by Diana Gardin
Without glancing up from his mug, he fires back. “Scruff is sexy. No one told you?”
Rubbing a hand over my usually clean-shaven face, I smirk because I’ve had too much on my mind to shave for the past few days. “Yeah, I got the memo.”
Grabbing a mug from the cabinet and pouring a cup of the steaming black liquid, I carry it to the counter across from Swagger. He glances up and I hold my fist out.
“I owe you.”
“Bullshit. We’re a team, always have been. She’s important to you, she’s important to me.”
“She’s the mother of my kid.” Saying it out loud still freaks me out, but in a good way. “Thanks for keeping her safe.”
Swagger leans back on his stool, folding his arms across his chest. “When do I get to meet the kid? I’m pretty sure it’s gonna blow my mind, seeing you as a dad.”
The thought of Decker brings an immediate smile to my face. “If it weren’t for all the crazy shit going on, everyone would have met the little dude already. I’ll plan a cookout for when we get back. Everyone’s invited.”
Swagger frowns. “Back from where?”
Holding up a finger, I retrieve my cell phone from the charging dock where someone placed it last night and bring it back to the island. Pulling up Boss Man’s number, I hit SEND and place the phone on the counter.
“Heard about what happened.” Boss Man’s voice barks out of the speaker. “Everything all right this morning?”
“Yeah, thanks. But it’s too hot in Wilmington right now. I’m thinking I need to take Rayne and Decker away for a few days while the team neutralizes Horton.”
Ronin lifts a brow, and I lift one shoulder in a shrug.
I’ve never walked away from a mission before. But in this case, my family is my mission. And getting them out of harm’s way is my first priority. I know I can count on the rest of the NES team to finish what I started. And I’m the only one I feel comfortable enough protecting my family.”
“I can compute with that plan, Brains.” Jacob Owen’s voice is thoughtful. “But I don’t want to send you alone. Take Wheels with you. Have any idea where you’re going?”
“Haven’t gotten that far, Boss.”
“Mountains. I have a cabin in the high country that’s off the beaten path. You three can hole up there until we bring Horton in. Shouldn’t be long.”
Relief swarms around me, mixing with gratitude. I would have found a place to take Decker and Rayne, someplace off the grid where we wouldn’t be easily found, but Jacob had just made things that much easier.
After discussing logistics a few minutes further, I end the call. Taking a long swig of my coffee, I lean back and just breathe for a minute. Having a strategy in action for getting my family out of the fray brings me a sense relief. And an overwhelming feeling of determination to implement the plan as soon as possible.
“Rayne’s upstairs packing.” Chugging the rest of my coffee, I push it aside and glance at Swagger. Every muscle in my body is tense. No matter how many plans I make I’m not going to be able to relax until the threat to them is eliminated. And as important as it is for me to be the one keeping them safe, it’s gonna drive me fucking insane that I’m not the one going after Horton.
“Hey.” Swagger’s voice breaks into my thoughts. “Don’t sweat it. You know I’m gonna do this for you, bro.”
“Yeah.” I glance at him without smiling. “I know.”
Swagger shoves back from the counter. “I’m headed home to shower and then I’m headed into the office. Today, Brains. We bring him down today and hopefully you can bring your family back home tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
This will be over tomorrow, and then I can start a life with Rayne and my son.
Tomorrow.
28
Rayne
So where are we going?” Decker’s voice is brimming with excitement, and I turn around in my seat to glance back at him.
The huge, elated smile on his face is all the reward I need. Maybe this trip isn’t just a spur-of-the-moment vacation with my son and the man I’m newly reunited with, but couldn’t we pretend? Can’t I just imagine that I’m not running away from Wilmington because my ex-boss is on the warpath and I’m his number one target? Can’t I imagine that the sole purpose of this trip is for my son and I to bond with his father, as a family, for the very first time?
I can and I will, dammit. The fact that Dare is following behind us in his truck is of no consequence. None at all.
Glancing at Jeremy, my cheeks threatening to split my face, I raise my brows. “Should we tell him?”
