Madison
“Still in the field. Going to arrange extraction today.”
Something about the way he glanced at her before speaking set off warning bells in Maddy’s head. She could hear the other end of the line. So why was his response bothering her? She knew that the plan was to find an alternate route out of town today. They had already talked about that yesterday. So why was his answer bothering her?
Because he never stated that we were going to be okay. He only reported what we’re going to do. He thinks we’re screwed.
The unsettling thought raced through her mind, sinking its claws in deep before she could ignore it, forcing her to acknowledge the reality of things. Basically they were trapped with nowhere to go.
Connor hung up the phone and turned to face her. “They’re okay,” he said without preamble.
“They got there safely?” she asked, perking up.
He shook his head. “Not quite. They’re still en route, and should get there later today. But they haven’t had any issues so far, so all should go well.”
She nodded. “Okay, well, they’ll call to let us know they get there safely, right?”
Connor frowned. “No,” he said. “They won’t. We can’t have anymore contact with them. I really shouldn’t have done that, truthfully.”
“Why not?”
“In case the lines have been tapped,” he told her. “We don’t want them knowing more about our organization than they have to.”
It was her turn to frown, eyebrows furrowing together as she looked up at him. Even sitting on the couch he was much taller than her. “How would they have these lines tapped? I thought you said this was a safe house.”
“That’s what I thought,” he replied. “I got this food from a place a block and half that way,” he said, pointing. “Across the street, there was a big black SUV with an Agent leaning up against it.”
Maddy bolted upright, looking around in a panic. “What? Why didn’t you tell me that? If they know where we are, we need to get out of here, don’t we?!”
His hand closed around her wrist. He didn’t squeeze tightly, but she could sense the restrained power in his fingers anyway. With a gentle tug Connor pulled her back into a sitting position.
“They don’t know where we are exactly,” he said, but even Maddy could sense his lack of absolute certainty in the statement.
“How can you say that?” she asked, bewildered. “They’re a block down the street!”
“Block and a half,” he corrected lamely, giving her a wink.
She stared daggers at him for a moment, then relented. “Still, that’s a little too close for my liking. We should go.”
Connor nodded. “On that, we agree. How long for you to pack?”
She walked over to where several things were strewn on the floor next to her bag, picked them up, dumped them inside, zipped it up, and threw it over her shoulder.
“Ready.”
The big shifter laughed, his chest muscles bouncing with the effort. “Okay, well, why don’t you go use the washroom, freshen up and such while I finish eating, and then I’ll do the same. Then we’ll get out of here.”
Maddy frowned but did as he suggested. Although she had mixed feelings on the current situation, that didn’t make his suggestion any less of a valid one. Even as she washed her face, she tried to decide whether his calm or her instinct to flee were more pertinent.
“Why are you so calm?” she asked after pacing back and forth while he finished getting ready. “Isn’t it likely that they’re closing in on us already?”
Connor shrugged. “I doubt it. If they knew where we were, then we’d have been taken in our sleep.”
“That’s…not entirely logical,” she said, waiting by the door as he put his shoes on. He double-knotted them she noted, so they wouldn’t come undone. She bent down to do the same to her shoes, just in case. “I mean, what if they found us just now? If we’d left ten minutes ago, we could be safe.”
Connor gave her another uncaring shrug before opening the door. He peeked out, ensuring no one was there, then jerked his head for her to follow. They moved down the stairs quickly. He paused, but Maddy continued to head around the corner to the front of the house.
A heavy hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her progress.
“Not you,” Connor said firmly.
No, that wasn’t just him saying it. That was him commanding it. That was the Alpha in him.
She shivered at the realization as the authority in his voice locked her spine straight as she turned to face him.
“You’re going that way,” he told her, pointing through the yard and into the neighbor’s property behind them. There were no fences in this area of town.
“What?” she tried to keep her voice down, despite the shockwave that ran through her at his words. “Why the hell are we splitting up?”
“Because I’m going to draw them off,” he said plainly.
Maddy began to protest, but he gripped her shoulders tightly, holding her still. His blue eyes blazed as they bore down into her.
“Madison.” He used her full name. She knew he wasn’t going to take any argument.
“Yes?”
