Atonement (Master's Protege 2)

“Your left boob? Jesus.”

“Guys say left nut, what’s a girl supposed to say?”

“Nothing. You say nothing.”

She glances out the window, and the smile fades from her face. “Something bothered me about what he said during your questioning, Cain.” I don’t know why the tone of her voice sends alarm bells clanging in my mind. It’s like a warning bell, like the wailing of a siren before a storm. I shake my head, willing myself to stop acting like a pussy.

“What?”

She frowns, and hits the gas, her speed creeping up as she heads onto the highway.

“Babe, watch the speed.”

“We have to get back to the house.”

I stare at the mirror to see if we’re being tailed. Still, nothing. “Doesn’t do us any good if we arrive in body bags.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”

“Slow down, or I’ll make you pull this car over.”

She glares at me and punches the gas again. Oh, this woman is in so much goddamn trouble. Before I can respond, something catches my attention in the rearview mirror. A flash of green.

“Keep it steady, Vi. Someone’s behind us.”

I flip the switch on the side of the seat so it reclines, fold the headrest back, and kneel, gun in hand. I don’t care if anyone sees us. I don’t care about fucking anything but making sure we get home safe and sound.

Hardly any cars are with us on the road, but Violet zooms past every one of them. I’m not telling her to slow down now.

I kneel on the folded-down seat, gun in hand, my eyes on the target. If this is anyone of importance…

The green is gone. I wonder for a second if it was only my imagination, when a flash of green appears a second time.

“Come at me, bro,” I whisper. Violet’s peal of laughter makes me smile. God, I love this woman. She just watched me interrogate an old man, almost kill another, and now I’ve got a gun trained on someone following us, ready to pull the trigger. And she makes jokes about her left boob and laughs.

“You’re either perfect or psychotic,” I mutter.

“Aw, you do say the most romantic things. Do you need me to maneuver in a way that gives you better vision?”

“No, babe. What you’re doing is perfect.”

The flash of green is only a speck, so far behind us I can’t see much. I don’t want her to slow down because that could put us in a compromising situation, but I want to see the motherfucker up close.

“Can you see anything at all?” she asks.

“Looks like a sunroof… but I can’t see much else.”

Violet frowns. “That sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”

“Me neither.”

“Fuck, they took an exit.”

I watch as the green car slows and gets off the highway behind us.

“Maybe they weren’t following us?”

I shake my head. Doesn’t make sense they weren’t. Doesn’t make sense at all.

My phone rings, and I quickly answer it. “Yeah?”

“Boss.” Henri. “I’ve got some information for you that may prove useful.”

Violet takes the exit that brings us home.

“I want to hear it but first, I want you to notify the team at the house that Violet and I are almost there, and we are pretty certain we were followed by a green car.”

“Green, sir?”

“Yeah. Ring a bell for you?”

“I don’t want to point fingers or raise unnecessary suspicion, sir. Is that all you have to go on?”

“Yeah. Henri.” My voice is tight. “Spill.”

“Armand had a green car, sir. Would he be so foolish as to follow you without bothering to get another car?”

“I don’t know.”

Foolish, maybe. Lazy, definitely.

“What did you find, Henri?”

“I’ve found a record of Violet’s mother, sir. And it’s… let’s just say it’s interesting. I have to investigate further though.”

That tells me nothing. “You have nothing else to tell me?”

“Not yet, sir.”

We’ll have to double down our efforts. But we’re making progress. We’re getting somewhere. I hang up with Henri, and Violet looks my way.

“What?”

“Armand drove a green car.”

“Well that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have green cars.”

I nod. “Yeah, but I’ve heard it on good authority that he doesn’t let shit go.”

She blows out a breath. “Of course not. That would be far too simple, wouldn’t it?”

Oh yeah. It truly would.

Her stomach growls when we pull into the drive at the house. I check on security, and all confirm—no one followed us here. Surveillance has been doubled. We’re safe here.

“Inside.”

“Cain, you’re acting like a sniper’s just going to jump out at us at any moment.”

“They did at Descamps’ house.”

She snorts. “They weren’t at Cain Master’s private house, were they? Cain, when I hired my first ride here, the driver wouldn’t even come this far.”

“No?”

“No. He found out who lived here and he was done. Dropped me off a mile away and made me walk.”

“Now that’s a form of bullying. I want his name.”