Page 10 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

L iam tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he glanced up the dirt lane. It went against all his years of military training to turn his back on the enemy and leave him to fight another day, but her father had only hired him to find her and bring her home.

“If we leave now, we’re going to the police. You need to file kidnapping charges against him.”

“You’re right, I do, but I want to go home first and find that thumb drive…if I have it, that is. I need to know what’s on it and just what Jasper’s gotten himself into. What if he’s told someone else I have it? Will that person come looking for me, too?”

She was right. If Garrison thought whatever he had was worth a million dollars to someone, it had to be something big.

No offense to the local police, but Hope Corner probably didn’t have much of a police department, certainly not anyone with the experience and knowledge this situation might require.

“Okay,” he said. “Here’s the deal. I’ll take you home, we see if you do have what he’s looking for, and if you do, decide where to go from there.

” He wasn’t going to just drop her off at her home, not knowing what kind of danger she was in.

If it was something she needed to turn over to law enforcement, he’d call his friend in the FBI.

And he’d convince her to report the kidnapping.

“Okay.”

“Good, but first.” He’d noticed the red marks on her wrists when he’d freed her.

“We need to get pictures of your wrists. Visible proof that he chained you up. Should’ve done that before I took the manacles off.

” He clicked on the car’s interior light, then got his phone.

“Hold out your hands.” He seriously wanted to go back inside that cabin and teach the man a lesson.

The most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen peered up at him as he snapped the pictures.

A need to protect her rose in him, a determination to keep her safe so fierce that it surprised even him.

When he finished, he dropped his phone in the cup holder.

Unable to stop himself, he wrapped his fingers around her wrists and gently massaged the bruises.

She closed her eyes, and her sigh went straight to his groin.

Her long hair was a mess, her T-shirt was wrinkled, and exhaustion lined her face, but she was stunning.

He glanced down at her feet, dirty now from walking down the driveway without shoes, and he made a split-second decision.

He was going to take her home with him, where he could keep her safe until the threat to her was over.

He eased her hands down to her lap and forced himself to let go of her. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I’m all for that.” She leaned her head back on the seat. “Oh, I have a rental car at the motel. You don’t have to take me all the way to Savannah. That’s where I live.”

“Yeah, your father told me. He said you stay at his house between assignments.”

“No reason to pay rent when I’m rarely home. He has a big house, so when he is there, we don’t get in each other’s way. He also has a log home in Maggie Valley. That’s a little west of Asheville. He spends a lot of his time there in the summer because it’s cooler. That’s where he is now.”

Her father hadn’t told him that. He picked up his phone and put his finger on it, bringing it to life. He handed it to her. “Call him so he can stop worrying about you.”

She took it from him. “Saying thank you isn’t close to adequate for getting me out of there.”

“It’s enough for me.” He glanced at her and smiled.

As he drove away from the cabin, he listened to Quinn’s end of the conversation with her father.

It was obvious they were close, and a pang of regret bubbled up from the deep hole where he’d buried his hurt at being disowned.

After ten years, he should be over it. Maybe one never got over losing their family.

A few years ago, he’d called his father’s office, hoping his dad was ready to put the past behind them.

“May I tell him who’s calling?” his father’s assistant had said.

“His son.”

She’d put him on hold and less than a minute later come back on the line. “I’m really sorry, but he said he doesn’t have a son.”

And that was that. He’d crushed the ache from missing his family and went on with his life.

“My dad said to tell you thank you, and that he owes you big-time,” Quinn said, handing his phone back.

“I’ll take a dinner with you and your dad as thanks.

” He’d very much like to see her again after this was over.

At least she didn’t live on the other side of the country.

Savannah was only about a four-hour drive from Myrtle Beach.

Not that she was there much, but maybe they could see each other when she was between assignments.

“Deal.”

He almost asked if she could tell him how their fathers knew each other, but he held the question in. That might open the door to her asking questions about his family, and he didn’t want to have to explain why he was dead to his father.

The sun was starting its rise over the mountains, and when he glanced at her and saw she was nodding off, something tender settled in his chest. He wanted to protect her from all the bad in the world, wanted to get to know her, to learn what made her laugh.

He didn’t know what it was about her that called to him, but from the moment he’d seen her photo, he’d been intrigued.

She’d had a rough few days and probably hadn’t slept much.

It had been near dawn when he’d heard her crying, so she likely hadn’t slept last night.

