Sealed with Trust, page 21
“Are you okay?” he asked. He holstered his weapon and opened the passenger door for her to get inside.
“I’m fine.” Her curt tone didn’t invite comment.
When she was settled, he closed the door and took Zulu around to the back hatch. The moment he opened it, Zulu jumped inside, knowing what was expected of her. Slamming the hatch shut, he quickly went to the driver’s side to get behind the wheel. “Ready? I want us to get far away from that guy lurking near your apartment building. We need to get out of the city.”
“I agree, but after we pick up Callie.” She struggled to get the seat belt around her belly. “I’m not leaving her, Nico, so don’t bother arguing with me.”
He ground his back molars together as he pulled away from the curb. Every instinct made him want to drive far away without looking back. “Okay, where is she?”
“She’s a waitress at the Lizard Lounge. It’s only a few blocks from here.”
He remembered passing the place on his way to the apartment building. “Do you work there too?”
“Yes.” She didn’t elaborate, but it explained why her feet were sore. He hated thinking about her standing and serving people all day but told himself to let it go. Now that he’d found her, he planned to keep her safe. And off her feet at least until she had the baby.
Once they were settled, he’d call the rest of his team to let them know he’d found Ava. All six members of the SEAL team had been concerned about her disappearance. His five teammates had tried to help him in various ways despite suffering their own injuries sustained in their last op. Some of them, like Hudd, had been injured worse than others.
And weirdly, they’d all fallen in love over the past seven months. Once he’d imagined himself in love with Ava, but that had been years ago when she’d been too young for the likes of him.
Now she was pregnant and in danger. A romantic relationship was out of the question. Which was fine. That wasn’t why he’d come for her. He’d known Jaydon, his swim buddy all through BUD/S training, would expect him to find his sister and keep her safe.
After long months, he finally had found her. He sent up a silent prayer, asking for God’s grace and strength to enable him to keep Ava and her unborn child safe from harm.
Ava twisted her fingers in her lap, doing her best to ignore Nico’s overwhelming presence beside her.
Shocking to learn he’d been looking for her all this time. She was grateful for his reassuring presence but couldn’t help feeling on edge.
Simon was out there, looking for her with the intent to silence her once and for all. Callie, too, which is why she needed to get to the woman she viewed as a sister.
Because they both knew too much.
She and Callie had been moving from city to city, managing to stay one step ahead of Simon and his goons. She knew Nico would badger her about going to the police, but he didn’t understand what she’d done. Only out of necessity, but that wasn’t how it would look. No, she couldn’t risk having her baby in jail, so she’d done everything possible to stay off Simon’s radar. Her goal, and Callie’s too, was to stay hidden until she had the baby.
After that, their plan was to head to Mexico, disappearing forever.
Now that Nico Ramirez had found her, she knew her plan was in jeopardy. Nico would keep looking for her, no matter what. And staying to fight wasn’t an option. What could one man do against Simon’s empire?
Not much. And she had to swallow a ball of fear that Nico would only get hurt too.
The way Brent Green had when he’d tried to help four months ago.
Her stomach clenched at the thought of having more blood on her hands. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if Nico died in a vain effort to save her too.
So much death and destruction, and for what? Money. It all came down to cold, hard cash.
“Wait! Where are you going?” she asked sharply. Nico had turned on the next street, heading several blocks away from the Lizard Lounge. She twisted in her seat, no easy feat, to check out the back window. “Is someone following us?”
“No, you’re safe.” He glanced at her, his dark brown eyes shimmering with concern. “You need to trust me, Ava. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She wanted to trust him, but after so many months being on the run and in hiding, she couldn’t seem to drop her guard. Especially since Nico really had no idea who he was up against. Sure, he was a Navy SEAL the way her brother once was, before Jaydon had been killed by an underwater bomb explosion. But he was still only one man up against a ruthless killer. Her fingers knotted as he went several blocks out of the way before finally turning around at the next block to head back toward the Lizard Lounge.
He pulled into the parking lot, then backed into a spot near the exit. Keeping the car running, he turned toward her. “What does Callie look like? I’ll go inside to get her.”
She rolled her eyes. “Callie isn’t going to go anywhere with you, a complete stranger. She’ll assume you were sent by Simon too. I’ll get her.”
“No way am I letting you head inside alone.” His curt tone irritated her. Partially because she was tired and crabby after being on her feet for eight hours. Her job was to bartend, while Callie worked as a waitress. It wasn’t a bad job, and she did well with tips. At least, she had before she’d become so noticeably pregnant.
