“Careabout you?” He barks out a laugh. “Care about you? I fucking love you, Nova! Like anidiot, I had a mark and a mission, and instead of doing what I was supposed to do, I got soft.”
“Love?” I tug the dress over my head and down my body, momentarily trapping my arms in the fabric. “What?”
Pacing again, he scratches his head and talks to himself. “He won’t believe me when I tell him the code is gone. He’ll say it’s a lie, and then he’ll send someone else. The code was both your safety and your danger.”
“Lincoln!”
“You have to go.” He spins back. “I didn’t know your brother, Nova. I never served with him. That time you mentioned the motor pool? Almost caught me out, because the intel I have is clearly not the fucking same as the stories he told you.”
“What are…” My jaw quivers. “What?”
“Your brother was special ops, Nova. The motor pool? It was a fucking lie. One he told you to protect you, probably. Thatcoin?” He stabs a finger in my direction. “That was a code he’s been carrying since…” He throws his hand up again. “Since he inherited it, I guess! I don’t fucking know.”
“Lincoln…” My voice trembles. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“He possessed a code! A really fucking important code. That car accident you were in? It wasn’t a drunk driver, it was an assassination. There’s a guy out there who wanted the numbers on your coin, and the man he sent to retrieve it failed. The driver you think stumbled away? Was eliminated by his own boss—myboss—because he fucked up and killed his mark.”
“A-an assassination?” I swallow the choking lump at the base of my throat and take a step forward. Wary, as my survival instincts urge me to stay back. “What’s the code for?”
“I don’t know! But this guy wants it?—”
“Wait.” My stomach jumps as nausea and nerves and a heavy, black sludge fill my veins. “This person killed my brother? And you work for them, too?”
“Yes! Exactly.” He grabs my wrist. “Nova?—”
I yank myself free again. “You work for the man who had my brother killed?”
“Under duress,” he snarls. “But yeah. I work for him. I came here in search of a fucking code, and all along, you’ve worn it against your skin. I’ve searched your home. Your shed. Your fucking truck, all for nothing. Because all along, you’ve worn the damn thing around your neck.”
“You searched my home?” I take a step back, but he steps closer. I take another, but he follows again. “You searched my things?” I slip out from between him and the dresser. “You took me to bed to see the coin?”
“No!Youtookmeto bed—because you wanted me just as much as I wanted you. I told you to leave town. I told you to follow your brother’s instructions and visit the lake house?—”
“River—”
“No! Don’t tell me where! Don’t tell me what fucking state. What town. Don’t tell meanything. That’s your safety, and me not knowing is how you’ll live. But I?—”
“You work for the person who hurt my brother.” My knees knock with anxiety. Fear. Horror. “You’re a bad person.”
“Yeah. I’m a bad person. And you’re not. Your brother is dead because of the secret he kept, and now you have it. So, get in your truck and drive. Right now.” He stalks across the room and snatches up my panties, shoving them in my hands and standing over me. Towering. Terrifying. “Get dressed and go, Nova. Because my deadline ends tomorrow, and you’ve deleted the fucking code anyway.”
“What’s the code for?”Run, Nova!Leave while he’s giving you the chance. “What does it open?”
“I don’t know!” He scoops up my shoes. “All I know is that there are five codes, and as of two weeks ago, all five protectors are dead. This dude has four of them, and you have the last. He wants your numbers, Nova, and he won’t believe me when I tell him they’ve been destroyed. You’re not safe, and you won’t be until you hide.”
“Why are you telling me?” My lips quiver, and my toes curl as an icy shiver sprints down my spine. “You’re working for him. F-for my… enemy?” I try out the word, frowning because of how ludicrous it feels on my tongue. “They killed Ryan. And now you’re gonna kill me?”
“No.” He presses my shoes to my belly, forcing me to grabthem or let them fall to the floor. “I never agreed to hurt you. I won’t hurt you. Buthewill. He’ll send someone to eliminate you if it means getting what he wants, and he won’t believe the ‘Oops, I accidentally destroyed the code’ story. Which means you have a target on your head and a house somewhere else, in some other state, where you need to go. Right now.”
“Lincoln—”
“Now!” He wraps his arm around my back and herds me toward the door. “Get in your truck and go. Once you’ve placed a state or two between here and wherever you’re going, dump your truck and get another.”
“Lincoln. Stop.” I twist in his grip and crash against the hallway wall. “Stop!” I drop my things and search his eyes. “Who?”
“Once you get a new truck, drive another couple of states and do it again. Dump. Replace. Drive. Dump. Replace. Drive.”
“Who, Lincoln? Who hurt my brother?”
