Page 52 of A Lethal Betrayal

Collins’ brow pinched in irritation at being directed, and Dane was sure he was about to say something about not caring how long Dane’s team had to wait, when another car pulled up and Cross got out. He was wearing the same look as when he came to the hangar. A white shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Everyone stopped and looked.

“Deputy Director Cross,” Collins said as he walked over to the other man.

Great.Now they’d be here forever. Dane turned on his heel and walked back over to Koa and Jace. “Let’s go.”

Jace raised his eyebrows. “But they didn’t take our statements yet.”

Koa snorted. “They’ll keep us here for hours at this rate. I’m with him. Let’s just move away slowly and get in the Jeep and split. It’s not like we can tell them much anyway.”

Jace flashed a grin. “Is that what you’re going with? We don’t know anything. Seriously? We know a lot more than they do.”

“Yeah, but they don’t know that, and it will take them a while to figure it out. The longer they’re working, the longer they stay out of our way.”

Jace shrugged. “Fair point.”

They moved back a bit at a time, making it seem like they were getting out of everyone’s way. Then they just turned and walked to the Jeep. A minute later, they were headed off Sand Island. Dane knew there would be hell to pay but he needed to see Mac. Needed to know she was alright.

* * *

“The food smells good. I’m starving,” Jace said as they entered the room.

“Fish and chips,” Tac called.

Koa walked over to Tac, who handed him a container. “Salad with baked white fish. Should go down okay.”

“Thanks.” Koa took the food and grabbed one of the extra chairs someone had brought in.

Dane had stopped at the doorway, the anxiety washing away had planted his feet. Mac looked good. A hell of a lot better than when they’d put her in the ambulance. He wanted to go over and give her a hug but knew that was a bad idea.

He settled for offering her a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” she said. “My head doesn’t hurt as much, and Cass has been keeping me safe, so I’m all good.”

He nodded. He knew it looked weird that he was still standing at the door, but his relief at seeing her was so great he was having a hard time getting his knees to work. Stupid, but there it was.

“Cain,” he called.

The other man got up and walked over to Dane. “What’s up?”

“So, I might have caused a problem.”

Cain cocked an eyebrow.

“No one wanted to take our statement and then Deputy Director Cross showed up, so we weren’t going to be getting out of there anytime soon. I made the decision that we leave. They can track us down later. We don’t know anything about the murder, so there was no point in hanging around.”

Cain smirked. “Let me guess. You had other things on your mind.” He cut his eyes toward Mac.

“Maybe.” Was it that obvious?

“Don’t worry. I’ll run interference. We didn’t tell Mac about Lawrence. You up for it?”

Dane gave a curt nod. He hated doing this kind of thing, but someone had to, and he’d rather she heard it from him. He walked over and took a seat by the bed. “Mac,” he said quietly.

The others in the room sensed what was coming so they all stepped away, giving him and Mac a bit of privacy.

Mac frowned. “What is it?”

“We found Lawrence. I’m sorry, there’s no easy way to say this. He’s dead.”

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