“Nothing.”
He shot her a baleful look. They’d been circling this topic for weeks, and he was ready for her to open up to him.
“I really don’t think you’d be interested in all my family melodrama.”
“I asked because I’m interested.”
“You really want to hear this? Fine.” She folded her arms over her chest. “He cheated on my mom while she was dying of cancer.”
Ryan looked at her. “That sucks.”
“Yes.”
“That must have been hard for you. On top of everything else you were dealing with when your mom was sick.”
She looked out the window. “It was hard for my mom, not me.”
“She knew about it?”
“He didn’t have the decency to cover his tracks well. I mean, it was really pathetic. I figured it out, and I was only eleven.” She shrugged. “But hey, you can’t blame him, right? What was he supposed to do? He was in love.” She rolled her eyes. “He even married her.”
“When?”
She pursed her lips. “Twelve months and nine days after my mom died.”
“So he waited a year.”
“The obligatory year, yes. He had an image to think about.”
Damn, what an asshole. But Ryan was glad she’d told him what the deal was. It explained a lot—her distance from her father, her unwillingness to ask him for help.
Her distrust of men.
“But you want to know what’s even more pathetic?” She looked at Ryan. “I still loved him growing up. Even after everything he did.” She gazed out the window. “Sometimes I hate myself for that.”
Ryan didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything.
Sometimes families sucked. His family had gone through some rough years when Callie was sick. His dad drank all the time. His mom went to church obsessively, as if that would fix anything. Ryan got into fights at school and got himself kicked off the football team.
He remembered hurting. Constantly, day and night. He remembered the rage and frustration and wanting to pound anyone who got in his way to a bloody pulp. Sometimes he hoped someone would give him shit about something—anything—just so he’d have an excuse to throw a punch.
“I stopped asking for his time and attention,” Emma said. “It hurt my feelings too much when he wouldn’t come through. He’d pass me off to some staffer, and it felt like crap, so finally I decided not to expect anything from him.”
“Do you see him?”
“Occasionally.” She shrugged. “Christmas, Thanksgiving, maybe a weekend during the summer. But he doesn’t show up in my life unless it makes a good photo op. Renee’s funeral, for example. There were plenty of cameras there.”
Ryan didn’t say anything for a moment. “I’m sorry you aren’t close.”
“So what’d you think of Mays?” she asked, deftly changing the subject.
He looked at her. “I think she holds her cards close.”
“That’s what I thought. But she told me Ambassador Conner has been under investigation since March. I think she told me that for a reason.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know. I could be wrong.”
“So far, you’ve been right about damn near everything. What are you thinking?”
She brushed a curl from her eyes. “Well, there was this scandal in the spring at the embassy. Some passports went missing. You know how tourists come in for replacements when theirs get lost or stolen? So we had some blanks in the embassy vault, and a stack of them disappeared.”
“Was Conner implicated?”
“I don’t think so. At least, I didn’t. A staffer was fired over it. She had access to the vault. I think they were pursuing charges against her, but I haven’t really kept up with the case.”
“How many passports are we talking about?”
“I don’t know exactly. Hundreds.”
“Big money on the black market.”
“I know. And I was thinking about what Mays said about Avedo and the human trafficking.”
“I see where you’re going, but what does this have to do with Renee Conner getting killed in a plane crash?”
“I’m not sure.” She looked at him. “I wish I had my computer. There are some things I’d like to look at. I guess we can’t go back to my hotel room in San Diego, huh?”
“Nope.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“Our safe house is burned, too,” Ryan said. “And my apartment, because you said someone shadowed you when you drove by there last week. But I might have a line on another place we can stay. When we stop for food, I’ll call Jake and get an update.”
“Ryan.”
Something in her tone caught his attention, and he looked at her across the truck.
“You don’t have to do this, you know.”
He shook his head.
“I mean, I appreciate you saving me back there with Mays. I really don’t want to be under the FBI’s thumb. But you don’t have to babysit me. I know you have other things you should be doing right now.”
“I’m on leave.”
“You are?” She sounded surprised.
“Yep.”
“Well . . . didn’t you have plans?”
“I was planning to go to Florida, but I’ll do it next time.”
“I’m taking you away from your family. And your friends back home.”
He glanced at her, and somehow he knew she meant female friends back home. He caught the hint of jealousy in her tone, and he liked it. “Emma, I’m going to say this once. Are you listening?”
She just looked at him.
“There is no place in this world I’d rather be right now than in this truck with you.”
Her look turned skeptical. “This old, crappy, stolen truck with FBI agents following us and our lives at risk?”
He didn’t respond, just let it sink in. Between her father and her ex-fiancé, she really had some stuff to get over. So this new situation was going to take some getting used to.
Situation.
