Page 14 of Silent Target

Caleb swings onto the street and accelerates into traffic.

I twist around in my seat.

The garage disappears behind us.

No dark SUV follows.

Not yet.

I face forward and notice blood on Caleb’s hand.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Glass.”

“You should let me look at it.”

“Later.”

“That’s what men say when they don’t want anyone to discover they’re hurt.”

He glances at me.

“You say that from experience?”

“Extensive experience.”

Something changes in his eyes.

Not amusement exactly.

Awareness.

The same awareness tightening beneath my ribs.

This man came into a kill zone for me.

A woman he had never met.

“You came,” I say.

His attention returns to the road. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you asked for help.”

No one has ever given me an answer that simple.

Or one that affected me this deeply.

I look out the window before he sees it.

Washington vanishes behind a curtain of rain.

Caleb takes three turns in rapid succession, enters an underground tunnel, and changes lanes twice before exiting on the opposite side.

Only then does he speak again.