? ? ?
Karen forced herself not to duck and hide as a car drove down the street, passing her and Tucker. She was definitely not cut out for the cloak-and-dagger business, despite what she did for a living. They were walking down a quiet Baltimore street lined with brownstones. She’d wrapped her hair in a scarf from Tucker’s duffel bag and he’d changed into different clothes he’d had in it.
Other than more weapons and ammo, there hadn’t been anything else in the SUV they’d left behind. After ditching that SUV, Tucker had stolen a Toyota Corolla, then a minivan, then a Jeep. They’d switched vehicles so many times, but it had been a smart move. Especially when it was clear that whoever was after Tucker and his men didn’t care about a little collateral damage—like her. Considering that his pursuers had set off a bomb at the Botanic Garden, she shouldn’t have been surprised.
Part of her knew she should have let Tucker go and just waited for the police and someone from her own team, but she hadn’t wanted Tucker going off by himself. By now she was convinced he was being set up and the man needed all the help he could get. She found herself feeling oddly protective of him. After a quick text to Selene with the pictures of the dead guy and letting her know that she was going to ground with Tucker, Karen had taken the battery out of her phone once again. Wesley might give her grief later for the choice she’d made to go into temporary hiding, but she didn’t regret it.
“You sure this place is safe?” Tucker asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
She knew it was for show. After ditching the last vehicle a few neighborhoods over, they’d been walking casually to their final destination as if they were two friends, or maybe more than friends, for the last ten minutes. She liked the feel of his strong arm around her, though, and leaned into him. Everything about him was solid, and though she probably shouldn’t be noticing, she loved how masculine he smelled. She had the irrational urge to turn her face into his chest and burrow closer against him. “Should be. She’s out of the country for two weeks. She doesn’t have a boyfriend or a pet and no security system.” Right now she was glad for that lapse in security. Her friend had told Karen about her trip in person over drinks one night, so there wasn’t a paper trail about it out in cyberspace.
“What does she do?” he asked.
“Oh, just marketing stuff. She works for a big international firm, has no idea who I really work for. If we’re lucky she’ll have pizza in the freezer.” Because after everything that had happened, Karen had gotten a massive adrenaline dump and was in a free fall now. She was shaky and cold and needed food. And a shower, but she’d settle for something hot to eat. “Can I use your laptop once we get there?”
He paused, the crunching of their shoes over the icy sidewalk and cars slowly cruising down the street the only sounds. “Yeah.”
“Good. I guarantee Wesley’s already running the financials for the men on that list you sent him, but I’m going to do some digging of my own.”
“You don’t want to call Burkhart once we get there?” He looked down at her. He was wearing a ball cap and sunglasses, but she could tell he was frowning at her.
“Not really. I need time to regroup and think.” As soon as she called Wesley they’d be brought in for a debriefing, and Karen was exhausted. She’d been kidnapped, shot at, and had gone on the run with a man she found frustratingly sexy. There was nothing more she could provide to the NSA at this point and she needed to decompress.
Which meant sleep.
If her going in would have changed something, she’d have sucked it up, but after an insane day she was shelving her guilt.
Putting Wesley off for a couple of hours wasn’t going to hurt them. And she’d made it clear to Selene that this was her choice, so the NSA wouldn’t be hunting for her anymore and wasting resources. Or they shouldn’t be.
“Is that okay with you?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. Lying low for a few hours won’t hurt anything,” he said, mirroring her thoughts. “I texted Cole with one of my burners a while ago and told him to send the fingerprints of the dead guy to Burkhart, so they’ve got everything we have. My presence won’t change a thing. And the more hours I stay out of handcuffs and probably jail, the better.”
She was glad they were on the same wavelength. And she planned to help make sure he didn’t go to jail. “This is it,” she said, nodding to the brownstone with a blue-and-white wreath on the door.
“Do you know if she has a key outside anywhere?” he asked quietly, covertly scanning the street.
It wasn’t late enough for most young professionals—the typical age group who lived in this area of the city—to be home yet. So if they were going to break in, it was a decent time to do it. “No. I figured you had some B-and-E skills, though.”
He let out a low chuckle, his grip around her shoulders tightening for a moment. Why did she like the feel of him holding her so much? Warmth flared inside her and she really wanted to experience more than just a light half hug from him.
“You figured right,” he murmured. They strode up the short walk, and without glancing around or looking as though he was up to something, Tucker bent down and pulled a small black kit out of his sock.
Seriously? The guy had a lock pick kit in his freaking sock. “You’re like a criminal Boy Scout type. Always prepared,” she muttered as he made quick work of the lock.
Laughing, he opened the door and ushered them inside. It was chilly in the foyer, probably because her friend hadn’t planned to be here and hadn’t turned the heat up as high as usual.
“I’m going to sweep the place just to be safe. Don’t turn on any lights,” he murmured, already moving through the home, heading up the stairs first.
She slipped off her sneakers and walked down the hallway to the kitchen, only stopping to turn the heat up a little. There was just enough outside light streaming through the closed blinds that she wasn’t working blind. A peek in the freezer had her smiling in relief.
“Pizza,” she murmured to herself.
“I won’t say no to that,” Tucker said from behind her.
Karen nearly jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked over her shoulder to find him only a few feet behind her. The small duffel he’d shoved all their stuff into was in his hand, and he set the laptop bag on the kitchen table.
“Will you set up your computer while I pop the pizza in?” she asked.
He paused the same way he had when she asked to use it, but nodded. “I’ve got serious encryption on this thing, but if you link directly to your systems with your credentials, you run the risk of Burkhart tracking us. I’m turning myself in to him anyway, but I don’t love the thought of an assault team kicking in your friend’s door and—”
She shook her head, cutting him off. “I’m not going to be using official work resources.” She pulled out the extra-large pizza and smiled. Food. She felt she could eat the whole thing herself. “You’re not the only one who has illegal skills,” she added.
His responding chuckle made another burst of warmth spread through her.
After she preheated the oven, put the pizza in and set the timer, Tucker had the laptop up and running for her.