“We’re fine. This isn’t a large gathering yet. We’ve dealt with much worse. We’ll pay for your things and leave. We’ll be back at Homeland in ten minutes.”
She took another slow breath and turned, facing the front of the store again. There were so many faces out there that it was weird. The NSO officers had help blocking off the street that ran between the store and the parking area. She noticed a few police officers had joined them along the sides to keep people from entering the store. Her shopping trip had, in effect, closed it down.
The cashier grinned when they reached the front. It seemed as if they’d opened a line just for Vanni and the New Species. “Hello. Right here. I’ll take you!” The woman waved them over.
Vanni was grateful for Smiley. He took charge, steered her there and thanked the cashier. The woman beamed at him and it helped that her attention seemed focused totally on Smiley.
“I never thought I’d see any New Species in here.” The cashier started to scan the clothes.
Smiley pulled Vanni closer. “This is Vanni. She’s visiting me at Homeland and didn’t pack enough clothing. I wanted to take her shopping.”
The cashier finally stared at Vanni. Her mouth popped open and her eyes widened. She glanced at Smiley, then at Vanni. “Oh my gosh! You’re that couple on TV!”
Vanni pressed against Smiley since he stood behind her. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Yes. We are.”
“That’s so cool! You’re my first celebrities.” The cashier resumed scanning the clothes but grinned. “You two are dating?”
“We are.” Smiley rubbed Vanni’s stomach with his palm. “I met her and knew she was the one for me.”
Vanni knew she had to say something. “It was love at first sight,” she blurted.
Regret came next. She shouldn’t have used the word love but it beat mentioning being drugged. Smiley didn’t tighten his hold or seem to mind her word when he agreed.
“It certainly was. She’s beautiful and sweet. I couldn’t resist her.”
The cashier paused again and grinned at Vanni. “That’s so romantic. I can’t even get my boyfriend to stop at the grocery store but yours takes you clothes shopping. You’re a lucky woman.”
“He’s amazing,” Vanni added, meaning it.
“You’ve drawn a mob.” The cashier jerked her head toward the front. “I’ve never seen that many people want to come in here before.”
“Sorry about that.” Smiley eased his hold around Vanni’s waist. “It happens when we leave Homeland. People are curious.”“Don’t apologize.” The woman laughed. “We need the business. Stop in any time. I’m Donna. Just ask for me. I’ll get you right through the lines. I’m the manager here.”
“We deeply appreciate that.” Smiley let Vanni go and withdrew a wallet from his back pocket. “I have this, babe.”
Vanni nodded. “Thank you.”
“I’d do anything for you.” He winked.
The cashier told him a total that made Vanni flinch. She hoped she hid it as he swiped his card and put in his pin number. Flame and Slash took her bags and Smiley held out his hand. She gratefully took it. They headed toward the exit and Vanni had to force her legs to keep moving.
The doors opened and some people shouted for them to look their way. She squared her shoulders and peered at them. Cell phones were out and they were either taking videos or pictures. She smiled and clasped Smiley’s hand in a death grip. He waved with his free hand and kept her moving.
“Can we have an interview?” A woman with a microphone and cameraman tried to rush at them but a police officer opened his arms, preventing them from going forward.
Another news crew got around an officer but the NSO team was able to keep them at a distance. “Not now. No interviews,” one of them announced.
Wager pulled the SUV up to the path cleared by the police who had kept people back to give them an exit and Smiley yanked open the passenger door. Vanni climbed inside, eager to be out of the spotlight. Smiley slid in behind her and closed the door.
“Are you okay? You’re pale.”
“I don’t do well with crowds. There were so many people staring and shouting at me.”
He surprised her by suddenly reaching out and lifting her onto his lap. “It’s okay. The windows are tinted. They can’t see inside. You did really well.”
She turned against him and enjoyed his arms wrapping around her in a hug. “I never want to do that again.”
He massaged her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would frighten you.”
“I’m not scared. I just…” She struggled for a word to describe almost having a panic attack but none came.
“You’re just shy,” he finished for her and kissed the top of her head. “No more outings.”
“Thank you.”
The other members of their group piled into the SUV. Slash opened the hatch door, put the bags inside and then just climbed over the third seat.
“Here we go,” Wager warned as he closed the hatch from the driver’s seat. “I’ll drive slowly so we don’t hit anyone. We lost our backup team but they’ll catch us soon.”
Vanni peered over Smiley’s shoulder to see out the back window. No second SUV trailed them. She saw them still in front of the store though. They seemed to be trying to get to their vehicle but the news crews were keeping pace with them. They took a turn and she lost sight of them.
“That was crazy,” Vanni mumbled.
“This is our life outside Homeland.”
She shifted to stare into Smiley’s eyes. “I never realized.”
He shrugged, keeping a firm hold around her waist. “We have adapted. Those are the nice ones. No one threw anything at us or screamed obscenities.”
“Some people suck,” Vanni muttered.
He grinned. “We try not to take it personally. Relax, this will be over soon. I promised to help you get out of those clothes.” He glanced down at the front of her shirt and made a soft noise.
“Wait for that until you get home,” Jericho ordered from the seat next to them. “You’re not alone.”
Vanni tucked her head and rested it against Smiley’s chest. She liked him holding her on his lap. It was illegal to be in a moving vehicle without a seatbelt but he’d said no one could see inside. She had no desire to scoot away and take the middle seat.
Chapter Sixteen
“We have trouble,” Wager growled from the driver’s seat.
Smiley tensed, lifting his chin off the top of Vanni’s head. “What is it?”
“The front and back gates are packed. They’ve had a significant increase in traffic in the last few minutes.” Wager met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Do you want an earpiece?”
“Yes.”
Flame twisted in the passenger seat and held out one of their communication devices. Smiley grabbed it and placed it on his ear.
“Four news crews at gate one,” a Species announced. “We also have six unmarked vehicles lining up. They could be reporters.”
“There are two news vans at gate two and a lot of foot traffic. I’d guess four dozen humans. They aren’t holding signs but they don’t appear to be friendly.”
“This is Smiley,” he chimed in. “What about gate three? Can we go in that way?”
“Negative.” Smiley recognized Trey Roberts’ voice. “There are too many cars on that street and they’ll see you enter. The businesses are opening so employees are arriving at work.”
“What about four?” Gates three and four were secret so one of them should be clear. Smiley just wanted to get Vanni inside without incident.
“No,” a male growled. “We have children on the field. They are having some kind of outing in the park across the street from my location at four. It’s too dangerous.”
“They are children,” Trey responded. “How are they a danger? All they’d see is an SUV pulling into what they’ll assume is someone’s home.”
“We don’t risk children,” the male responded. Smiley identified Creed’s voice. “What if they are being followed?”
“There are still two possible tails on us,” Slash responded.
Smiley turned to look out the rear of the SUV. There were a lot of cars on the street but he wasn’t sure which two held Slash’s attention.
“Understood,” Trey announced. “We’ll go to backup plan B then. Go to that location and I’ll send the helicopter to meet you.”
“Cancel that,” Tim O’berto demanded. “I’m here now. Enter gate two. It’s not critical. We can handle the traffic.”
“I don’t want to take any risks.” Smiley turned his head to peer at Vanni. She seemed to be handling the situation with grace but he wanted to be reassuring. “It’s going to be fine,” he reassured to her.“Exactly,” Tim muttered. “It’s going to be fine. I’m watching the monitors and the foot traffic doesn’t appear aggressive. Just drive in. We’ll be ready at the gates, right?”
“We are,” one of the officers responded. “We’ll pull in the two news crews to the holding area and that way the SUV can just drive around them.”