Hot Pursuit (35 page)

“You, sit down,” he barked at Billy. “And
you, start talking right this instant or I’ll make you wish I had
just put your balls in a vise by the time I’m done with you.”

MATT DROPPED ANCHOR IN A narrow cove and
headed below. Evie’s head was on the table and a soft snore escaped
her. He flicked off the light over her head and pressed eject on
the laptop. He put the CD back in the case and went over to rummage
through the cabinets. When he found what he was looking for, he
ripped off a long strip and pressed it to the case. Then he bent
down and taped the CD beneath the cabinet and behind the sink, as
far and as high as he could go to make it disappear. A glance at
Evie told him she was still sleeping. He ripped off another piece
of duct tape and secured the package.

It probably wasn’t necessary, but too many
years as a covert operator wouldn’t allow him to do only what was
necessary. He went the extra mile because he had to, because it was
as ingrained in him by now as putting on his pants in the morning.
There was something about doing this, something about helping Evie,
that made him think, even if he never went into the field with HOT
again, he’d be all right.

Of course Leavenworth was still hanging over
his head, but he tried not to think too deeply about that
prospect.

He returned to the desk and tapped a few keys
on the laptop, wiping any record of the transmission to Kev. Then
he took the box with the rest of the CDs and stashed them in a
cabinet in the bedroom.

Evie stirred when he returned. Her hair was
mussed, her cheek red where she’d been lying on her arm. She
blinked. “Have we stopped?”

“We’re anchored. I assume you didn’t get any
calls?”

She reached for her phone, checked the
display. “No, nothing. What could’ve happened to Brianna? It’s been
about five hours or so, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s three a.m.”

Evie pushed a hand through her hair, trying
to straighten it. “No wonder I’m tired.” She looked as if she just
remembered something. “Isn’t your sister’s wedding today?”

“Tomorrow, actually. We have time.”

She frowned. “I hope you’re right. If you
miss it, she’ll hate me forever.”

“I’m not missing it. Neither are you.”

In spite of everything, she smiled. He loved
the way her mouth lifted at the corners in a smile he liked to
think was only for him. When he thought about her smiling at David
West like that, or worse, thought of her naked with the guy, he
wanted to punch something.

“I’d like to be there for Chris. She asked so
many people in town, you know. She didn’t have to do that.”

“I want you to go with me.”

One eyebrow rose. “Are you asking me on a
date, Matthew Girard?”

“I am. What do you say, want to go?”

“I’ll think about it.” She looked away,
leaned back against the wall. Oddly, he felt disappointed.

“What happened to that twenty-four hour pass
you were planning to give me? The one where I keep you in bed and
don’t let you out until every last hour has passed?”

She sighed. “It was a nice thought, Matt, but
maybe it’s best if we don’t explore this any further.”

He couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t frigging
believe she was blowing him off. And yet he should have expected
it.
Can’t have things both ways, dude
. “Is this because of
what I said earlier?”

“You said a lot of things earlier.”

“About the job coming first.” He didn’t know
why he’d said it, considering he might not have a job.

She met his gaze then. Her expression was a
mixture of sadness and resignation. “You didn’t say it, I did. You
just agreed.” She sighed. “You broke my heart once before. I think
I’d like to keep it intact this time.”

Pain twisted inside him. “I didn’t know I
broke your heart.”

“You should have.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I should have. I was young
and stupid.” She’d been his friend for so long—his best friend at a
time when he needed her—and then they’d drifted apart as he’d
gotten involved with his friends at Rochambeau High. He’d known, on
a level he hadn’t been willing to admit, how she felt about him.
And he’d been so dangerously close to feeling something similar
that he’d pushed her out of his life as hard as he could.

“You said you’d missed me. I missed you too.”
She sighed. “It almost feels like we’ve never been apart in some
ways.”

“Butch and Sundance ride again.”

She laughed. “Yes, but apparently with real
danger and mayhem this time.” She sobered. “But we’re adults now,
and you’ve made it pretty clear that your job is your priority. So
maybe we should keep being friends, now that we’ve found each other
again, and leave it at that.”

