Page 122 of Pressure

As she looked frantically around the room for the exits, trying to plot her escape, movement caught her eye. Fuck. Who else was here?

Glass shattered and Jodie screamed, brandishing the gun as she whirled in the sound’s direction.

Everything was a blur as two men stormed through the broken plate glass and barreled toward Jodie and Sebastian.

Jodie tried to grab Marissa, but she kneed her right between the legs and hurled a saltshaker at her just as a man who looked oddly familiar tackled her, knocking the gun out of her hand. It clattered across the floor and Sebastian lunged for it. He didn’t move fast enough and was taken down by the second man.

The familiar man was… “Samuel?” she said breathlessly.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he bellowed. “You damn near got yourself killed.”

She shrank back at the sound of his fury. The couple of times she’d interacted with him, he’d been so quiet.

He pulled out a cellphone as he shoved Jodie toward the door. About that time, the parking lot of the diner filled with police lights.

“Your girlfriend is safe but you better fucking put a leash on her. She’s reckless.”

He nodded to the other man, someone she didn’t associate with Solitaire and headed for the kitchen as cops swarmed the diner.

Lance stepped in the door moments after the hoard of officers and he looked none too happy to see her.

“Your sister’s? Why the hell would you lie to me like that?”

She stood trembling as she watched the swarm of police around her. “What the hell just happened?”

“I was about to ask you the same damn thing. Outside. Now.”

He pointed toward the exit and she dutifully fell into step behind him as he stormed out.

When they were outside, he pressed her against a nearby car and glowered.

“You could have gotten yourself killed, Marissa. What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I…”

She trailed off as she watched police place Sebastian and Jodie into squad cars.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

Lance stepped away from her and folded his arms across his chest. “I had a feeling you were lying about your sister’s place, so I backed into the Chicago airport security feeds and figured out which gate you went to. From there it was easy enough to figure out that you were heading for Chicago. At the same time, I get a call from Samuel saying he has a lead on Sebastian and that I shouldn’t ask questions. That’s when I knew you had a lead too.”

Marissa raked a hand through her short hair and wrapped her arms around herself. The night air was chilly. “How did Samuel find them? What does he do anyway?”

“That’s not a question you get to ask. But clearly if he hadn’t you would be dead right now.”

Marissa shuddered and not just from the cold. Jodie’s last words to her floated through her brain.

“Fuck. I was just trying to help.”

“I swear to God I want to paddle your ass right now.”

She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Then he was on her again, one arm at her waist the other in her hair as he crushed his mouth to hers. “Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again,” he pleaded as he pulled away.

An officer approached. “Mr. Moss. We need to take this woman’s statement.”

Lance whirled on the officer. “It’s freezing out here. Can we take it to a station?”

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