Nowhere Safe

CHAPTER 23



That looks like my letter opener.

Josh played Trish’s words over again in his head as he led her through Charlie’s warehouse that had turned into Law Enforcement Central. Granted, she got points for being truthful, but what the hell? If not for Josh having told Vickers that Big Charlie and Trish were part of an ongoing FBI investigation, Trish would be on her way downtown to be held until the fingerprints were run.

Gaining her freedom had involved a second conversation with Vickers, and Josh’s claiming he was taking Trish into his custody.

Now Josh just had to convince Sabrina that Trish was more valuable to them free than locked up. He couldn’t hand her over to anyone, not like this and not now, when his insides were screaming that she was not the enemy.

That she was the one in danger.

When he’d found Trish on the floor, with blood oozing out of a head wound, his first thought had been to get her out of there and to safety. He’d had a moment of total disregard for his mission, something that had never happened before.

If Ty was standing here today he’d tell Josh that the last person to trust was a woman. He’d point out that everything Trish had done to this point was suspect.

He’d also warn Josh against letting his dick make decisions. That had been an ever-present mantra on the long list of Ty’s advice.

Don’t let the small brain convince you to do something stupid.

Like convincing the detective that Trish was part of an investigation when there was no FBI investigation involving her or Big Charlie.

If Vickers discovered that before Josh got a chance to talk with Sabrina, who could hopefully work some kind of magic to fix this, the task force mission would be blown to pieces.

When Josh reached the loading area at the rear of Charlie’s warehouse, hair prickled along his neck. All of his instincts sharpened, on alert. Could the killer still be around?

More law enforcement spilled into the building, moving in the opposite direction that Josh guided Trish. He kept his arm around her body since she shook from shock and injury, but she was determined to leave under her own power.

She wobbled every couple of steps. Face colorless and eyes glistening with unshed tears, she was holding herself together pretty damned well for what she’d been through.

Who had killed Big Charlie and why?

Was there a chance Big Charlie had something to do with the DEA mole?

Or was his death a message to Trish?

Josh’s curse came out half growl.

Trish turned to him, said nothing, and made her way down the steps outside. After all she’d been through in the last hour, oddly enough it was the sight of the gurney being rolled in for Charlie’s body that buckled her knees.

She stumbled and his heart caught on the next beat.

F*ck this. Josh caught her behind her legs and lifted her against his chest.

“Put me down,” she hissed, too miserable sounding to have any punch. Then she swallowed. “Josh.”

“Don’t push your luck. It’s enough that I’m taking you home when you should be in a hospital.”

When he reached his rental car and leaned down to settle her onto the passenger seat, her eyes drooped.

“Wake up, Trish.”

She blinked at his sharp order.

He buckled her in, not pushing the hospital again. Yet. When Josh slid in behind the wheel, Trish asked, “Where’s your Porsche?”

“In the shop.”

She accepted that lie without question then asked, “Why were you at Charlie’s warehouse, Josh?”

How could he explain that without telling her she was part of an investigation? Until he knew for sure, he had to keep playing this role. “I drove over to your shop and you passed me so I turned around and came back. Followed you here.”

“Why?”

Always stay as close to the truth as possible. “I wanted to know if you really had a business meeting. Or if there was...someone else.”

“Oh.” She fell silent as he drove away from the busy scene. When she spoke, her voice trembled. “I can’t be insulted that you didn’t believe me about this being a business meeting when I have you to thank for being here. You might have scared off the person who attacked me.” She turned slowly, flinching at the movement, and gave him a sweet smile. “Thank you.”

He didn’t deserve the honesty pouring out of that face. Not when he was actively working toward proving her brother was another task force mole. Plus, he’d just implicated her with the police as being a suspect in an FBI investigation. On top of all that, he didn’t deserve her appreciation when he’d almost shown up too late.

She could have been killed.

With every new deceit, he felt more like a new species of vermin around her. Could Sabrina be right? Had he lost his ability to be objective and stay emotionally detached around women?

Or just around this woman?

He mentally buckled down, determined to act like the operative who had handled far more dangerous missions than this one.

Trish was still a potential suspect.

He took in said potential suspect. She was hunched against the window with her gaze fixed on her lap and her lips pressed tight.

She took a breath that shuddered through her as if she held herself together by sheer will. She swiped her cheek.

He hadn’t seen a tear fall, but the motion splintered his heart. Because he couldn’t place her squarely on one side of the law or the other.

Josh turned into her driveway and parked behind Heidi’s lime-green VW Bug. He laid a hand on Trish’s arm. “Wait for me to come around, okay?”

