Third Hour

by Lisa Phillips

  “I don’t like any of this.” Her hands curled into fists on her lap. “I can’t fight an enemy I can’t see. A faceless, nameless scumbag who almost succeeded in destroying Talia’s life. And her career. And her sanity.” She shook her head, her gaze distant as though her thoughts were far away.

  Mason spoke very carefully. “What happened to her?”

  It took Victoria a minute to answer. “A few weeks ago, we were hot on the trail of a suspect with serious computer skills. Even Talia was having a hard time piecing it all together. She was going through the database for the lab that was destroyed down in Oregon…”

  She paused long enough for him to nod because Talia had mentioned that incident, then she continued, “He breached the security in our office. That place was supposed to have been impenetrable, and yet he got in. Sent a team of mercenaries to drag her out.”

  Given her tone, Mason figured she had watched the video and it had been literal dragging.

  Victoria said, “They took her to a huge house in central Oregon, a place known to be a brothel.”

  Mason’s gut tightened.

  “Threw her in the basement, where the girls sleep. Left her there for hours while the sale went down on the dark web. Cost me two million to get her back, and there’s no way he didn’t know full well it was me buying her. He let it go through and kept me from using any method of tracing where the money went. Which gives me no way to figure out who he is.” She paused, flashing gritted teeth. “When the FBI raided the house, they found her in the corner of the basement, shackled to a teenage girl. The girl was dead.”

  Mason shut his eyes for a second.

  “She was also African American. And fifteen.”

  “That’s why she reacted to Rayna like she did.” He opened his eyes to see Victoria nod.

  “Her therapist is providing me with weekly reports. So far she hasn’t mentioned the girl Welvern wrote about in his report. The one whose identity she’s asked the NSA to find out.”

  “Isn’t there an issue of doctor/patient confidentiality at play there?”

  Victoria didn’t look the least bit offended by his question. “This is how my team works. Full disclosure. And I’m not looking for any new members right now, in case you were curious. The roster is full.”

  “Was I asking?”

  Before she could respond to what had been a rhetorical question anyway, her phone buzzed. She pulled it from her coat pocket and looked at the screen. “She’s here.” Victoria stood and pulled her coat on. “Get her to relax. She needs to sleep.”

  Mason never got the chance to ask her what that was about before she slipped from the room. A minute later, another tap sounded on the door. “Come in.”

  The door opened a fraction, and Talia stuck her head in. “Hey.” She looked nervous. Probably at the thought that he was still mad at her.

  He shot her a small smile. “Come in.” He waved toward the chair. “Please.” While Victoria’s words stuck in his mind. Shackled to a teenage girl.

  Dead.

  Chapter 12

  Talia awoke in the same chair she’d been sitting in the night before, talking to Mason. Sunlight streamed in the window, across his jeans-clad legs. He was upright in the bed, fully clothed with his shoes on. He sipped from a mug as he read a newspaper he’d spread across that rolling table.

  She must have made a noise, because he turned to her. Soft eyes, and a slight smile. “Hey.”

  That voice. She’d fallen asleep listening to it. And for the first time in weeks, hadn’t woken up in a cold sweat with nightmare images rushing through her head.

  She shifted and realized a blanket had been laid over her. Then she heard her phone’s low chime. She reached into her purse on the floor and pulled it out. The number on the screen was the task force office. “Matrice.” Her voice sounded groggy from sleep.

  “It’s Haley,” the caller said. “Did I wake you up?”

  “It’s fine.” She cleared her throat. “What did you need?”

  “I should have sent you an email. I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, as well as update you on the progression of the case.”

  Talia shifted in the chair, grabbed the blanket with one hand and balled it in her lap. “So, update me.”

  “As long as you’re okay.”

  “Hon, I’m fine.”

  They both knew that wasn’t true. Haley knew better than anyone else as to the state of play in Talia’s head. The things she hadn’t told anyone else—the nightmares, for one—but that Haley, as her roommate, hadn’t failed to pick up on. Talia was pretty sure her new friend and roommate had told her boyfriend everything. Talia would have, had she been the one in that position. It had to be why NCIS Special Agent Niall O’Caran had been looking at her with so much pity lately.

  It was hard to get away from those compassionate looks. They were all hyper protective of the people they cared about. The fact none of them had prevented her from being abducted made the tension in the office skyrocket. Thankfully, only Haley was there on a regular basis.

  The rest of them worked cases in the field, but the former Navy petty officer was the office manager.

  Haley sighed, loud enough Talia heard it through the phone line. Out the corner of her eye she could see Mason. Reading his paper like he wasn’t listening to her side of the conversation.

  Haley said, “Josh and Dakota hit a snag in their case. I ran the photo they sent me through your system, like you told me, but I didn’t get anything back.”

  “And the next step?” She kept it vague, because Mason didn’t need to know about everything she had access to.

  Haley said, “Someone is there, and you can’t talk much?”

  “Did you run it through the secondary program?”

  “Yes. Nothing there, either. Is there anything else we can do?”

  “I can take a look.” Though she’d need to be in the office to do that. Her tablet didn’t get that deep in the weeds of what she could do. “Later, maybe.”

