by Angi Morgan
“Why not arrest him and make him cough up the programmer now? Why are we going through the motions?”
“We did that six weeks ago. The men who call the shots are prepared for the consequences.”
“Even if innocent civilians get caught in whatever show—” he air-quoted the word to remind her what they were calling a terrorist plot “—Reval’s customers are planning?”
“Can you drop this now? As a favor to me.”
His hand flew to the pounding pulse in his temple, right above his injured eye. “Another favor? I’m not sure I can afford to. If you kept tabs on me like you said, you’d know how much your favors cost me.”
Except no one knew about his loss of vision. Not even the doctors knew how much his peripheral was actually gone because he’d never been back to check. He was afraid they’d bench him. So he’d kept the loss to himself.
“I’m very aware of what happened. And I know how frustrating it must be to hear this. But you have to try to see the big picture. The algorithm is more important than you or me.”
“I don’t get it, Therese. Why can’t the aim be to get both?”
The phone rang as Therese shook her head.
“Preventing a national emergency doesn’t take into consideration our personal preferences. I just wanted to warn you that Rushdan Reval might make a deal.”
Wade watched Therese click the speaker button knowing they hadn’t left their debate in a good place.
“He wants you at his club. Now,” Sal’s voice boomed through the little cell.
“Wade’s proven he knows what he’s doing, Sal. Give the phone to Rushdan.” Therese had shifted to that bimbo-like tone, coaxing men to comply. “Come on, Rushy, I know you’re listening.”
“Get here within the hour, Therese,” the greedy, double-chinned slob answered. “I have a job for you. Leave the phone with your new boyfriend. We’re moving forward.”
“But we don’t have the money yet. Don’t you need me to bring that to you?” Therese asked.
“The money doesn’t matter. It never mattered other than I like to have an abundance. I had to make sure Ranger Wade was sincere and didn’t hold any grudge for the boys trying to dispose of him last year.”
“Then I’ll keep it.” Wade threw in to let the man know he’d been listening. “That will just about get the guys I owe off my back.”
“Probably. But you still need to earn it.” Reval made a disgusting sound, like slurping through his teeth.
“No more tests, please. It’s too risky, Rushy. Can’t you just tell us what you need?” Therese coaxed.
Listening, someone might get the impression she actually believed those words. But watching her, Wade could see that her body language showed she hated saying them. She was good. Really good at what she did. But what was she up to?
“We ran to the track for you. Then we’ve been sitting here so long just waiting. There’s only so much golf a girl can watch. I got things to do, Rush baby. You don’t pay me to be a babysitter,” Therese complained.
“Funny you should mention that, Therese. I have another chore for you. Sal will pick you up at the club.”
“Is an hour soon enough? I need to swing by my place and change.”
Wade stood, searching for a reason he should be going with Therese. They should stay together. Right? Didn’t she realize that?
“That’ll be fine. And Ranger Wade?” Reval said.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t bother following Therese. When I send your instructions they’ll be timed from your house. And yes, I know where you live.” The phone disconnected.
“What the hell was that?” Wade demanded.
“My job.”
“I thought your job was to find the algorithm.”
“My job is to do anything Rushdan Reval tells me to do so we’ll find the algorithm and programmer.”
“You can’t go. Not like this.” He put his hands out, but she grabbed her purse instead.
“When I’m summoned, I go. That’s my role in all this.”
“I can call him back, demand that you stay with me. We’re a team.”
She arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow and pulled her keys from her small purse before hanging the strap across her shoulder. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned being undercover, it’s that you’re out here on your own. You should get used to it.”
She was out the door the next instant. What if that was the last time he saw her? What if she did her disappearing act again? What if Reval...? He yanked the door hard enough to bounce off the wall as he pounced onto the porch.
“Wait!”
By the surprised look on Therese’s face, she hadn’t thought he’d follow her. But he had—still unsure how to handle their differences and damn sure he didn’t want this woman to disappear from his life.
“I took an oath to protect the people of Texas. And I don’t take my promises lightly. It’s hard for me to let harm come to anyone if I can prevent it. Stop the threat, then find the next. I don’t think I can do what you’re asking me.”
“Don’t worry about it, Wade. We aren’t really a team but it was fun pretending while it lasted. I’ll handle this my way. I can take care of myself.” She continued to her car. “Don’t forget to watch your back, hon. Since I won’t be there to do it.”
Smiling at him over the top of the sedan, she opened the door and slid behind the wheel like everything was perfect. Wade watched, completely dumbfounded. Sometime in the last fifteen minutes his heart had been ripped from his chest. There was a big gaping hole making him wonder if it could ever be the same.
Why didn’t any of this seem to bother her as much as it bothered him?
Chapter Seventeen
Therese’s hands shook so hard she couldn’t fit the key in the ignition. She wanted to stay put in her apartment. For the first time, she was actually afraid to face Rushdan. Walking out Wade’s door was the second hardest thing she’d ever done. Facing her siblings, aunts, uncles and other family after leaving the San Antonio police academy in disgrace had been the worst.
