Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

PATCH

T hey'd mentioned a mobile unit, but I had no idea the size or the scope of it. The flight through the woods in the dark hours of the morning reminded me of how tenuous our whole situation was. More, it left me terrified for Remy and McQuade.

Locke just radiated confidence, from collecting the gear, and carrying my computer tower, to the hike through the darkness. If he worried about a single step, he didn't betray it.

It was my first real hike out of our safe house since I'd woken up there. Not that there was much to see under the heavy canopy of darkness beneath the trees. The scents of snow, crisp pine, and a hint of something muskier—maybe Locke wore a particular aftershave? I wasn't sure—filled my nostrils with every breath.

The crunch of our feet in the snow seemed almost too loud in the silence. That was the other thing about the rush through the dark woods, it was eerie how quiet it was. Something I used to love about the world during a snowfall or after a fresh snow proved unsettling as hell when I knew we were running.

More when I caught the sound of engines in the distance. That low rumbling noise sent my pulse jumping far more than it should have. It took both forever and no time at all to arrive at the barn hidden beyond the trees.

Locke helped me climb up inside and then he was in the driver's seat and we were rolling out.

"You okay?" Locke asked after we were on the interstate. The whole time we'd driven that narrow little road through the woods then onto the state highway and past the sleepy little towns had left me on edge. I'd been torn between alternately holding my breath and trying to regulate it.

"I'm fine." The answer was practically automatic. Was it a lie? Probably not, but it had been a while since anything was truly "fine." "I'm surviving," I told him. "Maybe a little jumpy."

The fact my pulse still raced betrayed how upset I truly was.

"I hate that we left them." More because I had no way to check on them. I had Locke's phone. Maybe we could check the cameras via the surveillance they had in place. But what would I do if something was wrong? I couldn't warn them. I couldn't work to back them up.

I was practically useless.

Wasn't that a bitter pill to swallow?

"It was the plan," Locke said, his tone soothing. "We've been refining it over the past few weeks."

"Did I have a say in this plan before?" As circumspect as they'd been, it was clear I'd been with them longer than the couple of weeks I could recall currently.

"Yes," Locke answered, swiftly. Too swiftly. Then he released a grunt as he favored me with a sheepish smile. "And no."

"Well," I retorted. "Thanks for clearing that up for me."

He snorted. "You gave us specs before. Specs to help make sure we had the right equipment on board and some solutions for possible technical issues we might run into once we were on the move."

That sounded like me. "Okay," I exhaled the word. "I—have a thousand questions and I don't know whether asking any of them is a good idea or not."

"No such thing as a bad question," he informed me in the most sing-song of tones. The throwback to him asking if we should play twenty questions once during a planning session for one of his jobs rushed in to fill in some of the gaps.

"I think we proved that sentiment is a little flawed."

A huff of laughter escaped him. "A little flawed?"

"Okay," I conceded. "Maybe a lot flawed. But you were the one who decided to see how many inane questions you could throw in at random intervals."

"Absolutely true," he agreed. "I was also trying to figure out what you liked. Hard to get presents for people if you don't know what they enjoy or not."

Of all the things he could have said as a response, that one surprised me. I shot a look at him.

"Yep," he commented with a kind of ease I envied. "That look isn't insulting at all."

"I'm not trying to insult you," I said, trying to not roll my eyes. "Trust me, if I'd wanted to, I do know how to deliver an insult."

His swift grin helped to ease away one of the rocks that crashed down on me at his earlier observation. "You know, I vaguely recall you putting me in my place once or twice."

Once or twice?

I snorted and his laughter smoothed away more of the jagged points of stress. "Don't play with me," I muttered.

"Sorry," he said in a cheerful tone that indicated he was anything but sorry. "I like playing with you."

He flashed another easy grin at me and I had to shake my head.

"Really?" I went for dry. Utterly dry and skeptical, but his grin was undiminished.

"Yes, really. I've always enjoyed playing with you, Patch. You're great at witty responses and one liners."

"Good to know I've got some skills." The wry observation earned a snort from him this time.

"Don't play the pity party anthem," he retaliated. "You have all the skills. You know how to hack into systems old and new. You are creative in finding solutions that would never have occurred to me and you're rather honorable."

Heat warmed my face and I was glad for the fact it was still dark enough to hide it. Keeping my gaze turned out the window, I couldn't help checking the side mirror a few dozen times.

"Hey, don't retreat on me now. I need you to keep me awake."

"What?" I twisted to look at him. The charming asshole wore another smile.

"Made you look."

"You're twelve." It came out a huff.

"No," he said. "At twelve, I lacked the imagination I have now. I also couldn't maintain a boner for hours with no relief. Not to mention I had zero appreciation for how fucking sexy a smart woman's brain is."

Fresh heat flooded my face. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" It was like playing a dangerous game of verbal dodgeball and he kept spiking the damn ball.

"Stop flirting," I said, rubbing a hand over my face. I was probably bright red.

"No can do, Fallon."

The jolt of my real name chased away some of the embarrassment. It probably shouldn't be so weird to hear. Even more when it seemed to imply an intimacy we shouldn't be sharing.

Then again…

"You get that Remy isn't the only one interested, right?" The sudden subject change threatened to give me whiplash.

"We're talking about that now?" The words came out way more defensive than I meant for them too.

"No," he said slowly, elongating that one syllable. "We don't have to, however , I think we should."

My stomach sank. At least the reality of it acted like a splash of cold water on my earlier awkwardness. "Maybe we shouldn't."

"Running away?" It wasn't a taunt. Everything in his tone said it wasn't a taunt. But there was no escaping the fact he was calling me on my bullshit.

