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So far, so good. Or...at least she thought it was.
Jaia cast a surreptitious glance over her shoulder before entering the bus station. She’d caught an Uber here, having left her vehicle in a storage unit across town. The only way anyone could have followed her here now was in person, and nothing suspicious had jumped out at her.
She waited her turn at the counter, her sunglasses hiding her eyes and her hat concealing her hair and ears. If anyone was trying to track her using security or CCTV camera footage, they had their work cut out for them.
The woman behind the counter put on a forced smile, looking tired and frazzled even though the place had just opened. “How can I help you?”
“One way ticket to Houston, please.” She paid with her credit card so that there would be a record of the transaction.
By now her boss would have people looking for her. They would track her credit card use as standard procedure. It would show her taking the Uber here, and then purchasing the ticket.
They would track her to Houston. But she wasn’t going anywhere near that city.
She took a seat near the back of the bus and put on her headphones to dissuade anyone from talking to her. Her pulse drummed an anxious rhythm, the time prior to departure dragging by. She just wanted to get out of here. Every minute she stayed, the greater the chance that someone caught up to her.
Finally, the driver boarded and started the journey. Jaia leaned her head against the window and gradually allowed herself to doze. She’d barely slept the past three nights, and exhaustion and stress hit her hard.
Not quite seven hours later, the bus stopped in Pensacola. Jaia slipped off, shouldering her backpack, and started across the parking lot for the rental car office on the opposite side. It was early afternoon now. The sun was directly overhead, its heat radiating up from the new blacktop.
In the rental office she booked a compact car with a prepaid credit card she’d bought with cash for the full week. Left out in the middle of the lot, the little car’s interior was sweltering. She started the engine and immediately switched on the air conditioning, glancing around her once more out of habit before taking out her last burner phone.
This time a little thrill of anticipation slid through her as she dialed the familiar number. And when he answered, the sound of his low voice made her sigh with relief. “It’s me.”
“Are you all right?”
The concern in his voice surprised and touched her. “Yes. You?”
“Fine. What happened?”
There was no point hiding this from him. She needed him to believe her so he would agree to the next part of her plan. “I got it. Well, some of it.”
“Do they know?”
“By now, yes.”
“Jesus. You need to—”
“I left the area.” She drew in a steadying breath, unsure how he would react to this next part. “I want to show you what I have, but not over the phone or electronically this time. It’s too risky.”
“Then how?”
“I’ve rented a car. I want to meet in person. I was thinking Portland.”
A shocked silence filled the line. “You’re going to drive all the way up to Portland to meet me?”
“Yes. Face to face is the only way I’ll do this.”
“And I’m just supposed to trust that you’re not lying?”
She didn’t blame him for being suspicious. “I’m at just as much risk as you at this point. The way I see it, that means we’re in this together now. Also, you’ve got training and I don’t. I need your help,” she added before he could argue, wanting to appeal to his innate sense of protectiveness.
“What makes you think you can trust me with this?”
“Because you want this to be over with as much as I do.”
A few beats passed before he spoke again. “When are you thinking?”
It wasn’t a yes, but then it wasn’t a no. She was taking that as a hopeful sign. “Friday, late morning.” Three days from now. She’d planned it out to include stops for food and sleep, then a little bit of a buffer when she got to Portland so she could find her way around a bit before the meeting.
“How do I know you’ll be alone?”
She let out a humorless laugh. “Because I have no one else. I’m literally all on my own in this world now.”
Another silence followed. Her stomach wound into a knot. If he said no, Plan A was dead. Plan B wasn’t nearly as strong, and since it involved going to the FBI combined with public whistleblowing, it came with other associated risks.
She swallowed. “Just meet with me. If you don’t like what I have to say, or—”
“All right. Friday morning, Portland. I’ll text you the meeting place.”
She wasn’t going to argue. “Thank you.” She closed her eyes for a moment. For the first time in a long time, she felt a spark of hope. That maybe, just maybe, Brandon would trust her enough to agree to work on this together.
“Drive safely.”
