Delinquents Turned Fugitives - Ann Denton Page 0,53

figured it out? Had they already tied together the vampire escape and Claude’s death and the robbery? Did they already have me as a suspect?

Were we scanning the wrong channels when we listened to police chatter? Had I hacked the wrong systems?

Paranoia crept over me—it felt like I’d been dipped in a vat of ants.

If they’ve found me, what should I do? My eyes darted to the parking lot. But if they knew, then there'd be more of them out there already. Were we surrounded?

"Hey, stop pouting and come eat, Madame President," Z grabbed my hand and I jerked.

I was standing frozen in the doorway. I stepped back into the dim interior of the restaurant, with its round, faux-paper lanterns hanging over each laminate wood table. The restaurant's ambiance was as fake as the smile I tried to plaster on my face.

"What is it?" Zavier stepped closer, his dark brow furrowing as his eyes studied mine.

"Are you all going to stand there like a pair of lovesick turtledoves or are we going to eat?" Potts complained, walking back toward us.

I swallowed hard. "Pinnacle Police," I whispered, loud enough for the two of them, but hopefully quietly enough that the two men at the table nearby couldn't hear.

"Where?" Z asked.

I glanced at Potts. Immediately, her eyes and mouth both narrowed.

"My office?" she asked. But she was already marching out the door without waiting for an answer.

I stared at the door for a second before taking a deep breath. Then I turned to Z. "You warn the guys. I'll go after her. I'll try to stall." I reached into my shirt and grabbed the pouch inside, which I'd tossed on a string and hung around my neck. I pulled off the serum and lifted his hand. I stuffed it into his hand, ignoring him when he rapidly shook his head.

"Not gonna let you do that," he protested.

"You don't let me do anything, Sweet Butt," I gave him a determined wink that didn't have any true humor behind it.

His face softened the way it always did before he says something sweet and annoyingly honest. Which he did just then. “You aren’t going by yourself, Hayley. I’d never let you do that.” His palm traced the side of my cheek and for a second, I was sucked into some tragic movie parting scene, one where the music just sobs that they’ll never be together again.

Will this be the last time I see Zavier? I wondered. With the police next door … it might. Fuck. I rose up on my tip toes so my eyes could flicker across his. “You’ve become more than just my best friend, Z. You’re my happiness.”

His eyes instantly narrowed and he reached out and encircled my wrist with his hand. He leaned in and put his nose to mine, then gently rubbed the tips of our noses together in a soft Eskimo kiss that completely contrasted his words. “None of that mushy bullshit. You are not going in there alone.” He pulled back and his eyes were dilated, his breathing intense. “You forget I’m faster than you.”

I gritted my teeth together, but he was right.

He saw the second I conceded, because he let go of his death grip and intertwined our fingers before leading me back out the front door of the Chinese restaurant and onto the sidewalk.

“So, what’s the plan?” he asked, casual once more as he squinted in the sunlight.

It was so annoying that he could be so relaxed about everything.

I scanned the parking lot for extra cops but didn’t see any. “Wait outside. But if I say the word … cheesy … do that thing you like to do with my underwear.”

“Scratch and sniff?” He laughed when he saw my disgusted face. “Just kidding.”

I shook my head, scolding him with my eyes as I leaned close and squeezed one of his tattooed biceps. “Take the badge’s phone,” I whispered.

His wink was the only confirmation I needed. I could trust Z to back me up.

I let go of his hand and then marched down the sidewalk back toward Potts’ chintzy little office. I was determined to figure out who the hell this cop was and how he’d figured me out already. I ignored the ‘run, run, run’ chant that my heart and legs were doing. Nope. I was not going to take the coward’s way.

I yanked open the exterior door just in time to hear Potts screech from her office, "What the fuck do you mean, just checking