Bulletproof Princess

by It Girls

  Anger ripped through Chloe. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid, Jack. My IQ is just south of the stratosphere, okay?"

  "Stupid has nothing to do with it. Don't ask questions you know you shouldn't ask," he said. "Questions you know damn well I'm not at liberty to answer. I don't want to lie to you."

  Much better. Much, much better. "Don't you dare deny they're one and the same woman."

  "I don't acknowledge being asked the question."

  "Fine."

  "Fine." He frowned deeper. "How do you know the senator is missing?"

  "She didn't show up in Tuscany. Her housekeeper told me, and I informed her assistant. But she already knew it."

  "Well, she's not missing anymore." He passed Chloe a copy of a statement sent to him from the senator's office.

  Chloe read it quickly. "She wanted a few days' respite to deal with a personal issue?"

  "Apparently so. But the Governess has been abducted."

  "So why did Ellie's Tuscany staff think she was missing?"

  "I don't know. You'd have to ask them, honey. Though, it's a matter between her and her staff, don't you think?"

  She did think so, and that aggravated her because she knew as well as she knew she hated Jack's tie that he'd held back information from her on this. Chloe understood— it was the nature of the job— and so it shouldn't hurt. But it did. Damn it, they were partners and he was handling her.

  He paused a moment, then asked, "Can we get someone on the inside in L.A.?"

  "Ashley's there, remember?" Chloe shoved her hair back from her face. "She's not answering her cell. I was waiting to talk to you before trying her again and filling her in." Chloe should leave the topic of the Governess alone, but she couldn't. "So is someone looking for the Governess?"

  "Half the world is looking for her, honey. She knows way too much for it to be any other way."

  "Including Harrison?"

  Jack nodded.

  "Why did you two each think the other was the Duke?"

  "Proximity and information. We kept running into each other in the Duke's haunts and we knew too much to be outsiders. We didn't know we had the same boss."

  The Governess didn't need the Roses looking for her. She had a team of professionals who specialized in dignitary abductions on it already.

  "Well," Chloe said. "We'd better review these mission reports. The Duke may be buried in them, remember?"

  "Right." Jack logged off the computer— its screen had been blank since she'd opened the door— and then stood up.

  "I thought we could go over them at my apartment. It's more private than here, and since we're looking at the Roses…"

  Jack gave her a slow, sexy smile. "Excellent idea."

  With secret smiles and eager steps, they walked up to street level and passed by Olivia's desk.

  Renee was standing beside it. "What are you two up to?"

  "Work." Chloe lifted the bag. "Research."

  "Ah." She looked nervous. Unhappy and nervous.

  "Any word on Emma?" Chloe asked to take the focus off events here.

  "No change," Renee said. "I'm so sick of hearing that, I could scream."

  "I know what you mean." Chloe stepped back. "We'd better get to this," she told Jack, and then they departed.

  Renee watched them go. Chloe sensed her gaze on her back, but rather than feeling protected by it, as she always had, she felt uneasy. For whatever reason, Renee had elected to keep her problems to herself and not share them with Chloe as she normally would. Yet it didn't take a rocket scientist to know those problems were serious— just someone who knew Renee well. And even if Chloe hadn't known Renee well, and hadn't felt the fear in her, then watching Olivia and the protective way she was handling Renee would have said it all, anyway.

  Not only did Renee have serious problems. She was in trouble. Gauging by her and Olivia's expressions, wicked trouble.

  Chapter 14

  Chloe and Jack made love, dozed for a full hour, then christened the dining room table.

  It stood covered with papers and white cartons from Chinese take-out, and she and Jack sat at it— him in his shorts, her in her robe— and they ate, talked, read, teased and kissed and touched, then ate, talked and read some more.

  When they'd reviewed all the mission files handled by Madison Taylor-Pruitt, Becca Whitmore, Porsche Rothschild, Alexa Cheltingham and Vanessa Dawson, they took a break to stretch and walked out onto the terrace.

  Manhattan's lights mesmerized Chloe. They'd always seemed magical, and with the air clear and crisp, tonight was no exception. She inhaled.

