Unauthorized Return (Unauthorized Series Book 4) Read Free Page A

were already there, arguing heatedly. Aria parked close and watched the two men, hoping to determine what the argument was about. Her eyes crept to Savoy’s face, trying to figure him out. Soft, she finally decided. Soft and spoiled. But that didn’t matter. Her only job was to keep him safe, which she would do whether he was soft and spoiled or not.
    Foley stopped talking and stood back, gesturing towards Aria’s car. Coleton yanked the passenger door open angrily and slid into the seat. Aria shifted into first gear and sped away before Coleton even had his door closed. He fumbled for his seatbelt, then turned his furious gaze on her. Aria waited. When he exploded she would blast him to pieces. She didn’t want to be doing this anymore than he did, but he had no choice in the matter anymore. Someone destroying his car had removed everyone’s choice. He was now in protective police custody until the trial was over, whether he liked it or not. The only question that remained was if he would make it easy? Or very hard? Aria almost hoped for hard. It would distract her from everything else in her life that was so fucked up she could just cry sometimes. But she wasn’t crying now. Her muscles tensed and her awareness tingled outward in a smooth easy stream. She waited for that one labored word from spoiled Coleton Savoy that would give her permission to show him exactly who was in charge from now on.
    But it never came. As soon as he looked at her his anger seemed to evaporate. He collapsed into his seat with a grunt and a sigh.
    An awkward silence settled over the interior of the car, where the loudest noise was the scream of the transmission just before Aria jammed the car in the next gear. She managed to drive almost two miles before she realized she had no destination in mind. Her only goal had been to get him away from the police department before anyone else saw him, and to make sure they weren’t being followed. They weren’t.
    But now, safe in her car, she had time to think about the fiasco that had just happened. Would anyone but a cop dare set an explosive device on a car in broad daylight in the police department parking lot? Probably not. Which meant things just got a whole lot more dangerous. When a cop tried to kill a person, he usually ended up dead eventually. Foley’s advice to her to not tell anyone, even him, where she was going or where she ended up just made a lot more sense. At least she knew she could trust him.
    Aria’s mind spun over this new development. When she didn’t show up to work tomorrow it would be obvious to anyone who was looking that she was the one on Savoy babysitting duty. She had to get rid of her car, and quickly. She made a mental note to tell the assistant chief to put out the official word that she was on vacation. Maybe that would slow down whoever was after Savoy.
    Aria snuck a glance at the criminal’s son in the seat next to her and caught him looking her way. He looked away quickly as soon as their eyes met. The accidental connection shook Aria slightly. She hadn’t expected him to be looking at her. She tried to gather her thoughts again, refusing to allow herself to be unnerved. Too much was at stake.
    She drove the next few minutes in silence, watching him from the corner of her eye. He looked out of his window, his entire manner brooding. He wasn’t happy about being here. But he wasn’t whining or complaining, which was good.
    “How much money do you have on you?” she asked him suddenly, the question flipping out of her mouth without a thought.
    Coleton’s face swung back her way, looking confused. “Maybe a few hundred.”
    Aria nodded. It was more than she had expected, but nowhere near what they needed. “We’ll have to make a stop.”
    Coleton nodded and Aria took the next right-hand turn as a plan formed in her mind. Neither of them said anything for the next few minutes, until finally she pulled in to the parking lot of a stately, red-brick