Page 32 of Shadow Games

“Okay. What are you going to say?”

She looked out the shattered windshield. “I’ll ask who I’m talking to and why they’re stalking me.”

“That might be a little aggressive,” he warned.

She looked at him incredulously. “They’ve been shooting at me! They killed Ken.”

“Okay, true. Proceed.”

“I’ll ask them what the necklace is worth to them. And I’ll set up a time and a place for them to get it. If they’ll leave me alone.”

“And if they want their dope?”

She shook her head. “I can’t do anything about that. The DEA has it, and their money.”

“That might be a pretty big sticking point.”

“If they want their family history back, they’ll agree to my terms.”

Wyatt wasn’t sure if it would work or not. “Can we wait a little while, just to see if Charlie has any luck getting you a meeting with the CNO?”

She glanced at the clock on the dash. “Fine. A little while.”

He reached over, squeezing her thigh. “It’ll be okay, babe.”

Her cheeks flushed a little, and this time it wasn’t from the cold weather. “Okay, honey.” She giggled, and then she teared up. “I’m sorry. I think I’m a little slap-happy right now. I’m feeling so many emotions.”

Wyatt reached down to the seat controls and moved his seat back as far as it would go. “Come here.”

Rowan looked at him, and he opened his arms. “Let me hold you for a while.”

She immediately turned and slid across the big center console. Wyatt scooped his arms under her legs and brought her to his chest. It was a tight squeeze, her on his lap in front of the steering wheel, but the made it work. She curled into him, resting her head against his neck. “You’re starting to get stubbly.”

“Well,” he murmured, “it’ll probably get worse before it gets better. My dop kit was in the bathroom when we left. No more razors.”

She sat up a little, looking at his chin. “I don’t know. A little stubble might make you look even sexier.”

He dropped a kiss to her mouth. “I’ll take it.”

They cuddled like that for an hour, just talking of inconsequential things. As the truck warmed from their body heat, they even dozed a little, just waiting. Wyatt stayed on alert, but he allowed himself to relax a little. Rowan was such a nice handful, and he didn’t know how long this closeness would last.

The silence was shattered by his buzzing phone. He picked it up and looked at the message.

Be at the Pennridge Airport at noon today. Perkasie, PA. Jack will be there to fly you both to DC.

Got it!

Rowan looked at him. “We need to check the GPS, but we were pretty close to there at one point.”

She shuffled across the center console, and he couldn’t help but give her butt a final stroke. Grinning, she shook her head at him. A thoughtful look crossed her face. “Why don’t we have the cartel goons meet us there? We can transfer the necklace over and be done with it.”

“Let’s call them and see what they say. Where’s the number?”

Rowan reached for her backpack behind the seat and dug around inside. She pulled out the card and read off the numbers. Wyatt used his phone, just because Charlie had given it to him and it was hopefully protected from surveillance. “You ready?”

She nodded, her hands clenched in her lap. “Put it on speaker. And be ready to mute it.”

Rowan watched Wyatt press the green phone icon. There was a moment of silence, then it began to ring. There was a spate of Spanish she didn’t understand. “Do you speak English?” she asked.

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