Bane (12 page)

Stopping, I kneeled down while Bane faced the entrance patiently waiting for me. The hotel was quiet and I felt like people were staring. As I stood, Bane put his hand at my elbow. “I forgot my cell phone. I need to grab it. Do you mind hopping in the passenger side while I make a quick phone call? Then, we’ll get everything sorted.”

The edge to Bane was different, like he was preparing for something.

“Of course, not a problem.”

The cool air greeted us as we came back outside. The valet was in the driver’s seat. I thought Bane asked him to leave it. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled in apprehension. Bane casually raised his hand, halting the valet’s movement. “I need to get my cell phone before you move it.”

The valet looked behind him nervously then nodded quickly—too quickly. “Yes, sir.”

Following Bane’s advice, I got in the passenger side. Casually, Bane got in and his aviator glasses were still in place. The car was off. As Bane glanced around the area, I noticed his other hand pushed something on the underside of the steering column. The SUV roared to life. Without missing a beat, he shifted the car into gear, shooting out of the drive as his tires squealed.

“Buckle up, Maren.”

The steely command had adrenaline pulsating through me. A larger truck came out of the drive at the same speed.

“What’s going on?” The car shifted hard to the right, avoiding a stoplight.

Bane’s voice became hard. “Buckle up, Maren! I need you to listen to everything I say and do it.”

Fumbling with the buckle, I managed to get it fastened. The vehicle sped faster. The truck behind us followed Bane’s every move. Out of fear, I grabbed the door handle. The car darted in and out traffic at an alarming rate. Bane shot to the left causing my right shoulder to hit the door.

Frozen in fear, I prayed I survived this.

MOTHERFUCKER.

The first thing I needed was to get us somewhere safe. I wasn’t sure who, but somehow either Maren or I had a target on our back. And I assumed the target was on the latter. Shit! This was why I should have never entertained anything with Maren. The hotel implied Maren meant more than my normal occasional fucks.

I had to keep Maren safe. History repeating itself wasn’t an option.

The unmarked truck I’d noticed as we pulled into the hotel kept up and anticipated my next maneuver. The familiar charge I always had when entering combat rolled through me as I became acutely aware of all my surroundings, seeing if anything in my environment could be of use to take this bastard out.

Whoever followed us had training. Glancing to Maren, I knew she was terrified as she white-knuckle clutched the door frame. Once I got us somewhere, I’d explain what I could. She didn’t know it, but life as she knew it was over. What the fuck had I been thinking? A month escape. Of course, that would be when the enemy would strike.

Keeping Maren safe was my objective.

After years of training, my heart rate stayed even. An opportunity presented itself that would keep this asshole away for a bit. Up ahead a trailer rig was about to block the entire road. I pressed the accelerator more, revving the engine and speeding up to a dangerous rate. It would be tight, but we’d squeeze through. Normal human reaction would cause the rig driver to automatically stop.

Maren screamed. “Bane, the truck!”

Not responding, I needed my full concentration as men for the crew were waving at me wildly to stop. I didn’t. Positioning my car, I pushed the gas harder. The space was tighter than I’d assumed and the maximum momentum would be needed to clear the area. Otherwise, we’d be stuck—sitting ducks. Bracing myself, I held the steering wheel on course and pushed the vehicle to the max.

Metal scraping, as if someone screamed, sounded along the length of the vehicle, taking the side mirrors off. Our speed decelerated and I hoped we could push through. The teeth-clenching protest ended as we cleared the area and I let out all of the air I had been holding in.

Thank fuck.

In the rearview mirror, the unknown vehicle screeched to a halt not able to clear the opening. I jerked the wheel right to take a side road. With the vehicle badly damaged, we’d become easily recognizable. Backroads were the best option as I made our way to a safe house I had in the city. No one knew about it. It’d buy us some time while I figured out what happened.

Then, I’d hunt every motherfucker down who was involved. The familiar fire within me burned. To be safe, tomorrow we’d relocate somewhere else. I didn’t want to be too far away from the fight unless I had to be. There was a more remote location in Colorado I owned that would buy us however much time we needed.

Seeing Maren huddled in the passenger seat, shaking, I felt like an asshole for not communicating to her. But, this was war and I knew what it took to survive. “Maren, I’m taking us somewhere safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Eyes wide, Maren nodded. “O-o-kay.”

There were no signs of pursuit which told me that this afternoon hadn’t been planned. Something happened to make them jump the gun.
Frankie.
He was the only answer I could think of. Ten minutes later, I pressed the door opener to the garage in the alley filled with garbage.

From the outside, the place looked like a dump. Inside though was our refuge and supplies. “Bane, where are we?”

Maren leaned up looking through the window while she took in the practical industrial-like space. “In my safe house. We’ll need supplies. We can stay here for the night.”

Parking the car, I shut the garage door. First, I needed to secure the perimeter and see what else I could find as I got out of the vehicle. The control pad to the left of the garage illuminated as I punched in the code and the heavy locks engaged, echoing through the room as the security system went online.

Turning, Maren stood in front of me. She shook and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. I was an asshole for getting involved with her.

“Bane, please tell me what’s going on. Why do you need a safe house?”

