Mine to Have (Mine #5)(13)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Okay, we’re clear. Let’s go.” Then they were running toward the truck. Jumping inside.  She expected him to gun the engine and rush out of there as if escaping from the gates of hell. But he didn’t. He just took them out, all nice and slow-like.

“We don’t want to draw any attention,” he said.

Right. No attention. At the scene of a murder.  He’d removed all of the broken glass from the truck’s window earlier, so if anyone looked at it now, they’d probably just think the window was down.  They were driving all Sunday-afternoon-slow, so it didn’t look as if they were terrified or—

“We’re getting away from the city.”

They were already out of the parking garage. But as soon as they exited that garage, she heard the scream of sirens. She looked up and saw police cruisers and an ambulance heading for her.  Elizabeth forgot to breathe right then.

But Saxon just pulled the truck to the side of the road. When the line of rescue vehicles had passed, he maneuvered the vehicle back onto the street and kept driving. All slow-like still.

She didn’t speak for a few minutes.  Mostly because she was trying to get her ragged emotions under control.  Wesley is dead. Dead. He’s—

“Are you all right?” Saxon demanded. “Because you look like you might pass out any moment.”

She felt that way. Her cheeks were stinging, alternating back and forth between feeling ice-cold and red-hot.  “I’m fine.”

He grunted. “Keep holding that shit together, sweetheart. You’re doing great.”

Elizabeth thought she might be in hell. “Who—who’s Gary?” Should that name have meant something to her?

“Gary is one of the FBI agents on Victor’s team.  Only Gary usually plays back-up, staying out of the way while he works on his computers.” Saxon sighed. “For him to get pulled into an investigation like this, that means we’re in trouble.”

“Not you,” she said, the words too soft. “Me. Whoever is doing this…that person is coming after me.”  But because Saxon was with her, he was being put at risk too. “Stop the truck,” she ordered him. “Just take me to the nearest police station.”

He kept driving.

“Saxon? Stop the truck!”

He stopped the truck. Luckily, no one else was on that street.  “Do you want to live?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then you keep trusting me, because I’m your best bet, sweetheart.”

She tensed at the endearment, but it hadn’t sounded mocking. It had actually almost been—

“I’ve done things you can’t imagine. Things you don’t want to imagine.” His voice was a rumble in the dark interior of that truck. “But because of who I am…I know how to fight. Damn dirty.”

She’d seen him do it.

“I’ve kept you alive this long, and I don’t intend to let anything happen to you now.  Stay with me, stay alive. It’s as simple as that.”

Her heartbeat drummed in her ears. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you risking so much for me?”

Silence.

She didn’t want him risking his life for her. She didn’t want anyone hurt. Because if he wound up on the floor, like Wesley—what will I do?

Headlights flashed behind them.

“You have to make a choice, Elizabeth.”

Her breath heaved out. “Drive the car.”  Because in this crazy world, he was the one person that she trusted completely.  “But you’d damn well better not do something ridiculous like die on me later.”

He laughed, and that rough, rusty sound went straight to her heart.

***

“Another one, sir?” Gary asked as he stood just outside of Wesley Locke’s condo.

Victor gave a grim nod. He was glad his agent had arrived so soon.  “And it looks like the same MO.”  He’d need a medical examiner to tell him for certain, but judging by the injuries he’d seen…I think the same man killed both Wesley Locke and Kurt Taggert.

How long had Locke fought for survival in that condo?  Had he been in there, bleeding out, when Victor had discovered Taggert’s body?  Shit, he felt as if the killer were two steps in front of him with every move that he made.

Victor raked a hand through his hair. “We need a team to get over to the Moontree Motel.  Three of Taggert’s guys burst in that place and tried to get Elizabeth Ward.”

Gary’s eyes widened. “Is she all right?”

“She’s with Saxon.”

Gary blinked.  “Is that…wise?”

Victor really didn’t like the guy’s tone.  He’d revealed more info about Saxon to the guy lately—mostly because the mission had been coming to a head. When Saxon worked undercover, Victor liked to keep the details of his cases locked down.

But we were so close to taking out Taggert. I had to tell the rest of the team what was happening. Because when the FBI went in with guns blazing, he hadn’t wanted Saxon getting caught in the cross-fire.

“He seems a little…dangerous to me.”  Gary was sweating. “Maybe Tracy or I should take over her guard duty.”

Victor shook his head. “He is dangerous, and that’s why he’s the one who’ll keep guarding her. No one is going to hurt her, not while Saxon is there.”

Gary nodded. “You…you’re so sure of him.”

One of the cops called to him and Victor turned away. “I’m more sure of him than I am of anyone.  I’d trust Saxon with my life.”

“But it’s not your life that’s on the line,” Gary mumbled. “It’s Elizabeth Ward’s…”

***   

Dawn had come. The world was supposed to look bright and fresh in the morning, wasn’t it?  But it didn’t.

Fear still clung to Elizabeth.  They’d stopped earlier—mostly just so they could wash Wesley’s blood off them.  Then Saxon had kept driving and driving.  The street had disappeared, and now they were heading into the Everglades. She didn’t speak much, she felt too tired. She wanted to crash hard and escape into her dreams, for just a little while.

But Saxon kept driving.

“Don’t worry.” His low, growling voice made her jump after that long silence. “We’re almost there.  Soon, you’ll be safe. My cabin’s just a few minutes away.”