She straightened up. “I can walk.”

He shook his head. Stubborn, independent woman. “Fine, but wait until I get there.” She did and Josh held on to her as she turtle-shuffled to the door. He’d agreed to let her walk, but not fall flat on her face. Inside the house, he got her to the sofa and swung her legs up so she could recline against a pillow he placed at the end.

She was vulnerable. This would be the perfect time to chop away at her walls, get inside her defenses. He should take advantage.

Maybe he could find a puppy to kick while he was at it.

He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “How you doing?”

She put her hand on his cheek. “Better now.”

Heidi yelled from the back of the house, “Trish, is that you?”

Josh stepped over to answer in the direction of the hallway. “Yes, she’s here.” Heidi came bounding around the corner into the living room then jammed to a stop when her eyes lit on Trish.

“Hey.” Trish waggled her fingers.

“What happened to you?” Heidi dashed over to the sofa and wrapped Trish in a careful hug.

Josh suggested, “If you’ll get an ice pack, Heidi, I’ll fill you in.”

“Sure, hang on, I’ll be right back.”

Once Trish had a bag of frozen peas placed gently on her head, Josh explained the sequence of events to Heidi.

“Why were you at Big Charlie’s?” Heidi asked, her frown fierce.

Josh waited, curious to hear what Trish would tell her friend. This would be the perfect time to find out more than Trish would say to only him.

“It’s a long story. Can we talk about this later?”

Heidi twisted her mouth to one side and must have read more from Trish’s statement than Josh was able to gather. “Sure, we’ll talk later.”

Damn. Thwarted by telepathic female communication.

The phone rang and Trish tensed. Heidi moved to answer the landline on the end table, but Josh intercepted her. “Let me.” He lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hi, I’m a reporter for–”

“Miss Jackson has no comment,” Josh said.

“I’d just like to ask her about the murder–”

“What part of no comment confuses you? Goodbye.” Josh turned to Heidi. “Do you have an answering machine?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Turn it on and just let the recorder answer all the calls.” He clicked the ringer off on the phone.

“The media?” Heidi said. “Is this going to turn into a zoo? Are we going to be able to handle this ourselves?”

“Oh, my God,” Trish moaned, lifting a hand to cover her eyes.

Josh hurried over to her. “What’s wrong?”

When Trish uncovered her eyes, misery hung in her gaze. “I just got confirmation for my celebrity guest earlier today. The media will...” She couldn’t talk, swallowing against tears that threatened to flow, but she still choked them off.

“Oh, honey,” Heidi sat, kneeling next to Trish and patting her shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.”

Trish shook her head, chewing on a corner of her lip. “There’s nothing to figure out. My guest will back out and even if he didn’t, which he will, the show will probably boot me. Our agreement gives them the right to terminate at any point if we cause negative publicity.”

“But you didn’t,” Heidi argued. Then the phone rang again.

“Shit.” Josh told Heidi, “Follow my lead and stick with ‘no comment.’” When she hurried to the kitchen and answered the phone there, he sat down next to Trish and rubbed his finger lightly along her jaw. “You don’t know what will happen until tomorrow, so don’t stress about it tonight.”

Trish nodded. Her red eyes filled with hope for a moment that made his heart hurt for her.

His cell phone rang. Josh stood up and fished the phone out of his pocket. When he answered, he had to pull the receiver away from his ear.

“What the hell happened to my sister?” Zane roared.

“Zane, she’s fine.”

“Fine? Detective Vickers just called asking questions about Trish and said she was hit on the head hard enough to knock her out cold and she didn’t go to the hospital. Let me talk to her!”

Josh shot a look at Trish.

She mouthed the word “no.” She didn’t look up to dealing with anyone, including her brother. Maybe especially her brother.

Josh told Zane, “Trish is resting. She didn’t want to go to the hospital and she doesn’t seem to have a concussion.”

“So now you’re a doctor?”

“No, but she’s an adult who can make her own decisions.”

Trish gave Josh a wan thank-you smile.

Zane said, “Tell Heidi I’m on my way over.”

That must have been loud enough for Trish to hear. She looked panicked and shouted a hoarse, “No!”

Josh put his hand on her shoulder to keep her from jumping up, then rubbed the tight muscles, calming her. He nodded that he’d handle it, but why did she not want her brother here?

“Look, Zane, Trish is okay and Heidi will take care of her tonight. She’s had a bad day to say the least. I think she needs rest more than anything. Why don’t you talk to her tomorrow? I’ll tell Heidi to have her call you as soon as she wakes up. Okay?”

