Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
I’d known sleeping with him was going to be a mistake, but it was even worse than I thought. I had to push that from my mind right now, though, because my focus needed to be on getting us out of this hotel and finding a car no one would associate with us.
“I don’t see anyone else who appears to be involved.” Fox’s voice was flatter than usual and more serious than I’d ever heard it. “Assuming you believe me.”
“I trust you on this.”
“Trust. That’s an interesting word coming from you.”
“We don’t have time to do this right now. Get dressed and get yourself together.”
“We don’t know if they have someone watching the exits.” Fox’s voice was muffled as he pulled his shirt over his head. “We don’t know if they’ve identified our car, but we have to assume they followed us here.”
“I’ve already thought of that. I have plenty of experience evading assholes who are after me.”
He scowled at me as he finished dressing. “We’ll need a new car.”
“Obviously. I also have experience with this. Remember, Xavier hired me to keep your stupid ass alive.”
Fox rubbed his head like he had a headache coming on. He probably did. I sure as hell had one. “I don’t want to argue with you about this. I just want to get out of here.”
“Then don’t argue. I have a plan, and we’re going to follow it.”
He ignored me as he shoved his gun into his waistband at his back and strapped on an ankle holster for a second weapon.
I continued as if he’d agreed to follow my plan. “We’ll go down the stairs at the end of the hall and exit through the fire door, setting off the alarm and causing chaos. Then we’ll run to the garage down the street and find a car.”
I thought he was going to argue with me, but he held his head to the side for a moment, then nodded. “Actually, that’s a fine fucking plan. I wouldn’t have expected you to go for the chaos angle.”
“I often use chaos to my advantage.”
“But it’s planned chaos. I guess X told you I tend to make chaos with or without a plan.”
“He told me you like to go off book. We won’t be doing that.”
“We’ll see about that. Sometimes you just have to improvise.”
I dressed, and we gathered our bags and headed out the door. I’d left our first hotel with only part of my belongings, asking my previous guards to return and collect the rest. There was nothing there that really mattered. I just hated to lose nice clothes.
Fox actually let me clear the hallway before we moved quickly to the stairs. He pushed in the door, checking the stairwell first. I knew there was no way he was going to let me always be the one to walk into danger first. At least if we could take turns and had each other’s backs, we both had a better chance of surviving.
We moved slowly down the stairs since we couldn’t get a good view of every corner. When we reached the fire exit, I grabbed Fox’s arm. “We’ll walk out like we’re just headed to the car, like we have no idea we set off the alarm. When we get to the street, we’ll pick up the pace.”
Fox shook his head. “That gives them time to catch us.”
“We can’t draw everyone’s attention. We’ll end up with police after us.”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “What?”
Fox threw me over his shoulder, shoved the door open, and took off. I held onto his belt loops as he yelled, “Out of my way! Out of my way! I’ve got to get my friend to the hospital.”
As he charged down the street toward the parking garage, his arm was cinched tightly around my waist, holding me to his shoulder. I never worried I would fall, and he didn’t even seem to feel the extra weight. I would find a way to get him back for this.
He’d didn’t set me down until we’d gotten to the parking garage stairs.
“Top floor,” I managed to say as we started to climb.
When we burst out into the sunlight at the top of the garage, Fox went straight for a Toyota Highlander. It took only seconds for him to have us inside. “Start it while I fix the license plate,” he ordered.
“It won’t be reported stolen for a while. We’re better off with a plate on there than none.”
“No, we’re better off with a dealer tag on there.” He patted his bag.
“You carry a dealer tag around with you?”
“When I’m on a mission, I do. It’s come in handy plenty of times.”
I bet it had. I hot-wired the engine while Fox fixed the plates. In less than a minute, he was in the car, and we were making our way to the garage exit. He handed me cash to pay the fee. Once I was out, I headed for the interstate, wanting to put distance between us and the hotel before making a stop.