The call ended before she could respond, but his quietly spoken parting words set off an ache deep in her chest. Since her brother’s death, no man had cared about her. Yet, against all odds, it seemed Brandon did.
She exited the parking lot and started for the I-10 onramp, anxious to put Florida in her rearview mirror and find the man who had awakened something inside her she’d thought long dead.
****
“Groz, you want a beer?”
Asher turned around to face the kitchen, where Travis was standing next to his fridge. “Sure, a beer would be great.” He’d just arrived back here to the coast from Portland to grab Whit’s stuff for him.
After the threat last night, Whit had stayed at Boyd’s place. He hadn’t wanted to hang around the area, so Travis had driven him to Asher’s place early this morning. There had been no sightings of the hit team, and no further information from the cops.
Whit had barely gotten settled in the condo before the Feds had arrived to interview him about everything. Asher hoped they got to the bottom of this fast and started making arrests.
“And a piece of cake?” Kerrigan asked from beside Travis, arching a blond eyebrow.
“What kind of cake?”
Travis laughed. “Like it matters. You never met a cake you didn’t love.”
“True. But what kind?”
“Carrot, with cream cheese icing,” Kerrigan said. “I make it every Easter. It’s tradition.”
“Sign me up.”
Laughing, she reached past Travis to retrieve the cake from the depths of the fridge. Asher noticed the way his buddy watched her, the pride and something close to awe on his face. Travis had definitely met his perfect match.
He took a seat on one of the padded stools lined up on his side of the kitchen island, accepted the beer and plate of cake with an enthusiastic thanks. Ignoring the icy cold beer for now, he forked up a piece of the dessert and popped it into his mouth.
Sweet, spicy cinnamon combined with tender cake and the crunch of walnuts, all offset by the tangy-sweet, vanilla-scented icing. “Ohhh, man.” He swallowed it, immediately forked up a bigger bite. “You make this every year?” He was officially jealous.
Kerrigan leaned an elbow on the corner of the island and propped her chin in her hand to watch him, a little smile pulling at her lips. “Every single year. There’d be a riot if I didn’t.”
It made him wonder what it would be like, to come from a family like that. One that celebrated holidays together, had family dinners together just because.
He made a rumbling sound of appreciation and kept chewing. “You gotta hold onto her, man,” he said to Travis. He didn’t flirt with her anymore, the way he had when she’d just been Whit’s hot older sister. Her being Travis’s girl put an immediate end to all that. He would still tease her, but that was all. Bro code.
Travis stepped over to her, wound a possessive arm around her waist and pulled her in close, staring deep into her eyes. “Oh, I intend to.”
Hiding a smirk, Asher looked down at his plate, trying to ignore the little twinge deep in his chest. He’d always been a serial dater, but the truth was, that whole aspect of his lifestyle had begun to feel hollow and dissatisfying. Because deep down, if he was brutally honest with himself...he secretly wanted what Travis and Kerrigan had.
He liked women. No, he loved them. Yet he’d never found anyone he clicked with on enough levels that he could drop the whole seduction thing and just be himself.
That’s why nothing had ever lasted more than a month or two—at the longest. Most of his relationships were way shorter than that. Lately he’d even stopped bothering hooking up with the women he met on the dating apps he’d signed up for. They just didn’t...do anything for him anymore, and he wasn’t sure why. At some point he’d become burned out on the revolving door of it all.
“This cake is totally worth the drive out here,” he mumbled around another mouthful.
“There’s more if you want it,” Kerrigan said.
“Outstanding.”
Travis snickered and popped the cap off his own beer. “You realize one day you’re not gonna be able to get away with your eating habits because your metabolism’s gonna slow down, right?”
“Not anytime soon.” He winked at Kerrigan. “I stay pretty active.”
She shook her head and laughed. “I have no doubt about that.” Her expression turned serious. “How’s my brother doing?”
“Good. Why?”
“I just wondered after last night. After he came home from Yemen, he...struggled.”
Yeah, being held captive by the enemy and barely escaping with your life would make a man struggle.
“He tried to hide it and wouldn’t talk to me about it. I’m worried last night would have triggered everything.”
He nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on him, don’t worry. My place isn’t very big, so it’s not like he can get away from me.” He tossed her a grin, but he was taking this whole situation dead seriously. He would make sure to watch his friend carefully while Whit stayed with him.
The doorbell rang. He tensed and swung around, instantly on guard after everything that had happened with Whit. Though to be fair, most bad guys tended not to politely ring the doorbell to announce themselves. “Expecting someone?”
“That’ll be Mia,” Kerrigan said with a big smile as she rounded the island and rushed past him. “I didn’t think she’d get here this soon.”
He went back to his cake—only three bites left now, and he for sure had room for another piece—then feminine squeals of delight made him swivel around. He stopped chewing, all his attention centered on the tall, dark-haired woman with slightly Asian features hugging Kerrigan.
Their eyes met over top of Kerrigan’s shoulder, and the woman stilled, staring at him as she released her friend. “Didn’t realize you already had company.”
“Oh, this is Asher. He’s a PJ in the same unit as Travis and my brother. He came by to pick up some things for Brandon.”
Asher leaned a forearm on the counter, eyeing the newcomer. First observation: she was hot. Like, holy hell, seriously hot. Legs for days in those snug, dark jeans. Trim figure and tall, maybe five-eleven. Golden skin tone. Shiny, straight coffee-brown hair that brushed her pointed jaw. Full lips, and light brown, intelligent eyes. “Hi. Mia, is it?”
She inclined her head. “Nice to meet you.” Her tone was polite, but cool, like her expression as she watched him.
He was already intrigued. “Likewise.”
“Come sit down and we’ll catch up before I give you the tour,” Kerrigan gushed, taking Mia’s hand and towing her toward the kitchen.
Mia hugged Travis, her warm smile disappearing as she took the stool beside Asher.
“So you’re friends with Kerrigan?” he asked.
“Best friends,” Kerrigan interjected with a smile, pouring a glass of wine and sliding it across the island to Mia.
“That’s right.” Mia lifted her glass in salute and took a sip, not looking at him. “Awesome little love nest you guys have here, an adorable cottage perched up on a cliff overlooking the sea.”
“Wait until you see the view from upstairs,” Kerrigan gushed. “Every morning I wake up in that bed, I want to pinch myself.”
“That’s because I’m lying there next to you,” Travis teased, leaning in for a kiss.
“Also true,” Kerrigan agreed, smiling at him.
They were so genuine and natural together. Travis was one of the best guys he’d ever met, and Asher had always found Kerrigan to be down to earth. But seeing them together... They had a deep, palpable connection he’d rarely seen between two people, and had definitely never experienced himself. Probably never would.
He focused back on Mia, who seemed totally disinterested in him. Naturally, that only made him want to work harder to get her attention. “Where did you drive out from?”
“Portland.”
“Me too. You from there?”
“Born and raised.”
She didn’t lob the question back at him, so he kept going. “What do you do there?”
“I’m a child psychologist. So you serve with Travis and Brandon?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What do you do the rest of the time?”
It seemed like she was only pretending to be interested. “I’m a firefighter.”
She finally looked at him. “Ah.”
She didn’t sound the least bit intrigued. And the look in those pretty golden eyes was startling. As if she’d sized him up already and didn’t like what she saw. “You don’t like firemen?”
She lifted a shoulder and took another sip of her wine. “I like ‘em fine.”
“Asher loves living in Portland,” Kerrigan put in, as though wanting to smooth the conversation over.
Not to worry, little Kerrigan. He had thick skin, although he had to admit that Mia’s cool reaction to him pricked his ego. “I do, but I’m contemplating a change of scenery.”
Travis’s eyebrows went up. “For real?”
“Yeah. I’d passed Crimson Point so many times over the years and never stopped in before I met you and Whit at the bar that night. I dig it. And now that you’re both living out here and I’ve seen your place and what I could get for my money, I might put in for a transfer to the local fire station and look for a place to rent around here too.”
Travis broke into a smile. “That’d be awesome.”
“I might know of a place,” Kerrigan said, her expression brightening. “There’s a guy at work—Boyd’s friend, Callum.”
