Everyone stared at him. It wasn’t like Donovan to override something a superior said.
“I can attend the party with her. David can hack the security system at the hotel where it’s being held. And Ash, you could be outside.”
“There are too many people, too many unknowns,” Ash said.
“There were too many unknowns before, but you were okay with it,” Kate said.
“And Emily,” Donovan said, speaking as though no one else had spoken, “you could talk Jack into sending an undercover team. It’s possible the perp might come out of the woodwork if he knows she’s going to be there. He might reveal himself.”
Detective Warren studied his face, hers a sudden mask of thoughtfulness. “It’s possible.”
“But you can’t keep her safe,” Mr. Thompson announced, clearly astonished that they were even considering the idea. “This is my daughter, my only surviving child. You can’t possibly be thinking about making her bait now!”
“It might be the safest, quickest way we can resolve this,” Donovan said gently.
Silence fell over the room for a long moment. Then Detective Warren caught Ash’s eye, as she said, “He has a point.”
He looked at Donovan, wondering how much of this was coming from a need to prove that he was still the strong, unbiased operative he’d always been and how much came from a real desire to end this as quickly as possible. The one made the situation doable, but the other made it extremely dangerous. Gray Wolf never lost a target in its two years of operation. Ash was not prepared to have Kate Thompson be the first.
“Okay,” Ash said slowly. “But we do it my way. No deviation from the plan.”
Chapter 16
Donovan
We spent the entire day going over Ash’s plan step by step, over and over again, just like we’d always done for missions when we were both still Green Berets. It was exhausting, but necessary. The more we reviewed the plan, the easier it was to act on instinct.
Kate curled up on a couch and slept for a while. Her father left, dragging her stepmother behind him despite her clear reluctance to leave. She was even more pleased to meet Kirkland than she’d been to flirt with Ash. And when Joss came in and refused to speak to her no matter how much she badgered her, it became something of a game for her. Embarrassing. If Kate had been awake, he was sure she’d be horrified. Daniel clearly was.
I found myself wondering how lonely Daniel must have been to allow himself to fall into the trap that woman set for him. I hoped he was smart enough to get an ironclad pre-nup.
The new safe house was one I’d spent a great deal of time in six months ago. It was a little house about three miles from Kate’s bank. Very simple, like all the others, it had just a small kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms that shared a bath. I had thought Kate would dislike the place and make some comment about how cheap it all looked, but she hadn’t said a word.
I could hear her in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and going through her nighttime routine. Emily had collected some things for her from her house, for which Kate was grateful. I think she’d forgiven Emily for the kiss she saw her give me. I was happy for that because Kate needed to trust someone right now, and Emily was number one on the list of those I knew she could trust.
I stripped out of my clothes and crawled into bed, exhaustion making my eyes heavy. Tomorrow would be a long day. I needed to get some sleep, but the moment my eyes began to slide shut, I heard the door to the jack-and-jill bathroom open on my side.
“Kate,” I said softly, loving the sound of her name on my lips.
She came to the bed, crawling in beside me. Her hands slipped under the blankets, her fingers dancing on my bare chest.
“We can’t, Kate,” I whispered, gesturing with my chin toward the place where I knew a camera was watching down on us.
“I can’t just lay here with you?”
“It’s unprofessional. I’m on the clock now.”
“But you weren’t earlier?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I could see the soft lilt to her lips. She was teasing.
“Have you stayed in this house before?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Was it a woman on the other side of that door?” She gestured toward the bathroom. “A scared, lonely woman?”
“I’m not supposed to—”
“You can’t just tell me the person’s gender?”
I groaned. “It was a woman.”
“Did she come on to you?”
I debated the merits of lying to her, but I knew she would know it was the lie the moment it was out of my mouth. And avoiding the question all together was not going to happen because I’d already let myself think about it too long.
“Yes,” I finally said.
“Did you do anything about it?”
“Of course not.” I shrugged the blankets off my shoulders as I sat up. “You really have to go, Kate.”
“Come with me.”