Page 31 of Final Exit

Several cars passed them going the other way, a truck, a black SUV.

Just like the one in Kade’s driveway last night.

She half turned and watched the SUV disappear around a curve.

“Were those your men?”

His jaw tightened. “Yes.”

“Shouldn’t we be following them? To find Hawke?”

“Nope.”

He slowed and turned down another road.

“This isn’t where I told you to go.”

“You wanted to look for Hawke at his house.”

“Yes, but... this isn’t... I gave you directions... you’re going the wrong way.”

“I think what you’re trying to say is that you were giving me directions to his other house, the one most people know about. My team searched that place first. Then they came here.”

He turned up a long winding driveway.

“I didn’t think anyone else knew about this place,” she said. “At least, no one but... me.”

He glanced at her, frowning. “Who is Hawke to you anyway? Friend? Lover?”

“Who’s the blonde in your picture? Girlfriend? Wife?” She didn’t expect an answer.

He didn’t disappoint.

He pulled the car to a stop in front of the glass-and-concrete structure that Hawke loved so much, that he’d worked so hard to ensure that no one in EXIT knew about.

Apparently, he hadn’t worked hard enough.

Bailey had thought this house was safe, that no one could figure out that it belonged to Hawke. When she’d texted him last night from the trunk of the Caddy, she’d assumed that the agents had cornered him at one of his other homes. Like her, he had many properties, most of them hidden under layers of aliases and shell companies, and tended to go to whichever one was closer when he needed to lie low. But if he’d known that Kade’s men were actively targeting him here in Colorado Springs last night, he would have gone to ground in the one place where he felt they’d never look.

The house right in front of her.

But he hadn’t been here, had he? If he had, he wouldn’t have been worried about anyone finding him. Which meant he had to be somewhere else.

“We’re wasting time,” she said. “Hawke isn’t here.”

“Bailey, this is where my men found him.”

She blinked. “Then... he’s...” She couldn’t finish her question. She was too afraid of the answer.

“As far as I know he’s still alive.”

“As far... as far as you know? What happened? I don’t understand.”

“My men cornered him inside. The team gave chase and Simmons said Hawke got away.”

Hope surged in her chest. Hawke had gotten away. He must not have been badly hurt as she’d feared. So where was he hiding now?

“I don’t think he escaped, though,” Kade continued. “He was injured during a struggle, then disappeared. But they didn’t find a trail leading outside. They were still searching the house when you called Simmons.”

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