He twists his lips to one side, feigning contemplation. “Mmmm. Not sure. Don’t know if my son is rugged enough to handle a trip to the mountains.”
“I’m rugged!” Decker’s tone was completely indignant. One hand reaches down absently to stroke Night’s head, which is settled comfortably in Decker’s lap as he’s curled up on the seat beside him. “What does rugged mean?”
Laughing, I reach back to grasp his chin in my fingers. “Rugged is a rough and tumble kinda guy, sweetheart.”
Jeremy chimes in, “Yeah. And we fish, and hike, and we like to shoot stuff. And we do stuff on boats. Oh, and we grunt.”
Decker’s giggling, but at the last he pauses. “Grunt?”
Lifting his head, Jeremy’s best grunt echoes through the Land Cruiser. Turning from Decker to Jeremy, I blink twice in amazement. Then I burst into laughter. Not just giggles, either. The kind of laughter that has me leaning forward, gripping my cramping stomach.
“Hey.” Jeremy scowls.
When I can’t stop the peals of laughter, and Decker joins in from the backseat, he raises his voice. “Hey.”
Gasping for breath, I reach over and grab the rock-hard muscle of Jeremy’s thigh. My laughing fades as his muscle twitches under my touch and my thoughts turn in a completely different direction. “Um, was that your very best grunt, Mr. Teague?”
With a tiny twitch of his lips, he nods. Glancing in the rearview, he beseeches Decker. “It was a damn good one, right, Deck?”
Decker’s response is prompt. “Swear jar!”
Jeremy chuckles, rubbing his jaw with one hand while the other maneuvers us onto the famed Skyline Drive, heading into the Blue Ridge Mountains. “Gonna be hard to remember that.”
“That’s okay with me.” Decker’s voice is full of amusement. “You know I get the money when the swear jar is full, right?”
Jeremy turns mock shocked eyes into the rearview mirror. “What? I smell a scam!”
Leaning my head back against the seat, the only thing I can do at this moment is smile.
The smile is still hanging there an hour later, when the car is quiet except for Decker’s heavy, even breathing.
“Hey.” Jeremy’s deep voice reaches me across the center console, reaching inside me to entice a shiver. “What’s going through your head over there?”
He picks up my palm, his large fingers sliding between mine and threading them together. Bringing my hand to his lips, they brush softly against my skin.
“I’m pretending.” I steal a quick glance at his handsome profile: the strong jaw dusted with golden hair, his straight nose, and his gorgeously plump lips. He’s chiseled male perfection, all grown up from the boy I first fell in love with. The fact that he’s sitting here beside me with our son in the backseat is nothing short of a miracle.
“Pretending?” His tone is half-amused, half-bewildered. “Pretending what?”
I bring our hands to my mouth and plant an openmouthed kiss on his hand. “That this is real.”
His returning glance is sharp, his brow furrowed with worry lines. “Darlin’, this is real.”
I shake my head, suddenly urgent for him to understand. “It’s not real in my head yet, Jer. Not really. I mean…we’re taking a break from reality right now. We’re pretending like we’re on a vacation for Decker, when we know what’s really going on. And you and I…it’s all been so amazing bet
ween us, and with Decker. Despite what’ s going on with Wagner, it feels like it’s too good to be true.”
“Rayne—”
“No, I’m serious.” I continue, suddenly amped up like I’ve been chugging Mountain Dew all day, when in reality my brain is working on overdrive as a result of all of my heightened emotions. “It’s like, I know that you’re here with me and Decker because you’re this amazing guy, kind of like a superhero, really, with all the muscles and the alpha complex and the computer skills and not to mention the fighting and superior use of weapons—and I know that no matter what happens you’re going to do your best to protect us. But when it all ends and we’re just back home in Wilmington, and it’ll be time for Decker and me to find our own place and it’s back to work as usual and Olive is going to come back and if your grandparents decide they want to be in your life again—”
“Rayne.”
