Page 41 of Lipstick Lies

“I think so. Hold on. I’m going to try to lose them.”

Just as the words left my mouth, I crested over the top of a hill, catching some air with the speed I was traveling. Because of that, I realized too late that we’d fallen for the easiest ruse in the books. My obsession had led me to make careless mistakes, and now I was going to pay for it. The worst part was that Cohen, and subsequently Fin, would too.

The vehicle crashed down, and I barely had time to swerve the barricade as we careened off the dirt path, dodging trees as branches scraped the outside of the vehicle.

“Shit, shit,” Cohen screamed, and inside I agreed with him, but none of my words seemed to want to come out, dying on my tongue.

As the SUV finally stopped, I knew it didn’t matter. We would be surrounded within minutes. We’d willingly driven onto enemy territory and offered ourselves without a fight.

I’d laugh at how absurd it was if it hadn’t been me.

The car clicked as the engine cooled, and I tried to think of a way out of this situation. But I knew it was pointless. I’d seen his compound as I crested that hill. Dex was prepared for everything, and there was no way out.

Turning my head, I took in Cohen’s eyes, the storm brewing there had my heart skipping a beat, and I hated I had to be the one to say it to him.

“I’m sorry, Cohen. Fin was right. My own hubris has been my greatest downfall.”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. I could see it written on his face. The car doors were yanked open a few seconds later as men surrounded us. With one last ditch of hope, I pressed the emergency button on my watch, praying it would get off a signal before everything was stripped from me.

Hands pulled me from the car, throwing me to the ground, their faces covered by black balaclavas. Holding my finger over the side, I kept it there until everything went black around me, glad that I'd made Fin stay back. At least now she'd be safe.

Eighteen

FINLEY

Something wasn’t right.I could feel it in my bones. It was an hour past when Cohen and Ryker should’ve checked in. It had been quiet at the base, and I was trying to chalk my anxiety up to nerves, but I had a bad feeling, and it wasn’t going away.

“Anything?” Asa asked, setting some food next to where I’d holed up. I had three computers opened, trying to find out as much information as possible on Dex and MKG.

“No,” I finally answered, looking up to catch his green eyes. “I’m worried.”

“Hmm, well, training states that if someone hasn’t reported in six hours past their time, activate the tracker in the car and then the chip.”

“Why do I feel like six hours might be too long? Am I being ridiculous? Is it just because it’s Cohen and Ryker?”

“You’re not being ridiculous. And yes, I think you’re more worried because it’s them, but it doesn’t mean your fears are unfounded. Since both Ryker and Cohen are gone, both of our superiors are in the field, so I guess that makes you the de facto leader. So, team leader Finley, what do you want to do?”

His words shook me, but I realized I liked how they sounded. I kept thinking that I was the weaker of the group or lesser than when I had to stay back, but that wasn’t the case. Before, I ran into danger without proper knowledge of what I was getting into. It was naive and completely what teenagers did. But it didn’t mean I’d do that now.

In fact, I’d shown myself and the others I could be calm under pressure. I needed to quit putting myself in a box and kick those walls down and make my own way.

“You’re right. I am the team leader.” I sat up, my hands planted on the desk. “And that means trusting myself. I’m going to pull up the GPS on the vehicle. At least if I can get a visual, then I won’t worry.”

“Sounds like a plan, team leader. What do you need from me?” Asa asked, lifting his eyebrows when I looked up. Was it bad I found it sexy? Yes, I needed to focus. I could explore wanting to dominate Asa later.

“Can you get Milo and look through the blueprints I pulled up? We need to know what we’re dealing with if they were taken.”

“Absolutely. You know, you’re sexy when you get all bossy. We can talk about whatever it was that flittered across your mind when everyone is back here safe and sound.”

My cheeks heated, but I nodded, looking at the screen as I began to type in some credentials. When I didn’t hit any walls, I was surprised to find that Ryker had given me full clearance. Well, hot donuts!

With ease, I located the vehicle they’d taken and picked up the bowl of noodles Asa had left me. I slurped them into my mouth as their route filled the screen. Based on the address, it all seemed standard until the end, when I noticed a sharp turn on an unnamed street. Clicking it, I maximized it as I began to study it more.

It was like this, with noodles half hanging out of my mouth, that Asa and Milo found me a few minutes later. They both laughed as I quickly slurped them down, wiping my chin as I zoomed in on the screen.

“I think I found something!” Their amusement shifted to concern as they crowded behind my computer screen.

“What is it?” Asa asked, not understanding what I’d stopped on.

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