“How do you think your ex found you? You were at a gate? You booked a flight? It’s shockingly easy to hack a flight manifest.” Or at least, that’s what Google had told him during the time he’dspent prepping to bring his brother home. Thanks to his own forward thinking, he hadn’t had to actually figure out how to hack anything today.
“I didn’t use my real name.”
“Which alias did you use? Seema? Iliana? Jessica? Chandra?”
She stiffened. “You think you know so much about me, huh?”
“Your cover is good. It’s not perfect. Even if you do have a second passport in that go-bag of yours, it’s quite possible it’s already compromised.”
Sejal’s steps faltered. They were almost to the AirTrain, the shuttle that would take them back to ticketing and baggage claim. “Is that how you found me?”
No. “Yes.”
Her jaw worked. “Then I rent a car.”
“Why do that when I already have one?” He took a step closer to her, his brain shuffling and reshuffling to get around this new roadblock.
Fine. They couldn’t get on a plane? They’d drive. One way or another, his plan was happening, because nothing else had changed for him. His list of options remained the same as ever. Bad.
“Come with me. I’ll keep you safe.” And he meant that. He might not be an FBI agent, but he was a good fighter, adept with a gun, and a solid survivalist. He could thank his unconventional mother for those skills.
“And where are we going to go, if I come with you?”
“To California. Like I said before.”
“To... you want to drive thousands of miles? It’ll take days to get to LA.”
“Only three or four.” He’d have to stop and rest, and there was no chance in hell that he’d let her drive.
It was a last-minute, incredibly reckless adjustment, but everything he was doing was reckless, so why not add another layer on top of that? Yes, he’d have to spend days on the road with Sejal, not get distracted by memories of that kiss, keep track of her, keep an eye out for her mysterious, dangerous ex he was itching to ask more questions about, and hope that her aunt didn’t prematurely get wind of him hanging around her precious niece and put a hit out on him.
Is that all?
Yes, that was a lot to ask, but he could do itifshe cooperated and didn’t take every opportunity to tuck and roll out of the car. Krish looked down at Sejal. She seemed smaller now than she had in her apartment. Perhaps it was his oversize sweatshirt. She’d rolled the sleeves up, but it still hung loosely on her. Someone bumped him, and he swiveled his head, ready to attack. Just a little old lady who gave him a dirty look back.
Sejal narrowed her gaze at him. “Why can’t an FBI agent charter a flight?”
Yeah, why couldn’t he? “I told you before, I can’t afford a single leak. It would compromise my case,” he bullshitted. Krish turned back to Sejal and tugged her behind a column. They were far too exposed here, and they needed to reach some kind of agreement, fast. Before her guy found them, and before she thought too hard and saw the giant holes in his story. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
She glared up at him. “Oh, when? When you let me kiss you thinking you were some regular hot guy in a bar? Or when you lied your way into my apartment? Or when you threatened to get me tossed in jail if I didn’t narc on my own aunt?” Her voice rose on every sentence, like she was making herself mad. She slapped her hands against his chest.
He caught them automatically, curling his hand over her much smaller ones. Her fingers were long and elegant. They were so fluid when she was manipulating cards.
Wait.
Hot guy? He was the hot guy?
Not important right now.Except he hadn’t often been referred to as hot, especially so casually, like it was a common fact. Intimidating. Handsome. Forbidding. A bull in a china shop. Not hot.
Buddy.“We have an opportunity where we can help each other here. You should want to be in my custody.”
The wheels in her head were turning again, he could smell them. “Don’t make it seem like you’re on my side. You want to use me. Why would I go all the way across the country with you when I could disappear on my own?”
He cleared his throat, because theusethat had popped into his head was different from theuseshe meant. His use required long hours, a bed, and the AC on high to cool them down, and it was a use that would never happen. “I do want to use you,” he agreed bluntly. She had no idea how badly he wanted to use her. “So use me back. For protection. I’ll keep you safe.”
She pursed her lips. “Strange, the timing of all this. Nobody was stalking me until you showed up in my life. Did you trigger something?”
“Did I trigger your angry ex finding you while investigating your aunt? Unlikely.” Avi’s files had been hard copies in his home office, mostly handwritten notes. He hadn’t even put them on his work computer, so it was unlikely that Krish or his brother had been hacked.
