Page 21 of Maximus

“Let me take care of the check.” I stood and tagged the bill off the table. “I’ll be right back.”

My conversation with Tex replayed in my mind as I headed outside to check Eva’s car. Hunt and terrorize was a good way to describe what someone was doing to Eva. Only, she didn’t know the extent of it. Had she gone home this afternoon, she’d be dead, and possibly her boys, too.

Instinct told me something was wrong—I’d been too complacent, allowing Eva to control the situation. The barb of a sharp quill I’d long ago stopped ignoring pricked my gut. I slowed my pace and glanced around the parking lot, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a baseball cap before it dipped behind a car.

Fuck. Eva was in the restaurant unprotected.

Just as I turned to head back inside, a blast rocked the parking lot.

Heat kissed my back right before the concussion rippled, knocking me forward. Pain ricocheted through me, my palms burned with road rash, the side of my face slid on the pavement. Finally, when my body stopped skidding on the asphalt, I was up and running with the singular focus of getting to Eva and the boys.

Inside the restaurant was pandemonium. Patrons ran for the door, some hid under tables, mouths were moving but the pounding in my head made it damn near impossible to hear what they said.

Fucking shit, the booth where I left them was empty.

“Eva!” I roared, as fear ticked up to a whole new level.

If she ran outside, she’d play right into the hands of the person trying to kill her. He was out there, hiding between two cars, waiting.

Christ, where the hell is she? More people ran past me, knocking chairs over, dishes and menus littering the floor. What was wrong with people? The worst thing you could do in a situation like this was panic.

Panic led to bad decisions.

Though the chaos would provide us the perfect cover to escape. I just needed to find Eva.

A cook rushed past me and I glanced over at the still-swinging door he’d come from and hurried to check the kitchen.

Empty.

“Eva!” I tried calling for her again.

Slowly she came into view as she opened the door to what looked like a storage closet.

“Let’s go!”

Eva was saying something but I still couldn’t hear over the ringing, and her lips were moving too fast for me to read.

No time.

“I can’t hear you. We need to go. Where are the boys?”

Eva’s head cocked to the side, a deep frown etched her face, but she stepped out of the closet, both boys clinging to her.

Thank fuck!

Without thinking, I rushed forward, scooped up Liam, and he went stiff in my arms.

“I need you to trust me. Carry Elijah and follow me.”

Eva nodded, and picked up her son.

“You stay right behind me. We’re going to my car. Do not stop for any reason. Eyes up and pay attention.”

Eva shook her head. She pointed to the back door and motioned for me to follow her.

I quickly thought about where my SUV was parked in reference to the back door. It wouldn’t matter which door we exited, the Tahoe was right in the middle between the two exits. And hopefully, the front of the restaurant was enough of a distraction to give us a clear shot.

“Liam, if I set you down for any reason, you stay behind me.”