to be pissing himself now that he realizes Eloise is not alone. She may have escaped to Seattle on her own, but she’s not alone anymore. She has an entire team of people at her back.
No way was Larkin prepared for this. The fact that he found the camera didn’t mean shit. It only meant someone was watching him. Now he knows it was us. But he’s got to be wondering who the fuck we are and why we care about Eloise.