Jeremy’s voice is low and growly and stern, and it stops me midsentence, and my head immediately drops to study my hands. They’re twisting around and around in my lap. I’m not even sure when I let Jeremy’s hand go, sometime during that insane tirade of word vomit.
“Look at me, darlin’.”
Turning my head and tilting it up, I watch his profile. He glances at me before setting his sights on the road again. “First of all…I’m not just here to protect you. I mean, yes—this is what I do for work and I’m damn good at it. We all are. But I’m here with you right now because I want to be. I’ve had you in my bed because that’s exactly where I want you to be.”
From the backseat, Night lifts his head and gives a soft chuff.
Jeremy glances in the rearview mirror. “That’s right. Tell her, Night.”
Night barks again, then stands up, stretches, and turns himself around three times before settling with his head against the door. His eyes close once again.
“Baby.” Jeremy’s eyes plead with me to understand him. He takes my hand again and squeezes. “Did you say something about finding your own place?”
I nod.
“Because, I’m gonna pretend you didn’t. You trying to find your own place would mean I’ll have to beg you to stay, and I’m not much for begging. I want you and Decker to stay right where you are. Even when your sister gets back from Europe. Even if my grandparents come sniffing around, at which point I’ll tell ’em to go straight to hell. You and me and Decker are together now. I don’t want that to change.”
His voice goes lower, softer. “Do you?”
I’m about to open my mouth to answer when Jeremy’s cell phone rings. Pressing the Bluetooth button on the dash screen, he answers the call. “Yeah.”
“Brains.” Dare’s voice barks from the speakers. “Take me off Bluetooth.”
Immediately, Jeremy releases my hand and relinquishes the Bluetooth, picking up his phone and putting it to his ear. Searching his face, I see his eyes flick to the rearview mirror and back again. Then he does the same with each side mirror.
“Yeah. Nah, it’s clear. What?” Jeremy listens to his phone, and I can see the way his posture has changed. His body is rigid in the seat, and his eyes are continually darting, roving, scanning the road in front of us and the expanse behind.
My heartbeat skyrockets. Glancing back at Decker, I’m relieved to see he’s still asleep. But my hands grip my thighs, my eyes glued to Jeremy’s face.
“Shit. Get Swagger to run the plates. Okay, Sayward, then.” Jeremy listens to whatever Dare is explaining on the other end of the call.
Suddenly, his open palm slams into the steering wheel, and I jump in response. Checking the backseat again to see that Decker is still asleep, I breathe a little easier. But Night is sitting up in his seat, his eyes glued to Jeremy’s headrest. He whines when he catches me staring.
“Goddammit.” Jeremy’s jaw is clenched, the muscle there ticking as he tries to stay calm.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wheels,” Jeremy speaks out of the side of his mouth. “Says there’s been a sedan on his tail for the past twenty miles.”
My eyes widening in alarm, I suck in a breath. “What does that mean?”
Jeremy shakes his head, contemplating. Both hands are gripping the wheel. It’s obvious to me that he’s trying to remain calm, and if this were any other situation for him at work, he probably would be. It’s the fact that Decker and I are in the car with him that’s making him tenser, more nervous that he usually would be.
“Okay…what do we do?”
“We change our route. Get off the highway, test out some back roads. If the sedan follows, we’ll know they’re not just a motorist on their way into the mountains.”
I take a deep breath and count to ten, letting the air escape slowly with each second. “Jeremy? What happens if it’s not just a passing motorist?”
His lips thin out, going white. “Normally, we’d use evasive procedures. We all know them, but Wheels is the best driver out there. I’d just follow suit.”
Fear grips me by the throat, squeezing until barely any air gets through to my lungs. “But this isn’t a normal situation, is it?”
Instead of answering, Jeremy focuses even harder on the road and drives on. I see the exit as it approaches, and Jeremy swerves onto it at the last minute, rather than turning on his blinker and slowing. I send up a silent prayer that it’s the end of summer rather than the dead of winter. No icy mountain roads to worry about.
