Page 58 of Out of the Shadows

She scoffed. “Not only did you pack us a lunch, but you remembered what I like on my sandwich.”

“Whatever. I figured if I was dragging you out to hike during your lunch hour, I’d better feed you too.” Her stomach let out a loud growl, and he narrowed his eyes. “Bean, when was the last time you ate?”

She waved her sandwich at him and took a giant bite before hustling down the trail. “Thanks for this,” she called out with her mouth full. “It’s delicious!”

She yelped when he hauled her backward. Her back crashed against his front, and he nuzzled the side of her neck. “Bean?”

After finishing her bite, she swallowed and muttered, “Who knew you were such a man-handling caveman?” She relaxed into him and glanced up at him in mock indignation.

“You.”

The intensity of his gaze had her heart pounding, had her wanting to squeeze her thighs together to relieve the building heat. Instead, she leaned into him, pushing her hips back. She grinned when she felt him instantly hardening against her. “Not gonna lie, boss. Can’t say I mind.” She stepped away and shot him a wink as she continued down the trail and took another bite of her sandwich.

“Damn, woman,” he groaned as he caught up to her. “Who knew you were such a tease? In fact?—”

Gavin’s cell phone rang, its sharp ringtone so at odds with the nature around them. “Hang on,” he muttered, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Frazier.”

His expression went from playful to serious in the span ofa few seconds. He met her gaze as he nodded at whatever the person on the other end was saying. “Bean’s with me and I’ll tell her once we hang up.”

Worry had her stomach turning. After giving a couple of curt, one-word replies, he disconnected the call.

“We have to get back.” Gesturing with his head for her to follow him, he continued down the trail and quickly unwrapped his sandwich. “You okay walking and eating? It’s mostly downhill, nothing strenuous like the beginning.”

Shaking her head, she rewrapped her sandwich. “It’s probably safer if I just eat in the car.”

“Sorry we have to cut this short,” he said and took a bite of his food. He slowed to put her lunch back into his pack.

“No problem,” she said, waving him off. “What’s going on?”

“That was Xander. Everyone’s okay, but someone just shot up the McClintocks’ house.”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “But they’re billionaires. Isn’t their house secluded and secure? How could someone get that close?”

Gavin nodded as he polished off his sandwich. “That’s the problem,” he said when he finished chewing. “Whoever it was dodged all the security cameras.”

Her stomach sank. “Every single one?”

“Yeah.” He sighed as he retook her hand. “Either someone knew where all the cameras were placed or someone hacked into the feed.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Gavin looked around the large conference room. He was seated at the head of the long, rectangular table with Xander and Wilson to his left. On the Smartboard at the opposite end of the room was Carmichael. Looking out the door, Gavin could see all four members of the cyber team scouring through various video feeds. He knew Bean was in her office digging to see if anyone had hacked into the security feed. Everyone was working to find answers.

Glancing at his colleagues, he was thankful for the distraction. Not that he was happy someone had shot up the McClintocks’ house, but happy he had something to focus on aside from his earlier verbal diarrhea with Bean. As a rule, he didn’t talk about his dad. Ever. And yet there he’d been, telling her things he’d never told another soul.

When she’d asked about his family, he’d been fully prepared to give her a generic raised-by-a-single-dad story and leave it at that. Instead, her honesty about her own past and family had unleashed something in him that had him spilling his guts.

A phone ringing pulled his attention back to the Smartboard.

“Sorry about that,” Carmichael said, silencing his phone. “As I was saying, Riviera and Bonson were at the hospital with Anson, and I was on my way back to the house with Rita. We were through their security gate and about to pull up under their front awning when shots were fired into the west side of the house. Polanski’s security team responded, and I got Rita out of there.”

“Is she okay?” Gavin asked, refocusing on the task at hand.

Carmichael nodded. “When it was clear, I brought her into the house, and she and Edward went to their secure room.”

“And Polanski’s team?”

Carmichael’s lips pressed into a thin line. “They weren’t able to locate anyone or find anything.”