Page 24 of Edge of Desire

His face had transformed into a ghostly shade of pale. He ripped open the letter and then, if possible, his face turned even whiter.

“How long ago did this arrive?” There was an urgency to his voice. A steely urgency.

“I don’t know. It was right before I came in here and pounced on you.” There, I thought that added a nice touch.

He took two strides and reached the nightstand where his phone sat, but he didn’t use it. He opened the drawer and pulled out a different one. Then he texted someone. Next, he made a call.

“Pete. I’ve been made. I’m in the wind and have a package.”

Pause.

“Durango.”

Pause.

“No. Ten. Fifteen at the most.”

Pause.

“Where?”

Pause.

“Got it. McChord.”

Pause.

“Colorado Springs to Andrews.”

Pause.

“I am fully aware of that, and the answer is yes.”

Pause.

“Montana. They won’t follow from Peterson if we hopscotch. Have a jet ready.”

Then he hung up and looked at me with remorse. “Avery, pack a bag. Pack only what you need. You can bring a computer as long as it doesn’t have a traceable connection. Anything else you need we can grab later. I’ll answer all your questions but right now you have to get ready pronto. We need to be out of here in ten minutes.”

“What are you talking about?” The man was crazy.

“Avery,” he said calmly, but with intensity, “listen to me. If you don’t do as I say, you’ll die and so will I.” He aimed a thumb at his chest. “I’m Preston and that letter was for me. I’m a DEA agent and one of the largest drug cartels just sent me a message telling me my cover has been blown. They’ll be here in less than an hour to take me out. Anyone else here will die too. Do you understand?”

I didn’t know what I understood. He grabbed my arm and dragged me into my room. “Where are your clothes? Travel stuff. Jeans, hoodies, things like that?”

“Over there.” I pointed to a suitcase against the wall.

“Do you have a duffle bag?”

I nodded and walked over to where my cute polka-dotted bag was. He started tossing me things. “Here, put these on.”

I got dressed in front of him. I didn’t even bother with underwear. What the hell was going on? I was shaking because he had a grave look about him, which I’d never seen before. When my bag was stuffed with everything he figured I’d need, he picked up my purse and asked if all my identification was inside. I nodded. Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me back into his room.

He dropped his towel and dressed in a hurry. Pulling out a gym bag, he stuffed it with clothes and put on a shoulder holster. Then he grabbed a large gun, checked it to make sure it was loaded, and jammed it into the holster. Next, he put a holster on his leg, then crammed another gun into it after checking it too. I gaped at him. I felt I’d been dumped in the middle of a Matt Damon movie.

Before I even knew what was going on, we were out the back door, running through the yard. He took us to the furthest corner where there was an obscure gate and he unlocked it using a key code, making sure to lock it behind us. Then we slipped away, down through hedges, keeping to the darkness. We got to a parking lot where a big motorcycle was parked. He walked up to it and pulled out a set of keys. It unlocked a compartment on the back. Inside were a couple of helmets and he handed me one. When it was empty, he stuffed our bags inside the compartment.

“These have headsets on them, so don’t worry about not being able to hear each other.”

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