Page 64 of The Saint

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Colby Winters’s oversized four-door truck approached Camden and Amelia on one of the quieter streets in Old Town Alexandria. His truck was almost a mirror image of the one Camden had used to hide his cell phone, and he hoped the men chasing Amelia were as confused as fuck and chasing down a random truck.

They hadn’t had anyone follow them since he ditched the phone. How much of Amelia’s world had they infiltrated? Parker might be able to back hack the trace and shed light on their identities. But that was doubtful, considering the level of criminal they were dealing with.

Winters slowed next to them, and the window rolled down. He chortled. “Sounds like you two had a hell of a night.” He glanced at Amelia, eyes narrowing as though she was a factor he didn’t understand, but he unlocked the doors. “Get in.”

Camden opened the rear door on the driver’s side and helped Amelia in then rounded the truck to join Winters in the front. “Thanks for picking us up.”

Winters nodded. “Parker said to tell you if the place doesn’t work, he’ll find a new one tomorrow, but this is the best he’s got on short notice.”

“We’ll be fine with whatever it is,” Amelia said.

Winters chuckled. “I don’t think you have any idea some of the shitty places we’ve had to sleep.”

That was true enough, though Camden didn’t think Parker would put Amelia anywhere too rough. The GPS on the center dashboard said they were less than twenty minutes out. The directions quickly maneuvered them out of the tight network of Alexandria and onto the highway.

“Any chance we can stop somewhere and grab something to eat?” Amelia asked.

Winters gave Camden a hard look. “You haven’t fed her?”

“Been a little busy,” he muttered under his breath.

“We almost had dinner,” Amelia pointed out. “That rib eye sounded so good too.”

“Rib eye, huh? Can’t go wrong with a steak.” He laughed and smirked at Camden as though he could see the truth about their night out. “You get an appetizer before all hell broke loose?”

“Yeah,” she said on a wistful, hungry note. “But we didn’t get a chance to eat it.”

“A good time was almost had,” Winters said, still smirking. “Too bad work got in the middle of it.” He checked the rearview mirror and studied her in the backseat, laughing to himself. “At least you had great company. Can’t go wrong with my man Cam.”

“At least,” she agreed, missing the gossipy note in his words.

Camden wanted to smack Winters’s attention back onto the road. The man wasn’t checking Amelia out, but he was seeing far more than Camden wanted him to. Titan didn’t usually have steak dinners with beautiful clients. Hell, Titan didn’t usually have beautiful clients,period.

“Anyway,” he grumbled, “what’s going on with you?”

“Nothing nearly as entertaining as this.”

All right.His molars clamped. Camden wasn’t going to give Winters any fuel and watched the GPS as the miles ticked down instead.

“Let’s see what we can do about food.” Winters exited the highway and pulled onto a busy road lined with dining options. The GPS recalculated their arrival time and added on five minutes. He named a list of fast-food joints for Amelia. “What are you hungry for?”

She opted for a burger place that was a far cry from a steak dinner. The line moved quickly. The food was as fresh as they could have hoped, and by the time they had cheeseburgers in hand, Camden realized he’d been working on adrenaline and was starving.

They devoured their burgers and fries as Winters filled the truck with details of a job he’d just returned home from. Finally, they arrived at a condominium complex so similar to Amelia’s that it might have been owned by the same company: same building styles, same parking lot, same landscaping.

“It never occurred to me how many safe houses could be tucked in perfectly normal neighborhoods.” She crumbled the cheeseburger wrapper and stuffed it into the bag. “Do you have places like this everywhere?”

Winters shrugged. “There’s a disproportionate number of places near hubs like DC. But yeah, sort of.” He parked the truck and tapped on his cell phone. A moment later, Camden’s burner phone showed a message. “That should be what you need to get inside. I’ll be around if you need anything.” He hazarded a quick glance at Amelia and added, “Though I doubt I’ll be seeing you any time soon.”

Camden gave him a tight shut-the-fuck-up smile. “Thanks for the lift.”

“This place looks great.” Amelia opened her door. “I wonder why Parker thinks we won’t like it.”

They walked toward the condominium identified in the text message. The corner unit had an excellent view of the parking lot as well as the street. Camden opened the door with the electronic combination.

“There should be clothes and whatever you need in the closet.” He shut the door behind them.

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