  "Beautiful view." Jack stood beside her at the terrace rail, looking not on the city but at her.

  She stepped over and circled his waist with her arm, nuzzled into his arms. "I love Manhattan at night. It has a high-voltage current that just sizzles through your body and energizes you." She glanced up at Jack and smiled. "There's no place else in the world like it."

  "I see it a little differently." He shrugged. "Night cloaks all the rough edges and ugliness," he said. "Everything looks a little softer, a little less lethal than in the bald light of day."

  Not exactly cynical, but damn close. "You like the rooftop terrace on your Long Island house better."

  "I love the sounds of the water, yes." He planted a kiss to her temple. "But for you, anything."

  Thrilled by that comment, she smiled again. "Jack, why aren't you looking for the Governess?"

  "I am," he said, seeming surprised. "I believe the answer to who has her is in those records." He nodded toward the table, where reams of reports totally obscured its top.

  "Well, we'd best get back to them then." Chloe went to move to the door.

  Jack clasped her upper arm, held it until she looked back at him. "I need something to hold me over," he whispered. Closing his arms around her, he claimed her mouth.

  Chloe sank into the kiss, into the sweetness and gentle hunger in it, and she sensed that with him she could care too much. Feel too much. Love too much. That was a journey she didn't want to take alone.

  Her hands on his chest, she pulled back and looked up at him. "Are you going to hurt me, Jack?" she asked bluntly. "It feels as if we're together again, but are things like they were? Can we go back to that simple magic again?"

  He tilted his head. "Honey, I think simple magic is like innocence. Once it's gone, you don't get it back." He stroked her hair. "But that doesn't mean what we have can't be good. Maybe even better."

  She wanted a simple "yes." She wanted that badly.

  "I didn't mean to upset you." He frowned. "I was trying to be totally honest."

  "So it is different for you. Between us, I mean."

  He hesitated. "Yes, it is. And if you're honest about it, you'll admit it's different for you, too."

  She didn't want different, damn it. She wanted something, someone in her life to be the same. She wrapped her arms over her chest against the chill and moved to the door, then stopped. But she couldn't make herself look back at him. "I've cared so much for you for so long," she said softly. "My judgment about men has been lousy in the past, but you were always different. You've always been in my heart, Jack. I can't…" A knot swelled in her throat and she couldn't talk anymore with her voice cracking, so she fell silent.

  "What?" he prodded. "Tell me, honey. You can't what?"

  "Take you lightly." Without looking back, she opened the door and walked back inside, then returned to the files.

  They sat across from each other at the table, pretending to be calm and relaxed and normal, studying the files and not thinking about what had been discussed on the terrace.

  "Let's review before going further," Jack suggested.

  Determined to separate the professional from the private, Chloe nodded. "Shoot."

  "Alexa Cheltingham and Vanessa Dawson." Jack shifted his gaze from the papers to Chloe. "What do you think of them?"

  "I think I hate my job when it involves looking for dirt on my friends." Chloe stiffen
ed her shoulders. "But this isn't about what I think. It's about what I know. And I know I have several people in mind who could be the Duke. Erik— my parents are going to be devastated if it's him, right after they disown me— Ryan Greene, though it pains me to say it and his involvement is highly unlikely."

  "Why?" Jack snitched another bite of crab. "Marcus went straight to him for help, right?"

  "Yes, but he's so successful. What does he gain?"

  "Excitement? The thrill of the edge?" Jack suggested.

  "Money motivating them isn't plausible. They're all wealthy men."

  "My guess is it's power. The Duke does what he does to prove he can." Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Who else?"

  "Brit Carouthers."

  "Easy target. Indisputably involved, but not sophisticated enough to be the Duke."

  "In here," she tapped her heart, "I agree." Chloe frowned. "Reviewing the files, I have to add Madison's uncle, Bing, to the list of those involved with the Duke. He was tied to the Russian mafia, too, though in fairness, he didn't know it until right before he died."

  "Did anything unexpected come up in settling his affairs?"

  "A lot," Chloe said. "The attorneys are still sorting it all out, but there's a multimillion-dollar project in south Florida— a joint venture with the Greenes."

