Hot on Her Heels. Сьюзен Мэллери
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for his office until seven. What the hell? He knew she would be escorting him to and from work, as she had all week. He’d never complained, never tried to avoid her. Until today. So where exactly was he going so early in the morning?
Not work, she thought a few minutes later as he ignored his usual turn and headed for the freeway. Bastard, she thought grimly, following him close enough that he could easily see her. Just let him try to shake her.
But he didn’t try, nor did he acknowledge her. Instead he drove to a private airfield and parked. She pulled in next to him.
“Where are you going?” she asked as she got out of her car. She got a look at him and nearly lost her train of thought.
Instead of the usual custom suit, he wore jeans, boots and a white shirt, all of which looked really good on him.
“I have to take a trip,” he said. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”
“Don’t for a second think I’m not coming with you.”
He looked her up and down, as if he really imagined he had a choice in the matter.
She knew he’d left an hour early deliberately to give her the slip. She wanted to complain that he should play by the rules, but there weren’t any. She was tailing him to annoy him. That hardly made them friends.
The complication was Garth wasn’t quite as horrible as she’d first thought. There was also the issue of the kiss, but this wasn’t the time to bring that up.
“You’ll need a passport,” he said. “Sorry, that’s not my rule. It’s a government thing. I’d offer to wait while you go home and get it, but we both know I’d be lying.”
She opened her purse, unzipped the concealed compartment in the back and pulled out her passport. “Anything else?”
His expression didn’t change, so she couldn’t tell if he was pissed or not. As her understanding of him was confused by her reaction to him, she couldn’t make a guess, either.
“You’ll need a gun.”
She didn’t doubt he was very aware that her jurisdiction ended at the border. Did she want to be armed in a foreign country?
“I assume you have an extra,” she said.
“Only if you’re prepared to use it.”
“To protect myself or you?”
“Either. I’m not expecting things to go that far, but I’m going in armed and if you’re coming, you should be, too.”
“Where are we going?”
“Mexico.”
Across the border could be a fun and friendly place or it could be a war zone. It depended on their destination. Based on how serious Garth looked and his insistence that she be armed, she was going to guess they weren’t heading for a resort.
“I’m prepared to use it,” she said.
He motioned to the steps of the private jet.
Five minutes later they were airborne.
Garth watched Dana buckle herself into a leather seat. She didn’t look happy, not even when he passed her a case filled with handguns.
“You can pick first,” he told her.
“Don’t do me any favors.” She picked up three different guns before picking a .45 caliber Glock. “You have extra magazines?”
“Underneath the gun.”
She raised the false bottom of the case and pulled out the extra magazine for the Glock. After checking the gun to make sure that magazine was full, she put both on the seat beside her.
She looked annoyed. He wasn’t sure if she was pissed that he’d tried to leave without her or that he was handing out weapons. Maybe both.
“You want some coffee?” he asked, walking toward the small galley in front. “Breakfast?”
She followed him and peered over his shoulder at the pot of coffee heating and the insulated boxes of food.
“There’s no flight attendant, so we’ll have to serve ourselves,” he told her. “I didn’t want anyone along who wasn’t necessary.”
“I must have been an unwelcome arrival,” she said, pushing him out of the way and opening the box.
There were containers of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. Hash browns, toast and a warm fruit compote. In a separate insulated container was milk, juice, sliced fruit and several Danish.
“You do know how to travel in style,” she murmured. “Are there plates?”
He pointed to a cupboard above the tiny counter.
“Do the pilots eat?” she asked.
“Not usually. They’ll come back and get coffee when they want it.”
She pulled out all the food and set it on the counter. They each filled their plates, then carried them back to the leather seats.
“You were up early,” he said. “How’d you know I was leaving?”
“I didn’t. I got lucky.” She glared at him over her breakfast. “You tried to leave without me.”
“Yes.”
“We have rules.”
“No, we don’t.”
Her brown eyes were bright with annoyance, her skin flushed. She looked like a woman ready to take him on. Normally he would welcome the challenge, but this morning he had a lot on his mind.
“We do now,” she snapped. “You don’t go anywhere without telling me.”
That made him chuckle. “Because you’re going to make me?”
“I’ll do what I have to.”
He was letting her hang around because she was a conduit to his sisters. Information flowed both ways, whether Dana recognized that or not. If he needed to set them up, she would be the method. Although that seemed less and less likely. He also allowed Dana to stay close because he enjoyed her company.
She was tough and strong, but still relatively naive. He would guess for all her bravado, she didn’t have the instinct to go for the cheap shot. His instincts had been honed while being held and tortured in a South American jungle. He knew he would kill to survive. She hadn’t been tested yet. Neither of them could know how she would react.
Oddly, a part of him wanted to make sure that didn’t change. He wanted to ensure she was never that scared, that up against a wall. He wanted to keep her safe.
Travel light, he reminded himself. Caring only brought trouble. Nick had been an easy friend. Nick had understood and could take care of himself. But Dana would require things he didn’t have to give.
“Dana, I’m cooperating because it suits me, nothing else. The day you get to be too big a pain in the ass is the day it all ends.”
“You don’t scare me.”
“I’m not trying to. I’m making a point. I don’t owe you or my sisters anything.”
Her mouth twisted. “You’re wrong. You do owe them and you know it. You hurt them because of something Jed did. That isn’t right. Now you have to make up for that.”
She sounded sincere. Did she actually believe that?
He looked at her. “Have we met? I’m Garth Duncan, ruthless bastard.”
She dug into her breakfast. “You’re not all that.”
“Sure I am.”
The corners of her mouth tilted up in an almost-smile. “Oh, please. I’m so not impressed.”
She was lying,