The car rumbled on. I took breath after breath, doing my best to not pass out from fright. My hands shook, and beads of sweat zipped down my face. I couldn’t believe how scared I was.

But more than that, I couldn’t believe Justin’s calm. He sat as still as a stone, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

“Please,” I said. “Say something. Anything.”

A small smile crossed his face, and he spoke.

“Did you know that eucalyptus trees are actually a terrible source of nutrients?”

I opened my mouth slightly and shook my head as if I’d misheard him.

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

“Just about no nutritional value. And on top of that, they’re mildly poisonous. So if you or I tried to eat a handful, it’d likely put us in the hospital. Not to mention not fill us up.”

“There a reason why you’re telling me this?”

“But that didn’t stop koalas from evolving to live off of them almost exclusively. Over time, koalas developed a resistance to the toxin in the leaves, and they’re totally adept at hanging out in the branches, shoving down the leaves by the handful.”

Then he turned to me.

“You like koalas?”

“I mean…I guess they’re pretty cute.”

“I think so, too,” he said. “But they’re mean little things. Catch one on a bad day and they’ll go right for the eyes.”

“Okay,” I said. “You have to tell me what this has to do with anything.”

A smile formed on Justin’s mouth.

“Just thought you needed something to take your mind off of all this,” he said.

I started to speak but caught myself. He was right—I’d totally forgotten about our predicament.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing one before I left,” he said. “I mean, I know I can go to the zoo, but it’s not the same.”

“Maybe you’ll spot one here in the outback when these assholes send us off on a little walkabout.”

“Oh, these guys?” he asked. “Don’t worry about them.”

“Don’t worry about the half-dozen men armed with guns?” I asked. “Those are the guys you don’t want me to worry about?”

“Listen, this isn’t my first rodeo,” he said. “I’ve gotten out of worse scrapes than this. But I need you to do something first.”

“And that is?”

“Put your foot on my ankle and push up the pants. I’ve got a multi-tool they didn’t see.”

I did as he asked, pushing up the cuff of his jeans with the bottom of my foot. Sure enough, I hit the hard, rectangular form of a tool of some sort.

“Now,” he said, “give it a little push, and you should be able to get it out of there.”

I did. The tool fell out of the leather pouch and landed on the floor of the van with a dull thud. Both of us looked around after the sound, making sure that none of the men up front heard anything. A few moments passed, and we were in the clear.

“So you get out of those bindings and then what?” I asked. “You take out all of those guys?”

His response didn’t miss a beat.

“Yep.”

I couldn’t believe his confidence. But something told me that he wasn’t blowing smoke. Justin’s body was calm and relaxed, as though he’d been in countless situations like this before, and this was just a minor setback to deal with before he got on with the rest of his job.

“Listen,” he said. “I know you didn’t ask to get involved with any of this, but know that I’ll keep you safe. Just do what I say, and I’ll make sure you get through this alive—you have my word. Got it?”

Something about his calm and confidence eased my mind instantly. I felt safe in his hands, despite the insanity of everything happening.

“Got it,” I said.

“Now,” Justin went on. “This van is a gas-guzzler, and we’re going to have to be stopping before too long.”

“We can call for help when we stop for gas, right?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said. “You saw all of the stations on the way into Longbridge—they’re automated. Besides, I wouldn’t want to get some station attendant involved in all of this crap. These guys don’t exactly take kindly to witnesses.”

That all made sense, and I said nothing as he went on.

“By my estimation, we’re going to be stopping here any minute. They’ll be popping those doors open to check up on us, and when they do, I want you to get out of the way as fast as possible. Understood?”

“So, the plan is for me to get out of the way while you pull off the plan.”

“More or less.”

I felt the car slow down and turn slightly.

“That’s it,” he said. “We’re stopping. Get ready.”

A few moments later, the van came to a halt. My heart started to beat faster again, my body tensing up in fear as we prepared for what was next. I watched as Justin grabbed the multi-tool, flicked it open, and effortlessly snipped the white plastic of both of our zip ties. Outside of the van, the doors opened and shut, and the sounds of boots crunching on gravel sounded out.

“Here we go,” said Justin.

Sure enough, the doors opened. What happened next took place so quickly that I could barely comprehend.

Sunlight flooded the back of the van as the doors flew open. I pressed my back against the interior wall just in time to watch Justin’s boot fly past my face and connect with the chin of one of the thugs. A crack sounded out, and the man dropped like a sack of sand as Justin hurtled through the air past him.

Justin landed on the gravel in a squatting position, the dirt kicking up into the air around him. The other thug stood shocked, clearly unable to believe what had just happened. Justin stood up straight, driving his fist into the man’s face in an uppercut that sent him flying. The thug landed hard on the ground and went still.

