“It’s a little late after we’ve lost our phones. We don’t even have a gun.”
He rolled over to face her. “No, but my team will find us. They’re amazing. We just have to stay alive until they get to us.”
Hallene grabbed his arms. “What about the meeting? I know I sound like a broken record—”
He placed a finger on her lips. “You aren’t wrong. We might as well go and observe the meet. You up for hiking?”
“Wouldn’t your team find us more quickly here?”
“Possibly, but so would the group trying to kill us.” Sam pushed up to his feet and gave her a hand up.
She hugged him and his arms automatically wrapped her close. He whispered, “This will be okay, babe.”
“In case it isn’t, I want you to know how much everything you’ve done to get us here means to me.” She lifted her head and kissed him. “How much you mean to me. I have never met anyone like you. I don’t want you to die here. If you know where we can go to wait for your team, that’s what we’ll do.”
Proud of her for being open to making a change in plans, he kissed her forehead and lifted her chin. “We’re still on the mission to save Phoebe. We’ll be careful and get any intel we can so when my team shows up, we can catch up to her that much quicker.”
The faith she had in him filled her voice. “You lead the way. I will never forgive Kovac if anything happens to Phoebe. He’s not trying to save anyone but himself.”
“We’ll worry about him later. Let’s take one step at a time and try not to make any bad moves.”
She put her hand on his cheek. “You always have my back, but I have yours, too.”
He kissed her hand and hugged her, holding on a little extra because he had no idea how this would all play out. He did trust his team to find them if they survived, but he would not let anything happen to Hallene no matter what he had to do.
“You still got your super spy ring?” he asked.
She flipped her ring on and he laughed.
Chapter 36
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Hallene would nevercomplain about dress shoes again after walking through a forest barefoot. She’d flinched when stepping on a rock and tree debris. Tough guy next to her could probably walk a mile on gravel and be fine.
She had hoped they’d find Phoebe by now just to rescue the terrified teen as quickly as possible. But now that she knew Phoebe was in the hands of a terrorist using her as insurance to make Kovac perform, Hallene shuddered at how little time Phoebe had left.
