Page 16 of Beyond the Rules
Pay attention Nina. Get this done. “Look, I get it. You guys are really sharp. But it’s bad enough that I’mherenow.”
“We can take care of ourselves.” Tanner’s thumb glided under my wrists, painting slow circles over my little tattoo. “We can also help take careofyou.”
It was the best offer I’d had in a very long time and, despite my best efforts to resist his charm, my heart melted like an icicle under the sun. Ever since my brother died, I’d been on my own. Daniel had been my lifeline, the link between the virtual world where I thrived and the real world that was hard to tackle for the shy introvert I’d been growing up. I wasn’t an introvert any more. On the contrary, sometimes I talked too much. But, given a choice, I still preferred my laptop. A lot had happened since Daniel died, and none of it could be classified as good. But I’d learned to rely on myself. I only had me.Untilnow.
I tried to ignore the caress of Tanner’s mossy green eyes and the tension flattening Aiden’s lips. It was hard not to like these guys. Well, okay, two out of three. I didn’t think Zar liked me much. But could I really blame him for being cautious? And even if his surliness level was up there, it didn’t deter from his hotness index. No matter. These guys had saved me a whole lot of grief and I should do the sameforthem.
“The people looking for me have lots of money and resources,” I said. “When they find the wreck, you guys are going to be introuble.”
Zar rumbled in his low bass. “Those thugs aren’t gonna find thewreck.”
“Excuseme?”
“While you were out, we went back to the crash site, dismantled the remains of the plane, and concealed the wreck with cammo nets andvegetation.”
“I…um…I don’t understand.” I tried to grapple with the uneasiness churning in my stomach. “Why would you guys go out of your way to help a total strangerlikeme?”
He plowed on, ignoring my question. “My point is nobody will be able to spot the wreck, not even those recon search parties that have been flying over therange.”
My voice came out in a squeak. “Searchparties?”
“We’ve monitored three so far,” Zar said. “They were flying grid patterns that included the border between the national forest and our property, where youcrashed.”
It was a lot to take in, especially when I had no breath left in my lungs and very little oxygen powering my brain. My foes were looking for me. Scouringtheir property.Mental detour. These three owned all the land around here? These guys were wealthyandresourceful. They’d concealed the wreck. Monitored the aerial search. Something wasn’t adding up here, but my mind was onoverload.
I narrowed my eyes on the men. “Who the hellareyou?”
“Answer our questionsfirst.”
“Hang on,” Tanner said. “Maybe if we tell you a little about ourselves, you’ll feel better about confidinginus.”
A silent exchange occurred between them, a wordless consultation that entailed their eyes and a quick nod here and there. I realized I’d seen them do this before—talk without words—several times since I’d met them. So interesting, the way they worked together. Instinctual. Practiced. Feral but alsosophisticated.
“We were all in the Navy before we came to Montana,” Tanner said. “Aiden was a lieutenant. I was up for lieutenant commander when I punched out. Zar was a commander. But none of us is currently on active duty. Me, for obvious reasons.” He slanted his head toward his crutches, leaning against the wall. “Aiden is waiting for a medical board decision. Zar runs missions for a global securitycompany.”
I’d heard about that. Private military contractors did the heavy lifting for security all over the world. I sneaked another look at Zar. His line of work? One of the most dangerous in the world. My gaze flicked to Tanner next. He didn’t want to give any details about his wounds. Not that I blamed him. Even on his good days, Daniel had avoided talking about his injuries. As for Aiden, I wondered why the medical board had to make a decision about a guy that looked perfectly healthy. Questions, too manyquestions.
“You told me you were a corpsman,” I said, a littlemiffed.
“Negative, no,” Tanner said, shaking his head. “I told you Itrainedas a corpsman, which is an extra qualification I added to my skill set and something that came in handy for our missions. I was a SEAL while I was in the Navy. We were allSEALs.”
Oh, my God. I should’ve known that right out of the gate. My brother Daniel was a SEAL too. It explained so much, why their styles felt familiar, why they were so competent at everything that they did, and why I’d felt safe with them in the middle of such a mess. These men were the product of the longest training pipeline in the service, the finest operatives in the world. To make it through, they had to be exceptional in every way. It also explained why they’d come to my aid and why I’d trusted them from the get-go. Okay, all right, so I wasn’t going crazy and my instincts weren’t completely offthemark.
Zar jerked his chin at me. “Yourturn.”
I hesitated, remembering my wrecked apartment, the powerful hands wrapped around my neck, the hangar attendant, bleeding out on the concretefloor.
Zar beamed his punishing stare on me. “Antonina Leon, cut out the crap and levelwithus.”
“How do you know my name?” Something else hit me, something that had been bothering me from the start. “And how do you know I’m from SanFrancisco?”
“She’s never gonna answer a direct question, never.” Zar exhaled in a frustrated huff. “We’ve got better chances with theTaliban.”
“Did you crack my cell’s security?” I leaned over the island and stared at one man after the other. “You didn’t touch my laptop.Didyou?”
They couldn’t. No one but me could. I’d taken pains to put in place security measures that would stomp even the best hackers out there. But these men knew my name, my address, how I liked my tea…I leaned back in my chair and suppressed the panic clouding my logic. No, maybe they got some stuff from my cell, but mylaptop?No.
Zar pressed his lips into a straight line, announcing the end of a scant supply of patience. “We’ve done our research. You are accused of being a dark net hacker, a convicted criminal who served time, and a fugitive of the law. Care to comment on anyofthat?”