“One look at you, and she’ll run.” Ava reached over to lightly touch his arm. His skin was so hot it was a wonder her fingertips didn’t blister from the heat. “I’ll need to reassure her that you’re not with Simon. Just give me a few minutes to talk to her, okay?”
“Fine. We’ll go in together,” he said with obvious reluctance.
She stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. “Fine. But you need to let me take the lead. I don’t need you scaring Callie to death. We’ve only been here in San Bernardino for the past four weeks. We just moved into that apartment.” And deep down, she was mad that she had to leave, all because of a moment of weakness.
Why had she contacted Jill? She knew better than to do something so stupid. But her hormones were running amuck, and she’d had a breakdown after a particularly brutal day at work.
She’d never realized how being isolated from everyone you knew could wear a person down.
Enough. She’d told herself there was no point in wallowing in self-pity. This mess was her fault for falling for Simon in the first place. Not that she ever could have anticipated being on the run for her life when she’d started seeing him.
That she’d be forced to kill another human being in order to escape.
A wave of nausea hit hard. She ruthlessly shoved the memory aside. Time to move forward. They couldn’t stick around San Bernardino for long. She slid out of the passenger seat with all the grace of a baby buffalo, wincing as she stood on her sore and swollen feet. She managed to shut the door behind her and moved toward the front of the restaurant. Nico quickly joined her, slipping his hand beneath her elbow.
“What about Zulu?”
“I left the windows down for her. And I can remotely start the Jeep with the air-conditioning on full blast, if this takes longer than it should.”
She nodded, impressed with how much he cared for his dog. After her initial fear of the Doberman had faded, she’d realized Nico and Zulu were quite a dynamic pair. And the way Zulu had licked her hand when Nico introduced her had been sweet.
Casting a quick glance around the parking lot, she hurried up to the door. Nico kept pace behind her, reaching around to open the door when she arrived.
A weak blast of air-conditioning hit when she crossed the threshold. She stood there for a moment, searching for Callie. The girl had dark hair that had been resistant to hair dye, making it harder for her to escape Simon’s notice. Callie had cut it short, but even that didn’t alter her appearance much.
“How come you weren’t wearing one of those uniforms?” Nico asked in a low voice.
“I was, but I changed.” The uniform he mentioned was a white, off-the-shoulder peasant blouse with a brightly colored skirt. Even the female bartenders were forced to wear them, which seemed silly to her. But it was a job, and Pedro, the boss, hadn’t asked many questions other than how soon she and Callie could start working.
Their answer? Immediately.
“Where is she?” Nico asked, his tone laced with impatience. “We need to get out of here.”
“I don’t see her.” Which was strange as the tables were more than half full. Normally, Callie would be hustling back and forth, chatting with her customers. Her friend was a great waitress. Better than she was a bartender, that was for sure.
Ava wove through the tables, taking care not to bump into anyone as she went. When she reached the corner of the bar, she waited to catch Ramon’s eye. “Where’s Callie?”
“No idea.” Ramon was barely twenty-one and treated her like she was eighty rather than thirty-two. “I think Pedro is looking for her too.”
A chill snaked down her spine. Why would Pedro be looking for her? Callie’s shift didn’t end for another hour yet.
“Come on, we need to hurry,” Nico said.
“I’m trying,” she snapped. Then she took a deep breath. He was probably worried about Zulu being in the car. Thankfully, the sun was down, but still, the heat could still be oppressive. She headed around the bar toward the back room where Pedro, the owner and manager, had a tiny office, when he came rushing toward her.
“Renee! Where is Callie?” He was short, his dark hair liberally laced with gray. “Did she go home with you?”
The chill coalesced to ice. “No. She’s not with me. How long as she been gone?” She glanced back at Nico. He’d taken an alternate route, so they wouldn’t have passed Callie along the way.
“Ten or fifteen minutes,” Pedro said. “She took her break but didn’t come back. I thought maybe she went to see you.” Pedro flushed, glancing at her stomach. “I tell myself the baby might have come early.”
“I’m fine, and I haven’t seen her.” She pushed past Pedro to check the small break area for herself.
The small round table tucked into the corner of the supply room was empty.
She swallowed hard and turned to face Nico. “Callie wouldn’t take off like this, not without a good reason. She’s a good worker.”
“You think Simon’s men found her?” Nico asked, his expression grave.
She closed her eyes, leaned against him, and nodded. And the worst part was that if Simon had Callie, he wouldn’t hesitate to use her as bait to get to her.
And their unborn child.
Laura Scott, Sealed with Trust
