I glance at the thirty-something man with red hair and I’ve already dismissed him. “Never seen him in my life.” I turn to Adam, who’s removed the masked of the two other hostiles. I glance at the unfamiliar faces, dismiss them as well, and then eye Adam. “Did you get the data drive?”
He gives a negative shake of his head.
I’m already turning away, while Asher pats down the dead guy looking for ID we all know he won’t find, but he has to try. In a few quick beats, I’m kneeling next to the birdhouse post where our prize should be. Adam is right there with me.
“Did you know them, Savage?”
“Nope,” I say, and jackpot. I have the baggie with the drive. I’m also not oblivious to the fact that I drank my way through many a mission Tag gave me, and then buried secrets about the missions I did for Tag just to protect myself. And many of those missions were done with Max by my side. He says he buried this secret before he ever knew me and yet he somehow did exactly what I used to do, before he knew I did it?
It doesn’t add up.
Uneasy as fuck now, I stand, ready to get the fuck out of here.
Adam follows me to my feet. “I saw two come at you. Why did they seem like they knew you?”
Good question, I think, but what I say is, “I am pretty remarkable. You know it. I know it.”
“Savage—”
“They thought I was surrounded and holding the prize.” I indicate the bag. “And now I am.”
“It was more than that,” he states. “You know. I know it.”
I hate when he uses my words as his words. Damn copycat. I turn and start walking, unwilling to get into Adam’s paranoid head.
He falls into step with me, but thank fuck, Mr. Chatty Cathy leaves his loose lips behind. Sometimes he rambles on in such a high and mighty way, I want to knock him out and dress him up in a tutu and crown. Then we’ll see who’s high and mighty.
Our next stop is the rental car, where we load up inside, the two of us, and sit there, saying nothing for a full minute until Asher slides into the backseat. I don’t ask where he’s been. He fingerprinted the dead guys, and I couldn’t give two flips who died here today. I’m delivering the data drive, some cash to Max. and then I’m done with all this bullshit.
And yet—“Damn it,” I curse because I know what I have to do. I hand the baggie to Asher. “Can you copy it?” I ask.
“Of course, I can copy it,” he says, already opening the baggie. And he doesn’t ask why I want what I want.
We all know why. It’s insurance. In case when this is over, it isn’t really over.
“You want to know what’s on it?” Asher asks.
“No, I don’t fucking want to know what’s on it. And neither do you. Insurance is just that. Insurance. What we don’t know can’t hurt us.”
I turn away from him and settle into my seat, as Adam says, “Unless it can.”
I scowl at him and say, “Drive,” in the snarliest voice I can muster.
He doesn’t seem to notice.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Savage
Seems we killed the bad guys, as in all of them.
No one follows us out of town.
“What the fuck was that, Savage?” Adam demands as we pull out of the town and hit the highway.
“Me saving your Navy SEAL Team Six ass. I thought you were supposed to be smart to be Team Six? Damn near royalty? They were shooting at us and you ran right by me.”
“Because you’re getting married in a few days, and I’m not taking your dead body to your future wife.”
“And it’s better if I take yours to her?”
“Yes, you hardheaded bastard. Yes, it is. And I’m not dead.”
“Because I saved your ass.”
Asher clears his throat. “Okay, ladies. Are you sure you two aren’t getting married?”
“Don’t go renegade again,” Adam snaps.
“Yes, mother,” I say. “And would you like me to bring in the garbage, too?”
“Speaking of garbage,” Asher interjects, clearly trying to find some level of calm between us. “As expected, no IDs on any of these guys, but I did run the prints. We’ll have them as insurance right along with the data drive. As for what’s on the drive—”
“You looked,” I say. “Damn it, Asher—”
“It’s the coordinates to five locations,” he says. “I have no idea what they are and all appear to be in the middle of nowhere. Two are outside the United States.”
My lips press together. “Which locations?”
“Texas, Arizona, Florida, Mexico, and Iraq,” he says.
I draw in a breath and settle forward in my seat, staring at the dark road, unhappy as fuck.
“What just happened, Savage?” Adam demands, “And don’t tell me nothing.”
“Any idea that this problem originates from before my time is bullshit,” I say. “I did jobs for Tag in every one of those places. I kept proof of every job. I buried that proof. Not where Max thinks I buried it but I buried it.”
“Alrighty then,” Asher says. “This is one of those times I’m damn glad we scrambled the GPS on our phones. You know Max had your number labeled. If someone has his phone, someone will figure out you’re involved.”
“Max isn’t that stupid,” I assure him. “He wouldn’t label my number with my name.”
“You hope,” Adam says, and then adds, “You also drank your way through half your years with Tag and Max. We already know you forgot half the shit that happened. Did Max keep track of where you buried your insurance? Is he using that against someone, bribing them?”
“Fuck if I know,” I say. “I’m not that fucktard’s keeper. I also wasn’t as drunk as he thought. I buried insurance. Just not where he thought. And I’ve never seen Gatlinburg, so that data drive wasn’t buried by me.”
“Are you sure about that?” Adam challenges. “You forgot things from back then, Savage.”
I scowl. “I didn’t blackout. Things just got a little hazy here and there, but never when I actually worked a job. Does he think he’s using my insurance to blackmail someone? Based on that map Asher is looking at, that feels a little too right to be wrong. But for all I know he buried his own insurance.”
“Even if he only thinks he has your insurance,” Asher counters, “you’re attached to this. You’re in this.”
“I’m not fucking in this,” I snap. “Not after I deliver that data drive and then beat Max’s ass.”
“And if he hands over coordinates to nothing to someone?” Asher challenges. “Then what?”
“Then fuck him and his dumb ass. We deliver the data drive. We go to Colorado. I keep my word and pay back the man who saved my life, not once but thrice. Then we go home.”