Page 27 of Reclaiming Chaos
“We make a copy of the book, and you can turn it over. Russell will drop his guard, and then the fun begins.”
“Fun?” I asked.
“As I said, I’m not the only one in the program he’s tried to use. I’m just the one who gets things right most of the time.” She glanced at her watch. “We must really get going.”
“Where to?” I asked.
“It’s better if you don’t know until the last minute.”
“I refuse to walk into any situation blind. Not when you can give me the details.”
“If I tell you, you’ll never believe me. Please, trust me.”
“Trust is a luxury I don’t have,” I said through gritted teeth ignoring every instinct in my body that told me I should trust her completely with my life.
“A couple other psychics and I have been gathering intel on Mr. Russell since the day his wife died. I wasn’t the only person who had a sense that something was wrong, that we were all in danger. If he could kill her, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill us, or worse—keep us as prisoners. None of us have family that would have missed us. No one who’d question where we went if we disappeared.”
“That’s a little farfetched, not to mention illegal, don’t you think?”
“It might seem so, but it’s exactly something he’d do, or rather, it’s something he’s going to do in the future unless we put a stop to it now.”
She rose and closed the distance between us. She rested her hand over my heart and smiled up at me. “Just for the record, we do eventually get to have that kiss.”
She’d turned to walk away when I spun her back into my arms. I pressed my lips to hers in a tender caress. Her eyes were still shut when I pulled back breathless and craving more.
“No time like the present to make that kiss a reality. I bet you didn’t see that coming.”
Her lips twisted into a smile. “Actually, I did, and it was everything I knew it would be.”
“Regardless of whether you saw it coming, I do have a modicum of self-control. So, let’s get back to business.” I chuckled and pulled out my gun, popping the clip to check it before putting it back in my waistband. I pulled my shirt over the top to conceal its position. “I believe you have something you want to show me.”
The blush on her cheeks deepened. “I do.”
I grabbed the keys off the counter then gestured toward the door. “After you.”
I locked up behind us. The street looked like something from a scary movie set, no people milling about, only a few cars parked in some driveways. No open windows, no kids playing outside even though it was the middle of summer. Nothing that even suggested people lived in these houses. Even knowing this was a safe house and the neighbors weren’t out and about, it still felt like somehow, somewhere, we were being watched.
The only sign of life was a woman jogging up the road holding on to her dog’s leash.
I opened Carlee’s door and waited for her to climb inside before hurrying around to the other side. Even hidden by the dark tint, I still felt exposed. Like sitting ducks. The tension in my shoulders tightened as I started the car and backed out.
“Point the way.”
“Head toward the FT building.” Her words were quiet as she reached for the air conditioner and played with the knobs.
I lolled my head in her direction. “You can’t seriously expect me to take you that close to Russell?”
“Of course, I’m serious, but first, let’s make a pit stop at an office store and copy the pages in the book.”
My eye twitched. “You should have told me to grab the book before we left. I left it with my things.”
She grinned and pulled the book out from beneath her shirt, like I’d been carrying my gun. “I knew you were going to say that, so I brought it for you.”
“You went through my things?” I gawked. I didn’t know why it was so hard to believe. Carlee had always been a step ahead of me, and I’d left my things unattended in the room while the others and I had cooked. She’d had ample opportunity and motive. It was something I’d do if the situation were reversed. I was impressed.
“Yes. It was the logical thing to do. Didn’t want to waste time going back to retrieve it.”
I shook my head and clutched the steering wheel tighter. “You could have told me to bring it. You and I are going to need to work on our communication skills.”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “Sorry. I’m used to doing everything on my own. It’s been like that for a long time.”
“Carlee, you’re going to have to trust me eventually.”
“It’s easier if I don’t.”
