by Leslie North
Cam exhaled slow, wincing as bullets pinged off the Aeon’s exterior. Kevin, or Loki as the guys called him, would be fucking furious if there was so much as a dent in this car. His orders were to return it in perfect working order, tech and all other parts intact. “Which escape route’s the best?”
“This alley leads to the main road and will give us the best chance of losing them.” Everly must’ve caught his incredulous look because she shrugged. “That’s what I’ve heard anyway.”
“Uh huh. Right.” Cam glanced into the rearview mirror at the open exit behind him and said a silent prayer before peeling out of the garage in a squeal of tires and burning rubber. They bumped down the pothole-riddled alleyway, the pitch darkness split by two high-intensity halogen headlights. “Best buckle up. I’d hate to lose you so soon.”
She chuckled. “Baby, as long as you got this car, you ain’t losing me at all.”
“Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart.” Cam swerved out onto the deserted main thoroughfare, glancing into the rearview mirror to see the two thugs stopped at the side of the curb beneath a street light, bent over and out of breath from their foot chase. One of the men had his cell phone pressed to his ear calling in their escape. Their figures grew smaller as the Aeon zoomed away. Cam downshifted and stared out the windshield, heading back toward the Norse offices.
Shit.
There went his perfectly planned idea to drive this sucker straight back to Norse Security. If the mob was after them now, he needed to make sure he lost his tail before returning to home base. The guys would not look favorably on him bringing all that trouble to their doorstep. First though, he needed to lose Everly Knight as soon as possible.
2
Everly stared out the window at the passing scenery, a Virginia is for Lovers sign reflecting in the headlight beams. They’d been driving for what seemed like hours and her ass was beyond numb. Her stomach was growling too, but she didn’t expect a guy like Camden Thursday to care much about that.
“Where are we going exactly?” she asked, unable to take the deafening silence any longer. “You’re gonna need gas soon.” She cocked her chin toward the glowing gas pump on the control panel, now flashing an ominous red.
Cam scowled into the rearview mirror then returned his gaze to the roadway ahead. “I want to make sure they’re not following us.”
“Who?” She scrunched her nose. “You mean those guys from the garage? Don’t worry. They’ll have to run their plans by their capo first before they can do anything else.” Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but she didn’t pull it out, fearing she already knew who it was, what it was. “Besides, I haven’t seen another car on this road in hours. Trust me, you can stop.”
“Trust you?” Cam snorted, his handsome features cast in greenish light from the dashboard’s glow. “I don’t think so. You tried to steal this car out from under me. Hell, for all I know you had already stolen it in the first place. And you talk about those mob thugs like you’re one of them. No way I’m going to trust you.”
“Paranoid much?” Everly shook her head and glanced back out the window. “Look, over there. It’s a gas station with a twenty-four-hour pizza joint. Please. Seriously, you don’t want this vehicle to run out of gas. For all its fancy technology, I’ve seen the fuel lines. Old school. You get some rust or dirt built up in there and it’s toast. Won’t start again. Besides, you don’t want to be walking around when those guys catch up to us again. Military guy or not, they’ll blast your ass into next century.”
Cam gave her some serious side-eye. “How do you know I’m military?”
“You mean besides the buzz cut and the caveman attitude?”
“Funny.” With a sigh and mumbled curse, Cam flicked on the turn signal and merged off the highway onto the exit ramp leading toward the gas station. “I’m going to stop and I’m going to buy gas. If you need to pee I’ll walk you to the restroom and wait outside until you’re done. Understood?”
“What are you? My boss? I don’t think so.” Everly narrowed her gaze. “You’re going to buy gas and then we’re going inside to eat because I’m starving. The only reason I’m still in this car with you is because I choose to be. I’m not letting this baby out of my sight until it’s returned to me again. You have nothing to do with it.”
“Wow. For a second there, I almost believed you.” He gave her a flat look as they pulled into the gas station lot and up to a pump. “You make a break for it, sweetheart, you’re on your own.”
“Like I said, I’m not going anywhere until I get this car back. Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Not disappointed,” Cam said as he climbed out of the car. “Annoyed. Irritated. Confused. Yep. All of the above.” He slammed the door before she could respond.
Arrogant ass.
While Cam pumped the gas, Everly finally pulled out her phone and checked her messages. Yep. It was as bad as she’d thought. The text shined in bright black and white in the dull florescent lights of the gas station overhang:
Get that car & the guy back here in 48 hrs
or forget the money
Dammit. Everly shut off the phone and raked a hand through her hair, leaning her elbow against the door. This wasn’t going to plan. Not at all. She’d known since the age of five that to cross the mob was nothing but a death sentence. She’d seen how brutal and violent they could be firsthand. She still couldn’t shake the memories of the day she’d snuck away from home to visit her father’s body shop and seen them beating her father to within an inch of his life, all for making one lousy decision without getting his capo’s permission. She shuddered at the remembered blood and gore and the deep-seated fear her father would be killed before her very eyes.
