Page 71 of Temptation
“His name’s Noble,” Preston muttered.
“I’m Sloane,” she introduced herself. “And I’m coming with you both.”
“She’s Sloane,” Preston said, something Noble would already know. “And she’s keeping her sweet ass in the car.”
She hummed behind him. An angry hum.
But he focused on the problem at hand. Eyes on Noble, Preston asked, “Do you have a shovel in your Jeep?
“What?”
“Because we may need it.”
“No, I don’t have a freaking shovel! Who just carries around extra shovels in their ride?”
The rain slid down his cheeks as Preston exited the vehicle. “I do.” He headed for the back of the Range Rover.
“That shit is creepy,” Noble informed him.
His bodyguard was not wrong. The tailgate lifted, and Preston closed his hand around the shovel.
“People don’t routinely keep shovels in the back of their vehicles.” Sloane strained to watch the two male figures as they headed into the darkness. They’d been using the flashlights on their phones just moments before, sweeping over the ground.
Checking for footprints? Tire tracks?
The rain would destroy any tracks that might be around.
After Noble had denied having a shovel, Preston had pulled one out of the back of his Range Rover. Something that had definitely sent a shiver down her spine.
“When Preston called me in for protection duty, he had some specific…requests,” Frankie said from the front.
Frankie Belmont. She didn’t know his story, not yet. But she would. As for Noble, she actually had already known who he was. Just as she knew some of his secrets. But for the moment, she was focused on the matter at hand. Not Noble’s and Preston’s pasts. “What requests?” Her eyes were practically slits because she’d narrowed them so much as she fought to see through the rain. Her heart kept racing, and sweat coated her palms. She really wanted to be out there with Preston. Staying close to him had become a major priority for her.
Staying close. Keeping him alive.
Frankie grunted. “Request one…keep a shovel in the trunk.”
That was unsettling.
“Figured that since the guy had been buried alive twice, he wanted to be ready in case unlucky time number three came calling.”
“Ready?”
“Yeah, as in, if I rushed to the rescue, a shovel would be close by for me to use.”
Or if he found the perp he’s after, Preston will have the shovel at the ready so he can dig a grave for his attacker. A suspicion that she refused to voice. At least in front of Frankie.
Frankie’s fingers tapped along the steering wheel. “Though, for the record, Noble and I are supposed to make sure time number three doesn’t ever happen.”
She certainly wanted to make sure that situation didn’t occur again, too. “Don’t you think that you could succeed in that task more if you were, oh, I don’t know, out there with him?”
“He wants me here. I’m staying here. I follow the boss’s orders.”
Great. Wonderful.
“You’re not getting out of the car, lady. Forget it.”
She forgot nothing. “What if Preston needs help?”
