Next Exit, No Outlet Read online

  Alina slowly raised her eyes to Stephanie’s face.

  “Why were you meeting Blake at Stephanie’s?”

  Stephanie gasped and her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes widened in dismay.

  “Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “Angie! We forgot about Angie!”

  Blake looked at her.

  “We?” he repeated. “I didn’t know anything about this! Why was I meeting Angela at your house?”

  Stephanie waved her hand, motioning him to be quiet, and pointed to Alina’s phone.

  “Put her on speaker,” she said. “I can’t believe I totally forgot about her!”

  “I can. You almost died,” Blake said dryly as Alina lowered her phone and tapped the screen.

  “You’re on speaker,” she told Angela, resigned.

  “Why am I on speaker? Is she there? Stephanie?”

  Alina leaned forward and set the phone on the coffee table. When she sat back again, she glanced at Damon to find his eyes on her. She gave a barely imperceptible shake of her head and his lips quivered.

  “My God, Angie, I’m so sorry,” Stephanie exclaimed. “I forgot all about you.”

  “Where the hell are you? Why aren’t you at Lina’s?”

  “I never made it there. I’m sorry. I should have called you sooner.”

  “What do you mean you never made it there? Where are you?”

  “I’m –” Stephanie stopped and looked at Alina questioningly.

  Alina shook her head and Stephanie frowned.

  “I can’t tell you,” she said. “I’m somewhere safe.”

  “What do you mean you can’t tell me?!” Angela’s voice rose an octave and Stephanie grimaced. “I just spent two hours driving around looking for you!”

  “Let’s start at the beginning,” Alina interjected, her calm voice a direct contrast to Angela’s. “Why were you meeting Blake at seven?”

  “Because Stephanie asked me to!”

  Alina pinched the bridge of her nose and felt one of her eyelids begin to twitch.

  “I called her on my way to your house,” Stephanie explained, realizing that Alina was very close to losing what little patience she had. “I wanted her to go pack some clothes and grab some things for me. I was going to ask Blake to meet her there so he could let her in.”

  “Except he stood me up!” Angela piped up.

  “He didn’t even know about it!” Blake exclaimed. “How is this my fault?”

  “Is that Blake? He’s there too? What the hell, Steph?! Are you all having a party without me? Next you’ll be saying Mr. Hunk O’ Mysterious is with you!”

  Alina felt strong fingers brush the back of her neck, sending an inconvenient shiver of awareness down her spine. Damon leaned down, his lips brushing her ear.

  “Mr. Hunk O’ Mysterious?” he murmured.

  Alina felt a laugh welling inside her and she shot him a look of sheepish amusement. Damon’s eyes met hers, and the look in them promised lots of questions later when they were alone. She turned her head away and he straightened up again, leaving his hand on the back of her neck. His fingers rubbed the muscles there, sending shockwaves through her, and she bit the inside of her lip. Yep. She wasn’t getting out of explaining that nickname.

  “He’s here too,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice.

  “Of course he is!” Angela was working herself up into a full-blown temper now. “You’re all together and no one thought to call and give me a heads up that plans had changed?”

  “Ang, I’m sorry,” Stephanie said earnestly, leaning forward. “It’s been a long night. I was in an accident. Someone ran me off the road and tried to kill me.”

  Silence followed that announcement, and Alina waited for the explosion she knew was coming. She didn’t have to wait long.

  “WHAT?!” Angela screeched, making them all wince. “And NO ONE CALLED ME?!”

  Alina dropped her forehead into her hand and closed her eyes. Damon increased the pressure on her neck and she could feel him laughing silently beside her.

  “I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Honestly, calling you wasn’t a priority at that point in time,” Stephanie said, a hint of impatience creeping into her voice.

  “Well, are you okay?”

  “I’m banged up, but I’ll be fine. I have a double concussion, whiplash and a twisted wrist. Other than that, I’m just dandy.”

  “What hospital are you at? Did they do an MRI or cat scan? How long are you going to be stuck there?”

  Stephanie looked at Alina like a deer in headlights and she shrugged as much as to say, ‘you’re on your own.’ Stephanie made a face.

  “I signed myself out of the hospital,” she said reluctantly.

  “You what?!” Angela’s voice rose again. “Steph, your brain could be turning into jelly!”

  Stephanie shot an accusing look at Blake and he raised his eyebrows innocently.

  “Good grief, Angie, my brain’s not turning into jelly! Why is everyone saying that? I’m fine.”

  “Well, where are you? I’ll come see for myself.”

  Stephanie looked at Alina expectantly.

  “You can’t,” Alina said flatly. “Don’t worry. She’s fine.”

  “What do you mean I can’t?” Angela demanded. “Why not?”

  “She’s somewhere safe, but it won’t stay that way if people know where she is,” Alina replied. “The people trying to kill her aren’t stupid. They’ll be watching you in case you lead them to her.”

  “Don’t tell me I can’t...wait, what? Are you saying I’m being watched?”

  “She’s not saying you’re being watched,” Stephanie said, shooting Alina a look of reproach. “She’s just pointing out that it’s a remote possibility. There’s no point in risking anything.”

