Page 72 of Knox

Tae climbs over next while I cover the yard, and then I follow them, sprinting toward the tree line.

I keep pace right behind Tae and Brown.

I’m fully aware of how far we’ve run, tracking every detail of our surroundings, but my mind is somewhere else entirely.

I can’t stop thinking about the positive DNA result and what that means.

Is the stalker family?

If so, why run the test at all?

Did they think it would work to discredit Cillian? To prove he’s a bastard and strip him of his inheritance?

But he is not… he is the heir.

Is that why they changed methods and now want him dead?

Then, I think of him… a memory of us together, one where he is smiling, and it makes my chest ache.

Then I see his face right after I kissed him.

The heat in his eyes, the press of his body against mine, the taste of him, part Cillian, part that ridiculously expensive wine.

Divine.

My chest aches for a second time as the realization of what I’ve learned hits me.

Ten years…

Someone has been targeting him for a decade.

No wonder Cillian hates surveillance so much… He’s been living under it his entire life.

“Ten meters to the clearing!” Leif reports, leading the way with his sidearm drawn.

We reach the plane sitting on the hidden tarmac strip.

The cargo ramp is down, and the engines are on as the crew preps for immediate takeoff.

Almost there…

Suddenly, two dark SUVs speed out from the trees, blocking the runway.

“I guess this is the clean-up team,” Leif yells as men in unmarked vests spring out from the vehicles and raise their automatic rifles.

Shit…

CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!

The mercenaries open fire.

“Secure the package!” I yell at Tae. “Leif, take the left flank!”

Holstering my stun pistol, I unsling my rifle and step out from behind cover, dropping two ambushers as they try to push forward.

Tae grabs Brown by the collar, hauling him toward the plane’s open ramp. But the stupid agent panics with all the gunfire, breaks away from Tae’s grip, and sprints for the woods.

“Get back here!” Tae shouts. “They’re here to kill you, you idiot!”