Page 8 of Indecent Proposal

“Stay safe, Lisa.” Then, for Claire’s benefit, I added, “I don’t need luck.”

Claire barely held back an eyeroll.

We headed into the garage and I took her directly to my Jeep. We had various cars down here—some sports cars, some basic sedans, some of the traditional black SUV variety. Today, we’d be off-roading and I’d need to blend in, so I took the more banged-up Jeep.

Claire wrinkled her nose as we got in, the interior well-worn and just as battered as the exterior. “This vehicle is kind of noticeable.”

“Not where we’re going,” I promised her as I started the engine.

“What about the license plate?”

She was intelligent, and observant. I liked that. Obviously she had to be, to have survived these past few weeks on the run. From everything she told me, she’d had at least a half dozen brushes with death and she’d managed to survive them all, noticing things like the seals being tampered with on her food, and people following her. Clearly, they’d had to result to something as bold as a sniper in broad daylight, because they couldn’t get to her any other way.

I liked my girls smart. And sassy.

It wasreallytoo bad that we weren’t being thrown together under different circumstances.

“The license plate will be taken care of,” I told her. There was already a plan in place for that.

Claire looked skeptical, which I knew would turn into a look of exasperation when I showed her what I was going to do. I pretended I didn’t see her expression, though, and focused on driving. I had to move quickly to get us out of the city, and I wanted to double-back and take a detour or two just to make sure nobody was following us.

Turned out, she didn’t get to see the license plate trick. About half an hour into the drive, she slumped against the passenger side window. I reached over to check her pulse and make sure that she was okay, but she was just asleep.

Poor thing. My chest tightened with an odd protective feeling. She’d been alone and confused, trying to deal with someone attempting to kill her and not even knowing who and why. No wonder she was fucking exhausted.

I pressed the button that flipped down the hidden license plate to cover the existing one once we got out of the city and I did one detour, then I doubled back and went an alternate route before I was satisfied enough to finally take us to our destination.

My safehouse was my personal one, so I had bought it in an area that I would at least enjoy if I was forced to be stuck somewhere for my own safety. It was up in the mountains, a remote cabin I’d purchased with cash through a proxy some time ago. I’d had the place retrofitted with a top of the line security system, along with everything else I would need to live off the grid, if that ever happened. The closest bit of civilization was a small town down the mountain, a good hour’s drive away.

The anti-social person I was, I liked being out in nature, in the peace and quiet and away from other human beings. It wasn’t that I hated people. It was just that sometimes they grated on my nerves and I needed a break from the city and life in general every once in a while.

Claire looked beautiful as she slept, her face slack, her dark eyelashes swept against her smooth, pale skin, and her reddish-blonde hair curling around her shoulders. I found myself glancing over at her quite a bit as I drove, to the point where it was a little distracting for the drive.

I forced myself to focus back on the road. Christ. I wasn’t the type of guy whose head turned around over a pretty face. I made women my playthings, but I didn’t let them get into my head and Claire had already occupied too much time in that part of my brain.

The drive up into the mountains was nice, and I was tempted to wake her up to show her the view down below, but I figured it would be best to let her sleep. I was actually flattered that she felt safe enough around me to do that. Especially after I had… well… basically claimed I didn’t believe her.

Not that I was going to apologize for that. We did get a lot of people coming to us who simply didn’t have the money to pay, or needed medical help rather than a security team. We dealt with high-profile issues. There were plenty of services for other people. But this was a fascinating case with Claire, involving someone high-profile enough to hire a sniper. Definitely within our pay range and skill levels now.

Maybe there was some way I could make it up to her, though. She was going through a tough time and I was about to dump her in the middle of nowhere. There could be some way I could make things a little easier for her while she was secluded and mostly alone in my cabin for the foreseeable future.

After a few hours’ drive, we approached the safehouse at last. I’d specifically picked the area because you didn’t know the cabin was there until you literally came upon it. Unless you had knowledge of where in the road it forked off into a dirt drive and copse of trees, you’d miss the turn-off, and there was a hairpin curve right before the cabin which hid it from view.

Sure, I’d traded any kind of view for the total isolation, but I felt safe in the forest. I could easily melt away into the trees if I wanted a meditative walk—or if I needed to evade an enemy. Nobody had located my cabin yet, and I planned to keep that record running.

I pulled the car to a stop and reached across the gear shift to gently shake Claire’s shoulder. “Hey, sleeping beauty, time to get up.”

She let out a soft little groan and blinked, and it took her a few seconds to get her bearings after being in such a deep sleep. Then, she looked around, a frown creasing her brows as she squinted at the scenery and rustic looking cabin.

“Umm, pretty sure I’ve seen this place in a horror movie.”

“What?” I asked, momentarily confused.

She looked over at me, a wry look on her face. “This is where the serial killer takes the woman to murder and dismember her.”

“Yes,” I said, deadpan. “That’s exactly what I do. Nothing like a high-profile position as head of a security firm, where I take a woman that several of my employees can attest to being in my company, to help keep me under the radar as a serial killer.”

I got out of the car before she could deliver another snarky remark, closing the door sharply behind me. I wasn’t here for her to critique the location of the safehouse. I just needed her to stay here, and stay put, while I figured out who the hell was trying to kill her.

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