Page 25 of Dirty Gambit

The man paid her no mind and Lena stalked out. The late afternoon sun glinted off the steel frame of the car and caught the edge of Jaxon’s cuff still clasped around Jess’s car seat. The man himself remained oblivious to the world, still blissfully unconscious while she took a few minutes to quickly change Jess’s diaper, feed her light lunch, and strapped her back into her seat.

It wasn’t until they were nearly an hour into their drive that Jaxon finally stirred. His groan alerted her before his attempts to raise his head did. She watched him through the rearview mirror as he winced and lifted his free hand to the back of his neck. He rubbed the muscle a few times before prying his eyes open and squinting at their surroundings.

“Welcome back,” she said, returning her attention to the road, horribly relieved he was okay.

“What happened?” He struggled to push himself higher in his seat. The leather squeaked with his shifting weight. “Why is my head throbbing?”

Lena avoided the question by snatching up a fresh water bottle from the cup holder and passing it over her shoulder to him. He didn’t accept it right away. His hesitation had her wiggling the drink in indication. She didn’t stop until he had the bottle and she could return both hands to the wheel.

“Where are we?”

As before, she ignored the question and asked her own. “How are you feeling?”

He blinked those magnetic eyes, squinting as if the light was too bright. “Weird. Hungover without the fun night.”

She’d heard that before. The drug was a knockoff Rohypnol, but easier to get. It was supposed to have less side effects, too, but those who were unfortunate enough to have experienced it had reported the same three sensations, dizziness, nausea, and a sensitivity to light. The effects eventually wore off, but Lena was relieved that was all he was feeling.

“Just drink the water and put your head back,” she mumbled, fixing her attention on the road once more.

It was well past noon and they were still behind, a fact that was seriously making Lena edgy the more she caught glimpses of the clock on the radio. They should have already hit two other stop points and they hadn’t even reached the second one. At that rate, they would be late on their arrival and they really couldn’t afford that, especially since she had Jaxon on loan for three days. After that, every cop in the country would be out looking for them, making it harder to reach their destination and the people waiting to take them the rest of the way.

But there was still a chance they could make it if she cut through the next road and looped around. It would mean risking a gas stop, but she should potentially have enough to make it the rest of the way. It would take them straight to their third stop, which — without any further delays — put them back on track.

“What did you give me?”

Lena blinked out of her calculations. Her gaze sprung up to the mirror and the accusing glare staring back at her from the backseat.

“What?”

“The water you gave me earlier, what was in it?”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him nothing, but the guilt wouldn’t let her lie.

“Just something to help you sleep for a couple of hours.”

“You drugged me?” His half snarl, half hiss made her wince inwardly. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Look, it wasn’t ideal, but you were being difficult and I couldn’t just—”

“You drugged me?” he repeated, his fury wafting through the car with the severity of a heatwave. The ferocity washed over her, making her skin clammy and itchy.

“It wasn’t a lot,” she attempted to justify but knowing he had every right to be furious. “I was very careful.”

If it was supposed to appease him, her confession only seemed to increase his rage. “You’re un-fucking-believable.”

Lena pulled in a slow, calming breath. “You brought it on yourself. I tried to leave you in the clearing where you would have been awake, but you chose to be unreasonable—”

“You’re kidnapping me! On what planet did you think I was going to start being reasonable?”

She shot him a quick glower through the mirror. “That right there is the reason I had to do what I did.”

“See, if our positions were reversed, you would be screaming that I took advantage of you.”

Lena frowned. “I didn’t rape you. I just tied you up and drugged you a little. It’s nowhere near the same.”

“Do you hear yourself?”

Opting to go for diplomacy, she squared her shoulders and replied, “Let’s just agree that it wasn’t the best decision, but it was one made with careful deliberation and assessment of the situation.”

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