“You think?” That was going to tie the Feds up with media for days. Impressive. Rose couldn’t wait to see how everyone spun this.

  “I do.” Jane’s lips were tight. “Fireworks for you, lady.”

  “Thanks. They’re spectacular.”

  As soon as they got to a major highway, Jane floored it, heading south. That had been a nice slip right through the net.

  “Impressive.” She applauded, her heart pounding now that they’d made it through.

  “Thank you.” Jane chuckled. “We’ll need to stop for a new phone.”

  “We can do it in Florida.”

  No one they wanted to talk to was going to call now.

  Hell, Marty was probably still cussing them for blowing the house sky high. Still, Marty needed to tell her about Ben, and she needed to let him know they were about to fall off the map.

  Chapter Thirteen

  They made good time, Jane relaxing more as they outpaced the sirens and the blue lights heading north. She would miss that house, for sure, but it was a worthy sacrifice.

  “How do you feel about Popeyes?” she asked, knowing full well Rose hated fast food.

  “Bitch. Stop and get you those awful chicken strips.”

  “I can get you the dirty rice and a biscuit.” Rose could never resist a biscuit.

  “Maybe a biscuit, and I’ll share your onion rings.”

  She chuckled, pulling off the highway. They’d have at least half an hour before the team that had been at the house explosion could even hear, let alone get a web of agents on a hunt for them. They needed to eat.

  “I figure we’ll get drive-through and then park somewhere out of the way.”

  “Works for me, Jane.”

  She glanced sideways at Rose, checking for alertness.

  Her girl looked exhausted, but present. There. Pale as milk. She wanted Rose back up to fighting trim, damn it.

  “I’m working on it. I’ll be right soon.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  Jane pursed her lips against a grin. “Did you get hit on the head and become psychic, baby?”

  “You found my secret. I’m a mind reader.”

  They pulled up and ordered. Onion rings, biscuits and chicken strips. Two iced teas, unsweet. She parked a few blocks away at a nightclub, which was closed for the day.

  Rose buttered her biscuit and nibbled, eyes on the passing traffic. “We’re making good time.”

  “We are.” Jane was pleased, but she knew they’d still have to play it carefully.

  She had plane tickets under three different names and four different cruises set up. They were going to cruise to St. Maarten, spend a week, then take another boat to Spain. From there, they’d take the train.

  She had half a dozen passports lined up for both of them, as well. That was another reason she needed to touch base with Marty again. His forger was the best in the business.

  There were a thousand places to get burn phones between here and Fort Lauderdale, maybe more. She figured they’d eat, she’d run in somewhere, drive and then do it again. With Rose’s bruises, she was memorable as fuck.

  Jane, on the other hand, was doing the plain thing. Add sunglasses and a cap, and she was golden.

  Rose stole an onion ring, nibbling at it. “They’re not bad.”

  “Nope. There’s more biscuits in the box. Honey too.”

  “Mmm. Dessert biscuit.”

  “Sweet tooth.”

  “Nag,” Rose teased.

  Jane grinned. They’d had this conversation a million times.

  She snarfed up the rest of her chicken, then stole another of her own onion rings. She’d have a biscuit too. Or two.

  The pun was funny—at least to her tired mind—and she chuckled.

  “What?” Rose nibbled the coating off an onion ring.

  “I don’t know if it’ll be funny out loud.”

  “Uh-huh. One of your awful puns.”

  “You know it.” Rose sighed softly. “We need to move. They’ll have my picture flashing around.”

  “Yeah, but as a little busty Mexican señorita, not as an Irish rose.”

  “True enough. And you were the redhead last time we were out together, huh?”

  “I was. It was a shit look on me.”

  “I thought the fake mole was perfect.”

  Jane laughed, touching the spot on her cheek where the fake mole had sat. To her surprise, Rose leaned over and those lips brushed that spot, soft, gentle.

  “Mmm.” They were in a car in a public parking lot, and her girl was kissing her. Crazy stuff.

  “Finish your food, Jane. I want on a boat. I want in the sun. I want the fuck out of here so we can pretend it’ll be okay.”

