Page 74 of Corbin
His head hurt from trying to sort out so many things at once while lacking the necessary information.
His fuel tank would be on fumes soon. Watching for an exit, he pulled off on Highway 17 for Lavonia, Georgia, and easily located a place to gas up. Pulling in under the fuel station canopy, he cut the motor and let Eirene step off first. With the bike on the stand, he turned to see how she was doing.
She pulled the helmet off then started fussing with her helmet hair. “I need a cap. I hate what that does to my hair.”
He chuckled and kept his voice soft for her ears only. “We do a mad dash from police and SCIS, plus get shot at again, and you’re worried about how you look?”
She pushed her nose up at him. “I do not want to die looking like a crazy woman.”
Reaching out, he brushed a hand over her hair. “No matter the condition of your hair, you will always look adorable.”
She gave him a smile that melted his heart. How had he lived all those years without her? He leaned down to kiss her sweet lips, intending to simply let her know how glad he was to have her.
Eirene, he was starting to realize, went all in when she wanted something.
She pushed up on her toes, deepening the kiss and waking every part of his body. He lifted her up, finished the kiss, then eased her back. “Keep that up and we’ll be here awhile making a public exhibition.”
“Don’t threaten me with having my way with a hot male.”
“You’ll be the death of me, and I’m gonna love every minute, but we can’t stop until we find a safe spot.” Placing her back on her feet, he said, “Hungry?”
“Starving. I’ve got some cash in my bag, but not much. I gave the sisters all but fifty dollars thinking I’d run by the bank today.”
“We’re good. I’ve got some money.” Not enough for him to run for long, but after thinking about who had sent the jackals, he’d decided to locate a safe place for her. Then he’d lead those monsters away from her. He assumed they’d keep sending monster jackals after them. Maybe he could keep one alive long enough to find out who had sent them and how they’d found him.
SCIS would be his first guess for who held the leash on those jackals, but ... it could be the Romanian.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” she announced, pulling the denim bag strap onto her shoulder.
He dug out a fifty-dollar bill. “Would you give this to the cashier with our pump number?” While Corbin filled the bike tank, he came up with what he’d tell Adrian. It might sever his last tie with a man Corbin held in high regard, but he would never harm anyone when he could avoid it.
Eirene came hurrying back to him as he hung up the nozzle. Why was she rushing? His heart went into overdrive. How could he have let her go in there alone?
He looked around for the threat.
“Crap. Look what I found in the bag.” Out of breath as she stopped, she lifted two mobile phones. Both had chunks missing. “Had to be that SCIS shooter in the car. I didn’t know where that second rifle shot went, but I guess we do now.”
Ah hell. He took both phones. “The good news is no one can trace your phone, but I only had one way to contact my people.”
“No one could trace my phone. It was not on any network. Like some people call a burner phone.”
He considered that. He could grab one of those phones that were not on a network, but he had no idea what numbers had been programmed into his. “Mine could not be tracked directly to me. It had some kind of relay or such that sent a tracer to my people’s headquarters. They had their own way to find my phone.”
His stomach growled. Much as he wanted to take off again, he had to be more careful now. The jackals and Leszek might not be able to track them, but they had far more resources at their fingertips than he and Eirene.
They loaded up, and he rode a half mile to a steak restaurant with plenty of business an hour before noon. He and Eirene should blend in with T-shirts and jeans. Seats at the bar were available, which meant faster service in his book.
Eirene gave polite smiles to the perky red-haired female bartender with heavily made-up green eyes, but he could tell his woman worked to hide her nerves. He reached under the counter and squeezed Eirene’s thigh lightly.
She turned an electric smile his way. That was her truly happy smile.
They ordered the largest steaks offered, baked potatoes, broccoli, corn, and bread. Shifters burned calories easily. Shifters on the run ran through huge amounts of calories. He hoped to find food again without having to send their wolves hunting.
While chowing down quickly but not so much to draw anyone’s attention, Corbin noticed Eirene had been staring at the end of the bar where a waiter and two waitresses were huddled. They talked excitedly as if sharing juicy gossip on someone major.
He ate the last of his potato and pushed the plate away, downed his iced tea, and asked Eirene, “Did you eat enough?”
She tore her gaze from the gossip corner and nodded. “I’m good. Considering the condition of our phones, I’m happy to report the energy bars I’d packed made it through.”
