When they reached the edge of the trees, they could see Tansy walking toward them, Stephens trailing behind.
The white noise of panic had slowed enough for him to hear Tansy’s voice in his earpiece.
“Well, you’re the one who claims to have invented the tech. Better get on it. Here’s a helpful hint, even though you keep calling it camouflage, it’s not camouflage at all. Better start with some research.”
Tansy started to jog toward them. Stephens took a few steps after her, but then stopped and watched her.
Was that because he knew when he’d been dismissed or because he knew Howard’s guys were nearby?
Sam hadn’t seen anything suspicious on the race to get to her, but he looked around again. So did Joe.
It didn’t take long for Tansy to approach the trees. Sam didn’t want Stephens to see him, but he didn’t want to startle Tansy either.
He moved back a bit and then moved out from the bushes. Tansy flinched but relaxed immediately. When she started to slow, he shook his head and started running alongside her.
They didn’t see Joe, so Sam assumed he was covering their backs.
Tansy’s face was carefully blank as they neared the car and then she jumped inside, avoiding Sam’s touch. “Please, can we get out of here? Now?”
He nodded and jumped in. He and Joe had already picked out a meeting spot where they would meet.
Sam checked his surroundings but didn’t see anyone trying to follow. He didn’t see Stephens either.
He’d learned a bit of defensive driving skills through his job and more through Graham, but he wished for more sets of eyes right now.
His phone rang as he was leaving the park. Joe. Wishing he’d had time to update Tansy, he pushed the car button to answer on speaker. “Hey Joe.”
“You’re clear. No one is following. And Stephens is moving to his vehicle now. He hasn’t made any phone calls, so I don’t think you’ve got a tail. I’ll make sure before I head out to the coffee shop.”
Tansy’s head whipped around at the conversation. Sam grimaced, knowing Tansy had put it all together. Even if it wasn’t obvious from the conversation, she’d have figured it out.
“Seriously? You two are planning behind my back?”
Joe spoke through the phone. “Hey Sis. It’s not like that. I’ll explain in a minute when we stop.”
Tansy crossed her arms over her chest and leaned into the car door, away from him. Without looking at him, she spoke. “I’d like to head back to Midnight Lodge now. Make sure everything is safe.”
Sam spoke softly. “Graham’s there. He’d let me know if there was a problem.” His friend had arrived late the night before and had stayed behind to keep an eye on things.
Sam wasn’t sure what to do next. Beside him, Tansy drew in a deep breath and huffed it out. When she spoke, her voice was clipped. “Apparently you’re going to do what you want anyway, so do it.”
Without looking at him, Tansy reached into her pocket and pulled out her ear buds. She shoved them in her ears and in a moment, he could hear music pumping out. All the better to ignore him.
Apparently, Joe could hear the music as well because he sighed through the phone. “Well, that went well. I’ll follow you up to the lodge. Good luck.”
Sam was going to need it.
Friends In Low Places
Tansy fumed on the drive home.
And Midnight Lodgewasnow her home. A home that some jerk had tried to invade the other night.
A home she’d opened up to Sam, right along with her heart.
A home she was now going to be sharing with at least three over-protective men.
To be fair, it was Joe’s home, too. And she’d told Sam he could share it with them as well. And she’d agreed to having Graham stay.