Page 15 of Out of Sight

“It would hurt my case if they killed you off. And it would reflect poorly on my department if we couldn’t recover your body after the fact.”

Well then.

“No, we need to get you both out of sight sooner than anticipated. We’re playing in the big leagues now so have to go meet with a real heavy hitter.”

six

Claire

We were only on the road for a few minutes when Will broke the silence.

“You never said anything about Antonio. Did someone get a hold of him at the station?”

Blake glanced at his phone. “No. He’s slippery. He ran off the second he saw someone paying attention to him. We’ll get him eventually though.”

I nodded. My literal life was in his hands so I had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

“I know you plan to catch him,” Will began again and I could see Blake roll his eyes in the rearview mirror. I wanted to do the same thing. “But what if he’s already following us right now? Or what if someone else from the Morelli organization is? How do we know for sure?”

“We don’t,” Blake said, making a sharp right turn. “We just make lots of sudden turns, change cars if we notice anythingsuspicious, and hope for the best. We’ll get to part two of the plan soon enough.”

Will nodded like he understood, but didn’t stop asking questions. “And part two is the ‘heavy hitter’? Who’s the heavy hitter?”

Blake didn’t answer, just focused on the road as he cut off another car to make a sudden merge onto the freeway. I was insanely curious, too, but knew better than to grill Agent Blake about it. Will apparently didn’t.

“This is Claire’s life, and mine too! You gotta tell us where we’re going. We deserve that much!” I raised an eyebrow at him, surprised that he would include me in his outrage.

“Yes, you do,” Blake agreed, but still didn’t say anything else.

“Come the fuck on!” Will burst out, slamming his shoulders back against the seat in frustration. A loud rumble filled the car and Will turned red-faced as his stomach grumbled again.

“I know it’s not a big priority,” I cut in, trying not to laugh since this wasn’t a funny situation, “but when do you think we could get something to eat? I know I haven’t had anything since last night, and I think someone else in here is getting a bit hangry.”

The car made another unexpected swerve into a parking garage and pulled to a stop next to a black SUV with heavily tinted windows.

“Right now,” Blake said, jumping out and opening the back door for me. “We’ve got food, water, and a few other essentials right here.”

I took his hand to climb out, grateful to Blake for thinking ahead. Forty-five seconds of texting at the precinct to set up allthis? It was good to have someone else take the lead and figure things out for me when I was too busy being scared for my life to think properly. I ignored the little voice in my head that reminded me how pissed I was when Will tried to do the exact same thing earlier. He was a criminal; he didn’t count.

There was a man leaning against the SUV. His immaculate suit and eager nod to Blake told me they worked together, but it was the bag held in his waiting hands that made me trust him instantly: In N Out Burger. My mouth watered. Anyone who brought me food could never be considered evil in my book. I glanced at Will and saw him similarly enamored with our new team member. He was clearly starving as well.

I stepped forward and stopped right in front of my new best friend, smiling brightly. “I’m Claire. Can I take that off your hands for you?”

Will laughed loudly. The joy in his eyes made them even prettier, unfortunately. I quickly looked back to the new guy who was trying to hide his grin.

“First thing’s first,” Blake said, shaking his head in amusement before nodding to the SUV. “In the car. We’ve got a bag of clothes and toiletries for each of you in there since we can’t risk heading back to either of your apartments.”

I hopped in and buckled up, debating what was more important to me: the food or the backpack in front of me that likely held a hairbrush? Will climbed in next to me and took the offered bag of food. That solved it. My messy hair could wait another few minutes while I devoured a burger and fries in my normal elegant and graceful manner.

Blake climbed into the driver’s seat and put the vehicle in drive, leaving the new guy behind. I shrugged it off—someone had to drive Blake’s car back, after all.

Will was digging through the bag, pulling out all the food and evaluating it with a greedy look. In an unexpected move he nodded to me. “Take what you want first, honey. I’ll eat whatever’s left.”

I was so grateful that he was putting his hangry feelings to the side for me that I didn’t even complain about his newest nickname. I took a burger and a portion of signature animal fries. “Water?” I asked.

“Cooler in the back,” Blake replied, shaking his head no to Will who held up a burger in offer. Will nodded, taking an enormous bite out of the proffered burger instead before reaching back and coming up with a couple bottles of water. By the time I cracked the seal on my bottle and looked up again Will’s burger was half gone. Damn, he could eat fast.

After a nice, long, leisurely sip of the ice cold water I unwrapped my own burger. Will was already starting in on his second one. One bite in and I was in no place to judge anymore. Mine was gone just as quickly, but it was nice to just sit and eat in silence.

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