“You know, for someone that keeps his house so tidy, I really wouldn’t have seen mud as your solution.”
“Outdoors is a place for dirt. Inside, I want my place to be my sanctuary. How could I possibly relax in a mess? I want to be comfortable, but I’m not a pig. And you make it sound like I obsess over the cleanliness of my house.”
“You do. The first month I was there, I put a cup down on your table and you put a coaster under it.”
“That’s because it would have left water rings. I didn’t pay good money for my furniture to be ruined by stupidity.”
I started huffing as I tried to keep up with him again. He seemed to have all the energy in the world, while I felt like a nap would be a great idea. “See, that’s usually something a woman thinks of. And what about the books on the bookcase? You are constantly making sure the spines all line up perfectly at the edge of the shelf.”
He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m gonna tell you something, but if you say a goddamn word to anyone, I’ll kick you out of my house and never sleep with you again.”
“Scout’s honor,” I said with a hidden grin.
“My mom was a library and computer teacher. I had to help her in the library every day after school and then right after school let out for summer break. I had to make sure all the books were put back in order and were perfectly shelved, all while listening to Rod Stewart. I swear to God, I joined the military just to get away from my love for Rod Stewart songs. I thought they were going to turn me gay.”
I snorted and tried to hold back my laughter, and when he scowled at me, I just laughed harder.
“It’s not fucking funny.”
“You’re right,” I said solemnly. “I’m sure Rod was traumatizing to you.”
“Do you know what I thought of Rod as a young boy?” I shook my head, biting my lips between my teeth. “I wished that I could be sexy like him. I wanted to have his hair and dress like him. Do you know what wearing a fucking jumpsuit would have done to me?”
“Make women look at your cock?”
“Can you imagine if I had gone into the military dressed like that? I would have been beaten to death in the first week of boot camp.”
“So, how did you get out of this dangerous life you were living?” I asked mockingly.
“I hid it.”
“You- I’m sorry, did you just say you ‘hid it’?”
“Someday I’ll show you my Rod Stewart impersonation. You’ll see why I was so determined to hide that part of me from the world.”
“I can’t wait to see that.”
He smirked at me. “I bet you can’t.” He pressed a kiss to my mouth and pulled me against the growing bulge in his pants. “Let’s keep moving before I throw you down for another mud fucking,” he murmured against my mouth.
I nodded dazedly and then ran after him when he took off without me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jackson
We hid in the ditch just a mile from the hidden entrance to Reed Security. There was a vehicle on the side of the road with its headlights pointed right in our direction. We couldn’t make it across the road without being seen as long as the vehicle was there. If I knew for sure that the vehicle was just broken down, I would have no problem getting Raegan across the street, but if these people were part of the team that had come after us, I would be leading us to our death.
Raegan was slumped beside me against the slope of the ditch, her eyes barely open. Her skin was cold from being outside all night and the dark circles under her eyes showed signs of stress. She was doing a great job of being brave for me, but everyone had their breaking point. Especially people that weren’t used to this kind of stuff. Still, she rarely complained more than the occasional grumble about mud being stuck to her ass.
A man stepped out of the vehicle and stood right in front of his headlights. The lights showed his silhouette perfectly, and along with that, the gun that was clutched in his right hand.
“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. Raegan came alive instantly and I had to push her back to the ground so she didn’t give away our position. I heard the squawk of a radio, but couldn’t understand what was being said. I saw the man turn his head to look in the distance from where we had just come from. Turning to see what he was looking at, my heart burst out of control. There were flashlights headed in our direction. If we didn’t get our asses moving, we would be shot or taken in no time.
“Raegan, I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say.”
She nodded and sat up a little straighter. “What’s going on?”
“We’re getting boxed in. They’re close on our asses and we have to make a run for it. We’re about a mile from the underground entrance to Reed Security. We need to haul ass there. Can you do that?”
“Well, I might rip my ass cheeks apart because of the dried mud, but I’d prefer that over being dead.”
I smirked at her and gave her a swift kiss before clutching her hand. “As soon as I say when, we’re going to make a break for it. Don’t slow down for anything. If anything happens to me, you haul ass until you can get someplace safe to hide.”
“I have to admit, my chances are much better without you.” I looked at her quizzically. “What? You’re bigger than me. You make a bigger target, which I will use to my advantage. Sometimes being smaller is better.”
I huffed a laugh as I looked back one last time. The guy from the vehicle was walking toward the group of men headed our way. Now was as good a time as any. “Ready? Now!”
I took off, gripping her hand in mine. She stumbled and fell, then shot up and ran with me.
“I thought I told you to be ready?” I said as we rushed across the open field. I could hear the men shouting behind us.
“You said to go on when! I didn’t hear you say that!”
“I said, ‘Ready? Now!’ What part of that isn’t self-explanatory?”
“Do you really want to argue about this now? I have a limited supply of oxygen and you’re using it all up arguing with me,” she said, huffing as she ran beside me. I chanced a glance behind me and saw we still had a good distance between us and our pursuers.
