“My assignment is to make sure you get home. Caesar will appropriate a vehicle to follow us. When I’ve made certain of your safety, Caesar will use that transportation to bring us back here, where the rest of our team has secured the gate in anticipation of our return.” Aiden’s emotionless voice was clipped. He was also watching Caesar’s swift progress, and he also held a big gun.
“This is crazy, Aiden!” Without answering her, Aiden took her elbow and started to steer her swiftly toward her car. He held his gun ready in his other hand. Mia balked, trying to slow down. She needed time to think. “Wait, Aiden! Just wait!”
Aiden urged her on with his hand. He gestured with his gun toward her car. “Come on, Mia!”
It occurred to her that one of the movie features could let out while Aiden was waving that big gun of his around. All of those people walking out into the lighted parking lot, catching sight of a big man with a big black gun. She could just imagine what would happen then! Panic…911…SWAT. All with Aiden—and Caesar —right in the middle of it. And this was the real world, where the bullets and the blood were real. There wasn’t any movie land hospital where dead people were brought in and were miraculously patched up, all ready to fight another day.
She shivered, knowing it was in fear. But she preferred to blame it on the night’s cool temperature.
She didn’t want to think about what might happen if they stuck around in the parking lot.
Mia picked up her pace. She was dressed in her own clothes, of course, and she decided she was glad for her sweater. She had forgotten she had left the chill of fall behind her. It now seemed a lifetime ago since Aiden had thrown her up into that roaring helicopter.
They reached her car. Aiden let go of her elbow, and Mia just stood there, biting her lip in indecision. Aiden went around to the passenger side and waited. Looking at her over the top of the car, he silently nodded down at the vehicle.
Mia tried again to be the voice of reason. “What if the owner of the vehicle comes looking for it? What then?”
“We’ll be back in under an hour. It’s a calculated risk. Now unlock your vehicle, Mia.”
Mia blindly fished for her keys and dug them out of her purse. She felt all huffy. “Oh, great! Appropriate a vehicle—you mean steal! He’ll be stopped for grand theft auto, and it’s not like I could post bail, not after everyone sees that big gun of his. The FBI and the CIA and Homeland Security will all be called in! He’ll be detained as a psycho or a terrorist or a psychotic terrorist or—”
Mia heard the powerful rev of an engine and looked over the roof of her car. She stared in horror. “He goes to appropriate a vehicle and he brings back a Mustang?”
Aiden grinned at her. No black streaks disguised his face, making him look scary, which suddenly struck Mia as weird. “There’s an art to hiding in plain sight.”
She really looked at him then, and saw he was wearing a shirt and soft-faded jeans. He looked like an ordinary, uber-hot guy out with his date. Except for the casually hefted semi-automatic weapon, cocked on his hip and pointed at the night sky.
“I give up!” Mia unlocked her car. She and Aiden got in and pulled the doors shut in echoing slams. Mia secured her seat belt with a click. She noticed that he was just sitting there. Oh, right! Let’s just red-flag a cop! She narrowed her eyes and barked at him. “Buckle up, Aiden! I don’t want to get stopped.”
He looked surprised then nodded and set his gun down, butt-first, between his knees. She watched him as he pulled the strap tight across his broad chest and anchored it. Then he picked up the big gun and rested it across his knees. The barrel was pointed away from her.
Mia started the car and shifted, grinding the gears, which made her mad because she knew better. “Well! This is just like old times. Except you aren’t threatening to blow my head off!”
Aiden slanted a pained look at her. “Just drive, Mia.”
Mia grinned. Even if she was worried about this stupid stunt of Aiden’s, she couldn’t help that she was beginning to enjoy herself. It just felt right that she and Aiden were doing something crazy like this together.
She glanced in her rear view mirror. It reassured her to see the Mustang following at a discreet distance. Then another vehicle turned into the lane directly behind her. Red-and-blue lights started flashing. “Oh no, oh no! I’m not speeding! Why—oh, my God! Aiden! You’ve got to do something about the gun! If they see it, we’ll be arrested!”