Ryan wasn’t even sure what the situation was, and he wasn’t really eager to put a label on it. But he knew what he knew. He wanted to be with her. As much as possible. Being with her naked was his first choice, but he’d take whatever he could get.
He had to seize the day, because the odds were stacked against them. He was overseas all the time. She lived in Seattle. Could they make something work long-distance? He’d never been much good at relationships, and he’d never even attempted anything serious since he’d become a SEAL. It was something he’d always put off for later or maybe even never.
So, yeah, this situation was a little intimidating. But so what? He’d been intimidated plenty of times in his life, but that hadn’t stopped him. If anything, it made him more determined to prove himself.
So that was what he planned to do now: prove himself to Emma. Make her understand that she could trust him, that she should give this thing a chance.
The concerned look on her face made him smile.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t get you.”
“I know. We’ve already established that. Where do you want to eat? I need to call Jake. And then we need to shake this tail, and that could take a while. I’d just as soon fuel up first. How much money do we have left?”
She poked through the cash and coins in the cupholder. Jesus, this was humiliating. She came from a rich family, and he was pretty sure she’d never had to scrounge up loose change for a meal. When this was over, he was going to get a wad of cash from the ATM and take her somewhere nice.
“Four dollars, seventy-eight cents,” she said.
“Sounds like we’ll be sharing.” He exited the freeway and started looking for signs.
“So I’ve been thinkin
g about the safe house being burned,” Emma said. “I think I know a place we can stay tonight.”
“Where?”
“My apartment in Los Angeles.”
He did a double take.
“Well, not mine, exactly. I’m subletting from a friend. My name isn’t on the lease or anything. It doesn’t connect to me.”
Ryan pulled into an In-N-Out Burger and swung into a space. He parked and turned to face her. “Why are you subletting an apartment in Los Angeles?” he asked.
“It’s a long story.”
“Let’s hear it.”
She took a deep breath. “Well . . . you know Juan Delgado?”
Oh, shit. Maybe he didn’t want to hear this. “The doctor who was in the plane crash with you,” he said. God damn it, the guy was fifty-five.
“I met him when we started doing those aid missions together. He was a very inspiring man.”
Ryan gritted his teeth.
“After watching him work, I started thinking about a career change. I applied to graduate school. Then in May, I was accepted into the nursing program at UCLA. Classes start at the end of the month.”
He stared at her. “You’re going to nursing school.”
“Yes.”
“In Southern California.”
“Yes.”
He watched her, at a complete loss for words. How many hours had they spent together and she’d never mentioned this?
Her brow furrowed. “What’s the problem?”
“No problem at all. Where’s this apartment?”
NINE
* * *
Alexa strode into the doughnut shop, and Jake’s pulse picked up. He leaned back in his chair, trying to look bored as she approached the table.
“Doughnuts for dinner?” she asked.
“Sure, why not?”
She pulled out a chair and sank into it. He slid a napkin over, offering her a chocolate-iced doughnut with chocolate sprinkles. She didn’t even look at it. “No, thank you.”
“What kind of cop doesn’t like doughnuts?”
“I’m not a cop. I’m an FBI agent.”
“That gun on your hip says you’re a cop, babe. Same with that scowl you get when you’re annoyed. At least have some coffee.” He pushed the cup toward her. “You probably plan to be up late.”
She ignored the coffee, too. “What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”
“You’ve got it wrong, Alexa. I’m here to help you.”
“What makes you think I need your help?”
“The Ricky Avedo case is one of the most important investigations your office is running right now. And your most important witness rejected your offer of protection. She’d rather have a SEAL.” He smiled. “Can you blame her?”
“We don’t need your help. She’s under surveillance.”
“You mean Rosewood and Taggart? Sorry to break it to you, but Ryan shook them loose an hour ago.”
She tried not to react, but he could see no one had told her about this development.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Emma’s been transferred safely to an undisclosed location. I’ll be happy to put her in touch with you, but I’m going to need you to answer a simple question first.”
Alexa waited, not talking or scowling or giving anything away. But just the fact that she hadn’t gotten up and left yet told him how important Emma was and that the FBI needed his help communicating with her.
“What’s your question?” she asked casually.
“Who called Emma and set up that fake meeting? And don’t tell me you don’t know. You ran her phone records as soon as you found out about it.”
She tipped her head to the side. “If Emma’s so safe with your friend, then why does it matter?”
“Threat assessment. We like to know the direction a threat’s coming from to better defend against it.”
She looked at him for a long moment. Then something changed. Her shoulders sagged, and she leaned back in her chair, sighing. For the first time since he’d met her, he got a glimpse of the real woman beneath all the armor. Jake could see she was under a lot of strain.
She pinched off a bite of his doughnut and popped it into her mouth. She chewed for a moment and then took another bite.
“That’s good.”
“I know.” He watched her, waiting patiently. When she glanced up again, he felt like she was ready to talk.
