Page 5 of Black Bay Protector
He recognized her words for what they were – a coping mechanism for a situation in which she had no experience. An injection of humor to normalize something that was far outside anything she’d consider normal. That was good. Humor in stressful situations could be cathartic. Jace huffed a quiet laugh at the moment of levity. Until a bullet hit the van, obscenely close to the woman’s head.
She screamed, ducked, and covered her head as Jace leaped into action. He picked her up, and none too gently threw her inside. Diving in after her, he kept his head down and yelled for her to do the same as he squeezed off a few shots toward the roof where the gunfire had originated. A return volley pinged against the bullet-proof exterior of the van, and Jace quickly slid the door closed, then maneuvered into the driver’s seat, and cranked the key. The engine roared to life, the tires squealing as they took off with more bullets peppering the van.
The medical complex was huge, the equivalent of several city blocks. It was also mazelike with sharp corners and Jace took the turns at high-speed, the van skidding, sliding, and nearly going up on two wheels several times. Bullets had stopped hitting the exterior a couple of turns back, and by the time he exited onto the main road, he was sure no one was following – at least, not in a vehicle. Drones, however, were always a possibility, so he made sure to look up every once and a while as he flipped on the headlights and slowed to a speed that wouldn’t have them picked up by some bored cop running radar.
Glancing over his shoulder at the woman who looked petrified and was hanging onto the cargo net in the back for dear life, he gave the all-clear. A moment later, she slid into the passenger seat beside him and put on her seatbelt.
Her eyes were wide enough that even in the dim interior of the van he could see they were hazel green. Her skin was probably always on the pale side, but at the moment, it was white with fear and strain, and what were probably some very plush lips normally were currently bloodless and parted slightly as she panted.
She was trembling, visibly shaking, and he heard her teeth begin to chatter so he cranked up the heat.
The shirt she was wearing was off-white and old enough that the fabric had become nearly transparent. The darker color of her nipples was clearly visible, and they were stiff little peaks thanks to the chill. Jace’s mouth went dry and he had to quickly avert his gaze back to the road, mentally chastising himself for the distraction. They had people after them, dangerous people looking to eliminate them as a threat and instead of focusing on getting them to safety, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of what those nipples tasted like. For Christ’s sake, he didn’t even know her name. But at least he could satisfy that bit of curiosity.
He cleared his throat gruffly. “What’s your name?”
Chapter Three
Paigehadtoswallowhard before she could answer. That bullet had been way too close to her head. She’d never been so scared in her life. Her heart was still racing and her skin felt too tight. She also couldn’t seem to get warm, her limbs quaking despite the hot air blowing on her from the vents.
“Paige,” she managed to utter. Her voice cracked on the word so she cleared her throat. “Paige Carter.”
“Paige,” he repeated with a nod. “I’m Jace. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances, but I’m going to do my best not to let anything happen to you.”
She nodded dumbly. She’d had all these questions she’d wanted to ask and needed answers to, but at the moment, she couldn’t seem to remember any of them. Well, that wasn’t true. One thing she did remember was that he’d implied the people that were after them might try to get to her through her family and friends. “Is my family in danger? My friends? Should I call them? Warn them?”
Her father had pretty much an armory at the house and could take care of himself, but her mother’s mind was so fragile since Grady died. Another tragedy, another stressful event might well break the woman fully.
“I think for right now, they’re probably safe. These guys might set up a watch on their houses, see if you show up, but I don’t think they’ll do anything more.” He glanced over at her. “It would draw too much attention their way and that’s the last thing they’d want. Once we get further away, you can call your people, tell them to lay low, keep their eyes open.”
How would she even explain this to them? What would she say?Shedidn’t even know what was going on.
Jace’s arm suddenly moved, reaching between the seats, and instinctively, Paige flinched back, pushing her body closer to the door.
“Hey,” he said, pulling that arm forward again, front and center so she could see his empty hand. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to keep you safe, remember? I was just going to get you some water. There’s a cooler behind your seat.”
Paige licked her lips and nodded. She wanted that promised water so badly that tears blurred her vision. Tension she realized. Stress and fear. Tears were a perfectly normal response.
As Jace moved that arm again to fetch the water, she swiped quickly at the moisture pooling on her lower lashes and sniffed hard. In a quiet, strained voice, she finally managed to ask, “Why is this happening?”
A plastic bottle fogged with condensation was held in front of her and Paige snatched it from that big hand, cracked the cap, and took a few greedy swallows. God, that tasted so good.
“You were never supposed to be involved, Paige,” the man in the driver’s seat told her. “No one was. And I’m really sorry I got you into this.”
She believed him. Even as muddled as her mind currently was, she was still able to logically deduce that dragging her along on whatever this was had not been on his to-do list. He could have left her… and after what he told her was likely coming for her, facing it alone was a scary thought indeed. But he hadn’t answered her question.
“Butwhy? Why are they after you?”
He blew out a hard breath, raised his hand, and swiped off his knit cap. The hair underneath was jet black and military short. Now that she thought about it, his bearing, the way he fought, he certainly could be military. Her father was a Navy man, and her brother had been a SEAL killed in action just last year.
“I’m afraid I took something that, judging by their response, they want back pretty badly.”
Paige frowned. “What did you take?”
“Files. Information they don’t want anyone to know about.”
Files? Like, patient files? Paige hadn’t worked at the medical complex long, less than a month, but HIPAA laws aside, she wasn’t aware of anything in the system that needed to be protected with an armed response much less anything that warranted her death if she knew about it.
She shook her head. “I don’t understand any of this.”
