Page 37 of Just This Once (Blackhawk Security)

And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. It would be easier to walk away from her if she’d welcomed his ‘no more touching’ edict.

But based on the way she’d looked at him today, he suspected she’d miss him as much as he’d miss her.

Chapter 14

Pink and purple swirled in the evening sky as they drove away from the farm in the black SUV. Sierra twisted to catch one last glimpse of the house as they drove down the short driveway to the road. She stared behind them until all she saw were the trees that formed a protective barrier around the safe house.

Then she straightened in her seat and faced forward. Held Cody’s phone in her lap, watching the security app. No alerts. No red spots. She drew a deep, trembling breath. Watching a security app? Looking for Russians on the farm? It felt as if she’d fallen into an alternate universe.

“You happy we’re leaving?” Cody asked, his voice quiet. Soft. As if he were regretting their departure, as well.

Sierra lifted one shoulder, in what she hoped was a casual shrug. “I liked the farm. It was interesting. Peaceful.” One side of her mouth twitched up. “I’ll miss your epic battles with Maurice.”

Cody snorted. “That rooster is getting a little too cocky for his own good.”

“Cocky? Nice choice of words, Parker.”

She made the mistake of glancing over at him and found him watching her. Their gazes held for a too-long moment, then she looked away. Heat flooded her face, but she didn’t press her fingers to her skin to cool it off. Instead, she glanced at Cody’s phone, then turned to look out the window.

Nothing but more farms and a sprinkling of trees along the road. They clattered across a small bridge over a tiny stream, and she stared at the tunnel of trees on either side of it.

Finally she glanced in the side-view mirror. “No vehicles behind us,” she reported. “A clean escape so far.”

“Didn’t expect anyone out here. We’ll keep a close eye when we pass through town, though. See if anyone pays attention to us.”

“Okay,” she said, still staring out the window. Wondering what would happen when they got back to Evanston.

What would they do? Go to Jack’s and stay there? Or would they bring Jack to her house?

She hadn’t asked because it sounded as if the arrangements were still up in the air. While she’d packed, she’d overheard Cody talking to Mel. He’d wanted another operative to stay with Jack, but it had sounded as if no one was available.

It only took ten minutes or so to reach the small town of Williams. There were several cars parked in front of a small diner, and several more in the grocery store parking lot. Other than that, it appeared as though Williams was a town that rolled up its sidewalks at sunset.

Which, she supposed, was why they’d waited until dusk to leave.

Shifting in her seat, she studied the handful of cars still parked along the street. Saw no one in any of them. Used the side mirror to watch behind her.

They were almost at the edge of town when a large pickup truck pulled away from the curb. It kept a steady distance behind their SUV. After it had been following them for ten minutes or so, not turning off onto any of the many driveways, she said, “You see that dark gray pickup behind us? He’s been there since we left Williams.”

“I see him,” Cody said, his voice hard. “Keep watching him. I’ll be watching for anyone in front of us.”

Sierra swiped her suddenly sweaty hands down her thighs as she studied the truck behind them. It was getting darker, and it was difficult to tell how many people were in the truck. But there were two in the front seat. And since it was an extended cab, there could be two or three more in the second seat.

After a tense five minutes, Cody said, “Any change behind us?”

“No. They’re staying the same distance from our car.”

He gave a short nod. “You can close that security app. They’re not going to the farm tonight. I’m going to speed up and see what he does. Keep watching.”

When he rounded the next curve and the truck was momentarily out of sight, he pressed the accelerator and the SUV shot forward. When they reached the next straight stretch of road, he continued speeding until the gray truck appeared behind them. Then he slowed to his former speed.

They were about twice as far ahead of the truck as they were before the curve, and Sierra watched carefully. The truck sped up until it was close to them, then slowed down. Hung behind them as Cody held his speed steady.

Sierra glanced over at him. “Does that worry you?”

“That they sped up to catch up with us, then slowed again?” He nodded, glancing into the rearview mirror. “I’m worried that we’re driving into a trap.”

“What do you mean?” she said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

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