Page 81 of The Vigilante's Lover

Sam nudges me. He’s ended his call. Paulson drives at full speed, flashing by traffic on an interstate now, trying to make good time to D.C.

“What’s got you all wrapped up?” Sam asks. “The woman?”

I grunt. “I was just remembering that slave trade bust where I met Jovana.”

“She should not have made it out alive from that,” he says. “You guys blew up the whole club in the end. Your Phase Threes got the women out of the bunkers, but Jovana wasn’t with them.”

“Obviously, she was a trained operative from the start,” I say.

“Obviously, she was only there to meet you.”

We’re drawing the same conclusion. In the year I sat in prison, I reviewed all that I knew about her. She hadn’t behaved like I would have expected a slave to during that first meeting. And she hadn’t been rescued by any of my people in the ensuing chaos.

But she turned up again, not two days later.

“I guess I was supposed to carry her out of there with a background of fire,” I say bitterly. “But she found me anyway. Her plan resumed.”

“So you think Sutherland hired her early on?” Sam asks.

“No doubt. I just don’t know why I was a target.” I watch the landscape whiz by. We are probably only an hour outside D.C. at this point.

“We can ask Sutherland when we see him,” Sam says. “That will be a friendly chat.”

“Who called on your Blackphone?” I ask. “You have more people assembled?”

“Colette,” he says. “She found Mia.”

My voice explodes in the car. “What? Where is she?”

Sam frowns. “Colette’s handling it.”

“No,” I insist, bringing my tone down. “I will handle it. Where is she?”

“Headed toward D.C., same as us.”

“Who is she with?”

Sam fiddles with his phone.

“Sam. Who is she with?”

“The mission is more important than the girl right now,” Sam says.

“I decide that. Not you.”

Sam sighs. “You’re always going off half-cocked.”

“Bullshit. I’m never half-cocked.”

He shakes his head. “We’ll find her in D.C.”

“That’s not good enough for me.” I want her now. I need to see her now. I don’t think I even care about the mission anymore. Mia was right back in Nashville. This isn’t worth it.

She is what’s worth it.

“You’re going to have to wait, bro,” Paulson says from the front seat. “Put your dick away.”

I’ve had enough of this asshole. In less than a second, I’ve whipped off my T-shirt and wrapped it around his neck. “Do not go around disrespecting the ladies,” I hiss in his ear.

“Engage auto-drive,” Sam barks at the car, which has already veered into a new lane.

Paulson clutches at the shirt. I know if he has any training at all, he can tear it away. That wasn’t my point. Now that the car has to calculate with traffic, it slows down to a speed that is barely over the legal limit.

“We need to get back on track to get to D.C.,” Sam says. “Let the asshole go.”

I have no intention of doing that. I want control of this car, or out of it. I need to find out who has Mia and extricate her before any more harm can come to her.

A green sign for the Potomac River whips by. I can see the stretch of blue ahead. We’re about to cross it via a bridge on the interstate.

And I make my choice.

Before anyone can notice my actions, I tie the shirt around the headrest, snatch the Blackphone from Sam, and open the car door.

Paulson tries futilely to lock the car down, but I’m on the roof before he can untangle himself from my shirt.

I stand, feeling the wind whip around me.

If he goes into high speed with me up here, I’m a goner.

But the river approaches fast, and without a second thought, I leap from the roof of the car as we go over the bridge.

I can only hope there’s enough water in the river to handle this dive.