He lowered the hand that had been poised to knock. “Hey you.”
“No, hey you.”
While seeing him brought some comfort, it didn’t completely stop the contortionist at work on her stomach.
A smile spread across his face. “I was just coming to find you.”
If he’d picked up on her mood, he didn’t indicate it. “I was on the phone. What’s up?”
A smirk twisted his lips as he looked at the phone in her hand. “Elliott again? That’s what, four times he’s called in the last ten days? Has he proposed yet?”
Okay, so maybe he had figured out she was in a bad mood.
The teasing lightened her burden a little, but not much. “We’ve only spoken twice and it’s not like that. He’s going through some stuff and I think he just needs a sympathetic ear who doesn’t know his ex. Besides, that wasn’t him.”
He quirked his head and waited.
Not that her phone conversation was any of his business, although he obviously thought she would tell him about it. He was right.
She leaned against the doorframe and pulled in a long breath. “I called them.”
Confusion flickered, followed quickly by recognition. “The guy from the store?”
“Theo. We’re having dinner tomorrow night.”
“Good. Even if there’s nothing to it, at least you’ll all know the truth.”
All. The word parroted inside her brain.
In her head, she’d pictured meeting with Theo, but that wasn’t likely to be the case, was it? Why hadn’t it occurred to her that he’d probably bring the entire family? What if not everyone was as eager to meet with her as Theo? What if they all hated her?
The air around her coagulated.
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t. Just like she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen right now.
“Lana. It’ll be fine.”
She relaxed the hands she didn’t even realize she’d fisted and met his eyes. “I wish you could come with me. I’m scared.”
Great. Now she sounded like a whiny ten-year-old.
Reilly didn’t point out the obvious.
Wrapping her in a hug, he held her tightly. She clenched her jaw and tried to still the trembling in her chin.
No. She wouldn’t cry. Not about this. She’d wasted enough tears over this already.
“No matter what, you’ve still got us.”
She pulled away. “I know. Thanks.”
“What are you so worried about anyway?”
“That they really will be my birth parents.”
“I’d call that a good thing. You’ll finally have the answers to your questions.”
She slid her eyes away, focusing on the textured cream walls. “I never asked for that. Besides, how do you go about getting to know your own family?”
“The same way you would anyone else. One topic at a time.”
He made it sound so easy.
“I’ll try.” Like she had any other choice.
“That’s all you can do.” He took a step back. “Anyway, I was going to grab a bowl of ice cream. You want some?”
What she wanted was to rewind time and go to a different store to buy those supplies. Too bad that was impossible. “Maybe a little.”
As she trailed him to the kitchen, her thoughts turned to the Lykos family once more.
Give her a fugitive on the loose, hand-to-hand combat with a serial killer, a psycho with a gun, and she’d know just how to handle the situation.
But tomorrow night’s meeting? She didn’t have a clue.
₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪
It was a good night to have the graveyard shift. She would’ve been too wound up to sleep anyway.
Lana adjusted her position, ensuring her gun remained only inches from her fingers, and tried to focus on the words in front of her. Normally she loved studying the Bible. She’d been working through the prophets and was halfway into Habakkuk, but tonight she couldn’t quiet her thoughts enough to understand much of anything.
All she could think about was tomorrow night.
She blinked at the clock. 4:59. A.M.
Not tomorrow night; the dinner was tonight.
She only hoped she’d actually be able to fall asleep when Peters relieved her in an hour. No way could she handle the stress coming her way if she was running on empty.
How many people would show up to dinner?
Were there any other potential siblings besides Dimitrios and Cyrano?
What did they think of all this?
Returning her attention to the Bible, she tried to force her mind to concentrate but the words blurred as her thoughts ran wild. Why did she bother? She closed the book and slid it away, choosing instead to focus on the images on the laptop in front of her.
The wireless cameras they’d hidden in the hallway all showed empty corridors. Balconies were clear. The living room in the adjoining suite was dark and motionless.
All was as it should be.
Rather than worrying, she should try doing something productive. Like praying.
Embracing the silence, she poured her energy and emotion into prayer.
Time slipped by. Peace filtered through the anxiety, not completely replacing it, but easing it enough that she began to feel tired.
A door closed in the adjacent suite. Most likely Peters getting ready to take over. Still, she curled her fingers around the grip of her gun, ready to act in case someone other than a member of their team stepped through the door.
Several minutes passed before Peters stepped into the living room. She glanced at the clock. 6 a.m. exactly.
Pushing up from the sofa, she stretched and nodded at the laptop. “Everything’s been quiet.”
A curt nod answered her.
Why had she even wasted her breath? She holstered her weapon, slid her phone into her jeans’ pocket, and picked up her Bible. Straightening, she almost ran into Peters’ chest.
Whoa. Evidently personal space wasn’t high on his radar.
She took a quick step backward, decided it wasn’t quite enough space, and followed it with another step.
Peters regarded her for a second. “How’s the arm?”
What, he cared all of a sudden? “Healing.”
“Good.”
