I glance at her for the hundredth time.
Every fucking glance, I get a punch to the gut.
Jesus, how can she do that to me?
She’s out cold. Cheek pressed to the seatbelt strap, lips parted, the bruise on her face darkening by the minute.
Even wrecked, she’s the most arresting thing I’ve ever seen.
I push through a yellow light without slowing. I don’t even consider stopping. Not with her in the car. Not with that edgy feeling sitting along my spine.
We’ve got eyes on us. It’s a feeling I know well.
I caught the first sign three miles back.
The black SUV is sitting two cars behind us in the left lane. Could be nothing. My intuition disagrees.
So I watch.
After another minute, the consistency of the spacing confirms my suspicion. The way the driver holds distance without drifting isn’t normal. He doesn’t vary his speed or spacing at all.
No front plate. Tinted windows too.
My hand is already on my weapon. Has been since the last intersection.
Jade stirs beside me, probably disturbed by the energy snapping around me. Her eyes open, still foggy, but she’s quick to sit up.
“You look like you’re about to hurt someone.”
“Could happen at any time, but right now, I’m just driving.”
She’s not buying it. Her gaze drops to my hand on the gun, then back to my face. The grogginess evaporates from her expression.
My phone rings a team ringtone and I hit accept without taking my eyes off the road.
“Ryker here. Talk.”
Mako, our company sleuth, doesn’t waste time. “You alone?”
“No. Jade’s here. You’re on speaker.”
There’s a brief pause as he adjusts what he was going to say for public ears. “I ran that plate.”
His pause sharpens my focus.
“It’s dirty,” he says. “Shell company. Not a single registered owner and that vehicle has been flagged before.”
Jade sits up more in her seat, pulling the seatbelt away from her neck like it’s choking her.
“For what?” I urge him on when I know he’s trying to determine how much to share with Jade listening.
“Hit and run and another confirmed assault. Nobody sticks around long enough to take down. The company registration is buried under three layers, but the address traces back to a PO box in east Texas.”
Texas.Where Jade came from.
My gaze flicks to the mirror again.
Still there. Same distance. Same lane.
