Page 56 of Rafe’s Future

Hands she’d fantasized about too often froze as his incredulous stare turned her way.

“After all the work I’ve put into my home, you think I would wire it to blow?”

“Why not?” Lena blinked. “Isn’t that S.O.P. for people in our line of work?”

“Remind me not to drop by your house unannounced,” Rafe muttered with a grin.

Lena laughed, motioning to the computer in front of him. “Okay, fine. If not explosives, then what?”

“I had West do a remote work-up of my security system a few days ago. He worked his magic, uploaded a few new upgrades, and I’m just making sure they’re all activated and working properly before we leave.”

“What kind of upgrades?”

“For one, if the alarm goes off, every person on the team will get an alert.”

“And West?”

“Him, too.” Rafe nodded. “That way, if the team is, for whatever reason, otherwise occupied, at least someone on the outside will know there’s trouble.”

“That’s smart.” Lena couldn’t help but be impressed. “Maybe when this blows over, I’ll have Derek take a look at my system, too.”

A few taps later, he stood tall once again. “There. Now we can go.”

She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “So where is this secret exit you mentioned earlier? Is there a hidden door under the stairs? Or, ooh! I know. I bet there’s a trap door built into the floor.”

“Actually, it’s through here.”

Her feet stopped mid-stride inches from the room’s threshold. When she looked back, shock pulled her jaw to the floor.

Rafe had opened one of the other safes, but rather than a cache of weapons being inside, the back panel had been cut out to frame a giant hole in the basement wall. Lena could hardly believe her eyes when she realized it led to what appeared to be⁠—

“Is that . . . a tunnel?”

The dip of his salt-and-peppered chin confirmed her eyes hadn’t betrayed her. “I told you the exit was well-hidden.”

Lena snorted. “I’ll say.”

He’d filled her in on his plan during the drive back here from Lionel James’ apartment. The steps were simple enough. Get to his place, pack a bag, and then leave again through a secret exit.

Only—

“I didn’t realize ‘well-hidden’ was code for you built a freaking tunnel that ran from your basement wall.”

She went to where he stood, her eyes locking on the stone-walled corridor leading away from the foundation of Rafe’s home. A few yards farther in, the tunnel became swallowed up by pure darkness.

“Never said I built it.” He motioned for her to go first.

Lena took a cautious step toward the opened safe but stopped short of going inside. “Uh . . . thanks.” She warily studied the shadowed entrance. “But I think it’s best if you lead.”

A low chuckle reverberated from deep within his sculpted chest. “Wait here.”

He walked across the room to enter a code into the keypad near the door. After hearing the loud snick of the locks and seeing the light on the keypad turn red, Rafe returned to where she was waiting.

“Come on.” He stepped fully into the crudely arched passageway.

His spicy male scent filled her nostrils as he moved past, pulling a small flashlight from his pocket. He turned it on before shutting the safe’s heavy door behind him. Lena looked away from him, toward the darkness of the unknown.

“Yeah, this isn’t creepy at all,” she quipped dryly.