Page 71 of Hot Pursuit

Nate lifted his shoulder, holding the phone against his ear as he pulled on his shoes, cutting a glance to the clock again. He was wasting time. Jo had left fifteen minutes ago. Was he delaying on purpose? Was he giving her a head start? Was there a reason his throat was tightening on the words trying to force their way up, the ones that might see her in handcuffs before the night was through?

“A Degas,” he finally blurted.

“A what now?”

“Degas! A Degas!”What the hell was that guy’s first name?Nate shook his head. “The painter. The artist.”

“The ballerina guy?”

“Yes!” Nate yelled triumphantly. “Degas. There was a Degas in the townhouse. Right up Robert Carter’s alley.”

“Shit,” Leo muttered under his breath. “How did we miss that?”

“Maybe it was a family heirloom or something, passed down through a will. They must’ve just brought it in from another location because it wasn’t there during recon. Either way, we didn’t dig as deeply as we should’ve. Because that’s what Jo and Ryder are after. I’m sure of it.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll wake everyone up. I’ll call the guys on watch. I’ll—”

The line went dead.

Not off, just completely silent.

An unnerving sort of quiet.

And then Leo whispered, “What are we going to tell everyone?”

Nate stood and rubbed his palm over his face. He knew exactly what Leo meant. And he was forever grateful for his partner’s loyalty. His trust. “I’m not going to ask you to lie for me, Leo.”

“Parker—”

“Leo—”

“Parker—”

“Leo—” A knock on his hotel door cut him off. “Someone’s here. Hold on.”

He crossed the room in an instant and took a deep breath, hope a painful thing in his chest as he hovered on the edge, one step from falling. It wasn’t her. She was long gone. She left. It wasn’t. But…

Nate opened the door.

Leo stood with his arms crossed, a hard look in his eyes. Before Nate had time to process the painful pang in his chest, his partner stormed into the room and shut the door behind them. “You left the townhouse with Jo. She yanked your comm out and tried to make a run for it. You followed her, but you couldn’t tell anyone because your phone was in your room and your comm was dead. You didn’t want to lose the trail, so you staked out her hotel, working off a hunch about the Degas, and when you saw her leave, you came back here and woke me up. That’s what we tell everyone. And I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

Nate’s shoulders slumped as he let out a breath he’d been holding. “I can’t ask you—”

“You’re not asking,” Leo interrupted as he flicked on the lights and took a fresh comm set out of his pocket. “You broke one rule in your entire life, Parker. And I’m not losing my partner because of it.”

Nate slipped the earpiece into place but paused before running the mic through his sleeve. “I broke a pretty big rule, Leo.”

His partner dipped his chin and tossed Nate a pointed stare. “Who wouldn’t break that rule for a night with Jolene Carter?” And then he arched a brow, the move inherently laced with humor. “Now, come on. We don’t have any more time to waste.”

Nate sighed.

A night with Jolene Carter.

Was that all it was?

All it would ever be?

The very idea made his heart skip a beat. Not in the good way. In the way that felt as if a hand had shoved beneath his skin and a fist had wrapped around his insides, squeezing so tight, so rigid, there was no room to move. His chest burned, throbbing so painfully he couldn’t breathe.