He blinked.
She grabbed the rest of his things from his bedroom and met him by the door. “We need to move.”
They moved outside, and she locked the door behind them. Moving quickly around the corner with all of his belongings in hand, they arrived at the Suburban.
Siren opened the back hatch, and they stowed everything on top of the hard-sided cases. They looked similar to what musicians and sound technicians stored equipment inside. He wondered what was in them.
A moment later, Siren pulled the car out from the parking spot and headed down the street. They passed the familiar neighborhoods and businesses on the way out of town, but now everything looked completely different. The silence was heavy, full of everything they hadn’t said.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Somewhere safe.”
“How long have you been doing this kind of work?” he asked. He knew from her profile that they were both thirty-two. But the way she moved spoke of intense training and even more intense situations.
“Long enough.”
He watched her profile as she drove. The set of her jaw. The way her eyes kept moving to the mirrors. A question had been burning in him since he’d seen her walk out of the back office at Steel Protection.
“Did you get my message on the app?”
The silence hung between them even heavier than before. She stiffened, her hands tightening on the wheel. For a moment she didn’t answer. Reed waited, watching her, trying to read something in the rigid line of her body.
“This isn’t the time,” she said.
Of course he knew she was right. They were running for his life. A man had been murdered. And he was worried about his hurt feelings. She had said it wasn’t the right time.
When he’d fantasized about finding his mate, courting and wooing her, this wasn’t exactly what he’d imagined. But the truth was, fate had brought them together anyway. Just because his life was in danger didn’t mean that his mate wasn’t right beside him.
“You’re right,” he said in a low voice. He looked out the window and let the silence settle back in. His bear ached with wanting to reach for her. But she had an ice wall around her, and even the thought of reaching out made his fingers burn.
Chapter
Seven
Siren pulledoff the highway onto a secondary road that wound up through the mountains. It was narrow and empty, the trees pressing in on both sides. She’d chosen a scenic route to the safehouse to throw off any potential tails.
On this road, it would take another hour to get to the safehouse. It was one of the remote cabins that Dom had purchased and supplied when they’d first moved to Fate Mountain. This one was the most fortified. They should be safe there while Steel Protection assessed the threat.
She glanced at Reed in the passenger seat. He was quiet and distant. She knew she’d hurt him. He had tried to reach her, but she’d shut it down. She had promised Dom that she could handle the feelings. That she would not be affected by her mate until they solved the case. But the fact was, she was failing.
Her inner wolf was howling and scratching behind her eyes, and she kept having images of grabbing his shaggy hair and kissing him hard and deep on the mouth. His full lips and high cheekbones did something to her body that she didn’t want to admit.
He looked absolutely edible, like she could jump on top of him and take everything she wanted. But at the same time, the strength and power of his grizzly was right below the surface. It was a heady combination that had her reeling.
She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stop thinking about it. She checked her mirrors and realized there was a dark SUV behind her that disappeared behind the bend in the road. It was hanging back, keeping its distance. It didn’t want to be noticed.
She was being followed.
Siren watched it for a thirty count and adjusted her speed, slightly slowing by five miles per hour. She watched the rearview mirror and noticed that the SUV had also slowed.
She sped up on the winding mountain road, watching to get a glimpse of it around the corner. She noticed the SUV matched her speed. This was definitely a professional tail.
How had they found her so fast? She’d been careful. Taken the back roads. Watched for surveillance when they’d left Reed’s house. Her hands tightened on the wheel.
Maybe they’d found out about the recording from this Danny character. Or maybe someone had overheard Reed talking to Danny that night.
Or they’d been watching Steel Protection for long enough to know where their safe houses were located. Whatever the case, she was now sure that whoever had killed Carl Unger was now behind her.
