I brushed that strand of hair behind her ear and looked directly into her eyes. “You won’t have to. I’m faster than anyone Julia has on staff, and more accurate than anyone she’s ever met. Including Kori.” I pulled back the side of my jacket to show her my gun, hoping the sight of it would reassure her the same way the feel of it reassured me.

She actually grinned, and something in my throat tightened at the sight. “Not exactly modest, are you?”

“Modesty is for the mediocre. Now, when you get there, use the key to unlock the car manually, so it doesn’t beep. Is the album in the trunk?”

Sera shook her head, her gaze glued to me, and I realized I liked having her full attention. A lot. “No. It’s in the backseat.”

“Good. Go in through the rear door and close it as softly as you can. Make sure the interior lights go off. You should be able to see fine with just the parking lot light. Sit on the floorboard and gather what you need—as much as you can carry without hampering your ability to run. You good so far?”

She nodded, and, though she still looked noticeably nervous, her hands were steady and her jaw set. I was impressed, considering that she’d probably never done anything like this before.

“When you have what you can carry, get out, close the door and run back to me.” I glanced around at the acres of shadowed lawn—my personal transit system. “I’ll have you out of here in a single step. Questions?”

She glanced at my gun. “You sure you’re not exaggerating your skill with that thing?”

“Anyone who so much as pokes his head out of that house before you get back here is going to get permanently ventilated. You have my word.”

“The word of a kidnapper?” She seemed way more amused by that than the situation warranted.

“I didn’t kidnap you. I—”

“I know. You liberated me from a den of evil. Or you anticipated my forthcoming desire to flee. Or maybe you released me from the burden of choice. Whatever it was, don’t do it again. Got it?”

“Got it.”

She still looked pissed off by the memory.

Pissed off looked good on her.

“You ready?” She looked scared, but she also looked determined. Sera wasn’t fearless, by any means, but she wasn’t going to let fear stop her. I could respect that.

In answer to her question, I drew my gun.

She turned and ran. With no warning. One second she was standing next to me in the shadow-drenched grass and in the next instant, she was racing across the lawn toward the parking lot, a glaring island of light, as if she were being chased by hounds from hell.

I scanned the night, alert for movement, but I saw none.

Sera’s footsteps thumped softly from grass onto pavement and her speed increased. She was one hell of a sprinter—a black blur racing across the pale pavement, hunched over, just like I’d instructed.

When she reached her car, she dropped into a squat, shielded from view of the house. Sera fumbled with her keys for a second, then opened the front door and reached inside to unlock the back door. Then she closed the front door softly and climbed into the back of the car.

I lost sight of her then, but if I couldn’t see her, neither could anyone else.

The soft click of her door closing had just rolled into the still night when a man dressed all in black turned the corner from the east side of the huge house. He carried an automatic rifle. I couldn’t tell what kind from the shadow it cast against the wall, but it had a long barrel and a scope, which meant he could hit me—or Sera—from much farther away than we actually were.

Kori hadn’t mentioned guards with rifles walking the grounds. So much for a skeleton crew. My home invasion must have really spooked Julia.

I stepped back slowly, carefully, fading deeper into the darkness with one eye on the guard, the other on Sera’s car, waiting for her head to appear above the backseat. Hoping he wouldn’t notice her.

The guard walked slowly—too slowly—and with each of his steps, my blood pressure rose. My heart beat a little harder. I pulled my suppresser from my jacket pocket and quietly attached it to the end of my gun.

Halfway. The guard was almost halfway across the yard, crossing the large covered patio, headed toward a pool, surrounded by its own privacy fence and adjoining pool house.

Then Sera sat up inside the car.

For the span of several held breaths, neither saw the other. I was the only one who knew how close to disaster we all sat. Sera’s head bobbed between the seats as she gathered her things, still oblivious. But her movement drew his eye.

The guard pulled a radio from his belt, swinging his rifle up with the other hand. But he couldn’t aim one-handed, and since the intruder hadn’t noticed him yet, policy dictated that he call for backup first.

I aimed.

I’m fast. But I’m not faster than the spoken word.

I could hear the static of his radio, but not what was said into it, or the reply that came back. I fired once. The gun thwuped. The guard tumbled backward and went down on the patio steps. I couldn’t see his wound from where I stood, but I knew he was dead before he hit the ground, because I knew where I’d hit him. The middle of his forehead.

Sera still hadn’t seen him, and more were surely on the way.

Shit! I glanced at the house. No activity yet. But that wouldn’t last long.

Gun aimed at the ground to my left, I jogged across the grass and into the parking lot, where the light made me feel exposed. Naked. Vulnerable.