Page 5 of Dangerous Mission

Terri stepped back and glared at him. “I stopped taking orders from you years ago.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “You never listened to a word I said. Now, for the love all things mighty, go to the SUV.” He handed her the keys. “I’ll take care of the police, but do you really think we need the news media down here?”

“No police,” the girl whispered. “They’ll take me back to the evil man. Please, no police.”

What the hell did Terri get herself caught up in?

Terri

Three cop carssped down the road. The woman had barely gotten out the words of asking for no police, and they magically appeared. What was strange was nobody had come in or out of the restaurant. The only person who could have called the cops was the man who had run.

The woman shook next to her. Axel kept his shirt pressed against her wound with one hand and held his phone to his ear with the other.

He didn’t say much, just that he needed assistance. Terri still hadn’t been able to ask why he’d followed her. It wasn’t hard to miss the Range Rover parked a few spaces away—the same one she’d spotted across from her apartment. When she’d walked out of her building, she felt like someone had eyes on her. She felt like someone was watching her a lot lately. At the time, she’d thought that was ridiculous because she had the Secret Service always watching her.

Axel sighed and lowered his phone. “What’s your name?”

The woman's lip quivered. “April Turgenece, but they will turn me back over to them.”

“I can’t stop the cops, but I have a plan. I was on the phone with a person I know who runs a mercenary company. He has someone in town, and he’s on his way here. He will stay with you at the hospital and get you to a safe house.” Axel turned toward Terri. “I need you to get in my SUV.”

“Again, I stopped taking orders from you years ago.”

“April’s worried, and I need to stay with her. Do you want to explain your presence here to the cops? Please get in my SUV.”

One of the cops closed the door to his car, and it wouldn’t be long before he was near.

An ambulance pulled into the parking lot, blocking the cop for a second. Terri used the opportunity to walk to the side and shield herself behind a long row of shrubs. When she reached the end, she glanced at her car then Axel’s. It would be easy to get in her car and drive away, but she wanted to make sure the girl was taken care of.She also wanted to talk to her and find out more information.

She pressed the unlock button to the SUV and climbed into the passenger seat. From the angle he’d parked, she could watch the whole scene. Axel, still bare-chested, talked to three uniformed officers while a paramedic knelt on the ground next to April. Before she forgot the woman’s name, she pulled out her burner phone and sent Hex a message.

Seconds later, her phone rang, and his name flashed.

“Hey, Hex.”

“You’re all over the news. They’re saying reports came in about the president's daughter being stabbed at the Darius Steak House. It won’t be long before the media is there. I’m in my car, on my way down.”

Bright lights blinded Terri as three news vans pulled into the parking lot. Even if she wanted to get into her car and drive away, that wasn’t an option anymore. She wasn’t even sure how the ambulance was going to get out of the parking lot. Axel stood to the side, still talking to the three cops, and another man she hadn’t seen before appeared. He was a couple of inches shorter than Axel and built like a linebacker. The darkness made it hard to see his face.

“Did you hear what I said?” Hex’s voice came through the phone.

“Yes. I don’t think you need to come.”

Hex let out a sigh. “I know you want to help everyone and me, but maybe we need to part ways. This is getting dangerous. We’ve uncovered a lot of information over the year, so maybe we take it to the FBI again.”

Terri gritted her teeth. She didn’t need another alpha male telling her she wasn’t capable of protecting herself. Years of self-defense classes had helped her prepare. She knew where every pressure point in the human body was located. Hex, on the other hand, was six inches shorter than she was and so skinny that she wondered if he would blow away. The man had no room to talk.

Furthermore, she’d been attacked before. She hadn’t told him about the time she’d gone to a club three weeks ago and helped a woman getting pulled out the back door. Terri hadn’t accounted for the man having backup in the back alleyway. She took both men down but not before they got a few punches in. Her ribs were still tender from the hits.

“I’m fine, and the woman is also.” Terri paused. “I think we’re getting close. The woman is scared and thinks whoever had her is connected with the police.”

“Some of my research leads back to the cops. I think it’s someone who has pull over law enforcement. You know some politicians are dirty. What are we going to do to protect her? My hacking skills can’t drum up a bodyguard.”

Her eyes trailed back to Axel as he talked to the cops. The other man was next to the stretcher. He leaned down and whispered something in April’s ear.

“Someone from my past showed up, and he’s putting a bodyguard on the woman. I’m currently in his SUV, hiding from the press, while he talks to the cops,” Terri said.

“Who?” Hex asked.

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