Under Fire (Elite Force #3)(31)
Author: Catherine Mann

Because of the windows? Or the sturdiness? Certainly not because of fuel efficiency, she thought with a hysterical bubble working its way up her throat.

Again, he held a finger over his mouth, reminding her to stay silent. He opened one door, the driver’s side, and gestured her and Disco inside.

Were there listening devices in the house? Were agents at the OSI actually listening for how many doors closed? Although that made sense, since if Sylvia left, she would be alone, so only one door would shut.

Of course Sylvia was asleep inside, so there must not be cameras watching, or someone would already be after them.

What about any other guards outside? Were they all “napping” too?

She climbed inside and across the seat, her knee sliding in her haste. Liam’s steadying hand cupped her butt, and holy crap, the heat seared clear through her jeans. And it was crazy that in the middle of a crisis she wanted to spin around and fling herself against his chest, wrap her arms and her legs around him while she finished the kiss they’d barely gotten to start earlier.

Actually not so crazy, considering she’d been having erotic dreams about him, when she should be too scared to breathe, much less lust. Although even in the middle of this hell, apparently Liam had the same feelings, which made her feel less like a freak of nature for being turned on when she should be worried about the people gunning for her.

Sitting upright, she yanked on the seat belt while Disco hopped into the back. Liam settled behind the wheel and opened the automatic garage door before her belt clicked.

Again, she was sneaking off base and she had no idea why. She reached across and touched Liam’s shoulder lightly, asking silently if it was okay to speak.

He shook his head.

God, how much longer would this silence contest last? Her heart beat so loudly, surely anybody listening in would hear her.

Hours later—or more likely about ten minutes later—Liam pulled into a cluster of palm trees by a vacant outdoor mall. He moved so smoothly, competently. She’d forgotten about his efficiency of movement, nothing wasted, nothing out of sync. Using the illumination of outdoor streetlamps and a flashlight from the glove compartment, he searched the interior and exterior of the SUV, disconnecting wires inside, then sliding underneath the vehicle.

Minutes later he slipped out again, arced back his arm, and threw a fistful of tiny silver disks into a canal flowing between the dead mall and a pathetic used-car lot. Liam leaped the channel and moved among the cars. A temporary plate? Made sense. But what about the etched white letters on the side? He peeled a Maid Service magnet off the defunct service’s Dumpster out front and slapped it on the side of the Suburban over the wording painted on the door—some kind of military designation?

He was frighteningly good at this.

Back in the vehicle, he slammed the car into reverse and back onto the road. “Now we can talk.”

She wanted to ask a million different things, but she settled for, “Um, where are we going?”

“I don’t know yet.” His jaw was hard, his muscles bulging with tension.

“That’s not very comforting.”

“I’m winging it here.” His eyes darted, checking the mirrors, sides, front, alert and ready for God only knew what. “Trust me. We needed to leave the base. And I’ll have a plan before anyone even knows we’re gone.”

“What about going to the police? If not here, then how about I place calls to some people I know from when I worked in the D.C. and Virginia area? I probably should have called them in the first place, but I cut so many ties when I left the search and rescue field…” She shook her head, frustrated with herself that she hadn’t thought of the cops and FBI agents she’d met during some of the more high-profile rescues. “Must have been subliminal, that I didn’t think of them. But if you let me use the cell, I can try.”

“Not now, Rachel.”

“Back to the OSI?” In all her multiteam collaborative efforts, she’d never worked directly with the OSI, but their reputation was top-notch. She scrambled for something, anything, her brain still half asleep, her body caught somewhere between that erotic dream and the harsh edge of her dangerous reality.

“Definitely not.”

They couldn’t even trust the OSI anymore? Okay, now she was really freaking out.

He drove through the dark and deserted streets. Fog rolled in off the water in a greedy vapor, sucking up the road from sight. It felt as if they were truly alone in the world. Cut off from any source of help.

“What happened back there at the house to tip you off? Why did we have to leave?”

“I would tell you if I could, but you just have to trust me. That’s why you chose to come to me for help, because you trust me.”

True enough. She knew that he would do anything… Anything at all? “Were you given permission to leave?”

He didn’t answer, which was an answer in itself. Their departure wasn’t officially sanctioned and Liam was protecting her by keeping her in the dark on the details.

How would this play out for him at work? Was he risking his career for her? She hadn’t even considered that possibility when coming to him for help. Bile burned her throat along with a hefty dose of self-loathing.

“Let’s call this whole thing off now.” She braced her palms on the dashboard. “I know nothing. You know nothing. Let Disco and me off at the next police station. You go back home and say I snuck away from the house.”

“Not gonna happen,” he said without missing a beat as he drove farther from base and the unconscious agent.

She hadn’t really expected him to go for it. Time for plan B, which probably wouldn’t work either, but she had to try.

At the next stoplight, Rachel reached for the door anyhow and yanked. No luck. He’d locked the doors. Of course he had.

“Damn it, Liam. This is crazy.” She pounded the door with a fist in frustration. “You can’t actually be kidnapping me.”

“I could. But I won’t need to.” He glanced over at her, his eyes intense. He slid a hand under her hair and caressed the back of her neck. “You’re a reasonable woman. You brought me into this because you were out of options. Now either you really trust me or you don’t. Which is it?”

She stared into his eyes long after the red light had gone green. But there wasn’t anyone on the road to honk or protest as they idled in the middle of the road. The strength in his gaze and gentleness of his touch worked together to remind her why she’d gone this route in the first place. As much as she hated to bring him into this mess, her mess, they were in it together now.