He swallowed his disappointment. “All
right.”

What else could he say? But he didn’t like
it, didn’t like the thought of not kissing her silky skin again, of
not tasting her and driving her crazy with his tongue on her most
sensitive flesh. Of not losing himself inside her and forgetting
who and where he was, even if only for a few moments. Because she
meant something to him, and she made him feel something more than
the emptiness he usually felt. He would never forget his guilt over
Marco and Jim, but she made him feel like it was bearable somehow.
Like there was something redeeming about him after all. She wasn’t
obligated to care for him by family bonds—but she did anyway.

Goddamn it
.

She reached for his hand, squeezed. “Thanks
for understanding.”

But he didn’t understand, not really. He had
a dark urge to haul her into the bedroom and thrust hard into her.
To thrust until she recanted every word she’d just said. Until she
begged him never to leave.

“I
am
leaving my job.” His throat was
thick with the words. But the second they were out, he felt better
somehow.

She looked confused. “Why? I thought you
loved what you did.”

“I do. But I may not have a choice. Probably
don’t have a choice. And not because of this, Evie.”

“Because of what happened when you were
captured.”

He gave a brief nod. “It’s not by
choice.”

He couldn’t believe he’d admitted that, but
somehow it felt right telling her. She gazed up at him with big,
sad eyes. He slid into the seat across from her and she reached for
his hand. He let her take it and squeezed back when she squeezed in
reassurance.

“Our last mission went wrong. I trusted
someone I shouldn’t and we were led into an ambush. Two of my men
died, and the rest of us spent a hellish ten days in captivity
before we managed to get free. I don’t think any of us believed we
were ever coming back.” He sucked in another breath. “I’ll probably
be relieved next week. I have to return for a hearing, but I think
it’s simply a formality. If I’m relieved, my military career is
over. They’ll assign me to a desk for the rest of my commitment. If
I’m lucky,” he added.

She frowned. “I’m sorry, Matt. I know you
love your job, and I know you would never have done anything you
thought would hurt your team or those you were sent to rescue.”

“They blame me. I can’t fault them for it.
Kev was wary, my gut was telling me it was wrong, and my head
wouldn’t listen.”

Surprise etched her features. “I don’t know
how you can say they blame you. You told me earlier that what
you’re doing to help me is against the rules, and yet it’s not just
you. Without your team behind you, we’d have been in big trouble
hours ago. They’ve helped us get this far, and they did it because
you asked.”

She was right, and yet that’d been weighing
on him too. “Kev’s following me down a path that will only lead to
ruin if he’s caught. I hate asking him, and yet I have no
choice.”

Evie’s smile was bittersweet. “You had a
choice. But you’re just wired to assist people who need you. You
can’t help it.”

“Anyone but you and we wouldn’t be sitting
here right now.”

It was the truth. He felt responsible for
her, and not just because of his stupid last act before he’d left
town. He’d always felt responsible for her, from the moment she’d
looked up at him with her freckles and pigtails and followed him
wherever he led her. She’d trusted him and worshiped him and he’d
loved her for it.

Maybe he still loved her for it. His insides
twisted tight. She’d been the only person to ever take him for what
he was, to see beneath the surface and adore him anyway.

But that was long ago, and you couldn’t love
someone because of what you’d meant to each other when you were
children. It didn’t work that way.

“Yes, you would.” Her faith in him was
steadfast and it made him want to drop his head onto his arms and
weep. She reached out and touched his temple, and he thought he
would dissolve at that simple touch. “How’s your head?”

“Better. In fact,” he said, glancing at his
watch to cover his emotional turmoil, “it’s time for another shot
of Tylenol.”

“I’ll get it,” she said when he started to
move. She pushed herself up and went over to the cabinet where the
First Aid kit was located. She brought back the pills and a bottle
of water from the fridge.

Matt shook two pills into his hand and
cracked open the water, gulping both.

“Why don’t you lie down in the bedroom for a
while? You could probably use a nap.”

He shook his head. “No can do. It won’t take
the Kid long, and then we’ll need to make our next move.”