* * * *
Mia was frantic. She looked like a crazed woman, with her wide, staring eyes and opened mouth. Her hair even seemed to be standing on end. Aiden quickly glanced over his shoulder through the back window. He cursed softly under his breath when he saw the flashing lights of the patrol. He understood instantly her concern. He understood, too, that she was more afraid for him than for herself. Brave, brave Mia! You have my heart. Swiftly, he broke down his weapon by feel and placed the pieces on the darkened floorboard between his feet. Then he eased out his hand weapon out of its holster and laid it alongside his thigh on the seat.
Aiden realized Mia was falling into a panic. That worried him. He hadn’t ever known her to show much fear. But she didn’t need to worry about him. He could handle himself. He could keep them both safe. “Pull it together, sweetheart! Breathe!”
She gave a sort of jerky nod and noisily sucked in her breath a couple of times through her pursed mouth. “I’m fine! You’re fine! Oh, we’re going to die!”
By the time Mia had pulled over and stopped her vehicle, he was sitting with open hands on his knees. He warily watched the patrol soldier approach the vehicle. Aiden took note that the man moved with stolid confidence, not the nervous uncertainty of a novice. The man was a professional. Aiden tensed, poised for trouble.
Mia had rolled down the window. When the soldier bent down to speak to her, the man flashed a small light into her face. She blinked, looking half-blinded. Aiden could see the nervousness in her smile. “Good evening, officer! What seems to be the problem? It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it? A little cool, though. There’s a great action movie showing. Have you seen it?”
Aiden tried to keep his face expressionless, but it was hard. Action movie? What the hell is she babbling about? As far as he knew, there wasn’t a single theater in business in the entire town. The people’s access to entertainment wasn’t one of the commandant’s priorities, yet intelligence was admittedly sketchy in many areas.
Under his alert awareness, Aiden’s mind moved swiftly. Mia had apparently heard of such entertainments being available to the soldiers, either in locations cut off from public access or inside the compound itself. Wait a minute! Cadero had been sent off somewhere! Maybe that’s important! Entertainment would be one way to ensure loyalty. It would serve as well to channel the ordinary restlessness that was common among soldiers of any stripe.
Aiden speculated about what other forms of entertainment the soldiers might be provided with at unspecified locations—booze, gambling, and women. Maybe even cockfighting. The possibilities for exploitation began to seem boundless. If they could infiltrate civilian spies—perhaps use the intel to create diversions—they could create confusion at certain designated targets at certain times! They might be able to eliminate some of the effectiveness of the opposition forces! The possibilities for exploitation began to seem boundless.
Aiden felt that he had stumbled on something important. He’d have to bring the matter to the general’s immediate attention. However, there was just the small matter of the patrol that had stopped Mia. It would have to be dealt with first. He had to finish his current assignment, and that meant whatever it took to get Mia safely home. He listened narrowly to their conversation in hopes of discerning that subtle hint—that split second—before all hell broke loose.
“Ma’am, did you know you have a broken taillight?”
“No, I didn’t! I’m sorry!”
“I’m going to need to see your license.” The soldier flashed the small light across her i
nto Aiden’s face.
Aiden smiled and lifted his right hand in a friendly wave. Then he dropped his hand back onto his thigh, nearer the hidden hand weapon. He was confident that if he had to, he could draw the weapon, pin Mia against her seat with his stiffened left arm, and shoot the soldier dead through the open window. Then, of course, there would be the inevitable alarm raised and probably a careering car chase through the dark back streets, with multiple shots fired, ending in a few more dead soldiers.
I wonder if Mia knows how to drive—I mean, really drive.
Of course, the situation probably wouldn’t get that far out of control. Aiden saw a Mustang slowly cruise past behind the patrol soldier. He knew that the Mustang would shortly come back by from the opposite direction.
The light retreated, as though the soldier had lost interest in him. Aiden released his breath slowly. It could just be a clever bluff—to throw me off guard. He felt his fingers twitch, and he controlled his instinctive movement toward the hidden hand weapon.
The soldier still stood at the open window, his light trained back on Mia.
