The Fall(30)

There were a lot of things I never thought I would do. Leaving the scene of a crime would be one—but I’d already done that tonight—while playing partner to a criminal was a close second. Still, I wasn’t going to sit and debate my fall from grace when we had no idea what threat lay inside that car.

“Fine, but we do it my way.” He huffed out a breath knowing we were running out of time. “Stay low and come up the back. I’ll take the driver’s side, you take the other.”

“Okay.” My vision focused beyond him looking toward the parked car.

“Sofia.” He snapped his fingers, calling my attention back to him. “If you f*ck this up, I’ll shoot you myself. I will not die for you, we clear?”

“Yes.” The word barely audible as his words chilled me to my core. I doubted there was anyone who would die for me. Maybe my mother before she became an alcoholic with a prescription dependency, but certainly no one now. But I wasn’t a liability either and I wanted the opportunity to prove that too. “I won’t f*ck up.”

With a jerk of his chin he signaled our go, our weapons close to our bodies as we closed in, the Altima only a few feet away.

A dog barked in the distance as we quickly closed in, my eyes surveying the area surrounding the car as my feet carried me to it.

My heart thumped in my chest as we split off in different directions, rounding the car with our weapons drawn on either side. My eyes flicked to Michael as we flanked the Altima, my finger resting on the slide ready to move to trigger if needed as I moved to the door.

Nothing.

The interior was dark, the space empty.

A breath I’d been holding slowly pushed past my lips, my finger relaxing a little as I leaned closer to the car. Always make sure, I wasn’t sure if it was the voice of my father or my training from the Police force that rattled around in my head.

“A little too convenient.” Michael dipped his chin to the back windows. He probably had the same thoughts, his left hand dropping to the door handle and giving it a gentle pull.

Locked.

His hand disappeared to his pocket and I was torn between wanting to know what he was up to and keeping my eyes on the car. Asking was out of the question, sure I would get the none-of-your-business he was so fond of.

Whatever he was doing required the use of his gun-hand, his arm dropping from sight for a few seconds before the locks popped open.

“It needs to be searched.” The roof-mounted light flooded the interior as he pulled open the door.

While I took care of the back, Michael did a sweep of the front, hitting the trunk release and stepping out of the car.

Once he’d been satisfied the sedan was clean, he tossed the duffels into the back before returning to the driver’s side. “Throw your things into the trunk, we’re taking the car.”

By the time I’d tossed my bag into the back—the cooler left behind in the deserted Camaro—Michael had pried off the plastic on the steering column and was working the ignition with a wire contraption and a handheld black device. The purr of the engine punched through the silence less than a minute later.

Doors closed on both sides, the slam shaking the body of the car as he eased off the brake and pressed the accelerator. The vacant lot and the gas station it backed into left in the rearview mirror as we pulled away from the curb. Grand Theft Auto added to tonight’s rap sheet.

“We need to make sure we aren’t being followed before I take you back to the warehouse.” Michael’s eyes flicked between the windshield and rear window. “Pretty sure the cops didn’t get an ID on us other than the car, but whoever sent the Audi is probably going to be looking.”

“They’ll keep coming.” The words fell from my lips before I had a chance to stop it. “I’m not going to go quietly, so they’ll keep coming.”

I’d been threatened before, but never like this and it scared the hell out of me that I was so powerless. I needed to remind myself it was okay to be emotional.

Michael clearly didn’t share my view, rolling his eyes either irritated or bored, I couldn’t decipher which.

“We’re going to get where we need to be and stay there for the night. It will give me a chance to wipe this car and dump it.” He continued without breaking eye contact with the road. “Cops will no doubt find my ride and pull prints and DNA it. Nothing we can do about that. Torching it wasn’t an option so your situation will probably get a little more intense when the powers that be get wind that you’re alive.”

I wasn’t sure who he meant exactly—the powers that be, it could have been anyone—but the police were also going to be a major complication.

I never thought I’d say that—I’d always been on the right side of the law—but I knew that soon, there was going to be all kinds of attention drawn to me.

After all, my house had exploded, my body not recovered. Which would lead them to believe I had either torched the place myself or fallen victim to foul play. They were bound to find hair or fibers that would place me in that car. Then it was just a matter of connecting the dots. The only thing they wouldn’t know is whether or not I was dead or alive. Either way, Michael was going to be a suspect in either a homicide or wrongful imprisonment.

“You know they’ll assume you kidnaped me.” Which, while initially, wasn’t too far from the truth, I had waded into this mess neck deep all on my own. “You’re going to be a wanted man.”