Page 42 of The Vigilante's Lover
I’m just inside the Tennessee state line when Sam patches through on an encrypted channel.
“Don’t tell me. You need a cinnamon roll,” I say.
Sam doesn’t laugh.
“This’ll be quick since I have to cover my tracks,” he says. “You need to head to Alpine, Tennessee. Pronto. Mia is waiting for you.”
“What? Mia?” My hackles rise.
“She was attacked by a man with a German accent.”
“Klaus?”
Sam nods. “Possibly. Apparently she tied him up. She also stole an Aston Martin from the guy.”
“My car?”
“That’s what Armond says. He got a visual during the transmission. When Mia couldn’t find you, she contacted him. Smart lady. Okay, I’m out. Get to her, Jax. They’re on to her.”
He kills the transmission.
Holy hell. Mia is in the game.
This is an incredible betrayal by Klaus.
My fury is hard to contain that someone who once worked so closely with me is now in league with Jovana. If I hadn’t seen all the evidence myself, I would never have believed it.
There’s something larger at play here. More than Jovana getting me out of the way to protect her father’s criminal network. My mistake in killing Singer for her is part of a bigger plot. I aim to find out what it is, but not until I know Mia is secure.
I’m doing a shit job convincing myself I only care about her safety. I haven’t stopped thinking about her since she took off down that drive back in Missouri.
But I was right to let her go then.
Just like it’s right to meet up with her now.
It’s eighty-five miles from where I am to Alpine, which is more of a community than a town.
I probably shouldn’t call attention to myself, but now that Sam has wiped this car, I decide, screw it, and plug into semi-stealth at high speeds.
Without Vigilante status, I don’t have the luxury of blatantly ignoring civilian safety laws, but this car can repel standard-issue speed monitoring easily enough.
Mia has shown more pluck than I gave her credit for. Tying up a Vigilante and stealing his car? Who does that? As a silo director, I rarely saw trainees come through with that level of tenacity. Hell, I rarely saw full-fledged Vigilantes take that level of risk.
Other than my team. Sam. Colette. And back in the day, Klaus.
If I have his car, I can get to Jovana for sure. The data inside it will lead me directly to her. His driving history. The identities of people who rode in it.
I want that car. It used to be mine, until I got sent to Ridley. Klaus kept it.
Supposedly for me.
As the car hurtles along the freeway, I keep telling myself this is why I’m headed Mia’s way. My car.
The town is in the middle of nowhere. Population 496. It’s the middle of the night now and hardly anything but freight trucks are on the road.
The Aston Martin should be easy to spot.
The town is silent and still as a morgue. I cruise along the highway and pull up to the blinking red light. Mia sure chose a fitting location. She’s a country girl through and through.
Ahead is a convenience store, probably the only establishment in the whole town that’s open. I scan for my car, but the only vehicle in the crumbling parking lot is a battered Volvo.
Where is she?
I pass by a string of storefronts on what might once have been a bustling square. Just on the other side I see another building with the lights on. A diner. I glance at the clock on the dash. 2 a.m. Must be an all-nighter for truck drivers. Two big rigs are taking up a line of parking spots.
I roll past them and there it is, my sleek little silver Aston Martin. Klaus better not have put a scratch on it.
The diner has broad windows showing the interior. Difficult to defend. But a quick glance tells me Mia isn’t inside. You can see every booth and stool.
I pull up next to the car. Satisfaction courses through me just looking at it. She will be mine again.
It, I correct myself. The car.
Not the girl.
I walk up to it. The windows are fitted with false blackout screens that make it appear you can see inside even though you can’t. I tap on the glass, knowing I am breaking the security grid.
I can’t see the red alarm or hear the warning, but the door flies open and Mia shoots out of the car like an arrow.
She stares at it a minute like it’s possessed. She wears flannel pajamas and a pair of men’s shoes that are way too large for her. I have to squelch the urge to take her in my arms. She looks lost and frightened.
“Sorry,” I say.
She freezes, stands up straight, and touches her wild loose hair before she turns around.
Her face is calm now. “Jax,” she says. “You came.” Either she’s hiding her emotions or it’s no big thing to her that I showed up.
I’m not sure what sort of welcome I expected. Hysterics, I suppose. Throwing herself at me. She had been so insistent that I keep her before.
I stuff down any disappointment at her nonchalance. “You called.”
“The car is yelling at me,” she says.
This makes me laugh. “I set off the alarm.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders relax. “I thought I’d broken something.”
“What were you doing?”
She lifts her arm and shows me a Vigilante watch a lot like the one that was confiscated from me at the silo. “I was punching all the buttons.”
I take the watch off her wrist. “Do you always act this impulsively?”
Her eyes flick to the ground. “I had nothing to do while I waited for you, and no idea how long you’d be. You didn’t contact me.”
“You had the car in stealth. You couldn’t receive transmissions.”
“Oh.”
I lean inside the car with the watch and press the all-clear. The interior light stops pulsing and the feminine voice silences its concerned intonations.
“It’s a nice car,” she says.
“It used to be mine.”
“Really?” She glances back at it. “I like it.”
Too many of the buttons on her pajama top are undone and my groin tightens. “Aren’t you cold?” I ask. “You always seem to be out in your sleepwear.”’
She glances down, notices the buttons, and frantically begins to fasten them. “I didn’t exactly have time to change after I escaped from that man in my bedroom.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Bedroom?” Sam hadn’t mentioned this.
Her cheeks bloom pink. “He tied me to the posts like you did. Are all Vigilantes this kinky?”
My gaze slides down to the top, now buttoned to the neck. I imagine Klaus unfastening them and a rage burns in my belly. “What else did Klaus do?”
Her face changes. “Klaus? So he isn’t dead.”
“The reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated.” I take her arm and drag her to the other side of the Aston Martin. “Get in,” I say and open her door.
She ducks inside, scooting aside a quilt filled with all sorts of Vigilante tech. “Where did you get that?” I ask.
Her face beams up at me, all innocence. “I stole it.”
Picturing her rooting through Klaus’s clothes on the floor beside her bed sends another shot of fury through me. I slam the door and go around to the driver’s side.
I take a few seconds to restore my driving status in the computer and relegate Klaus to a guest driver so I can retain his data. Then we jet out of the parking lot.
“Where are we going?” Mia asks. She’s bubbly and exuberant, like we’re on some sort of vacation jaunt.
I spot a motel ahead. The office is dark. That’s fine. I don’t need their pathetic keys. I’ve got Mia back under my protection and I will not allow Klaus or anyone else to do anything to her.
The car banks hard to the right as I jerk the wheel to circle around to the back side of the building. There were only two cars out front, and back here, there are none.
“Here?” she asks. I hear a small tremor in her voice.
I stop the car. My break-in kit is tucked in the door pocket just like I left it a year ago.
The back side of the motel has four rooms. I choose the second door. It’s locked with a simple deadbolt that I open with a strong magnet as if I were flipping it by hand on the other side.
Mia jumps out of the car, all energy and excitement. “Is this where we’re going to make a plan?” She looks around. “Are Sam and Colette coming? Have you ridden in her car? It goes over water!”
The door isn’t closed more than a second when I snatch her hand and jerk her toward me. “Shut up, Mia,” I say. And before I can contemplate my next move myself, I’ve pulled her into me and my lips are crushing hers.