Page 26 of Burning Justice

Wind kicked up, ruffling his hair and flapping his jacket against his sides. The sound of the inbound chopper had been a low rumble, but it was much louder now. Kane glanced over his shoulder and saw it slow as it lowered toward the ground.

She wrapped her fingers around his arm, just above his elbow. Her very cold fingers. “I need to see who is on the chopper, but you don’t. Two of us run more risk of being seen than one.”

He turned to her, stepping close. Shielding her from the wind. “Why are you trying to push me away?”

She lifted her chin. With her face upturned, he could see brown in her eyes where in shadow they would look almost black. “I’m not pushing you away. You got hurt today.”

So she was protecting him?

Was that it?

“I don’t need you to look after me.”

Indecision flickered in her gaze. “That isn’t…we should just go. This whole thing might’ve been a bust, but I have the flash drive. I copied files from the computer, but if it’s Raine’s grandfather’s, I don’t know what it could have on it.”

“Yeah, we need to talk to her about that. She dropped a bomb on us, and for what?”

Her attention shifted over his shoulder.

She touched his arm again, holding on like she needed solidarity. He started to turn to look at the chopper so he could see who was getting out.

“Kane—”

He had never heard that tone from her before.

She tugged on his arm, drawing him back to face her. But where at least part of him had been expecting to see affection or even that she might draw him close and kiss him, that wasn’t what he saw. She was trying to distract him. Because she didn’t want him to see who’d climbed out of that chopper.

“What are you doing?”

She winced. “Don’t look. Just give me your gun. I’ll take care of it.”

Kane reached back and clasped the butt of his gun, drawing it from his waistband. “Saxon, Redding is here.”

She grabbed a handful of his jacket. “Give me the gun, Kane. I’m going to kill him.”

Six

“We’re not killing him.” Kane held on to her, holding her back.

Maria let him. “Why not?”

She already had what she’d come for. All she needed to do was get the guys out of here before they were discovered. Before the unconscious man on the ground woke up and sounded the alarm, or one of his buddies came looking for him.

Kane didn’t even look over his shoulder. If he did, he would probably be the one determined to kill Elias Redding.

Their enemy.

The man who had betrayed the Trouble Boys, who was responsible for her being captured, and who had hurt Kane so badly just because he could, stepped off the helicopter like this was a social visit.

“We aren’t going to kill him,” Kane said, his tone tight. “If he’s here, it’s because he’s involved in this situation. He’ll know where to find your father and that canister.”

“He’s our shot at ending this.”

“That’s why we need him alive.”

Maria nodded. “Good.”

Kane frowned. “What?”

---