  “We’re not gonna have to pretend.” She crumpled up the trash and started up the car.

  “No? You think we can do it? Pull it off?”

  “I do. I have something of a plan.” Jane knew it was their own people after them. She had an idea or two how to cash in some bargaining chips.

  “You? A plan? We’re going to be amazing.”

  “Ha-ha. I am the sniper, not the hand-to-hand pantser.” Jane always had a plan.

  “Hand-to-hand pantser? Moi?” Rose gave her the wide-eyed innocent look, and Jane cracked up.

  “Sure, baby. You’re by the book.”

  “Absolutely. A rules rapist, all the way. Why aren’t you driving?”

  “Nag, nag, nag.” Jane got them moving again because Rose was right. Always keep the wheels spinning.

  “Yep. And now you’re stuck with me, for the long term.”

  “I am. Go me!” She pulled back on the highway, watching to make sure she hadn’t picked up a tail.

  Rose was awake now, alert, eyes on the rearview. “Looks clear.”

  “Yeah. So far so good.” Florida. Then a boat.

  “You. Me. All-you-can-eat buffets.”

  “Hell, yes. Late-night cookies on the balcony.”

  “Soaking in the hot tub.” Rose was getting into it now.

  “Soaking in the sun for me. Sunscreen for you.” Poor Rose would burn and burn.

  “God, yes. We need a room with a balcony.”

  Jane made a note to put them on a new cruise with a spa suite. The other three she’d booked had balconies, but she could use a whole new card, get them a little luxury. Rose would think that was a hoot.

  As they sped south, Rose came to rest, head on her shoulder. She wrapped her right arm around Rose’s shoulder, glad the car wasn’t a standard.

  “Love you, lady.” The words were soft, quiet, well-meant.

  “Good deal. That will keep us afloat even without a balcony.”

  God, at some point she’d become a romantic.

  How fucking hilarious was that?

  Chapter Fourteen

  The ship sailed in eight hours. All they had to do was make it until it sailed with a Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Grainger on board.

  Rose looked at the passports. Lloyd and Myra Grainger. Jane was in the bathroom, trimming her hair and playing with the fake mustache. All Rose had to do was wear a wig and some contacts to lighten and gray out the natural color of her eyes, and she was golden.

  Jane had taken her to an emergency clinic in Tampa, and now she had a solid cast, making life simpler. The B-12 shot had helped a lot too.

  She sat at the hotel window, watching the car, waiting for someone to make a move.

  Someone was out there. She felt it.

  Rose hoped to hell it was just Marty, but he wasn’t answering his phone.

  “You’re obsessing.” Jane’s voice floated in from the bathroom.

  “Someone’s out there. Watching the car.”

  “Where?” Jane came into the room with her, heading obliquely for the window, never in a direct line of fire.

  “You see the streetlight? There’s someone behind it, someone in a black hoodie. It’s what? Eighty five degrees out there?”

  Maybe hotter. And fucking humid too.

  “Shit.” Jane managed to get a look out while not giving a profile to anyone outside. “How the hell?”

  “Could it be Marty?” Could it be Aaron? She stood up, went to Jane’s bag, searching for a blade, something she could slip in her cast.

  “Yeah, I mean, the height is close, and he and Benny pulled the hoodie thing when I met them last.”

  She found a knife, slipped it into her cast, point between her index and middle finger.

  “Are you ready, baby?” Jane looked amazing. Incredibly Miami paisano.

  “I am. You coming with? You don’t usually work close.” That was her job.

  “I’m not in a place to cover you with a rifle. Not letting you go it alone.”

  She chuckled. She hadn’t had anyone worry about her in a dozen years, longer. The feeling used to annoy her; with Jane it made Rose feel ten feet tall. She didn’t bother to ask whether Jane was carrying, and she almost felt sorry for whoever was down there.

  The man was about to have a truly shitty day.

  They hit the street, Jane putting on a pronounced limp.

  “Oh, very nice.” She went for confident and sure, head up, even though the goofy southern-lady wide brimmed straw hat cast her face into a shadow.

