“Derrick’s in charge, and if he says it’s necessary then that’s what we’ll do.” Kat fired a disapproving look at Gina.
Passengers spilled into the aisle, but Gina could still feel Kat staring at her. Obviously, Kat didn’t think Gina should question Derrick. Maybe she shouldn’t, but trusting a man who’d disappointed her before didn’t come easy.
When everyone had filed past them, Derrick got up and scoped out the plane. “We’re good to go. We’ll head straight for baggage claim.” He looked at her. “Is your car in the parking lot here?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m sure by now your attacker has eyes on it. We’ll leave it here so he doesn’t know you’re back and get a rental. Kat goes first, then you.” He stepped back.
She grabbed the diaper bag while balancing Sophia, who was still drinking her bottle. Gina trekked behind Kat down the narrow aisle, careful not to bump Sophia’s head on a seat.
At the end of the Jetway, Kat held up her hand. “Wait here. Let me check things out first.”
Derrick stayed behind and didn’t speak. Gina imagined that same intensity burning in his eyes that she’d witnessed since they’d reconnected. He’d do everything within his power to keep them safe. That she trusted.
Kat returned. “Nothing unusual, but the place is packed, so stay between us and don’t stop walking unless we tell you to.”
Feeling like the filling in a sandwich, Gina trailed Kat with Derrick so close behind that she could hear the distinct sound of his shoes tapping against the floor. They wove their way down the bustling concourse to baggage claim. At the carousel, a rotund man bumped into Gina, and Derrick strong-armed the guy.
“Hey,” the guy said. “Chill. It was an accident.”
“Ease up, Derrick.” Kat put her hand on his arm, and he let the man go. He looked up to see that everyone waiting for luggage was staring at them. “Let’s move somewhere a little less conspicuous.” Kat led them to seats near the bathroom and gestured for Gina to be seated.
“Get it together, bro,” Kat said. “If someone is looking for us, moves like that guarantee they’ll find us.”
“Don’t lecture me. I know.” Derrick clamped a hand on the back of his neck. “Why don’t you go get the rental car and the luggage? I’ll stay here.”
“You sure you’ll be okay?”
He nodded, and Kat departed.
“Derrick,” Gina said and he looked at her. “Are you overreacting like Kat said, or do you think there’s a good likelihood that my attacker followed us here?”
He shrugged.
“I’m a big girl, and you don’t need to sugarcoat things for me.” Feeling the need to prove her strength, she stood.
He fisted his hands and looked away as if her comment angered him.
She touched his arm, and he jerked around to face her. “He could be here. I don’t know. That’s what has me spooked. I just don’t know.”
“Haven’t you been in situations like this before?”
“Yes.”
“How did you handle them?”
“They were different,” he said softly as he turned away. “I wasn’t protecting you and Bug.”
She hated to see him upset, but her heart thrilled to hear him say she and Sophia were different.
Easy, Gina, she warned herself. Don’t let thoughts like that take flight, or you’ll be setting yourself up for a world of heartache.
SEVEN
Stifling fumes from cars idling in the airport pickup area irritated Derrick’s throat as he settled Gina into the rental car. Her sweet perfume rose up to meet him, and his mind flashed back to his earlier statement. He couldn’t believe he’d actually told her that he was off his game because of her and Sophia. He might as well have rented an airplane to fly overhead declaring he still had a thing for her.
Worse, her vulnerability when she spoke of her father made him want to wrap his arms around her all the more. He slammed the door, hoping it would draw his focus back to his job.
Protect her. That’s all she wants from you. She’d made that perfectly clear after his disclosure, when she’d looked shocked and sick before dropping to the bench without a word.
“We good to go?” Kat asked, meeting his gaze. “Or is there a problem?”
“No problem.” He turned and scanned the area one last time.
A few families, a high school athletic team in Kelly green tracksuits and an elderly couple milled around the doors. None of them appeared to pose a threat, so he slid behind the wheel and waited for Kat to climb in next to him.
She swiveled to face the back window. “Make a trip around the airport, and I’ll watch for a tail.”
Derrick heard Gina’s quick intake of breath, and he wondered when she’d quit being surprised by the fact that her attacker wasn’t going away.
“It’ll be okay, Gina,” Kat said, her tone surprisingly soft. “We’ll get you through this in one piece.”
Derrick maneuvered out of the pickup space and merged into the traffic inching forward. He kept a razor-sharp watch on the surroundings, but no one stood out. So what? If he were stalking someone and trying to kill them, his training would ensure he wouldn’t stand out either. Nor would any of his siblings. Just like the suspect wouldn’t if he was a trained sniper. That’s what made this so dangerous. Their killer could blend in anywhere at any time.
Derrick followed the ramp to return to the airport and stayed in the outer lane to avoid cars in the pickup lane. Though they’d all donned Kevlar vests in the bathroom and his weapon rested securely in the console, he would stay in hyperalert mode until they cleared the hotel and Gina was safe behind a locked door.
He glanced at Kat. “Anything?”
