Asher wasn’t happy with their situation, either. Anyone with a brain could see that. She wasn’t particularly pleased herself. Ellie shook her head, knowing without him acknowledging or even protesting, that this was all her fault. If she just hadn’t . . . no! That was what she did. She hacked. She explored. She investigated. It was a risk she had to take. Problem was, she’d never really had to risk anything. Until now.
“Who are you fooling?” Her own voice met her ears, soft in the car. Her gaze dropped to her hands, twisting in her lap. She was an investigator who exposed government misappropriation, financial fraud, and on occasion, important or at least well-known people doing things they shouldn’t. Like a senator’s aide transferring donated funds to overseas accounts. Like a Congressman padding an expense account. She was a hacker, but a good guy. That existed, right? She’d felt noble in the past, righteous, even justified. Exposing wrongdoings was a good thing. But this was the first time—ever—that snooping had prompted any fear of retribution against her personally. That’s what scared her so deeply, more than she’d even admit to herself. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want Asher to die trying to protect her. And who the hell was the organization that he belonged to?
She lifted her head and gazed back out the window as he’d instructed, watching for anything suspicious. There was nothing alarming: an older couple climbing from their RV, laughing together. Two small children racing toward the restrooms while their mother followed, cautioning them to slow down. A man standing near his car, taking pictures of the nearby woods.
Who was she kidding? Ellie knew what she was doing in front of a computer, but she was completely helpless out here. She doubted she’d notice something suspicious if it came up and bit her in the ass. What about that middle-aged man over there, casually smoking a cigarette, leaning against the hood of his car? Was he following them? She watched as he turned, quickly flicked his cigarette away, and smiled as an older woman appeared from the ladies’ restroom. She gave him a hug, then pointed down at the cigarette, appeared to scold him for a moment, and then climbed back into the car. They drove away.
“Idiot.” She had to stop talking to herself before Asher caught her and decided she really was crazy.
Speak of the devil . . . Asher reappeared from the men’s room, and at the sight of him, her heart skipped a beat. Crap. She admitted it. The truth. She was attracted to him, but even more than just attracted. It was more than the sex. It was more than the flush of heat that rushed through her body at the sight of him walking toward the car. It was more than any sense of protection, of him being her bodyguard. It was more than the way his T-shirt clung to his broad chest, his lean waist, or those long legs and the way his jeans barely hid the bulge in his crotch and the attractive ass.
As he walked, his gaze never stopped moving, constantly searching not only the cars and people in the parking lot, but also the road beyond, and the trees beyond that. He was a man who didn’t take things for granted. One who didn’t make assumptions. Maybe one who saw danger behind every tree.
Who was he, really? Besides the guy she instinctively knew she was falling for.
He opened the car door and slid inside. “Idiot,” she sighed under her breath, again shaking her head. She’d been doing that so much lately she was afraid she’d end up with a concussion.
“I hope you’re not talking about me,” he murmured, putting the key into the ignition.
She frowned. God, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “No, Asher, I was talking about me. I’m the idiot.”
“You need to use the bathroom?”
Great, he didn’t disagree. She changed her mind. “Yeah, I’d better. No telling when we’ll stop again, right?”
“Well, we’ll need to gas up in about another hundred miles, and I don’t really want you to get out of the car there unless you have to.”
Ellie nodded, reaching for the door handle. “I’ll be right back.” She stepped out of the car and closed the door as she glanced around, then headed for the restroom. She reached to open the heavy metal door at the same moment the two small children and their mother emerged. She stepped back and opened the door wide, giving them room. The mother offered her a smile of thanks and herded her children back toward their SUV.
Ellie stepped inside the restroom, immediately wrinkling her nose at the smell. She glanced left to the cracked mirror screwed and somehow anchored into the cinderblock wall and stained sink. The place was stained and grimy, but the paper towel holder was stocked. How about that. To the right, three stalls with metal doors, all scratched, dented, and graffitied. She chose the last one, pleased to note that whoever had used to stall last had indeed flushed the toilet. The toilet paper holder held two bulging roles. While the place could certainly use a facelift, the park service or whoever ran the rest stop kept it relatively clean and stocked, which was an equally surprising change of pace.
She quickly used the facilities, then headed for the sink. As she fiddled with the tap, her mind drifted to the people after them. The Guardian Knights, most likely. Who else could it be? She hadn’t been searching for anything or anyone in particular when she came across them, but her interest had been quickly piqued. Actually, she still didn’t know a whole lot, but from what she’d seen so far, whatever they were up to was highly illegal. It had to be, or she and Asher wouldn’t have people after them trying to blow them up. She needed to shut them down. Her mind flew. Asher. Who was he involved with. Could she trust him? Should she?
Without a computer, without a phone, without access to any electronics, the chances of doing anything effective were next to none. She was in the dark. Ellie did not like that. Not one bit. All they were doing now was reacting. Running. Running from something. From someone. She needed to get ahead of this.
She wiped her hands on the paper towels and deposited them in the trash can by the door, grabbing the bottom of her shirt to cover her hand as she opened the door. She knew what they needed to do.