She looked concerned. “So lie down until
then.”

He was adamant. “No. I’ll lean back here.”
His eyes were heavy and gritty. He was accustomed to it in the
field, yet he wasn’t necessarily accustomed to the soft cushioning
of a three-hundred-thousand-dollar yacht beneath his ass while he
waited for the order to go. It would be easy to doze. Too easy. He
jerked himself out of that dreamlike state of pre-sleep and set the
alarm on his phone for fifteen minutes. “Fifteen minutes and then
we’ll decide what to do next if we haven’t heard back from my
team.”

She didn’t look very happy about it, but she
shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

* * *

A gut feeling woke Matt with a start, his
pulse hammering in his ears as he reached for the .45. Evie wasn’t
at the table, and he had no idea how long he’d slept. He grabbed
his phone and checked the alarm. It was off, and right now he
didn’t know whether he’d done it in his sleep or she’d done it
instead.

And he didn’t have time to worry about
it.

He shoved to his feet and lurched toward the
stairs. He’d heard something. Or thought he heard something. A cry?
He emerged into the predawn darkness, his eyes focusing on Evie
standing at the stern, her hands gripping the rail.

A sound in the water shot a spike of
adrenaline through his system. Before he could do anything about
it, someone spoke.

“You get him right now, Evie. You pull
anything, I’ll blow your sister’s brains out, you got that? I want
to see that sonofabitch standing beside you with his hands on his
head.”

Evie turned to call for him, the words dying
as her gaze met his. She looked scared and hopeful all at once.
Goddammit, there was nothing he could do. He knew it in that
instant, that one look. He couldn’t see them, but he knew there was
a man and he had a gun held to Sarah. If Matt stalled for time,
tried to slip into the water and come around behind them, the guy’d
kill somebody. Maybe Sarah, maybe Evie.

Maybe both.

He couldn’t let that happen. He slipped the
gun beneath his T-shirt at the small of his back and stepped
forward, hands on head. An airboat bobbed to the rear of the yacht.
A man and two women stood there, staring up at them. How had he
missed the sound of an airboat engine roaring up in the night? It
wasn’t exactly quiet.

The man had an arm around the neck of one of
the women and what looked like a .357 at her temple. The sky was
just beginning to lighten, but it was hard to mistake the
silhouette of a weapon like that. Jesus Christ, if he shot her
there’d be nothing left for the paramedics to retrieve. It was a
big, brawny weapon and destructive as hell.

“Glad you could join us, Rambo. Bree, get up
there and frisk them both.”

The woman from the docks earlier climbed on
board and leveled a 9 mil at his heart. “Drop it, handsome.”

“Drop what? My pants?” Okay, so he was
fucking pissed. Amateurs, both of them, and they’d gotten the jump
on him. He shouldn’t have closed his eyes for a second. A major
fucking mistake.

“Another time,” she said with a smirk. “I
meant the gun.”

“I’m not armed.” And if he could get his
hands on her, she wouldn’t be either. She just needed to come a
little closer.

She wasn’t buying it and she wasn’t moving.
“Sure you are. One-handed, you get it and drop it on the deck. You
try anything, I’ll blow you into next week.”

“Thanks for the offer, but you aren’t my
type.”

She grabbed Evie by the arm and pressed the
pistol to her jaw. Evie’s eyes went wide, stark terror reflected in
their depths.

He was fucked.

Matt slowly dropped one hand, reached behind
his back, lifted the gun, and tossed it on the deck.

“Kick it here.”

He did. Brianna let Evie go and shoved her
toward him. Matt caught her as she stumbled.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have turned your
alarm off. But you were so tired, and—”

“Too late for apologies, Evie.” His voice was
hard because he was focused on the job, on getting out of this with
all three of them alive.

She recoiled, but he couldn’t take time to
reassure her right now. He needed his mind in a different place.
The kind of place where he wasn’t constantly thinking about what
he’d do if someone shot her, if she died tonight and he couldn’t
save her. He couldn’t risk even a moment of tenderness if it
knocked him off his game.