Page 2 of Faith
The SUV was waiting for her when she arrived. Parked under the structure, a dozen vehicles waited for whatever Gwendolyn needed them for. Decoy, transport, anything. She was the queen of her domain, and she made sure everyone knew it.
Nina didn’t recognize the driver, which wasn’t a bad thing. She climbed into the backseat and ignored him, watching the house disappear into the darkness as he drove away.
Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot for the convenience store. He slid the vehicle into park and met her gaze in the rearview mirror. He jerked his head to the building.
Guess he wasn’t going in. Worked for her.
Nina climbed out of the SUV and wrapped the shawl around her neck, looping it up over her face to hide as much of her appearance as possible. Gwendolyn hated when Nina let anyone see her hair. The red color was distinctive and drew attention. Attention Gwendolyn never wanted on Nina.
It took Nina way too many years to understand why.
Nina walked inside, nodding at the clerk. The man barely acknowledged her, which was just as good. If he wasn’t paying attention, he wouldn’t be able to tell Gwendolyn anything when Nina didn’t go back out.
Nina worked her way through the store, choosing an aisle toward the back of the store so the driver wouldn’t be able to see her. She got to the end and knew there was a gap. If he looked up at the right time, he would spot her, but if she was lucky…
Nina sprinted across the half-dozen feet of space, letting out a breath when she made it to the other side and saw the driver with his nose in his phone.
The rest was easy. Get to the office in the back, the one that was never locked, and call the one man she knew would save her.
Zeke Donovan stoodin the bullpen at work and listened to his boss share the rest of the rundown from the last few days. It wasa fuck-ton of information. FBI Agent Lorelei Sloane had pieced together more than every other person out there.
And the fuckers who took her almost killed it all with her.
But they didn’t. Lorelei was safe, and she gave them what they needed to invade the stronghold of Gwendolyn Lennox’s organization.
The next step was dismantling the entire fucking thing, but that wasn’t what Rose Protection Agency was doing. Their involvement was limited.
Which suited Zeke just fine.
“What’s up next for us?” Austin Ward asked. Austin and his partner, Samuel MacNeil, were an odd couple that worked like ice cream and brownies. Good on their own, but better together.
“We have cases we’ve been working on, and a new one that just came in. Local PD might want us to protect some witnesses, especially if there are a few women who want to stick together. Most of them will go through rehab, so it might be a few months of steady work helping them out.” Montgomery Rose was Zeke’s oldest and closest friend. Also the man Zeke owed his life to, many times over.
Zeke knew that score was balanced, though. Zeke had saved Mont just as many times. But their scoresheet would never be even. Zeke would spend the rest of his life making up for the mistakes of his past. Working with his best friend and keeping Montgomery safe was Zeke’s penance.
Mont hadn’t been the same since his sister disappeared. Nina was Montgomery’s favorite person in the world, and Zeke let her vanish.
He’d never forgiven himself for it. And never would.
“We’re good for whatever you need. Just happy we finally know who everyone is chasing,” Samuel said.
The others in the room murmured their agreement.
“When all this is done, everyone should take a few days off,” Montgomery told the room. “Go to the beach or something.”
Zeke snorted. “Are you taking time off?”
“He never takes time off,” Berkeley said, walking into the bullpen like she owned the place. As the executive assistant, and all-around alpha male wrangler, she had every right to act the way she did.
“That’s why I’m asking,” Zeke said. “Come on, Mont. We all need a break. Even you.”
“I’m not interested in a beach bunny or any other kind of bunny.”
“Fuck, man, I didn’t say that. Go skydiving or SCUBA diving or something. Get the hell out of here for a little while.”
Montgomery cast a side-eye at Berkeley, who only raised one dark eyebrow at him. She was always telling him the same thing.
Zeke’s phone rang, interrupting whatever Montgomery was about to say.
