have final exams. Sorry.

Ryder suddenly comes to a stop and swears as he stares at an empty spot on the street next to the curb.

"Are you kidding me?" I hear him grumble in frustration. "What else could possibly go wrong?"

"I don't believe you actually want an answer to that question."

He turns and glares at me. I turn and look at the spot on the street he was previously staring at. "I take it this is where you parked the car."

This earns another string of curses from him. "Out of all the times to get a car stolen-" He cuts off abruptly and clenches his hands into fists, glaring murderously at the empty spot as if sheer willpower will make the car reappear.

I look around at the other cars parked on the street. "I could hotwire another car." I don't have to look at him to know his stare's burning a hole in the side of my head as I continue to survey the cars on the street.

"As an FBI agent, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," He says as he runs a hand through his hair in frustration.

I shrug. "Do you have a better idea?"

"I'm not helping you steal a car."

"Well, what if you didn't help and I did all the work?"

"Please, for the love of everything, just shut up. I'm revoking your talking privileges."

I choose to ignore that comment. "Could you call Damien?"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't do us any good. He's too far away to get here any time soon. He got called for another assignment. Apparently, my father believes I can handle you by myself. He doesn't know what a walking disaster you are." He swears some more and his gaze begins to dart all over the street, looking for some kind of a solution.

I open my mouth to make a comment on his "walking disaster" assessment of me but before I get the chance, I'm yanked back from him by the collar of the jacket. I let out a shout as an arm is snaked around my neck and the barrel of a gun is pressed flush against the side of my head.

Ryder whirls around to face me and his gun is out and aimed in my direction, at whoever's holding me-or at least, I hope that's where it's aimed-in seconds. His expression is alarmed mixed with a cool kind of determination.

The arm around my neck tightens and my hands fly up to try and pull it away. It does no good.

"You make any wrong moves and I kill her," An unfamiliar voice growls right next to my ear.

I see the hesitation, the anger flash through Ryder's eyes. So, I speak up.

"He's bluffing," I tell Ryder. "Volkov will kill him if he kills me. Don't listen to him."

The arm around my neck tightens to the point I'm having trouble sucking in a breath. I claw at his arm, trying to get his grip to loosen.

"I may not be able to kill her," He starts again. "But there are all kinds of other . . . fun things I could do. Drop the gun," He orders Ryder.

Ryder glares murderously back at him but slowly starts to lower his gun to the floor.

I shake my head. "Don't-" I'm cut off as he slams the gun into the side of my head. It's not hard enough to do any serious damage, but hard enough for me to bite back a cry of pain and slightly disorient me.

Ryder's glare seems to get about ten times worse. If looks could kill, all our problems would be solved.

Ryder watches intently. Like a tiger just waiting to pounce. His muscles are tense and straining and his hands twitch as if he's barely keeping himself from making a move. I want to tell him to go for it, but he's not likely to listen to me.

"Now, here's how this is going to go," I feel him press the gun harder into the side of my head. "Me and the lady here are going to take a walk." He points the gun at Ryder. "If you follow us I'll be putting a bullet in her."

His focus is on Ryder as he starts to back up with his arm still wrapped around my neck, so I bring my foot up and then slam it down as hard as I can on his toes.

He lets out a shout and the arm around my neck is suddenly gone. I go to try and move away from him when I feel his hand shoving me forward into the floor. I brace my fall with my hands and roll over to look up at him, only to see he's aiming his gun at Ryder.

It's like time slows as he adjusts his aim, as Ryder continues to charge toward him. I start to shout out a warning to Ryder, knowing it won't do any good. I watch as his finger tightens around the trigger. And then I watch as his arm is knocked away, the gun going off. The bullet embedding itself into the concrete.

I hear him swear as he grabs at his arm, the gun falling from his grasp. I watch as Ryder stares at the girl that seems to have just materialized in front of him. A baton in her hand and a familiar tattoo covering the side of her neck.

It's not the just the tattoo that's familiar to me though. I smile.

