Blindsided by Tes Hilaire Page B

She was now following the backs of the cars behind the building to where their car was parked.
    Maybe she was actually going to go with him willingly, let him explain… Yeah and pigs can fly.
    He caught up, holding the baton before her so she ran into it. She grabbed it out of his hand. He handed her the purse as well. She grabbed that, too.
    “I’ll help,” he said, taking her elbow. She jerked her arm out of his and switched on her baton.  
    He drew in a deep breath, wincing at the burn in the middle of his chest. “You pack a real wallop.”
    She ignored that.  
    “My car is a row over. We’ll go back to the house and talk.”
    “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Her voice was calm and even now. It appeared she’d overcome her initial panic.
    “Then why are you in the parking lot?” he asked.
    She fumbled her way around the end of another car, cocked her head for a moment before striding across the open lane to the next row. “So I can get you out of sight before I beat the crap out of you for lying.”
    “Ah.” He nodded, trying to hide the amusement in his voice. By God she had spine. He liked that—even if he didn’t like being on the receiving end of it. “Maybe I should tell you that my half-brother is close by then.”
    “I’ll beat the crap out of him, too,” she vowed.
    “The real Garret might give you more of a challenge.”
    She stopped and sucked in a large breath, using both her nose and mouth. It sounded like a hiss between her clenched teeth.  
    Her head swiveled toward a nearby car. On the edge of the lot under a broken solar lamp, it was the perfect place to hide. It didn’t take much to deduce that his half-brother was there.  
    “You smell alike,” she sounded almost amused. Almost. “That explains why the house smelled like you. I dismissed my suspicions because you fit in with the scents there; like you actually belonged.”
    “Let’s go to the house,” Teigan suggested. She shook her head. Teigan jerked his head at Garret. “We can all go to your house then, if you’ll feel safer.”
    Garret came out, eyes scanning. He stopped and looked at Teigan questioningly before coming too close. Yeah, what the hell am I doing?
    “Aria.” He waved Garret forward. “I’d like you to meet my brother, Garret, half-brother actually.”
    Garret frowned but closed the distance, offering his hand when she held her own out to shake. Teigan watched with interest as her grasp clenched over Garret’s, how his brother’s eyes narrowed before he turned to Teigan and nodded.  
    Damn . Not that he’d expected less. But he didn’t want this mess. He was still convinced she could be in danger, but now the danger was coming from another direction as well—Whitesman, the government, and subsequently from him.
    “Hmm.” She released Garret’s hand.
    “Your place or ours?” Teigan asked.
    She chuckled in disbelief. “You think I’d go anywhere with a pair of liars?”
    “It’s your choice.” Protecting her and Garret came first. Then answers. Only then would he worry about the mess that had been plopped down in front of him. Still, he’d been taught to work with the hand he’d been dealt. “We can talk now. Or I can report back to my superiors. I’ve learned enough tonight to drag you in for formal questioning, don’t you think?”
    She paled. The baton in her hand clicked a couple times as she shifted her grip. Garret shuffled uneasily, glancing at her with a crease in his normally wrinkle-free brow. She’s trembling, Teigan realized. Definitely a lying dickhead . But if it got her to do what he wanted, he’d play this bluff to the end.
    “It’s up to you,” he told her, his tone heartless. “But given the fact that you seem to go out of your way to hide your little secret, I’m assuming you’d rather not make this official.”
    “Is that really an option anymore?” she asked pointedly. “What are you? Military, Agency, FBI, Global Police?”
    He didn’t