  “Thanks. Until they get another lead, they’re pretty much dead in the—” Haley stopped speaking halfway through the word. “Sorry. They’ve stalled out.”

  “It’s fine. Anything else?”

  “Couple things I’ll send you. Nothing urgent.” Haley chuckled for a second. “Dakota’s wedding dress pictures.”

  “She tried some on?”

  “Yep.” Haley chuckled. “And she had the sales assistant take photos of her since we couldn’t be there. Oh wait, sorry. Because she didn’t need us to be there.”

  Talia laughed. “That woman.”

  “Right? But she still needs us to help her decide?” Haley said, “For the record, I’ll totally take you when I go looking for a gown for my big day. We should drag Dakota along with us, just so we can make her suffer.”

  Talia’s smile held. “Shouldn’t be too long. Your boy is getting antsy.”

  “He’s not the only one,” Haley said, a smile in her voice. “Right now, I’m just glad Dakota is wearing a dress and not getting married in boots and jeans.”

  “And a jacket.”

  Both of them laughed. It felt good. Unfamiliar, but still good. Mason glanced over and studied her until she looked down at her lap. This conversation was nice and all, but there was an important question to ask. Especially since she hadn’t had time to talk to Mason when she woke up.

  Talia squeezed the hand in her lap into a fist, clutching the blanket tight in her grip. “Have you heard from Alvarez?”

  Haley was quiet. Yes, Talia had sounded strained. Maybe the enjoyment would last longer once this guy had been caught. Or would they come up against another case, another bad guy? She probably needed a vacation. And she would take one, if she didn’t think he’d just target her wherever she went.

  Haley said, “He’s on it. That’s all I know right now.”

  Apparently that was all Talia was going to get, too. It did make her feel better. “Thanks.” She ended the call.

/>   Alvarez was good. Really good. It wouldn’t be long before the bank robber was in custody. She wasn’t going to get mad that he was still loose. She was just going to be grateful when he was caught. The team didn’t respond well to someone getting mad that they were taking too long to get a result, and Alvarez was worst of all.

  “Everything good?”

  Talia looked at Mason and saw he’d folded the newspaper closed. She shrugged. She was okay, but that wasn’t the same as being good.

  The nurse came in, and Mason was given discharge papers. They wanted to wheel him down to the front door in a wheelchair, but when he hopped off the bed and lifted a backpack off the floor, the nurse quit trying to argue.

  He glanced at Talia. “Ready to go?”

  She nodded, and they made their way downstairs to where Welvern waited in the lobby. He said nothing, but handed Mason a set of keys. “Parked at the curb.”

  “He can’t drive.” She looked between the two men.

  Welvern gave her a wave as he turned, then headed for the door. She shifted to face Mason and put her hand on her hip.

  Before she could say anything, he set off for the side door—the pickup lane. “Come on.” He leaned his back against the door and used his weight to push it open. “We can’t leave a car unattended at the curb for long.”

  Talia followed him. He stopped right outside and waited for her, his gaze scanning the area. Protecting her from threats. “Do you think he’s watching?”

  Mason beeped the locks and pulled open the front passenger door for her. “Can’t be too careful.”

  She stopped between the door and the frame. “Are you really okay to drive?”

  His face was kind of swollen on the left cheekbone, and he had a decent black eye coming in. “Pull your legs in.”

  She did as he told her, not convinced that he was all right. She just didn’t want to argue about it. When he got in the driver’s side, she shifted to face him. “Are you one of those alpha male guys who can’t sit in the passenger seat while the woman drives?”

  He turned on the engine and pulled out. “You mean guys who protect the woman they’re with?”

  “By needing to be in control of everything.” Yes, she had a tone.

  The corner of his lips twitched. He reached over and squeezed her hand. She didn’t want to let go, but refusing to do so would be weird enough. He didn’t need to know she was a total basket case.

  She looked at her phone screen again.

  Still nothing from Alvarez.

  . . .

  Mason kept his attention on the road in front and behind, watching for any car that might be following. Apart from the ones he already knew were there, of course.

  Talia didn’t need to be aware she had more than just him watching her back right now. And if he could manage it, she wasn’t going to find out.

  He took her directions and headed to her place—an apartment her coworkers had already told him she shared with their office manager. Haley Franks, the woman who was dating Niall the NCIS agent. The one Talia had been on the phone with.

  Laughing. Smiling that beautiful smile of hers.

  He reined his thoughts back in.

  Welvern had tried to explain the relationship status of each task force member. He ended up sending Mason an email that laid out all their names and the agencies they worked for, along with who was dating who and who was engaged. It wound up looking like a family tree, with Victoria at the top. The matriarch presiding over all of them.

  “So, what are we doing at my place?” she said as he pulled up in a visitor’s spot.

  Catching a bank robber.

  He smiled at her. “You’re taking a shower, or doing whatever to get ready for the day. Then I figure we’ll be due for breakfast before I take you to the office.”

  “You don’t need a shower?”

  “I washed up at the hospital, after one of my coworkers brought me the change of clothes I keep in my locker.”

  She eyed him.

