Page 57 of Witness Security Breach

They strode through the throng of people, looking for Avido’s Restaurant, where they hoped to find Big Bill Walsh and survive the encounter.

Charlie hated fumbling her way through something on a wing and a prayer and unarmed.

At any rate, she wasn’t stuck in this alone. She had Aiden. There wasn’t a better person to have at her side if she was in trouble.

Even if he was still so angry at her that he hadn’t looked at her since they’d left the hotel.

Not only had she deeply hurt him, but she’d also disappointed him.

If she could take back ever sleeping with Nick last year, she would. It had meant nothing to her, whereas Aiden meant everything. Not that it would change anything now.

A chasm had opened between them last night when he’d poured out his heart to her and she hadn’t been fully forthcoming in return. All this time, she’d had him locked tight in the friend zone, never daring to jeopardize their precious bond by sleeping with him, and it had only pushed him away to the point he wanted to leave her. Take the job here in Louisiana, of all places, at Camp Beauregard.

It was like some twisted self-fulfilling prophecy.

There were some things that couldn’t be fixed. Charlie feared that she and Aiden were one of them. If she lost him, it would do more than break her heart. It would devastate her. The thought came with a knife-sharp pang, but she didn’t break her stride.

She saw the sign for Avido’s two doors down on the other side of the street. “There it is.”

“I’d have to be blind to miss it,” he said.

They couldn’t walk into Big Bill’s place like this—distracted and snapping at each other, their friendship fractured.

They needed to be the dynamic duo again if they were going to prevail with the deck stacked against them.

“Hey,” she said, cupping his bare arm, stopping him from crossing the street. “We need to go in there as a united front.”

He jerked away from her grasp. “We both want to clear our names and walk out alive. That’s about as united as we’re going to get. Look, I’m sorry I crossed the line and kissed you. Touched you like that. It was a mistake.”

Her heart sank and her jaw dropped.

“Let’s forget it ever happened,” he continued, “and move on. Stay focused on the mission. Okay, Killinger?”

Inwardly she cringed so hard it hurt every time he called her by her last name. “Stop it. Stop calling me that.” It was driving her insane.

“Why? It’s your name.”

“Aiden, I—”

The door to Avido’s opened, drawing both their gazes.

Charlie’s heart nearly stopped. Frank Devlin walked out along with another man, tall, thickset, with a shaved head. Both had the telltale bulges of holstered weapons under their arm.

The timing couldn’t have been worse.

“He’s supposed to be on a plane later tonight. Not here. Now,” she said.

Aiden took her by the elbow and turned away, shoving through a group of singing drunk guys.

“Watch it, buddy,” one of them said.

A surge of adrenaline made her body buzz. Charlie craned around for a quick glance back.

Devlin spotted them. He tapped the burly guy beside him, pointed at them and then launched across the street.

Charlie took off without saying a word to Aiden. There was no need. She knew he followed right on her heels.

No matter how disconnected they were personally, they had always been in sync professionally.