  She tracked hoodie man, who fell into line behind them about ten feet.

  Rose forced herself to relax, to breathe and trust in herself. There were two of them. They could do this. Jane never looked like anything but a tourist, ambling along away from their car.

  She feigned dropping the car keys, let him get closer, then stood and slid right into his space, knife at his ribs. “Can I help you?”

  “Juniper. Juniper rabbits, guys. Come on.”

  Jane frowned, scowled a little at the skinny, pale ghost under the hoodie. “Chris? Since when did you ever leave a computer screen?”

  “I was in the area. Marty sent me to make sure everything worked and to tell you that he’s taken care of business. Call off your dog.”

  “Dog?” She let the knife press a little.

  Jane chuckled. “Arf. It’s okay, baby. Chris is only dangerous to your credit report.”

  “I don’t have a social security number, so it’s a moot point. Why are you lurking?”

  Chris shrugged. “I never get to go out.”

  “So, you’re playing spy?” Rose cackled, the sound ringing in the air a little. How adorable was that?

  “I am. I know you’re hurt. I just want to make sure you two don’t need backup.”

  “Thanks, Chris. Do you have a vehicle? We could trade off, and let you know where to pick it up after.”

  “I have three here. The Mustang, the green Corolla and the little Toyota pickup.” Chris pressed a key ring into her hand. “Text Marty with the address. He’ll deal.”

  “Will do.” Jane nodded, looking so much more butch than Chris. Cuteness.

  “Okay. I’m gonna go to the KFC. I’m hungry. You flash your lights if you get all…scared.”

  Rose looked at the kid, and he wilted some.

  She still had it. Go her. Jane took her arm in a courtly gesture, and off they went. Toward the Corolla.

  “You want me to get our things, or are we going to drive around and come back?”

  “We’ll come back. If Chris is still alive, we’ll get our stuff.” Jane’s jaw set in a hard line, and she could tell sacrificing Chris would bother her.

  “Tell him to run, lady. Would Marty have sent him?”

  “I’m not sure Marty told him to come in person, baby.” Jane grinned a little. “He’s a tech guy.”

  “He’s a geek.”

  “That’s what I said, love.”

  Rose snorted. “I hope he’s smarter than you seem to think he is.”

  “He’s brilliant. And a neat man.” Jane gave her a look and they slipped in the car. “You hungry?”

  “You know, I am. Midnight pancakes?”

  “And sausage.”

  “And lots of coffee.”

  And maybe a sleepless night watching before they got their asses on that ship.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ah. Tuscany.

  Jane chuckled. They’d jumped ship in Barcelona, letting everyone believe they were headed down from Catalan to Southern Spain. Then they slipped on a small Mediterranean cruise line to get to Cittavecchia, then taken two different trains to Florence.

  Now they had a villa outside of Siena.

  Her Rose was outside in the sun, a coffee in one hand and a cheesy romance novel from 1974 in the other. The bright red curls were shining and loose, the light loving on every inch of that woman.

  Jane was damn glad the old lady disguise was gone. Hell, she was happy not to bind her boobs and be a man anymore. Mmm. Boobs. Rose’s looked luscious in a low-cut tank. Bruise free.

  Her girl was blossoming here, laughing more and more every day, beginning to tease and play.

  Jane decided it was time to add to the fun. She started stalking.

  Rose’s head tilted, her girl still so sensitive, even here. That was a good thing. They’d have to keep an eye out the rest of their lives, even if Ben had removed the major threat before he died. Marty said he’d walked into some oil sheik’s compound and started shooting.

  The thought made her smile, honestly, their Ben dying in a blaze of glory.

  So much better than fading in some hospital room.

  She circled, then feinted and came in hot from the left. “Boo!”

  Rose’s laugh filled the air, and suddenly her arms were filled with curves and warm skin, Rose taking her down onto the grass, tongue-fucking her lips.

  Jane opened up and let Rose go where she wanted. So good to be out of the driver’s seat.

  One hand cupped the back of her head, tilted her so the kiss could deepen. Her girl. Damn. Just…damn.

