And on top of that, he was inexplicably relieved that Will Yarmouth was riding shotgun.
He wasn’t about to go down that mental backroad. This was not the time to consider if he was just glad he hadn’t watched Will die on the pavement in Montreal, if he was relieved Will hadn’t been hurt or killed on his watch, or if he was actually—for reasons he couldn’t begin to parse—pleased Will was here. That last one was impossible and he had no idea why it hadeven crossed his mind. Will was a thorn in his side, an albatross around his neck, and a pain in his ass, and Cole would weep with relief if the man talked his way into someone else’s car. Or stepped into traffic. That would be fine, too.
It would. Really, it would.
He glanced at Will, who was twisted around, peering out the back window, features taut and eyes sharp. Even after Cole had faced the road again, he had a clear picture of Will burned into his retinas. He hated how Will was exactly as nervous and calm as he needed to be in a situation like this. He hated that Will was alert and quiet, keeping an eye on their surroundings while Cole navigated the narrow road through the dense forest. It was fucking annoying because it made it a lot harder to hope that as soon as they stopped for any reason, Will would leap from the car and disappear into Cole’s past where he belonged.
Cole was supremely displeased by the reality that he was probably a lot better off with Will than a million miles away from him. As much as Cole preferred to work alone even when he had options thatweren’tWill fucking Yarmouth, he understood that two heads were often better than one. This was one of those situations, and he really, really, fucking really hated how much he liked that the other head in question wasWill’s.
Maybe I fell off the tower in Montreal. Maybe this is just my brain firing off random delirious nonsense before I blink out of existence and?—
“Silver SUV.” Will’s voice was calm to the point of conversational as he turned around and faced the windshield. “Three cars back.”
It took Cole a second to even emerge from his own ridiculous thoughts enough to parse Will’s words. Another second to act on them, glancing in the rearview. Despite the road whipping around tight curves and hairpins, there were in fact a few vehicles behind him. If Cole so much as tapped his brakes, thatbattered maroon sedan on his tail would be in their backseat. Behind that fucker was a blue car that looked like pieces should’ve been falling off.
And third in line, tailgating the crumbling blue car, was a silver SUV.
Swallowing, Cole faced the road again. “What about it?”
“He’s either just a dickhead,” Will said evenly, “or he’s trying to get up behind us.”
“And the clown who’s so far up my ass he’s tickling my prostate isn’t?”
Will was blessedly silent for a moment. Then, “There’s a gas station coming up.”
“And we have half a tank.”
“Uh-huh. And if we stop, we can see which of the three cars behind us is actually interested in us.”
Cole scowled. Much to his irritation, Will had a point.
The road wound to the right, then left, and sure enough, a gas station came into view on the right. The rustic building probably wasn’t an aesthetic choice; it was likely exactly as old and decrepit as it looked. Its uneven parking lot was narrow and had several cars in it, including one getting ready to leave (thus blocking the exit) and one beside each pump (creating more barriers if Cole needed to GTFO). He debated not stopping after all, but he quickly mapped out an escape route and decided they could do this safely.
So… fine.
He put on his signal and started to slow down.
The clown who’d been doing his best impression of a hemorrhoid veered into the left lane and accelerated hard, the engine screaming and tires squealing as he flew past Cole.
As Cole eased into the gas station’s parking lot, the blue car cruised on by without incident… followed by the silver SUV.
Cole shot Will a look.
His passenger just shrugged. “Better safe than sorry.”
Cole just grunted.
He started back toward the road, but Will gestured at the gas station. “Stop anyway. I want to get some chips.”
“Some—” Cole blinked. “I’m sorry, did you miss the part where we need to get the fuck out of Dodge and find another place to hunker down?”
It was a struggle, but Cole managed to stop himself from backhanding that stupid smile off Will’s face.
He did, however, put up his finger. “Call me ‘honeybee’ one more time, and so help me God, I will leave you here.”
Will fuckingwinked. “Just park, sugar.”
Cole did, backing into a space in front of the store, wondering all the while if perhaps heshouldbackhand Will just for fun. Before he could make a decision, though, Will was out of the car and striding into the shitty little convenience store.
