“It’s right in here,” Ally said, pointing to the right and up her parent’s driveway. She let out a long sigh as Carter pulled in and set the brake. She stared out the windshield, but didn’t reach for the door handle at her side.
“Are you ready?” Carter prompted her after another moment passed.
The truth was, she wasn’t. She wasn’t ready for any of this. Not taking this stranger into her parent’s house. Not handing over Harvey’s flash drive. Not being targeted by Fuller. None of it.
But it didn’t look like she could stop any of it.
She’d set this wheel in motion the second she’d taken Harvey’s phone call. There was no going back now.
Not that she hadn’t thought about it. She’d spent the entire half hour drive out to her parent’s suburban home running through every option she could think of. Ways she could ditch Carter Macmillan again. What in the world she would do once she got away from him. How she would defend herself from Fuller if he came after her again.
Not if…when.
Carter was right. She had a target on her back, and nothing short of bringing Fuller to justice was going to take it off.
She should be thanking her lucky stars that she had any ally at all. But Harvey’s warning kept ringing in her ears.
Don’t trust anyone.
No matter how hard his chest was, or how his gaze made her breath catch in her throat.
Then again, the man had already saved her life once. And Ally couldn’t shake the feeling that she would survive a whole lot longer with this guy by her side than alone.
In the end, that’s why she hadn’t tried to bolt from his car at the first red light. Trusting him might be a risk, but it was one she was willing to take.
Within reason, of course.
“Yeah,” Ally said with a nod. “I’m ready.”
She looked up and down the street as she walked around the back of the car. Already, she caught sight of a few of the curtains being pulled back an inch on front windows along the street. She hadn’t expected anything less.
There was no way that a flashy car like this was going to go unnoticed in her parent’s working class neighborhood. Ally didn’t doubt that the gossip would start flying fast and furious the moment she walked into the house with Carter.
Hell, Mrs. Carlson across the street was likely to try and call Ally’s mom on the cruise ship just to tell her what her younger daughter was up to.
Ally watched Carter out of the corner of her eye as he walked up the drive. His outward appearance was easy enough but she saw his gaze sweeping over everything, taking it all in, from the bank of flowers that lined the front yard to the painted wood plaque that read The Weavers hanging from the knocker on the door.
“See,” she said, fitting her key into the lock. “No need to handcuff me to your side.”
“Don’t sound disappointed,” he said with a wry smile.
She ignored the jibe, and held the door open for him.
“After you,” he said, motioning with his hand. Apparently he still wasn’t willing to turn his back on her.
Ally shrugged. She couldn’t blame him. She stepped inside and heard his step follow close behind.
“Your parent’s place?”
“Yep,” she answered, though it really wasn’t necessary. Every wall from the hallway to the living room was covered with family photos. About a quarter of them featured her at various ages from preschool to college graduation.
“Is this where you stayed last night?”
“It’s the only place I could think of.”
“Are they here?” he asked.
“No,” she said, stopping in the middle of the family room. “They’re on a cruise. Mexico, this time, I think.”
Carter was still in the hallway perusing the photos, slowly making his way toward her. “How about brothers and sisters?”
She twisted around, and pointed to the large, decade-old family portrait hanging behind her in the dining room. “Two sisters. One brother. Nobody left at home.”
His gaze drifted over to the picture, and he slowly nodded.
“Cute family,” he said.
Ally didn’t know about that, but there was certainly no doubting that they were a family. The distinctive Weaver auburn hair and blue eyes gave them away every time.
Carter kept moving, seemingly taking in everything in the house. Ally couldn’t guess why. Her family wasn’t that interesting.
Ally shifted on her feet as he stepped over to the mantle. She might not know why he was taking his sweet time, but she certainly didn’t want to spend the whole day moseying down memory lane. Not while Fuller was still out there looking for her, at any rate.
By the time Carter had sauntered to the end of the fireplace, Ally was starting to get more than a little nervous.
“I know my mom’s tastes run to the tacky side,” Ally said, turning around and gesturing toward the case by her side that was covered in ceramic figurines. “She loves tchotchkes. She picks a new one up on every trip. Sometimes I think they’re her most prized possessions.”
Carter turned toward her, an open smile on his face. He walked over to the shelves and picked one up. He slowly spun it in the light.
“They’re silly, I know,” she said.
“I think they’re charming,” he said, continuing to grin as he put the piece back.
His voice was low and easy. So easy, that Ally almost found her stiff shoulders relaxing a notch. She let her gaze linger over his profile for a moment.
Damn, the man was attractive.
Carter turned toward her, almost as if he could sense her stare, his warm caramel gaze melting away even more of her stress.
It seemed that with every passing second she was becoming more and more comfortable with Carter Macmillan and she wasn’t entirely sure that was such a good idea.
Ally shook her head, trying to clear it. It didn’t matter if Carter looked like heaven on a stick. She had more pressing concerns. Like keeping herself alive.
The sooner they found out what was on that drive, the sooner she could expose Fuller. Then he would go to jail, and she would write her piece. Everything would go back to normal.
“I need to grab the drive,” Ally said, when the silence in the room had stretched on for another few seconds.
“Go ahead.”
Ally pursed her lips before trying again. “Do you mind leaving the room?”
Carter didn’t face her. He just kept looking at her mother’s wall of silly figurines. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to know where I’ve hidden it.”
“Don’t worry about that.” He finally turned toward her, and Ally spotted an amused gleam twinkling in his eye. “I already know where you’ve stowed the flash drive.”
Ally arched a brow. “Oh, really?”
Her parent’s house was clutter central. Her mother had never passed by an antique store or a tourist trap in her life. There was no way he knew for certain where she’d hidden the thing. It would be like finding a needle in a hay—
“It’s in the vase at the end of the mantle,” he said.
Ally’s mouth dropped open.
“H-how could you possibly know that?”
“Easy. You flinched when I walked over to the fireplace,” he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “Then you tried to deflect my attention when I got to the vase.”
Damn. So much for keeping secrets.
Ally crossed her arms in front of her chest. The worst thing was she was more impressed by his trick than she was annoyed by it.
“What, did you used to be in a carnival act before getting into the security business?” she asked.
“Not exactly,” he said, his lips quirking up in a devilish smile. “Army Special Forces.”
“That actually explains a lot,” she said.
But at least his little stunt meant she didn’t have to wait anymore. Ally uncrossed her arms, strode over to the mantle and stuck her hand down the rustic potter
y vase. Her fingers wrapped around the metal flash drive.
She turned around to find Carter staring at her. His expression had changed. There wasn’t a trace of humor in him now. His body was stiff, on alert.
“Hit the ground, Ally.” He said the words so low that at first she wasn’t certain that she’d heard him right.
But then she glanced down and saw the bright red dot in the center of her chest.
A laser dot.
Ally didn’t have to think any more after that. Her knees knew what to do.
They gave way underneath her, and she crumpled to the floor. Just in time. There was a loud crack and the pottery vase broke above her.
Dear God. Someone had followed them to her parent’s house and was shooting at her.
This couldn’t be happening. There was no way she was going to die in front of her mother’s tchotchke shrine.
***