Page 52 of Sinner's Secret

Baz set her down and the moment her bare feet made contact with the cold cement, she sucked in a surprised breath.

Baz turned so fast she wobbled, but he grabbed her just under her arms before she could stumble or fall.

“What—?” he began, then looked down and hissed through his teeth. “Shit, I forgot.”

Before she could tell him she was fine, she could walk, he had her up in his arms again.

He strode down the street like it was effortless. She could feel the flex of his muscles against her body, but his breathing stayed even. He was a lot stronger than he looked.

The streets were quiet. No pedestrians or cars moving around. The apartment building they’d just left was one of several in a row. Run down, even crumbling in some places, meant this was a neighborhood where people didn’t go outside after dark if they could help it.

Baz craned his neck side to side.

“What are you looking for?”

“A car I can hotwire,” he replied absently as he continued to look around. “Can’t do it with the newer models and their computer chips. I need something old-school.”

“I’m going to forget you said that,” she told him dryly.

That surprised him enough that he glanced at her, then gave her a half-smile and shrugged. “Oops.”

A few seconds later, he jogged across the street with her still in his arms and approached a boat of a vehicle that had to be at least twenty years old.

Baz checked the ground and kicked a few small stones aside before putting her down.

Really? No normal man was this considerate, and yet, she had to admit, it was nice to know he was paying attention to the little things.

He stepped away from her. Cold air hit her with a slap, and she wrapped her arms around herself.

Baz broke the driver’s side backseat window with his elbow, which made her eyebrows jump. Car window glass was not easy to break without the right tools and some serious heft. People who tried to smash in windows like Baz had usually broke their elbows.

How had he managed it? The guy wasn’t superman.

Her thoughts must have shown up on her face because he gave her a quick grin. “There’s a trick to it. You have to hit the glass in the right place.”

“If you say so.” She wasn’t going to worry about it right now. Finding a safe place, a warm place was all she had room for in her head.

He reached in, unlocked the door, then picked her up again. She wasn’t expecting him to slide her into the passenger seat from the wrong side of the car, but he did it without any obvious strain.

She knew he was strong from how easily he carried her, but he wasn’t a superhero. Did he moonlight for the circus or something?

He got into the car, closed the door, ripped the ignition out of the dash, and fiddled with the wires inside it.

There were a few sparks, then the engine turned over.

Baz put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb at a cautious speed.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere is better than here.” He glanced at the dash. “Shit. Not a lot of gas in the tank.”

She craned her head over to see the gas gauge. Nearly empty.

Baz sighed and pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket. He used his thumb to unlock the screen, then handed her the phone.

“Call the last number I called.”

She hit the icon. “Who are we calling?”

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