Page 60 of Elite Metal: Warriors

“Like what?”

“Shoved in a bag. This is delicate equipment. It should have a case.”

He gaped at her. He might have looked a little put out. “I’m under cover.”

She shrugged. “Still.”

He muttered something under his breath and then, after a while, he said, “Well, thank you.”

“My pleasure.” And she meant it. She’d seen shit like that in movies, but never had a chance to do it. What a rush. It took a moment for her thrumming pulse to calm and when it did, she winced as she realized something was pricking her butt. “Hey, Mr. Ghost?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I move up front now?”

“Why?”

“The backseat is covered in glass.”

* * *

Oh crap. “Of course.” Benedict cringed at the reminder of how close they’d come to biting the big one. He loved that she’d been so calm and collected. Just picked up his HK and blew away the bad guys.

He’d never met a woman like her and he doubted he ever would again.

As she crawled over the seat and settled beside him, he glanced at her. “It was smart of you to shoot out the tires.”

She grinned. He tried not to notice how fucking gorgeous she was in the light of the dash. Her color was high. Her eyes sparkled. She loved this. Fucking loved it. “I never understood why they don’t do that more often in the movies. It seems so logical.”

“I think screenwriters prefer something bloodier.”

“Probably.” She chuckled, and he had to laugh too. It took a second for the shock to hit him. He hadn’t laughed in a long, long time. Not since…

Hell.

The memory soured his mood. But then it always did. It was supposed to.

She must have noticed the shift in his energy. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Not shot?”

“Not even a little.”

“Good.” She stared out the window as the lights flicked by. “Are we almost there?”

“Getting close.” Thank God. He wouldn’t relax until the plane took off. Maybe not until it landed in Forney. It concerned him that he’d missed that tail. He’d thought he’d been diligent in watching for it, but it hardly mattered now. No one was following. And they were almost to the airfield.

When they arrived, Benedict didn’t pull through the gate. He slowed and parked on the frontage road, scanning the site first. It was dark, deserted, but for the waiting plane. He was just about to start up the truck and head in when a pinprick of a glow caught his attention. It was there for a moment, and then gone. He reached behind him and rifled in his bag for his night scope and held it to his eye.

His gut clenched. A man, smoking a cigarette, leaned against the hangar. Even as he watched, another came around the corner and spoke to him. The first man checked his watch and shrugged.

“What is it?” Michelle whispered in his ear. Damn. She was close. Right up against him. His nerves tingled with awareness, and not awareness of the airfield, for sure.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Let me look.”