Hands stuffed in the pockets of his cargo shorts, he didn’t move to let her pass, nor did he advance any closer. Whatever. She was tired and didn’t have the patience for this.
She’d begun to skirt around the table when he spoke again, “Look. I’ve been thinking.”
Well, good for him. Did he expect some kind of award?
She paused and studied him. Something was up. The hostility that usually radiated from him was absent. As was his scowl. And the words had been spoken almost lightly, not with the usual amount of scorn.
Even so, she wasn’t ready to call him a friend just yet.
When she didn’t say anything, he shifted. Pulled his hands out of his pockets. Rubbed the back of his neck. “I think maybe I could’ve been a little nicer.”
A terse laugh slid from her lips before she could stop it. “You think?”
“Okay, fine. I know.” He studied her for a second in silence. “So ‘bout a year ago, we were working this detail. A kid gave up the key players in a major gang after his banger buddies killed his dad. Long story. Anyway, the whole family went into WITSEC. The kid, his mom, and three siblings. One of ‘em was his older sister. Twenty-five and hot as…”
Red flashed across his cheeks and he cleared his throat.
“Anyhow, I got emotionally involved. Then this one day our guy in the video room sounds the alarm. The camera by the front door went black. We hear footsteps pounding up the steps. We’re all thinkin’ “this is it,” but me, instead of standin’ my ground and backing the team or covering the witness, I book it down the hall and cover the sister.”
What, did he think that story was going to make her feel sorry for him? The situation was totally different.
; His gaze locked on her. “You see where I’m goin’ with this? I gotta be able to trust everyone on this team completely. Your objectivity is compromised.”
Compromised? How dare he accuse her of not being trustworthy!
“Make no mistake, I will go further than anyone,” she flung her arm in a wide arc to punctuate the word, “to protect our witness.”
Calm. She looked away.
“Exactly. But this team is not just our witness. If I’m facing down a hit man with a gun, I need to know you’ve got my back, too.”
Of course she had his back. What a stupid thing to even suggest.
But wouldn’t she have been concerned about the same thing? If their positions were reversed?
She didn’t even have to think that through.
The same thoughts would have troubled her. Although she liked to think she would’ve handled it more gracefully than he had.
No matter how much she didn’t want to let him off the hook, she had to.
“We’re a team. I’ll protect anyone in our group, whether it’s Reilly or one of you.”
“Good enough for me.” He turned away and dropped onto the sofa. “Try to get some sleep. Big day today.”
No fooling. Of course, he was just referring to the work involved with dinner out. No one on the team had been told about the trip’s ulterior motives.
She headed down the hallway to the room she and Alex shared and slipped inside.
Autopilot kicked in as she moved around the nearly black room. She set her gun and phone on the bedside table, changed into cotton shorts, and slid beneath the covers only to stare into the darkness.
The conversation replayed in her mind.
What could’ve happened to make Peters apologize? Had someone said something?
Or maybe he’d finally accepted the fact that she wasn’t leaving and decided to make the best of it.
Hopefully the attitude would last.
₪ ₪ ₪ ₪ ₪
Success!
Stevens closed the door of his car, satisfaction mingling with the adrenaline coursing through his body. It’d taken a lot of time – the Marshals guarding Tanner were good, he’d give them that – but he was ninety percent certain that he’d isolated their location.
And he’d done it without the help of an informant.
He pulled off the blond wig and tossed it on the seat next to him. Peeling the matching goatee from his chin, he rubbed the skin to make sure no adhesive remained. One of several disguises he’d brought with him, it had turned out to be the perfect choice to use on the naïve college-age girl working the front desk.
Man, had she been easy to manipulate.
A little flirting, combined with some story about being in town for his friend’s wedding, but not knowing their room numbers, and he’d had her. She’d probably lose her job if her boss knew how much information she’d given out.
He craned his neck to see the top floor of the hotel in front of him.
Why, he wasn’t sure. The target wasn’t likely to stick his head out one of the windows and wave.
But the oh-so-helpful woman with whom he’d spent the last ten minutes conversing had given him enough details to make this location a seriously strong possibility. The group in question had checked in a week ago, rented adjoining suites on the fifth floor, and had refused maid service every day since.
Once he headed back to his hotel and changed his disguise, he’d be back to do a little reconnaissance of his own.
And if that checked out, he’d be back at sunset to take his target down.
Eighteen
The world’s biggest idiot.
Yep, that title could be officially bestowed upon her. What had she been thinking?
Lana trailed the rest of her team by a fair distance so it wouldn’t look like they had arrived together.
At her request, Alex had kept everyone in the dark about the reason for this outing. While there had been curiosity about why she wasn’t eating with the rest of them, the team had been in favor of getting out of the hotel for the night.
Of course, that hadn’t stopped Rodriguez from casually pumping her for an explanation or Peters from asking flat-out.
She’d refrained from providing any reason.
Each step caused her stomach to churn more violently. As much as she loved Mexican food, she doubted she could handle it tonight.