  “Why aren’t you at her house?” Angela asked after a moment of thought. “That was the original plan. What changed?”

  “This was more expedient,” Alina said.

  “Expedient? What the hell kind of answer is that?!”

  “What she’s trying to say is that when I left the hospital, I had to get somewhere safe fast,” Stephanie said, shooting Alina another exasperated look. “Her house was too far away.”

  “Well, if you think I’m going to stay away from Stephanie indefinitely because you didn’t want to take the time to drive her to your house, Alina, you’re out of your mind,” Angela said roundly. “Expedient or not, she’s my best friend and I want to make sure she’s ok. Where are you?”

  “You’re not coming,” Alina’s voice took on a steel edge. “It’s too dangerous, for both of you.”

  Stephanie shook her head and sat back on the couch, a look of resignation on her face. Blake raised an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly.

  “This is about to get ugly,” she whispered in explanation.

  “Well, if you’d taken her to your house like originally planned, we wouldn’t be having this issue. I mean, seriously! I’m always coming and going from there, so no one would think anything of it. Stephanie would be comfortable and I can come see her.”

  Alina took a deep breath and counted to ten, willing her eye to stop twitching.

  “I think you’re forgetting that Stephanie was attacked on her way to Alina’s house,” Damon said dryly. “You really want to test fate and try again?”

  “You mean to tell me that you two can’t get Stephanie there safely?” Angela demanded in a deceptively sweet voice.

  Blake choked back a laugh and then quickly sobered when Alina shot him a deadly look.

  “This isn’t up for discussion,” Alina said, her voice tight. “Stephanie’s staying here and you’re not coming near her until we find out who’s doing this and why. End of story.”

  “Like hell it is! I don’t care what you do or who you are, Lina, you’re not bossing me around this time. My best friend almost died twice today. I have every right to be with her and see for myself that she’s okay. The most logical solution is to move her to y
our house where I won’t lead anyone to her, whatever that’s supposed to mean. I think you’re being paranoid, personally, but I’m willing to compromise and play along. If you’re not going to compromise as well, we have a big problem.”

  “She has a point,” Blake said. “Your house is the safest place. I’ve been saying that all along. After what happened tonight, I see why you don’t want to move her again, but Angela does have a valid argument.”

  “Don’t encourage her,” Alina said, standing up impatiently and pacing around the living room.

  Damon watched her, his face impassive, and remained silent.

  “Will you all please stop talking about me as if I’m not even here?” Stephanie spoke up. “Don’t I get a say in this? It’s me that’s under fire, after all. I think I should be able to decide where and how I keep myself safe.”

  They all looked at her and Alina raised an eyebrow.

  “Well?” she asked when Stephanie didn’t continue.

  “Honestly? I’m torn. They’re right. Your house is the logical choice. The place is virtually a compound, and your security system rivals the Pentagon’s. A person can’t flick a booger on your property without you seeing it.”

  “But?”

  Stephanie shrugged.

  “I don’t want to bring more trouble to you. We’ve already been over it. I’m not trying to get you killed along with me.”

  The smile that crossed Alina’s face was downright terrifying.

  “Oh, when I go, it won’t be because you got me killed.”

  “Then it’s settled,” said Angela. “When should I bring her things?”

  “It’s not settled. I need to think about this.”

  “What’s there to think about? We all agreed it’s what’s best, and it’s what Stephanie wants!”

  “I never said it’s what I want!” Stephanie exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “In fact, I thought I just made it clear that it isn’t what I want to do!”

  “But you said —”

  “Enough!” Damon finally spoke, his voice slicing through the arguing. “It’s late and Stephanie’s been through enough today. Lina and I will figure this out. In the meantime, Stephanie’s staying here until further notice. Clear?”

  “Agreed,” Blake seconded, surprising both Alina and Damon. “It’s not safe to move her tonight and I, for one, am not willing to make a decision this important when I’m tired, pissed off, and just want to kill someone.”

  “I really think you guys are making this much more complicated than it needs to be,” Angela said, disgruntled.

  Alina closed her eyes and counted to ten.

  “We’re not complicating anything,” she bit out when she had finished. “Steph will call you tomorrow with an update.”

  “Don’t you dare hang up on—”

  Alina leaned down and pressed end, cutting off Angela’s furious words. Stephanie stared at the phone for a second, then raised her eyes to Alina’s face.

  “Well, if she wasn’t mad enough already, she is now,” she said dryly.

  “I’m surprised she waited that long,” Blake muttered, standing up and stretching. “Good Lord, is she always like that?”

  Stephanie nodded. “Pretty much, but she has a good heart. She only means the best.”

  “No doubt, but she needs to stay out of this,” Damon muttered, standing. He looked at Blake. “Give me your keys and I’ll take care of your car.”

  Blake tossed him the keys reluctantly and glanced at Alina.

  “You’ve got Buddy?”

  “Yes. He’ll be fine.” She motioned to a set of double doors on the far side of the living room. “Bedroom’s through there. There are towels in the closet, and chargers on the nightstand. Keep your phones off until I can take care of their GPS chips. We have to assume whoever’s after you can track them. Let’s not make it easy on them.”