I grabbed her hand. “I need to check some things and then we’ll talk. I have a limited window to get some answers.”

The people after us were probably scrambling to find us which meant their attention was divided. I needed to take advantage of that distraction.

Along the wall, a computer with several monitors sat. Maren held my hand as we walked to the desk. As I hit switches along the panel, the fifteen screens came to life. Cameras were around the building and I was remotely plugged into my house.

Maren pointed to one of the screens seeming to calm some. There was no doubt she was a fighter—a survivor. “Is that your house?”

I sat in the chair and opened my arms for Maren to come. Her presence was a soothing balm. But, I knew I wanted to touch her to keep her calm—or that’s what I told myself. There was only a slight hesitation as she came to me. Fuck! I deserved that, but I didn’t want Maren to be scared of me.

“Yes, that’s my place in town.” The screens rotated through the different rooms in my house.

Studying the screen, Maren asked, “How long have you lived there?”

“About four years.”

“Oh.” I knew she thought the place was sparse with only the essentials.

Rigid, Maren barely sat on my knee. “Bane, why would you need a safe house? Are you a spy?”

Pausing, I rubbed my hand over my scalp deciding how much I wanted to tell Maren about my past. The answer—not much. “Long ago, I worked for a branch of the government. It’s been six years since I left when I finished my term.”

She relaxed. We were making progress. “What happened today? It started with Jewel’s phone call, didn’t it? And Frankie’s visit?”

My angel was perceptive. How much did I share of what happened today? There was a fine line. Too much information only made Maren a larger asset if she was caught. When someone knew too much, they were eliminated or used to get results. But when someone was tied to me, they were already in too deep. I wanted Maren to know what she was involved with, hoping it would keep her listening to me and … safe.

Confirming, I asked, “Yes, are you sure you want to know?”

Taking her eyes off of the screen, she searched mine, imploring. “Bane, I don’t like secrets. My brother has been keeping them from me all these years. I want to know. I can handle it. I promise.”

Maren shifted farther in my lap, letting me know that we were getting back to where we were. “I confirmed something was going on when I called Jewel. When I initially asked for you, they gave me a rule book I read. Frankie showing up wasn’t protocol for Discrete Encounters. If someone goes missing, the dating service comes first to the location with their personal security. It keeps the anonymity of the client who is their main concern. When I called Jewel, she stuttered to get her story straight. I think Frankie’s visit was unexpected. If someone heard us, I didn’t want them alerted. I simply agreed and ended the conversation. That’s why I went to Security Branch.”

Giving Maren some time to digest the story, I paused, letting her lead the inquiry. “Where were we going to go beforehand?”

My hand caressed her hip and she scooted further back into me. The speed of her pulse reduced as I inconspicuously watched the vein in her neck. “Before I talked to Jewel, I’d planned on us going out to eat. I figured we’d go to dinner, check into another hotel room. Tomorrow while you were at work, I was going to change hotels.”

Maren didn’t comment on my last comment, but refocused the conversation. I wanted her to at least acknowledge it. “What happened when you got to Security Branch?”

“Since they’re redoing Discrete Encounters security system, I used one of the tech’s computers who was gone to log on. I was lucky he wasn’t there. Our records were deleted from the mainframe, effectively eliminating a paper trail. As I was about to leave, an alert came through on my phone telling me someone cut the security-specific power to my house, which would have left me unknowing. A few months back, I’d installed a backup. No one came in, but I logged in remotely and wiped all my computers in case he did manage to get through the security.”

Maren’s hand absentmindedly drifted to my hand on her hip as she rubbed soothing circles. Hell I wanted inside her, but I needed to get a handle on things first. Then, we’d fuck. “What was in the backpack you came back out with from Security Branch?”

“A laptop, a gun, some ammo, money, and a few other devices. If we weren’t able to get away, I needed some essentials.” Maren slightly stiffened at the word gun.

I wasn’t sure what Maren’s limit was at this point, so I would let her keep prompting the conversation. “What happened at the hotel? Why’d we go back?”

Gathering my thoughts, I responded, “I needed to make sure I was right before I disappeared with you. I hoped to draw them out to see who we were dealing with. I knew they wouldn’t make a scene in the hotel lobby. Too many cameras, too many witnesses, too many variables. As long as you and I appeared normal, they would have no reason to take us ahead of time until we were somewhere less open.”

Maren flexed her feet as she thought for a second and introspectively said, “My shoe coming untied wasn’t an accident.”

“No, I did that. While you were tying your shoe, I caught a man in the reflection of the sign ducking behind it. I gave them no reason to think I was on to them as I asked to get my cell phone from my car.”

Maren grew quiet as she watched the screens. I needed to be researching, but having her collected and not panicked would help me keep her safe. A slight hum filled the silence from the computers. Any moment now, I expected whoever was after me would be going back to my place to do a more thorough search.

“How long before we leave here?”

“We’ll leave tomorrow after we get some sleep. In the next garage over, I have another car we’ll use. Before we make our next move, I want to see if we can get any leads.” The fact was, people got themselves killed by reacting and not assessing. If we instantly went somewhere else without any intel, we could be going straight into the lion’s den. I avoided rash decisions whenever possible.