Undercover Justice. Nico Rosso

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       Chapter Four

      Stephanie spun one of the new rings around her finger. She slowed her breath and tried to keep the building tension from breaking her apart. Arash pumped gas into the compact racer while she sat in the passenger seat. Her cell phone rested on her thigh, ready for the next move. She couldn’t read Arash’s eyes behind the dark sunglasses she’d bought for him, but she could see his jaw was clenched. Both of them knew something was coming.

      Whatever she was about to rush into, she had a sliver of confidence now that Frontier Justice had been updated on her situation. It had been a mad rush to get through the department store, then up to the cell phone place before Arash had made his way through his shopping. Luckily the young white woman set up the contract-free phone quickly, allowing Stephanie the time to call in her “stolen” car to her insurance company for the sake of verisimilitude in case Olesk was looking hard in that direction.

      Texting Ty and the others from Frontier Justice her flood of information while standing in a service hallway of the mall had tested all her composure. She was sure some words were jumbled or autocorrected improperly, but she had to get everything out before sending one last message: This phone is burned. She’d pulled the battery and SIM card out, scraped the SIM card against the wall until it was unusable, then threw it all out in a trash can behind Arash before he’d spotted her.

      But the man was sharp. As soon as he’d turned to her with suspicion in his eyes, she’d known he’d seen her at the phone store. She’d had all the excuses lined up, but still he’d remained cagey. Neither of them was on solid footing.

      Especially once she’d given him the gifts. What had started as an honest want to repay him for helping the woman in the parking lot, and Stephanie’s selfish need to have her driver not wrapping their car around a power pole because the sun was in his eyes, turned too damn intimate too quickly. His appreciation for the gesture gave her way more of a thrill than she’d expected.

      It had felt like they’d been speeding without brakes toward each other. Sometimes she longed for a reckless crash. This one, though, could have deadly consequences. Olesk’s text had come at just the right time.

      Arash finished fueling the car and leaned into the open driver’s-side window. “Any word?”

      She checked her phone, even though she’d looked at it two seconds ago. “Nothing.”

      “Food allergies?”

      “No, but I hate coconut.”

      “What a shame.” He sauntered to the gas station convenience store, shaking his head the whole way.

      Two seconds later her phone buzzed. Olesk texted them an intersection and a time frame. She was about to slide over into the driver’s seat when Arash returned, faster than he’d left. He tossed two bottles of water and a handful of candy bars into the back seat and rushed behind the wheel. The car was already out of the gas station and onto the street by the time he asked, “Where to?”

      She read him the directions from the map, then checked the time. “Seven minutes.”

      “I saw you going for the driver’s seat, but I couldn’t let you have all the fun.” His grin was wilder than his driving through the flow of traffic. She knew it wouldn’t take much for him to turn it loose. He pulled his phone from his jacket and handed it over to her. “Can you throw this on the charger?”

      She hooked him up, then directed him through the next intersection. Their destination was close and they were running early for a change. Pride at a job well done was quickly tempered by the knowledge that she was aiding criminals. The same went for the rush she felt from the coordination between her and Arash. It didn’t matter who was driving and who was shotgun; they handled their jobs and kept each other moving. Her brief elation dived quickly into a sense of loss for what could’ve been in a very different world.

      As soon as he hit a straightaway, Arash pulled a hair band from his pocket and swept his hair back into that small ponytail, fully revealing his sharp features. “Good call on the sunglasses.” He looked over to her for a second before turning his attention back to the road.

      “They look fly.” She’d considered a couple frames before settling on these and was rewarded by him looking sexy and severe.

      “You have good taste.” He shook his wrist to flash the watch. A perfect fit.

      “Except when it comes to men.” If she really had good taste, she wouldn’t be feeling small electric thrills raining up through her as she looked over this car-thief criminal with his rough hands all over the steering wheel and shifter.

      Instead of shutting him down like she’d hoped, it evoked a quick laugh and an even wilder smile. When he stood harder on the gas, making the engine moan, the bastard knew she couldn’t look away.

      She reminded herself of everything at stake, cooled herself and flattened her voice. “After the next right is our intersection. We’re one minute early. Circle until I hear the next move.”

      “Understood.” СКАЧАТЬ