“Maybe. Make another trip around.”
“Maybe” in Kat’s terms meant “likely”—she’d couched her answer not to worry Gina. Derrick moved his hand to his gun and made the return circle.
“Looks like we’ve got a tail.” Kat drew her gun from the holster. “Black sedan. Three car lengths back. Two men in the car.”
“Two,” Gina exclaimed. “Now there’re two men after me?”
“I can’t be certain they’re tailing us,” Kat replied. “But my gut says I’m right.”
“Then it’s time for evasive maneuvers.” Derrick searched the area hoping to formulate a plan.
The upcoming ramp to the freeway would do nicely.
“Get ready,” he warned. “I’m going to hit the gas to cut across to the ramp. Hopefully they won’t be able to react fast enough. It’ll be rough, so hold on.”
“Is this really necessary?” Anxiety laced Gina’s words.
With the black sedan threatening, Derrick knew this action was not only necessary, but it was essential to keeping all of them alive.
He met her frightened gaze in the mirror. “We have no other option.”
“Derrick knows what he’s doing,” Kat said. “As a cop, he was trained in high-speed driving, and he’s almost as good at it as I am.” Kat chuckled.
“Almost?” Gina croaked out.
“Sorry,” Kat said sincerely. “You probably aren’t in the mood for a joke right now.”
“No.”
“You might need to get used to it. Joking is what we do to relieve tension. If the past incidents are any indication, we’ll likely have to crack a few jokes until we find your attacker.”
Derrick glanced in the rearview mirror. “I need you to lie down on the seat, Gina.”
“What? Why?”
“If my plan doesn’t work, I don’t want them taking a shot at you.”
“But what about Sophia?”
“I’ve got her.” Kat climbed over the seat and protected Sophia with her body. She made funny noises for Sophia, who giggled. It
was the first time the sound failed to bring a smile to Derrick’s face.
“Okay, here we go.” He floored the gas and cranked the wheel hard, whipping his car across several lanes of traffic. Brakes squealed and horns blared, but he successfully made the change. Now he had to negotiate a sharp curve ahead, and then hopefully they’d be home free.
He glanced in the mirror. The black sedan made the same death slide, careening off another car and sending it into the wall. They roared toward them.
“Hold on,” Derrick warned. “Looks like they’re going to try to ram us on the curve and run us over the embankment. I’m going to slam on my brakes, and they’ll hit us hard.”
“No,” Gina said, her face white as a sheet.
“Derrick will handle this,” Kat said. “He’s a pro.”
Derrick started into the curve then suddenly hit the brakes. The sedan slammed into their bumper, and Derrick steered into the curve. The muscles in his arms screamed to release the wheel, but he held firm and they squealed around the bend.
Unprepared, the sedan lost control and plummeted over the embankment. A loud crash echoed up, but Derrick didn’t have time to revel in his success. He had to negotiate the rest of the curve first.
“Everyone okay?” he called out as he slowed to a safe speed and glanced in the mirror.
“Fine,” Kat said.
“Is Sophia okay?” Gina popped up and craned her neck around Kat.
“She’s fine, aren’t you, sweetie?”
Happy sounds came from Sophia.
Derrick glanced at Gina again. “I’m sorry you had to go through that after losing Jon and his wife in car crashes.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” She gulped in a few deep breaths. “I’m just glad no one was hurt.”
“See you later, little one.” Kat planted a loud kiss on Sophia’s cheek then climbed back over the seat.
Derrick knew he needed to lighten up the mood to help Gina settle down after yet another attempt on her life.
“Good thing you were with me instead of Dani,” Derrick said to Kat. “She’d never get her long legs over the seat, but your little stubs...” He let his voice fall off and braced himself for the punch to his arm, which came as she settled in the passenger seat.
“I love you, too, little brother.” Her sarcasm made him laugh.
“How about plugging the hotel’s address in the GPS?” He dug out his phone and handed it to Kat. “You’ll find it in my last text from Dani.”
“Let’s hope that her reservation tactic was enough to keep those thugs from finding us again.”
“What tactic?” Gina asked.
“She booked the suite using a PayPal account instead of a credit card that could lead back to our agency,” Derrick said.
Kat peered back at Gina. “And she waited until we arrived to make the reservation, so if anyone did somehow find out where we were staying, they wouldn’t be sitting there waiting for us.”
“There’s no way they can find us, then?” Gina asked, her hopeful tone begging for confirmation.
“Not exactly,” Kat answered. “Despite our best efforts, they found us at the airport.”
“I don’t understand. After all the precautions you took, how could they have done that?”
“That’s the question of the hour,” Derrick said. A question he needed to answer quickly if he was going to keep Gina alive.
* * *
Gina pressed her hand one last time on Sophia’s back then tiptoed out of the hotel suite’s bedroom. She found Derrick and Kat sitting at the dining table, where she’d left them thirty minutes ago. They were still discussing how her attackers had found them at the airport. It sounded like the only possible explanation they’d reached was that they’d had someone watching arrivals at the San Diego airport, and a team standing by in their car to tail them.
