Case felt his whole body go tense. The guard had a gun. “Get those fucking cameras up, Fain. I need to see where she is. I thought you said the security wasn’t serious.”
Fain turned slightly and sent him a narrowed glare. “I was the chauffeur. I saw what was happening at the door. I assumed you and Michael would handle the rest of it. Naturally there’s some security inside. Do you want me to go over there? I could explain something was wrong with the car and I need to see Ms. Danvers. Heaven forbid we trust her to talk to someone in a public place.”
“Fine.” He hated the way the entire experience was making him feel. He knew Mia had been in tighter spots, but she hadn’t been his then. Now that she belonged to him, wasn’t it his job to ensure her safety?
Or was it his job to care about her and let Mia be Mia?
“Hi, I was wondering if there was a place I could make a call from. My cell can’t find a signal here.”
He didn’t need security cameras to see the smile on her face. He could hear it, but he knew it wouldn’t be as bright as the ones she’d given to him over the last few days. Those smiles had lit up his whole fucking world. But even a half smile from his Mia would distract a man for however long she wanted him distracted. “Very good. Just a few minutes more and we’ll have you out of there.”
A few more minutes and she would be walking out of that place and he would be able to breathe again. She would get on a plane and he could concentrate. Or would he simply sit around and wonder what kind of trouble she was getting into back home? He wasn’t stupid enough to believe she would honestly sit at her condo in Austin and wait for him. She was pissed off and a pissed off Mia could cause trouble.
He had to find a way to make her see reason.
A deep voice came over the feed. “We’re kind of in a dead zone, if you know what I mean. Sorry about that, but if you walk outside, you should be able to get a signal.”
Michael looked back. “He sounds Western. Colorado or Wyoming. What’s an American doing working security here?”
Fain’s head came up. “Holy shit. Is she talking to one of Theo’s fellow bank robbers?”
“Tell her what we think, Case,” Michael urged. “She can ask him about Theo. Subtly.”
Or he would completely lose control of the situation because she would sense a great story and run with it like the thoroughbred reporter she was. Maybe she wouldn’t notice. Maybe she wouldn’t pick up on the possibilities and she would simply do the job he’d asked her to and walk away.
“You’re American?” Mia asked.
Michael fist pumped. “That’s a smart girl.”
Fain nodded. “See, I would totally let her watch my back.”
They were determined to make him the bad guy. He was saved from responding by the guard’s reply. “Yes. I’m American. Born and raised in New York.”
“You sound like you’re from Colorado or Wyoming.” Nothing got past Mia.
“Keep it up, spy chick,” Michael said. “That’s going to be her superhero name from here on out.”
Luckily she couldn’t hear Michael in her ear. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the street?”
Michael turned back to his job, but not before Case saw a shit-eating grin on his face.
The guard’s conversation with Mia continued to play out in Case’s ear. “Not at all. I’m from upstate New York. Lived there all my life until I left for the military. You’re a lovely woman. Are you here alone?”
Oh, that was so not fucking happening. “Tell him you have a husband waiting for you and then excuse yourself to find him. Hutch should have gotten to the offices by now. You can rejoin the party until I tell you Hutch is ready to come back out.”
“Almost got it,” Fain said, his hands moving over the keys.
“I came with my brother.” It was obvious Mia wasn’t listening to him anymore. She simply continued on in her sultry voice. “I seem to have lost him, but that’s okay. I found the only other American here.”
“What are you doing, Mia?” He’d given her a direct fucking order.
“Hey, I’ve got someone walking up to the hotel who looks mighty familiar,” Michael said. “I think we’re in trouble.”
Case knew they were in trouble because the guard kept talking. “There are two more. My brothers. We all work here.”
His brothers? All Americans? Case could feel the adrenaline begin to pump through his veins. Mia had told him everything Tony Santos had told her. According to the intel Mia had provided him, there were at least three soldiers in Hope McDonald’s clutches. Whoever Mia was currently talking to could be one of those men, could be one of Theo’s new “brothers.”
Could be insanely dangerous to be close to.
“Are they all as big as you?” Mia asked in her flirty tone.