“Hell no, none of that is okay. Dammit. You told me you could keep her safe when she was with you.”

Man, if Josh didn’t feel worthless, that did it. He should have gotten to her sooner.

Zane didn’t say anything. Josh could see Trish’s brother storming around wherever he was with the phone clutched in his hand tight enough to crush it.

In an effort to slow down Zane and get some intel, Josh said, “Thought you were still gone.”

“My wife had what she thought were labor pains and the doctor wanted her to go to the hospital, but she’s fine. I came home early to check on her.”

If that was true, then neither Zane nor Trish had been involved in communicating information on the drug deal tonight. Had the DEA bust gone down after all? Josh couldn’t find out anything until he spoke to Ryder, Dingo or Nick. He suggested to Zane, “Why don’t you stay with your wife. I’m not leaving Trish if I think there’s any chance she should go to the hospital and, like I said, Heidi is here.”

A growl rumbled through the connection. “Okay.” Anguish came across in that one word. “I don’t want to leave my wife alone. Don’t mention Angel’s hospital visit to Trish. I don’t want her any more stressed. Call me in the morning and tell Heidi to call me tonight if they need anything. Dammit, Trish should be in a hospital.”

Josh overlooked Zane’s ordering him around in the face of her brother’s worry. “I agree, but you have to believe me when I say it would have been a battle.”

“Yeah, I know my sister. I can’t believe she walked in on that scene. We’ll talk tomorrow,” Zane repeated, sounding beaten.

If Zane was not the mole, this had to be killing him.

Josh had thought more than once that Zane’s overprotectiveness toward his sister was completely at odds with sending her into any kind of danger. The idea that Zane and Trish were both putting on an act this convincing struck him as unrealistic. But if Zane was not the mole, Josh’s investigation had taken a huge step back.

“Will do.” Josh closed his cell phone and sat down opposite Trish in an overstuffed chair. “Your brother’s pretty concerned about you.”

“I know,” Trish said, her eyes darting away from him. “I wasn’t ready to talk to him. Thanks for keeping him from coming over.”

Heidi stepped into the room. “Either of you hungry? Trish, you probably need to eat.”

He wouldn’t get any more help from Heidi. She was clearly not willing to push for more details until Trish was ready.

Trish answered, “I don’t think I can eat right now.”

Josh turned to Heidi. “Maybe aspirin for Trish.”

Heidi and Trish said “no” at the same time.

He blinked then realized Trish was taking the hardcore approach by avoiding any drug, even aspirin, because of being in AA. That raised another doubt about her as an accomplice to the mole. What woman so adamant about her recovery would willingly aid drug dealers?

Was that a legitimate doubt or one borne of feelings she stirred in him?

“Let me know when you’re ready to eat,” Heidi said, effectively getting Josh out of an uncomfortable silence. “I’ve got some laundry to get started and I’ll be back.”

When Heidi left, the phone rang again, but cut off after two rings. The voice recorder must be working.

Josh leaned forward, elbows on his knees, chin on his steepled fingers. He hated to be the person who had to do this, but he had a duty to get answers and Trish was at her most vulnerable for questions. Better him than Sabrina.

“Trish, just what were you really doing at Charlie’s?”

The pink tip of her tongue flicked across her bottom lip. She adjusted the package of peas and stared at the ceiling.

“Business, like I said.” She rubbed her forehead with one hand, her eyes squinting sharply as if the slightest movement hurt.

“I don’t believe your meeting was just about business.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her eyes strayed to him then away. Guilty.

Josh wished he could forget about the mole, forget about getting answers and give her the comfort she needed. Wished he could tell her this would all be okay tomorrow.

But if a Jackson sibling was guilty, nothing would be okay again.

Damn, what was she hiding? He’d have to come up with a better reason for not handing her over to Sabrina than just his opinion that Trish was innocent. He couldn’t honestly say she was. Josh pinched the bridge of his nose. If he didn’t hand her over and Sabrina thought he was shielding Trish, Sabrina would send in a team that could take Trish from him.

Trish had to help him, dammit. “Look Trish,” he said, more of a no-nonsense tone this time. “It’s time to come clean.”

“Yeah, Trish, and I’m not buying any BS,” Heidi announced from the doorway to the kitchen. She stood with a small sheet of gray paper clenched in one hand.

Trish’s eyes bulged. “Where’d you get that?”

“From your jacket. Who’s threatening you?”