  "Which ones?" Jack asked. "Franklin, Ryan or Julio?"

  "Madison isn't sure yet. There's a string of dummy corporations. She's still following the paper trail. Actually, Alan Burke is helping her with it."

  Chloe pulled out her cell phone. "Let me get an update on that." She dialed Alan, asked the question, and then waited for his reply. When it came, it surprised her. She scribbled down the message as quickly as she could write. "Thanks."

  "Well?" Jack said, surprised that she had been able to get farther on this than the FBI.

  "The good news is that so far they've discovered no felonies in her uncle's past business transactions. The bad news is, they've found ties to a lot of other people— all of whom are in our circle of friends."

  "Like whom?"

  "Franklin, Ryan and Julio Greene." She hesitated. "And four more."

  "Let me guess," Jack said, then ticked them off on his fingers. "Brit Carouthers. Your favorite ex-fiancé, the late Marcus Abbot Sterling, III, and— I'm really sorry about this— Wonder Boy."

  She nodded. "And the fourth?"

  "Not yet proven, but strongly suspected," Jack speculated. "Tatiana."

  Surprise rippled through Chloe. "How did you know that?"

  "Experience." He didn't sound particularly pleased by it, but he sure as hell wasn't surprised. "She does the books, she knows where the skeletons are buried." He leaned across the table. "I know investigating your own sucks, honey. But this requires personal insight you have that I don't. I'm counting on you, and so is Emma. I believe Tatiana faked her injury the night Emma was beaten, and I'm convinced we've got to nail Tatiana or she's going to get someone killed."

  Emma was far from out of the woods. "I agree with you." A lump settled in Chloe's throat. Sparring with Tatiana was one thing. Nailing her was another.

  Jack stood up. "I've got to go."

  Chloe grabbed her purse. "Me, too."

  "Are you going to talk with Erik?"

  "Not yet. He's in L.A., but that's just as well. One never asks Erik a question one can't already answer." Sadness crept into her heart.

  "Bad track record?"

  Chloe paused, then revealed the truth that only Renee and Emma knew. "He's the reason I got kicked out of Harvard."

  "I remember the incident from your dossier. The dime bag in your dorm room was his?"

  She nodded. "I told them it wasn't mine, but I wouldn't tell them whose it was, so I got the boot."

  Jack's jaw went tight. "Why didn't Erik tell them?"

  "Because Erik is…Erik."

  "You shouldn't have covered for him, Chloe."

  "I know that now." She frowned. "I'm asking myself if he'd taken the hit for what he'd done at Harvard, or any of the other thousand times I bailed his ass out and covered for him, then maybe he wouldn't be in this nightmare now?"

  "I should have known." Jack stuffed a hand in his pocket. "Why didn't you tag him— and don't you dare protect him again now. Tell me the truth."

  "My parents adore him, Jack. They would have been crushed. I was already a disappointment." She let out a heartfelt sigh. "At the time, it seemed like the compassionate thing to do."

  "Selfless." Jack stared at her a long moment. "I've heard about it, but I've never really seen it before." He grunted. "God, but you awe me, Chloe. I see you struggle with the way your parents treat you, and yet you still go to extreme lengths to protect them."

  Chloe looked up at him. "It's easy to love when it costs you nothing. But when it costs you everything…well, you're content because you know you did what you believed was right."

  "Is Erik smart enough to be the Duke?"

  "He's brilliant," she said frankly. "But so are Ryan and Julio and Brit. I'm counting Franklin out because he's just not vicious enough."

  "And Tatiana?"

  "Hands down, she's by far the most brilliant of them all."

  "Then you'd better find her and have a chat with her."

  "Rubi says she's not with them. But one doesn't ask Rubi questions one can't already answer, either."

  Jack led her to the door. "You're coming with me, right?"

  "I can. Where are we going?"

  "We go see a Rose who knows all about Marcus Sterling."

  "Whatever for?" Chloe couldn't make the connection.

  "Because he's dead and he can't come kill you or me." Jack frowned. "Quit smiling. I'm not kidding."

