Page 158 of Stealth Mission
Pressing my feet hard against the floorboard, I wave a hand to get his attention. “Hey, why don’t you slow down before you run over some little senior citizen?”
“No right-minded person would be out in this weather.”
He grunts his displeasure, but taps the brakes.
Marianna leans between the seats, making a horrified sound. “Oh my god, speaking of seniors, I forgot all about paying for the damage to Ms. Pelletier’s car.”
“Done.”
Marianna and I both give Scout a confused doubletake.
The truck’s signal light clicks. When he makes the turn at the town’s only stop sign, he shrugs. “Someone was busy while you two were getting down and dirty.”
“We were actually getting clean,” Marianna says with a laugh.
I turn to look at her, with my blood stirring. “After we got really dirty.”
Blushing, she covers her face with her hand. “The hotel’s going to freak out when they see all that camo paint on the sheets.”
“You two,please.”Scout makes a choking sound. “For the love of god, spare me the details.”
Damn. They really have been looking out for us. “You’re the one that started it. But seriously, thanks for taking care of the damage to the car.”
As rough as Scout is around the edges, I appreciate the hell out of him and the rest of the team. I got lucky as hell when I was invited to join Agile.
Shrugging it off, Scout says, “Tell Beast, not me. He’s the one who thought to do it.”
Marianna’s making all kinds of unhappy sounds. “That accident was my fault, he’s not paying for my mistake.”
Scout smirks and glances at her in the rearview. “Take it up with him. You’ve seen Beast. Good luck.”
I admit, Scout’s face isn’t frozen. It has two modes. Scowl and smirk.
He slows the truck for a massive puddle of water on the road. The rain hammers the truck roof so loudly it’s hard to hear Marianna grumbling. But when I look back, she’s got her arms crossed.
“Seriously you two. I’m not okay with this.”
I don’t point out that Scout is right. Beast can’t be budged.
The rain drowns out any other conversation, until we slow and make the final turn onto the road to Marianna’s place.
When I reach back, she takes my hand. “Doing okay?”
“I’m kind of sick and it’s not because of Scout’s driving.”
She tries to grin, but it doesn’t really reach her eyes.
We pass the sign for the farm. Bright blue letters are painted on the wood—DonAzule Agave Farm.
The business is still hers. We’ll find another piece of land. I’m more determined than I’ve ever been in my life to make that happen.
Scout glances in the mirror, catching Marianna’s attention. “Just so you know there’s a lot going on at the house. Consider it a non-hostile takeover. Vik and his team are planning some kind of mission. Cornelia is camped out in your guest room, although I’m pretty sure she’s not being allowed to leave the room. Anyway, all of those Russian guys are there and we’ve got six people here right now, plus you two.”
At the top of the hill, it looks like a used car lot for trucks and SUV’s with blacked out windows.
“Is Nyx here?”
“No, she was tagging along with me down in El Dorado, but she found out there was some yoga thing.”