Around him, even though it was barely dawn, the waterfront was alive with activity. It seemed as if the city hadn’t slept at all during the long dark hours of the blackout. Chase had to figure out what to do next, how to keep Lily safe. He had to get out of this mess alive and find the person responsible.
Pulling the cell phone from his belt, he snapped it open. He was in the process of punching in Ty’s number yet again when he glanced down at the display. His heart sank when he found it dark. Just like everything else in this godforsaken city. Not to mention his own mood.
Angry and frustrated, he headed toward the hatch to search the cabinets for a possible charger. He needed communication. He needed to find out if Ty and Ethan had been ambushed. More than anything, he wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on and track down the son of a bitch responsible.
He descended into the galley, hoping Lily was asleep. He didn’t want to face those pretty green eyes. Eyes that accused him of everything he’d always denied. More than anything, he didn’t want to face his own shortcomings. The fact that he’d been wrong. His attraction to her. And the terrible mess he’d made of their lives.
Fate didn’t see fit to grant his wish. He found her sitting at the small galley table, gripping a steaming cup as if it were her last lifeline to the world. She watched him descend the steps with the wariness of a hunted animal, as if he posed as much danger to her as the men hunting them.
“I thought you’d be sleeping,” he said.
“I tried.” She shrugged. “Can’t.”
“Too wound up, probably.” He frowned at the cup she held. “Are you sure you should be drinking coffee?”
“It’s tea.” She smiled. “I think caffeine is the least of my problems.”
Pulling a mug from the cabinet, Chase took a moment to gather his thoughts, an impossible task considering how jumbled his emotions were. When he turned to face Lily, she was still watching him. Still wary. So beautiful and fragile, he wanted to reach out and touch her just to make sure she was real.
“I’m sorry about…earlier,” he said.
She looked away. “Things are pretty confusing right now.”
“It’s easy to get caught up in things. In the past.”
She motioned toward the stove. “Water is still hot if you want some tea.”
He didn’t, but he poured it anyway so he’d have something to do with his hands. He hated feeling so awkward, hated the way she looked at him as if he were a danger to her. He hated even more the hard reality that he wanted what he could never have.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
When he ran out of things to do at the stove, he carried his cup to the small window and looked out. “I need to recharge this phone.” But the charger he found in the cabinet Lily directed him to didn’t fit. Disgusted, he finally sat at the table across from Lily.
For a moment, the only sound came from the gentle lap of water against the hull. “How long is this blackout going to last?”
Chase shook his head. “Ben Parker told me two power plants were taken out.”
“My God. Sabotage? Why would someone do that?”
“I think maybe it’s all related. The synchronized ambushes. The kidnapping of the vice president. The blackout.”
She set down the cup. “Is this about you? About your…work?”
“I think so.”
“But how is the vice president involved?”
He sipped the tea, but he didn’t taste it. Taking a deep breath, he told her more about that mission-gone-bad from over a decade ago, and Liam Shea’s role in it.
“They’re not going to stop, are they?” she asked.
“Someone is going to have to stop them.”
“You?”
Chase didn’t answer. At the moment, unarmed and left without communication and transportation, he was in no position to stop anyone.
“We can’t hide out here forever,” she said. “You know sooner or later they’ll find us. Is there some place safe where we can go?”
“I’ve been racking my brain, trying to come up with a place.”
“A safe house?”
He shook his head. “There’s only one place I can think of, but it’s out of the city. I’m not sure we can get there.”
“Because of the traffic jams?”
“The streets and highways are jammed with cars. Tow companies are working, but many of them are inoperable because very few have access to gasoline, thanks to the blackout. I had a hell of a time getting to the Hancock Tower. I imagine all the major highways are jammed. People were panicked, thinking this blackout was some type of terrorist act. Thousands of cars ran out of gas where they sat in traffic. Everything’s blocked.”
“What place do you have in mind?”