  "I know. But I know you, too. You're not going for just those reasons."

  "I'm not?"

  "No. There's more. With you, there's always more."

  "Well," he circled her waist with his arm and led her out the door and to the elevator. "As it turns out, you're right. Because he's dead, he also can't make any swift moves to cover his tracks. That makes him our best shot for finding out what this operation is all about."

  "You do believe the Duke is running this show— and he has the Governess, don't you?" She hoped so, because she believed it down to her strappy gold Jimmy Choos.

  "I know the Duke is running this show and, yes, I do believe he abducted the Governess."

  In the garage, Chloe saw the burned-out shell of her Hummer. Authorities hadn't yet towed it away. "I can't believe Craig's dead." Her eyes filled. "God, Jack, I think of his wife and new baby and I just want to hide in a cave or kill that bomber myself. I'm so ashamed."

  "Of what?"

  "I'm an agent, for God's sake, and I couldn't even protect my garage attendant. He died for me."

  "You didn't plant the bomb."

  "He was worried about dying before raising the baby. He was worried Debra couldn't make it without him." Chloe would see to it that Debra and Anthony were fine financially, of course, but that wouldn't give her the comfort of her husband or her son the comfort of his father. Tears spilled down Chloe's cheeks. "He's too little to even remember his father."

  When they got into Jack's car, he turned to Chloe. "Honey, shh. Don't cry." He hugged her. "Listen to me, Chloe. Listen to me," he whispered close to her ear. "He's not dead."

  She went still, her cheek against his shoulder. "But— "

  "He used the remote starter, Chloe. Craig wasn't in the car yet when it blew. He got knocked on his ass, and he's currently in an undisclosed hospital under guard. He saw the killer, so he's being protected."

  Relief washed through her, then anger. "Damn it, Jack. Why wasn't I told? I've been feeling guilty as sin and— what about Debra and Anthony? Does she know? Oh, God, tell me you've told Debra."

  "It was done for his protection and yours. Until we had him secure, no one was told, not even his family."

  "But Debra knows now, right?"

  "Yes. She's with him now." />
  Okay, so Chloe could see the logic in this move, but it still had her fuming. "I'm glad Craig's alive." That was definitely an understatement, yet it would have to do. "But you definitely make it hell for a woman to trust you, Jack. We're partners, damn it. Stop handling me."

  "Fair enough." He went to crank the engine.

  "Wait." She got out and ran a check on Jack's car. Finding no devices, she went to get back inside, but Frank pulled up alongside them in the limo. "Get in."

  "Why?"

  "Your man Mac Dayton suggested it would be safer," Frank said.

  Jack moved his car into the garage and then joined Chloe in the limo and shut the door. "What's up, Frank?"

  "Mac said for me to tell you that you've entered the red zone. Then he told me to get my ass over here and drive you two."

  "Okay." Jack looked worried.

  "What's the red zone?" Chloe asked.

  "It's a term we use mainly with serial killers."

  "Damn right."

  Chloe glanced through the lowered glass to the back of Frank's head. "Oh, God, we've got a serial killer now, too?"

  "No, honey. No," Jack said. "We've got someone blinded by rage. That's the red zone. They'll do anything to anyone, and are so angry they might not even remember what they've done."

  "Who?" The Duke, the Governess's abductor? Chloe wasn't sure and couldn't confidently tag anyone.

  "I don't know and he doesn't either, or he'd have said so."

  "The Duke has to be one of the guys I mentioned in our circle. Otherwise, nothing makes sense."

  "Damn right," Frank mumbled from the front seat.

  Jack glared at Chloe. "You know everything about this assignment is classified. Why are you— "

  "Jack, don't suddenly get stupid," Frank said. "She didn't say a thing to me."

  "Then how do you know about any of this?"

  "Because I ain't stupid." Frank shook his head. "How the hell can anyone be around all this and not see it?"

  He had a point. "You know that makes you a danger."

  "I know you ain't stupid, either." Frank looked in the rearview mirror at Chloe. "I've watched over this woman from the time she started breathing. You think I'd do anything to harm her?"