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“Yeah, man. Talk about Motel Hell,” Gage chimed in. “I’ve got some C-4 in the car. Blowing this place up might be an improvement.”
“Shut it! All of you.” Kyle had figured riding with his team to Atlanta would be the fastest way to get to the compound and handle the situation. Given the way they were riding his ass about Natalie bolting, though, he was seriously reconsidering his choices.
Hitchhiking to Atlanta might be preferable to this.
After a deep, calming breath, Kyle scrubbed his hands over his face and forced himself to think rationally about the situation. Natalie had bailed, most likely heading to Williams’s compound on her own. Why? Well, the most obvious reason was the fact that they’d slept together.
It had been the most mind-blowing sex of his life. It had also forced them both to face some hard facts about their feelings for each other. For his part, Kyle knew he was falling for her. He’d thought, perhaps, she felt the same for him.
Or not.
Kyle plopped down on the edge of the mattress and rubbed his eyes. The sheets were still rumpled where they’d slept, limbs entwined and his arm tight around her waist. If he picked up her pillow, chances were good he’d still her shampoo.
Crap.The morning had started out so promising.
He’d awakened first, muscles sore but heart happy for the first time since Nick’s death, and he’d wanted to do something nice, something thoughtful, for Natalie. So he’d gotten up, showered and dressed quietly, then snuck out to buy them breakfast. The last thing he’d expected was for her to run. When he’d come back and found the room empty, he’d been stunned. Stunned and hurt and angry and…
“At least you got decent grub,” Gage said, pulling a hash brown patty out of one of the fast-food bags still sitting on the table and shoving half into his mouth in one bite. “I would’ve gone for the pancake special myself.”
“You’re going to go for my boot up your ass pretty soon if you don’t shut the hell up!” Kyle snarled. He was taking his hurt and anger out on the wrong people, he knew, but damn. He couldn’t believe Natalie had left him.
“So, what’s the plan, dude?” Scotty asked, helping himself to a breakfast sandwich.
“Get to Atlanta and get inside Coran Williams’s compound,” Kyle said. “Same as before.”
“What about Natalie?” Spencer picked up one of the coffees and inspected it carefully before taking a sip. “You’re just going to let her get away?”
Kyle shrugged, doing his best to remain stoic even though it felt like there was barbed wire stretched tight beneath his skin, stabbing into his nerve endings. “She said she’ll meet us there. We’ll see if she keeps her word. If not…” He shrugged. “It’s not like we need her to complete our mission.”
“I thought you agreed to take him alive, man.” Gage finished off the hash brown patty, then went searching through the bags for more food. “That won’t sit well with the Agency.”
“Right now, I don’t give a damn about the Agency.” Kyle pushed to his feet and stalked over to the table to salvage what he could of his meal. The food tasted like cardboard, but he’d need the fuel later. He scarfed down the other breakfast sandwich and a coffee, then grabbed his duffel and waited by the door. “Anytime you’re ready.”
His commanding tone brooked no argument, and all three team members snapped to attention, hustling for the door.
Kyle took one last look at the bed where he’d held Natalie close through the night before slamming the door shut behind him. Time to move the hell on and put his job first.
Just like Natalie had obviously done.
Two hours later, he pulled the team’s black SUV off the side of a country road and parked behind a thick cover of brush near Coran Williams’s compound on the outskirts of Atlanta.
“This is it?” Spencer said, his nose scrunched. “Hardly looks like a playground of the rich and famous.”
“These are the coordinates Commander Brighton sent me.” Kyle shut off his phone and peered through the thick foliage to the property beyond. He spotted several armed guards patrolling the perimeter and a dented black sedan that looked suspiciously like the one that had run them off the road the day before.
Images of Natalie trapped in their rental car, unconscious and helpless, made his chest ache.
He forced himself to breathe. He couldn’t let thoughts of her distract him from the mission, no matter how hard it was to push those thoughts aside.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Kyle growled. After all, Natalie sure as hell had fooled him into thinking she actually cared. “Gage, you and Scotty take the perimeter. Find out how many guards are patrolling, and report back. Spencer, you’re with me.”
“And what are we doing?” Spencer asked as they all got out of the car.
“We’re going to find out exactly what they’re guarding. According to Brighton, this place should be empty.”
The team split up, and Kyle and Spencer headed down the road a short distance before cutting through the woods toward the east side of the compound.
The day was overcast, and flies buzzed in the humid air. The woods smelled of grass and rotting leaves, bringing back unpleasant memories of the day before.
