Ally thought for a moment about how badly she needed that quad latte this morning as she joined the jumbled throng waiting for their drinks. On any other day, she probably would have just left it behind and walked out the door, hopefully losing Mr. Macmillan in the process. But not today. Today she needed that coffee almost as badly as she needed oxygen.
Ally instinctively took a defensive stance, crossing her arms over her chest as she settled in to wait. There were lots of things to love about this little independent coffee shop in the heart of downtown Sacramento—good coffee, eclectic staff, a decidedly non-corporate ambiance—but their speed wasn’t one of them. Today, she would have appreciated a little less artisan foam art and a little more hustle.
“I take it you didn’t have a good rest of your night, Miss Weaver.”
Ally stiffened instantly. The sound of her name on his lips did more to wake her up than a dozen shots of espresso ever could.
“How do you know my name?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
Carter didn’t look over at her. He kept his eyes straight ahead. “Same way I found out that you work for the Sacramento Gazette, but you’ve been doing more and more freelance work to online journals. That you live off of 5th Street in West Sac. That every morning around eight-thirty, you have a charge on your debit card at CafeNation.”
Ally’s heart sped in her chest with every word that came out of his mouth. Cold tendrils of panic started to creep through her veins. Screw the coffee. She had to get out of here.
She spun on her heel and started for the door, but Carter put a hand on her shoulder. He didn’t grab her. His fingers didn’t twist into her sweatshirt. There was nothing about his touch that was physically restraining her, but she stopped all the same.
He bent down to whisper in her ear.
“You don’t want to run away from me again, Ally.” It didn’t sound like a threat. It sounded like friendly advice. “I’m not your enemy.”
She twisted around to look at him.
“Why don’t we go sit down while we wait for your coffee,” he suggested.
Ally nodded. It was a good idea. They hadn’t caused a scene, not exactly. But a few gazes were starting to turn their way, and the last thing that Ally wanted was any more attention.
She walked over to the closest empty table. She took in a shaky breath, trying to calm her racing heart. When that didn’t work, she turned her attention out the window, and away from the turmoil inside herself.
Pull yourself together, Weaver.
She repeated the mantra with every passing car. After half a dozen, she started coming back to herself.
“Let’s try this again,” Carter said as he sat down. “You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”
Ally shook her head. She was too tired to be offended. Besides, it was obvious. If her tired eyes didn’t give her away, then the massive dark circles under them sure did. It didn’t help that, since she’d stayed at her parent’s empty house last night, she didn’t have any of her makeup to try to cover it up.
It also explained her wardrobe for the day—an old UC Davis sweatshirt and a pair of jeans she hadn’t worn since her sophomore year of college.
“Work or fear?” he asked.
“Both.”
“Did you find out what was on the drive?”
Ally snapped her head away from the window. She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care about what’s on Harvey’s drive?”
He relaxed into his chair and draped one bent arm over the rest. “I told you, Ally, I’m not your enemy.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” she said, holding firm.
Carter met her stare for a long second before answering. “Because you were right. Fuller lied. His security detail said we shot first, and he backed them up. They said we were the ones that wouldn’t stand down, and, because the good congressman has a hell of a lot of pull in this town, the cops believed him.”
“I’m sorry,” Ally said, and she meant it. She’d tried to warn him how ruthless Buck Fuller could be. “So why aren’t you in jail right now?”
“I’m guessing Fuller’s team didn’t have enough time to manufacture proof before the police showed up last night, but it’s just a matter of time until they do. Fuller’s coming after my company. He’s trying to pin this on me personally,” Carter said, his voice falling as he leaned forward. He jabbed his finger into the tabletop as he spoke. “I’m not going to let that happen. And the only way I can do that is to discredit him, to expose him for what he really is.”
Ally leaned back in her chair. She believed him when he said he wasn’t going to let Fuller take him down. Suddenly, she was grateful for all of his assurances that he wasn’t her enemy. She’d seen what he could do, but she had a feeling it was just a fraction of what he was capable of.
“I understand,” Ally said, relaxing a bit. “But unfortunately, I’m not going to be much help to you yet. Whatever information is on that flash drive, it’s encrypted.”
“I can help you break it.”
“That’s okay,” she said, waving off the offer. “I know a guy. He’s good.”
“Not as good as my staff, I promise you,” he said with a twinkle of pride in his eye. “And definitely not half as fast.”
“I don’t know…” Ally said. She’d fought too hard for that flash drive to just hand it over to anyone. She’d jumped out a broken window and shimmied down a lamppost. She’d spent the night in her childhood bedroom, for God’s sake.
“What don’t you know?”
Ally drew in a deep breath. Honesty was the best policy. At least that was what her grandmother had always told her.
“I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“I don’t know if you can afford not to,” he shot back.
“Excuse me?”
Carter leaned across the table. His honey-colored eyes locked with hers. And suddenly, it was as though everyone else in the crowded cafe disappeared. It was just him and her.
