started the engine, but remained next to the curb. He didn’t pull away until Sarah had unlocked her door and escaped inside.
Tag wasn’t surprised Tram had stuck around. Regardless of that earlier inexplicable spike of jealousy, he knew his buddy was a good guy. Tram had promised to see Sarah home safely, and that’s exactly what he’d done. Tag would take over from here.
He exited his truck as Tram slowly drove toward him. The Jeep stopped, and Tag stepped up to the driver’s window.
“Thought I’d find you here,” Tram said, his face a dark blur in the green-washed light coming from the instrument panel.
“Did she mention where we might find Mitch?” Tag asked.
“Nah, she didn’t want to talk. How long you sticking around?” Tram asked, resting an elbow on the window ledge.
“Long as it takes.” He wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. At least until morning, maybe a couple of days. While he needed to talk to Sarah, find out what the hell Mitch had dragged her into, there was something else at play.
If Mitch really had gone to the dark side, then there were some dangerous people after him. Tag wasn’t giving anyone else a chance to use Sarah as leverage.
“Right. I’m gonna head home, fill Emma in, grab some food, and catch a couple of Z’s. I’ll be back in four hours to spell you.”
Tag scowled. “That’s not necessary.”
“Don’t be an ass.” Tram didn’t give Tag a chance to protest, just hit the accelerator and sped away.
Hands on his hips, Tag scowled after the fading headlights, then headed back to his truck. Knowing Sarah and her germaphobia, she was probably itching to shower and change clothes. He’d give her some time to relax while keeping an eye on her house from the street. Once some decent time had passed, he’d go knock on her door.
Fifteen minutes later a thump sounded in the direction of Sarah’s place. He was out of his truck instantly, his Glock in hand. He froze as she turned to face the door.
Had she seen him? Was that why she was coming outside? But if so, why was she locking her door?
Why the hell would she be—the question fractured as she started to turn. Instinctively, he ducked and rocketed back to his truck. By the time he eased the door open, climbed inside, and eased the door closed again, she was dragging a suitcase down the brick path to the street.
A fucking suitcase.
What the hell?
He watched with building anger as she stowed the suitcase in the backseat of her Nissan and climbed behind the wheel. What the fuck was she up to? No wonder she’d wanted her car. She was taking off. And that suitcase indicated she was planning to stay gone for a while.
Was she meeting up with Mitch somewhere?
That made sense. Between the cops and his teammates, half of San Diego was out looking for the bastard. And while Mitch might be a fucking thief and a traitor, he’d never been stupid. Only a moron would stick around San Diego under the circumstances. He’d probably lit out of town the moment Sarah had been kidnapped and his secret life exposed.
And now she was on her way to meet up with him.
Ex-fiancé my ass.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel. What the hell did she see in the bastard? For fuck’s sake, her loving fiancé—his teeth clenched so hard his jaw throbbed—had refused to part with any of his ill-gotten gains to get her back. Even when handing it over meant saving her life. And she knew that, damn it, yet here she was, off to meet him…
He shook his head in disbelief and forced his jaw to relax. If he gritted his teeth any harder, or longer, he’d have permanent dental damage.
As he cranked the key to his truck, he considered stopping her and demanding answers. But hell, if she was on her way to meet Mitch, she wouldn’t tell him. Nor would she tell him where the fucker was holed up.
New plan.
He’d let her lead him to the rat bastard instead.
She made two stops. At a gas station to fill up her rig. And at an ATM, where she stood at the machine for so long, he started getting twitchy. Pulling cash from an ATM, in the middle of the night, was asking for trouble. Before his spiking blood pressure gave him a stroke, or he warped over to shut down her fucking honeymoon, she turned away from the ATM and