Asher watched her approach. She felt his eyes on her, watching her as she had watched him only minutes ago. Was he thinking about last night? Sex in the shower? Or the fact that she now owed him literally thousands of dollars. And her life. Did he trust her? It was doubtful, but she got the sense that he would still do his best to keep her safe. He had his orders. But from whom? Maybe it was time for both of them to lay their cards on the table.
She slid into the car, talking her time closing the door, collecting her thoughts before she turned to him. “We need to stop them, Asher, and to do that, I need a computer.” She paused, swallowing. “I already owe you so much, but is there any way you could swing a laptop?”
He stared at her for a moment and then nodded. “Our guys are looking into it, too,” he said. Ellie’s eyes grew wide before she could stop her reaction. Was she finally going to find out more about his elusive co-workers? “What about a pronged attack?” she suggested, growing more excited by the idea.
“What do you mean?”
“If I can get my hands on a laptop, I can try to insert a Trojan horse or some other kind of distraction that will keep them focused on my infiltration. I have to get beyond their firewall, and so do your guys, to make it truly effective. It would keep them busy, even if they spotted one or both of our attempts. Maybe enough time to give one of us a chance to find something concrete, something that we could take to the authorities.”
He said nothing for several moments, the doubt clear on his face. Ellie’s heart sank. How long would they keep running? How long would Asher be willing to babysit her before she was left alone to fend for herself? The bad guys could just wait until Asher was gone and then . . . whammy!
“Ellie, the thing is, we’re trying to escape them, get away from them, you get it?” He spoke softly, gently, not condescending, but matter-of-fact. “So far, they’ve managed to anticipate our every move. They’ve managed to track us, even against impossible odds. They might even still have eyes on us now. And you want to open an
other door for them?” He shook his head. “Give them another chance to lock onto us and maybe they’ll be more successful next time in eliminating whatever threat it is that you . . . that we—”
“I don’t want to be a sitting duck!” she exclaimed, frustration roiling. “I got us into this, Asher, and I need to help get us out! You get that, don’t you?”
He placed a hand on her thigh. That touch, though she assumed was intended to be soothing and calming, had the opposite effect. That touch made her heart race, her pussy throb, her nipples tingling and aching for his touch. She jerked her leg away and he frowned, lifting both hands in surrender. Crap. Ellie tried to explain. “Asher, I didn’t—”
He said nothing, just turned back in his seat, fastened his seatbelt, and gestured for her to do the same. Asher started the car and eased the vehicle out of the rest stop parking area and back onto the highway, again heading north. No words, no glances, the purring of the engine and the sound of passing cars the only sounds that broke the awkward silence.
Ellie returned to staring out the window, doing her best to tamp down a fresh surge of uncertainty, uneasiness, and confusion. What happened between her and Asher last night . . . was it merely adrenaline? A need to get close to another human being, to indulge in the closest contact two humans could share? Or was it something else?
She couldn’t deny her attraction to him, but was it simply a case of hero worship? Did she just have a good old-fashioned crush on Asher? Or could it possibly be something deeper? God, when would the questions end? Ellie resisted the urge to groan, covering half her face with her hand. She hadn’t felt such an attraction to a man in years. Not since the breakup with—no, don’t even go there. The differences between the two men were like night and day. While Asher had pretty much taken control over the entire situation, never once did she feel . . . she wasn’t sure how to put it. Stifled? Suffocated. Smothered.
Had she allowed him . . . had she convinced herself that sex with him last night was the least she could do? She shook her head. Stupid! What, did she think she was going to pay him back with her body? She wasn’t—did she think she owed him? Well, she owed him some money, that was for sure, but never, not once, had he suggested that he owed her anything. The more she thought about it, the more she decided they needed to discuss their relationship—whatever the hell it was. She hesitated. She barely knew the guy! Yet, she felt she knew him better than she had any of her previous boyfriends. There hadn’t been that many, but enough to make the comparisons. It had only been a matter of days, but there was something about him . . .
“Asher, can we talk about something?”
He glanced at her, then back to the road. “You want to talk about last night, don’t you?”
She didn’t have to feign her surprise. “What, you’re psychic now?”
He smiled. “I do have a sort-of gift. I can read people, sense their emotions, their thoughts . . . so am I right? Is this about the shower?”
“What does it mean?” she asked. God, she sounded like an idiot. She felt like a teenager surviving her first sexual encounter, wondering what it all meant.
His eyebrows furrowed as he glanced back over, his gaze switching back quickly to the road. No, it was more than that. He was watching everywhere. “It means whatever you want it to mean.”
Ellie returned his frown. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
He huffed out a breath. “Ellie, try not to overanalyze everything, okay? Right now, we have more important matters at hand, like staying alive.” He paused, offered her another quick glance and a smile, and then eyed the highway, his eyes constantly moving. Rearview mirror, side mirrors, opposite lane, cars passing. “I told you, no regrets, right? You enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, so let’s just leave it at that for now, all right?”
She heaved an inward sigh. There was no point pressing him. All she’d do was make the situation more awkward and embarrassing than it already was. “Fine.”
