Beneath the Fire (A Guardians Novella) by Victoria Paige

eyes glowered suspiciously at Nathan. “You never explained how lacrosse boy here showed up at the most opportune moment.”
    “Well—” Lucy began.
    “He’s a cop, isn’t he?”
    “Not exactly.”
    “Are we seriously having this conversation out here?” Nathan said tersely. “Get in the car, both of you!”
    Eva's brow shot up. “Bossy. That’s hot.”
    “Get in the car, Eva,” Lucy said. She pushed the driver’s seat forward so her friend could hop into the backseat.  
    They were meeting up with the rest of the group in a fastfood restaurant to eat. It had been a grueling six hour drive and they had another two and half to the border. Might as well fuel up with coffee and food.
    On the way to the meet-up point, Eva started with the twenty questions.
    “So, who exactly are you Nathan Stark?”
    “I work for an agency that does work for the FBI.”
    “So were you spying on Lucy?”
    “Yes.”
    “I didn’t know the FBI stooped to spying on college kids.”
    “Eva!” Lucy interjected.
    “What? Are you defending what he did?” her friend asked.
    “Papa isn’t a good man, they did what they had to do.”
    “Use you, you mean,” Eva said acidly. “So what now, Stark? Did you get what you need? Will you leave my friend alone now?”
    “Not happening,” Nathan replied. “It’s between Lucy and me, and it’s none of your business.”
    “Hmm... something tells me Stark bit off more than he can chew,” Eva said shrewdly.
    Nathan grunted.
    “So did superboy here swoop down and save the day?”
    “They did show up when we needed them most,” Lucy admitted. “He and a colleague of his fought back Papa’s men.”   She glanced over at Nathan and grinned. “He was quite the badass.”
    Eva leaned forward and stuck her head between them. “So you’re not some preppy, clueless college jock after all, Stark?”
    Nathan grunted.
    Eva and Lucy started giggling, Nathan shot them an annoyed look.
    “There’s Leo and Maia,” Lucy said as she pulled into a quaint looking open-air restaurant.
    “Who the hell is Maia?” Eva asked, staring unhappily at the redhead.
    “Nathan’s colleague.”
    “No way? That redhead? Are you sure she’s not Nathan’s secret girlfriend?” Eva exclaimed.
    “I think her fiancé would kick my ass if I so much as looked at her that way,” Nathan muttered.
    “She’s very beautiful,” Lucy observed as she got out of the car and let Eva get out. She was also relieved to hear that Maia was engaged.
    “How are the girls holding up?” Lucy asked her brother.
    “They’re in better spirits, but still very wary,” Leo replied. “They don’t talk too much. I’d hate to think what was done to them.”
    “You don’t wanna know,” Maia said grimly. Changing the subject, she walked toward the restaurant. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

CHAPTER NINE

    Their convoy took the exit to Mexico 85 that would lead them straight to Nuevo Laredo and the Laredo border crossing. Maia’s SUV took the lead, the vans were in the middle, and Lucy, Eva and Nathan were bringing up the rear in the Dodge Charger.
    It was pushing 4:00 a.m. It was still dark outside and was looking to be another long stretch of empty road. Eva was chatting endlessly with Lucy, occasionally bringing Nathan into the conversation, but he understood they needed to catch up. Nathan found it fascinating that their conversation ranged from the latest pop star scandal to the latest economic issue being debated in Congress.
    They’d been back on the road for half an hour when he caught sight of single beams of light rapidly getting closer. Fuck, motorcycles. He quickly radioed Maia.  
    “Heads up, we’ve got a couple of motorcycles coming up fast.”
    “Copy that.”
    “Are they the same ones from the rest stop?” Lucy asked anxiously.
    “Not sure,” Nathan replied brusquely. Chances are, they were. But he did not want to frighten Lucy unduly. “Just keep driving normally, Lucy.”
    A bike