“I hate this,” she shouted as she pounded the steering wheel.
Deciding to be a police officer had cost her all of her friends from high school and college. Being a hot shot at the academy hadn’t gotten her any new ones. So leaving them behind for an undercover job had been easy at first. Until the lies became everything her life was based on.
After a while it gets hard to remember there was a different reality.
No one knew the truth except her handler, and that person had changed with each year. Currently it was Steve Woods and Megan who had been in her academy class. None of them really knew the person she’d been before this.
And now Wade. She’d wanted to be truthful with him for a long time. Now he knew. So why did it still feel like she was lying?
What had she expected? Gratitude for all her sacrifice? Maybe empathy or even a big “wow.” Any of those would have been better than the stunned silence and pity she’d read on his face.
Dropping her head onto her arms, she wanted to cry. But there wasn’t time. She needed to get to Rushdan’s club instead of Sal taking her to the office. And only had half an hour to do it.
The end game was in sight and she’d soon be able to put all her own self-pity to rest. She drove quickly to the seedier side of Deep Ellum, close to Second Avenue. The Reveille wasn’t the darkest, dankest dive around...but it was close.
Pulling into the gravel parking lot, she noticed several of the street lights were out again. It happened all the time. No big deal, but when she caught the kids throwing rocks at them, they normally received a hefty piece of her mind. That wouldn’t be high on her priorities for long.
She glanced at her wrist. Among the many hoop bracelets she’d added to her outfit tonight was a watch. She was on time. Befo
re she patted herself on the back, she noticed movement in the shadows to her left. She had to stay in character, had to ignore Sal and pretend to be oblivious.
Therese forced herself to shrink back when he finally showed himself. Good grief, she wanted to stand nose-to-nose with Rushdan’s go-to man and take him down. Drawing on the desperateness she’d felt earlier, she pushed it to the top of her frayed nerves, faking a little scream.
“Oh my God, Sal. You scared the living daylights out of me.”
Whatever Sal was doing, his real intention was to intimidate her, and she had to let him. At least a little. That was her part in all this mess. The end was near. She clung desperately to that.
She looked around for Wade’s truck. She hated to confess that she had hoped it would be there. Even as much as she hated involving him the night before, she wanted him there by her side.
Upset, confused. A little scared for what was coming. It all mixed together inside her head, making it hard to think straight. Right. That was it. She didn’t need Wade to protect her. But that wasn’t the point. It wasn’t her need. It was her want, her desire. She wanted Wade nearby and wanted to work with him.
“The boss is waiting inside. You know he don’t like to wait.” Sal puffed on a cigarette, then tossed it to the ground.
“I got here as quickly as I could. Put that silly thing away.” She gestured to the 9mm he had pointed at her. “It might actually go off and hurt someone.”
Carefully maneuvering the gravel in three-inch heels, she clicked the alarm on her car and headed to the club. She’d been treating Sal like that since she’d been promoted in Rushdan’s organization two years ago.
Blunt force dead center in her back sent her tumbling to her knees. There was no way to stop it. Once on the ground, a booted foot across her shoulder blades kept her there.
Her face had landed on the solid slab of concrete at the club’s back entrance instead of the gravel that bit into her flesh. She could feel the sting of scrapes on her knees and the palms of her hands.
Sal pressed his boot into her flesh. The barrel of his handgun pinched the base of her neck.
“You listen real close, bitch. I know something ain’t right. You might have the boss wrapped around your finger but you’re gonna give me more respect. If ya don’t...” He twisted the barrel, tangling the long strands of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be explainin’ to the boss man how you met with an accident.”
“Respect. Got it. May I get up now?”
The vibration through her body thrummed so loud in her ears she was certain Sal could hear it. She’d just thought her hands had been shaking with anger before. Maybe it was good that they physically moved as Sal helped her to her feet. It certainly let him know that he’d scared her.
The heels wobbled under her unsteady legs, forcing her to grab Sal’s forearm. She hated to, but it was either that or fall to the gravel a second time. He laughed.
Please let it be me that slaps the cuffs on this waste of skin.
The jerk didn’t open the door for her. She hadn’t really expected him to, but this time she wrapped her hand around the doorknob and found it locked. Her stomach rolled with uncertainty. She nearly lost it as she bent over to pick up her keys. Sal’s smackdown had her spooked.
“What will Rushdan say about this?” she asked, forcing her voice to remain steady and ooze confidence.
Lies and more lies. The barrel against her skin had her more shaken than she liked to admit.
Pull yourself together.
“Go ahead and ask him.”
Oh my God. It was last night all over again. And this time, she couldn’t run to Wade to save her. She had to face Rushdan and hope there was a reason he wouldn’t listen to Sal and allow him to kill her.
Still with a gun pointed at her back, she rounded the corner and saw Rushdan holding court with the young women who served drinks. It was early enough in the evening that the bar wouldn’t have very many customers, but she searched the room. The official manager was nowhere in sight.
