Page 91 of Hard Wired

Maureen reached for Dominic, her expression full of panic. “No, I thought we were staying together.”

Sylvie’s gaze darted from one man to the next, her uncertainty clear on her face.

A bodyguard stepped out of each SUV, opening the doors into the backseats. “Mr. Crane,” one of them said, “we need to go.”

“Hold on. This isn’t what we planned.” Dominic retreated, backing away toward the house.

Tanner walked over to him. “Dominic, you have to go with us to get Raymond because it sounds like he won’t come with us otherwise. But Sylvie and Maureen don’t need that much exposure. This is the safest choice for both of them.”

Dominic didn’t like it. But he knew the man was right.

Sylvie marched over, pushing against Tanner’s muscled arm. “This is bullshit. You spring this at the last minute and expect me to go along? No. I’m going with Dominic.”

“You’re not a bodyguard.”

“But I have training. So unless you want to get Max on the phone to fire me right fucking now, quit telling me what to do.”

Dominic made a decision. “Maureen, you need to go with them. They’re going to take care of you, and you don’t need to be driving all the way into L.A.”

She pulled him into a hug. Her eyes were shining. He’d never once before seen Maureen cry.

“All right, I will. But you take care of yourself. Since I won’t be there to do it for you.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“You’d better.” Maureen got into the first SUV. Tanner loaded her suitcase, snapped shut the trunk, and then banged on the roof. The driver pulled away.

“The rest of you, let’s get out here. We’ve wasted enough time.”

“You should’ve told me about your stupid plan in the first place, so I could reject it,” Sylvie said. “Nic, did you take off the ankle monitor?”

“Uh, not yet.” He’d nearly forgotten about it. He took out the pair of pliers he’d stowed in his pocket and pried the strap apart, both terrified and relieved to finally have the thing off. He left it right there on the sidewalk. An alarm would be going off at the police station now, alerting them about the tampering.

Dominic stepped across the invisible barrier in his front yard and into the street.

Sylvie slid into the backseat of the SUV next to him. Tanner took shotgun. The car doors slammed.

“You should’ve gone with Maureen,” Dominic murmured.

“Don’t give me any reasons to stop liking you. I was starting to get attached.” Sylvie clasped his hand, and he quit arguing.

He took solace in her presence, even though he knew he was putting her in danger. But he’d been doing that all along, hadn’t he?

The driver put the car in gear, and Dominic heard the door locks snap into place. He didn’t look back at the house as they drove away.

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