Page 80 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

“You all get in the truck. The boys will follow us in their car,” he says.

I help the girls and Janice get in the back, then hop in the passenger seat and strap in. Updates keep coming through the earpiece, and I listen to each voice with a rapidly beating pulse.

“They’re still on our tail,” James says.

“Roger that; I see them,” Oliver replies.

“We’ve got Dove and the chicks,” Kirby patches in. “Headed to the safe house now.”

My gaze wanders along the street as the diner and its lunch hour havoc shrink in the side view mirror. I have to admit, the farther we get, the safer I feel. Janice keeps the girls busy in the back, setting them up with cartoons to watch on her iPad.

“How are you holding up, honey?” she asks me.

“I’m good, Janice. Just looking forward to it all being over,” I reply.

I suddenly spot Kara while we’re stopped at a red light. She’s trying not to stand out, wearing the drabbest brown coat I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely her. She’s standing near the window of a coffee shop about five blocks down from the diner, talking on the phone.

Shit. Kirby or one of the other agents will surely follow me back to her. This is my only shot but I need the right moment to take it.

The truck is moving again.

At the next stop light, I brace myself.

“Kirby, where’s James now? I haven’t heard anything in the last couple of minutes,” I say.

He frowns and taps on a tablet screen mounted on the dashboard. Behind us, the twins are busy giggling, watching their cartoons with Janice.

I catch a glimpse of the brown sedan in the rearview mirror.

There’s a service alley just a few yards back.

This is it.

“Still on the northeastern side of Rustic,” Kirby says. “Still moving.”

“Good,” I reply, then release my belt and bolt out of the car.

“Hey!” he shouts after me.

I’m running fast, my lungs burning with each inhalation of the cold mountain air. I hear the sound of car doors opening behind me, no doubt the agents in the brown sedan. One of them starts running after me.

“Elise!” I hear Janice shout.

“I’m so sorry,” I mutter to myself as I slip into the service alley.

It’s been a while since I’ve had to run this fast, but as I glance back, I realize I’ve put quite a distance between myself and two of the men who were assigned to protect me. They can’t get too far from Kirby and the girls, though. They can’t leave him on his own with such precious cargo.

I knew that. It’s why I was waiting for the right moment to put my plan into action.

29

Roman

“Ready?”

The question that James and Tori had been waiting for. We’ve been driving around for long enough. Our tail is still very much attached to us, so I pull up outside Charlie’s gas station. It’s cold and grey, the falling drizzle forcing me to keep the wipers on at a steady interval.

“Ready,” James replies. He glances in the side mirror. “Here comes Ollie. He’s going around the back. Your turn, Roman.”

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