With any luck they could slip into town, get a car, and get out without anyone being any the wiser. But as they walked down the too-empty street he saw a reflection in a window, and he realized . . . “Don’t freak out, but I think we have a tail. Take the next right and I’ll engage. You—”
“Oh, shut up, Mr. Michaelson.” She slipped her hand into his and laughed a little too loudly.
“What are you . . .” He was turning to her. He was staring at her. But somehow he didn’t see the kiss coming—not when she put her hand on the back of his neck and went up on her toes. Not when her lips brushed against his—subtle pressure and teasing touches that made Sawyer want to melt.
He’d always been good at situational awareness, but right then he couldn’t plan their best escape route because there was no place else he wanted to be. He just knew that Zoe was pressed against him and her fingers were in his hair and it was way too much and not enough. Steadier. Hotter until . . .
Zoe inched back as the two police officers walked right past them without even a glance in their direction.
“See?” Her breath was warm against his lips. “I’m an excellent spy.”
“That’s not . . . uh . . . actual tradecraft.”
“Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad,” he said a little too quickly. And, in truth, he didn’t sound mad, but he didn’t sound normal, either. “I just wasn’t expecting that . . . uh . . . maneuver.”
“I know! I’m so good at undercovering!”
“That’s not a verb.”
“And coverting. I covert so well!”
“That’s . . .” But he trailed off as he looked at her and, suddenly, he knew that there was absolutely no one with whom he’d rather undercover. “Yeah. You do.”
It wasn’t until they’d been walking for three blocks that he realized he was still holding her hand.
It wasn’t until they’d been walking for four that he realized he had no intention of stopping.
*
They found the car right where the lady at the store had said it would be. All it had taken was three hundred euros and a sob story about being on the run from Zoe’s ex-husband, and now they were the proud owners of a fifteen-year-old SUV that may or may not start.
But it wouldn’t be reported stolen. And it was a way out of town. Because they needed a way out of town. Desperately. Sawyer hadn’t seen them yet, but, soon, those streets were going to be crawling with every acronym in the business—maybe Kozlov’s guys, too. They didn’t have a moment to lose.
“This must be it.” The SUV was big and boxy and covered bumper to bumper with at least six inches of snow. It would be slow and lumbering and the most unimpressive car on the road. In other words, it was perfect.
He leaned down and winced in pain and cursed the rocky hillside as Zoe asked, “What are you doing?”
He brushed the snow away from the driver’s-side wheel well. “Your new best friend, Emmy—”
“Emiline,” she corrected. “And don’t make fun! She was very concerned about us being able to outrun my tortured past. You know she knocked fifty euro off the price.”
“Because you told her you were pregnant!”
“What?” She looked so innocent, so proud. So beautiful. It was incredibly annoying. “I had to sell the inciting incident.”
“The what?”
“Why are we running now? What drove me to leave Edward—”
“Edward?”
“The terrible man my family made me marry on my nineteenth birthday even though he’s old enough to be my father . . .” Zoe explained like she couldn’t believe Sawyer had forgotten the very best part.
“Damn it!” The key wasn’t behind the front wheel, so he went to try the back.
“What are you . . .”
“She said the key was here. Maybe it fell . . .”
He was hunkered down on the ground, searching the snow, when he heard it. Or maybe he didn’t hear it at all. Maybe he felt it, like someone walking over his grave. But before he’d even turned around, he knew what he would see passing on the street: Range Rovers. He knew what he would hear: the hum of motorcycles and the low, guttural sound of Russian curse words on the wind. Because Kozlov’s guys were there.
How had those fuckers found them so quickly? He didn’t know. Didn’t care. Because, ultimately, it didn’t matter. They were there. And soon every agency in the world would follow.