He tucked her close, alive and safe against him. He kissed her back, once, twice, before resting his forehead against her. "We should have waited until morning."
"No. We shouldn't have." Her hand trailed to his chest. "We did it, Tanner."
The grip of fear twisting round his heart for Kathleen started to ease with each steadying breath, with her light massage along his arm. Maybe she was right. He just needed to trust her. They'd worked together, gotten her in and out of the building without a problem. "What did you find?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" He'd gone through hell for nothing?
"A very telling nothing." Kathleen eased back, her hand still on his chest. "Quinn's already cleared out his office. Everything. The files are empty. The shredder is full. His computer is blank. He's probably halfway to Mexico by now. If we had waited until morning, we would have missed out, if we're not already too late to catch him before he leaves the country."
A rustling sounded behind them. In the back seat. Dread socked Tanner right in the gut just before the cold barrel of a gun pressed against his neck. He stared in the rearview mirror at the brown eyes staring back with frantic intensity.
Quinn Marshall's reflection smiled as he pressed the gun deeper into Tanner's neck. "Oh, I would say you're right on time to give me that ride over the border."
Tanner's hands fisted around the steering wheel. He hadn't checked the car before tossing Kathleen inside, and now the nightmares of his past replayed with chilling precision. Except this time there was no question but that he was to blame.
Chapter 16
Kathleen stared at the gun, blinked, stared again, and still her brain refused to process the obvious for at least three horrifying seconds.
The glow from parking lot lights spilled into the car too well for there to be any mistake. Quinn Marshall had a gun pressed to Tanner's neck.
The long barrel of the silencer pressed a hideous threat against Tanner's skin.
Bile burned a path up her throat. Forget calm under fire and combat training. All those hammered reactions fell away as she fought the need to scream.
A flicker of reason feathered through her panic. A scream would startle Quinn. His finger could twitch. Tanner would be—
She shut down that thought before it stole rational thinking altogether. Where was Crusty? She had to stall until Crusty stepped outside.
Quinn nudged the gun up into the underside of Tanner's jaw. "Drive."
A pulse throbbed in his temple. Tendons strained along his neck as he turned on the ignition. "Where? There's not a chance you're going to get out of the country. The security police are already on your trail."
Kathleen struggled for something to contribute. "We checked in with the security police the minute we got out of the desert."
"Damned shame the two of you are so competent." Quinn's gun shifted from one to the other with nervous jerks. "I'd hoped a walk in the desert would buy me more time. Or at least throw out the big guy's back."
She didn't see the need to tell him the investigation had been shut down for the holidays. Quinn had only made things worse with his tire stunt.
Hurry, Crusty. Hurry, hurry, hurry. "Give it up, Quinn. Don't add kidnapping charges to everything else. It's well past midnight and at least six hours to the border. When we don't make our morning meeting, the border's going to close up for you."
"Good point." Quinn's words raced with nervous intensity. "That's why we're not going to drive now. Time to improvise. Go back to base. Since you ruined my road trip plans, we're going to steal a plane. Then, my friend, you're going to fly us out of the country."
Kathleen twisted around. "You've got to be joking. That will never work. What about security?" She scrambled for something, anything. "He can't fly, anyway. He's grounded."
"He looks mighty healthy to me. An old ace like me feels safer in the air than on the ground." Quinn centered the gun on Kathleen's temple. "Quit stalling, Bennett, and drive back to base."
Tanner's biceps flexed and rippled even though his hands stayed on the wheel.
Kathleen stifled a groan. Not because of the gun to her head, but because of its power over Tanner. No doubt Quinn had chosen his tactics well.
During the twenty-minute drive back to base, Kathleen told herself everything would be fine. Quinn couldn't get away with hijacking a military aircraft. Tanner would undoubtedly do something. Or the base security police would stop them.
But there could be shots.
If only Tanner didn't make such a big target.