“I can’t tell you who exactly. In fact, I really shouldn’t tell you anything.”
“We’re on the same team here, Alexa. Five weeks ago, I dropped into the jungle to help rescue this girl. I want to help her stay alive, same as you.”
Alexa looked around the little restaurant. It was almost empty, and the employees were wiping down counters and wrapping up for the day. “Like I said, I can’t tell you who. But I can tell you what.” She took a deep breath. “ICE.”
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement?”
She nodded. “Their LA office. The call originated from there.” She took a sip of coffee. “It’s been said—and I’m not confirming this—that Ricky Avedo has a contact on the inside somewhere. Someone who helps him with his trafficking operation. He’s had way too much luck dodging raids in the past, and investigators believe he’s getting tips. Good ones. Whoever provides them also helps him troubleshoot problems.”
“Problems such as Emma Wright.”
“We’re looking into that, yes. We believe someone may have planned to ambush her at her hotel, possibly grabbing her on her way to her room or inside it. The room is on the first floor, so they could have slipped out through the patio door. When she didn’t enter the hotel, they changed the plan and went after her on the street.”
Well, shit.
Emma was dead on when she’d told Ryan she couldn’t trust the feds. Someone within their ranks was gunning for her. Or helping Avedo gun for her, which was the same thing.
Avedo was dangerous and highly motivated, a very bad combination for Emma. Jake had been doing some digging, and Ricky and his dad had an extremely lucrative business. There was a lot on the line, a lot to protect.
A lot to lose if some nosy congressman’s daughter blew the lid off everything.
“Sounds like you have your hands full,” he said.
“I gave you something. Now it’s your turn.” She leaned forward. “How can I reach Emma? I’m sure you can see how dangerous this situation is for her.”
Jake nodded. “I can.” He stood, and she looked up at him, startled. “When she’s ready, I’ll have her get in touch.”
———
The place wasn’t what Ryan had pictured. When Emma said Manhattan Beach he’d expected a fancy setup, maybe with a view overlooking the Pacific. But it was your basic walk-up apartment, a couple dozen units centered around a sparsely landscaped courtyard. She was in a second-floor apartment, but that was about the only good thing he could see about the place.
She led him down an open-air walkway.
“Your super needs to change out these bulbs,” Ryan told her.
“What’s that?”
“These light bulbs. I see two out on the other side. Where is he? I’ll talk to him.”
“I have no idea, actually. The management doesn’t know I’m staying here.” She stopped at a door and knocked. “I hope this woman’s home. I’ve only met her once. I don’t even know what she does for a living.”
The answer became apparent when Emma’s neighbor answered the door in orange short-shorts and a Hooters T-shirt.
She smiled. “Emma, hey. What’s up?” Her gaze landed on Ryan, and her smile brightened.
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m locked out again.”
“What’s that?” She shifted her attention back to Emma.
“I misplaced my key. You mind lending me the spare?”
<
br /> “Sure, no problem.”
The neighbor went and got the key and then rushed off to work, giving Ryan a little wink when Emma wasn’t looking.
“Good thing we caught her,” Emma said, unlocking her door. “I don’t know how we would’ve gotten in otherwise.”
“I do.” Ryan followed her into a dark apartment. The front hallway was lined with large brown moving boxes sealed with tape.
“It’s a mess.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I haven’t unpacked yet. I’ve only spent one night here.”
The living room had almost no furniture, just a faded blue futon and an armchair that had to have come from the Salvation Army. The place was immaculate, though, and the kitchen smelled like Pine-Sol.
“My friend left it clean, but she sold off some of the furniture before she left, so . . .” Emma’s words trailed off as she made a beeline straight for the refrigerator and opened it. “Aha!” She beamed a smile at him. “Can I offer you a beer?”
“Definitely.”
Ryan crossed the living room to check out the windows. Between them was a door to a narrow balcony, barely room for one person to stand on. “You need some new locks on these windows.”
“Huh?” She looked up from the fridge.
“These old latches are crap. You can pick up some burglar latches at any hardware store. Or I can.”
She popped the top off a Corona and handed him the bottle. “I’m on the second level. You really think that’s necessary?”
“Yeah, I do.”
She shook her head and went back into the kitchen. “I don’t have much food, unfortunately. I’ve only picked up a few staples. Oh—I have Grape-Nuts. Damn, but no milk. You want some dry cereal?”
“I’ll pass.”
A box near the window was open and partially unpacked. Ryan looked inside. She had a stack of review books for the GRE, an anatomy textbook, a Tagalog-English dictionary.
She also had a couple of yearbooks and several pictures in frames. Ryan picked up the top photo. Emma was standing on a snowy hilltop with her arms wrapped around some guy. They both wore ski jackets and scarves, and the backdrop was a snow-covered mountain range.
“This him?”
“What?”
Edge of Surrender Page 7