Page 35 of Trust No One

“Easier for them to see us, too,” he retorted. “I’ll sacrifice some clarity to stay hidden.”

“Right,” she said, taking a sip of her tea. “I should have known that.”

“That’s not the kind of stuff desk jockeys have to think about,” he said, sipping his coffee and staring out the window.

As Mel drank her tea, a black sedan rolled to a stop at the red light in front of the coffee shop. Dev slid past Mel, crouched low at the window and snapped several pictures of it. As soon as the traffic began to move, he stood up and returned to the table.

Mel leaned over his shoulder. “That the same one?” she asked.

“Pretty sure it was.”

“We gonna look at those pictures?” she asked, poking at his phone.

“Not now,” he said, holding the phone away from her. “Now we’re going to watch for another of their vehicles.”

They stayed in the coffee shop until her tea had gone cold. Finally, Mel nudged him with her elbow. Feeling the heat from his body made her realize they’d touched each other more since they’d been in D.C than they had since he’d dumped her in Kabul.

Huh. Was sheenjoying touching him?

Hell, no. She’d made her feelings crystal clear in Kabul – they were done. But they’d needed to touch to communicate while they were on the hunt for Kingsley.

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, dumbass.

She clenched her teeth. Some ops required silence. And she’d bet money that when he was on an op with his old SpecOp group, they’d touched each other just as much.

It wasn’t like she wasenjoyingtouching Dev.

She slammed her empty cup into the trash and kept her gaze fixed on the street. If Dev asked, she’d have no idea what color cars had passed them.

Finally he said, “Let’s go.” He tossed his own cup in the trash. “My guess? They each took a different area to look for us. If no one else has come by yet, they’re probably not going to.”

“Okay.” She drew a deep breath. Good. They were back on track. “How do we get back to the library?”

“Taxi, I think,” Dev said. “It’s a short ride. We’ll be in the car for five or ten minutes. Not long enough to make an impression.”

“But we’re gonna have to stand out there to wave a taxi down,” Mel said, drumming her fingers on the table. She hadn’t realized how much she dreaded stepping out onto the street again. She’d felt safe in here. Protected.

Because Dev was with her?

She ignored that seductive voice on her shoulder and headed for the door.

“We’re not standing out there while we wait,” Dev said, grabbing her arm as she reached for the door and hauling her back against him. “We’ll wait in here until I see a taxi. I don’t want to call an Uber or a Lyft, because there’s a record of that. In a taxi, we’ll keep our heads down, pay cash and not look the driver in the eye. An hour after he drops us off, he’ll have forgotten all about us.”

His hand lingered on her arm, and she didn’t yank it away. It… soothed her. Dev knew what he was doing. And that was sexy as hell.

They stood at the window, waiting for an available taxi to stop at the light. When he saw one, he grabbed Mel’s hand and tore out the door. He felt her stumble, but he didn’t slow down. When he rapped on the taxi’s window, the driver waved him inside.

They fell onto the seat just as the taxi lurched forward. Dev leaned over the seat and told him to drop them at the MLK library. Then he sat back and pulled out his wallet. Mel saw him watch the meter, estimating how much the ride would cost them. Just another of his mad skills.

Ten minutes later, they stood on the sidewalk a block away from the library and watched the taxi drive away.

“He’s forgotten us already,” Dev said. “I gave him an appropriate tip. He’d remember if we didn’t tip at all. He’d also remember if we over-tipped.”

She was learning so much about Dev on this op. He had depths she’d never suspected. He was exactly the guy she wanted with her while she chased down Kingsley.

Huh. She’d been adamant about not bringing him with her. But now, she was so glad she’d given in. She wasn’t sure what she would have done without him.

And that was a dangerous line of thought.

---