Ride with the SEAL (Norse Security 1)

“I’ve changed my mind. The Aeon’s not for sale anymore.”

Cam scrunched his nose and looked over at her. “What the fuck are you talking about? That car was never for sale to begin with.”

“It was, but I’ve withdrawn my acceptance of the offer.” She glanced at Cam then back to the stranger. “I’m sorry.”

“I still need to collect my property,” the guy said, stepping forward as his bodyguards barreled through both Everly and Cam to head inside. “I don’t give a shit about the car.”

“Wait a minute.” Everly trailed along beside him, scowling. “There’s nothing that belongs to you here. Get out. I said I don’t want your money.”

Cam stalked over as one of the bodyguards raised a beefy fist and prepared to bash in one of the Aeon’s taillights. “Stop it. What the fuck is happening here?”

He grabbed for the guard’s fist, but it was trying to grab a solid block of granite. Cam was two-hundred-fifty-pounds of solid muscle, but even he was no match for these behemoths. Whoever the hell the guy in the suit was, he paid for the most gigantic protection a man could get. The guard slammed his fist into the car’s rear end and plastic shattered. The guard didn’t even flinch. He pulled away, taking a hunk of broken taillight and twisted metal with him while his cohort reached inside to pull the safety latch. The trunk hissed open to reveal twelve neatly stacked plastic kilos of cocaine inside and Cam’s stomach bottomed out.

At the man’s nod, the guards began collecting the drugs and carrying them outside to their waiting Humvee while their leader leaned against the Aeon like he was strolling through a DC park and not smuggling enough coke to make a Columbian cartel lord proud.

Common sense told Cam he should just let this dude take his stash and leave it at that. But something about the guy’s narrowed gaze and calculating expression had his hackles rising.

He cocked his head toward Everly, signaling for her to get back to fixing the engine in case things went south on them. Luckily, she didn’t argue this time.

“Tell me,” the guy said as his guards carried off another armload full of coke. “Why is such a fine automobile stuck out here in the middle of nowhere? Seems odd, unless you knew about what was hidden in the trunk.”

“We didn’t know about your drugs,” Cam said, keeping his voice low and steady. “My only concern is the vehicle.”

“Huh.” The guy pushed away from the car and walked slowly around the perimeter. “It is a fine piece of machinery. What’s your interest in it, specifically?”

Cam swallowed hard. He’d spent the last forty-eight hours protecting the Aeon and its technology with his life. He wasn’t about to give it all up now to some random dealer with delusions of grandeur.

“Parts mostly,” he said, hoping his lie sounded convincing.

“Parts?” the guy raised a dark brow at him. For some reason, he reminded Cam of a crazy-ass drill sergeant he’d had to deal with once during SEAL training camp. The guy had thought he was so clever, questioning everything, but Cam had always seen right though the man’s bullshit. Same here. This dude might be dressed like he stepped off the pages of GQ, but he was nothing more than a criminal. And chances were good both Cam and Everly had seen too much. No way was this dealer letting them walk out of here alive.

He inched toward the front of the car to see how close Everly was to getting the engine back together, all the while keeping an eye on the guy in the suit, matching him step for step on the other side of the Aeon. “Yeah, parts. This is a rare model of vehicle. Only a few in the whole world. Owners pay top price for black market parts. Since you said you don’t give a shit about the car, figured we’d turn around and scrap it to make up for our lost revenue from the sale.”

“Right.” Suit guy narrowed his beady black eyes on Everly. “You failed to mention any of this in our text correspondence.”

She looked up at Cam before flicking her gaze back to the engine. “Didn’t think it was relevant.”

“I see.”

From what Cam could see, Everly had all the parts back inside the Aeon and was just finishing tightening the last bolt. Good thing she was quick. The two guards returned from making their last run of drugs outside and now stood blocking the entrance to the factory.

Suit man walked past the front of the car just as Everly slammed the hood shut and joined his colleagues by the door. “Too bad, really. You shouldn’t have lied to me, Ms. Knight. I know your father too well.”

“My father has nothing to do with this,” she said, raising her chin defiantly. “This was my deal. My money.”

Cam gave her a sideways glance as the guards drew their weapons and aimed at them. He prayed their silent communication wouldn’t fail them now. With one hand he reached slowly behind him, fumbling for the Aeon’s door handle while taking Everly’s hand with the other. They’d have only seconds to make it inside the bulletproof vehicle once the shooting started. He’d do his best to protect her from the fire.

“Time to say goodbye,” suit guy said, nodding.

Tugging hard, Cam dove fast for the floor, pulling Everly down beside him. He managed to get the Aeon’s door open and shove her inside as bullets pinged off the car’s exterior. Thank God above the guards seemed to have poor aim. He managed to get inside and lock the doors, then fumbled for his passcode device. “Please tell me this thing will run.”

“It should.” Everly crouched on the passenger side floor while Cam did the same on the drivers’ side, plugging his device into the ignition and turning it on. Seconds crawled by as one-by-one the numbers clicked into place then finally a beep signaled it was ready.

Cam raised up higher to peer out the windows. The thugs were closer now, still blasting the Aeon with ammo. The trunk was still open and they aimed inside it—he guessed to hit the gas tank and cause the whole damned thing to blow.

Time to get the hell out of Dodge. He jammed the Start button on the car. The engine churned, but didn’t fire.

“Shit!” He glared over at Everly. “I thought you said it was ready to go?”