Ally felt her heart start to pound again. This time it had nothing to do with fear. It looked like, even though her brain wasn’t quite ready to trust Carter Macmillan, the rest of her body was far from complacent about him.
“I found you, Ally. With very little information, I knew exactly where you’d be and when,” he said. There was no malice in his voice, but his words still chilled her down to the bone. “If I can do it, so can Fuller. I understand your hesitation, but you have to realize that you are a thousand times safer with me than on your own, and stop running away.”
Ally swallowed hard. Dammit if that didn’t sound like the truth.
She was saved from having to respond when her name was called out at the bar. Carter jumped up and grabbed her cup. He cocked a brow as he returned to the table.
“You ready to go?” he asked.
Together.
Ally drew in a deep breath. It didn’t look like she had much of a choice.
Besides, the man was currently holding her coffee hostage.
Ally nodded, and stood up. She grabbed her cup from Carter’s hand as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. She took a long sip of the coffee and let the fresh air clear her head.
Carter waited patiently by her side. He didn’t try to rush her. Apparently, he could be quite the gentleman when there wasn’t someone shooting at them.
“I don’t have the drive on me,” she said finally. “We’ll have to go and get it.”
“I take it you’ve hidden it?” he asked, pushing away from the wall of the building.
“Somewhere very safe.”
“Good.” He started off down the street opposite from her car.
“Hey, I’m parked over here,” she said, pointing behind her.
“I know,” he said, not breaking his stride. “We’ll be taking my car from now on.”
Ally hurried to catch up with him. “Because it’s safer?”
“That’s one reason. The other is I don’t trust you not to speed off and leave me behin
d.”
Now it was her turn to flash him a mischievous smile. “Come on. It’s a twelve-year-old Toyota. It doesn’t speed off anywhere.”
“Fair enough,” he conceded. “But still, I insist we take mine.”
Ally couldn’t contain the chuckle that rose up in her throat as he stepped over to the driver’s side of a new sports car, one far too fancy for Ally to know the name of. He pulled the keys from his pocket.
“Yeah, I can see why,” she said, looking down at the sleek, red machine in front of her. “This is your car?”
“You were expecting something else?” he asked.
She shouldn’t have been. It had just been so long since she’d ridden in a car that wasn’t held together with duct tape and prayers, she’d kind of forgotten there were other ways of getting around.
Ally opened the door and slid into the passenger side. The inside of the car was every bit as stylish and modern as the outside. She’d just settled into her seat when she heard the lock click into place.
She snapped her head toward Carter. He gave her an apologetic shrug of his shoulders.
“Just a precaution,” he explained. “For your own safety.”
Ally’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t actually believe that I’d jump out of a moving car, do you?”
He started up the car. Ally was startled as the engine roared to life. Damn. The thing wasn’t even moving yet and she could still feel it humming with power.
“After last night, I don’t plan on ever underestimating you again,” he said.
Ally smiled as she pulled the seatbelt across her body. “I’m guessing not many people have managed to slip past you before.”
“No they haven’t,” he admitted with a shake of his head.
“Probably, nobody has done it twice,” she said, with a laugh.
“You’re the first to achieve that feat,” he said, turning to look her in the eye. There was humor in his warm brown eyes, but something else as well, something deeper that Ally couldn’t guess at. “I guess that makes you special.”
The giggles slowly faded, replaced by a blush that she couldn’t explain. Just another emotional swing to blame on the exhaustion, she reasoned.
Carter tossed her the pastries before putting the car in gear.
“I thought these were for you,” she said.
“I already had breakfast,” he said. “They’re for you. You’ll feel better if you eat.”
“But…”
“But what?”
He glanced into his mirror before pulling into traffic. Ally was pushed back into her seat by the sudden show of horsepower.
Forget the discomfort of her churning stomach, she would never forgive herself if she puked all over the inside of his fancy—and no doubt crazy expensive—sports car.
Not that she was about to share that with him.
“I’m afraid I’ll get crumbs all over the place,” she said.
“Just eat the damned muffin, Ally.”
“Okay.” She shrugged and dug into the bag. “It’s your leather interior to detail, after all.”
Chapter Four
“It’s right in here,” Ally said, pointing to the right and up her parent’s driveway. She let out a long sigh as Carter pulled in and set the brake. She stared out the windshield, but didn’t reach for the door handle at her side.
“Are you ready?” Carter prompted her after another moment passed.
The truth was, she wasn’t. She wasn’t ready for any of this. Not taking this stranger into her parent’s house. Not handing over Harvey’s flash drive. Not being targeted by Fuller. None of it.
But it didn’t look like she could stop any of it.
She’d set this wheel in motion the second she’d taken Harvey’s phone call. There was no going back now.
Not that she hadn’t thought about it. She’d spent the entire half hour drive out to her parent’s suburban home running through every option she could think of. Ways she could ditch Carter Macmillan again. What in the world she would do once she got away from him. How she would defend herself from Fuller if he came after her again.
Not if…when.
