Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Devon nodded. He didn’t ask any questions, for which I was grateful. “Don’t you want to put on real pants?”
I flushed when I glanced down at my pajama pants and hastily changed into jeans in the bathroom. As we walked through the corridor toward Alec’s door, my throat started to constrict. This was it. I’d break up with Alec. I’d leave my home, my life. I’d leave my career as an agent. I’d leave everything I’d held dear for the last three years behind me. Not Holly and not Devon, I reminded myself. Careful not to make a noise, I pushed the piece of paper under the door. I had the urge to open it and look at Alec one last time. Instead I touched my palm against the wood for a second before I turned around and led Devon down the stairs.
“What about weapons? Do we take any with us?” he whispered as we made our way through the darkness.
“I wish we could,” I replied. “But Major keeps everything locked up in the armory. I don’t have the keys and breaking in is too big of a risk.”
When we arrived on the ground floor, I didn’t steer us toward the front door, afraid that an alarm would sound. Instead, I led Devon into the swimming hall and into the changing rooms. I opened the window and Devon pushed a bench under it. I stepped on top of it and gripped the edge of the narrow windowsill. Devon took me by the waist and hoisted me up. When I was on the other side, he threw my backpack after me, followed by his own bag. I could see the muscles in his arms flex as he pushed himself through the window and landed beside me on the lawn.
We exchanged a quick glance to make sure the other was okay, picked up our bags and hurried toward the hangar where we disabled the three helicopters before we moved on to the garage. I had forgotten how many cars and trucks and motorbikes the FEA owned. We’d be busy all night if we tried to cut all the pipes.
“Why don’t we take a motorcycle?” Devon pointed at a black BMW. It belonged to Tanner’s older brother Ty. “This baby goes as fast as 188 miles per hour.”
“You sure you can drive that thing?” I asked. The thought of driving that fast on only two tires made my head spin.
“I’ve ridden motorcycles before,” he said. He ran his hands over the leather seat of the BMW, an amazed look on his face. “Of course, never anything this fast.”
“That’s not very comforting.”
A creak echoed through the hall, and I jumped. My hand darted to my waist where I should have had a weapon. But of course there wasn’t one. I tensed when Devon peered over the cars to get a look at the source of the noise.
“We didn’t close the door properly. It’s opened a gap. That’s what made the noise.”
It was a good reminder that we had no time for arguments. “We’ll take the motorcycle. We don’t have time to cut the remaining pipes anyway.”
Devon and I stuffed our luggage into the small trunk attached to the back of the motorcycle before we rolled the bike out of the hangar, the helmets perched on the seat. “We should push it to the edge of the property. That way we won’t be overheard.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the dark windows of headquarters as we crept down the long driveway. Though I hadn’t even left yet, a wave of homesickness washed over me. This was goodbye. I wasn’t sure if I could ever return. Major would never let me, and I didn’t think I’d ever want to.
We reached the spot where FEA’s private street ended and a smaller public street began that would lead us straight to the highway. Devon handed me a helmet and put the other on before he mounted the bike and I sat down behind him. The air was stuffy inside the helmet and I hated how it restricted my field of vision. Devon’s warmth seeped into me as I moved closer. Every inch of our bodies seemed to touch as I wrapped my arms around his waist. It felt illicit—wrong to be this close to someone who wasn’t Alec. But I relaxed into his warmth.
“Where are we heading?” he asked, his voice muffled through the helmet.
Yes, where? We needed to find my mother. She was the only person who knew more about Abel and where he might be, especially if the note in the file was right and she had contacted Abel after I was gone. But first we needed a place to stay and to chart a course and figure out our next moves. “Let’s get some distance between us and headquarters first, then we can look for a motel to spend the night.”