I knew we were getting close to the entrance, but I hadn’t been out this way in a while. I had to focus so I didn’t miss it and waste valuable time. I pointed off to our right. “There, just over by that hollowed out tree.”
A gunshot fired behind us and Raegan squealed and ducked her head, putting on an extra burst of speed. I ran behind her, hoping to block her from any stray bullets headed our way. None of the bullets were close to us, which meant they didn’t know exactly where we were. We would have just enough time to get inside before anyone saw us.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the large hollow of the tree, pulling aside some faux bark and placing my hand on the screen, then entering a code. The trap door in the floor opened and I quickly shoved Raegan down the stairs and pulled the hatch closed behind me. Against the wall was the button to secure the hatch and I slammed my hand against it, then raced down the stairs after Raegan. Grabbing her hand again, I pulled her along behind me as we ran down the tunnel, guided only by the track lighting on the walls.
“We’re here!” Raegan said in excitement. “I’ll get a bath and a soft bed to sleep in.”
“Let’s hope so,” I muttered. We slowed as we approached the doors to the panic room, but when we got to the outer door, I already knew that something was wrong. The light was blinking in a sequence and then repeating itself. It was morse code. I watched it over and over, my morse code skills severely lacking at the moment. But after a few minutes, I was able to decipher the message.
“They already moved on.” I punched in the code and entered the panic room slowly.
“What do you mean they left?”
“I don’t know for sure. They must have decided to move on when those men showed up at the hospital.”
“They just left you behind?” Her face morphed into a comical
state of disbelief and I had to force myself not to laugh.
“Raegan, I’m far from helpless. If they left, it’s because they felt there was too much danger and they had to get out right away.”
“Sure, that makes sense. There’s so much danger that they figured, hell, Jackson can deal with this on his own. He’s practically superhuman. Plus, that Raegan sure does know how to handle a man.”
“Relax. We have everything we need here to sneak out and get to our next location. It’ll take some time to make sure we aren’t followed, but we’ll be fine. Besides, as a former gun moll, I’m sure you know a thing or two about being on the run.”
“So, does this mean that I don’t get a bath or a full night’s sleep before we leave?”
“Afraid not. It’s best if we don’t hang around too long. We should just load up and go.”
She sighed and jerked her head in the universal signal for let’s go. “Come on, if I’m not getting any sleep, I’m gonna need a gun for sure.”
“Why’s that?”
“Let’s just say I don’t deal well with a lack of sleep.”
She walked off toward the bedrooms and I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into with this woman. She definitely wasn’t the wilting flower I took her for.
I gathered up weapons and grabbed a burner phone, putting everything in the SUV. Raegan went through the closet in the room she had been staying in and put together a bag of clothes and toiletries for herself and then did the same for me. Within a half hour, we were in the SUV and driving through the tunnel. Unfortunately, I had no idea if anyone was in the area. The tunnel let out a mile from the property, but that didn’t guarantee that the men that were after us weren’t lying in wait somewhere close by.
“So, how sure are you that we’re going to leave this tunnel and nobody will be waiting for us?” Raegan asked.
I weighed my options and our chances, considering what I really wanted to tell her. “I’d say ninety-ten.”
“Ninety percent chance we’re good?”
“About, well, maybe more eighty-twenty, if we’re lucky.”
“Wait, how can it be an eighty percent chance, but only if we’re lucky? I want to know what our actual odds are.”
“Fine, honest to God odds?” She nodded at me. “Ten, no, probably more like seven. Yeah, seven percent.”
“You’re giving us a seven percent chance of sneaking out of here?”
“More or less.”
She turned in her seat, staring at me like I was crazy. “If there’s such a little chance of us sneaking by, why don’t we just go out with our hands up? At least they might not try to kill us.”
I snorted at her. “You’re funny. Yeah, I’m never going to just walk out with my hands up and surrender. That’s just not who I am.”
“Then why are you driving?”
“Because I’m a man.”
“Whew, that’s good to know, because I was scared that you were really a woman and that hair growing out of your face was just a really bad waxing job. I was actually about to suggest that you go to a new salon!”
“You need to relax. I’m a really good getaway driver.”
“And that’s really great for you, but if they start shooting, who’s going to fire back at them? Keep in mind that I already shot you, and as fun as that was, I don’t think the odds are very good of me doing something like that when I mean to.”
“I can shoot and drive at the same time.”
“I’m sure you can, but wouldn’t it make more sense if I drove?”
“Not if we want to live,” I muttered. I pulled to a stop in front of the exit and sighed. “What do you want to do? You want to drive?”
“Well, I don’t think giving me the gun is the answer.”
“Can you handle driving with bullets flying at you?” She cringed. “What about another vehicle trying to ram into you? Can you hold steady?”
She thought for a moment and then gave a curt nod. “I can do it. I swear, I won’t screw this up.”
