Page 19 of Hotter than Wildfire

Georgia, Seattle, San Diego…geographically speaking, her next stop should be in northern New England, even though she hated the cold. Hole up in Maine or Vermont.

And how the hell to get there? Undetected by Harry Bolt and Sam Reston, who scared her almost as much as Gerald Montez? Gerald swaggered around and he was dangerous because he could be unstable and had a violent streak to him.

Harry Bolt in particular struck her as dangerous because she could clearly see the intelligence in his eyes.

Having a violent man after her was scary, having a violent, intelligent man after her was terrifying.

Oh, God.

She closed her eyes, overwhelmed, shaking. What next?

She drew a complete blank. Well, check that her cellphone was off, for one. It was a cheap prepaid throwaway and she made a point of keeping it turned off, using it only when absolutely necessary. RBK Security wouldn’t have it, but you could never be too cautious. Or paranoid.

Ellen scrabbled in her purse and her eyes widened when she realized that she’d told Harry Bolt and Sam Reston the sober truth.

She really had left her cellphone behind. Not outside the building but in the hotel. The hotel she was going to have to leave as fast as possible.

The streets got a little meaner, then meaner still and then the cab pulled up in front of her hotel. Ellen paid and rushed toward the entrance.

A big hand grabbed her and slammed her against the side of a car while someone ran toward her with a gun. Pain streaked through her and she blacked out.

FOUR

Harry met Sam’s eyes and refrained from wincing. Sam’s eyes were so bloodshot it was as if he had opened up his veins and drained them right into his eyes. Nicole’s morning sickness had clearly been preceded by a whole lot of night sickness.

Well, Sam was married to a stunningly beautiful woman he was crazy about and who loved him right back. They were expecting a much-desired little girl. What were a few sleepless nights in comparison to that?

Nothing.

“Montez,” Sam growled. “That son of a bitch.” His red eyes blazed. “Going to bring that fucker down.”

Bearclaw was hated all across the US military, but especially hated by SpecOps soldiers. Montez’s men were not encouraged to show restraint and had no Rules of Engagement at all, unless you count getoutofmywaymotherfuckerorI’llshoot as a rule of engagement.

Four very good men had died badly as a direct result of Montez’s men’s brutality, and Harry knew of at least two instances in which Bearclaw men had brought down fire on soldiers’ positions through sheer carelessness.

“Oh yeah.” Just the thought of Gerald Montez after Eve made Harry’s stomach roil. Montez was a scumbag who made money off the backs of US soldiers. Bringing him down was going to be a pleasure. No way was Montez going to touch Eve, he’d make sure of it.

Speaking of which…

Oh, fuck.

“Goddammit!” Harry stood up so suddenly his chair thudded against the floor.

Sam’s red eyes turned his way. “What?”

“She’s gone. She ran.” It pulsed through Harry in one electric moment of understanding. Eve had run out. Something had spooked her—something they’d said, something they’d done—and she’d run. Eve was now in the wind, with Gerald fucking Montez after her.

Every hair on Harry’s body stood up. He could feel the hairs on his forearms scraping against the stiff cotton of his dress shirt. Fear pinged in every cell of his body.

Harry didn’t do fear. Anger and outrage, yeah sure. But fear? He hadn’t been afraid of anything since Methhead Rod had killed Crissy. The worst thing that could ever happen to him already had. His own death was nothing in comparison to seeing Rod slam his little sister’s body against the wall and watching her crumple to the floor in a pool of blood.

Well…right now was close. Eve was a woman of rare, almost mystical talent and a vulnerable, haunting beauty.

Eve knew something that could hurt Gerald Montez, who was utterly merciless. Montez wouldn’t think twice about wiping her off the face of the earth, but not before skinning her alive first, to find out what was in that beautiful head that could hurt him.

He’d already ruined her life. He’d planted evidence of her embezzlement and the murder of the man who’d ratted on him. With local law enforcement in his pocket, she didn’t dare ever show her face.

Harry didn’t even want to think about what Gerald could—and would—do to Eve if he caught her. Which he would. He’d tracked her to Seattle, and Montez was no dummy. She was probably running straight into a trap, right…fucking…now.