“Kylie.” Devon’s bad-things meter kicked up a notch, but she barreled on, either not noticing his attempt to keep her grounded or not caring.
“I just went down there for a second, you know? For one stupid box of napkins. I must have been in the walk-in pantry when Xavier came in. I didn’t have a clue he was even in the bar until…until…” Her voice bottomed out to a thin whisper as she finished. “Until he shot my boss in the head. Twice.”
Although Devon hated his next question, he had to be sure. “And you saw the whole thing happen—you didn’t just hear it or see your boss dead, after the fact?”
Kylie’s head moved up and down, her dark hair swishing against her shoulders as she and Devon crossed back into the motel’s parking lot. “I, uh…yeah. I saw the shooting happen, and then Fagan tried to kill me, but I got away, so…”
Devon’s blood turned subarctic in his veins. More questions swarmed his brain, but truly, his number one priority was to hustle Kylie inside so they could wait for Kellan in safety before she said another syllable.
He scanned the parking lot. Three pickups. Two SUVs. The rusted-out Toyota. Kylie’s Mustang. No people. “Okay. Let’s go up to the room and get you out of sight. Then?—”
Devon stopped short.
Two SUVs. Not one.
“We need to move.” He slung an arm around the strong line of Kylie’s shoulders, leaning in to drop the words in her ear. “Slow and easy, Kylie.” His hand found his SIG in exactly that fashion, fingers closing around the butt of the gun as he steered her toward the back of the motel. “Don’t break stride. Just keep walking, away from the building.”
“But I thought you said…oh, my God.” Her entire frame went bowstring tight, her head whipping toward the SUV. “The guy getting out of that Escalade. That’s him. That’s him.”
Yep. Time to freaking get gone. “My car is behind the motel. It’s a black Dodge. Don’t look back. Just go.”
Kylie turned the corner, her breath hitching with audible relief. “I see it. I think we can get there in time.”
They were four paces from freedom when the first shot whizzed past Devon’s ear.
3
The sharp edges of fear that Kylie had just managed to smooth into submission burst back through her at warp speed. Her boots slapped the pavement, her body unable to move fast enough to obey the primal demand pumping down from her brain
Run.
The running lights on the sleek black muscle car in front of her glowed a dusky gold, the engine growling to life as she hurtled closer. A loud pop-pop-pop registered in her ears, the sound not making any sense until she saw Devon swing around with a gun in his hand to fire off a round, then two in return.
Oh, my God, they were going to die.
“We’re not going to die,” Devon said, making Kylie realize she’d spoken the words out loud. “Just get in the car and keep your head down.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She yanked the door handle hard enough to make her fingers sting, throwing herself into the passenger side of the car, hunching down against the seat, and curling her arms over her head. Devon was right beside her, yanking his door shut as he threw the car into gear and tore out of the back lot.
“Are we safe?” Confusion filtered past the slam of Kylie’s heartbeat. She poked her head up in an effort to at least try to see what was going on, but Devon’s steely stare pinned her into place, mid-move.
“No.” He leaned into the accelerator even harder, making the engine roar. “Stay down. And put your seatbelt on.”
Three tries later, she finally got the stupid thing clicked into place over her chest. “I’m sorry. I did everything Kellan said. I don’t know how Xavier found me?—”
“Whoever this Fagan guy is, he’s not here for amateur night. When you started working at this bar, you filled out paperwork, right?”
“Yeah,” Kylie said. “It was just the usual. Job application, tax stuff…” Oh, God. “And a copy of my driver’s license.”
Devon cursed under his breath, as if he didn’t want her to hear it. “Then chances are, he’s got a lock on your identity. Do you have any local family? Friends? A boyfriend? Roommate? Anyone at all?”
Her head shook, along with the rest of her. “No.”
“Good.” He blew past the on-ramp to the highway, making a rough turn down a narrow side street. Although Devon’s stare was lasered in on the rearview mirror, he maneuvered the car forward with ease, finally pulling into a makeshift parking lot behind a scrap metal yard. He backed into a spot by a rickety shed, scanning their surroundings one last time before killing both the lights and the engine.
“We’re going to stop?” Kylie’s jaw fell open. She sat upright to protest some more, but Devon’s hand landed on her shoulder, keeping her scrunched down in the passenger seat.
“We got a pretty decent jump on Fagan, although I have no doubt he tried to follow us.” Devon unbuckled his seat belt, methodically checking the clip on the big black gun he’d had in his grasp ever since they’d taken the holy shit route out of the motel parking lot. “Chances are, he’ll assume we hit the highway to try and outrun him.”
