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You and me. Forever. “Interpol sent over another location to check out. Outside Laos. We’ve confirmed the two assailants have done work for a particular affluent Cambodian. He’s got his hands in a lot of things. We’re still researching that lead, but it’s promising.”
“No. No one else gets hurt. That’s what you don’t understand. Too many people have died for me and–”
“If your other plan is to hand yourself over and to trust these bastards to let you and Sloane go free, then maybe I wasn’t clear. Absolutely not. No way in hell.”
CHAPTER 34
Sage
“There’s the little runaway,” Max says cheerfully as I slide into the back seat after Knox cleared it. “Gave us all a scare. What were ya’ thinking?”
The door slams, and the car pulls forward. Knox is beside me with a clenched jaw and his dark eyes radiate fury. He’s not happy with me. My eyes tear up as if his anger turned the knob on a faucet.
Max’s question rattles around. I thought if I walked around long enough, someone would see me and come pick me up. That’s what it feels like happened in Santa Barbara.
“Pretty sure my buddy Knox here is going to sprout a few more grays from today alone.”
Knox fixes his gaze out the car window. “At least I’ve still got my hair.”
It’s a dig at Max, who has cropped blond hair. From here, it looks thick to me, but his hairline might be receding.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve left a note.”
“Not sure a note would’ve helped, sweetheart,” Max says, blinker on.
Knox has one arm around my shoulders, securely locking me against him. It’s as if he’s worried I’ll jump from a moving vehicle, from the middle seat, no less.
“Our Interpol source came through with some valuable intel,” Max says, looking back at us through the rearview. “Just got alerted. There’s a confirmed sighting of your sister.”
A mixture of hope and fear swirls. Sloane was bound and gagged. Her brown hair washed and brushed. She appeared clean, as were her clothes. But they tied her arms behind her. There was no blood. But they confirmed my worst fears in that video. She’s gotten herself into something very bad. She needs rescuing. But that means men—Knox—will put their lives in danger to extract her.
I should be the one risking my life. But there’s a limit to what Sam taught me. At close range, I still didn’t control the kickback on that gun. If I’d been standing farther away, I probably would’ve missed.
“Sage. You look frightened. Don’t be. You’re safe now.” I meet Max’s bright blue gaze in the rearview mirror.
“It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s everyone else I pulled into this.”
“Every single one of us chose this life. Right, Knox?”
“That’s what I told her.”
It might be my imagination, but it feels like his squeeze tightens around my shoulders.
It doesn’t take long for us to return to the Sullivans’. Cars fill the circular drive in front of the house. Max pulls off to the side of the drive, a garage door rolls open, and we pull into the waiting spot. The door rolls down behind us, closing out the California summer sky.
The men gathered in Jack Sullivan’s office are no longer wearing suits. As we approach the open doorway, they all look our way. Jack’s in a golf shirt. Several of the men are on the security team that I’ve seen wandering the grounds since I’ve been here. Men who haven’t introduced themselves but have remained on the perimeter.
“I see you found her,” Jack says.
Knox answers Jack, his annoyance with me clear in his curt tone and narrowed eyes. “She doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Thought she’d try to rescue her sister on her own.” It sounds ridiculous the way he says it. “She said they wouldn’t hurt her.”
There’s a clear pecking order among the men reminiscent of a classroom. All eyes fall to Jack as if he’s the only one in the room with permission to speak.
“Anything we need to know?” He directs the question to Knox.
“Her plan was to be seen and hope they found her.”
My gaze falls to the rug. It’s a muted oriental rug that I’d normally never notice except the men’s weighted gaze has me looking anywhere but at them. Meanwhile, these are the men I was attempting to protect.
