“Shit,” Vance muttered.
“Right,” Dutch agreed.
“You need my help with her?”Vance asked.
“I got it.”
“Take care they don’t see you first,” Vance advised.“Theysee her before you get her, she can deal.I’ll keep an eye.You get her out ofhere, then I’m gone.You catch trouble, I’m in.”
She couldn’t deal, he could tell by the way she was movingshe had no idea what she was into.
“You got it,” Dutch said, thinking fast and moving faster.
He opened his door just as he heard Vance open his.
Then he moved swiftly.
Trying to stay out of camera range, which Georgiana waswandering close to, he took as direct a route to her as he could.
She was wearing all dark clothing, a knit cap over her hair,fluffing out the dark curls at the bottom, and she was slinking through thenight, staring up at one of the cameras.
He approached from behind, and she was so bad at this, shedidn’t hear him until it was too late.
He had her, one arm around her stomach, the other hand overher mouth.
She screamed behind it, arched hard and started to struggle,so he hissed in her ear, “Quiet!It’s Dutch.”
She stilled, twisted, he semi-let her go, keeping an armaround her, and his hand lifted so he could clamp down again on her mouth if heneeded to.
And for some fucked-in-the-head reason, she caught his eyesin the dim light, hers got bright and happy, as did her entire gorgeous face.
She smiled huge and began,loudly, “We had thesame—!”
“Shut it,” he bit.“They’regonnasee.Or hear.Let’s go.”
Only then did he take his arm from her, but he did it tograb her hand and drag her ass to his truck.
He practically picked her up and dumped her in before hejogged around the front bumper, got in himself and started up.
“Dutch, we—”
He turned to her, leaned her way, she reared back at hisactions—the way he made them and probably the look on his face—and he groundout, “Serious to God, Georgiana, shut the fuck up.”
“You’re angry,” she whispered, looking surprised at thisfact.
But she was wrong.
He was not angry.
He was enraged.
He could not believe anyone would hear Carlyle’s story anduse any part of it to further their own career.
She’d figured it out, like he had.
And if she investigated it, blew it open for her newswebsite, she’d get off the kids beat for certain.
“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ angry,” he replied.“And you best pray Iget a lock on it on the way to my place.”
