“You’re right,” Kole begrudgingly agreed. “I don’t. But, damn it, I don’t want anything to happen to Gracie, either.”
“And it won’t. How about this? She stays here with me tonight, and then we’ll all meet up at the office tomorrow. I’ll text Gabe and tell him to get ahold of the others. You can text Jake and let him know what’s going on. We’ll plan on meeting at the office at oh eight-hundred. We can figure everything else out, then.”
There was a long pause, and Nate waited. He could hear Kole relaying the plan to Sarah. From what he could make out, she didn’t like it, but in the end, she agreed.
“Fine. We’ll see you at the office at oh eight-hundred. I’d tell you to give her a big hug and a kiss from me, but that would probably come back to bite me in the ass. So, just tell her goodnight, we’re glad she’s safe, and we love her.”
Nate chuckled. “Will do. ’Night.”
“Goodnight. And Nate?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for taking care of her.”
“Never have to thank me for that, brother.”
Not waiting for Kole’s response, Nate ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly then locked his eyes with Gracie’s.
“First things first. Let’s get you a hot shower and some clean clothes. I’ll order some more food to be delivered, and then, you’re going to tell me what the hell it is you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Chapter 6
With her head tilted forward, Gracie stood beneath Nate’s large shower-head, letting the hot water run down her shoulders and back. It was the first time in nearly a week she’d felt safe enough to give herself more than a handful of minutes to wash, rinse, and get out.
The hotels she’d stayed at the past few nights were less than stellar, but they were off the beaten path and within her meager cash budget. She was very careful to make sure she wasn’t followed, but still. Her paranoia was in full form lately, and she’d been too afraid to let her guard down, even for a second.
“Gracie?” Nate’s voice carried through the closed bathroom door and over the noise of the shower.
Opening the frosted shower door, Gracie stuck her head out. “Yeah?”
“Just checking to make sure you are okay.”
A warm sensation spread across her chest, and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the water.
“I’m good. I’ll be out in just a minute.”
“Take your time. The food’s here, but we can warm it up if we need to.”
“Okay.”
She waited a few more seconds to make sure he wasn’t going to say more before closing the door and finishing her shower. After, she got out and dried off, then squeezed as much water from her long hair as she could into the towel she’d used.
Gracie looked down at the pile of clothes she’d been wearing and cringed. They were still damp from the rain, so there was no way she was putting those back on.
That’s when it hit her.
Her extra set of clothes was still at the last place she’d stayed.Damn.
She couldn’t explain why she left there in such a hurry. There’d been no sign of the man she’d seen at her apartment. Still, something had told Gracie she needed to get out of there tonight.
Knowing the general details of their current op, she’d assumed—and prayed—Bravo had made it back home. Banking on that, she’d grabbed what cash she had left and called for a cab.
Because she’d been so worried about possibly being followed, Gracie had told the cab driver to drop her off a few blocks from Nate’s. From there, she walked down a block, went into a nearby alley, backtracked, and crossed the street before heading down the next block.
She continued the erratic behavior, hoping to throw whoever it was off…just in case they were back there somewhere, following her.
Gracie reached Nate’s block just as he was walking into Chu’s. The relief she’d felt from just seeing him again was almost indescribable.
