Stephanie woke with a gun in her hand. Several other noises had pulled her from a thin sleep, but the footsteps down the hallway had her fully aware and gripping her automatic. The metal was cold, the chill extending all the way into her bones. This was the world she was in now. Any second she might have to make the choice to pull the trigger.
The footsteps took a turn into the bathroom and she soon heard water running. Her watch told her it was after eight o’clock. Not nearly enough sleep, but her own discomfort couldn’t matter until after this job was over.
She set her gun down and quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes before repacking her bag, including her pistol, and arranging herself for the day. The chair she’d wedged under the door handle remained in place; no one had tried to get in. She removed the chair and stepped into the empty hallway.
A second later, Arash opened the bathroom door. Water glistened in his dark hair, which had been released from its short ponytail to brush about his shoulders. He wore a tank top, revealing well-muscled arms and dusky skin. The flush of heat over her chest at seeing him this exposed proved that her body was still operational with little sleep. But she kept her face neutral and said only, “Morning.”
He ran his hands through his hair, showing off the muscles of his shoulders. When she could see his face again, he was wearing a small, pained grin. “Why you gotta hurt me like that?” His voice was low and gravelly. Straight out of the bedroom.
She cleared her throat to erase the image of his piercing eyes glowing in the early dawn, his body surrounded by a tousled bed. “The truth hurts.”
With a groaning laugh, he stepped out of the bathroom doorway and ambled toward his room. “What’re the chances there’s coffee around here?”
Ellie descended the stairs at the end of the hall with an answer. “Take the car in the garage.” She tossed him a set of keys. “Keep your kit with you. Be ready to jump.” She breezed past Arash and Stephanie without another word and disappeared out the front door of the house. An engine revved outside, then drove off. The house was quiet.
Stephanie was alone with Arash. “Two minutes,” she told him, then closed the bathroom door. She emerged within her time frame to find him in the kitchen, fully dressed in his clothes from yesterday, nudging boxes of breakfast cereal on the counter. He still wore his hair down, making him seem more accessible and less like the man she saw running from a crime scene the night before.
“I’m driving.” He dangled the car keys.
They went into the garage to find the Mercedes already gone. Her sense of loss was quickly swept away with the idea that the car had died a hero, getting her into Olesk’s gang. Arash didn’t seem to have any lingering feelings about it and climbed into the low sport-tuned import that remained in the garage. She tossed her bag into the back seat and climbed in next to him.
His hands hovered over the steering wheel and shifter for a moment. She understood this moment of assessing a vehicle before entering into a relationship with it. The car was modified and bare-bones. Racing seats and analog gauges. It didn’t even have floor mats. But when Arash turned the engine over, she could feel the power in the quick growl. She hit the garage door opener on the visor, letting daylight in. Arash put the car in Reverse and eased out.
“How is it?” She closed the garage once they were clear.
“It’s good.” He didn’t sound convinced. “But I could make it better.” Throwing it in First, he sped them away from the house. “Find us some breakfast, and a mall. I need clothes.” From the way he was squinting, he needed sunglasses, too.
She put on her own sunglasses and pulled out her phone to search for their next stop. Again, the urge to contact the others at Frontier Justice made her pause before switching to the navigation. But she was still far from being in a safe space. She knew the whole internal debate didn’t last long enough for Arash to see her hesitation. He drove without comment as she directed them toward a mall.
Lack of sleep put a frothy edge around the bright, cool day. Things grew more ordinary when they parked and walked to the chain coffee shop on the perimeter of the mall. The morning crowd was still in full effect, restraining Stephanie and Arash’s conversation to the bare minimum. They certainly couldn’t compare notes about their first night in the midst of a criminal gang.
She ate and felt more human with each sip of her latte. Arash leaned his elbows on the table, both hands around his cup of coffee. He glanced surreptitiously at the others around them before asking, “What do you normally drive?”
The unexpected question made her shiver, as if an intimate barrier had been crossed. “’74 Datsun 260Z.” No way would she have pretended to steal that one for Olesk.
He sat back and assessed her with surprise. And there was a hint of sadness in his eyes that blinked away before she could fully explore it. He mouthed a couple of words, then finally said, “You’re hot.”
“Changed the timing and compression ratio for more horses.” She adjusted the hang of her bob along her cheek. “Got the suspension low and tight, just how I like it.”
He moaned sensuously, drawing a couple of looks. After licking his lips, he ventured, “Color?”
“Brick red. Matte.”
“Hell, yes.” He thumped the side of his fist on the tabletop. A growing sexual energy in him caught her up. Breath ran hot in her and an effervescent tingle spiked her fingers and toes. And in a moment it was gone. Arash’s face frosted over and he focused back on his cup of coffee. “I’d like to see it sometime.”
She leaned forward and whispered, “Just don’t steal it.” Part of her missed the brief carnal connection they’d shared, but she knew it was for the best to keep this kind of contact shut down.
“No promises.” He stood and nodded toward the door. She moved with him and they were soon back in the bright, cold sun. They’d only walked a couple dozen yards from the coffee shop when a car started up nearby and Arash froze.
His sudden reaction sent her into high alert. Electric charges shot through her legs, ready to move. She’d left her pistol in her bag in the car, knowing they were in too populated an area to carry it, but she did have a switchblade in her pocket. “What is it?” she hissed, looking about for the threat.
“Can you hear it? Car trouble.” He motioned her toward the idling, twenty-year-old sedan in a nearby parking spot and approached the driver with a greeting wave. A Latina woman dressed for an office job sat in the front seat, eyeing him cautiously. He pulled up at a nonthreatening distance and pointed at the front of the car. “I’m not trying to sell you anything. I just heard a little problem.”
The driver rolled her window down, her gaze switching between Arash and Stephanie. “I’m on my way to work and I don’t have time...”
Arash kept his hands open and nodded. “I want to get you to work. No BS. If you could just rev the engine for a second.”
The woman kept her hand on the shifter, ready to throw it into Drive and run, but did give the engine some gas while idling. Arash cocked his head, then nodded again. He maintained his distance and turned to Stephanie. “Do you hear it?”
She listened to the revving motor and found nothing