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Lorelei privileges sacked out on the com center sofa, in case any new transmissions
came in from Garrett.
A few minutes after five, Adam was monitoring the com center when the
tracking device signaled Stanford's arrival at the Sanctuary perimeter.
His voice was soft. "Okay, people. Show time."
* * * * *
Adam rousted the crew as afternoon faded into dusk. It was light enough to see
outdoors, but not too clearly. The perfect time to kick-start the plan. "Let's get moving,
people."
MacBride buckled Joe Cool, the police department's first-aid training dummy,
into the passenger seat of the camp's big Suburban. The camp's second vehicle, a
smaller Ford Explorer, was parked alongside. They were betting that Stanford would
not chance setting off the perimeter sensors, but MacBride tucked his Jeep out of sight
anyway, hidden in the equipment shed.
Adam checked his watch. "Time to go, bud. The monitor shows Stanford parked
to the south side of the road where the driveway ends. He's a city dude I doubt he's
wandered too far from his vehicle. Keep your hat pulled low, but give him a chance to
see two bodies leaving."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it. I'm outa here. Good luck on your end."
"We're Marines, Navy boy. Luck has nothing to do with it."
* * * * *
Lorelei counted down the time she'd been allotted. When she reached the
Explorer, she stood there for a long moment, her fingers on the door handle.
Change of plans, guys. Sorry.
She turned abruptly from the truck, jogged to the equipment shed, and slid the
door open. She wiggled past MacBride's camo Jeep and grabbed the key for the red
ATV from the pegboard. The KA-Bar strapped to her leg under the loose-fitting cargo
pants was secure. She slid the Walther into one oversized pocket, and extra ammo clips
in the other.
I hope I remember how to start this thing. To her relief, the four-wheeler cranked
over with a simple turn of the key. She grabbed a shorty helmet and backed out of the
shed. Elvis has left the building.
Lorelei checked her watch and gauged her time, then rode at barely seven miles
an hour along the long gravel drive. She hit the remote for the security gate when she
reached it. Convinced that Stanford watched her, she stopped for a moment while the
gate arm dropped behind her. She looked both ways down the paved road, pretending
to be undecided. Then she pulled out and rode west, away from Stanford. Slowly. She
didn't want to lose him.
* * * * *
Adam growled, furious. "What the fuck is she doing?" From the upstairs
window, he trained a pair of binoculars on Lorelei. Too far away to do anything,
frustration grabbed him as her ATV disappeared down the drive. "She knows the plan,
agreed to it. What the hell is she thinking?"
Lucian slung a heavy duffel over his shoulder. "Something must have occurred
to her after MacBride left."
"And she couldn't let us in on the goddamned secret?"
"Hoss, listen. She took the quad, not the Explorer. We have more time to cut
through the woods, more time to get set up. If that's her plan, it's a good one. You know
it is."
"And maybe my plan is to turn her over my knee and blister her ass when I catch
her. And she's not going to enjoy it."
"Can I watch?"
Adam swung his backpack at Lucian, who grinned and ducked.
"Trust her, man and we need to leave, like now."
* * * * *
Lorelei fiddle-farted around, keeping the ATV at about fifteen miles an hour. She
knew Stanford must be frustrated he'd edged too close with his car more than once.
This deal had better work. Her fitful sleep had been plagued by fears and
insecurities, totally foreign to her. What if MacBride can't get through? What if I can't pull
this off? Oddly, she had no trepidation about Adam and Lucian carrying out their end of
the plan.
How had this happened in a few short days?
The assignments, the excitement and adrenaline rush the danger of her job
had kept her motivated since the day she'd left behind her sedate university life. But
ever since she woke up in Adam Stone's bed, she'd felt alive, like her real life had begun.
She could no longer be satisfied with the before. Now she couldn't imagine living
without the constant friction, the raw sexual tension, between her and Adam. Or
without Lucian's care and affection.
Now now she craved the constant bombardment of all things sexual and
sensual provided by two men, strangers at that. How could she survive without it?
How could she survive without the heat, without the erotic energy that manifested with
each look, each touch? Her skin flamed at the memory of their hands caressing her
body.
Oh yeah, this had better work I'll be highly fucking annoyed if I get killed.
Lorelei continued the pretense of not noticing Stanford, glancing slyly out of the
corner of her eye to keep him in view. When she reached the crash site, she stopped the
quad on the shoulder of the road, stepped off and looked around, acting confused. She
remounted the ATV and pulled into the clearing near the edge of the ravine.
The wrecker had chewed up the ground in its efforts to yank the crunched Tahoe
from its resting place between boulder and tree, so she walked along the side of the
gouges left by the wrecker's big cleated tires. Lorelei hadn't been back since the
accident, and had been unconscious for the event itself. Lucian had drawn a map,
staging the placement of each player with an X, so she had some frame of reference.
She removed her helmet and finger-fluffed her hair for Stanford's benefit. The
dim evening light didn't penetrate the canopy cover of the dense woods very far.
Lorelei used her flashlight to check out the slope of the ravine, for effect.
Crack. Snap. Small branches broke under a careless foot but on the wrong side
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