by Tara Wyatt
“Even if you and one of the other guys come with me?”
“Even then. I don’t want to scare you, but what if there’s another bomb? What if Sacrosanct is there and tries to hurt you?”
She hesitated, chewing on her lip. “Going to stuff like this is part of my job, Sean. And right now, after last night, it’s important for us to show strength, and solidarity. To show that we won’t be bullied. It’s at City Hall, and I’m sure there will be tons of security.”
He paused, turning the idea over in his mind. Everything was getting muddy. Was he hesitant because it truly was a bad idea, or because he didn’t want the woman he was falling in love with to be in danger? Was he making the same decisions he’d make if Sierra were just a client?
Of course he wasn’t.
Once again his father’s words echoed through his mind, casting doubt over his decisions.
“How did you find out about the rally?” he asked, turning the SUV off.
“Choices e-mail blast.”
He blew out a breath. “Let me see who else is available. If I can get someone else, then…” He trailed off. “I’m still not sure, Sierra. Let me think about it.”
She nodded and hopped out of the car. He followed Sierra into the house, and he was proud of the way she didn’t hesitate, just walked straight in and right up the stairs. But he didn’t miss the tension in her slender shoulders or the slight jerkiness to her movements as she opened her closet and yanked a small suitcase out. Barely looking at what she was touching, she tossed clothing into the suitcase at lightning speed. The worst of the mess had been cleaned up already by the crime scene cleaning team Antonio had called in, but the metallic smell of blood still hung in the air.
“Do you not want me to go to the protest rally because you think it’s dangerous, or because you’re worried about me because of…because of us?” she asked, giving voice to the exact thoughts spinning through his head. She stepped into her bathroom to gather more toiletries.
“Both. It’s risky. Very risky. I understand why you want to go, I just don’t think it’s a good idea.” He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb, watching as she threw more stuff into her suitcase. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
She paused with a curling iron in one hand and a can of hair spray in the other. “You do that to yourself, don’t you?” she asked softly, and something in his chest clenched. Apparently she’d heard more last night than he’d realized.
“We’re not talking about that right now.” His voice came out a bit gruffer than he’d intended. “We’re talking about your safety.”
“I know. But we’re also talking about my job. It looks bad if I don’t show up today. With this grant on the line, they need all the support they can get.”
He sighed and nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket and stepping out into the hallway to make the calls. As he spoke with Carter, and then Jamie, his heart sank, just a little. They were both in and didn’t think it would be an issue to keep her safe at the rally, proving to Sean just how clouded his own judgment was becoming when it came to Sierra.
He was going to have to let her go to the damn rally.
She was just zipping up her suitcase when he came back into her bedroom. “Both Carter and Jamie are going to come with us to the rally.”
Her head snapped up. “So I can go?”
His mouth was dry, and he licked his lips before he spoke. “Yes.”
She flashed him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
Unable to help himself, he returned the smile and tipped his head toward the stairs. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
* * *
He leaned back in his leather desk chair, his gaze riveted to the television screen mounted on the wall and tuned to CNN. The bombing at last night’s gala was still one of the top stories, and although no one had been killed, several people had been seriously injured. Too bad that fucker Owens hadn’t been one of them.
Bombing the gala had been a risk, but it had gone off without a hitch, and it had made a hell of a statement. Choices had no idea who they were messing with, and last night had been a wake-up call.
What he hadn’t anticipated was the showing of support from the public, including that damn protest rally at City Hall. And if their little star Sierra showed up, it would galvanize support even further. He could feel the grant—and his life, if he didn’t get the money—slipping through his fingers.
So the solution was simple, really. She couldn’t make it to the rally.
The phone on his desk buzzed, and he lowered the volume on the TV. “Yeah?”
“We got eyes on her. She’s at her house right now with the bodyguard.”
“Is she going to the rally?”
“Unconfirmed. She must know about it. Maybe she’ll be too scared to show up.”
He laughed. “Unlikely.”
“What do you want us to do?”
“I don’t want her to show up at that rally. It would be bad for us.” He drummed his fingers on his desk, thinking. “Follow her and the bodyguard when they leave. If they head toward City Hall, take them out. And make it look like an accident.”
He sighed heavily. He didn’t want to kill her. He really didn’t. But it was becoming clearer and clearer that getting rid of her might be his only option.
“The bodyguard too?”
“Especially him.” His lip curled, and tension radiated down his neck. “I want Sean Owens dead.”
* * *
Sean and Sierra headed back down the driveway, her suitcase in Sean’s hand. He opened the hatch and tossed it into the back before climbing into the driver’s seat. He was about to press the ignition button when he froze.
As a rule he kept his car neat. No garbage, no extra stuff, nothing. Not even an air freshener. So the sight of a screw and a tiny bit of wire on the floor under the steering column set off alarm bells in his mind immediately. His blood rushed through his ears, his heart pumping frantically as he realized someone had tampered with his vehicle.
“Get out of the car.” He glanced at Sierra, silently imploring her not to argue.
