Grady doesn’t even try to hide it, his white teeth blind us with a wolfish grin.
Jarvis does not find the situation humorous. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“It’s no big deal,” Gracie pipes in. Jarvis throws her an I love you, but what the fuck look. She ignores it and rubs his arm, trying to soothe her beast. “I’m sure we can get it fixed.”
Jarvis shakes his head and looks back to the Porsche and does not lie. “It’ll never be the same.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” Bella announces from beside me and I’m about to argue, but she keeps talking. “Let me know how much and I’ll wire you the money. But I’m knackered and need to be up when the sun cracks.”
“We’ve got to dump it somewhere and Jarvis needs to report it stolen. We raced through every city street of DC. I’m sure someone caught the tag number. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten a call already,” I add.
Jarvis drags a hand down his face. “I’ll deal with the car and make the call.”
Crew tips his head to the farmhouse that makes mine look like the Taj Mahal. “You guys are staying here. Red and Abbott took our last two bedrooms at Whitetail. It used to seem like a big house when it was the two of us but now it’s full.”
I sigh and don’t want to think about what this means, how it’s not safe for my family to sleep in my own damn house. How the CIA not only traced my government phone but tapped my personal one too. There’s no way they could’ve found us otherwise.
“Are you okay?” Gracie probes, eyeing Bella.
She sighs and gives me more of her weight. “Exhausted. I hate to complain, but I need to call it a night.” She looks to the men standing in front of us. “Is everything set for tomorrow?”
Grady nods. “Our most trusted pilot is scheduled. You take off at seven. I have transcripts of Randolph’s conversations for you to read. We’re working on Kasey’s line to see who she called tonight. Asa is still manning the wires. Between your boss, his boss, Randolph, and the reporter, it was a busy night.”
“Come on.” Gracie breaks away from Jarvis and reaches for Bella’s shoes, purse, and wig. “Let’s get you settled. I went to Cole’s house with Grady and packed you a small bag. Girl, all I have to say is I’m sorry you’re not ready for a trip to the islands. I never thought you’d need a bikini. You can get one when you get there.”
I give Bella a squeeze. “Get settled. I’m going to check on Abbott and talk to Red since we’re leaving. I’ll meet you in bed.”
Bella winces and makes her way over the rocks to the front porch. Before she gets in the door, she pinches her contacts out and turns around to look at me once more. And just like that, she’s back. My Bella—blond hair in a mess of waves and bright eyes piercing me through the dark.
I lift my chin to tell her to go and find myself left with Crew, Grady, and the overly-irritated Jarvis.
I hand Crew his gun. “It came in handy. I assume you all heard everything?”
“Everything,” Jarvis bites.
I shake that off because I don’t care. I wouldn’t change a thing about tonight.
Okay, maybe the car chase.
And the shooting.
And trashing Jarvis’s car.
And paying a fucking mint for a crap dinner.
But other than that, not one thing.
“Was Nick Peterson chatty after our incident?”
“Not really,” Crew answers. “No one to be chatty with. He’s tried to call his men more than his boss called him, which is a damn lot. They’re not happy you might be living and breathing right now and there was more chatter about Penn Simmons. They want him dead and you wouldn’t do it, so now they want you dead too.”
I pull in a big breath. “Going to work next week will be awkward.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Grady drawls.
Jarvis turns away from his car for the first time. “We still know nothing about Simmons that would explain why Peterson and his boss want him out of the way. We’ve also been watching the church Wendy Sisson attends. There hasn’t been much activity. Certainly no pot lucks or bible studies.”
“You’re disappearing for the next few days. Even though this isn’t our lane—” Crew hikes a brow and glares at me, “—we’ll stay on top of it while you two are chasing Randolph.