I nodded as my respect for the man increased. “And you’re keeping your head down now?”
“I was told to check on Vaughn’s possible whereabouts and that was about it.” He motioned at his car door, and I stepped away from it. “I know not to address anything unless told so. I really want that retirement plan.” He climbed in, closing the car door. “You take care.”
I moved back. “See you around, Lane.”
Tires spun and kicked up gravel as the Expedition pulled back onto the road, puffing out exhaust. That was an…interesting conversation. While I wanted to believe what Lane had said, I knew better than to view him as a non-threat.
Sighing, I wheeled around, scanning the woods. I caught a flash of blue—the sweater Kat was wearing earlier. I started up the driveway, pausing when Kat trotted out of the woods.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “Did you hear any of that?”
“Yeah, I was heading back when I saw him.” She paused, nose scrunching. “Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know.” I dropped my arm over her shoulders, steering her toward my house. “Lane has always been a decent guy, but this doesn’t sit well with me.”
She folded an arm around my waist and leaned in. “Which part?”
“All of it—this whole scenario.” I sat on the step down from the top of the porch and tugged her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her. “The fact that the DOD—even Lane—knows damn well that Dawson’s back and that they have to realize we know they lied. And they’re doing nothing.” I closed my eyes as she pressed her cheek to mine. “And what we’re doing tonight—it can work, but it’s so insane. Part of me wonders if they already know we’re coming.”
Kat smoothed her thumb along my jaw as she kissed my cheek. “Do you think we’re walking into a trap?”
“I think we’ve been inside the trap the entire time and we’re just waiting for it to spring closed.” I picked up her dirty hand.
She shuddered. “And we’re going to still do this?” I met her gaze. “You don’t have to.”
“Neither do you,” she replied softly. “But we both are.”
“That we are.”
Neither of us spoke for several moments, and then she kissed me. “I think…I’m going to spend some time with my mom before we leave. She should be awake soon.”
I kissed her back, pouring into it everything I felt—the yearning for more time, the desperation that there wasn’t enough, and everything I felt for her. When I spoke, my voice sounded raw to my ears. “That’s a good idea, Kitten.”
Hours later, everyone was tense on the way to Mount Weather. There were laughs and curses, but it was forced. We all knew that some or all might not make the drive back. That was a sobering realization that haunted every single one of us.
So I focused on the fact that Kat was wearing one of my old black thermals, and there was nothing more hot in this world than seeing her in my clothes. The amount of possessive pride I felt was probably a bit disturbing.
We took two cars—Dee, Ash, and Andrew were riding in Matthew’s car. Made sense for Blake to be in mine, because I was slightly less likely to kill him on the way. The idiot stayed quiet for the first thirty minutes, but now he wouldn’t shut up. It got so bad that Dawson muttered, “Do you ever stop talking?”
“When I’m sleeping,” Blake replied.
“And when you’re dead,” I threw back. “You’ll stop talking when you’re dead.”
There was a pause. “Point taken.”
“Good.” I focused on the road. “Try shutting up for a while.”
Kat twisted around, facing Dawson. “What are you going to do when you see Beth?”
Remembering what he’d said in the kitchen, I had no idea how he was going to answer this question.
And then he said, “Oh, man, I don’t know. Breathe—I’ll finally be able to breathe.”
Damn.
God. Damn.
Kat’s voice was throaty as she spoke. “I’m sure she’ll feel the same way.”
She glanced at me, and I grinned a little. Her shoulders tensed as she looked back at Blake. “What about you?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “We’ll leave here and head west. And the first thing we’re going to do is go surfing. He really dug the sea.”
My lips twitched at that, because it sounded so damn normal.
Kat turned back around, focusing on her hands. “That’s…that’s good.”
When we were about a half a mile from the access road, a cell dinged from the backseat. “It’s from Luc,” Blake said. “He wants to make sure we’re on schedule.”
“We are,” I answered.
Dawson leaned forward, in between the front seats. Might as well climb into my lap. “Are we sure?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Just checking,” Dawson grumbled, sitting back.
Blake took his place, and I groaned. “All right, Luc’s ready to do this. He wanted to remind us we’ve only got fifteen minutes. Anything goes wrong, we get out and try again later.”