Page 70 of Enemy of the State

Sean’s bare forearms flex and his jaw ticks as he maneuvers the boat, and I have to admit that he pulls off the wholecriminal-on-the-runlook way too well.

Louhi

I dare to let out the breath I’ve held captive for months. Sinking into the seat behind Sean, I slip my feet into Honey Eyes’s too-big boots. When I sit up, my attention toggles between his back muscles pinching and flexing and the island drifting further away, unsure which sight is more alluring.

“Where are we anyway?” I ask.

“Three hundred miles off mainland Hawai’i.”

“What’s your plan?” I wonder aloud.

“My plan only gets us to Hawai’i.”

I smirk smugly at his back and chime, “Then it’s a good thing you brought me along.”

He snorts, and we fall silent as we coast over the waves. Rain begins to trickle slowly from the sky, dotting the water around us like pockmarks.

“So, I take it the alarm and sprinklers were your doing?”

Facing away from me, he shouts over the rain, motor, and waves, “Yeah, Jace—Honey Eyes—packed the boat with supplies and moved it to the beach yesterday, and I set off the emergency system and disconnected the power that locks the cells. Then we made our way out here separately under the guise of hunting down escaped prisoners and met up about half an hour before you got there.”

At this point, it feels odd to refer to Honey Eyes by anything other than the nickname I’ve given him, so I ask, “Is Honey Eyes going to get in trouble for any of this?”

“He shouldn’t. We blamed the murders of Borman, Jones, and Davis on you, and he’ll pin your escape on me. They’ll definitely question him, but he’ll be fine.”

I get to my feet, taking shelter under the Bimini top next to Sean to get out of the drops of rain steadily beating down. I sat there longer than I probably should, letting the sky’s tears soak my face. It’s been so long since I enjoyed the feeling of being outside, no matter the weather. The cleansing didn’t hurt either.

“That’s fairly devious, Sean,” I tease, placing a hand gingerly on his bicep. “Perhaps you belong in my world, after all.”

He smirks, but before he can reply, spotlights glide over the boat. My eyes hit Sean’s face like a bullet, and he rushes to answer my silent question. “Under all of the seats.”

Racing to the seat I vacated, I lift the cushion to find a knapsack full of weapons.I love an arsenal.I toss him a Glock that he catches and pull a loaded magazine from the sack. I swap the half-empty magazine that was loaded into the assault rifle that I brought onto the boat with me into the sack and load a fresh one.

Crouching down, I aim the rifle over the stern at the boat full of men chasing—hunting—us. As I look through the scope, waiting for a clear shot, curiosity and concern seep into my skin like lotion and I call back to Sean, “Are you going to be able to shoot at your own men?”

“They aren’t my men anymore.” His tone has a bite behind it that I don’t miss.

“So, if you need to kill one of them, you can do it without hesitation?” I’m challenging him on this, because it’s not simply his life at stake here. I haven’t come this far, only to die because the man next to me has a crisis of conscience. There’s no room for that here. Ineed to be able to trust Sean with my life and safety. He’s proven that so far, but having to kill his men—his mates—is entirely different.

When he doesn’t answer me as quickly as I’d like, I glance over my shoulder at him, my mouth open to snap at him, but he lifts his handgun and immediately fires two shots in the other boat’s direction.Actions speak louder than words, I suppose.

“When I said I was with you, I meant it.”

I smile, looking back through the scope as I map out a plan. I wait one beat, then another before ordering Sean, “Take a hard left.”

The other boat returns Sean’s fire just as he follows my instruction, and the second the engine comes into view in the scope, I fire four rounds, knocking out each engine. Sean speeds away again, and I fire a few more rounds at the other boat, just for fun. With the gun and my attention still trained on the boat in the increasing distance, I admit, “I won’t doubt you again. Trust is…hard for me.”

He doesn’t respond, though I know he heard me.

Once the other boat is out of sight, I move to seek shelter from the rain in the cockpit.

“Lou,” Sean says mildly, “This will never work without complete trust in each other.”

I nod, swallowing hard. The two words that leave my lips are a phrase I’ve never spoken to anyone in my adult life, and I find them incredibly difficult to form. “I’m sorry.”

He studies me, and I can just make out the silver of his eyes, even swathed in the dark cloak cast by the sky. “Don’t be. Just tell me this will work. Tell me I didn’t just throw my life away for a woman who doesn’t trust me. Tell me that I didn’t just wreck everything by loving someone who can’t return the feeling.”

My eyes bug out of my bloody skull and my breath catches. Locking my gaze onto his, my voice is tender as I reply honestly, “You didn’t. You make every day end brighter than it began. I’m with you too, Sean.”

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