Daniel grabbed her by the upper arm and leaned close. “Let’s go,” he hissed.
She let out something like a growl, then allowed Daniel to haul her into the hallway outside her father’s office. The MPs followed, clearly intent on escorting them out with their hulking presence. Jace hurried after them.
Daniel and Piper kept an angry silence on the way downstairs and toward the front of the building, no doubt because the MPs would overhear, but Piper flicked a couple looks back to Jace, trailing behind, with something like amazement in her eyes. He wasn’t quite sure what that was about, but he really wanted to ask her what went down before she got caught. They would have time for that later. Besides, there was an undeniable relief coursing through his system at seeing her unharmed and knowing she was on her way to freedom. Although, he really had no idea how that had happened.
Just as they were about to exit the building, Jace felt a hot sensation on the back of his neck—it was the prickling feeling you got when someone was watching you. He whipped his gaze around the two-story entranceway they were striding through… and just barely caught a glimpse of someone ducking back inside one of the offices at the perimeter of the white-granite-lined open space. A hot surge of anger froze him in his tracks.
Agent Smith.
Jace could have sworn it was him, but he was gone now. Jace started to trot toward the office, intent on catching whoever it was and seeing if it was really the asshole who had been capturing and torturing shifters, including little girls, but a voice stopped him cold.
“Hold it right there, sir!” One of the MPs had his weapon out, pointed at Jace’s head.
He put up his hands and turned to face the MP. “Just had to use the restroom before we left.”
“No, sir.” His aim was unwavering. “My orders are to escort all three of you off the base.”
Jace grimaced, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it. They were on the Colonel’s turf, and they were lucky to be staying out of the brig.
“All right, fine. No need to get excited.” He lowered his hands and took his time strolling over to where Daniel and Piper waited with the second MP at the entrance door. Daniel looked like he was barely keeping from shifting, with the livid anger on his face, and Piper was working hard, too… to keep a smirk contained.
“Bathroom break?” she asked quietly as they trotted down the steps to the parking lot below.
“Hey, when nature calls, a guy’s gotta go.” He gave her a small smile.
She chuckled under her breath, then gave the MPs a final glare before climbing into the back of Daniel’s car.
The MPs followed them in a military police car all the way to the entrance of the base.
To Piper’s utter amazement, she was riding in the back of Daniel’s car, free as a bird, leaving the Joint Base instead of heading to the brig. Or FBI custody. Even more amazingly, Jace River sat in the passenger seat, giving her an occasional smirk over his shoulder. By unspoken agreement—probably because all three of them were holding their breath—they waited until they were through the gate and off base, leaving the MPs behind, before speaking.
“You really know how to screw things up, don’t you, Piper?” Daniel’s voice was tight.
At least his opinion was no surprise. “It wasn’t exactly part of my plan to get caught.”
“Oh, I guess that makes it better.” Daniel’s scowl reached across the seat and smothered her words of indignation before they could fly out of her mouth. “At least now we know there are no missing soldiers.”
“Um… you do realize that was complete bullshit, right?” Jace looked at Daniel like he couldn’t quite believe he would be that naïve. But he didn’t know her brother like Piper did. Daniel only saw what he wanted to.
Daniel flicked his scowl between Piper and Jace.
She fought to wipe the grin from her face. It was amazing that Jace was here at all, much less defending her against Daniel—it brought a delightfully unfamiliar feeling of having someone actually in her corner. Add on top that Jace was helping her get off base without being arrested or held for questioning, and he was officially her favorite shifter at the moment. But something wasn’t right about all of this—in fact, she had no idea why her father let her go.
While Daniel was still struggling to understand what Jace meant, Piper captured his gaze. “Why are you helping me?”
“I told you before,” Jace said, “I’m not leaving a fellow grunt behind.” His slight smile was inscrutable as he looked her over. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Piper grimaced—the MPs had a bit of fun with her dignity, shoving her around and leering at her when her father wasn’t present. Not that it would have mattered if he had been—he’d done far worse to her himself back when she was still living in his house. Never outright physical or sexual abuse, just the mental kind. And the MPs didn’t harm her beyond the bruises from the cuffs and a sore shoulder from when they’d thrown her to the ground, then yanked her back up again. As if she’d done anything close to resisting arrest.