Mine to Have (Mine #5)(11)

She nodded.

Then she crawled after him as Saxon made his way to the bathroom. The “back” exit was actually the window in the bathroom. One that was a bit too narrow, but it would have to work. He’d put his knife back in its sheath, and he’d taken Tommy’s gun. They weren’t going out there unarmed, and he sure as hell wouldn’t hesitate to fire if they came under attack.

“I’ll go through first,” he told her, the words barely a breath of sound. “Then you come out when I tell you, got it?”

The bathroom was dark, so he couldn’t see if she was still crying or if she’d turned ashen with horror, but he heard her whisper, “Got it.”

That was good enough for him. He shoved open the window, punched out the screen, and climbed out. He hit the ground with a hard roll, and he came up with his knife gripped in his fist. But no one was there.

He heard a loud crash then, the sound of wood splintering, and Saxon knew the reason no one was waiting out back—it was because the bastards had just broken into the motel room.

“Now!” Saxon called to Elizabeth. “Come to me, now!”

She jumped through the window and straight into his arms. Over her shoulder, he saw two men running through the motel room. Oh, yeah, he knew those bastards, too. He’d seen them plenty at The Blade. Flint Mayo and Romeo Gustav. Errand boys for Taggert. Or in this case, hunters for the SOB.

Saxon caught her, holding her tight, and he didn’t even pause. He pushed her behind him, lifted his weapon, and fired. Flint and Romeo dove for cover, and while those guys were covering their asses, Saxon and Elizabeth started running hell fast for the line of cars that were parked nearby. They had to get out of there.

He hit the old parking lot even as he heard shouts behind him. He put Elizabeth on her feet, and he punched in the window of the closest vehicle. Glass rained down and he shoved the chunks out of his way so that he could unlock the door.

“Saxon—”

He pushed Elizabeth into the truck.

Getting inside the vehicle had been the easy part.

Getting the old truck to move…before they got their heads blown off…

Tricky.

His hands went to work under the dashboard.

Bam! Bam!

Two bullets had just slammed into the side of the truck.

But Saxon had just succeeded in hot-wiring the ride, and the truck’s engine was growling to life. He shifted gears, reversed fast and hard, and sent their attackers scrambling for their lives. Then he slammed that gas pedal all the way against the floorboard and got them the hell out of there.

Taggert’s men had found them, but they would be running back to their boss empty-handed.

A red light was up ahead. Saxon didn’t even slow down. He raced through it. Then he turned to the left. A few moments later, he took a hard right. He would make sure no one followed his trail.

“Are you hurt?” he demanded. Things had moved so fast that he hadn’t been able to check and make sure none of those flying bullets had hit her.

“No.” Hushed. Then… “How did they find us?”

“Taggert has his men looking for you.” She was obviously a prize that Taggert wasn’t going to let go. “In this town, people will sell out their own mothers for the right amount of money. Someone saw us, someone with the wrong connection to Taggert’s men.” One possible explanation and the only story he’d give her right then. The second explanation? Well, that would be that someone in the FBI had sold them out to Taggert. Victor’s team would have known about Elizabeth’s extraction from that bar. They would have known about her temporary safe house at the motel.

Did one of those team members turn on us?

The idea that an FBI agent had turned on him sure as hell pissed Saxon off. Because if someone had offered him up to Taggert…Maybe Jenny didn’t screw up and blow her cover after all. Maybe someone sold her out…the same way they just tried to serve us up to Taggert on a silver platter.

“You saved my life…” There was a faint pause. “Again.”

He took the right turn up ahead. “So where’s my—”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth told him softly, “now how about you slow down so that you aren’t the one to kill us both?”

He smiled and slowed down.

But his gaze kept sliding back to the rear-view mirror. There was no sign of pursuers behind them, not yet.

He had to find a safe place for her, then he needed to contact the only guy he actually trusted with his life—Victor had better have a way out of this nightmare.

Because Saxon wasn’t just going to sit idly by while some jackass tried to kill him.

I’ll fight back, and any fools who come after me—they’ll die.

Freedom was too close. No one would take this chance at a new life away from him. No one.





Chapter Four


“Here.”

Elizabeth turned at Saxon’s gruff voice and she saw him sliding back into the truck with a bag in his hands. He offered the bag to her, and, a bit nervously, she peered inside.

Shoes. Tennis shoes. For her.

“I know, they clash like hell with your skirt, but you can’t keep running around barefoot.”

They’d stopped long enough to fill up at that station/shop, and she sure hadn’t expected him to bring her back a gift. She put the shoes on quickly, and so what if they were a little big? They were heaven to her feet.