Page 37 of Provoke You

More shots rang out nearby. I screamed, and water sloshed in the back of my throat. Below me, Matt tunneled through the water and rammed his body against the asshole holding me down. When I came up to the surface, Chase grabbed me and took me all the way back to shore.

I collapsed on the sand, glad to be on solid ground again. “You have to go back for Matt,” I mumbled. My jaw was already sore from my teeth chattering so bad.

“Kitt?” Chase wrapped a towel around my shoulders.

“Too close. Give me a minute.”

Chase jerked to his feet and rushed to the water’s edge. “He doesn’t have a minute.”

“Got him.” Kitt let out a breath, and a shot rang out.

I rolled over onto my side and covered my head with the towel. Out on the lake, the bullets had been almost silent, like heavy rain. But here, it felt like some kind of war zone.

The deafening silence that followed made my heart race. Was Matt okay? Were those guys dead? This could not be happening. I pressed the palm of my hands to the sides of my head. My shoes gone, probably somewhere at the bottom of the lake where I was supposed to be. My cold dress clung to me as I sat on my ankles. “This doesn’t make sense. Is all this because of my hotel?”

“I’ve seen men kill and get killed for way less than that.” Kitt said, deadpan, his eye still shoved against his rifle scope.

“Kitt, ease up.” Chase kneeled in front of me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded and met his blue eyes. He stared at me as if trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. Then I felt it, a cramp, and before I could understand what was happening, I was on all fours, puking nasty lake water.

“Yeah, you’ll be okay. Drink this. It’s tea.” Chase handed me another towel and a cup.

“Where is he?” I drank the warm liquid like my life depended on it.

“He’s coming now.” Kitt sat back, then lay all the way down, arm shielding his face. When he sat up again, he turned to me. “I’m sorry you were here for this.”

“Me too.”

Was that what they did? Take out the garbage while the rest of us spoiled brats went on with our lives completely clueless. Matt knew this world existed. It was why he had a bad feeling about his so-called mission since the beginning. And all I did was mock him and push his buttons to get him to do what I wanted, which landed us exactly here, on a remote beach with two dead bodies.

Matt trudged out of the water in nothing but boxer briefs. Red blotches covered his torso and legs. No doubt tomorrow those would turn into nasty bruises. I jumped to my feet and bolted toward him. When he saw me, he gave me a half smile, half grimace before he sank to his knees.

“You made it back.” He touched my cheek with freezing fingers.

I pushed his hand away and clung to him. “How the hell am I still here?”

“I told you. We’re good at what we do.” He swallowed and put pressure on his side.

“Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. “Just a lucky kick.”

“What’s the status out there?” Chase pointed his chin toward the darkness. From this vantage point, under the halo of the light, the lake looked like a black hole. I hugged Matt tighter, and he did the same.

“They’re gone.”

“You think they might make it?”

Matt glanced down at me as if he were afraid I would judge him for this. “They’re gone.” His gaze was full of meaning when he looked up at Chase. Yeah, not something to discuss in front of the civilian. I was okay with that. “We gotta go. Make sure Mrs. Turner has a place to go.”

“On it.” Chase slapped Matt on the back and disappeared along the path that led back to the house.

“Are we good, Boss?” Kitt came to stand next to us.

I had a feeling Matt didn't have the strength to get up. Or maybe he just didn’t want to let me go. He stayed as we were, looking up at Kitt. “Yeah, we’re good. Forget about the safe house. We’re going straight to Syracuse. How soon can you get us in the air?”

“As soon as we get there, I’ll take care of it.” With a quick nod to me, Kitt stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked up to the house in the same direction as Chase.

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