Page 56 of An Epic Voyage

“It was in my bag.”Inside a compartment he’d never be able to find if he didn’t know about it.Still, she taunted, “You missed it, big guy.”

He ignored her insult.“What did you put in my drink?”

“Absolutely nothing,” she said with certainty.

“It was the lipstick,” he realized.

“Gloss.”

“What?”

“It was lip gloss, not lipstick.”

“Okay, I’m done playing games.You have thirty seconds to tell me what you were doing.”

“Or what?”she challenged.“You’ll shoot me?”

“Something like that.”

She glanced around.“It’s a lovely space.I was getting ideas for my own panic room.I thought I’d install it—”

“Stop right now.”

He barked the words so forcefully, Indy almost took a step back.

“Itrustedyou.”

She shook her head, hating that it had come to this.“That was your first mistake.Now, back up slowly.”

“I hate to tell you, but you’re not in charge here.Put your weapon down.”

“You first.”

He glared at her, and she mourned the loss of the desire she’d seen there earlier.Ah, well, it couldn’t have gone anywhere, anyway.“We’re obviously not going to shoot each other.Then we’d have to live with the stench of a rotting corpse for however long it takes for the hurricane to pass.We do it at the same time.”

“Yeah, but here’s the problem.I don’t think you’ll do it.You just told me not to trust you.”

She had, hadn’t she?In the spirit of goodwill, she lowered her SIG and placed it on the table.Indy breathed a sigh of relief when he did the same.Then he reached behind him.Indigo didn’t think, she reacted, plowing into him like a charging bull.

Griffin grunted as they crashed to the floor.Indy employed every Jiu-Jitsu, Krav Maga, and wrestling technique in her arsenal.Griffin was strong and obviously skilled, but she’d trained with Jackson Rushing.They rolled around on the ground, bumping into furniture and knocking over tables.Every time she thought she had him, he’d break the hold and take over.Indy’s muscles screamed in protest as they grappled for a good ten, maybe fifteen, minutes.Both were sweating and breathing heavily.

Time to go for the kill.

She employed her signature move: locking her legs around his head and squeezing him unconscious.Suddenly, she was flying through the air, landing hard on her stomach.Griffin pounced on top of her, and any trace amount of breath she had left whooshed from her lungs.

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Griffin had no ideawho Indigo Adair was, but she was expertly trained.He’d held back at first, not wanting to harm her, but she’d just come at him harder.He was going to be sore and bruised from the hits and kicks she was landing.

This could go on forever, and damn it, he didn’t trust her, but he didn’t want to injure her, either.The way this was going, one of them was going to end up getting hurt.When she came at him with her legs, he made his move, flipping her and diving on top.He winced when she gasped for breath, but he hardened his heart.

While she struggled to breathe, he rolled her over, jerked her hands together, and slapped flex cuffs around her wrists.

“Are you freaking kidding me?”she hissed.

Griffin ignored the litany of curses and pulled her to her feet.

“Why are you going around carrying zip ties with you?Did you plan on tying me up naked and having your way with me?See, that’s why I was carrying a gun.”