“Sorry the room is shit,” Colin said as soon as we’d stepped inside the dingy room. “Not exactly what you’re used to.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I snapped.

I was exhausted and starving. We’d driven over eight hours, finally stopping in El Paso for the night.

“Whoa there, sunshine.” Colin locked the top latch on the cheap door. I had serious doubts the safety device would actually prevent someone from getting in the room. “I didn’t mean anything negative. Simply stating the obvious. When was the last time the first daughter was in a thirty dollar a night motel room?”

“Sorry I’m grouchy. Today sucked.”

Colin tossed the backpacks on the bed and stopped in front of me, placing both of his hands on my shoulders. “Yeah, it did, and you’ve been great all day. I’m sorry the night has to end with a shit bed and fast food. In a few days, we’ll be in California. I promise you a nice bubble bath and a home cooked meal.”

I still hadn’t set the drive-thru bags down, and the smell of greasy hamburgers and fries drifted through the stale air of the room, making my stomach growl.

“Let’s get you fed.” Colin looked around the room before scrunching his nose. “Picnic on the bed?”

“Anywhere. I’m hungry.”

He moved the packs onto the floor, took the bags out of my hands, and let me climb on the bed. With my back against the headboard, and in a very unladylike move, I tore off the wrapper of my cheeseburger and started without him. It wasn’t until I’d eaten half my food that I really look around the shitty motel room.

“There’s only one bed.”

“Uh-huh,” Colin mumbled around a bite.

“Do you think the guys from earlier will find us again?”

I’d had a lot of time to think about my brush with death and I was scared shitless. I was doing my best not to show Colin how freaked out I was, but inside I wanted to curl into a ball and hide behind him. I’d never been involved in a high-speed chase and while I was aware Colin wouldn’t consider the ten-minute ordeal necessarily “high-speed,” I did.

“No, Erin, they won’t. I made sure we weren’t being followed.”

“They ran into us—”

“They did. Are you sore? How’s your neck?”

He’d asked me about my neck and back no less than ten times during our drive. Every time he pulled off the road so I could use the restroom, he made me stretch and roll it, even though I’d told him repeatedly I was fine. Each time before we’d settled back in the car for the next leg of our trip, he’d kneaded and rubbed my shoulders and the back of my neck for a few minutes. He’d also done his best to keep my mind occupied while we were driving. He’d told me stories about growing up, the sports he played, and his high school shenanigans. I hadn’t missed how he’d left out most of his military service and he’d only told me about the “bullshit” assignments he worked at Z Corps. Those were the cases where he followed cheating spouses or they assisted local law enforcement on investigations.

“It’s okay.”

We fell silent, and I shoved another handful of fries into my month.

Suddenly everything hit me.

Everything. All at once. The crash, the chase, the shooting. My apartment being bugged. Someone taking creepy pictures of me. My mom and dad. What a shitty friend I’d been to Olivia. Everything.

“Come here, sunshine.” The container of fries was removed from my hand, Colin twisted, placing them on the nightstand, then hefted me up, and scooted down the bed, setting me mostly on top of him. With both of his strong arms wrapped around me, I did something I hadn’t done in a very long time. I cried. Not a polite sniffle like a well-mannered, proper woman would. No, not me. The tears rolled, and the snot bubbled.

His strength never wavered, not in the time I took to cleanse my soul of all the fear that had bottled up. And not when I wiped my face on his tear-soaked shirt. He just held me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

“I thought I was okay.”

“You were in shock. Most people go their whole lives and never experience what you did today.”

“I’m really scared.”

His arms tightened, and I desperately wanted to melt into him. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. I promise, Erin, I will stand between you and anyone who dares to come after you.”

“I’m glad there’s only one bed.”

“Why’s that, sunshine?”

“Because I’m too afraid to sleep by myself, and this way I don’t have to beg you to let me sleep next to you.”

Colin pulled back and propped himself up on an elbow. When his brows pulled together, I worried I’d crossed a line. “I’ll never make you beg for something you need.” I searched his face and was shocked to find he looked so sincere, his eyes pleading with me to believe him.

“Thank you.”

His hand brushed across my cheek, and he pushed my hair behind my ear. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face and, for a second, I thought he was leaning in to kiss me, but he stopped. “We’ll only be in this shithole for tonight. Tomorrow we’ll be someplace where you can feel safe.”

I doubted a change in location was going to ease my fears but I agreed, “Okay.”

“Are you still hungry?”

“No. I’m just tired and I want a shower but I’m afraid of what the bathroom looks like, so I’ll wait until tomorrow. Where are we staying?”

“My buddy, Abe, has a cabin outside of San Diego. It’s where Leo took Olivia when he was hiding her.”