It wasn’t too late to ditch the plan. She could wait in the car. Bypass the awkward meeting with the Lykos family.
It was a tempting option.
She forced her feet to keep moving.
Spicy pepper attacked her senses the second she stepped through the door. The team was being led back as she approached a smiling hostess.
“Just one?”
Last chance to back out… “Actually, I’m meeting some people here.”
“The name?”
“Last name is Lykos, maybe under Theo.” She hoped. She didn’t know Theo’s wife’s name.
A grin swept across the hostess’ face. “I should’ve known. You look just like Cy and Mitri.”
The hostess didn’t allow time for a reply before turning and leading the way toward the dining area. “Follow me. So you’ve gotta be related, huh? I went to school with Cy and Mitri, but they were a few grades ahead of me so I didn’t really know them. Not like there were that many twins at school though, so pretty much everyone knew who they were. Mitri’s kinda quiet, but Cy was always really friendly. I think he got voted most outgoing or something by his senior class, but it’s been a while so I might be wrong.”
The words poured out so quickly that Lana couldn’t have said anything even if she’d wanted to. Oddly enough, the rambling chatter soothed her frayed nerves.
They bypassed the tables in the center of the room, heading for the cubicles lining the outside walls. Reilly and the rest of her team were seated in one of those cubicles. Too bad she wasn’t with them.
The hostess stopped next to a cubicle toward the end of the row. “Well, here we are.”
“Thank you” slid out automatically as she stepped past the hostess and into the area. Not that she felt the least bit thankful.
Four heads swiveled toward her.
Everything in her wanted to follow the hostess’ example and escape.
Her gaze took in the faces she’d seen before: Dimitrios, Cyrano, and Theo. A petite brown haired woman sat to Theo’s left and Lana recognized her as an older version of the woman from Theo’s photo.
The silence stole the air from her lungs.
The woman rose from the table and approached, a smile shaking on her face. “Milana. Thank you so much for coming. I’m Michelle.”
She shook Michelle’s hand on autopilot. “Thanks for meeting me here.”
Come on. Get it together!
She blinked and tried to shift into work mode. Detached. Calm. Professional.
It was the only way she’d make it through this dinner.
Two empty chairs waited opposite Theo and Michelle. Dimitrios sat at Michelle’s end of the table and Cyrano at the other.
As Michelle reclaimed her seat, Lana moved with a grace and confidence she didn’t feel and pulled out the chair closest to Dimitrios. Out of all of them, she’d spent the most time around Dimitrios, making him feel like the safest choice.
Although that didn’t say a lot.
Where was Reilly when she needed him?
God, help me!
“How’s the arm?” Dimitrios’ question broke the silence, but did nothing to ease her tension.
“Fine. Not a big deal.” Hopefully no one would question it further.
“What happened?” Concern lined Michelle’s words.
She tried to catch Dimitrios’ attention to keep him from answering, but he’d turned to look at his mom. “GSW. She refused to go to the hospital.”
“Gunshot wound?” Theo’s dark eyebrows hiked. “How’d that happen?”
Dimitrios turned to face her.
Whil
e she didn’t know him well, she was pretty sure regret lingered around his eyes.
Well, it was too late now. Words couldn’t be retracted. Hopefully though, he’d think a bit more carefully before saying anything else that might blow her tenuous cover.
Maybe she could pass it off as an accident. After all, Stevens hadn’t intended to shoot her.
Before the story left her mouth, Dimitrios spoke up. “Happened right after she rescued puppies from a burning building, defused a bomb, and prevented a ten car pileup. She’d tell you more, but then she’d have to kill you.”
What the…? All thoughts vanished as she stared at Dimitrios.
His tone was so serious that she almost believed him. His face, however, betrayed him. The corner of his mouth twitched and laughter lurked in his eyes.
Cyrano chuckled. “Wow. So you were shot trying to save the world, huh?”
Best to play along. Even if it only delayed the inevitable explanation. “What can I say? That hero complex will probably be the death of me.”
Michelle’s smile still contained traces of worry as she examined Lana’s face. “Now that Mitri’s had his fun, can I ask what really happened?”
You can ask, but I can’t answer. Too bad she couldn’t really say that.
“His story was more entertaining. I took a pretty bad fall. Dimitrios didn’t like the looks of the gash on my arm and wanted me to go in, but I don’t like hospitals.” Okay, didn’t quite cover all that happened that night, but nothing she’d said was a lie. She’d just held back some of the more sensitive facts.
A waiter approached with their beverages, saving her from further questioning. Could he feel the tension that seemed to occupy the empty seat next to her?
The topic of their dead daughter hung as dark as a thunderhead.
No one had brought it up yet, but it was the reason she was here, the reason she’d agreed to a meeting. To find answers. Even if she wasn’t yet sure she really wanted them.
Putting it off would benefit no one.
As the server walked away, she pulled in a shaky breath.
“I–” The word scratched out and she cleared her throat before trying again. “I don’t know the best way to ask this, so I’m just–”
Deadly Alliances Page 21