He wished he’d brought a pillow for her to rest her head against. He—

He narrowed his eyes as the headlights of a car racing up behind them appeared in his rearview mirror.

If the car hadn’t been driving that fast, he wouldn’t have thought much of it, but the speed the driver was going was dangerous on these mountain roads.

As it closed in on them, the sun was up enough to see that it was a green Toyota Corolla, the same model and color car that was at the cabin. Damn.

Liam wasn’t worried about outrunning the Toyota.

His BMW could leave the Toyota in the dust, but there was nothing but sharp curves and narrow lanes.

Too much could go wrong taking these roads at high speed.

If the man only followed them, Liam would keep to the speed limit until they came to Hope Corner.

The small police department was on the main drag, and he’d go straight there.

He debated letting Quinn continue to sleep but decided to wake her. Better she be aware and ready if the man decided to get foolish and do something reckless.

“Quinn, wake up.” When she didn’t stir, he put his hand over hers and squeezed. “Quinn, I need you to wake up.”

“Hmm?” She stretched her neck.

“Pretty sure Garrison’s behind us.”

“What?” She shot up and looked back. “Oh, God. What are we going to do?”

“Nothing as long as he doesn’t get stupid.”

“You can count on him doing something stupid.”

As if to prove her point, the bonehead rammed them.

How did he know Quinn was even in the car?

Was he so desperate that he’d take that kind of chance that she might be?

Granted, his was the only car on the road coming from the direction of the cabin and not that far from it, but to risk possibly hurting innocents?

“He’s going to kill us,” Quinn said, fear in her voice.

“Not under my watch.” They were approaching a sharp curve, and Liam slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, trusting the BMW to keep them on the road. And it would have if Garrison hadn’t rammed them again before the BMW could outrun him.

The Toyota caught the end of his car’s left bumper, spinning it out of control.

Tires screeched on the asphalt, the sound of metal against metal filled the car, and the world outside became a blur of trees and pavement.

They passed the last of the guardrail going off the road sideways, and at seeing it was her side that would collide with a massive tree, Liam jerked the steering wheel to the right, barely missing the tree that would have killed her.

Instead, the front wheels sank into the muddy ditch, and the car came to a shuddering stop.

They hadn’t impacted with the tree, so the airbags didn’t deploy.

The sudden silence seemed out of place after the noise of the crash.

Liam took a second to berate himself for not expecting and preparing for Garrison to come after them.

The Toyota passed them, and at the squeal of brakes pressed hard as the car came to a grinding halt above them, Liam threw the BMW in Reverse.

All he got for the effort was spinning tires.

“He’s coming back,” Liam said. “We have to get out of the car.” He released his seat belt, and Quinn did the same.

Garrison was backing up his car. Quinn had said he had a gun, and they didn’t need to sit here and be targets. They only had a few minutes to disappear into the woods. Quinn appeared to be unhurt. He hoped that was the case because he didn’t have time to ask.

“Get out and head for the woods.”

“What about you?”

“No time to talk. Just go. I’ll catch up.

” She did as he’d asked, and after picking up his phone, he exited the car.

He ran to the other side and yanked open the back door.

His weapons bag was on the floor, and he grabbed it, his duffel bag, and was backing away when he noticed her camera case.

He should leave it, but it was her life, so he grabbed it, too.

He disappeared into the tree line just as the Toyota came to a stop. Quinn poked her head around the tree she was hiding behind, relief on her face at seeing him. He jogged to her.

“Give me something to carry,” she said.

“I’m good.” He was impressed by how calm she was, but maybe that was because of her experiences and the time she’d spent in war-torn countries as a photojournalist. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Just my feet, but that’s not from the wreck. I’m good.”

That was the reason he’d grabbed his duffel.

A car door slammed, and he took his bearings.

If he didn’t have her to protect, he’d stay and fight, but he wouldn’t risk her getting caught in the cross fire.

“He’s coming this way, so we need to go.

” As soon as it was safe to stop, he’d take care of her feet. “Stay close to me.”

“I’m your shadow.”

He chuckled. “You’d make a great Marine.”

“Oorah!”

She knew the Marine battle cry? He could only grin at this woman who kept surprising him at every turn. She intrigued him, and he wanted to get to know her better, but first, he had to keep her safe.

This was one mission he wasn’t going to accept anything less than success.