Page 11 of Rescued

“A good thing I did. Those bullets would have smashed up my little civilian bird.”

Breanna bit her lip to keep from smiling. That was the kind of logic that made people want to haul off and slug you. And in fact, Gunn looked for a minute like he might do that. But Switch had balls, and a total disregard for rules. Props to him for that.

Gunn said, “And now we’re dealing with a human civilian and an unknown threat.”

Not unknown. She called over, “It’s a guy named Quentin Moreno. He owns a bunch of companies, and, well, a bunch of powerful people. Old money. I found out about some of his dirty overseas dealings. My friend—” she swallowed and went on— “my friend Kimberly found some people who arranged for us to be taken to a safe house and get new IDs, in return for some evidence on Quentin.”

Gunn swung around, narrowing his eyes. “Feds? Witness protection?”

She shook her head. No way did she want to be involved in that. “Private people. I don’t know what they wanted with Quentin. I didn’t care—he’s a bad person. And they offered a way out.”

Gunn raised his eyebrows. “But?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. “Kimberly didn’t show up to the rendezvous. I wanted to wait, or go back, but no one would let me.” She looked accusingly at Switch, who spread his hands in a ‘what the hell do you want from me?’ gesture.

“Only now,” she heard her voice starting to shake, “now I’m afraid they got her, and found out who was helping us, and that’s how they knew where we were landing. I’m so worried about her, and I don’t know what to do—”

Her voice broke, and she couldn’t hold back tears. Why should she, anyway? She was cold and alone and exhausted, and these men wouldn’t be impressed by her being brave. Maybe they’d feel sorry for her. Whatever worked. She’d learned that the hard way.

Gunn kept that suspicious narrow-eyed look on her. It seemed he wasn’t super-impressed by tears. But he did notice her shivering.

He sighed. “Somebody get her a blanket. And grab one of the Jeeps—she can’t walk down to the compound in those shoes.”

One of the other men spoke up. “Where should I take her?”

“Good question.” He glared at Switch. “Any suggestions?”

Switch twitched his shoulders—not exactly a shrug, but more like he was trying to get rid of an annoying fly that had landed on him.

That would be her.

He said, “What about the holding cell in the bunker?”

The holding cell? She shook her head, but no one was even looking at her.

Gunn said, “That’s not going to work. Not with Mikey out of town. And anyway, I’d have to lock her in. My office has too much sensitive information in it for anyone to be wandering around loose in that building.”

Breanna edged closer to Switch. “No way. You are not leaving me locked in a bunker with this guy. Forget it.”

She looped her arm through his and said louder, “I’m staying with him.”

His head snapped around fast enough to give him whiplash. “What? No. You can’t.”

“You can’t leave me alone,” she whispered. “These people are scary.”

“Oh, and I’m not?” He seemed almost offended.

“Well, you didn’t dump me out of the helicopter when you had the chance, so no.”

He shook his head and muttered, “I should have.”

Gunn was looking from one of them to the other, and for the first time she saw the beginnings of what might have been a smile on his face. “Okay then. That’s settled.”

He got serious again and said to her, “Stay in Switch’s cabin. It’s dangerous out here at night.”

No shit.

“Tomorrow we’ll look into this Moreno guy, and figure out what the hell to do with you.” He turned to one of the other guys. “Rex, drive them down.” This time there was a smile—or maybe a smirk? “Make sure Switch doesn’t pitch her out of the Jeep.”