Carter was right. She had a target on her back, and nothing short of bringing Fuller to justice was going to take it off.
She should be thanking her lucky stars that she had any ally at all. But Harvey’s warning kept ringing in her ears.
Don’t trust anyone.
No matter how hard his chest was, or how his gaze made her breath catch in her throat.
Then again, the man had already saved her life once. And Ally couldn’t shake the feeling that she would survive a whole lot longer with this guy by her side than alone.
In the end, that’s why she hadn’t tried to bolt from his car at the first red light. Trusting him might be a risk, but it was one she was willing to take.
Within reason, of course.
“Yeah,” Ally said with a nod. “I’m ready.”
She looked up and down the street as she walked around the back of the car. Already, she caught sight of a few of the curtains being pulled back an inch on front windows along the street. She hadn’t expected anything less.
There was no way that a flashy car like this was going to go unnoticed in her parent’s working class neighborhood. Ally didn’t doubt that the gossip would start flying fast and furious the moment she walked into the house with Carter.
Hell, Mrs. Carlson across the street was likely to try and call Ally’s mom on the cruise ship just to tell her what her younger daughter was up to.
Ally watched Carter out of the corner of her eye as he walked up the drive. His outward appearance was easy enough but she saw his gaze sweeping over everything, taking it all in, from the bank of flowers that lined the front yard to the painted wood plaque that read The Weavers hanging from the knocker on the door.
“See,” she said, fitting her key into the lock. “No need to handcuff me to your side.”
“Don’t sound disappointed,” he said with a wry smile.
She ignored the jibe, and held the door open for him.
“After you,” he said, motioning with his hand. Apparently he still wasn’t willing to turn his back on her.
Ally shrugged. She couldn’t blame him. She stepped inside and heard his step follow close behind.
“Your parent’s place?”
“Yep,” she answered, though it really wasn’t necessary. Every wall from the hallway to the living room was covered with family photos. About a quarter of them featured her at various ages from preschool to college graduation.
“Is this where you stayed last night?”
“It’s the only place I could think of.”
“Are they here?” he asked.
“No,” she said, stopping in the middle of the family room. “They’re on a cruise. Mexico, this time, I think.”
Carter was still in the hallway perusing the photos, slowly making his way toward her. “How about brothers and sisters?”
She twisted around, and pointed to the large, decade-old family portrait hanging behind her in the dining room. “Two sisters. One brother. Nobody left at home.”
His gaze drifted over to the picture, and he slowly nodded.
“Cute family,” he said.
Ally didn’t know about that, but there was certainly no doubting that they were a family. The distinctive Weaver auburn hair and blue eyes gave them away every time.
Carter kept moving, seemingly taking in everything in the house. Ally couldn’t guess why. Her family wasn’t that interesting.
Ally shifted on her feet as he stepped over to the mantle. She might not know why he was taking his sweet time, but she certainly didn’t want to spend the whole day moseying down memory lane. Not while Fuller was still out there looking for her, at any rate.
By the time Carter had sauntered to the end of the fireplace, Ally was starting to get more than a little nervous.
“I know my mom’s tastes run to the tacky side,” Ally said, tu
rning around and gesturing toward the case by her side that was covered in ceramic figurines. “She loves tchotchkes. She picks a new one up on every trip. Sometimes I think they’re her most prized possessions.”
Carter turned toward her, an open smile on his face. He walked over to the shelves and picked one up. He slowly spun it in the light.
“They’re silly, I know,” she said.
“I think they’re charming,” he said, continuing to grin as he put the piece back.
His voice was low and easy. So easy, that Ally almost found her stiff shoulders relaxing a notch. She let her gaze linger over his profile for a moment.
Damn, the man was attractive.
Carter turned toward her, almost as if he could sense her stare, his warm caramel gaze melting away even more of her stress.
It seemed that with every passing second she was becoming more and more comfortable with Carter Macmillan and she wasn’t entirely sure that was such a good idea.
Ally shook her head, trying to clear it. It didn’t matter if Carter looked like heaven on a stick. She had more pressing concerns. Like keeping herself alive.
The sooner they found out what was on that drive, the sooner she could expose Fuller. Then he would go to jail, and she would write her piece. Everything would go back to normal.
“I need to grab the drive,” Ally said, when the silence in the room had stretched on for another few seconds.
“Go ahead.”
Ally pursed her lips before trying again. “Do you mind leaving the room?”
Carter didn’t face her. He just kept looking at her mother’s wall of silly figurines. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to know where I’ve hidden it.”
“Don’t worry about that.” He finally turned toward her, and Ally spotted an amused gleam twinkling in his eye. “I already know where you’ve stowed the flash drive.”
Ally arched a brow. “Oh, really?”
Her parent’s house was clutter central. Her mother had never passed by an antique store or a tourist trap in her life. There was no way he knew for certain where she’d hidden the thing. It would be like finding a needle in a hay—
Carter: The Sinner Saints #1 Page 4