Page 3 of No Reason to Trust

She strained to see if Dunbar was out there, but the windows were too dirty. She couldn’t walk out in front of this kid if Jake wasn’t there. So she waved him out the door. “I’ll be right behind you.”

He stared at her for a long moment, but when she didn’t move, he shrugged. Reached beneath his shirt, and Olivia realized he had a gun hidden there.

Moving fast, she kicked him in the balls, and when he crumbled to the floor, kicked him again in the head. His head bounced against the hard surface with the dull thud of a watermelon.

Without looking back, Olivia dashed out the door and across the street, dodging cars in both directions. The kid crawled out the door and shouted behind her, but she didn’t slow down, didn’t look back. She pulled out her Glock as she ran. She knew she’d be taking a huge risk if she ran along the sidewalk. She wasn’t sure if the kid could hit a moving target, and she didn’t want to find out. So she sprinted for the butcher shop’s door. The butcher was behind the counter, and he looked up when she burst in. Frowned, as if he hadn’t been expecting to see her. Did everyone around here know she was supposed to be killed?

She ran behind the counter, into the back of the shop and out the back door. She’d curled her hand around her car keys, and clicked to unlock the door as she ran. Tore it open and fell inside. She pulled the door closed and made sure it was locked, then started the car and sped out of the tiny parking lot.

To her right, she saw the kid Sacha standing on the sidewalk, his father next to him. Sunlight glinted off the gun in Petrenko’s hand, and she pressed harder on the accelerator. She turned left, the car skidding toward the sidewalk, then straightened the wheels and pressed the accelerator to the floor. The car leapt ahead, and she drove several blocks, watching her rear-view mirror the whole way. No cars appeared behind her, so she turned left and headed for the Verrazano Bridge.

“It’s a simple meeting,”her boss Nelson had said.“See if we can make a deal. We’ll ease the way for them, they’ll give us information we need. Should be an in-and-out kind of thing. You can go up to Brooklyn, get back in time for your date tonight.”

Feeling uncomfortable with Don’s gaze fixed on her, she’d said, “Yeah, well, I don’t have a date tonight, Don.”

He’d shrugged. “Just as well. In case you’re held up by extended negotiations.”

Her hands gripping the steering wheel too tightly, Olivia finally spotted the bridge in the distance. She wanted to floor the accelerator, get out of Brooklyn as quickly as possible. But she didn’t want to draw attention. Didn’t want to be stopped by a cop. So she took several deep breaths and drove the speed limit until she was over the bridge and finally onto I-95. When she was headed for Washington D.C., she allowed herself to take a deep breath. Another. After thirty miles, her heart rate finally slowed.

She watched in her rear-view mirror to make sure no one was following her, but saw no signs of a tail. Still, her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly until she was close to Washington D.C. When she finally pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, she frowned. Jake Dunbar should have been waiting on the sidewalk for her signal. But she’d seen no sign of him. Where the hell had Jake Dunbar been?

Chapter 2

Four months later

Jake Dunbar opened the door to The Trailhead, holding it for Noah to walk into the building. He glanced at the bar, a long wooden span that ran from close to the front door to the swinging doors that led into the kitchen. When he spotted Noah’s wife Anne disappearing behind those doors, Jake turned to Noah. “Your wife’s in the kitchen?”

“Yeah, her day to cook dinner,” Noah said easily. “Have a seat at the bar and order whatever you want. I’m gonna say hello to Anne,” he said, walking behind the bar to the swinging doors that Jake assumed led to the kitchen.

Jake had just ordered a beer from Hiram when the front door opened again and a woman and another man walked in and slid onto stools at the bar. Jake recognized Tom Larson and Olivia Williams, both former FBI agents.

Noah stepped out of the kitchen and smiled when he saw the newcomers. “Hey, Livvy. Tom. Haven’t seen either of you for a while. How’re you doing?”

Livvy swiveled to face Noah. “Yeah, now that you don’t live at the Blackhawk Security compound, it’s like you’ve forgotten about the rest of us who work there.”

Noah slammed a hand over his heart. “No way, Livvy. Impossible to forget about you.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “You always were a sweet talker, Noah.”

Noah shook his head and nodded at the man beside Olivia. “How’s it going, Tom?”

“Good,” the other man said. “Wish you were still one of the trainers at Blackhawk Security, though. Been a while since I’ve had a good smack-down.”

Noah shrugged. “I’m always available to deliver a smack-down. All you have to do is ask.”

“You think I still can’t take you?” Tom asked, one eyebrow cocked. “MaybeI’dbe the one dishing out the punishment.”

Noah snorted. “In your dreams, tough guy.”

As they were talking, Jake Dunbar stood up from his seat at the other end of the bar and ambled toward the group. “Hey, Olivia,” he asked with a smile. “Been a while since I’ve seen you. How’re you doing?”

Olivia swiveled to stare at Jake and froze. Her eyes went as cold as winter snow, and Jake would have sworn ice coated his skin. “Damn it, Dunbar” she said, making his name sound like a curse, her voice prickly as a desert cactus. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Jake looked around, wondering if there was another Dunbar in The Trailhead. When he saw no one, he realized she was talking tohim.

He frowned, shocked and, yeah, irritated, wondering where her attitude had come from. “Having a beer. Just like you’re probably gonna do.”

“You justhappento be in Helena? At the same bar I’m in?” Olivia scowled at Jake. “This is my town, and this is my bar. You’re not welcome here, Dunbar.”

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