Page 136 of The Heart

“Those men on the dock were Ace of Clubs. They’re waiting for someone,” I say just as quietly.

I turn casually back to admire the horizon, finding one of the men looking our way. He’s got his phone to his ear, and I don’t like the look on his ugly face.

“Keep walking,” I tell her, wrapping my arm around her again as we head toward the parking lot.

“Have we been made?” she asks, her pace quickening.

I look over my shoulder again, finding all four men running up the dock.Fuck.

“Time to run, sugar.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

LEENA

Ithrow myself into the passenger seat of the vehicle, cursing my goddamn outfit. This is the last time I wear a dress on an op.

The second my door is shut, tires screech as Sebastian sends us careening out of the parking lot. I glance behind us, finding the men from the dock piling into a truck. I quickly grab the earpieces to our comms from the glove compartment, leaning over to put one in Sebastian’s ear, the other in mine.

“We’ve got Ace of Clubs up our ass. Four men, one vehicle. We’re leaving the marina, heading east,” Sebastian barks out as he takes another turn. “Fisher, we need eyes in the air. I think Kathryn’s boat was heading for that marina, we need to find it before it hightails it out of here. Campbell, we’ll try and shake them, but we might need you to run some interference.”

“Copy that. Twenty minutes out,” Luke says over the radio.

I slide on a pair of black leggings under my dress, then velcro my holster to my thigh. I lose the wig, then quickly change into a T-shirt while Sebastian is distracted, driving dangerously, reaching into the back for my boots. I buckle my seatbelt before he can give me shit about not wearing it.

“Goddammit!” Sebastian yells, hitting the steering wheel when another maneuver he thought would shake them fails.

Then, they start shooting. This is a rental vehicle, not our Suburban, so there’s no bulletproof glass, no extra militia stored in the trunk. We’re each carrying, of course, but that won’t hold out in a firefight.

It doesn’t take long before our back window is blown to pieces.

“Shit!” I shout, both of us crouching in our seats.

“Hold on, sugar,” Sebastian says, taking the next turn at a dizzying pace, sending us down a three lane road that leads away from town.Good.Because there were way too many pedestrians, bicycles and fucking goats wandering around for the speed at which we are going.

“Come in, come in, this is your captain speaking. I’m in the air. Heading toward the marina now. Fisher, out.”

I smile, because hearing Colton fucking around over the radio is somehow calming after being shot at.

“Copy that, Fisher. Chase, how’s your tail?” Luke asks.

“Still wagging. And it’s starting to piss me off. What’s your ETA?” Sebastian barks out.

“It would be sooner if you weren’t driving so goddamn fast,” Luke replies, and I worry knowing he’s about to join the chase.

“I like driving fast. And we already lost the back window,” Sebastian says casually while I’m busy holding on for my goddamn life as he cuts off another vehicle on the crowded roadway.

“Fuck!” Luke shouts.

I look behind us, finding our pursuer no more than three cars back, then two, and one, until they are right behind us.

Five motorcycles are coming up fast behind the truck, and at first, I think they’re trying to get around it, until I realize what’s actually happening.

They’re flanking it.

“Shit! We have more company. Five bikes,” I say.

Sebastian quickly looks in the mirror before glancing at me. He stomps on the gas, sending us through an intersection just as the light turns red. The truck tries to follow, but has to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. The bikes swerve through the cross traffic and are quickly gaining on us.

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