Page 83 of Shiver

Time to welcome her company.

* * *

“Kyle,what’s your ETA to Genie’s?” Josh Cameron’s voice blared through Kyle’s headset.

Kyle Montgomery glanced down at his flight instrument panel, then out the copter’s large window at the barren Nevada desert. “Ten minutes.”

“Make it quicker, she’s got company. Three black SUVs.”

Kyle swore under his breath as he scanned the horizon searching for any sign of the vehicles. “We should have given her a heads up as soon as we found out about Marsters’ disappearance.”

“And try to explain it to her over the phone? She would have bolted before we got anywhere near her, running headlong into this mess and causing even more trouble.”

“Maybe. But at least she’d already be gone.”

“And in a lot more trouble because she’d do it solo, refusing help from anyone. You know that. The woman thinks she doesn’t need us anymore. That she’s better off alone. We need to prove her otherwise.”

“Believe me, I know how stubborn Genie can be.” The words tasted bitter in Kyle’s throat. There was a time when he’d thought he knew Genie better than anyone, that he’d known her deepest secrets, and understood her hidden fears. A large, ill-timed explosion had taught him how wrong he’d been. And he still had the scars to prove it.

“Any idea how long she’ll be able to keep them at bay?” Kyle asked, determined to move the conversation out of the past and into right-the-hell now.

“Wish I knew. She disconnected the line and isn’t answering.”

“No surprise there.” Any way to make his job more difficult and that headstrong hellcat would find it.

“If anyone can hold her own and get herself out of this, it’s Genie,” Cameron insisted.

Kyle couldn’t help wondering if Cameron was saying the words were more for him or to appease himself. All he knew for sure was that ridding herself of messy complications was Genie’s specialty. The fact that Kyle had ended up being one of those complications didn’t sit well with him. Not then. Not now. The familiar anger and frustration turned in his gut, and his fist tightened on the controls.

“Just extract her and bring her into headquarters STAT,” Cameron ordered. “Whatever is going on now, chances are it has something to do with the explosion at the warehouse eight months ago. Genie is the only one who can help us. Get her in here. I don’t care what it takes.”

“You got it.” Genie wouldn’t like it, but that wasn’t Kyle’s problem. He was following orders. Pick up and deliver the package, no questions asked. As far as he was concerned, the less time he spent with Genie Marsters, the better. He had no desire to put himself through that particular wringer again. She’d said all she needed to say when she’d disappeared without a word, never checking in, leaving him broken and alone in the hospital after the explosion. For all he knew, she was the reason that warehouse blew up. The reason he’d almost blown up with it.

Hell, yeah. The quicker he finished this assignment the better.

* * *

Crouchedin the crow’s nest, Genie bolted the metal door beneath her and took position. She’d designed this fortress herself. She could handle this incursion. Her phone rang again. She ignored it. She didn’t need Cameron. She didn’t need rescuing, and she sure as hell didn’t need to see Kyle.

The three SUVs pulled to a stop outside her house, forming a tight circle on the desert sand. Men dressed in black filed out the doors and into the center of the circle, using the vehicles as cover. She nibbled on her bottom lip. Smart. Even from up here, the angle was such that she couldn’t get to them. These guys were pros. And they’d done their homework.

Kiddo, I’ve always known.

Was it Cameron? Had he sent this team to take her out, or to be assured she’d leave with Kyle?

Kyle.

Dark brown hair. Deep blue eyes. Wide generous smile. Strong, warm embrace.Wanted to love her forever. She pushed the thought of him from her mind and focused on the men hiding within the circle of vehicles. She counted nine. Nine big men to come after little ole her?

She smiled.

One of the men inched forward. She waited, counting under her breath as he moved steadily into the center of the crosshairs on her scope. She pulled the trigger, smooth and easy, aiming below his vest. He collapsed to the ground, blood spreading across his thigh.

“One down,” she whispered. “Eight more to go.”

His cohorts quickly pulled him back behind the wheel of the closest vehicle.

Almost like a military operation. She crinkled her brow.

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