“Go that way. Get on public transit. Go to a restaurant on Emperor Avenue, near Royal Street. The Limp Noodle. Order the Spelunker’s Delight. They’ll take you to meet a man named Flint. He’s going to take care of you till I return. Did you get all that?”
Maddy shook her head. “What? No? Why are you leading them off? I thought you said they wouldn’t be here yet!”
The eyes burned brighter as the rest of his expression clouded over. Using his grip on her shoulders, Connor brought his face closer to her. “Repeat what I told you.” He didn’t acknowledge anything she had said.
She ground her teeth angrily, looking up at him and meeting that stare head-on. Madison wasn’t going to back down that easily.
“Repeat it,” Connor said. There was a hint of desperation to his voice.
That caught her attention. Why would he be desperate for her to do as he asked? Why not mad and angry, trying to force his will on her? It was almost as if he was worried, or scared perhaps, that she wasn’t going to do what he asked. Now, why would he be scared that I might insist on us sticking together?
Because, her inner voice answered, he doesn’t want to see you get hurt, and he’s willing to sacrifice himself for you to get to safety, if that’s what it takes.
Her expression softened as that realization rocked her brain. Could that really be the case? Did she really let him do this?
“Now, Maddy,” he said as she still didn’t reply.
There was no harm in repeating what he had said, she thought. “Limp Noodle. Emperor and Royal. Spelunker’s Delight. Flint is a friend. Got it. But I—”
Her eyes flew open as Connor pulled her to him, kissed her full on the lips, and then turned and raced off into the street without another word. Two minutes later she heard what sounded like tires screeching.
Connor!
Without meaning to, Maddy’s legs took her several steps down the driveway, toward where he had disappeared and where she had heard the noise. Her mind finally reengaged after a second though, bringing her to a halting stop.
I can’t just let his efforts go to waste. If I go out there and get captured, then he’ll have to come rescue me—hopefully—assuming that he doesn’t get caught as well. That would just be doing something stupid to satiate my pride.
“Not worth it,” she muttered, using logic and reason to overwhelm her emotions.
Maddy hated when she had to do that to herself, but she knew that it just didn’t make sense. She needed to run. In the opposite direction.
With an angry snarl she turned and took off, heading into the backyard. Although the yards didn’t have traditional fencing, there was still a single slab of wood supported by posts that spanned most of the far end of the yard. She took it in one hop before scrambling up the three-foot incline along the back of the property.
She emerged into another calm residential street. But behind the row of houses in front of her, she could hear vehicles going by at a fairly steady pace. All she needed to do was get there. The road on her right continued straight for some length, without a break in the houses. To the left, it actually curved back the way she had come. Maddy didn’t see any sign of a path.
Behind her, she heard shouts. She spun, crouching at the same time. There was a fairly clear viewpoint from where she was to the backyard of the house behind her, and from there to the backyard of the house she had stayed in overnight.
The yard was crawling with men in black.
With a hiss of surprise she slowly duckwalked to the side, until the house closest to her blocked her from view. Then, without a second thought, she turned and peeled across the street, flinging open the gate to the closest house and barreling across the yard to the fence. It was a solid eight-foot-high wood fence, but in the corner was a compost bin. Breathing a sigh of relief, Maddy hopped onto that, and then threw herself over the fence as fast as she could.
The ground below rushed up to meet her, and she grunted in pain, landing awkwardly on all fours, but all it did was send a jolt through her body. She would feel that impact tomorrow, but for now she was okay. Trees lined the fence, but they were only a single planting wide, just a noise-dampening layer for the houses to block off sound from the street. She darted through the low-hanging branches and emerged onto a busy street.
Eyes looking back and forth, she hoped to see a bus coming just then to whisk her away to safety.
Nothing.
Except…
“Taxi!” she called, stepping to the curb as the vehicle slowed.
It wasn’t until the door closed behind her that her brain decided to remind her of something that she had somehow pushed aside.
Connor had kissed her!
“Where to, miss?” the cab driver asked.
Right. She had forgotten to tell him that, and they had just been sitting at the side of the road. Behind them, a car honked.
“Royal and Emperor,” she told him, sitting back into the seat.
She’d just been kissed. By a rather attractive man as well.
A tingle ran through her stomach. Interesting.
Despite it all, a smile threatened to break out on her face.