Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(46)

“You would have found it.” Maybe she shouldn’t have cut him off. Still... “I’m probably naive and I definitely don’t know what you’ve faced overseas. But I can’t imagine you not giving every last drop of energy you had to doing the right thing.”

And she meant it. It resonated inside her. And maybe she was a little afraid of her own truth because she believed it so completely.

“I’ve failed.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Don’t make me out to be infallible.”

She was brushing off on him. He was far more educated than he’d seemed at first, with an extensive vocabulary. But she noticed, and liked, the way he only flexed his way with words around her. At least, as far as she knew.

“You’re human.” This time she reached out to him, tentatively touching his thigh with her fingertips. His muscles bunched under the fabric of his jeans. “And we make mistakes. But it doesn’t mean you don’t give everything you have.”

Faith. She had it in him. At least to do the right thing and help her. But she wasn’t sure about what would happen once they’d reached their currently mutual goal. Then it wouldn’t be about doing the right thing anymore. It’d be a choice.

What she was hoping for, she didn’t have the courage to ask.

Gabe sighed. “Don’t make me a hero. I’m a man with a set of skills and eventually, I need to earn a p—”

Something popped. Loud. And the car’s forward motion jerked. Instead of slamming on the brakes, Gabe cursed and kept his foot on the gas pedal. Or at least she assumed so since they weren’t slowing down. As the car’s forward motion steadied, Gabe let the car decelerate and flipped up the turn signal as they pulled over.

His expression was grim as he yanked up the parking brake. “Stay in here for now. Keep the window cracked so you can hear me and be ready to get down if I tell you to.”

Ice shot through her. “What happened?”

“Could be a normal tire blowout.” He unbuckled his seat belt. “But in case it isn’t, be ready to do what I tell you. No questions.”

“Okay.” Fear started to trickle in and she reined in the flurry of what ifs until Gabe could tell her what happened. Like he said, it could be a normal flat tire.

“While I’m checking this out, call the team.” He opened the car door. “Whoever is on watch will answer. Tell them we’ve made an unplanned stop. They’ll send someone out to give us support.”

She fumbled with the phone and called the number listed as “Centurion-Seattle.” It was that or “Centurion-DC” so she figured she’d picked the right one.

“Yeah.”

The sound of Victoria’s voice was all the trigger Maylin needed to spill the message. Victoria listened until Maylin finished.

Her response was succinct. “Sending Lizzy.”

And then Victoria ended the call.

Maylin lowered her window a crack and called out to Gabe.

“Got it.” He didn’t even pause as he answered.

He had his gun with him. Actually he had more than one. He hadn’t flown with them, but he’d taken the time to pull on his shoulder harness when they’d gotten back to the car. Maylin had wondered if he had a favorite and he’d gruffly told her she watched too many TV shows.

All of which were flashing through her very overactive imagination as he worked his way around to the passenger side. He was scanning the area around them, and Maylin looked out too. They were isolated here. It was one of those short stretches of highway lined with trees, hiding the nearby houses and businesses from view. She wasn’t familiar with this highway, though, so she had no idea how deep the stands of trees were. Could be a short walk before you’d end up in someone’s backyard, or it could be surprisingly longer. Hard to tell as you got closer to the state parks and reserves.

He seemed satisfied for a moment and crouched down to examine the tire. He scowled.

“Out. Out of the car.”

Maylin scrambled to undo her seat belt. It stuck. She took a deep breath and tried again. And one more time. It wasn’t releasing. “I can’t.”

Fear filled her. She wanted to shout at him to get away and to help her at the same time. But mostly, she wanted him away. He could help An-mei.

He was on his feet and at her door so fast she didn’t see him move. He yanked at her door but it wouldn’t open. Both of them looked at the lock. It was popped up, appeared unlocked. Maylin tried the door from her side. It wouldn’t open.

Tā mā de.

He cursed too, out loud. It was weird to hear, calm and cold but still explicit enough to make her blink. “Get your window down as far as you can.”

At least they both knew the window was working, since she’d cracked it when he first stepped out of the car. She pressed the button to lower it in a careful and deliberate motion, afraid it might jam or something if she hit it. Probably stupid, but hell. This was not the time to be breaking things in a rush.

The window lowered smoothly. As soon as he could get over it, Gabe leaned in with something dark in his hand. He pulled her seat belt away from her chest and hooked it with the thing he was holding—a utility knife with a seat belt cutter. The fabric of the seat belt parted easily. He did the same at her lap instead of wasting more time to pull it loose. So glad he hadn’t had to use an actual open blade. What if she’d twitched?