No Love Lost (Masters & Mercenaries The Forgotten #5) - Lexi Blake Page 0,81

she’ll run.”

Levi got into the van and it started to take off. Beck got to his feet and aimed, shooting for the tires. He heard a squeal as he made contact, but the van managed to make the turn.

Theo and Tucker came out of the store.

It was a clusterfuck, but at least he hadn’t gotten anyone killed.

Rob pointed back to the wharf. “She went that way. Did she not see you?”

Oh, she’d seen him and she’d still run. She’d left him to deal with Levi. She hadn’t even stayed to back him up.

They were going to have a long fucking talk when he finally chased her down.

He took off because Levi wasn’t going to give up and the van—even down a tire—could still go faster than they could. Luckily they would have to turn around to get to the fort, and there were no vehicles allowed past the entrance to the marina. The waterfront was pedestrian only. He had a shot to get there before Levi did.

He ran, the wind whipping against him. Tucker and Rob took a place on either side, and Theo took their six. Up ahead, he could see Kim running past the point where Levi could get her easily in the van. They would have to drag her down. He sprinted toward her, gaining ground he shouldn’t have been able to. Kim had always been fast, but it looked like she hadn’t kept up her training.

Why had she run? The question was there even as he gained ground on her. He heard the van slam into the parking lot behind them.

But he heard another sound. Sirens. Theo had called the police, and that meant Levi would either have to show his hand or slink away.

Or he could try to talk them into handing over the American who didn’t have real papers.

He couldn’t stop. He kept running, even as he made the turn that would take him to the fort. It was a steep grade to run up, but he simply kept following her. He couldn’t let her get away because if he did, he might never see her again.

His lungs ached as he kept up the pace. He ignored the glances of the tourists trying to make their way down to the ground. He lost sight of her as she made another turn and then he was at the top. The battlement.

“To your left,” Theo shouted over the rain.

Kim was moving onto a narrow path that led up to a gate.

He managed to catch her as the gate came open.

Her eyes went wide as he pulled her back.

“He’s still coming,” he shouted to her.

She tried to pull away from. “Let me go, Beck. I’ll be safe inside. They can’t come inside.”

She thought Levi would let her hide away?

The gate ahead of them had come open, and an elderly man in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt stood there, his eyes narrowed and what was left of his hair plastered to his forehead. “Kimberly?”

“Stay back, uncle.” She turned to Beck. “Please let me go.”

He hated that she was begging him the way she’d begged Levi. He wasn’t the bad guy here. He tugged her under the cover of the trees that lined the path to the private part of the fort. “He’s on his way. He’s not going to let you go.”

“I’ll be safe inside.”

Theo stepped in. “He’s talking to the cops. I think he’s trying to make a case for them arresting her and letting the government sort things out.”

She shook her head. “No. They can’t come in here. Past that gate isn’t their jurisdiction.”

“We’re not completely sovereign,” her uncle yelled over the storm. “It might take some time, but they will get in. I can stall them, but I have no way to get you all out of here.”

Maybe he was dealing with the wrong person. He turned to her uncle, certain the rest of his crew wouldn’t let Kim get away. “I do. I have a chopper coming. I can get her out and we’ll be off the island by tonight. I have a jet waiting.”

He shook his head. “No jet. They’ll go to the airport first. Tell me where you’re heading and I’ll send a boat to pick you up and take you to Sicily. From there you can fly. I’m not without my own resources. Kim, it’s time.”

She closed her eyes and when she opened them there was a deep desperation there. “Levi knows. I have to get Roman out of here, uncle.”

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