"Maybe," I admitted, stealing a look at him before I studied the road ahead. "I'm scared for them. I still don't remember the past few weeks or however long it's been. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I keep waking up to McQuade in my bed and the fact that Remy kissed me this morning."

"I get that," he said easily enough. "I also get that avoiding a discussion isn't going to make this any easier for any of us, especially not now."

"Now that what? We're on the run? Again?"

"We were on the run before." He had a point. "There's a time for playing coy. This isn't that."

I sighed. "I know." As much as I would rather avoid the more uncomfortable topics, especially with us on the road and no idea of how the guys were doing… "I'm not a coward."

"Fallon… Patch… Hey," he added the same stress of care to each name. "The very last thing I would ever label you as would be coward. The word doesn't even belong in the same hemisphere you occupy."

"Except—"

"No. No excuses or caveats. None. You are brave as hell. Braver, I think than anyone could have realized. I mean, I certainly had no idea just how much of a badass you are." He shook his head. "You're not a coward. You are, however, in a difficult position."

I sighed. "You saw Remy kissing me."

"Yep." No judgment lived in his voice. "Saw you kissing him back too."

More heat swept through me. That kiss had been… soul stealing. I hadn't even really had time to process it or the fact I'd forgotten about where we were or even what we were doing there when Locke appeared to interrupt us.

Probably a damn good thing he had.

I licked my lips. "I did."

I caught a flash of his smile from the corner of my eye.

"Thought I would deny it?" Was I really challenging him?

"Maybe," he said, shrugging. He handled the big rig like he drove them every single day. In my experience, that wasn't the case. He preferred fast cars, expensive suits, and even more expensive and rare items including art, wine, and jewels.

"That seems like a bad idea right now." I folded my arms, fighting against the chill that seemed to expand from my core. "I am trusting all three of you. Probably a bad idea to make you not trust each other or me."

"Agreed." At least he wasn't sugar-coating it. "While I probably should keep this part to myself, I find it a bad idea to also isolate all information from you."

I stole another look at him.

"That wasn't your first kiss with Remy."

The flashes of his lips on mine. The words… for luck … hanging in the air. Was that Remy or…

"And in the interests of full transparency on the subject. When we kiss again, it won't be our first one either."

The word again seemed to clarify the answer before he said it wouldn't be our first. "We've kissed before."

"We did. You said it was for luck," he told me. "I definitely felt lucky."

The sentiment collided with the other memory and I lifted one hand to touch my lips. Had I said it to Locke and Remy? Or had I said it to Locke and then Remy said it to me? "I wish I remembered…"

"You and me both," he said, then he was holding a hand out to me and I had to unlock my arms so I could accept it. When I glided my hand over his palm, he gripped my fingers tight. There was strength in his hold and he gave me a gentle squeeze. "Maybe you get back and maybe you don't. Not going to stop me from treasuring that memory or making sure you know my hat is definitely in this ring."

Emotion clogged my throat.

"Point of fact," he continued, stroking his thumb over the back of my hand. "I've been planning how to seduce you for years, Patch. When you were just a voice on the line. The voice that saved my life over and over. More than once, you saved my sanity."

"Justus…" Even saying his first name felt too intimate, and the world around us seemed to shrink until it was just the two of us in this cab.

"I know what I'm saying," he continued. "I've been saving presents for you for years. I have a whole collection to give you."

I stopped pretending he didn't have every ounce of my attention. Instead, I just gawked at him.

"Diamonds. Emeralds. Gold. Platinum. Ancient. New. Paintings. Sculpture…"

He let out a little laugh that from anyone else might have sounded self-conscious. But Locke… Justus was the most coolly confident man I'd ever met. He walked into the craziest scenarios with only his wits and his skills and sauntered out the far side with the prize.

"So I'm kind of like the kid in school who wrote you notes about homework and asked for your help cause I wasn't sure how to ask you for what I wanted."

There was a brutally familiar feeling. "You're not shy."

"No," he said, giving my hand another squeeze. "I am not. But when you don't know what the lady likes and what the lady will respond to? You do a lot of fishing and finessing."

I licked my lips. "I don't?—"

"You don't have to say anything," he continued, then kissed my hand before he let me go. "You don't. But I am telling you right now, Remy isn't the only one interested. You have to know McQuade is too."

"I had gotten that impression." Hard to miss when he came in to soothe me out of nightmares regularly. "Have I kissed him?"

"Not sure," he said. "Wouldn't surprise me. McQuade's pretty fucking direct."

So was Remy… except, he definitely knew how to play a long game. McQuade was the guy who tore down the front door. You would always know when he was there.

Locke? He was stealth and care. You may not realize he was there until he got past all the barriers, but that was part of his charm.

Remy? No one ever saw him coming.

"I have no idea how to respond to any of this." Admitting it aloud eased more of the tension knotting my spine. I definitely didn't want to pretend right now. Not when Locke was being so direct. "I want to know," I continued before he could brush it off or tell me it was okay. "I want to figure it out. But there is so much going on."

"Agreed," he said. "So we keep it open and upfront. The next time I kiss you, I'll give you a heads up."

It was my turn to laugh. "What if I decide to kiss you?"

"Well, darling," he drawled. "You can kiss me whenever you want. Let me be absolutely clear… my answer? It's always going to be yes."

The flirt was unmistakable as was the fresh tidal wave of heat that swept over me. "Justus…"

"Fallon?"

"You're dangerous."

"Not to you," he promised. Fuck, I wished I remembered that first kiss.

Especially now that I was thinking about a second one. For a minute, okay maybe a couple of minutes, I forgot about the horror behind us. I didn't forget the others or the danger they were in, but that little reprieve let me catch my breath.

"Dammit."

"What?"

I blew out another breath. "I hate to say this…I really need to pee."