“The one he mentioned last night?” The former Delta guy who had done a few stints with Graystone when it had first opened its doors. Hopefully he would have some solid insider intel for Whit.
“Yes. Anyway, he’s really nice, and Boyd has nothing but good things to say about him—right, Travis?” Travis nodded, and she continued. “He just recently moved to the area and mentioned he wants to find a roommate to share his place. I think it’s a two-bedroom place down the hill from Beckett and Sierra. He and Beckett know each other from the military.” She waved a hand. “I can mention it to him and see if he’s interested in talking to you if you want.”
“Yeah, that’d be great.” He cocked his head, gave Mia his most charming smile, wanting to get past her borderline chilly demeanor. “So I guess we probably won’t be bumping into each other in Portland anytime soon.”
“No, guess not.” She didn’t look or sound too broken up about it.
He suppressed a chuckle, amused by her reaction and dry humor.
Kerrigan shot her friend a quick, censoring look and set her own wineglass down. “Finish that sip and I’ll give you the tour. I want to show you the rest of the house.”
He sat more upright as she slid off her stool to follow Kerrigan, her clean, slightly spicy scent reaching him. The bottom of her leather jacket came just to her waist, giving him a prime view of her ass. And a damn fine ass it was too.
“Groz,” Travis said in a dry tone from behind him.
“Hmm?”
He leaned his upper body toward Travis slightly, his attention still occupied on Mia as she and Kerrigan reached the bottom of the stairs. A child psychologist. Impressive, his personal opinions about her profession aside. She was smart, though standoffish. Made him wonder what it would take to make her soften and melt some of those sharp edges.
“If you’re serious about looking for a place, I can check with Beckett Hollister. His company renovated this place and let me see it before it went on the market. He’ll have leads on other properties in the area.”
He swung around to face Travis. “Perfect, hook me up.” His phone rang in his pocket, breaking the conversation. Travis was busy at the sink as he answered. “Whit. What up, bro? You calling to give me a packing or grocery list you want me to pick up for you?”
“No. Listen, something’s come up. It’s important. And private.”
The serious tone had him leaving the kitchen and stepping out onto the back porch. “Everything okay?”
“I don’t know yet. But are you working Friday?”
“No. I’ll be on call though.”
“I need a favor.”
When someone you’d trained and bled with, and entrusted your life to asked for a favor, there was no hesitation. “Okay, hit me.”
“The woman from Tampa called a few minutes ago. She’s rented a car to drive up here to Portland to meet me. I need you to be my backup when we meet Friday morning.”
“Whoa, hold on.” He glanced back to make sure no one was watching him, then stepped out onto the back lawn and firmly out of earshot, just in case. “You’re going to meet her? Just like that?”
“She’s on the run, all by herself. She needs help.”
Asher was already shaking his head. “Then she should go to the cops or whatever, and leave you out of it.”
“She knows things, Groz. Things that could help me figure out what the hell’s going on and how far the cover-up goes. And like I said, she needs help.”
“Helping her’s fine, as long as it doesn’t get you killed,” he muttered.
“That’s why I need you there, to help me scope this out and make sure she’s not working with someone else. So are you in?”
What, like he was going to leave Whit to meet this chick on his own? “Yeah, man, of course. Whatever you need.”
Whit sighed. “Thanks, brother. And don’t tell Travis or my sister. I don’t want them involved in any more of this, in case things go sideways.”
It didn’t feel right, but whatever. These were exceptional circumstances, and if Travis found out later and lost his shit on the both of them, they’d deal with it then. “I won’t.”
“Okay, good. Oh, and I’ve got a duffel half-packed already in the bottom of my closet there. Can you bring that too?”
“Sure. I’ll head out shortly. Barring bad traffic, I should be back by four.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Groz.”
“No problem.” He ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket, staring out over the lush, green lawn and through the trees at the ocean in the distance. He could hear the muted roar of it from all the way up here, smell the tang of it when the breeze blew toward him.
Even this beautiful place might have turned deadly the other night if Whit hadn’t gotten that call and heeded the warning. Asher couldn’t help but wonder what the hell his friend had gotten himself into now.