Mia had been rummaging in her purse. She pulled out a billfold, opened it, and extracted a small card. She handed it out to the soldier. “You’re not going to have to give me a ticket, are you? I’d never live it down with my friends. I work at the hospital.”
The soldier was shining his light down on the card. “Mia Haven.” He looked at her again, his hard face easing into a thin smile. “Sure, I know who you are! I thought you looked familiar. You took care of my sister-in-law’s father when he was sick – Martin Velasquez?”
“Oh, yeah, Mr. Velasquez! I heard he had to have some cardio rehab. How is he?”
Aiden listened to Mia and the soldier chatting away like old friends. He was blown away, especially when the soldier returned Mia’s identification to her, gave her a stern warning, and walked back to his vehicle. Aiden twisted his head to watch the man get back into the patrol vehicle. He still couldn’t believe it. He never gave me a second glance!
Mia started the vehicle and eased it back onto the road. She didn’t say a word, which, considering how much and how fast she had just been talking, was odd.
Aiden looked over at her. He saw that her hands were clenched tight on the steering wheel. “You did real good, sweetheart,” he said softly. He secured his hand gun in its holster.
She turned her head slightly in his direction. Her eyes glinted in the green light reflecting from the dashboard. “How did you do that— with your gun, I mean?”
Aiden chuckled quietly. “I’ve had some training.” That training had required him to be able to tear down and put back together a weapon in a matter of seconds, blindfolded. He reached down for the parts of his weapon and expertly put it back together. He laid it across his knees.
“Um, are you sure you didn’t miss any pieces? I wouldn’t want you to forget something important, like maybe the trigger.”
Aiden nearly laughed out loud at her wit. She was always coming up with these quirky quips. Almost from the first time he had seen her, and had pointed a gun at her head, she had disarmed him with her swift, dry humor. With sentimental enjoyment, Aiden let his memory replay it. “You didn’t kill me last night. So it will be a real bummer if you off me now.”
He kept a suitably grave expression on his face as he made her a solemn promise. “I will check for sure that I’ve got the trigger when we get to your place.”
Mia lifted her chin and sniffed. “Don’t be a jerk, Aiden.”
Aiden grinned widely. Mia’s ability to defuse a situation to comedic opera was priceless.
* * * *
Mia glimpsed Aiden’s easy grin in the dim light. The adrenaline and headiness from spent fear and relief were slamming through her veins. All of a sudden, she was blazing mad clear through. He seemed completely oblivious to the danger they had been in. Well, of course, danger was his profession, she fumed, but still he could at least have looked a little worried. Anything could have happened! That poor police officer, who had just been doing his job, could have been taken out by a fictional action hero! That would have been one for the books! It wasn’t something that could have been explained away, either, and since the cop had been standing there with her license in his hand, it would have been a good bet that questions would have come knocking on her door. Naturally, Aiden wouldn’t have taken that into consideration! All he had to do was climb back into the movie, along with Caesar, his trusty sidekick.
Mia was still steamed, but her mad was underpinned with anxiety. Being stopped by the cop had taken time. Aiden had said he and Caesar had just an hour’s window to get back to the theater. She wondered what happened after that magic hour was up—maybe the squad on the other side just melted into cinematic goo! Maybe being stopped by the cop had run them so off schedule that the feature would be over too soon, and Aiden and Caesar wouldn’t be able to get back. Then she would have both of them camped out at her place. Oh, wouldn’t that be a swell party! Gun parts scattered all over the place and no privacy with Aiden!
Above all, Mia simply just didn’t want to go home. She hadn’t wanted to come back out of the movie at all. Now that she was back to the real world, she didn’t want Aiden to rush off. She desperately wanted to make love to him again, but with his fast-approaching deadline there wasn’t going to be time. He’d leave her, and she would be alone again, just her and…Mia ground her teeth.
* * * *
“I’m thinking about getting a cat!”
“What?” Aiden stared over at Mia. He was confused by the non-sequitur. He shook his head. She had never said anything about getting a pet before, and why she chose now of all times to talk about it, he didn’t understand.