  “You’re not going to take them?” Stephanie asked, surprised.

  Alina shook her head.

  “No. If I disable them, whoever’s behind this will know I’m the one who got you out of the hospital alive, and they’ll know I’m still in the area. I want to postpone that as long as I can. If you power the phones off, they can still track you, but it will take longer and they’ll assume you’re working alone.”

  Blake nodded and pulled out his phone, powering it off. He looked at Stephanie and she reluctantly pulled hers out of her purse, doing the same.

  “How will we contact you?” she asked, looking at Alina.

  “There’s a laptop in the bedroom. It’s secure enough to send me a message if you have to. I’ll send you an email tomorrow. You can check it on that. It will be encrypted, and the encryption software is already on the laptop.” Alina turned and headed toward the short hallway leading to the door, Damon beside her. When they reached the door, she paused and turned back to look at Blake. “I hope you live up to your reputation, gunny. Michael speaks very highly of you.”

  Blake caught the warning in her tone and his jaw tightened. Before he could answer, she and Damon were gone, the door closing softly behind them.

  Alina watched as Buddy circled in front of the sliding door a couple of times before finally flopping down and laying his head on his front paws.

  “Are you sure about him being here with Raven?” Damon asked, setting a plate with leftover pizza on the bar in front of her. “I don’t see this ending well.”

  “Raven will ignore him,” Alina replied, picking up a slice of pizza. “He’s too big to be anything other than an annoyance to him.”

  Damon circled the bar and sat on the stool next to her with his own pizza.

  “I hope you’re right.” He bit into his slice and they ate in silence for a minute. “How long do you think you can keep Stephanie safe in that condo?”

  Alina shook her head. “Not long enough. She’ll have to be moved tomorrow.”

  Damon glanced at her.

  “That was a full wet team at the hospital. You think it’s the same people after you?”

  “Yes.” She got up and went into the kitchen to pull some paper towel off the roll by the sink. “It’s too much of a coincidence.”

  She wiped pizza grease off her hands and went back to her seat, handing him a piece.

  “Why Stephanie?” Damon asked, sipping his beer. “What do they want from her?”

  “My guess is the leak found out about John’s hard-drive. I think that’s what they were looking for in her apartment. If she saw what was on it, she’s now a liability.”

  “And they don’t know she didn’t,” he finished. “Fantastic. What did you get out of the one you questioned tonight?”

  Alina scowled.

  “Not much. She’s a priority target, and they were told not to fail again. He couldn’t tell me anything more than that.”

  Damon looked at her in disbelief.

  “Nothing about who ordered it?”

  She shook her head.

  “They were mercenaries. He only answered to the head of the team. He had no idea who hired them or why.”

  Damon cursed softly.

  “I liked it better when he was using his own men,” he muttered. “Why the switch? Why send one of his own to the FBI building, then move to hired mercenaries a few hours later?”

  “To be fair, he’s got to be running low on men,” Alina said after a moment, a brief, cold smile crossing her face. “We must have made a dent in his reserves in Atlantic City. That was sixteen right there.”

  Damon flashed an answering grin.

  “That’s true.” The smile faded. “It won’t be long before they check CCTV and traffic cams and pick up the Shelby. He’ll know it was you who saved her at the hospital, and the Shelby was parked outside the safe house for over an hour. At most, you only bought yourself a couple hours.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  Damon finished his pizza and looked at her.

  “I hate to say it, but the only logical place is here,” he said, his
voice low. “I don’t trust her, and I don’t see it ending well, but at least we can contain a war here, and she’ll have a fighting chance.”

  Alina pushed her empty plate away.

  “I’ve been trying to think of an alternative, but I keep coming up empty. Every alternative involves travel, and that involves cameras. Even getting her here will be tricky, but at least it’s manageable.”

  They were silent for a long moment.

  “I can get her here in the Audi. That’s clean and won’t raise any flags,” he said finally. “I can take her out a side door and disable the cameras in the immediate area ahead of time. What about Blake?”

  She shook her head.

  “No,” she said flatly. “I don’t need another soul on my conscience.”

  Damon frowned.

  “He’s a Marine, not a civilian. You’re not responsible for him. Stephanie, maybe. Angela, definitely. But the gunnies? No.”

  Alina looked at him.

  “And have yet another person know about this house?” she demanded. “You’re the one who keeps saying too many people know about me as it is!”

  “What’s one more at this point?” he countered. “Besides, let’s be honest. When this is all over, this house is blown. You already can’t stay here.”

  Alina got up and picked up their plates, carrying them over to the dishwasher.

  “I know.”

  Damon watched her with his bright blue eyes. “And how do you feel about that?”

  She shrugged and opened the dishwasher to put the plates inside.

  “I’ve been feeling out of place and restless here for a while now,” she said slowly. “You know that. It was only a matter of time before I’d have had to move on. At least this way, it’s on my own terms.”

  “Then you might as well let Blake come with Stephanie. It’s better to have them all where we can keep an eye on them.”

  Alina closed the dishwasher and looked across the kitchen, her eyes meeting his.