by Blake, Laila
Sahin argued with his wife, surrounded by the bodyguards. I moved in fast, knowing I had one shot at this. Screw it up and I blew my cover. Succeed and I still had a career. I strode toward the group of them, eyes on Lady in Blue but my mind on that wallet. One of the bodyguards slammed a hand to my chest, stopping me. He said something in Turkish that I didn’t understand, but I got the message. I wasn’t getting any closer.
“She’s hurt,” I said, pointing a finger to our spook on the floor. “She needs help.”
I made to move in again but the guy put a gun to my head. I stared at him, calm on the outside, heart pounding within. I held my hands up in surrender. No need to piss him off. Let him think he had me. I just needed another plan.
Galen was one step ahead of me. He muscled his way in to Lady in Blue, distracting the bodyguards. The gun that was on me swung to Galen. I grabbed Sahin’s jacket, swiped the wallet, and threw the jacket back on the chair. I kept going, not breaking stride, slipping the wallet into my pocket. I didn’t look back.
I was almost at the door when a gun fired, followed by a heavily accented shout. “Stop him! Stop him!”
I blew out the entrance and took off, hustling through the panicked crowd. Another gun fired and police sirens sounded in the distance. I made a left down a small street then a right into an alley, jumping a garbage can, hurtling over a short wall, and disappearing into the neighborhood. If Galen didn’t make it to our backup rendezvous point, I had to get to the safe house and that was five miles away. And right now, I had no idea if Galen and Lady in Blue were still alive.
I skidded past a corner, wondering if I should take the chance and call an alert into HQ, when I heard screeching tires. I backed up, pressed myself against a wall, and realized who it was. Galen in a Toyota. He threw open the passenger door and I jumped in, slamming the door shut as Galen jammed the gas pedal.
“You get it?” he asked, swerving through a turn then dropping our speed so we didn’t draw attention.
I nodded. “Is Lady in Blue okay?”
Galen hugged another turn. “She will be. She came to when the gunshots were fired.”
I blew out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the first time a distraction job had taken a bad turn, but it was still a worry. “And the cops?”
“All at the nightclub. But we will have to lose the car.” He used his cell phone and dialed our contact, making arrangements for cleanup.
I pulled out Sahin’s wallet and lifted the keycard. “Payday,” I said, holding it up.
“Mommie Dearest says we should leave the wallet and card with the car.” Galen disconnected the call. “They will pick it all up at the Starbucks near the safe house in ten minutes.”
I drew in a breath and held it, forcing my heart and my lungs to calm down. Another close call. I loved this shit.
“You love this shit way too much,” Galen said, glancing my way.
I had known Galen all of three months, and he was far too good at reading my mind already. I was trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that we were connected in a way that didn’t make sense, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. Ignoring him, I sank into the seat, letting the adrenalin wear off.
“Let’s see what else we’ve got on this guy.” Inside his wallet I found a black American Express, a MasterCard, and over five thousand Euros in the billfold. A picture was tucked in with his identification. I pulled it out and held it up to catch the light from passing street lamps.
It was a photo of the love of my life kissing another man.
To purchase this ebook and learn more about the author, click here.
In the mood for more Crimson Romance?
Check out The Garnet Dagger
by Andrea R. Cooper
at CrimsonRomance.com.