"I don't want to fight you," She says harshly as she stares at him, his hand still clutching at his arm. "But I will if I have to."

He regards her with a cautious and calculating look as if trying to figure out exactly who she is and why, if they both have the same tattoo, is she attacking him?

He suddenly charges her and she jumps agilely out of the way. He throws a punch at her and she dodges. He throws another punch and she dodges again. His leg swings out to knock her off balance. She jumps over it.

He's looking more and more pissed as the seconds tick by and her face shows nothing, but amusement flickers in her brown eyes.

He charges her again and she steps gracefully to the side and spins quickly, bringing the baton down on the side of his neck. He crumples to the ground, unconscious.

Ryder moves between me and her, but I'm already on my feet and running around him. His fingers brush against the fabric of the jacket as he tries to grab hold of me. He swears when he doesn't.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask her.

She smiles back at me. "Nice to see you too," She says. "I've been keeping tabs on the gang for a while, listening to rumors and keeping track of how close they've been getting to you. When several gang members started coming out here, I knew something was up, so I followed them out here."

"You could have gotten killed," I tell her.

She waves off my concern. "I didn't know exactly where you were, but I saw him," She gestures to Ryder. "get out of his car and he had intentions to murder written all over him. I thought he was probably working with Volkov and I just couldn't see his tattoo. When you saw him and didn't start running, I figured he was one of the good guys."

"You know her?" Ryder questions me, his gaze locked on her as if expecting her to turn and attack us at any given minute.

"I do," I confirm. "She's no threat to us." Ryder doesn't seem to believe this and his gaze locks on to the tattoo spanning across the side of her neck.

What she says next does nothing to help settle his suspicion and nerves. "Your car is parked around the corner."

Ryder's eyebrows shoot up and his muscles tense. He takes a step toward her. I step in between them before he decides to do something stupid. Like, deck her.

She turns to me. "They were searching cars. I figured it'd be better if it was moved."

I turn back to her. "Lead the way."

She nods and walks off. I pull Ryder along and follow her.

"Who is she?" Ryder asks me as he walks beside me, his eyes never leaving her. "And why is she helping us?"

"Because I helped her," I reply softly. "Years ago."

She comes to a stop next to a car and Ryder lets out more curses. I'm assuming that it means that is, in fact, his car. He glares at her as he pulls the keys from his pocket.

She shakes her head. "Don't bother," She says as she opens up the back passenger side door. "I left it unlocked."

His glare doesn't let up. "Why? So it could get stolen again?"

She scoffs at him and then points to the tattoo on her neck. "Everyone knows what this tattoo means. No one's stupid enough to steal a car after they've seen me get out of it."

"Still using that to your advantage I see," I tell her.

She offers me a bitter smile. "You play the hand you're dealt."

Ryder studies her cautiously before turning back to me. "You trust her?" He asks me. I nod. He turns back to her and tosses her the keys. "I'm getting in back with Nicky, I need to check over her wounds. Take us somewhere safe or so help me I'll-"

"Ryder," I say in warning.

She crosses her arms over her chest and gives him a calculating stare to match his own. "Well darn, that ruins my plans of dropping you two off in the nearest ditch."

His eyes narrow further and he opens his mouth to retort. I don't let him. I slap my hand over his mouth and push him toward the back of the car.

"You two can fight during the drive. My leg's killing me. I want to sit down." I'd like to say I'm lying about my leg, but the adrenaline's wearing off and it really is starting to hurt more than before. My head's pounding as well, but I think that's Ryder's fault.

Ryder's gaze turns to me and it's full of concern. He helps me into the backseat of the car and follows quickly after me. She runs around the car and gets quickly into the driver's seat.

She glances briefly down at the keys in her hand before shrugging and putting them in the ignition. "Didn't actually need these," She mutters. Ryder glares at her.

"Why do you know this girl?" He questions as his fingers gingerly touch at the wound on my leg. I don't believe he actually wants an answer.

