Page 38 of Defending You

“It’s just, if we made it to the plane…” She blinked up at him.

He didn’t say the obvious, that the problem lay in that small word.If.

If they hadn’t been tracked, they wouldn’t be in this situation, but theyhadbeen tracked. And like at the train station the night before, Asher doubted these four were the only ones looking for them.

Likely, more enemies were on the road, ready to ambush them if they got anywhere near Hanscom.

Cici and Asher were moving again when distant sirens told him somebody had reported the fire. He hoped it wouldn’t be hard to put out, that it hadn’t done too much damage.

Why not add arson to the growing list of charges against him?

At least a mile from the burning barn, he slowed to a more comfortable pace. No sense in either one of them falling and getting injured. “We have to get another car.”

Her green eyes glistened with frustration. “We’re driving?” Though she didn’t cry, emotion overflowed in her words.

“I’m doing my best,” he snapped, then felt immediately guilty. Danger wasn’t her life, her world. He felt alive in these situations. Competent and strong.

She was clearly terrified, and for good reason.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “I wish we could hitch a luxury ride with your boyfriend, but that’s off the table now.”

“What are you talking about, my boyfriend?”

“Derrick? The guy who owns the jet? Is that not…?” He realized he’d jumped to conclusions. Again. “It belongs to somebody you know, right?”

“Derrick is my cousin. He’s a pilot, owns a charter business.”

“Oh.” Asher’s stupid heart did an equally stupid little jig, as if that were the best news it’d heard all year. “Well, anyway. I wish we could take his plane, I really do.” But they’d been found, again. Obviously, their enemies had known their destination.

Which made no sense, unless…

The answer seemed obvious.

There had to be a leak in Forbes’s operation. That was the only option.

Someone working for Forbes was also working for the bad guys.

It ticked Asher off that he had no idea who the enemies were, a fact he needed to remedy ASAP.

He scanned between the trees for buildings or the glint of a vehicle. “We’ll locate another car.”

“Steal, you mean.” She didn’t bother to hide the censure in her voice.

“Open to suggestions, Cici. So far, all you’ve offered is criticism.”

“I didn’t mean… I’m just saying…”

He gave her a few moments to finish her thought, but apparently, she had no decent defense.

Though her purse had a strap, which she’d slung over her shoulder, she clutched the bag in front of her as if afraid it might blow away. “You’re right. You know what you’re doing. Whatever you think.”

That was a nice change. “Just keep up.”

Asher moved on. He needed to unravel this mystery, but first, he had to get them out of this alive. One skill at a time, one mile at a time, until they were free of this mess.

Asher’s boots sank into the squishy earth, the dense canopy overhead blotting out most of the midday sun. The ground was marshy, the air thick with the sounds of birds and insects and frogs, the scents of sweet wildflowers and bitter water.

They’d entered a nature reserve south of a ritzy neighborhood. He’d vetoed cutting through those manicured streets—too many Ring cameras, too many security systems itching to catch a glimpse of a guy in tactical black and a woman toting a purse stuffed with a million-dollar necklace.