He hadn’t been, thank God. Only black and blue for weeks afterward, but young Everly had learned her lesson well. Never step outside your box and you’d be safe. Her box, these days, consisted of working in the body shop, repairing cars during the day, and stealing and chopping up hot bikes and vehicles at night for the local mob. She’d dreamed of getting out and getting a place of her own, a legit garage, a legit life, but had never had the means until now.
That’s where the Aeon came in.
This one car, this one job, could net her enough to start her own business and live debt free for at least a year. Then Camden Thursday had to show up—all brains and brawn and pure, infuriating obstinacy—and fuck it all up. Potentially.
According to the text, she still had forty-eight hours to correct her mistake and return the Aeon. Forty-eight hours Everly planned to use to her advantage.
Failure wasn’t an option. Never had been.
Cam climbed back into the car and hooked up his device again. She tried to peek at the passcode, but he covered it with his hand, shooting her a dark scowl.
“Who do you work for?” he growled, his expression dark. “You wired?”
“What?” Everly didn’t try to hide her disgusted tone. “No. And if anyone’s wearing a wire around here it’s probably you. You working for the feds?”
He froze for a second, then jammed the Start Engine button again once his device beeped. The Aeon roared to life and he pointed toward the deserted pizza joint attached to the gas station mini-mart. “That where you want to eat?”
She made a smartass show of looking all around them. “Unless you plan to gnaw on some raw corn from that field over there, yeah.”
Irritation oozing from his every pore, Cam zoomed forward into an empty spot in front of the door and shut the car off again. “I’ve had about enough of your attitude. I forgot what a smart mouth you have.”
“Really?” She got out of the car and chuckled. “I still remember what a stick in the mud you were back in school. Did they have to surgically remove your head from the principal’s ass or what?” Everly smacked him on the shoulder as she headed inside the restaurant. “And don’t worry, Geek Squad. I’m just getting started.”
He shoved into the place behind her and they stared around the em
pty booths and tables. One gum-smacking pregnant gal stood behind the counter, watching the all-night news channel. Cam stalked over to a booth in the far corner without asking Everly.
By the time she got to the table, he was on his hands and knees, peering beneath it. She slid into her seat and propped one foot on the bench, staring down at him like he’d grown a second head. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Checking for bugs.”
“Like roaches?”
“Like listening devices.” He finally straightened and slid into his side of the booth, those broad, muscled shoulders filling out his black leather jacket nicely. Not that she was looking. Nope. This was not the time and he was definitely not the guy to hook up with. Back in school, Camden Thursday was nothing but a teachers’ pet, always got good grades, always did the right thing. Basically the polar opposite of Everly. Hell, he was probably on some divine mission from God to get the Aeon back.
Too fucking bad. She was going to get that car and get it to her potential buyer or die trying.
Take that Camden Thursday, with your perfect teeth and your perfect smile and all that tanned, toned skin just begging to be stroked.
Confused, Everly put both feet on the floor and grabbed a menu as the pregnant waitress waddled over with two glasses of water.
“Welcome to Fred’s,” the server said, still smacking her gum. “You know what you want?”
Cam spoke before Everly could. “Large pepperoni, ham, and pineapple and a pitcher of soda. Thanks.”
Everly raised a brow at him. “That for both of us or just you, soldier boy?”
“That’s all, thanks,” Cam said to the waitress, dismissing her. Once the server was out of earshot, he said to Everly, “Stop being so rude.”
“Stop telling me what to do.” She glowered at him. “You’re not my boss.”
“Who is?”
“That’d be none of your business.”
“Pretty sure you trying to hotwire the car I’d been sent to retrieve makes it my business.”
Everly crossed her arms, the chilled air of the diner making her cold. Or maybe it was the frigid attitude of the man across from her. Cam might look a whole lot sexier than he had in high school, but he sure as hell didn’t act like it. “And who exactly sent you to retrieve my car?”
“The Aeon’s not yours. It’s federal property.”
“You working for the feds then?” She narrowed her gaze. “You still enlisted?”
“No.” He scrubbed a hand over his buzzed dark hair. “I’m not. I work private security now.”
“Right.” She sat back, studying him as the waitress returned with their drinks. Once they were alone, Everly leaned forward again, not missing the way Cam’s gaze flicked downward to the V-neck of her black T-shirt before returning to her eyes. Okay, then. Maybe not so frigid after all. She’d never been a gal who relied on her feminine assets to get what she wanted, but in this case she’d use whatever weapons were in her arsenal to achieve her goals. Her future depended on it. “So, you got a girlfriend, soldier boy?”
Cam stared at her a moment before looking away. “Not pertinent to my mission. Sorry.”
“Your mission?” Evelry snorted. “Isn’t every guy’s mission to get laid?”
“Not tonight, sweetheart.” Cam gave her a gorgeous little half-grin that curled her toes inside her Chuck Taylors and made her knees tingle. “But maybe later.”
She quickly tamped down her unwanted attraction to this man. She had enough danger in her life already without getting involved with Cam Thursday. “In your dreams.”
He straightened, as if remembering they were on opposing sides. “You never answered me before. You working for the mob? I know your father was involved in mafia affairs.”
She shrugged, remaining evasive. The less he knew, the better. “How’d you know I like pineapple on my pizza?”
