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He found drive and rammed his foot to the floor. For one second the wheels spat stones, then the tires bit and the car leaped forward, and they careened out of the lot to the safety of the streets.
11
Jo pressed her body into the car seat as much as the aged leather would allow. She gripped the edges of the seat with bloodless knuckles, her neck aching from keeping her head low as Griff maneuvered the car in a skidding, one-handled acceleration away from their attackers.
Between them, she and Griff had done enough damage to thwart the men sent after them. Acid burned the back of her throat as she processed what that meant. The unmoving body of the first man at the bottom of the stairs. The sickening thunk of metal hitting bone as she took out his companion with the fire extinguisher. She squeezed her eyes shut. Griff had said he was still alive. She hadn’t killed him.
He’d wanted to kill me.
She heeled her hands against her eyes. They wouldn’t stop until she was dead. She understood now. There was no choice but to continue on this road, to expose Pharmasyn as Raptor under another name, to prove the continuing research.
A firm hand pressed against her sore neck as the car straightened out, the protest of rubber replaced by the satisfied hum of tires eating up the straight road.
Griff snatched a glance at her, his eyes creased with concern. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He ran his thumb up the back of her head, his fingers warm against her skin. Just his touch was calming, lowering her heart rate with ease. “You sure?”
Her mouth was parched from the adrenaline overdose but she managed a reply. “Yes.”
Outside, the yellow-lit sprawl of the city thinned and the shadowed haze of the countryside loomed on the horizon.
Griff released his grip on her, checked the rear-view mirror, a muscle pulsing in his jaw. “We’ve lost them for now.”
“I don’t…” She shook her head, still trying to process what had just happened. “I thought they would come, try to silence me. But to actually try to kill me…” A shiver feathered over her skin, making her teeth snap audibly. Jo hugged her arms tighter around her middle. The chill radiated from inside her bones, not outside.
“Here. Put this on.” With a grunt, he reached into the seat behind and handed her a heavy winter jacket.
The fleece lining was thick and soft. She gratefully pulled it on and then stopped. Griff wore a T-shirt. His impressive arms were bare. “You don’t have a shirt. You should have this.”
He covered her hand with his as she made to remove the jacket. “Keep it on. You’re trembling because you’re in shock.”
Bossy. His tone was firm and confirmed with a steely glance.
Jo zipped up the jacket, failing to ignore the comforting scent of his cologne lingering on the fabric. “They were trying to kill me.” Her voice was too small. Vulnerability crowded her. “What they’re hiding, it’s worth killing for.”
He rolled one hand around the steering wheel, his knuckles popping with the pressure. “Bastards.” He winced, settling his left hand in his lap.
“Hey, you’re hurt.”
He pressed his lips together. “I’m—” His phone ring was shrill. “Phone’s in my back pocket.”
“What?” Oh. He wanted her to remove the phone from his pocket. Jo retrieved it and attached it to the magnetic holder on the dash. Why was such a fine ass wasted on such a grumpy man?
Leo’s name flashed on the screen.
Griff’s voice was clipped. “Leo?”
“Sitrep?”
Jo threw a glance at Griff. She didn’t know Leo, but the tension threaded through his voice was unmistakable. What else had happened? Her stomach plummeted. This was escalating far faster than she’d anticipated.
“Contact at my place.” Griff kept his attention locked on the road. “Two unidentified. On the road now. Package intact.”
Package? Jo folded her arms and clutched her elbows with tight fingers.
Leo continued. “Lone hostile here after you left. It’s under control.”