I couldn’t believe how fast Justin moved. His body was like a finely tuned instrument—a weapon, almost.

“What the hell’s going on back there?” called out a voice from the other car.

“Remember when I told you to stay down?” asked Justin, turning his attention back to me.

“Of course, I do!” I said. “It was only a minute ago!”

“Okay, well, now’s the time to do it.”

“What are you—”

The dry pop of gunshots cut through the air. I let out a scream as Justin dropped to the ground and took cover behind the car.

“They’re shooting at you?” I asked, my voice frantic.

“That would explain the bullets,” he deadpanned.

“Holy shit, holy shit,” I repeated, unable to believe that I was in the middle of a gunfight.

Metallic pangs rang out as bullets slammed into the side of the van. Justin scrambled toward one of the downed goons, pulling the unconscious man’s gun out of his holster. Then, he disappeared around the side of the car.

I knew that Justin wanted me to stay put, and I knew that would be the smart thing to do, but I couldn’t help it—I needed to see what was going on. Taking a deep breath, I scooched out of the car, throwing my legs over the side of the exit and dropping down to the ground. More gunshots sounded out, the soft pops shifting the otherwise still air.

Filling my lungs with one more deep breath, I peeked around the back of the van. Up ahead, Justin was a wild blur of movement. With incredible skill and speed, he took out the thugs one-by-one, bringing them to the ground with swift punches and smacks to the back of the head with the handle of the gun. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Justin moved so quickly and precisely that it was almost inhuman.

And what’s more, I couldn’t help but feel…a little something at this brilliant display of skill. I knew that I shouldn’t have, but a tingling spread out from below my waist, a small, excited smile taking shape on my lips. As Justin stood among the downed guards, his large chest expanding and contracting, his large hands in square fists, part of me wanted to spring out from behind the van and jump him right then and there.

“Delaney!” he called out. “Where are you?”

“I’m here!” I said, running out from behind the van.

I rushed up to Justin and threw my arms around him. His body was solid and warm, and the feeling of intense arousal only grew as I stood pressed against him. I forced my eyes open, afraid to look down at the scene of violence spread out around me. But as I glanced from body to body, I didn’t spot any sign that Justin had used his gun.

“Are they still alive?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t like to kill unless I have to. Luckily, whoever hired these goons sent their B-team. I didn’t even really break a sweat.”

“Aren’t we humble?” I asked, a smirk on my face.

Justin looked down at the bodies.

“We need to get out of here before they wake up,” he said. “Here.”

He took the multi-tool out of his pocket, withdrew the knife, and handed the thing over to me.

“Put holes in these tires. That should give us more than enough time to put some distance between us and these assholes.”

“Sounds good.”

Trotting up to the front tire of the van, I aimed the blade at the dusty black rubber and drove it in deep. Air began to rush out of the tire instantly. Behind me, Justin went to the back tires and put a round in each.

“Now, let’s get the hell out of here,” he said, nodding toward the SUV.

“Can’t imagine anything I’d like better,” I said. I ran back to the van and grabbed my purse.

Moments later, we were in the cool interior of the car. Justin, having taken the keys off of one of the thugs, started the engine and pulled us back toward the road.

“Now,” I said, once we were back on track. “You want to tell me why the hell you thought it was appropriate to lie to me about your damn job?”

“Are you kidding?” he asked, flicking his eyes over to me for a moment. “What the hell was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, my name’s Justin. I beat the hell out of people for a living. Nice to meet you’?”

“Why is that so outlandish?” I asked. “Maybe that way I would’ve known to stay the hell away from you.”

“Trust me, in my experience telling women that I was a SEAL only makes them more interested. I did you a favor.”

He flashed me another one of those cocky smiles. I wanted to tear into him, but deep down I knew that he was probably right—meeting a mercenary was the most exciting thing to happen to me in a while, by a long shot.

“Besides,” he went on, “my work is top-secret. I provide bodyguard services for elite, high-value individuals. They’re the types who aren’t too keen on their hires running around blabbing out information like that.”

“It’s still bullshit,” I said. “I could’ve died back there. And you know it.”

“Trust me, you weren’t in any danger.”

“Easy for you to say now.”

A beat passed.

“Shit,” he said.

“Oh God, what now?” I asked. “More of them following us?”

“Nope,” he said. “One of those stray rounds must’ve hit the gas tank. We’re leaking like crazy.”

“Are you serious? How much longer before we run out?”

“If the rate that the dial’s going down is any indication…looks like about five minutes.”

Right as he finished, however, a sputter sounded out from the engine as it stopped and the dashboard went dark. We began to slow down, eventually coming to a halt.

“Five minutes, huh?” I asked.

“It was a rough estimate.”

“Well, what now?”

Justin popped open the driver’s-side door and stepped out.

“Now, we walk.”