Page 50 of Final Exit

“Damn it, Kade. You’re going to rip out my stitches. I wasn’t kidding when I said I didn’t want to sew you up again. Lie back down.”

“We’re leaving.” He snapped the brace on his thigh, hating the necessity of wearing it but grateful for the stability it gave him. He reached for his shirt and she was immediately helping him pull it over his head, and swearing at him the whole time.

He reached for a clean pair of jeans but she yanked them out of his reach.

“You’re not getting these until you tell me what’s going on.”

He turned to face her. “We have to get out of here. I had no idea I’d been out for as long as I was.”

“Have you forgotten this isn’t my house? Your men won’t know to look for us here.”

He grabbed the jeans and yanked them out of her hand.

“Kade, damn it.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You’re really starting to piss me off.”

He sighed, his shoes dangling from his fingers.

“I’ve gone off the grid, Bailey. By now, even if Porter hasn’t told anyone about what happened at the hospital, I’m officially missing in action. The last Simmons knew of my whereabouts, I was on my way to find Hawke, with some woman. Remember you spoke to him? How long do you think it will take for him to piece things together and figure out that it’s you that I was with?”

She bit her lip, looking less sure of herself now.

“My men will either think I’ve turned traitor and am working with the Enforcers,” he continued, “or they’ll think I’ve been taken prisoner. Either way, by now they’ve got several teams scouring the city looking for me, and you. Whether Simmons is involved or he just screwed up with Hawke, I don’t know. But he’ll share all the intel he has on Hawke and they’ll dig farther, see if there are any connections to you since you were in the same town and—”

“Sooner or later they’ll find something to lead them to this place. Hawke was over here often enough. He may have the address in an appointment book or a calendar, with my name beside it. Which means, this place isn’t safe anymore.”

“Agreed.”

She snatched his shoes and shoved him out of the way while she rummaged in his go bag.

“What are you—”

“Looking for your socks,” she snapped.

He reached in and pulled out a pair.

She grabbed them and pointed to the bed. “Sit. Hurry up.”

He plopped onto the bed and Bailey knelt in front of him, making quick work of putting his socks and shoes on him.

Less than a minute later, they were both dressed and ready, with pistols holstered at their waists.

She started to grab both the go bags but he yanked them out of her reach and strapped them over his shoulder.

“Don’t even try to argue,” he warned.

She rolled her eyes and headed into the hall, stopping only to grab some towels from the linen closet. When they got to the car, he understood why. She arranged them over the passenger seat to cover the blood.

Kade would have preferred to drive, but didn’t bother arguing. He could totally see her accusing him of being a chauvinist because he thought the man should drive. In that respect, she’d be right. But even though he felt surprisingly well for having been shot just a few days ago, he wasn’t a hundredpercent and didn’t force the issue.

Ten minutes down the road, she pulled to the shoulder. “Okay, I haven’t noticed anyone following us. I think we got out of the house before they figured out where we were. What do we do now? I’m fresh out of hiding places.”

“There’s only one place I can think of that they wouldn’t expect either of us to go.”

“Where?”

“Boulder. We’re going to EXIT Inc.’s headquarters.”

Chapter Fourteen