Into the Lair - Falcon Mercenary Group #2 - Maya Banks Page 0,1
hadn’t. Two men were closing in on her.
Her chest on fire, she pushed herself harder, faster. Her tennis shoes pounded the pavement. The park loomed ahead of her, a study in lush green grass and playground equipment. The men chasing her wouldn’t want to take her down with a dozen children and their mothers looking on.
She turned onto the jogging trail and poured on the speed. To anyone else, she’d look like she was out for a run. She was dressed the part in athletic shorts, T-shirt and tennis shoes.
Her phone and ATM card, all she needed, were in her pocket, and she reached down to make sure the phone didn’t fall out. When she got to the other side of the park, she chanced another glimpse behind her and nearly fainted with relief. They weren’t there.
Not that she could count on them to be gone for long. They’d find her again. She’d been a fool to ever think Ricardo would forgive the fact that she’d killed his brother.
Chapter Two
“Piece of cake, huh?” Braden Thomas snorted derisively as he and his brother Ian drove down yet another street paralleling the park. “This was supposed to be a simple extraction. We show up, she falls gratefully into our arms and we haul ass out of the country.”
Ian ground his teeth as he contemplated the pleasure he’d take in shoving Braden out of the moving vehicle.
“It’s your damn fault,” Ian growled. “You had to barrel out of the truck and scare her shitless. What the hell was she supposed to think?”
Braden snorted. “Yeah, like you did any better on the phone? She hung up before you finished telling her your name.”
“Spooky flake,” Ian muttered. “I’m not convinced she’s worth all this trouble. We’re risking a lot to fulfill a promise to a guy who betrayed us.”
Even as the thought crossed his mind, a wave of grief consumed him. Gabe was gone. Yeah, he’d betrayed his team, and that was hard to swallow. They’d been through a lot together. But until he knew the full truth behind Gabe’s defection, he couldn’t bring himself to condemn a man he’d called friend for so many years.
“Yeah, but if we have her, sooner or later, Esteban will come calling. We’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
Ian nodded. Braden had a point. They’d talked it over with Eli and with Falcon, and it was decided that Katie was too good an angle not to exploit. Worst case scenario, they were stuck babysitting for a few weeks. Best case scenario, they nailed Esteban and could then send Katie Buchanan on her way.
Where the hell was she? She’d taken off like a scalded cat, and she was damn fast. He had to give her that. He would have caught her, but in the midst of the chase, he’d felt the prickle up his spine, a sign he was fast associating with the need to shift.
His heart had damn near pounded out of his chest, and vivid images of a cat stalking its prey had come to mind. He’d been just a few seconds from transforming to jaguar. He would have hunted her and probably killed her.
A resigned sigh escaped him, and Braden cast a sidelong glance at him.
“You okay, man?”
Ian grunted in return. He didn’t want to admit to Braden how close he’d come to losing control. They both battled the beast on a daily basis.
“Something happened back there, Ian.”
Ian raised an eyebrow and stared over at his brother in question.
Braden’s face twisted into a scowl. “When I was running after her…it was as if I was the cat and she was the prey, only I didn’t have an urge to hurt her. Just the opposite. I can’t explain it,” he finished lamely.
Ian frowned. It was similar to the way he’d felt, not that he was about to admit that to Braden. But he wasn’t so sure that he wouldn’t have hurt her. “Maybe you need another injection. We should go back to her apartment and see if she shows.”
He glanced down at the bag Katie had dropped. They’d go back to her apartment and wait inside. He could give Braden an injection and hope to hell he held out until he could take one himself later. While they waited, he’d poke around and see what he could discover about Gabe’s little sister. And figure out her next move.
***
Katie stood at the ATM and jammed the cash into her pocket. Stupid daily limits pissed her off. She’d need to