“I didn’t. I took a chance.”
There was that grin again and damn if her body didn’t respond, a spray of fireworks blasting through her nervous system. What the hell was wrong with her? She had the mob breathing down her neck, a potential buyer dangling by a thread, and all her body seemed to care about was the totally unsuitable man across from her. She was hardly a blushing virgin and had had plenty of relationships over the years, but it had been a while since she’d dated anybody seriously. It had been too long since she’d had a man in her bed. That was it. Had to be.
The waitress brought their pizza and Everly’s appetite returned full force. They dug into the delicious food and she couldn’t help smiling around a bite of melted cheese. “This is amazing.”
“No lie there,” Cam agreed, his own mouth stuffed with sauce and dough. “So, you like working on cars?”
“Yep. Learned from my dad growing up and it’s a part of me now. Wouldn’t want to do anything else.” She finished her first slice and reached for a second. “What about you? What’s your dream job?”
“I’m doing it. Got my Master’s in Computer Science while I served as a Navy SEAL. If it’s tech related, I’m your guy.”
“Wow.” Everly chased down a bite of pizza with a sip of soda. “A SEAL, huh? Never would’ve guessed that from the skinny little geek in high school.”
“Sometimes people surprise you.” Cam wiped his mouth, his gaze steady on her. “Sometimes they don’t.”
“Yeah.” Everly devoured her second slice of pizza and took a third. “So why does a solider end up in my family’s garage in the early morning hours to steal back a car for the federal government? What’s so special about the Aeon?”
“Besides all the high-tech computer chips on board?” Cam swallowed a bite of his fourth slice. “It’s rare. Rare things are always valuable.”
“True.” Everly sat back, stuffed at last. “And that’s why you want it? Because it’s valuable.”
“Sure.” He offered her the last slice and she declined. He downed it in three bites, then grinned. “What about you? Isn’t that why you want it?”
She blinked at him a moment, still not trusting him enough to give the full truth away. “Yep.” Her phone buzzed in her pocket, reminding her of the deadline looming over her. “Valuable. That’s it. You ready to get out of here? Those thugs probably have the capo’s permission to tail us by now.”
Cam sipped the rest of his soda then pulled out his wallet and slid out of the booth. She followed him to the register where he paid then grabbed a couple of mints from a basket on the counter. He handed her one then held the door for her as they walked out into the misty early morning. Dawn was just starting to streak the sky as she climbed back into the Aeon. “Right. Let’s go.”
Everly didn’t feel like she’d learned everything she needed to know about Cam and his mission, but it felt like she had the upper hand at any rate. He liked looking at her, liked her body, and he was a gentleman. All things she could use to her advantage when the opportunity arose. Plus, he might be a whiz when it came to the car’s computer chips, but there was no way he knew more than her when it came to what was under the hood. She’d been rebuilding engines since high school. Cam wouldn’t know a piston if it bit him in the ass, let alone all the advanced machinery onboard the Aeon. That gave her the advantage she hoped.
3
Cam scooted halfway beneath the Aeon’s chassis. They were still at the Pump and Pie, parked off to the side now in the shadows. Good thing he had brought along his trusty Mag light attached to his key chain. The military-grade flashlight was tiny, yet powerful enough to illuminate the underside of the vehicle while he did a scan for trackers. For once the info-mericals hadn’t lied.
“Now what the hell are you doing?” Everly asked.
From where he was crouched beside the vehicle, he could see the tip of her white sneaker tap-tap-tapping against the pavement. She was agitated. That thought sent a wicked little frisson of satisfaction through him. Good. She’d been a pain in his ass since they’d hightailed it out of that two-bit chop shop of her father’s. A
bout time he got a little payback.
Cam carefully checked every inch of the underbody before standing and walking around to the back of the Aeon to switch out the license plates. He didn’t look at her as he spoke, keeping his gaze on the task at hand to avoid losing one of the tiny screws holding the plate in place. In the pre-dawn gloom, it would be impossible to find, even with his flashlight.
“I was looking for bugs and trackers,” he said as he loosened the screws then slid the old license plate out of the holder and affixed the new one the guys had given him before he’d left the offices. Cam wasn’t sure where exactly they’d gotten the fake registration and he wasn’t about to ask. This Aeon had ties to the federal government and for all he knew they could’ve gotten the big guns involved—FBI, CIA, even NSA. Best to keep his head down and not ask questions.
“Trackers?” The derision all but dripped from Everly’s tone. “You think the mob gives a shit about trackers? They’ve got spies everywhere. For all we know, that knocked-up waitress was one of them. She could be calling us in right now.”
Cam glanced back inside the pizza joint and spotted the server behind the counter again. Sure as shit she was on the phone too. His stomach took a tumble before he shook it off. Everly was just paranoid. She’d grown up with mafia crawling out of the walls. Now, she expected to find them everywhere. And while Cam was likely to agree that they needed to get on the road sooner rather than later, he doubted the mob had stooges this far out in the boonies.
“And the only bugs you’re likely to find down there are ants. Maybe a cockroach or two.”
He stood and tossed her the old license plate, which she caught one-handed. “Get in the car.”