Page 71 of Final Exit

Kade drove this time. Bailey was pretty sure she’d put them in a ditch if she got behind the wheel right now. Probably on purpose, just out of spite. So she sat in the passenger seat the whole way there, intent on giving him the silent treatment. Unfortunately, he would actually have to try to talk to her to realize he was getting the silent treatment. And Kade hadn’t said a single word since they’d left Colorado Springs.

Bailey’s pride—and her temper—couldn’t take much more of this. After Kade had left her standing in the family room last night, she’d done everything she could to avoid him. Which was pretty easy. After his shower he’d gone into his bedroom and hadn’t come out again all night. She would know. She’d barely slept a wink and would have heard him if he’d so much as opened his door.

She didn’t have any regrets, though. For once, she’d put herself out there, risked her heart by going after what she wanted—Kade. He was the one who should feel guilty. They had something going, something special, and for some reason he refused to let her in. He was pushing her away before they’d really had a chance. He didn’t trust her enough to share what was really bothering him, why he was shutting her out.

As soon as they met with the others at the warehouse and brought Faegan down, she was going to take off. Being on her own had always worked in the past. It would damn well work again just fine.

Maybe she’d go back home to Montana. It had been a wonderful place to spend her early childhood years, especially for a nature girl like her who preferred mucking around in the outdoors over going to a shopping mall any day of the week. Of course she’d have to live on the opposite side of the state from her hometown of Bozeman. Running into anyone she used to know could result in some extremely uncomfortable situations for everyone involved. On second thought, maybe she should head to North Dakota. It was close enough to Montana to feel like home, but not close enough to get her into trouble again.

She just wished the idea of never seeing Kade again didn’t hurt so much.

It was exactly ten in the morning when they arrived at the warehouse. No other cars were in the parking lot and the street out front seemed deserted. He’d been right about it being an ideal location. No one would think to look for them here.

He strode across the parking lot, his limp barely noticeable this morning. Bailey kept pace with him, keeping an eye on their surroundings. After stopping at a side door, Kade pulled out a set of keys hanging from a lanyard around his neck.

Bailey stared at the lanyard. “Where did you get that? I don’t remember seeing it before.”

“It was in my go bag.” He arched a brow. “This is an FBI warehouse and I’ve been here before. I work in the area and have a key. Is there a reason you’re staring at me so suspiciously?”

“Is there a reason you’re acting so suspiciously?”

He frowned and shoved the key into the lock, then pressed a code into a keypad much like the ones at the technology lab. The hairs stood up on the back of Bailey’s neck.

“After you.” He held the door open.

She pointed at the keypad. “Didn’t using one of those things get us in trouble before?”

“The code I used on this one is the same code everyone uses. It’s generic. Are you coming in or not?”

“You first.”

He hesitated. “I thought your friends would be here by now.”

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. You and I can check the place out first.”

“Was that the plan you made last night without telling me?”

“This morning, actually.”

What she didn’t say hung in the air between them—that she’d altered the plans since their... argument? Fight? Nothing had felt right since their awkward reunion. He was holding something back, hiding something. And as soon as she’d mentioned that to Jace over the phone, they’d mutually decided to modify the plan. She would be the scout, get the lay of the land, before the Equalizers made an appearance.

“Let me guess,” he said. “You’re going to signal them once I prove that I wasn’t lying about the computers?”

“Something like that. Are we going to do this or not?”

“Gentlemen first.”

He stepped through the door, but not before she saw something flash in his eyes. It wasn’t anger, as she’d expected. It looked more like... worry. Why would Kade be worried?

She followed him inside, blinking to acclimate her eyes to the dimly lit interior after being outside in the sun.

Kade hadn’t stopped. In spite of his limp, he was halfway across the warehouse by the time she caught up with him. Other than a few boxes stacked here and there, it was empty and boasted an expanse of extremely clean concrete floors.

There were two doors in the opposite wall. Kade stopped at the one on the left. After punching in another code, and using one of the keys on his lanyard, he pulled open the door.

As soon as he stepped inside, lights popped on overhead. She blinked in surprise at the enormous, almost blindingly white room. The middle was clear, with floors of concrete again like in the rest of the warehouse. But, true to his word, there was a bank of computers along the back wall. And on the right wall was a large rectangular glass cutout. But she couldn’t see through it to tell what was on the other side.

The place was so eerily similar to the technology lab that it made her hesitate. Things hadn’t worked out so well for them the last time they were in a place like this. “They” being accurate now, because her phone had just vibrated on her hip, letting her know the Equalizers were outside. They would wait for her text before coming in.

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