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She scoffed, steadying her aim. “And why’s that?”
“No FBI agent would shoot an unarmed man point blank.”
Shock jolted through her. “How did you––?”
“I’ve got a gift.” His smile was brief, barely a twitch of his lips. “Why’re you tailing Paul?”
She shook her head curtly. “That’s classified.”
“Nice try.” He huffed a laugh.
The sound sent a flutter through her core that she swiftly quashed. No time for that.
She inclined her chin, gaze flinty. “I’m serious.”
His smile widened a fraction, transforming his severe features. “Me, too.”
She sucked in a breath at the sight. Focus, she reminded herself. Butterflies could wait. She steadied her nerves and her aim. “You don’t want to tangle with me. Move along and we can both walk away.”
His eyes glinted in the low light. “Not until you tell me what you want with Paul Ortiz.”
She shrugged, taking care to keep her weapon aimed at the center of his chest. “Guess we’ll be here a while.”
He smiled, another heartfelt, knee-weakening grin. “That’s up to you.”
Before she could respond, he struck, sliding out of range and grabbing her weapon with astonishing speed. It all happened in the space of one breath: the move, the hands on her weapon, the gentle bending back of her wrist until her grip loosened.
Stunned, she rubbed her wrist. “You’re fast.”
“Lots of practice.”
He grabbed her other arm with his free hand. “Let’s go,” he ordered, pulling her back toward the front parking lot. ”Seeing as how this is gonna take a while. It’s probably best we talk somewhere less public.”
She was speechless for a second, furious with herself for letting him get the upper hand. But every second she hesitated, he towed her a couple feet farther, heading straight for the vehicle where her mark waited.
“You don’t want to do this,” she warned. Resisting would only tire her unnecessarily, so she gave in, matching his pace.
“No kidding,” he responded. “I’ll apologize later.”
No one exited the building. Of course. Where was the rowdy, liquored-up after work crowd when she needed them?
They were at the vehicle now. Paul swiveled his head around, eyes wide, mouth agape.
Mason leveled her weapon at her and ordered her into the back seat. Gun still trained on her, he whipped a serious hunting knife from behind his back and leaned in on the passenger side.
Paul’s hand was zip tied to the front grab handle. He jerked against the restraint. “Untie me.”
“Gimme a sec,” Mason insisted. He fixed Avery with a solemn look. “We just want to talk for a minute. Stay calm and quiet, and you’ll be out of here in less than five.”
“Take your time.” Sarcasm thickened her voice. “The longer you take, the easier it’ll be for my people to locate me.”
His dark look morphed into a sweet smile. “I’ll take my chances.”
Careful to keep her gun trained on her, he snipped the zip tie around Paul’s wrist with one quick motion.
“You drive,” he ordered the other man.
Scowling hard, Paul heaved himself out of the vehicle and headed around to the driver’s side.