I knew she was too good for me, but I couldn’t stay away. And once he’d had her, there had been no going back for him.
“Good-bye,” Saxon breathed the words against her lips, then he kissed her once more. This time, when he kissed her, he could taste the salt of her tears on his tongue.
He turned away and headed for the plane.
***
Saxon buckled his seatbelt and leaned his head back against the seat. He’d need to get a weapon when he arrived in South Carolina. And he’d check in with Tracy to see what kind of reinforcements would be available from the FBI.
His eyes closed as he planned.
Getting Victor out alive was priority one. Making sure that—
He smelled honey. Sweet, sweet honey. Something soft brushed against his knee.
Saxon shook his head even as his eyes opened. Elizabeth was there and currently sliding into the seat right behind his. He caught her arm. “What are you doing?”
She glanced down at his hand. “I think I told you before, I won’t have you risking your life for me again. I won’t let you or your brother be in danger because of me.”
“You don’t understand—”
“No, Saxon, you don’t understand.” The tears were gone from her eyes. She stared up at him and said, “I love you, and I won’t let you just fly away from me. If there is something I can to do help you, I will.”
I love you.
He hadn’t heard anything past that. Tell her that you love her, too. Tell her. But he couldn’t speak a word.
The flight attendant’s voice drifted through the plane as she began her safety spiel.
“It’s okay,” Elizabeth told him with a soft smile. “I know you don’t love me yet. It’s too fast, I get it. But do I love you, Saxon, and I’m coming with you. I’m going to be by your side. I’m going to—”
“Why?”
Her smile widened. “Because that’s what family does.”
No, no…why do you love me? And why was it suddenly so hard for him to actually speak?
She caught his hand and brought his scarred knuckles to her lips. “Whatever is waiting for us, we’ll face it, together.”
The hell they would. “He wants you.” He’d told her that already. “The bastard is trying to trade your life for Victor’s.” That’s a trade that will never happen. I’ll protect her. Always. Victor was his brother, and he’d do just about anything for the man. Take a bullet, give up his life.
But there was one thing he wouldn’t do.
I’ll never trade her. Because she just meant too much to him.
***
Hours later, they were in South Carolina. Finally. Elizabeth had felt as if they were racing some invisible clock during the entire journey.
As soon as they left the Charleston airport, Saxon pulled out his phone. His face was tense when he made the call, and Elizabeth stood beside him, hardly daring to breathe.
“I’m here,” Saxon said into the phone.
She inched closer, trying to hear the other man’s voice. It was garbled but it sounded like he asked…Did you bring her?
Saxon’s gaze slanted toward Elizabeth. “Yes.”
A car horn honked, drowning out any hope she had of hearing the other man’s words.
“Where are you?” Saxon demanded.
“No cops…” She caught those words clearly.
A family came out of the airport, talking excitedly and laughing. She glanced over at them for an instant. When she looked back at Saxon, he looked even more grim and intense.
“I’ll be there,” Saxon promised.
“An hour.” She heard that part very clearly. “Or he’s dead.”
She shivered. Night had fallen, and there was darkness all around them. So much darkness.
Saxon ended the call and put the phone in his pocket.
“What happens now?” She asked him.
“Now…” Saxon said. “I go and get my brother.” He took her elbow and led her toward a black SUV. The driver side door opened just when they reached the vehicle and a woman with long, red hair stepped out.
“Hello, Tracy,” Saxon said.
Elizabeth’s focus shifted to the woman. There was a gun holster at the woman’s hip. She really hoped the chick was FBI and not—
“I’m Agent Tracy Adams,” she said, giving a quick nod toward Elizabeth before she motioned them toward the vehicle. “And I know where Victor is.”
Saxon and Elizabeth climbed into the back seat. Tracy slid back into the front and she cranked the engine.
“I know, too,” Saxon muttered. “The guy is expecting me to come to him…with Elizabeth…within the next two hours. He told me no cops, no other agents…or Victor would be dead.”
“Figured as much,” Tracy said. “ I broke the rules by running the trace on his phone so I could get his location. And considering that I don’t know what I could be walking into here…I figured it would be a case of a two-man team up. You and I against whatever hell is waiting.”
“But if he sees you,” Elizabeth pointed out, worry making her voice thicken, “then he’ll know you’re an agent. He could kill Victor.”
Tracy drove them away from the airport. “Saxon, tell me this…does he know what Elizabeth looks like?”
“If he’s been online, then, yeah, the guy probably knows what she looks like. He’ll have seen her hair, her—”
“Yeah, but now that she’s gone darker, she probably doesn’t look too much like her old pictures, anyway. She’s my size, my age…” Tracy braked at a red light. “I’m hoping we can fool him, just long enough for me to get inside and help you get Victor out. I’m thinking that when I go in with you, he won’t see an agent. He’ll just see…her.”
Elizabeth’s breath whooshed out. That plan might actually work. Only there was one more thing. “What can I do?”
Tracy’s gaze met hers in the rear-view mirror. “Stay down and out of sight in the car. If we come out fast, we’ll need you to be ready to drive us away in an instant.”
So she was the getaway driver?
“Do you have a team standing by?” Elizabeth said. She must have a team. But…if Tracy did…then why does she need me to be her getaway driver?
“No team,” Tracy said as the light turned green. “We’re solo on this because Victor went off the grid. I don’t know what the hell he did for you, Ms. Ward, and the last thing I want is for the FBI to wind up tossing my mentor in jail because he broke the law for you.”
“We’re doing this on our own,” Saxon said. “Not like it will be the first time.”
And Elizabeth prayed it wouldn’t be their last.
Chapter Fifteen
“This is the place,” Tracy said as she pulled the SUV onto the old road that ended at a dead-end. When the SUV’s headlights flashed, Elizabeth saw that the narrow road was surrounded by overgrown trees and bushes.
But then Tracy killed the lights and slowly turned around the vehicle, maneuvering it carefully on that too-tight road. When she was done, the vehicle was ready to race right away again. Elizabeth’s hands fisted in her lap. And I’ll be the driver.
“I need a weapon,” Saxon said, “and I know you’ve got a back-up.”
Tracy grunted and handed him a gun. “I never leave home without one.”
The interior of the SUV was so dark. Elizabeth wanted to be able to see Saxon’s face. She needed to see him again.
“We’ll play this like I’m your girl,” Tracy said. “We go in, we catch the bastard off-guard, and we get Victor out of there.”
“But you don’t know what’s waiting inside.” Elizabeth hadn’t flown all the way across the country just to lose Saxon. She had no intention of losing him, period. “You can’t just go in and—”
His fingers curled around hers. So warm and strong. “Victor’s inside. That’s all I need to know.”
Then he was gone. He’d slipped from the vehicle. Elizabeth hurried out, too, but Tracy just tossed her the keys. “Stay with the ride,” Tracy ordered her. “And stay out of sight.”
But she wanted to help. That was why she’d come. To be with Saxon. To stand by his side and face whatever hell was waiting. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt for me!”
Her determined voice stopped them cold.
“I should go in,” Elizabeth said. “If this guy wants me, then I’m going. I’m—”
“I’m an FBI agent,” Tracy told her flatly. “I know how to do this job. No offense, lady, but you’re PR. What the hell are you going to do? Talk the guy to death?”