Page 12 of Laura's Truth
Logic sucked when every gut instinct he had told him to bolt, leave her to clean it up, and he could go do the job as planned. They’d hail him as a hero if he could expose the truth. In the split second he hesitated, she tucked her weapon back into the ankle holster and called out to the responding security team for help. “We’re over here!”
Damn. He was stuck now.
“What’s the problem?” The two-man team gave the unconscious men a wide berth. The leader spoke with Talbot and examined her credentials while the other man called in more help.
Drew stood back, assessing his escape routes while she did the talking. “I’m in town with a friend and we were attacked by these two,” she explained.
“Business or pleasure?” the leader asked.
“Pleasure. I love the Spoleto festival.”
“It’s a good time.” He scowled down at Fire Plug. “Usually. Did your assailants say anything or make a threat?”
“No. I was headed for the car and heard someone rush up behind me. Naturally, I turned around and saw this guy. Then I noticed the other man had a gun aimed this direction. My best guess is we managed to get in the middle of some problem between the two of them.”
“All right.” The officer looked around as if mentally reconstructing a traffic accident. “We’ll look into that. You don’t know either man?”
She shook her head.
“And what about you, sir?”
“I’ve never seen either of them before.” Drew put on his most neutral, non-threatening face. “I’d stopped by the men’s room while she picked up the car. I came out, saw the gun and tried to distract him.”
The security team accepted Talbot’s explanation as she took over the story. Amazing what the right badge and the voice of authority can accomplish, Drew thought. But he wanted out of here. Now. They were too exposed. His gaze swept across the nearest rooftops, seeing movements from sniper nests that probably weren’t there.
Probably.
His ears buzzed and his pulse raced. Not good. Needing to calm down, he took a deep breath, but it stuttered and stalled in his chest. They were safe, the attack failed. No one would shoot at them while they were dealing with security. Not here. But his memories clawed to the surface, dominating his thoughts, irrational but all too real. He’d seen evidence to the contrary in the recent past, assassins and thugs that cared about the payoff rather than the presence of witnesses and authorities. But that was over there, and this was Charleston. South Carolina. The United States of America.
“Drew?”
“Huh?” He stared at where she’d linked her hand with his. Cool and soft, her touch grounded him to the present. The safe-for-the-moment present. “Sorry.” He tried to smile. “Lost in thought,” he improvised.
“Do you have anything to add?”
He shook his head, memorizing the details as Talbot gave her contact information in town and at home. The security team apologized for the trouble and sent them on their way after she agreed to give a formal statement if necessary.
A small crowd had gathered by the door near the terminal and around the fence. Drew could only be grateful there weren’t more civilians around. “We need to go.”
Thanks to her appearance at the market this morning, he’d missed his best chance at intercepting his target. While he couldn’t be sure who the fire plug and shooter were working for, standing out here waiting for someone else to catch up wasn’t a good idea. Why the hell were they so bent on capturing Talbot?
“See?” she asked when they were buckling into a mid-sized SUV. “Wasn’t that easier than the alternative?”
“Don’t know yet.” His hands fisted on the steering wheel, he exercised his considerable self-control as he left the rental lot and aimed for the airport exit. He braced for sirens, arrest orders, or worse. But nothing worse happened and they left the airport behind without any problems.
“Now what?” she asked.
Good question. He couldn’t keep her with him and accomplish his goals. But he couldn’t, in good conscience, leave her to deal with an assassination attempt on her own. “I’d take you back to your car or hotel, but I don’t think that’s smart.”
“That’s not an option, Garner. I haven’t forgotten why I came to Charleston and I’m not letting you shake me off.”
“No surprise there.” And thank God he’d been right about someone tailing her specifically. She might not have tossed him to the authorities, but he wasn’t ready to confess the whole story just yet.
“I’m calling Ross,” she announced as he merged onto the interstate headed back toward the city.
He wanted to ask her not to, but figured that would only spur her on. It was likely whoever was on their tail was still using her phone to track them. They’d know soon enough. “Any chance you’ll tell him I’m not a threat?”
“Not much. I’m hoping he can use his connections to find out what the police discover about the men who jumped us.”