Dangerously Involved

by Sidney Bristol

  “Okay.” Melody’s gaze narrowed a bit. “Your assignment is to stick close to her. She sleeps, you sleep. That sort of thing. This plan of theirs is going to blow up in our face, and I want someone there to pull her out of the fire. Are we all agreed?”

  “Yeah,” Grant said.

  “I can do that.” Nolan pulled his tablet out and powered on the screen. “Did you see tomorrow’s itinerary?”

  “I did.” Grant glanced over his shoulder. “You think half an hour is long enough to get the others out of here?”

  “Should be.” Nolan tapped the screen. “Seven thirty, the lawyer team arrives. Eight, the car service gets here. Everyone except Melody and I guess myself will ride with the family. Eight thirty the FBI arrive and we begin.”

  “What about that new guy?” Grant scowled. “The one who we scooped up from the CIA? Is he any use to us in this situation?”

  “You mean the one the CIA fired because he helped us? Nope. He’s currently doing off-grid training.” Nolan had looked into that already.

  “Damn.” Grant blew out a breath. “Do we know who the FBI are sending over?”

  “The Behavioral Analysis Team. I guess we have history with them?” Nolan hadn’t paid much attention. It seemed unusual that a team with that kind of specialization would respond to their situation.

  “Yup. We’ve worked with them a few times.” Grant glanced at Nolan. “You and Melody will be running point with them. I need you and Yvonne rested and good to go tomorrow. I don’t want to see your face for the next eight hours, understand?”

  “Got it.”

  “Then get out of my sight. Melody and I need to talk.”

  Nolan turned on his heel. It was still fairly early, but he was going to get Yvonne alone. He wanted to hold her. To check over her wounds again.

  Today could have had a much different ending.

  He stepped into the kitchen and shut the door.

  Douglas stood in front of the refrigerator staring at its contents. “You were in my sister’s room this morning.”

  Nolan stopped, studying the smaller man. Douglas had smoothed his hair down and wore flip-flops now courtesy of Melody. The younger man shut the door then turned to stare at Nolan. Or was that supposed to be a glare?

  Douglas pitched his voice lower. “Whatever you think you’re doing, stop.”

  That was rich coming from this kid. Was he playing the protective brother role? Or was he trying to cover his ass?

  Nolan took two steps, closing the distance between them. To Douglas’ credit he didn’t back down or break eye contact.

  “I’ll do what I damn well please,” Nolan whispered.

  Theodore rounded the partial wall blocking the front of the house from view. “Doug, Dad needs you to show him something.”

  Douglas remained where he was.

  Huh.

  The little troublemaker really was protective.

  Nolan had to respect that even if he didn’t much care for anything else the kid did.

  “Doug,” Theodore said, his tone sharp.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll help him with his phone.” Douglas turned and stalked out of the kitchen.

  Theodore took up Douglas’ post, leaning against the stainless steel fridge, studying Nolan.

  “Your turn to say something?” He set the tablet on the counter then leaned on the island, arms crossed.

  “Mom and Dad haven’t picked up on it. If it wasn’t for Doug insisting he saw you head up to Vee’s room, I wouldn’t believe it. Whatever you’re doing, don’t fuck with my sister.”

  “I don’t think I could fuck her over more than her own family has.” Nolan couldn’t help the anger bubbling up inside of him.

  Theodore nodded. “Yeah, these last two days suck. She doesn’t deserve it.”

  Nolan had spent time observing the siblings. There was a closeness between Yvonne and Theodore that she didn’t share with Douglas. Was it possible her oldest brother wasn’t on board with the bullshit?

  “Answer me this?” Nolan shifted his weight and pivoted, bracing a hand on the counter in front of Theodore. “Why? Why all of this?”

  Theodore drew in a deep breath and stared at the marble countertop. “Vee... She always thinks she needs to do something to earn her place. You can’t tell her otherwise.”