“Yep, a nice…cuddly…cat!”
Aiden started to ask, but then he changed his mind. The snappish quality in her voice warned him off. He carefully shifted in the seat, trying not to draw her attention. He’d learned to trust his finely-honed instincts. A wise man knew when to cut his losses. He’d just chalk the cat thing up to the mysterious workings of the female mind.
It didn’t take many minutes longer before they had reached Mia’s apartment building. In front of it there was a scattering of parked vehicles. Here and there, light glimmered from behind curtained windows. Mia parked the car, and as they got out of it, Aiden could hear the faint, muffled-sounding heavy beat of music from somewhere. It was all so familiar and almost like he was coming home. Despite the dismal reason for his assignment, Aiden felt something coiled inside of him relax.
Mia unlocked her apartment door. She flicked on the light switch and stepped back, so that he could go in first to do a sweep. “Déjà vu,” she said quietly.
Aiden stepped inside. He was aware when Mia followed him in and shut the door. The air had a slightly stale taste, as though the place hadn’t been opened up in a while. That was a good sign. The blackout curtains were still in place. He checked through the front end of the small apartment and moved down the hall. It didn’t appear to his experienced eyes that anything had been touched or tampered with. Good. She probably hasn’t been compromised by her association with me, then.
It was hard to ignore the bittersweet feeling of homecoming. He lingered in the bathroom, running a finger down the pretty shower curtain. He caught the lingering scent of Mia’s shampoo. A nostalgic smile touched his face as he remembered that first night. Exhausted, hurting—Mia stitching him up. She hadn’t cut him any slack. She had impressed the hell out him.
He stopped again in the bedroom. He couldn’t tear his gaze from the neatly made bed as a kaleidoscope of impressions tumbled through his mind. Mia’s face in the throes of orgasm…her laughter…the knowing feel of her hands on his heated body.
Aiden bit off a low curse. Shaking free of the erotic images, he abruptly turned on his booted heel and returned to the living room, where Mia had opted to wait for him. She was standing in front of the closed door, her arms crossed, which did nice things for her bosom.
He thoroughly approved of how nicely her generous breasts were plumped up. However, the saddened expression in her big brown eyes tugged at his heart, so he didn’t dwell too long on her delectable rack. “Mia—”
He slung his weapon over his shoulder and reached up a hand to her face. He curved his fingers over her delicate skin. My sweet, sweet woman.
She let him caress her soft cheek, before turning her head and pressing her lips into the center of his toughened palm. He felt the firm pillow-warmth, and it affected him clear down to his toes and back again and ended in his groin. His blood rushed through his veins. He felt as though he had been punched lightly in the stomach, and he sucked in an unsteady breath. Her words came to him on a thread of air. “It’s time to go, Aiden.”
“Yeah.” Aiden felt emotion threatening to clog him up. He was keenly aware of his semihard state. He knew there was no time. Yet as much as he wanted to make love to Mia, there was so much more he wanted—things he wanted to say to her. But it was like the words were tumbling around behind a huge dam. And he wasn’t able to break through it. Defeated, he cleared his throat. “You be safe.”
“Me? Me? You’re the crazy one! You and Caesar, the big dumb heroes!”
Mia started poking her finger in his chest, which always amused him. Feisty little wench. God, I love the way her eyes sparkle! Even now, when he felt like all kinds of low, she was lifting his spirits. He felt his lips twitch up.
She was scowling at him. She poked him again, harder. “I’m going to be listening to the news! I don’t want to hear anything about murder-and-mayhem or armed car chases or anything else, do you hear? And I do not want to see your sorry behinds in my hospital!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Aiden felt such a stir of tenderness toward her that he could scarcely bear it. His instinct was screaming at him to grab her into his arms. He was afraid if he did he wouldn’t be able to leave her. So instead, he leaned forward and, without touching her anywhere else, kissed her gently. Their lips clung together for an incredible moment, so packed with passion and sweetness.
Roberts, Sarah - Action Hero Junkie [Movieland] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 8