Page 7 of Out of Control

It wasn’t attractive that she was exhibiting suspicious behavior by ditching her identification somewhere in the terminal. I couldn’t find her attractive, especially when I didn’t know how she was involved in my case. All I knew was that she was involvedin some way and I needed to find her. I hurried in the direction she’d wandered.

I couldn’t—wouldn’t—detain her again, but I could speak to her calmly, ask her if she’d mind coming down to the station. Whether she liked it or not, she could be in very real danger. I could keep her safe. It made sense for her to come talk with us.

I spotted her short blonde curls bouncing as she climbed into an uber and I sprinted forward, slamming my badge against the front passenger window to stop the driver before he could pull away from the curb.

She looked absolutely outraged when I opened the back door, hauling myself in beside her. While her cheeks flushed a delectable pink as her anger flared, the driver looked like he was about to puke, poor kid.

“Don’t worry, nobody’s in trouble,” I tried to reassure him. I shot a conspiratorial wink to my mystery woman before continuing. “I’m Special Agent Lucas Blake with the FBI. You can continue your drive as directed. I just need to talk to your passenger for a minute.”

He nodded, activating his blinker before pulling out into traffic.

“Buckle up,” I nodded to her. “It’s the law.”

She looked like she was about to open the door and initiate some ninja-like barrel roll to escape from the car. I bet she wouldn’t even injure herself in the process, too, not a single scratch. But instead of proving me right, her delicate hands grasped the seat belt and buckled it like a good fucking girl—

I put a halt to the train of thought my brain was tumbling toward and turned to face her so she had my full attention.

“You’re not in troubleand I’m not detaining you,” I reiterated to her. “I just don’t think you’ve recognized the danger you’re in. You had someone fire a gun at your head point blank—”

The driver gasped dramatically, not even pretending he wasn’t eavesdropping.

“—and it’s only pure luck you’re still alive. I think you should come with me, give a witness statement, and we can figure out how to get you to safety.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “No one is coming after me except you.”

“They tried to kill you once.”

“And they won’t be able to try again. Leo Lombardi doesn’t know my real name. Kinda like you.” She looked smug, like this was a game she was winning.

“But you’re close enough to the situation thatyouknowhisname, so that tells me you know more than you’re letting on.”

She shrugged, but her shoulders were tense. I was onto something.

“Come on. Let’s go somewhere safe to talk things out. What’s your name?”

“Damien Velasquez,” the driver promptly answered. I tried to hold back a smile. “Sorry, I was so into your conversation I forgot you weren’t talking to me.” He looked utterly unrepentant, and the mystery woman didn’t bother to hide her amusement.

“Tell me, Damien, what is your rider’s name?”

She cut him off when he opened his mouth to answer. “You don’t have totell him that.”

“You saw the badge, Damien. I work with the FBI. Will you tell me what address you’re dropping her off at?”

“Do not answer that, Damien. He doesn’t have a warrant.”

“Damien, I’ll give you a five-star review if you tell me.”

“Don’t you dare, Damien. He can’t review you since he didn’t sign up for this ride. I did and I will give you a one-star review if you give my personal information away without a warrant.”

Damien’s mouth snapped closed, and she grinned triumphantly at me as if to sayI win.

I was fuming, but Damien wasn’t budging. I didn’t have a leg to stand on legally, and it annoyed me to no end that this woman knew that. How did she know so much about these things?

I tried to get her to speak to me a couple more times during the ride, but she just took out her phone and was tapping away, ignoring me. My efforts were in vain when the uber pulled to a stop in front of a grocery chain box store.

“Thanks, babe,” she said to the driver with a wink. That wink wasn’t aimed at me, but just being in the crosshairs of a hot as fuck woman throwing out playful and sexy winks…it was a lot.

I needed to get laid.

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