  Nolan nodded. From the outside, things looked complicated. At least Theodore knew it wasn’t all right even if he wasn’t admitting how bad it could be..

  “Go. Get her to rest, will you? She’s still not well.” Theodore jerked his head toward the living room.

  Nolan stepped past Theodore and rounded the breakfast bar. Douglas was bent over his father’s shoulder, looking at a phone. Mrs. Krieger was nowhere to be seen.

  Yvonne glanced from the TV to Nolan.

  He tilted his head toward the hall.

  She didn’t acknowledge his suggestion. She just pushed the fluffy blanket off her lap and got to her feet. At some point she’d changed into yoga pants and a sweatshirt Melody had provided for her. Yvonne padded down the hall in the direction of the four bedrooms.

  Nolan walked to the front door and peered out at the darkening sky.

  Not a peep since they rolled in.

  He glanced into the office where Riley sat staring at a monitor.

  “I’m crashing,” Nolan said.

  “About time.” Riley waved him off.

  Nolan turned and headed down the hall. A door was open, a soft light glowing inside. He glanced over his shoulder, ensuring no one from her family saw him then stepped into the room. Yvonne shoved the door shut revealing her hiding place and walked straight into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face against his chest.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s alright,” he whispered.

  Nolan kissed the top of her head and squeezed her back.

  “You haven’t slept yet, have you?” Her voice was practically a mumble.

  “What’s with everyone worried about when I sleep?” He stroked her hair. “I was hoping I could convince you to rest, too. Theo said you still weren’t feeling good?”

  “I’m okay. He’s just worrying.” She relaxed her hold and glanced up at him. “Where are you going to sleep?”

  “Not sure. Any ideas?” Nolan wanted to stay with her, but they were still keeping a secret.

  “Stay with me?” Her voice cracked at the end.

  “Hey?” He cupped her face. “Whatever you’re feeling right now, it’s okay. Got it? This morning was scary and dangerous. You were hurt. It’s okay to fall apart.”

  She nodded. Tears gathered on her lashes, threatening to fall.

  “Get in bed. Go on.” He nudged her away from the door.

  Yvonne turned and crossed to the queen bed. She pulled the blankets down and crawled in, still fully dressed. This morning would affect her for a while, but at least Nolan could help her through it, explain her reaction.

  He stripped off his shirt and the Kevlar vest, then his boots and jeans, down to his underwear. He placed his handgun on the nightstand with his phone, both in easy reach. Only then did he slide into bed behind Yvonne.

  She curled up against his chest, clinging to him.

  “Are you ready for tomorrow?” he whispered.

  “Yes. I don’t expect you to understand it—”

  “I don’t have to.” He kissed the top of her head again. “You know I don’t like it. I also don’t know all the reasons why you believe this is the best course of action. I’m trusting you.”

  Please don’t let me be wrong.

  He remembered a long ago night when his younger brother had asked Nolan to trust him. It was the same night he’d died.

  Yvonne leaned away from him a bit. “This is how I make sure I never get put in this spot again.”

  “Do I get to ask questions?”

  “Not yet, no.”

  “Will you explain it to me later?”

  “As much as I can, when I can.”

  “Okay. Then I’ll
trust you.”

  Nolan prayed it wouldn’t turn out bad this time.

  FRIDAY. LANDOVER, MD.

  Lee stood in the kitchen of the modest, two-bedroom house considering his options.

  In the garage, he had the law clerk. That man had already wet himself.

  In the spare bedroom, he had the hit man. That was going to be a tougher nut to crack, even with the man loaded full of bullets and slowly dying.

  He wasn’t going to get anything useful out of the hit man, but he was still a tool. Something Lee could use to make his canary sing.

  “Bring the Asian guy in the garage.” Lee needed to make this happen today. With someone reporting back on him, it was only a matter of time until his clients once more came calling.

  There had to be progress soon.

  He pushed open the door to the garage.

  The man handcuffed and hooded on the chair in the middle of the room whimpered.

