Page 55 of On the Chase
All heads turned toward Otto.
“While we were waiting for you to return, the conscious suspect got chatty.” After dropping that tidbit, Otto went silent.
Hugh found himself leaning toward Otto, wishing he could physically force the other man to talk faster. It was just the way Otto spoke, considering his words before allowing them to escape, but right now, with Hugh’s internal hurricane of guilt and frustration, he really just wanted Otto to spit it out. By the way everyone else was mimicking his body language, they felt the same way.
“Truman offered a bonus.” Otto’s face went cold and hard. “An extra fifty thousand dollars, but only if you were killed before midnight.”
“Tonight?” Hugh asked, his brain processing the information as Otto nodded.
“So he’s planning to have a shipment come through sometime after midnight.” Theo vocalized the thought even as it took shape in Hugh’s brain.
Hugh smiled, feeling the first inkling of hope he’d experienced in several days. “Should we form a welcoming committee?”
“LT won’t let you within a mile of the scene,” Theo warned.
“If the lieutenant doesn’t know there is a scene, he can’t ban me from it.”
Otto and Theo groaned, but Hugh’s grin widened. He knew that sound. He and Otto and Theo would be meeting Truman’s shipment that night.
* * *
Hugh was driving her nuts. If they hadn’t been parked next to a cliff, she would’ve been tempted to jump out of the car and storm off. No, it was her car. She would’ve kicked out Mr. Protective instead. “For the last time, I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“I’m not a safe person to be around right now, not with the contract Truman put out on me.”
“So?” she scoffed. “Who in this cardoesn’thave a drug lord trying to kill them?” Lexi shifted in the backseat. “Okay, so Lexi doesn’t. I do, though, so quit trying to sound special.”
“Special?” he grumbled. “I’m not trying to sound special. Jovanovic doesn’t know where you are, so it’s not the same. I almost got you killed about four times now. It’s dangerous to be around me.”
“That’s why we’re here.” Grace waved an arm to encompass the mountain they were currently sitting on. “If we’d stayed in Monroe, people would’ve started shooting at us again. No one will find us up here. It’s the safest place to be until your drug bust tonight.”
“No,” Hugh argued. “The safest place to be is at the police station.”
“So let’s go.”
Hugh grimaced. “I can’t. If LT sees me, I won’t be leaving the station until Truman’s locked up. You should go, though.”
“Fine. I’ll go to the station to join Jules and the kids.” Grace reached out as if to turn the key in the ignition. “I’ll drive this car right into the law enforcement center’s parking lot and leave it there. Will you be coming with me or staying here?”
Hugh frowned at her. “Are you threatening to leave me in the middle of the mountainous nowhere without a vehicle? Call Theo or Otto. They’ll come and pick you up and bring you to the station, where you’ll be safe.”
“Nope. No cell coverage up here. You could always come with me, though. I’m sure your understanding and easygoing lieutenant will be fine with letting you leave in a few hours to stake out a drug shipment.”
His scowl deepened. Oddly enough, his cranky expression made her want to smile.
“Or you could stay here. If you and Lexi start walking now, it’ll only take…what? Six or seven hours to get to town? I’m sure Theo and Otto and the others can take care of that little drug bust, though.” She blinked at him innocently, trying to control the smirk that wanted to form.
After another few seconds of futilely trying to glare her into submission, he gave in. “Fine. Stay. Just cuddle right up to the guy with a target on his back. Good plan.”
She rolled her eyes. There was something wrong with her that she found his fits of melodrama endearing, rather than annoying. “We are literally, as you said, in the middle of mountainous nowhere. You and Theo and Otto all agreed that it would be impossible to snipe either of us.”
“Snipe?” His mouth twitched at the corners, and Grace had to hold back a triumphant grin. She knew he couldn’t keep his glower for more than a few minutes. “Is that a verb meaning ‘to shoot at’ now?”
She waved off his teasing correction. “Snipe, shoot at, stake out, whatever you want to call it. There’s nowhere to hide up here. We can see the road below us, so no one can drive up here and surprise us. Even when it gets dark, we’ll be able to see headlights. If they try to drive on this road without lights, then they’ll fall right off a cliff. Besides, it’s so quiet up here that we’ll hear their engine when they’re a long way away. If anyone magically does manage to get close, Lexi’ll bark, and we’ll get the hell out of Dodge.” As if in agreement, the dog thumped her tail against the backseat. “For the next few hours, we’re safe from any and all people who want to kill you, and that includes your lieutenant.”
“I doubt LT wants tokillme,” Hugh said. His scowl had disappeared completely, and he was leaning back in the passenger seat, apparently resigned to the fact that she wasn’t leaving him behind. “Maim and torture me, sure. He wouldn’t go as far as actual death, though. Too much paperwork.”
She laughed and then stopped abruptly.