But I’m still scared shitless.
The thick mountaintops rising up to greet us in the distance, the sun is slowly sinking behind them. The sky is a violent blaze of orange and pink in the last waning light of day, and ordinarily this would be the most relaxing, picturesque drive possible. But now I can’t even focus on a bit of the scenery. Not until I know what’s going to happen next.
We’ve turned onto two different two-lane highways, twisting, winding country roads that serve as mountain passes when another call comes through on Jeremy’s phone. This time, he keeps the Bluetooth on.
“Verdict?” Jeremy’s voice radiates tension.
“Suspicious as hell. Still behind me. Thought he was gone for a minute there, he dropped his distance. But yeah, he’s still back there.”
“Fucking hell,” mutters Jeremy.
“It’s your call, man. Your family is in the car with you. Want me to take point?”
“Yeah.” Jeremy grounds out, and I know that it kills him to give up the frontal position to Dare.
“Evasive?”
Jeremy frowns, glancing in the rearview at a still-sleeping Decker and then over at me. The turmoil in his expression is real, and my heart squeezes tight enough to ache just watching him.
“No. Can’t take that kind of risk with Rayne and Decker.”
Dare answers like he already knew what Jeremy’s answer would be. “Copy that. Only one alternative, bro.”
Jeremy’s angry growl reverberates through the car, stirring Decker in the backseat and drawing out another low whine from Night.
“Yeah. Find a confrontation point.”
29
Jeremy
Fuck. Fuck!
This is the absolute last thing I want to do with Rayne and Decker in the car.
It’s funny, because I’ve never been afraid of a confrontation. They happen all the time when you’re manning a battlefront, sweeping a hostile environment, or tracking down an enemy. Confrontation is what I’ve been trained for, although it’s not always the wisest action. When I had to do it, my body always kicked into high gear and I acted off of training and instinct.
Right now, though, my instinct is telling me that I need to get my family the hell out of here. Right now, I’m truly afraid to face whoever’s in that car, because it means that my Rayne and Decker have to face them, too. I could let Dare shift into evasive maneuvers, knowing that he’s the best out there when it comes to driving and getting us out of harm’s way. But the risk is too great. Having to weigh my options between bad and worse with my family on hand is th
e most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.
A thin sheen of sweat coats my skin and my heart hammers with a pulsing rhythm against my ribs. Too fast. Too much adrenaline pours into my system, readying me for a battle I’m prepared to lay down my life for.
And the idea of that sacrifice means so much more now. More than it ever has before.
“Confrontation?” Rayne’s voice rises to a level just below panic and just above anxious. “We can’t do that, Jeremy.”
“Mom…Jeremy? What’s going on? Are we almost there?”
Decker’s sleepy voice from the backseat rips my thoughts off of Rayne and toward him. “Nah, buddy. Not yet. We’re just about to stop for a few minutes, that’s all. You know what I want you to do? I want you to stay in the car. No matter what you hear. Got that, Deck?”
When I glance in the rearview to check for Decker’s reaction, his face is all screwed up in confusion. “Yeah. Got it. Can Night stay, too?”
With a tight smile, I nod. “Pretty sure I couldn’t tear Night away.”
Rayne’s voice, full of the strength and determination I’ve learned is her MO, rests a light hand on my thigh. My muscle twitches under her touch.
“Jeremy.” She keeps her voice soft. “Promise me this is going to be okay.”
Up ahead, Dare increases his speed, and I follow suit, glancing back in the rearview mirror at the sedan that’s been following a couple hundred yards behind us. There’s a bend in the road up ahead, and I know that’s exactly where Dare is headed. Our speed ratchets until the suspect sedan is only a tiny dot in the distance and the curve in the road approaches fast.
“I promise you, darlin’. This will be okay. You stay in the car, too.” My voice is just above a whisper, for Rayne’s ears only. The last thing I want to do right now is scare Deck.
It’s a damn stupid move to make that kind of promise. But after everything that Rayne’s been through, in part because of me, I refuse to do anything else.