  So far the guy had volunteered the location of his cash, his social security number, available credit card balances and that his mother was on vacation.

  Two of Lee’s other men dragged the Asian hit man into the garage. He nodded at the man standing behind the clerk. The man reached forward and snatched the hood off the clerk. The man flinched, hunching his shoulders further and squeezed his eyes shut.

  Lee took two steps toward the man, drew his gun and used the muzzle to lift the clerk’s chin.

  “Look at me,” he demanded.

  The clerk stank of sweat and piss. The man cracked one eye open, then the other.

  “The Kriegers. Where are they?” Lee asked.

  “I—I don’t know.”

  Lee turned, aimed his weapon at the hit man then fired. Even with the silencer, the bang was loud in the enclosed space.

  The hit man’s body lay on the concrete, a growing pool of blood around him.

  “Oh, God. Oh my God. Oh fuck. Oh my God,” the clerk chanted.

  “Let’s try this again. Where are the Kriegers?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know, honest. But...” The clerk stared up at Lee, eyes wide with hope. “My boss. He was on the phone with the FBI all afternoon. Lately he’s just been dealing with the Kriegers. Whatever he was talking about, it’s got to be for them, right?”

  That made sense.

  The news hadn’t reported the attack, which meant the Kriegers were likely keeping the whole event a secret via their lawyers. Rich fucking people couldn’t do a God damn thing without their lawyers.

  “My boss has a meeting with them tomorrow. I think. At least that’s what he was saying.”

  Finally, something he could work with.

  Follow the lawyer, find the Kriegers.

  Easy enough.

  “Thanks. You’ve been very helpful.” Lee holstered his gun.

  The job would be an ugly snatch and grab. He couldn’t plan for a smooth abduction like he’d been doing in Japan. But he’d get the job done, acquire the information and deliver it all wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. Then he was getting the hell out of this country and lying low.

  17.

  Saturday. Safe House, Washington, DC.

  Samuel stared out the window toward the airport. Dawn was just coloring the horizon a dismal gray.

  It was almost twenty-four hours since they’d failed to capture the Krieger family. Samuel’s contacts had run into a wall. No one knew where they were. It was as if the family had vanished.

  Karuki’s face reflected back in the glass.

  “What?” Samuel snapped. “Do you want me to say you were right? That we should go home and hope this dies?”

  “That’s not an option,” Karuki said.

  Samuel turned to face the man. “Why?”

  “Police showed up at the office today. They wanted to ask you questions about your brother’s death. It would appear it’s not wrapped up.”

  “Fucking hell.” Samuel dragged his hand over his face.

  If he could go back and tell his old self to wait sixty seconds to pull that gun, Ito might be dead anyway and none of this would be Samuel’s problem. Instead, here he was chasing his tail.

  Now he had no choice but to tie up the loose ends and return home to feign ignorance about who his brother’s true killer was.

  “May I make a suggestion, sir?” Karuki asked.

  “Spit it out.”

  “I’d like to reach out to my cousin. He... He has connections here.”

  “Throwing in your lot with me? Are you sure you want to do that?” Samuel chuckled. He was corrupting a good man. If he had a conscience, it would be screaming at him now.

  “You took away my choice when you threatened my family.”

  “Talk to your cousin. Go.”

  Samuel dismissed the man and turned back to watch the sun rise on a new day.

  SATURDAY. SAFE HOUSE, Huntington Terrace, MD.

  Nolan watched the black SUVs ease out onto the street. The house seemed to finally breathe now that everyone save him, Melody and Yvonne were gone. The atmosphere had been decidedly tense ever since he’d woken up at the crack of dawn. From the pointed stares it was easy enough to infer that things had gone down between his team and the Kriegers last night while he slept.

  Whatever happened, Nolan didn’t care. His focus today was keeping Yvonne safe. Their most dangerous windows were the half hour blocks before the FBI arrived and when they left. For now, it was just the three of them.

