Nowhere Safe

CHAPTER 43



Josh kept checking on Trish, who looked so alone sitting in the passenger seat of his Porsche. She’d slept most of the flight home, cuddled against his chest, and he missed the contact. When he parked at her house, she stayed without being told while he circled the car.

That was telling. She had Heidi and Bunko to stay with her and Zane had someone keeping surveillance on Trish’s house. Should he call Sabrina back and accept her offer, too? If he did, he’d leave the team short. Trish would stress out if Zane showed up, since Angel’s due date had come and gone.

Bunko had parked first in the drive and was carrying luggage inside with Heidi pulling Trish’s little bag.

Josh got Trish out of the car and she planted herself in front of him like a barrier. Arms crossed. “What are you doing tonight?”

“This isn’t about Leanne again, is it?”

She frowned at him. “No. Just tell me if you’re going to be in any danger.” Her eyes were shiny with banked tears.

Ah, hell. How would he be able to walk away if she cried? “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You know I can’t talk about any of this, but I’ll be fine.”

“You’d better be.” She rubbed her nose and sniffled.

Walking away from Trish was getting more difficult–almost as much a test as seeing her lying on top of Gunter with blood covering her neck and chest. Josh’s heart knotted at recalling that image.

She was fiercely loyal.

The woman had no concern for her own safety.

Had fought an insane killer to protect him. She deserved a man who would do no less for her. And he would, if he could stay with her every minute, but that was the problem. He didn’t want to give up what he did.

Why had he thought he could make a life work with her? He couldn’t closet her away somewhere safe and bring her out every time he wanted to be with her. Trish was life itself. She needed room to grow and spread her wings.

Around someone with a normal life.

And his would never be normal.

But she was his right now. He reached for her and she dove into his arms. He held her heart-to-heart close and kissed her with something that felt more real than anything he’d ever experienced.

Was this love? He understood his parents’ love for each other but they shared everything. No secrets between them. Trish had asked Josh about his life and he’d cloaked the truths in camouflage, just as he’d always vowed to do. Had to do to protect his parents from his enemies.

Trish hadn’t said another word about love since she’d lain in his arms bleeding.

Shock had probably wiped the words from her mind.

But he had them tucked into a special corner of his heart where he could hear her say those three words over and over on the nights he’d miss her once he left.

That would be every night he’d spend without her.

He ended the kiss, slowly lowering her to the ground. “I still don’t like you flying so soon after having stitches.”

“I’ve dealt with much worse. I can fly in a few hours.”

Hearing that didn’t make it right or better. “Go inside and keep the doors locked. Zane has someone watching your house and Bunko said he was staying on the sofa tonight.” Or Josh wouldn’t be leaving.

She swallowed and pulled up that steel will of hers. “I’ll call you when I land in Chicago tomorrow.”

Josh had argued and argued about her leaving town, but she’d countered that she’d be covered up with security around the Senator. And she’d be home by the end of the day so the Senator would be able to film his segment for the television show tomorrow. Trish would be flying back with the Senator and his entourage, security and all.

Talking about it had taken a toll on her and Josh wanted her in bed and resting, so he’d given in. He’d contacted Detective Vickers who’d been surprised to learn Gunter had confessed to killing Big Charlie, but glad that Josh had heard the confession so they could close that case.

Josh hadn’t heard a word of it, but he believed Trish’s version. Olivia Lackey had flown home early from the convention, but Detective Vickers had sent men to the Miami airport to arrest her for lying as Gunter’s alibi.

Olivia would confirm Gunter’s admission. She was no match for being interrogated by Vickers.

Trish was free and clear, but he didn’t want her in Chicago when he couldn’t join her. “I wish you would stay home tomorrow.” Today. Monday was already here.

“Stop.” She got that stubborn look. “Bunko and Heidi will be with me all the way to security at the airport. Dixon’s people are meeting me when I arrive and I’ll be with him until I come back tomorrow night.”

Sounded safe enough, but she wasn’t seeing what Josh saw. She still had a bump from getting hit over the head and even if she wore a turtleneck to hide the neck bandage, she had another one covering the stitches under her chin. “I promised the doctor you’d take it easy.”

“I’m not even packing luggage. I’m carrying my shoulder bag and a book. I seriously doubt that Senator Dixon or his people will let me do anything beyond talk to him.” She gave him another smile meant to comfort him and joked, “Go do your top secret work, but you better not come back with a scratch.”

He should tell her the same thing. “Either I’ll be at the airport to pick you up or Zane will.”

“Oh, good Lord, he’s rubbing off on you. I. Am. Fine.”