“Does he know we’re coming? Don’t you have to call and ask?”

“Zane’s already taken care of it.”

“When did you talk to Zane?” He hadn’t called anyone since he talked to Fletch before we left Killeen. As a matter of fact, he’d taken the sim card out of his phone and smashed the rest of it when we stopped at a hardware store for a roll of plastic and duct tape. Which reminded me. “Are you worried someone will break into the car? It’s not like the plastic taped to the back window is a great deterrent.”

“It’s a rental,” he said by way of explanation. “Fletch called Zane and told him.”

“He did?”

I thought back to the short conversation the two men had and didn’t remember Colin mentioning Abe or California.

“He did,” Colin confirmed. “Remember when I asked Fletch to tell Zane, it’s always best to be honest?”

“Yeah.”

I still wasn’t understanding what that had to do with a cabin in San Diego.

“Abe’s name is Christopher. His team nicknamed him Abe because he’s always honest and has no tolerance for those who aren’t. When Fletch called Zane and repeated what I’d said, Zane knew where we were going.”

“What if Fletch didn’t repeat your exact words? Then how will Zane know? Wouldn’t it be easier to just call him?”

It seemed like a lot of work to pass secret coded messages when Colin could just call himself.

“First, Fletch repeated my words verbatim—”

“How do you know?”

“Because Fletch has been trained to follow instructions to the letter. He lives in a world where men die if they don’t. He knew the situation we were in and the importance of my message. I wouldn’t have said it, if it didn’t mean something. And I didn’t call Zane directly because I don’t know how we were tracked. The only people who knew we were headed to Texas were your father, my team, and Fletch’s team.”

“Would Fletch—”

“Not only is the answer no, but a resounding, fuck no. Fletch and the men he works with are solid—a hundred percent.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to question their integrity.”

It was a sad reality I didn’t have anyone in my life who I trusted the way Colin trusted the men he worked with or Fletch and his team. When Colin spoke about Zane and the guys, he was sure and confident they would never let him down. Even with Fletch, his answer was strong and quick. I loved that for Colin, but it reminded me how lonely I was. I had exactly one friend, and she didn’t even count anymore because I’d stupidly turned my back on her.

“You don’t know them and, right now, you should be questioning everyone. We are. Zane has Tex and Garrett, our in-house IT guy, combing through the lives of everyone you’ve come in contact with in the last few years. Friends, boyfriends, people who you worked with at the charities, anyone and everyone.”

I was a little embarrassed at what they’d find. Not that I had anything to hide but the “friends” they’d check out would take less time than they thought. There were very few people I worked with who could even be considered acquaintances, and the boyfriends would be even faster. There had only been one since high school.

“Why do you think this is happening?”

“I don’t know. But I promise we’ll figure it out. Tomorrow, when we get to Abe’s cabin, we’ll have a secure line to Zane. There’s a chance they’ve already started to put the pieces together.”

“Thank you for sharing.”

“I already told you, from now on I’ll share what I can. But I want you to understand there will be things I can’t tell you. It’s not because I don’t think you deserve to know or I’m purposefully being a dick, but I am bound by my word not to talk about certain things.”

“What type of things?”

“Nice try, sunshine.” He smiled and settled back on the pillow, pulling me back to his chest. “You should get some sleep. I wanna leave first thing.”

“I’m not tired.” His body started to shake with silent laughter. “What’s funny?”

“You just told me you were tired and wanted a shower.”

“That was five minutes ago.”

“And in the last five minutes, you’ve changed your mind?”

“Well I changed my mind about three minutes ago when we started talking about super-secret coded messages.”

He shook harder and chuckled as he said, “Super-secret messages. You’re a nut.”

For some reason Colin laughing warmed my insides, even if it was at my expense. In all the time I’d spent around him he rarely looked happy. I wanted to know why, then I wanted to figure out a way to change that. The closed off, silent but deadly side of Colin was sexy as hell. All it had taken was one look at his tough guy exterior and I was schoolgirl crushing. However this side of Colin, the softer, funny side where the fierce and gentle protector mingled—was swoon worthy.

“Thanks, I think.” The hand that was resting on my hip squeezed and I liked that, too. “Tell me about your family.”

“What about them?”

“I don’t know. Anything. You know all about mine.”

“I’m finding I don’t know as much about you as I thought I knew.”

I wanted to ask what that meant but I was too afraid of the answer. Too afraid he’d say something nice, and the infatuation I’d been harboring would grow. Lying next to Colin with my head resting on his chest, and his arms around me did crazy stuff to my head. As hard as I was trying to keep my distance, the pull was too strong. I knew it was too late, Colin Doyle was going to break my heart.