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He glanced over at me. “Strong,” he said bluntly.
“Huh?”
“She’s wrong, if she thinks you’re a weak point. You make me strong, Kat.”
I realized suddenly that I was smiling at him, like a simpering fool. “Um, thanks.”
“But there’s something we’re missing here,” he went on. “And it’s going to bite us in the ass, if we don’t figure out what it is.”
“When she shot at me in the bramble patch, I think she missed on purpose,” I mused. “She could have hit me if she wanted to. She wanted to make you panic. Buy some time. So she could go kill that guy, maybe? But she could have just killed me, and then used her tranq gun on you, if SmokeScreen is all she wanted.”
“You think it would be that simple?” he asked. “That I’m so easily felled?”
“Sure, I do,” I said. “Don’t be vain, you silly man. That woman is hell on wheels. Underestimate her at your peril.”
“Takes one to know one,” he shot back.
I snorted. “Well, huh. Maybe that’s a compliment and maybe it’s not, but I’m too tired to care.”
He laughed, but looked me over, frowning at my bare, muddy feet. “What size shoe do you wear?” he asked.
“Eight,” I said.
“Call Trey,” Ethan said, in commanding tones.
The car immediately obeyed him, which struck me as weirdly miraculous. I lived an extremely analog life, having avoided electronics and social media as hard as I could in my efforts to stay off the Petruzzis’ radar. I felt like a prisoner from the past, suddenly finding herself in a futuristic fantasy. God knows, Ethan himself was the stuff of pure fantasy.
Ethan relayed the situation to Trey when the call connected, and ordered me a pair of new athletic shoes while he was at it. Just like that. I couldn’t get used to it. Look at that guy, altering reality with a snap of his fingers. New shoes could just appear, if he so desired.
“You should send a message to Joanna,” Ethan said. “Tell her you’re alive. And to lie low for a while.”
“Will do,” I said. “If they were watching my place, then they might know Joanna helped me leave. It worries me. Those assholes, noticing she exists.”
Ethan sighed. “You want someone to cover her, too,” he said flatly. “Right?”
“Maybe for a couple of days? I mean, she stuck her neck way out there for me. She’s a good friend. I hate to think of her being in any danger.” I thought of what Joanna had said about liking them burly, bearded, and tattooed. “What about Shelby?”
“Well, they hate each other’s guts right now, but fine by me. You better tell Joanna about this plan yourself, though. For Shelby’s sake.”
“Um, sure,” I said. “Thanks.”
Then I noticed us blowing right past an exit. “Hey, aren’t we getting back on the northbound highway?” I asked. “Aren’t we going back up to the city?”
“No. We’re meeting the helicopter at the nearest airfield and going straight home. To lick our wounds and regroup. Silk pajamas and a glass of wine. Sound good?”
I let out a shaky little laugh. Damn. I did not like to admit it, because I was a stubborn and needlessly contrary woman, but I could not tell a lie. Not right now.
Silk pajamas and a glass of wine sounded really fabulous to me right now.
CHAPTER31
Ethan
Iwas crashing when we got to the airfield. Desperately ready to get into the helicopter and let Trey take us back to the Mountain House. Maybe I could have made it home driving, but I didn’t want to put it to the test. Not with Nicole running around like a scorpion under the bed.
Once again, I had failed to pin down someone to interrogate. A drama that had played out many times since Shane’s abduction. I wondered if I would have succeeded in taking Nicole down if I hadn’t been compromised by my fear for Kat.
But that argument made no sense. I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near Nicole to begin with, if Kat hadn’t been dangling herself out there as bait.