They’d been on the road for hours, quietly making their way north. They’d sat through one traffic jam, but then the rest of the way on Interstate ninety-three toward Manchester was fairly open. Ellie had no idea where Asher was going. He got off the highway in downtown Manchester, did a few loop-de-loops around several city blocks, and then headed south, doubling back on a county road before heading southwest on a rural highway, meandering through a rolling landscape of forests, some dense, others not quite so much. The region was riddled with ponds, and picturesque farms, and covered bridges.
“Where we going?” she eventually asked. She squinted against the sun, slowly descending the western sky. A sign—Monadnock State Park.
“Peterborough,” he said. “We can find a mall there, get you some supplies, and find us a computer.”
Ellie hid her smile of satisfaction, though where he was getting the money for another laptop, she didn’t know. Perhaps she should be more worried about that, but for now all she cared about was getting her hands on the keyboard. Somehow, some way, she would pay him back.
15
Asher
They rolled into Peterborough from the north, having taken several side roads that meandered back and forth through the thick forests. The winding route had offered him plenty of opportunity to see if they were being followed. The area was heavily forested, houses scattered either indiscriminately on farmland or in small subdivisions. They passed a hospital, and then a short distance later, a road sign announcing the McDowell Colony—some sort of artist’s retreat or something. Further into town, there was a church on nearly every corner, then a number of family-owned restaurants, some bed and breakfasts, a couple of stores, and more trailheads than he’d seen in any small country town, even back home. A tourist town was a bad place to try to hide out in.
“Hmmm,” he muttered. “I think we’re out of luck here.” He glanced her way. “You good for another hour or so maybe? We can continue west, see what they’ve got in Keene.”
Ellie shrugged, not looking at him, her gaze riveted on the road winding its way back and forth through the close-growing forest, splashes of sunlight and shadow dancing across the windshield.
“Ellie, you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry I got you into this,” she mumbled.
She’d already apologized several times, but there had never been any need for it. This was his job. A job he hadn’t wanted in the beginning, but that was long past. He wasn’t her babysitter—he’d come to realize in the last few hours driving the winding roads that he had never been. He was her lifeline, and just maybe, she’d be his. “I know you are, and it’s not . . . well, you started a stone rolling, but you didn’t know what was going to happen once it did. This has never happened to you before, has it?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea,” she began. “I don’t even know what I found.” She turned to him. “I don’t know what this is all about. Maybe between me and your guys, we can find out. But even if we do, how in the world are we going to get out of this? It’s obvious that they don’t want—”
He interrupted before she could work herself into a state again. If there’s one thing he needed, it was to keep Ellie calm. She couldn’t do what she needed if she was losing it. Besides, even a hint of tears from her tore at his heartstrings. “You know what my mom always used to say?” She gave him a look and he grinned. “Don’t put the cart before the horse. I never really understood it back then, but as I grew older, I did. Let’s take this one step at a time. First, safety. Second, computer. Then we’ll plan our next step, okay?”
She nodded, saying nothing, but her hands rested in her lap unclenched. The sight gave him more satisfaction than he was expecting. With one last glance at her gorgeous profile, Asher turned back to the road. They rode in silence for the next hour.
They rolled into Keene at about four o’clock in the afternoon. Bigger than Peterborough, the town of Keene, settled in 1736 according to the sign as they approached, was a typically northeastern town; it was a combination
of centuries of history with historical buildings and modern amenities. Hotels, coffee shops, boutique stores, and more. Keene was also home to the state college, a number of conservation and nature preserves, parks, and shopping centers. He drove around a few roundabout streets, just looking, but also paying attention to what he saw in his rearview mirror. He hadn’t spotted a car following them, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. They hadn’t yet seen who—
“There’s a shopping center over there.”
He glanced at Ellie, who was pointing out the window to her right. He turned at the next corner, went around the block, and pulled into the parking lot of a small shopping center, at least by Boston standards. A couple of retail stores, an office supply store, and a pharmacy.
“Perfect,” he said, gesturing toward the office store as he pulled into a parking space. “We can get a laptop in there. I hope.” He gazed along the front of the mall. In front of a pharmacy stood two phone booths. “I’ve got to check in with my boss. You want to go into the office store and see if they have any decent computers? I’ll meet you in there in a few minutes.” He hadn’t noticed a tail, and all his evasive maneuvers had to count for something. Besides, he would be able to see the front entrance of the store from the phone. He’d know if anyone followed her in. He had to keep her safe, but Asher knew what would happen if he never let her have a moment of peace. Ellie was already stressed, but if she was anything like the geekier members of his team, a few minutes alone with the hardware would soothe her soul. Besides, it might give him a break from the almost-permanent semi he’d had since he’d made her come the night before. He never thought a moment would come when he’d be glad for being followed by someone trying to kill them, but it had made for a good distraction from sitting right next to Ellie for hours on end and not being able to touch her. Last night had been heaven on earth, but he couldn’t let himself lose focus again. Next time, it might be at the cost of her life, and that was something Asher couldn’t bear to even think about.
Dark Deception (DARC Ops Book 11) Page 11
