Page 91 of Protecting His Future

He got that a lot, people going out of their way to avoid him. Van knew what people saw when they looked at him. What they thought when their eyes met his.

Dark. Menacing. A killer.

It didn’t hurt his feelings or bother him in the least. He was a killer. One trained by Uncle Sam, himself. And he was really,reallygood at his fucking job.

Speaking of jobs…

The Dawari woman took a sharp right down an alleyway separating two of the city’s brick buildings. Van picked up the pace, unwilling to risk letting her get away.

“She just went north, through an alley.”

“Lucky’s got you on his radar, Van,” Chase joined in the conversation. “Don’t worry. We’ll be there in no time.”

He wasn’t worried. Worrying was a waste of energy and time. And since he and the others were equipped with state-of-the-art tracking devices, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind his team would find him if he veered off-course.

The woman vanished around the corner, and though he knew where she was, Van hated not having her in his sights. He picked up the pace, walking briskly down the busy sidewalk.

“She just went into the alley. I’m going after her.”

“Damn it, Braddock, just keep your ass where it is.” Logan’s disapproving voice grumbled. “We’re almost there.”

Fuck that.

He wasn’t risking losing her when they were this fucking close.

Ignoring his teammate’s order, he continued to follow his original plan. But just as he reached the alley’s dark entrance, a man pushing a wooden cart overflowing with fresh produce hit a crack in the sidewalk. The cart tipped toward the section of sidewalk in front of where Van was walking, its contents spilling directly in his path.

Melons, grapes, fresh figs, and more rolled out of the overturned cart, and Van had to do a quick side-step to avoid tripping. Letting loose with a string of muttered curses, he changed directions, deciding to go around the mess, rather than attempting to make his way through it.

The delay cost him seconds he didn’t have to spare, so he pushed his legs into a swift, purposeful jog. He entered the alley expecting to see Kaamisha Dawari walking several yards up ahead, but she wasn’t there.No onewas there.

Just a handful of dumpsters and a few bags of trash.

“Fuck!”He bit the curse out harshly. “I don’t see her.”

“She has to be there,” Archer suggested. “Since you’re already there, and we’re coming up on the alley now, you may as well keep going.”

Keeping his eyes laser-focused on the shadows before him, Van walked in fast, wide strides. His intense gaze scanning every inch of the alley for the woman he couldn’t wait to kill.

“We’re coming up to your north, now,” Logan let him know. “We’ll park at the north end of the alley and wait. You can hop in with us, and we can?—”

The other man’s words drifted away as a knife appeared at the base of Van’s throat. Long and shiny from the brief glimpse of it that he’d seen, the lethal weapon stopped him cold in his tracks.

He stood still, not moving so much as an inch, though he wanted to kick his own ass. He’d been so busy looking for the woman they were after, he’d failed to cover his own back.

“Van?” Logan’s voice filled his ear once again. “You good?”

Van wanted to tell his team what was going on, but he didn’t. Not because he was scared of dying or afraid of getting cut, but because he was too focused on the woman holding the deadly blade.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Donovan Braddock,” the woman’s low, accented voice greeted him from behind.

“Guess I found you…Kaamisha,” he rumbled her name in an instinctual response.

A soft, breathy laugh blew across the back of his neck as warmth from her feminine form blanketed him from behind. And when she spoke again, the woman brought her lips closer to his ear. Her whispered words as ominous as any he’d ever heard.

“You and your team may have been looking for me, Navy SEAL. But guess what?” She pressed the razor-thin edge of the blade into the skin at his throat. “I have been looking for you, too.”