“Always have to be the one with the last word, yeah?” Christian raised a brow.
“Only when the situation warrants.”
So tough, he thought, hiding his smile.But there is tenderness in her too.
He longed to explore both. Unfortunately, she seemed immune to his masculine wiles.
He opened his mouth to continue the fun, but Angel stayed him when he hissed. “Quiet.” That one word was followed by another. “Look.” Angel pointed out the window.
Christian followed the line of Angel’s finger and immediately spotted what had drawn his attention. A man dressed in civilian garb walked casually down the line of parked vehicles. But despite his leisurely stroll, his eyes never stopped moving.
“Looking for Chelsea, do you think?” Emily asked, watching the man approach the pickup truck.
“Maybe,” Christian said. When the man’s eyes flicked away from the truck just a bit too quickly, he added, “Or maybe not.”
The mystery man barely made it two meters beyond the tailgate when he lifted his hand to his ear. He was signaling someone or talking into a cuff mic. Either way…bad news.
As if on cue, the doors on a sedan a dozen cars behind them swung open in unison. Five men dressed for winter, the collars on their raincoats tilted up, their hats pulled low, exited the vehicle. Christian didn’t need to see what was in the hands shoved deep in their pockets to know they were packing.
“I’m assuming you’re all seeing this,” Rusty said, carefully pulling the truck out of park.
“We see it,” Emily assured him. “And what the hell? Who are they, and how do they know about us?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Rusty shook his head. “What now?”
“Now we get the ruddy hell out of this line and turn back,” Christian told him. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t fancy being stuck in this truck while whoever they are converge on us to do whatever it is they’re here to do.”
“Agreed.” This from Angel.
“But what about Zoelner and Chelsea?” Emily looked startled. “They’ll be waiting for us on the other side.”
“Zoelner is nothing if not resourceful,” Christian assured her. “They’ll find their own way. Rusty?”
“Yeah?” Rusty’s eyes met his in the rearview mirror.
“Get us out of here.”
“Right.” Rusty nodded and put the truck in reverse. They received a honk from the motorist behind them for their efforts. But after a three-point turn, Rusty had the big truck up and over the concrete median, heading away from the terminal.
Christian watched the not-so-subtle bloke blink in frustration as they motored past him. Then he watched the gent raise his hand to his ear again. This time, the movement of Not-So-Subtle’s lips proved he wasn’t giving a signal, but was, in fact, speaking into a cuff mic. As a unit, the five men in the raincoats turned back toward their sedan. Christian tried to get a look at their faces, but was thwarted by the tinted windows on the four-door.Buggering hell.He couldn’t see the license either, because the car behind the sedan was nearly kissing its bumper. There was no way to tell if it sported government plates.
“We’ve got more company,” Ace warned, looking into the passenger-side mirror.
Christian craned his head around to see a black SUV pull from beside the curb. This time hecouldsee the license plate. “I don’t like the looks of that,” he muttered.
Emily turned around, her wavy hair slapping against his face and assaulting his nostrils with the smell of her shampoo. It was exotic. Like jungle flowers.
“Whydon’t you like the looks of that?” She looked a little wild-eyed.
Not for the first time, Christian wished she had stayed back in Chicago, safe and sound. Then again, the last few weeks, living with her in that tiny flat had been…well,memorable. He wouldn’t trade for anything the night sleep had eluded them both and they had sat at the kitchen table, drinking tea and talking—not arguing, not taking swipes at each other, justtalking.
“It doesn’t look official,” he explained. “No hazard lights. Not government tags.”
“Well, if it’s not the officials coming after us, who is it?”
“I don’t want to find out.”
“Neither do I,” Ace said. “Rusty, punch it.”