“What? Why? What’s wrong?”
“Get out of the car.”
Some of the color drained from her face and she nodded, opening the passenger side door and sliding out. Sean did the same, and without a word, he took her hand, led her back into the house, and locked the door behind him. He drew his gun and flattened his back against the living room wall, peering cautiously out the window.
Sierra laid a hand on his arm. “What’s going on?”
“Someone tampered with the SUV. We’re being watched, and whoever did it is probably still nearby. We were only in here for fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.” She went to go look out one of the living room windows, but he held her back. “Stay away from the windows. I’m going to call the cops and the team to let them know what’s going on.”
She nodded and sank down onto the stairs, watching him as he made two quick phone calls to Antonio and Carter.
“If someone’s watching us, I don’t want to stay here. My car’s locked up in the garage. We can take it to the rally and get out of here.”
“I agree that we shouldn’t stay here. You sure you still want to go to this rally?” He sent up a silent prayer that she’d changed her mind.
She nodded. “I’m not backing down.”
He stifled the curse he wanted to bite out. “We’ll take your car. Where are your keys?” She slipped a hand into her purse and tossed them to him, leading him into the garage, where her little blue Lexus sat. He did a quick perimeter check of the vehicle, but there were no signs it had been tampered with, and the garage was secure. He dropped down behind the driver’s seat, and he had to duck his head and wedge his knees up against his chest to fit. With a mirthless chuckle, he adjusted the seat for his much longer legs and torso, his eyes scanning the interior of the car.
“Do you see anything out of place?” he asked her.
“Things that weren’t here before, stuff that’s been moved?”
She studied the interior of her car, her eyes narrowed. Finally she shook her head. “No, it all looks normal to me.”
Sending up yet another silent prayer, he slipped the key into the ignition and the engine came to life. Sierra clicked open the garage door, and Sean pulled quickly out of the garage and down the driveway and took off down the street, his eyes darting back and forth between the road and the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following them. But there were no cars pulling onto the road, and after several minutes he relaxed slightly. He headed for the 101 South, the most direct route downtown. He glanced into the rearview mirror again, and his grip tightened on the steering wheel.
A black SUV bore down on them, accelerating way too fast. He took his eyes off the road for a second to make sure Sierra had her seat belt on.
“We might have company. Stay low in your seat.”
He floored it, weaving smoothly between two other cars, waiting to see if the SUV would follow.
It did.
“Fuck. He’s following us. Hang on.”
He punched the gas even harder, swerving away from the on-ramp at the last second and veering onto Franklin Avenue. With horns blaring, the SUV managed to do the same, tires squealing behind them.
“There’s a police station about a mile away. We’ll go there.” He’d barely finished speaking when the car was rammed from behind, jolting them both against their seat belts. Sierra shrieked and gripped the handle above the window. With his heartbeat thrashing in his ears, Sean pushed the gas as far down as it would go, the car’s engine grinding as he wove through traffic. But the SUV had more power, and it swerved out from behind them, ramming into the rear passenger side of the car and sending them into a spin.
It was as though everything had dropped into slow motion as the nose of the car spun into the path of oncoming traffic. A truck blared its horn, and Sean eased off the gas and steered into the spin, regaining control of the car and barely managing to get out of the truck’s path. The smell of burning rubber filled the air when he hit the gas, and they came out of the spin. Sean jerked the car back into his lane. Sweat ran down his back and pain shot across his knuckles from his grip on the steering wheel.
With the other vehicle still speeding behind him, he knew he needed to take a chance. He had to get them out of here. He had to get her out of here.
He turned the wheel sharply to the right a split second before he yanked on the hand brake, executing a 180-degree turn as the SUV sped by. Releasing the hand brake, he floored it, driving as fast as possible, weaving through traffic and earning several horn blasts and middle fingers as he took turn after turn, taking a circuitous route to the police station on Wilcox, eyes flicking back and forth between the road and the rearview mirror, but there was no sign of the SUV. Tires squealing, he pulled into the parking lot and drove around to the back of the building, out of sight of the main road. With shaking hands he put the car in park and cut the ignition.
Slowly he flexed his hands and forced air into his lungs, blinking away the dots flaring and fading in front of his eyes. He couldn’t hear anything except his blood surging through his ears.
Sierra touched his arm and he jumped, lost in the memories of the night he’d lost his mom, and how close they’d just come to…fuck, he couldn’t even think the words. He checked the rearview mirror again, even though they were now parked out of sight of the road.
“Are you OK?” she asked, her voice loud in the silent car. She pressed a hand to his cheek and forced him to look at her. “I’m OK, Sean. This isn’t the same thing. I’m OK. We’re safe now, thanks to you.”
As the adrenaline eased, a wave of dizziness rocked him, and he needed to anchor himself. He grabbed her and kissed her, hard and a little roughly. He needed to touch her, taste her, feel her. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath, his lungs screaming for air, and he broke away.