He grimaces as he continues to look over my leg. He shakes his head. "You're going to need stitches," He says finally.

"No hospitals," Both me and her chorus in unison. Ryder raises his eyebrows in question.

"It's the first place they'll look once they realize we've gotten out of the area," I tell him.

"If Volkov doesn't already have people waiting there," She adds in. "He's really motivated to get you."

I grimace. "I know." Ryder's questioning and calculating gaze settles on my face. I avoid making eye contact.

"You and I weren't properly introduced," She says, glancing in the rearview mirror at Ryder. "I'm Sarah."

His calculating gaze once again turns to her. He eyes her cautiously. "I'm-"

"Ryder Stevenson," She interrupts him. "I know." His glare is deadly as he stares at her. She glances back at him once again. "Your name is on the rental agreement you left in the glove box."

"Then why the hell did you bother to try and introduce yourself?"

"Thought it might put you at ease," She pauses. "Clearly that's not the case."

"The only thing I've gotten out of this conversation is that you went snooping through my car."

"A rental car can hardly be classified as your car-uh oh." She mutters as she looks out at the street.

"What?" I question.

"Get down. Both of you. There's a blanket in the back seat with you two. Cover yourselves as much as possible."

"How did this get here?" Ryder asks her.

"I come prepared."

Ryder leans toward her as if he's about to dispute this but his gaze goes out the window instead. "Shit," He mutters. I lean forward next to him as I peer out the window. My heart drops at the sight. Some kind of a blockade has been formed by the gang members, and they appear to be checking every car as it goes through.

"That's illegal," Ryder mutters.

I turn and shoot him a flat look. "Well, I'm sure they had no idea. Why don't you tell them that?" I question sarcastically. He shoots me a glare.

"Get down and cover yourselves," Sarah hisses. She pulls her blonde hair back into a ponytail so it's no longer blocking any part of her tattoo. "I'll handle this."

Ryder slides off his seat and onto the floor of the back seat. He pulls me down with him and sets me in his lap, my back pressed firmly against his chest. He pulls the blanket over both of us and wraps his arms securely around me.

I feel safe. Like nothing can hurt me. And I find I don't like the feeling. I'm not safe. At any minute we could be discovered and in a whole lot of trouble. I shouldn't be feeling safe. It's not rational.

"Here we go," Sarah says, breaking me out of my train of thought and inner turmoil.

The car moves forward slowly and then comes to a stop. I hear the window roll down but I can't see anything from under the blanket.

"You going to let me through?" Sarah asks, her tone harsh and emotionless. "I haven't got all day."

"What are you doing out here?" A voice questions.

"Volkov wanted people in cars patrolling the area. So, what do you think I'm doing?"

"Volkov never said anything about this to me."

"Did he need to? Would you like to call him up and explain to him why you're keeping me from finding who he's looking for?"

"No, that's not necessary," I can hear the fear in the person's voice.

"It isn't? Could have fooled me. Are you planning on letting me through anytime soon?"

"Yes, of course."

"Yes, what?" Sarah questions, her tone a scary kind of cold.

"Yes, ma'am."

"She's kind of scary," Ryder whispers.

"You have no idea," I reply. I hear the window roll back up and the car starts moving forward once again. I don't move though, I wait for her to give an all clear.

"Okay," She finally says. "You two can stop cuddling and come out now."

I grumble and pull the blanket off the both of us. I struggle to get out of the position I'm in and back on the seat. Ryder helps me up and into my seat, his hands at my waist.

I move away from him as quickly as possible and take my seat. He gets off the floor of the car and takes his seat next to me.

He turns his attention to Sarah as he pulls his phone from his back pocket. "How long until we get wherever you're taking us?"

"Not long," She replies. Her eyes flash to me through the rearview mirror and there's amusement in them. "I can toss you both in any ditch along here."

Ryder abruptly stops whatever he was doing on his phone and glares at her. "You better be joking," He says flatly.

She smiles at him. "Guess you'll have to find out."

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