Chapter Nineteen

As soon as the bullet hit the side of the SUV, Christian rolled down his window to fire back and buy time for Kayne to get them to safety, which he did. A streetlight glinted off the barrel of the weapon, and he spotted the shooter in a tree.

After ordering Aja Blue to stay put, he and Kayne raced to where the man had set up to ambush them.

"I see him," Kayne said. "He's climbing down." Then they heard a motorcycle fire up.

"He's getting away."

They raced forward to find a person dressed head to toe in black zip down the street. Chrisitan fired, but he was too far away.

His instinct to switch safe houses had been spot-on. Theirs had been compromised when Detective Herbert had visited, which also meant that the accident earlier in the evening was connected. He needed to inform Captain Parsa but would prioritize getting Aja Blue to the next safe house.

"Good call on relocating," Kayne said as they jogged to where they'd left Aja Blue.

"I wish I'd been wrong."

They jumped inside, and Kayne took off before he could belt up.

"Did you get him?" Aja Blue asked.

"He got away."

Christian called BeBe, apologizing profusely for bothering her again in the middle of the night, and requested a new vehicle. She directed him to a car rental company at the international airport.

"I hate to tell you this, but this one is damaged." He explained about the bullet.

"Once again, it happens all the time, so no worries."

He thanked her and typed the address into the onboard navigation system for Kayne to follow. Then, Christian scrolled to the captain's contact information and hit the call button. It was late, but he didn't care.

"Captain Parsa."

"It's Christian Zamora. There's been an incident." He told him about the ambush and the shooter getting away.

"That connects the earlier accident," Parsa realized.

"Pastor Chet is somehow involved."

"Herbert is out of surgery, and they've moved her to a room. After I see her, I'm headed to the station to see how the interrogations are going."

They spoke for a few more minutes and then disconnected. Christian slid his phone into his pocket and twisted in the seat. Aja Blue's face was pale, and her hands trembled.

"Are you okay?"

More than anything, he wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay. He'd protect her or die trying.

"Yeah," she said, none too convincingly.

"We're here," Kayne said as he flipped on the signal and turned into the lot.

Christian got out and went inside the building to talk to the person behind the desk. The man handed him the keys to another vehicle, and they transferred their belongings before driving away.

"Pull over here," Christian instructed Kayne. He swerved to a graveled area next to a chain-link fence that housed long-term airport parking. Christian slid out and accessed the Tyler-made app on his phone that would tell him if their new vehicle had been bugged. Kayne did the same on his side, and they met at the hood. It wasn't that he didn't trust BeBe, because he one-hundred percent did. But people could be bought.

"All clear."

The back door whipped open, and Aja Blue jumped out.

"What are you doing?" He didn't like her being out in the open. "Get back inside."

"Christian, look." She was pointing at the airport lot.

"What is it?"

"See that silver Camry? That's Jay's car."

#

Aja Blue couldn't believe she'd spotted Jay's Camry among the thousands that were parked in the lot, but she'd recognized the Pride flag on the back window and the bumper sticker that read: "If you can't love yourself, how the hell are you going to love somebody else?" It was a quote from RuPaul's Drag Race, his favorite show.

Kayne pulled in next to it so they could check it out. Christian wouldn't let her touch it, but she peered inside. Usually, papers littered the passenger seat and floor, but it was clean. The only things she could see were a Dr. Pepper bottle in one cup holder and a bag of Reece's Pieces in the other—his two favorite snacks.

"Do you think he took a trip somewhere?" Kayne asked.

"No hits to his credit card, and his name didn't appear on any flight records," Christian told him.

Christian called the cops while Aja Blue's gaze wandered to a plane coming in for a landing so low she could see people in the windows. Even if he somehow used a fake name, Jay wouldn't have disappeared without telling her. Something terrible happened to him, and it all circled back to Pastor Chet.

The cops arrived, followed by a crime scene team. They did a quick dusting for prints, including the rear-view mirror, before loading the vehicle on the back of a flatbed and towing it to the crime lab for processing.

Much like yesterday, dawn lit the sky when they arrived at the new safe house. It was a modern structure made of iron, stone, and glass, as impressive as the last one, but it was only a single story. It would make sneaking into Christian's room more difficult, but she was up for the challenge.

The layout turned out to be a split floor plan, with two bedrooms on one side and two on the other, making it easier to hide their nocturnal activities. Aja Blue picked one and walked to the bed, falling face-first onto the light-blue comforter. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

#

Christian needed a few hours of rest before they had to pick Presley up from the hospital. After he carried the groceries inside and put them away, he headed to the hallway where Aja Blue had disappeared. With Christian's nudge, Kayne selected a room on the opposite side of the house. He was pretty sure his coworker didn't realize why he'd steered him to that area, but then again, maybe he did. Christian feared he wasn't hiding his feelings for Aja Blue particularly well.

He deposited his bag in the empty room and approached the other, rapping lightly on the door. When there was no answer, he eased it open to find Aja Blue spread eagle on her stomach, sound asleep.

He started to back up when she stirred and lifted her head to glance over her shoulder. Then she held out a hand. He was powerless to resist.

Christian kicked off his shoes, put his cell and gun on the side table, climbed into bed, and gathered her in his arms. As much as he wanted to make love with her, she needed sleep. Him too.

A buzzing phone woke Christian. He glanced at his watch to see he'd gotten about an hour and a half rest as he picked up the cell.

"Mr. Zamora? My name is Detective Harvey. Captain Parsa asked me to call you and let you know that a body washed up near Croatan Beach. It's been positively identified as Jay Guitterez."