  Struggling, Jane got both hands between them and started pulling at clothes.

  Rose chuckled, one lean thigh pressing up, giving her some delicious friction, something to rub against. God. God, it felt like they’d been on eggshells and now…

  Her girl was hungry for her.

  Jane kissed Rose hard, deep, rubbing like crazy while she ripped that tiny little tank right off.

  Tiny hard nipples waited for her, and she tore from the kiss, wrapping her lips around one and sucking, pulling until Rose moaned for her. She loved how sweet and clean Rose’s flesh tasted. The only bruises there ever should be hers.

  “Harder, lady.” Rose’s thigh rocked against her cunt, making her ache.

  “Like this?” She licked and sucked, working the other nipple with her fingers.

  “God, yes. Yes. Feels like heaven.”

  “My girl.” She pinched and nipped. Hard.

  “Yours!”

  Rose arched, fingers tangling in her hair, tugging. She moaned, switching sides, biting the other nipple. Her girl cried out, pulled away and bent into another sharp kiss, those taut nipples burning against her chest.

  They rolled, Rose pinning her to the ground, straddling her. Oh that was hot as all fuck.

  Rose’s lips brushed her ear, “Love how you’re wet for me. Want you.”

  “Love you. Anything, baby girl.” They were basking, wallowing in each other. That was okay.

  “Everything.” Rose pushed one hand between them, unfastening her jeans.

  Jane wiggled, helping out. More. She needed skin to skin.

  “Gonna order a strap-on for us to play with. Gonna make you fuck me.”

  She should get her girl more romance novels. They obviously gave her ideas. Naughty, wonderful ideas.

  Rose’s fingers slipped into the leg of her panties, beginning to tease. “First, though, I want you to come for me.”

  “I can do that.” Jane panted, touching as much of Rose as she could, concurrently and consecutively.

  “I do like it, though, the idea of you, slamming into me.” Rose was going to drive her crazy.

  She rode Rosie’s hand, squeezing with her thighs. “I like it too, baby.”

  Rose’s chuckle was husky, deep. “I can tell, so wet for me.”

  The tips of Rose’s fingers circled her clit, the sensation deep enough to burn, and her thighs went tight before they began to tremble, shake. She gasped, jerking, her nipples hard as little rocks. God, it was good to not hold back.

  “That’s it. That’s it, love.”

  Rose didn’t give her a second to breathe, didn’t give her any quarter. They slapped together, and their lips slammed together, the taste of copper marking them both. She grabbed Rose’s hips, holding on tight. Two fingers pushed inside her, making her moan, and that thumb never stopped working her clit.

  She tried to make her hands work, be clever, but Rose was shorting her out.

  “Just let me fuck you.”

  The filthy words made her teeth click together, made her swallow hard, and when Rose bent, those wicked lips wrapping around one nipple she wanted to scream.

  Her body stretched out as if she was on a rack, and she pushed her hands up over her head, letting Rose have everything.

  Heat flooded her, her thighs jumping restlessly, like there was a current going from her needy cunt to her fucking soul. Rose loved her like nothing else mattered, like they weren’t disheveled and half-bare in the back lawn.

  She chuckled. Their villa. Their rules. Their love.

  Rose’s fingers curled, lighting her up inside, and she rolled up, trying to wrap around Rose, hold on tight. She slipped and slid on the grass, her ass sliding.

  “Come on. Let go, now. I’ve got you.” Rose pushed and pushed, the coil of heat inside her so big that it made her want to scream.

  So she did. Jane threw her head back and yelled out her orgasm, shaking hard.

  “Mmm.” Rose settled on top of her, grinning like a newborn fool, fingers still moving gently, drawing the pleasure out.

  “God, baby. You’re definitely fully recovered.”

  “I am. I told you I was.” Rose laughed, tongue flicking the tip of her nipple, leaving it wet and shining in the sunlight. “You’ve been treating me like glass, which is nice, but sometimes I just want to feel everything.”

  “Well, you can be sure I’ll be my old self from now on.” Jane moved fast, pushing Rose down on the ground. “We need to get that strap-on.”

 

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