He flung open the car door and came around to Sierra’s side, cringing at the damage to her car. He opened her door and gathered her into his arms. “Are you sure you’re OK?”
“I’m fine, I promise. Because of you.”
His voice shook, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop it. “That was very, very close to ending very, very badly.”
“But it didn’t.” She laid her head against his chest. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
As her words seeped into him, they warred with the lingering guilt over his mother’s death, and for the first time in years, he wanted to let some of that guilt go. As though keeping Sierra safe were some kind of atonement. Which was fucked up, but there it was.
He kissed the top of her head, his hands still shaking, and led her into the police station.
“You can forget about that rally, sweetheart.”
Chapter 23
The next day Sierra settled into her business class window seat on the flight to Miami. She was a nervous flier at the best of times, and with everything she’d been through in the past few days, she was even more on edge than usual. The trip to the airport had been tense, as though Sean had expected the black SUV to reappear or someone to grab her as she walked through the airport, but after yesterday’s chase, there’d been no further threats.
Sean stowed their bags in the overhead compartment and then sat down beside her. Just his presence beside her unknotted some of the tension from her shoulders. Jamie sat in the aisle seat across from them.
After they’d filed the police report about the car chase yesterday, they’d learned that Sean’s SUV had, in fact, been tampered with. The brake and fuel lines had both been cut, and several electrical wires had been frayed. Those frayed wires would’ve produced sparks that might have ignited the leaking fuel. Sean’s attention to detail had saved them. She shuddered to think what might’ve happened had he not noticed the screw and the bit of wire that had been left behind in haste.
According to the security footage, his SUV had been tampered with by yet another man in a ski mask. The police had checked for fingerprints, but hadn’t found any that didn’t belong to Sean, Sierra, or other members of Virtus. She’d arranged to have her smashed-up car towed, but she wasn’t optimistic it could be repaired. The damage, at least to the body, was fairly extensive. But it was a small price to pay to be alive.
Yesterday had been yet another reminder of how dangerous this entire situation was, not just for her, but for him. She hated the idea that he was in danger because of her. Hell, she hated the idea that he was in danger at all. It hurt just thinking about what she’d do if something happened to him. The only solution was to catch Sacrosanct. Neither of them would be safe until it was over. And while he was focused on protecting her, who would protect him?
She’d e-mailed Jack, making sure he was all right after the bomb blast, and asking if he’d heard anything that could help them catch Sacrosanct. After being injured in the bombing, he’d likely be out for Sacrosanct’s blood too. She felt a little weird e-mailing her ex-boyfriend behind Sean’s back, but she knew he wouldn’t approve, and she wanted answers. Jack, with all his connections, could maybe provide some. As a politician, he could apply pressure to law enforcement and grease the right wheels. He was a good ally to have, even if he was her ex.
She’d spent the night at Sean’s again, and that had suited both of them just fine. Waking up in his bed, in his arms, was something she could get used to. Something she wanted to get used to.
“What are you thinking about? You’re a million miles away.” Sean’s hand landed on her knee, his thumb tracing gentle circles on her skin. He’d told Jamie about their relationship, but as far as she knew, he was the only one on the team who knew about them. It would’ve been hard to hide it in front of him on this trip, and she knew Sean hated lying to his team.
She sighed. “Everything. The bombing. My house. The car chase. Us.” She laid her hand on top of his. “I want this over so we can have our lives back.”
“I know. Do you have any idea how much I’d love to just take you on a date?”
It was such a simple thing to say, but her heart melted a little. “I’d really like that. Dinner, a movie, or a walk on the beach.” She slipped her hand into his, marveling at how much bigger his hands were than hers. “We could go away someplace for the weekend, just the two of us. Santa Barbara, maybe?”
He brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, just once. “Mmm. Or what about a week in Mexico? I haven’t had a vacation in a while.”
Her stomach flipped over on itself. “Oh, God, that sounds amazing. Just us and the beach, and fruity drinks, and—”
He cut her off with a low whisper, his breath tickling her ear. “A nice big bed.”
She bit her lip, stifling a laugh. “That goes without saying.”
His brown eyes glittered warmly. “It’s settled. As soon as this is over, we’re going to Mexico.”
“You better buy me dinner first. We’re doing everything out of order.”
He cocked an eyebrow, a teasing smile on his lips. “You didn’t seem worried about that last night when I—”
“Shhh!” She smacked him lightly on the arm, her cheeks heating.
“You are adorable.” He kissed her on the forehead before settling back in his seat. As they prepared for takeoff, she laid her head on his shoulder and dozed off.
* * *
Humid air poured into the cabin of the jet as soon as the door opened. Heat shimmered on the tarmac, visible and thick. Sean ushered Sierra out of her seat, and with Jamie in front of her, Sean behind, they made their way off the plane and into the overly air-conditioned airport.
They hadn’t checked bags, and they made their way directly to the waiting limousine the symposium had arranged for Sierra. He knew she was frightened of Sacrosanct and nervous about her speech, but she walked through the airport with her head held high. She was so strong. So brave. And he was so proud.