Page 79 of Cops and Robbers

“It’d explain how she steals so easily. They call me a ghost, but I have nothing on her.”

Caige has never talked about Midnight in that regard. The minivan crested a bump as it headed through the airport gates. Raz had put the coffin together before they traveled through security. While Caige drove and parked next to the Osprey, Raz called Sid.

“Warm up the engines,” Raz said when Sid picked up. “We’ll be leaving here shortly. Lewis, we are going to need medical assistance.”

“Who was injured?” Lewis asked.

“Kate.” He didn’t want to bring up their other passenger quite yet.

“Got it.”

In the shroud of darkness, except for the few streetlights around the terminal, Caige and Raz loaded the coffin into the plane’s back. They placed it near the rear, where an empty cargo hold housed some of their small equipment.

“I’ll return the rental,” Caige muttered. He hesitated, glancing at the container as if he were afraid Midnight might wake up.

“Sounds good,” Raz said.

Caige walked to the minivan while Raz sighed.

Raz opened the coffin. Kate was in the same folded position. His heart lurched.

Can we fix this? Her consciousness was a steady stream along the link. He hated to wake her when she still seemed weak, but he couldn’t help but want to verify she was okay. He shook her shoulder.

Kate jolted in the tight space.

“It’s all right,” he said. “We’re back on the Osprey. Danielle believed the memory you spun.”

The link burst alive with shiny hope but also the heaviness of dread and guilt. She lifted her head with a wince, and her uninjured fingers shot to her neck, kneading the muscles. Black and blue bruising covered her wounded fingers. He winced at the memory of hearing the door slam on them.

Kate climbed to her feet, avoiding hitting Naomi. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth as she wobbled free. What the fuck am I supposed to say?

He breathed in her delicious scent. His beast relaxed in his mind. Safe. Mine.

But the man wasn’t sure about the latter. “The only thing I can promise is that I’ll hear you out.”

She nodded and swiped at the tears falling down her cheeks.

His heart ached—torn in two. But it didn’t sway the anger that she hadn’t told him the truth.

“I hate to interrupt,” Lewis’s deep voice said behind them. “But who is this?”

“Naomi,” Kate croaked.

Lewis stood at the plane’s opening, holding a medic bag and staring at Naomi in the coffin. “Who?”

“Midnight,” Raz said. “She’ll be an asset in taking down Matsuda. He’s been torturing her body. She may also need medical attention.”

Lewis’s eyebrows knitted together in worry. “All right. Kate, let me see that hand.”

“I’m going to go check on Sid,” Raz said, needing space.

Kate stepped in front of Raz to stop him. “Can we keep the ramp door open?”

“Why?” Raz asked.

“If we fly over Naomi’s spirit, she might sense her body and return. After everything she’s been through, I want her to have easy access.”

“Will she be a danger?”