No other staff. Just the girls. Another glance at the front door and she noticed the bolt.
Sal crossed his arms—gun still in his hand—and planted himself between her and the back exit. No one would get out of the bar unless Rushdan allowed it.
The other women probably didn’t realize they were hostages. They were chatting away, fawning over the bar owner, vying for attention or his notice. Hoping they might be the next girl Rushdan brought up the ranks. Someone to be her replacement?
Oh, God. She’d played right into their hands. It wasn’t an accident that she’d overheard Rushdan’s phone conversation that he needed someone in law enforcement to make sure the show happened. Then the threat had come from the two last night and she’d sailed directly into Wade’s arms.
He knew.
She’d been set up. Been used like the pawn she was supposed to be. As much as she hated Rushdan Reval, the man was smart. Now he’d separated them.
Whatever Rushdan needed Wade to do, it was about to happen and she wouldn’t be there to make certain it did. Wouldn’t be there to make certain Wade chose finding the program and programmer over saving the day. Joining him to follow through on her mission... By the look on Rushdan’s face, that wasn’t going to happen.
“Sit down, Therese. Join me in a drink.”
“What’s going on, Rushy?” Her heart raced along with her mind.
“You’ll learn soon enough. Get my special phone, Sal.” He snapped his fingers like he was summoning a waiter.
The snap brought Therese to focus. Everything she’d been thinking vanished with the look on Rushdan’s face. Fury filled his eyes. What had happened?
The right-hand man left through the front door and a new minion Therese didn’t know took his place at the back of the room.
“I thought you needed me for something special.”
He stared at her skinned palms she’d placed on top of the table and then he smiled. She slowly drew her hands into her lap to keep his thoughts on the now instead of the previous night. But the two accomplices he’d sent to kill her or chase her into Wade’s protection were at the front door.
“You don’t think a night out with me is something special, my dear?”
“Of course. But if we’re taking over one of your bars for the night, it feels kind of weird to keep all the waitresses around. I can get you whatever you need since I know where it is.”
“They’re staying.” His voice turned dark with an angry vibration. It was one of the rare times she’d seen the horrible man Rushdan Reval actually was erupt to the surface.
“Are they... Rushy, they kind of look like...like hostages.”
No. She couldn’t let all these women be hurt because of his suspicions.
“They won’t be as long as your boyfriend follows through. Right now they’re my alibi.”
“I could take care of that. You don’t really need them.”
“Don’t test my patience, Therese. Keep everyone in line and you’ll all be fine.”
The menacing look in his eyes as he’d chimed that they weren’t hostages shouted that they actually were. She’d been the only one to see it or it would have scared all the women. It verified one thing she’d known all along. Rushdan wasn’t afraid to get rid of them all. Especially if Wade failed.
What if the Texas Ranger followed his conscience or his desire for revenge? What if he told the rangers about whatever Rushdan had planned? There were five souls depending on him and he didn’t even know it.
She regretted not talking things through with Wade before she’d left. Her self-righteousness might have just gotten them all killed.
Chapter Eighteen
Go to the private entrance at Love Field Airport. You’ll be met with instructions.
Great. Would it be Therese meeting him? Maybe Sal.
/> Wade drove past the entrance, searching from his truck for a possible ambush—nothing in sight, no one around. The entrance looked normal and deserted for a Saturday night. Deserted might be normal. He didn’t know.
He parked across the street, keeping his eyes open for his backup. He could only assume all the agencies involved in this operation had listened in on the phone call that gave him the instructions. Major Clements wouldn’t send him inside without backup. He just had to trust it would be there when he needed it.
Two men lurked at the edge of the building shadows. He lifted his hands slightly in the air, waiting on them to indicate which way he needed to go. One man he recognized from Reval’s office building. The big guy who’d hit him a couple of times. The other wore glasses and cradled a laptop in his arms.
Was luck on his side today? Could this be the elusive programmer Therese was so hot to catch? He caught himself cracking a smile and stopped.
“You guys going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Should we check him for a wire?” the big guy asked the nerd.
“We don’t have time.” He began walking to the gate. “Come on. Come on.”
“To do what? I haven’t been instructed—”
“You just need to get us inside. Then escort us to one of the planes owned by your group,” the nerdy guy squeaked.
“Now hold on. You mean a DPS plane? I wouldn’t know where the Department of Public Safety keeps part of its fleet. This is a little outside my comfort zone.” He needed more information.
“Don’t worry, just get us inside.”
“Easy for you to say. I need to talk with your boss.”
“Mr. Reval isn’t available. Just do what you do and get us inside the airport.” Rushdan’s man pulled up the edge of his shirt, showing the handle of a handgun.
“Is that supposed to intimidate me?” Wade pushed his fingers through his hair, then smoothed it back down. “To get inside, I’ll be forced to sign in. That means this is a one-time deal. I think your boss might want to know that.”