  “Stanton told me I don’t need to go into work until tomorrow. I figure that means the only way I’m going to stay updated on this case is to stick with you.”

  Those eyes on him narrowed.

  “Assuming you’re going to work today, and not take it off.” He paused. “Though, if you want to make it a half day and then go see a matinee movie later, that might be fun. I haven’t seen a movie during the day in forever.”

  Talia cracked the door and gathered up her purse, still giving him that look. When she turned away and climbed out, he breathed a sigh. Then realized she could be in the line of fire right now. He got out his side and trotted around the car, the way he would with any other protective detail.

  Yes, he’d hoped to get on the detail that protected the President. However, that was back when he’d lived in Virginia. Now that being in Washington state meant being close to his family, he was reluctant to give that up. At least until Rayna went to college.

  The fact Talia worked in this part of the country as well… Mason didn’t want to get ahead of himself. Except, he did this with every relationship—considered all the possibilities and outcomes. Thinking about it was part of his process. But it was also what had kept him single for so long. He was generally reluctant to jump into a relationship if he already knew all the ways it could go wrong.

  Mason led Talia to her front door, backpack over his shoulder. She knew what he was doing but didn’t call him out on it. If she had, he’d simply have told her that protecting her had become imperative. Kind of like the way she’d protect him by making the choice she had, letting the hacker into the Secret Service network.

  Despite all the ways his mind could come up with for how a relationship could go wrong—most of which ended with one or both of them getting killed by the bank robber—it was all being overridden by his need to stick with her. To ensure her safety.

  At least until this guy was caught.

  Would they have a relationship involving coffee dates or dinners past that? He didn’t know the answer, only God did. Mason trusted that God had brought her into his life for a reason. If it was only so he could protect her, then he would know it was for good reason. Were it to turn into something a whole lot more, Mason would praise God every day she was in his life.

  His phone started to ring just as she let them into her apartment. Talia turned to him. He didn’t pull the phone out.

  She stared.

  “You should go take your shower.”

  “O-kay.” She shook her head as she walked down the hall, calling back, “Make yourself at home then, I guess.”

  He pulled out his phone, and the second she clicked the door shut, he looked at the screen. It was Welvern.

  “Armstrong.”

  “Everyone is in position,” the FBI assistant director said.

  “Any sign of him while we were on the road?”

  “Nothing.” Welvern sounded disgruntled about that.

  “You really think he’s going to make a move with both of us here in the apartment?”

  “We publicized it pretty widely,” Welvern said. “Anyone who is local law enforcement that knows anything about what happened at that bank knows exactly where you two are right now.”

  “You’re counting on one of them blabbing to the wrong person, or being in league with him?”

  “Or that he’s dialed into one of our channels somehow.” Welvern sighed. “This whole thing is making Victoria crazy. She wants him brought in so badly she’s about to blow. I had to talk her down from sitting with the sharp shooter across the street just so she can get a shot at taking him out. Alvarez is about to rip someone’s head off.”

  Mason heard the shower turn on. “She doesn’t know he’s close.”

  “Maybe he broke off,” Welvern said. “Could be he spotted one of us and ditched the idea.”

  “Or he’s in Mexico, and we’ll never see him again.”

  “Could be.”

  Mason said, “Not sure which I’d prefe
r at this point. But if he shows up, at least we’ll get him. Then she won’t have to worry he’s still out there.”

  “Exactly.” Welvern said, “Gotta go.”

  Mason hung up. He made coffee, because it was better than standing there waiting for something to happen.

  While it percolated, he walked down the hall. His gun was snug in the back of his pants, ready, in case he had to pull it out. He slowed by the door to the bathroom where Talia had disappeared. If he could hear nothing, he’d assume she was good. Welvern had assured him that her apartment had been swept before he and Talia got there.

  He wasn’t too worried about—

  “I can’t do that, Dakota.” Her muffled voice was audible through the door. “No, I don’t want to stay. I don’t want to be anywhere near Mason Armstrong. You need to get me as far from him as possible—”

  Mason took a step back. Hearing those words was like an audible blow.

  “—or this very nice man, and his daughter, are going to wind up getting killed.”

  Before he could begin to process the fact she was scared for his life, and Rayna’s, noise erupted from outside. The loud crunch of metal against metal. He raced to the living room window and pulled back the drapes to see outside.

  A rusted-out, silver car had slammed into the back of the vehicle he’d parked in the visitor’s spot.

  Over a bullhorn, he heard someone say, “You are surrounded by federal agents. Step out of the vehicle with your hands up.”

  Chapter 13

  Talia tied the belt on her robe and stepped out of the bathroom into the hallway. “What was that? What’s going on?”

  Mason turned back from peering out the window. “Don’t worry about it. Just take your shower.”

  “I’m done.”

  He frowned. “Already?”

  She hadn’t needed to wash her hair, and it wasn’t the day for her to shave her legs, so it wasn’t like washing off had taken long. Was she going to tell him that? No way. “I still need to get dressed.” Like that wasn’t obvious by the robe she was wearing. She’d secured her hair up for the shower, and it was still in the vinyl cap.