Page 54 of Love Undercover
A despairing sense of isolation stole through her as his eyes slid to the clock then to her and away. She didn’t realize how much his tension set her on edge until she tasted the metallic tang of blood on her tongue and realized she’d chewed her thumb a little too hard. Even as she turned to look out the window at the fiery sunset, nothing soothed as the time crept closer like an incoming ocean tide. The inevitability threatened to drown her.
She flinched when Chase’s big, warm hand brushed her hair back from her neck, kneading at the tight muscles there for a moment. The reassurance did as much as it was capable—letting her know that he was thinking about her, that he knew she was nervous. But it went no farther in actually dispelling the anxiety simmering inside her.
Especially when he went to retrieve a gun from the extra room. His eyes shot to her as if he thought she’d freak out at the sight before he tucked it into a holster at his back that made the sleek, black weapon practically disappear. He flipped the back of his shirt over it to cover the part that was still visible. Then he checked his watch, a bulky, black, tactical thing that would have dwarfed any other man’s wrist.
“Is it time?” she asked, squeezing herself tighter.
His mouth tipped down. “Almost.”
Her anxiety had rippled, an unpleasant tingle that billowed and coiled until she was so uncomfortable, she had to say something.
“We could stop on the way to get condoms for when this blows over.” Her face flushed with heat as soon as the words left her mouth, and she started to curl in on herself. She wasn’t sure what possessed her to say it at all, why that was the thing she chose to use as the tension breaker.
But Chase blinked and looked at her, his face cracking into a disbelieving smile. “Sadie. Good Lord.”
She laughed, the sound wobbling with nerves and embarrassment. “I’m sorry. That was stupid. I shouldn’t have said it.”
He gave his head a shake as he chuckled softly. “No, it might be a good idea. We’ll see what happens.”
She nodded, dipping her head to hide how red her cheeks still were.
And then her unease buzzed like an annoying bug in the dark, tight space of the car’s cab as they sat. She fought to keep her leg from bouncing, her eyes from dancing around the woods surrounding them.
And that’s what her mind went to as a distraction, reminding her how idiotic it had been. She’d like to believe it was her rational side winning out, but she knew it was more of her impulsiveness shining through—that she would think about that instead of the practicalities of survival.
They'd hiked out to where the car was parked before darkness set in to wait until they spotted Santiago’s vehicle coming down the driveway. Chase felt it was the only guaranteed way to sneak out and know exactly where Santiago would be. But it was taking longer than she’d anticipated, and she just wound tighter and tighter.
Chase must've been able to hear how her breathing came faster than normal because he reached over to take her hand.
“He’s waiting for us to settle in for the night. Thinks he’ll get the drop on us while we sleep,” Chase murmured, though his soft words still punctured the silence like a needle to a balloon, and her whole body seized.
He squeezed her hand, sensing the reaction.
He’d explained earlier that as soon as Santiago headed around the bend, Chase would pull out of the trees and onto the road to their destination—the home of a friend of his, a fellow undercover agent he swore was trustworthy.
Another long, anxious stretch of time scraped along her skin. Then her stomach torqued, and she couldn’t help her gasp when the sleek, black SUV pulled slowly from the road onto the dirt driveway with its headlights off. Moonlight bounced off of the shiny black paint and the darkly tinted windows as it rolled past their hiding spot.
Sadie sucked in a breath and didn’t release it, thrown about the fact that Chase didn’t react at all. But he’d had more practice in these kinds of situations.
Chase released her hand and reached for the keys hanging in the ignition, pausing as the brake lights from the SUV flashed back at them, jolting Sadie’s heart. The red faded as the car rounded the bend, and Chase turned the key, throwing it in drive the second the engine turned over.
It was a process to maneuver the car out of the trees, but as soon as he cleared the line, he gunned it onto the road. Sadie twisted all the way around in her seat to check if anyone followed as his foot pressed more heavily into the gas pedal.
When no vehicle showed up behind them, she spun back around. Her hands gripped the armrest and the center console, an attempt to anchor her amid a spinning sense of panic as they bolted down the road, headlights off. The roads were emptyof other cars and it ran pretty straight, but the worry wound around her gut as Chase kept his speed dangerously above the limit. The car flew past the dark trees that continued to flank the road for miles and miles.
She needed to channel her thoughts into something, anything, productive if she wanted to keep her sanity. “Does your friend know we’re coming?” she asked, her voice strained.
Chase’s eyes shifted to the rearview mirror. “No.” His hands were tight on the steering wheel, knuckles so white it looked painful.
So he wasn’t as untouched as he appeared to be.
“How do you know him again?”
“Kyle has been in the undercover game for a few years longer than I have. He showed me the ropes when I was just getting started, got me some connections.”
She tried not to make a face. Chase had proven himself trustworthy and good, but that didn’t mean it was true of every agent undercover.
“Does he work for Zimmerman?”