She might say that but her eyes still held a vulnerability that grabbed him by the throat. He kissed her again, worse than a teenager not wanting to leave his first heartthrob.

Trish felt like a first. And she definitely made his heart throb, along with other parts of him.

Josh waited until she was in the house, locked up tight, then climbed back into his car. He pushed the speed limits, anxious to find out what the team had and maybe even get back to Trish tonight.

Dingo and Ryder were in the hotel suite-turned-headquarters when Josh walked in. “What have you got?”

Ryder stood from where he’d been hunched over next to Dingo who sat in front of the laptop. When he turned to Josh, his roadmap eyes bled exhaustion. He told Josh, “I was on watch at the container at oh-four-hundred this morning–”

“Late taking your shift,” Dingo groused.

“I explained that,” Ryder said, cutting his eyes at Dingo with a promise for pain if Dingo brought that up again.

Josh would be the first to admit to not giving the FNG a fair shake, but no one slacked off and ran late on a Slye team. “Then explain it to me,” he told Ryder who turned a black scowl on Josh.

“I was on time coming back from a meeting and had a flat with no spare. Someone stole it off my truck. Satisfied?”

“Did you call?”

“Couldn’t. No signal where I was in the Everglades. I got lucky with a trucker who stopped to help me out with his radio or I wouldn’t have gotten rolling as fast as I did.”

Dingo gave Josh a that’s-his-story shrug.

Josh lacked the patience or desire to be diplomatic. He took in Ryder’s bloodshot eyes again and asked, “Were alcohol and women involved?”

“F*ck. You.” Ryder folded his arms, looking insulted and unwilling to defend himself further.

“F*ck this. You’re Sabrina’s problem, not mine. What’d you find out at the container storage?”

Ryder bumped up his glare to blistering. “Rikker. Maybe. So while you were playing bodyguard, I was getting you a chance at the guy who I understand is at the top of the Slye Temp Most Wanted List.”

This was the problem with having a team that Josh hadn’t hand selected. He ended up with Prick of the Month. “Go on.”

“I was using IFR binoculars and picked up body heat moving across the top of the containers. When the intruder got to the High Vision box, he disappeared inside then came back out with what looked like a couple of small boxes. Maybe three.”

Josh swung to Dingo. “Thought we had someone inspect that container.”

Dingo kept his eyes locked on the computer that had a mix of security screens on the monitor. “We did. Everything checked out as equipment for a lab.”

“You want to hear this now or plan a lunch date?” Ryder asked.

Drawing a slow breath that Josh needed to hold his temper, he told Ryder, “Continue.”

“There was no way to ID the intruder at that distance and in the dark, but he fit the build of Rikker and he’s clearly trained. He put the boxes in what must have been a watertight bag, because I kept him in sight through the enclosed area until he reached his exit point at the end of a dock. The water.”

“You lost him?”

“Do you have the ability to shift into Aquaman, or x-ray vision for someone underwater?” Ryder rubbed his eyes and blinked. “Nick was in the air, circling the zone on standby with a helo. He covered that area back and forth but never saw the guy surface. Still out there.”

“F*ck!” Josh kicked a chair into the dining room table.

Still scanning the security feeds, Dingo lifted his index finger and launched into his TV announcer voice. “But wait, there’s more. For just nine-ninety-nine you get a deluxe op that comes with a surprise gift.”

Where was a good belt of scotch when Josh needed one? “What?”

Ryder’s eyebrows rode high on his forehead. “You’re testy for the only one getting any action on this job.”

Sabrina would not have to deal with Ryder after all. Josh would take care of the FNG and dispose of the body. “You haven’t seen testy. Drag this out another second and you’ll find out that I passed testy hours ago.”

Blowing out a gruff blast of air, Ryder rubbed his eyes again then pointed at a gray metal briefcase lying on the sofa. “That was inside the locked cab of my truck when I walked back, after Water Man disappeared. My truck has a custom security system that changes every time I lock it. Takes more than a common criminal to gain access.”

Dingo muttered, “Maybe that’s who got your spare tire.”

Ryder sent him a death glare then shook his head and continued the briefing as Josh walked over to the sofa. “All we did was open it. Haven’t touched a thing inside.”

Josh popped the catch and opened the case.

Inside was a small electronic tablet with a note on top that read: Engage the program. Track the boxes. Stop the test.

Two boots stepped into Josh’s view. Ryder said, “That’s convenient.”

The last convenient tip had ended in the capture of Colbert and Salazar, both of whom were later murdered.

This convenient tip smelled like a trap, but it was their only lead for Rikker. If that’s what this really was.