Page 44 of A Shot at Love
When Ky met up with the private investigator again, he was determined to find out what the favor had been.
They were on their way to a cabin in northern Pennsylvania that belonged to Josh’s partner, Rick Bannerman. Josh had texted them the access codes to the cabin’s security system, telling them not to worry, the name on the deed wasn’t Rick’s and couldn’t be connected back to him.
That was the single reason Ky had consented to driving them out of state. No matter how deep the moles who worked for Ritandi dug, they shouldn’t be able to locate the two of them. Theo had provided several disposable burner phones, in addition to a laptop he guaranteed Ky was “invisible.” To Gemma, Theo explained it meant no one would be able to zero in on their location when they used it.
If this panned out and he was able to keep Gemma safe, and get back on track with trying to locate Ritandi, Ky knew he owed Gemma’s brother-in-law big time.
“There’s the marker.” Gemma pointed through the windshield.
He turned the car down an unlit, unpaved road, riddled with potholes and channels. He was forced to keep their speed down to a little above a crawl just to ensure the chassis wouldn’t fall off before they reached their destination.
“At least we’ll know if anyone approaches the cabin.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“They’ll need ATVs or loud heavy machinery to get safely down this poor excuse for a road.”
When she didn’t reply, he took his gaze from the dead-of-dark view in front of them and snuck a glance at her. He wasn’t sure, but he thought the ghost of a grin pulled at her mouth.
She had to be beyond exhausted. He knew he was. The punch of adrenaline had run through both of them once they’d made it safely from Theo’s apartment to the arranged pick-up place for the car. They hadn’t stopped to eat, wanting to put as much distance between themselves and any more of Ritandi’s men as they could, opting to share a bag of potato chips and a liter of water they bought at a rest stop along the highway when they’d gassed up.
Tomorrow, he promised himself, he’d make her the French toast she’d missed—God, was it only this morning? It felt like days since they’d fled the safe house.
“I can see it up ahead,” he told her. The bright headlights cut through the inky darkness to outline a small, rectangular structure.
He pulled the car right up to the front of the cabin and stopped. When he didn’t shut the engine, Gemma turned to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just want to get a look at it before we go in.”
Gemma glanced out the front windshield and then turned to the passenger side window. “I can’t see a thing in all this dark, but dark.” She opened the door and slid her legs out.
Ky was in the process of reaching around to the back seat where she’d tossed the flashlight before he could stop her from exiting the car. A sudden, brilliant burst of light exploded from the front porch.
“Motion detector lights. Rick thinks of everything.” Gemma jogged up the porch steps, punched in the alarm code they’d been left and opened the door.
Damn it. Did the woman not realize even after all that had happened, she was still in danger?
“Wait!” he called, bolting from the car, but she’d already gone into the cabin.
Ky sprinted up the porch steps after her, his gun poised.
“It’s bigger than it looks like from the outside,” he heard her say. “Why do you have your gun out?” she asked, her brows pulled up under her bangs when she turned toward him.
“Because you can’t just sprint ahead of me into a place I haven’t made sure is secure.” He cursed and moved right up into her face, unable to leash his anger. “You have no idea if anyone is in here and you barge into the house without any regard for your safety or the consequences. That’s just stupid and careless.”
He realized he was yelling when her back went ramrod straight and her eyes darkened. “Don’t you dare call me stupid—”
He cut her off with a swipe of his hand. “Then don’t act without thinking. Running into a building without checking it out first is a stupid move. We’ve already been ambushed twice today. I’m not in the mood to be blindsided again.”
