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I looked towards the door, towards my five buddies outside.
What the hell do I do now?
36
TANYA
Colton sat in brooding silence. He was a huge ox of a man but in that moment, he looked helpless. Lost. Broken. And I cursed myself for ever having come into his life and messed everything up.
At last, he spoke. “Tell me you’re being straight with me,” he said quietly. He didn’t look at me. His eyes were on the door, on his friends outside. “Tell me you’re telling the truth and the whole country’s going to hell if we don’t stop this thing.” He turned to me. “Because if you’re lying to me, if you make me go against those guys and it’s all a trick, so help me God, I’ll kill you.”
I swallowed. “I’m being straight with you.”
I waited for him to ask whether what we had was real, too. I was ready to tell him yes, it was. But he didn’t ask. Maybe he didn’t dare.
He bowed his head and closed his eyes. Sucked in a long breath. Then his shoulders squared and all his strength and size seemed to return. “Alright then,” he said to himself.
He’d committed to it. He was going to let me go. I should have been punching the air but all I could think about was how much trouble he was going to be in. Since when did I care about anyone else? “I can hit you with something, knock you out,” I offered. “You can say I jumped you. Let me go see if the window in the bathroom is big enough for me to get through…” I motioned for him to let me out of the booth.
But he just sat there, blocking my way. “That ain’t gonna work. JD’s not dumb, he’ll have Bradan or Cal or someone watching the back of the bar. And Steward’s on his way here, with another bunch of guys. You won’t even make it out of town.” He sighed. “Not on your own.”
I froze. Chyort! He wasn’t just talking about letting me go. I shook my head. “No. Colton, no. No!”
“I’ve seen Maravic in action,” he said. Those amber-brown eyes burned into mine. “You go up against him alone, he’ll kill you. I’m not letting that happen.”
“I’m a fugitive! I’m a foreign spy! If you go with me, you’ll be a traitor. They’ll arrest you. They could shoot you!”
His jaw set and I moaned under my breath because I knew what that look meant. He’d dug his heels in and nothing was going to change his mind. “Better grab your backpack,” he told me.
Chyort! I grabbed the backpack and followed him to the door.
The one he called JD was right outside. He blinked when he saw me standing close behind Colton. “Everything okay?” he asked, his eyes flicking between Colton and me.
“Sorry, boss,” Colton told him. “But I need you to step out of the way.”
JD’s face fell. “Colton, buddy,” he pleaded. “Come on now, don’t do something stupid.” He raised his voice towards the end to get the others’ attention. They came running over: the British one, the Irish one, and the one whose ear I’d shot. The really tall one appeared from behind the bar. He had been watching the back.
Colton stepped forward. JD stood his ground, his hands up defensively.
“Don’t make me do it, boss,” Colton said softly. “Get out of the way.”
“Colton, please,” pleaded JD.
Colton grabbed his shotgun and leveled it at JD. The rest of the team cursed and scrambled for their own guns.
“Colt, what the fuck are you doing, mate?” yelled Danny. “Put it down!”
“I’m sorry,” muttered Colton. “You know I am. But I can’t let Steward take her.”
JD’s eyes went to me. “She’s using you,” he told Colton.
Colton gestured with his shotgun: move.
JD sighed…and stepped aside. Colton led me towards our rental car.
“Colton, just think,” called Gabriel. “Think about what you’re doing!”
“You drive,” Colton told me, his voice tight with emotion. He threw me the keys and kept his shotgun leveled at JD while I jumped in and started the car.
“Colton, please,” said JD desperately. “Please, buddy, just listen to me. It’s me.” He looked at the rest of the team. “It’s us!”
Colton and JD gazed at each other and God, the sadness in both of their eyes. My foot twitched on the gas pedal. I could just floor it, drive away and force him to stay here with his friends…
But Colton was right. I needed him.
“If you go,” grated JD, “we’ll have to come after you. You know that.”
Colton looked around at all of them. “You do what you gotta do.” He turned, pointed his shotgun at the team’s rented SUV and fired once, shredding the front tire. Then he climbed in beside me and we raced away.
37
JD
I watched their car disappear into the distance, my chest tight. What if she killed him? Shoved a knife into his neck as soon as they’d got out of town? The thought of something happening to Colton made me want to throw up. This is all my fault. Colton had a good heart and that made him easy pickings for someone like Yeshevskaya. I should never have tasked him with dealing with her, should never have let him jump out of the plane to go after her.
