Free Blacklisted by Gena Showalter Page B

direction. “Do not come any closer, Phoenix.”
    â€œDamn it, Erik!”
    â€œYou promised me a minute, and I’ve got a few seconds left.”
    Phoenix. Hearing him say a name reminded me of the familiarity he had with these girls. “You know them?”
    â€œYeah. Unfortunately.”
    â€œI’m getting tired of this, Erik,” Phoenix, the leader, growled. “You can’t hold us off all night.”
    â€œListen, we both know I have information you want. You’re not going to rush in and fight me.”
    â€œYou used to be one of us,” a new voice proclaimed.
    Erik stiffened. A look of absolute defenselessness passed over his expression. “Cara?”
    â€œYeah,” Cara said, her voice hard, stiff. “I’m here, too. You almost killed me with your stuntman driving.”
    Why had he stiffened? Why the defenselessness? And he’d once been an A.I.R. agent? He did seem to know a lot about them. And I’d never seen anyone use a weapon quite so expertly.
    â€œYou may not want to fight us,” Cara said, “but I’d love to smash your face in.”
    Ex-girlfriend, I decided with a twinge of jealousy. “How long have you two been broken up?” I asked before I could stop myself.
    Erik shrugged, pulling his attention back to me. “How’d you know we dated?”
    I tapped a fingertip to my temple. “Smart.”
    â€œA few months,” he said with a small grin.
    â€œWhat’d you do to make her so mad?”
    His lips pursed, destroying all hint of that grin. “Not a good time to discuss that.”
    â€œJust like you know we won’t kill you,” Cara added as if there had never been a lag in their conversation, “we know you won’t kill us.”
    â€œYou don’t know anything about me,” he growled darkly. “Not anymore. Maybe not ever.”
    Pause.
    â€œI’m approaching, and if you singe a single hair on my head I’ll kill you the way I’ve wanted for months,” Cara said.
    â€œSure you want to risk it, babe?” he said to her. “I’ve wanted to hurt you, too. I’ve dreamed of it, in fact.”
    Babe? Babe! Did he still have feelings for her? None of my business, it didn’t matter, shouldn’t matter, but…obviously, he did still care and obviously I did, too. He’d kissed me, after all.
    Plop .
    My brow furrowed. What had made that sound?
    â€œI dropped my gun,” Cara said, answering my unspoken question. “I’m weaponless.”
    Erik snorted and peeked over the car window. “But you’re never defenseless.”
    I, too, peeked through the window and watched as a beautiful Asian girl stepped into the light. She had smooth, caramel-colored skin, almond-shaped brown eyes, and rich, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was medium-size and lithe, her smooth curves encased in tight, black syn-leather.
    My head tilted to the side and I frowned. She’d been at the Ship. She’d been in that group of girls who had watched Erik so intently. She hadn’t watched Erik the whole time, though. She’d mostly watched me.
    Had she suspected me of working with him, even then? Dear God. Maybe the night had been doomed to fail no matter what I’d done. The girls as they’d walked up to the bar replayed through my mind…one of them had a blue trident tattooed on her face, one had pale hair and pretty features. One had brown hair and a sharp gaze. I couldn’t recall the others, though. I only knew that there had been others.
    Were they all here? Probably. My stomach twisted with the thought. That meant we couldn’t see them all; some had to be hiding. Maybe even sneaking in behind us.
    â€œThere’s more, Erik. There’s more!”
    He understood what I was saying. “I know. Three have already worked their way in front of the car. The building is keeping them from having a clear shot,