“All I can ask.”
24
NOT FIREWORKS! When her brain finally registered that the loud cracks echoing through the lobby were coming not from fireworks but from a gun, Ivy’s gut reaction had been to drop to the floor. And she would have, if she hadn’t been grabbed from three sides and literally shoved out the door and into the open air of the hotel drive and then into a taxi, where she found herself sandwiched between Luke and Zane.
“Go!” They both barked the order at the driver, Luke shoving credentials toward him. The driver took one look, put the cab in drive, and floored it.
Ivy pulled in three quick breaths. Partly because she wasn’t sure she’d taken a breath since she heard the gunshots, but mostly because in the chaos, someone, she assumed Zane, had not been gentle with her right hand and arm. Pain ricocheted through her hand, fingers, shoulder, and even up through her neck and into her face. When the worst wave had settled, she twisted in her seat. There were no cars racing along behind them. “Where are they?”
“Who?”
“Who?” Was Luke crazy? “Gil! Tessa! Faith!” She glanced betweenthe men with her and the cars behind them as the hotel fell farther away. “We have to go back. We left them. They were right there with us. I assumed they would get into the next cab. What happened?”
Zane and Luke shared a look, and Ivy did not like what that look said. Because even though she didn’t speak special agent, she did speak friend, and she could tell they were worried for their friends. And her special agent translation skills were coming along, because she also knew without them telling her that there was no way they were turning around.
“Um, agents or officers or whatever I hope you are since if I find out you’ve kidnapped this lady, I’m not gonna like that”—the driver sucked in a breath—“where to?”
Luke and Zane shared another look. Zane gave an address and followed it with, “We’re Secret Service. She”—he dipped his head toward Ivy—“is a friend.”
Luke squeezed Ivy’s left arm. “Ivy, it might help if you could assure our driver here. Otherwise, he’s going to drive us to the police station, and once we’re there, Morris may throw you in a cell to keep you safe.”
Hmm ... that idea didn’t sound as bad as Luke probably thought it did. Safe? Without endangering everyone else?
“Don’t even think about it.” Zane shook his head at her like she’d been caught doing something naughty. “They’re fine. Gil’s fine. He will not be fine if he can’t get to you when he’s done at the hotel. And you don’t want to be in a jail cell for any reason, even if it’s to keep you safe.”
“But maybe—”
“No.” Luke and Zane both spoke simultaneously. Again. Were they twins separated at birth? There was no flexibility in their faces, and upon further reflection, she could see their point.
She angled her head until she could meet the taxi driver’s eye in the rearview mirror. “My name is Ivy Collins. I’m the CEO of Hedera, Inc. You can google it if it will help you feel better.” She pointed to Luke. “This is Special Agent Luke Powell. And this”—she pointed to Zane—“is Special Agent Zane Thacker. They’re with the Secret Service, and they’re friends of my childhood best friend, Special Agent Gil Dixon, who is still at the hotel and hopefully isn’t full of bullet holes.”
They stopped at a red light and the driver met her gaze again in the mirror, so she continued. “I trust them, and I would greatly appreciate it if you’d drive us to the address Zane gave you. And then, someday when you’re free, please swing by my office. The address is on the website, and you can see for yourself I’m alive and well, and I can thank you, and you’ll rest easy.”
The taxi driver nodded at her in the rearview mirror. “My name is Eli.”
“Hi, Eli,” Ivy said in a whisper. “Thanks for getting us out of there.”
“Sure thing, ma’am.”
When she sat back in her seat, Luke and Zane were both talking on their phones and scanning the road on their respective sides of the car. She thought she’d get mental whiplash from trying to keep up with both conversations.
Luke, she gathered, was talking to their boss, Jacob. “Don’t know, Jacob. Heard the gunfire, got her out. As far as I know, Faith, Gil, and Tessa are still on the scene.”
At that, Zane reached across her and bumped Luke. When Luke turned to him, he mouthed, “Still on scene.” Zane glanced at Ivy. “No bullet holes in anybody, so you can get that look out of your eyes.” He turned his gaze back to the road and continued his conversation. “Yeah. I have the key. Yeah. When the scene issecure, we’ll regroup.” A pause. “Tessa?” Another pause. “Stay safe.” He disconnected the call and stared out the window.
Ten minutes later, they pulled up to a swanky apartment building. Fairly new. Not cheap. “This the spot, agents?” Eli asked.
“It is.” Zane climbed from the car, then reached toward Ivy, but she pulled her arm back against her body and tried to slide out without letting him touch her. If he yanked her arm one more time, she might scream a little. He frowned and then stretched his arm toward her. “Hang on, and I’ll help you.”
It wasn’t a perfect solution, because with her splinted fingers, she couldn’t wrap her hand entirely around his forearm, but she held on as best she could and he pulled her toward the door, then up and out. When she was on her feet, his mouth contorted and he grumbled, “Gil’s gonna kill me.”
“Why?”
“I hurt you, didn’t I?”
Luke joined them and kept them moving until they were inside at the elevators. “How did you hurt her?”
“I’m fine.” It wasn’t true, but it popped out.