“Fine.” I put the SUV in park and got out, walking around to her side. I shifted all my weapons from where I had placed them to the passenger side and in the back seat to where I could easily access anything I might need. “Okay, here’s the plan. When I open the door, you’re going to pull out like everything is totally normal. Do not do anything to draw attention to us.”
“I can do that.”
“Good.”
I pulled the remote down from the visor and entered the code to open the door. Slowly, Raegan pulled out of the hidden tunnel and crept toward the road. We had gone about a mile at this slow pace when I’d finally had it.
“A little faster, Raegan. At this pace we’ll-”
I didn’t get to finish the sentence as bullets pinged off the side of the SUV. Raegan squealed and continued to creep along.
“What the fuck are you doing? Drive!”
She slammed her foot down on the gas. “You said not to draw attention!”
“They already know we’re here,” I yelled, rolling down the window and firing out the window in the general direction the bullets were coming from. They were staying hidden, but they wouldn’t for long. Raegan turned the SUV violently to the left and we were out on the road. Within minutes, another vehicle was behind us, coming up fast and slamming into our rear bumper. We jolted forward and Raegan went faster. Driving erratically, swerving from side to side and making it impossible for me to get a shot off.
“Stop fucking swerving!” I shouted, climbing into the back seat to get into the trunk. There was a small window at the bottom of the back window that could be opened to fire from. “I can’t get a shot off if you keep swerving.”
“I’m trying to avoid being hit again. Unless you wanted to be run off the road.”
I opened the small window, took aim, and fired, but then was slammed against the wall of the driver’s side when Raegan turned at the last minute.
“What the fuck? I told you to stop swerving!”
“I’m so sorry, oh wise one! Next time I’ll let us get hit by the second truck that’s joined in the race to see who could kill us fastest,” she yelled back.
I shook my head and got into position to fire again. Sure enough, there was a truck that was further back, but another truck that was almost to the side of us. I couldn’t get a shot off at this angle and quickly started digging around in the trunk for something else I could use.
“I need a minute! Buy me some time.”
After getting the case at the base of the floor opened, I pulled out a sniper rifle and quickly loaded it, but then went back and grabbed a few grenades. If they got close enough, I could just use those on them.
Another jerk of the wheel sent me flying around the back of the SUV, feeling like a ping pong ball. The grenades I had pulled out were no longer in my hands and the rifles were sliding across the floor. “Just so you know, I have weapons back here that I really don’t want to shoot myself with!”
“I’m sorry. I mistook you for someone that knew how to safely handle a gun!”
That damn woman was so fucking sassy that I wanted to smack her. Or kiss her. Either way, she loved busting my balls.
“Do you still need a minute?” she asked.
I looked out the window and ducked just as someone leaned out the window and shot at me. The glass above me shattered. I scrambled to grab the grenades. I almost caught one that was rolling around, but was thrown against the trunk door. This woman was a terrible driver. Whatever road she had taken us on was full of potholes and I could barely straighten up to look out the busted out back window.
“Uh, if I were you, I’d hurry up and do whatever it is you’re going to do,” she said nervously.
“I’m working on it!” I snatched up a grenade and pulled the pin. I almost released it. I almost threw it out the fucking window, but then I saw all the cows around us. Fucking cows. And she was slowing down. I quickly looked to the front and saw a whole fucking group of cows right i
n front of us. Looking out the back window again, I saw one of the trucks was stuck in mud and the other was coming up behind that truck, giving me a minute to get into a new position.
“What the fuck are you doing? Getaway by cows? I almost threw a fucking grenade! I would have killed us!” I shoved the pin back in the grenade and pulled out my sniper rifle as she came to a stop in the middle of a fucking grazing pasture. I snatched up as many weapons as I could, shoving the grenades into the pockets of my tactical pants, and climbed over the back seat.
“What are you doing? You have to shoot them!” she screeched.
“They outnumber us and being in the trunk is no longer feasible.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her out the passenger side of the SUV. Shoving a rifle in her hands, I quickly showed her how to use it.
“Safety off. Butt of the gun against your shoulder. Point and shoot.”
I took aim and fired off a few shots to keep them back. She just stared at me in shock.
“You want me to do what?”
“Just fire the fucking gun. I need you to keep them off my ass so I can take them out!”
“But I don’t know how to use this!”
“I just showed you.” I took a few more shots, hitting one of the men, but there were still at least three more over there.
“I’m not shooting anyone. The last time I ended up shooting you.”
“Then don’t fucking point it at me!”
I pulled her down behind the engine block as they continued to fire at us. Popping up, I took a few more shots, wondering how the hell I would get us out of this when Raegan kept arguing with me about using the fucking gun.
“There’s got to be another way,” she said as she leaned against the grill.
“Sure, let’s just invite them over to share a bottle of vodka with us. We’ll get them drunk and make our getaway.”
She sneered at me and then her face went bright. “I’ve got it! Cover me.”
“What?” She darted away from the truck and I quickly laid down fire to keep her from getting shot. She ran up to a cow and slapped it on the ass. It didn’t move.
Jackson Page 11