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out,” Kat offered.
“I wish I was as certain as you,” Derrick said, to Gina’s surprise.
“You don’t think we’ll figure out how they tracked us?” Gina asked as she approached. “So that means they’ll find us again.”
“I didn’t say that.” Derrick pushed to his feet but didn’t offer any reassurance. “We should get over to your place while there’s still daylight.”
She looked at Kat. “Are you sure you don’t mind keeping an ear out for Sophia while we’re gone?”
Kat held up Jon’s accident report that she’d received via fax. “If she wakes up, she’ll be far more interesting than this report. Besides, I might need the practice.”
“You’re pregnant?” Derrick’s voice shot high.
“No, but not for the lack of trying.”
“TMI, Kat.” He plugged his ears. “TMI.”
Gina remembered nothing was off-topic for Kat if it had the potential to embarrass her youngest brother, or so he claimed. He dropped his fingers, but his face had reddened. Gina chuckled over his embarrassment. He was such a study in contrasts. The big, tough guy who faced danger all the time but turned into a marshmallow when his sister mentioned trying for a baby.
He grabbed a Kevlar vest and quickly shrugged into it. “Put your vest on and wait here while I check out the parking lot.”
As she slipped into the vest, which was becoming standard procedure now, he checked his gun and went outside.
She secured the Velcro tabs and settled her jacket over it. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and laughed at her reflection. “It looks like I’ve gained ten pounds.”
“Actually the vest weighs around six pounds,” Kat answered without looking up from her file. “Six pounds that could save your life, so keep it on.”
Disappointment evaporated Gina’s smile. She’d tried to lighten up and joke with Kat, but obviously, she was still miffed at Gina for hurting Derrick and didn’t want to joke with her.
Derrick stuck his head in the door. “We’re good to go.”
Gina joined him in the hallway. Derrick had insisted on a first-floor suite with direct access to an exit. She stepped away from him to the exterior door, but he caught up and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close. His musky scent clung to him, bringing back memories she had no business remembering. She put a little space between them.
“Don’t argue.” He tightened his hold. “I want you close to me.”
She stayed put. Truth be told, she reveled in the security she felt with his arm around her. It was the other feelings she was rebelling against.
He escorted her to the car, and after he laid his gun on his lap they departed. At the first corner, he turned in the opposite direction of her home.
She looked at him. “I thought we were going to my apartment.”
“We are,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the road. “But I’ll make a few left turns first to see if anyone is following us.”
“I take it turning left is important.”
He nodded, his focus now moving between mirrors. “Odds are against anyone making as many left turns in a row as I plan to make.”
She shook her head. “This is all so surreal. I went from being an average citizen to someone more like a character you see fleeing in action movies. If I was on my own, I’d have no idea how to protect myself. It’s a relief that you and your family are so skilled in this line of work. Makes me realize how blessed I am to know you.”
He cast a wary look at her but said nothing.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No. It’s great that you recognize our skills.”
“But?”
“But what?”
“There was a but in your voice.”
He shrugged, and she could see that he’d shut down. He would no more tell her what was bothering him now than he’d explain his sta
ndoffish attitude since they’d left the airport. She gave up and watched out the window until they pulled into her apartment driveway. She handed him her parking garage keycard, and he swiped it to raise the metal bar. They wound through the lot up to the third floor, his eyes alert, checking every nook and cranny.
He parked next to the walkway leading to her apartment. “We’ll cross over the same way we walked to the car. Nice and tight.”
He climbed out and as she followed, he grabbed a backpack from the backseat and shrugged it over his shoulders. Uncertain how to approach him, her steps faltered. He’d caught her by surprise at the hotel when he’d slipped his arm around her, but as she moved toward him now, it felt awkward knowing he’d draw her close again. She’d once settled next to him without a thought, and the longing for that kind of ease with him made her cringe over her foolish thoughts.
He didn’t seem as ill at ease as he confidently reached out, and she slipped under his arm. They took the covered walkway, each step reminding her of the attack that had taken place in her apartment and raising her apprehension. At the building entrance, a shiver traveled down her body.
He looked at her. “Hey, relax, I won’t bite.”
She forced a smile. “It’s not you that I’m worried about.”
“I know, but I thought a little humor might take your mind off it.” He slid her keycard down the electronic reader, releasing the lock.
As they shuffled together into the hallway, Derrick’s touch gave her strength. In an effort to match his, she forced back her shoulders. She couldn’t let her attacker intimidate her any longer. She’d always taken care of herself, and she couldn’t let herself sit back and wait for Derrick to handle her every need.
She tried to slip her key into the door, but trembling hands made it difficult. He settled his hand over hers and held it steady as she turned the lock.
“Thank you.” She looked up at him, his face close enough to feel his breath on her cheek.
He smiled, brightening his whole face, returning him to the youthful man who’d played practical jokes and always, always had a beaming smile for her in college. They locked gazes, and she got lost in his eyes as her pulse tripped higher.
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