  Melody had donned a Kevlar vest under today’s blouse and jacket. He’d even seen a holster concealed under her blazer, which was new. To his knowledge, Melody rarely carried her weapon. And that meant he wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the way things were going.

  Soft footsteps padded down the hall. The hair on the back of his neck rose and his skin seemed to tingle.

  He turned his head just enough so the moment Yvonne stepped out of the hall he caught a glimpse of her.

  She sighed and stopped barefoot on the tile. “Do I really need to wear this?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t have to look to know she was talking about the bullet-proof vest.

  Melody stepped in, playing the good cop. “We want to be extra careful, Vee. Here, I got you a pair of flats.”

  “We aren’t going anywhere.” Yvonne’s irritation pleased Nolan. If she was feeling good enough to be annoyed, she was back to being herself. “If this place isn’t safe, shouldn’t we go somewhere else? A hotel?”

  Melody never missed a beat. “We can’t control who comes and goes at a hotel. It’s a risk for all the same reasons you might want to go there. Plus, hotels are public. If something happened today and your name was associated with it, don’t you think people would begin asking questions about what happened at your house, too?”

  Yvonne didn’t answer immediately. “Will the FBI be here soon?”

  Nolan snorted. Answering questions with a question. She was in her VP role today, ready to give orders, not take them.

  “Soon.” He pivoted, keeping one eye on the street and sparing Yvonne a glance.

  Melody had dressed Yvonne from her clothes for today’s meeting. The skirt was a little tight across Yvonne’s hips, but the billowing top did nice things for her figure besides just hiding the Kevlar vest underneath. Voluptuous. Curvy. He wanted to get his hands on her right now.

  “I’m going to make coffee,” Melody announced and disappeared into the kitchen.

  “Come here.” Nolan held out his hand.

  Yvonne crossed the foyer, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her hair was back up in a twist, but she wasn’t as put together as before. Something was off. Something he knew he wouldn’t like. Soon he hoped she’d tell him everything. Against his better judgment he’d grown to care for her. He’d been right. From the moment he accepted he couldn’t get her out of his head, he’d known that they had something special. Something that went beyond great sex and compatible bodies to something deeper. He didn’t know how long this would last or where it would take them, bu
t he’d be an idiot to let her go so long as she was willing to put up with him. Or made time for him. When they were both married to work, it was hard to see how this could last. But he had to try.

  “What are you thinking about?” Yvonne asked.

  “Trying to decide where I’m going to take you on our first, real date.”

  “You think we’re going on a date?” She peered up at him, a brow arched.

  He turned his attention from the street to her. “You think we aren’t?”

  Yvonne’s lip quirked and her eyes danced.

  He kissed her forehead.

  Yeah, moments like these were why he was going to cut his heart out and give it to her to do what she wanted with it. Maybe he was crazy for going in knowing how things would end, but he’d never been one to hold back from a challenge.

  Tires squealed out on the street. He glanced at the window and frowned as a distant engine roared closer.

  Warning bells clamored in the back of his head.

  “Mel? Melody?” Nolan took a step back, then another, dragging Yvonne with him.

  Melody rounded the breakfast bar. “What?”

  A dark SUV slammed to a stop out front of the house. Another one screeched to a stop behind it.

  Men poured out, armed and masked.

  They were outnumbered.

  Everything slowed to a crawl while Nola’s mind raced.

  There was only so far Nolan would get Yvonne on foot followed by that many people. The fences on either side were too exposed. The house backed up to a drainage ditch with a thirty-foot drop, which had been appealing at the time of selecting this safe house because it ensured one side of the property was protected. Now, that fact put them in a no-win situation.

  These men were going to take Yvonne. Alone, he couldn’t stop them. The best thing he could do for her was to ensure she could be tracked and followed as soon as possible.

  Yvonne clutched him. “What—”

  “Vee?” Nolan shoved her away from the door. He ripped his Lepta Team bracelet off his wrist and shoved it down the neck of her shirt.