by Kells, India
“I suggest you leave before I have a restraining order placed on you for harassment.” Frida appeared in the doorway. The policeman from earlier was behind her and looked unimpressed that Raymond had gotten in.
“Fine, I’m leaving.”
Sydney saw the look of retribution on his face, and it sent a shiver through her spine. This wasn’t over, not by a long shot. They watched as Raymond left the room and Sydney felt the breath leave her in a whoosh.
Kingsley turned her in his arms and held her tight. “I won’t let him near you, Syd.”
“I know you won’t.” She believed him.
They walked to the door, hand in hand.
“You’re free to leave, Mrs. Knight.” The handsome cop smiled at her.
“Thank you.” She was suddenly feeling exhausted and hungry.
“But if I could give you a word of caution. Watch Raymond Rutherford. I’ve met men like him before, and they’re dangerous in a way you don’t want in your life. Watch your backs. Men like that don’t like to lose.” He turned to Kingsley then. “Mr. Knight, here’s my card. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.”
Kingsley took it and shook his hand. “Thank you, and I’ll certainly bear that in mind.”
They walked out, and were silent until they reached Mason who was waiting with Caitlin.
Caitlin rushed at her and threw her arms around her, nearly knocking her off her feet. “Oh my God. Sydney, I’m so sorry I let them take you.” She engulfed her in a hug.
“It’s not your fault.” Sydney pulled away, her heart full as she realized how much she meant to Caitlin.
“Let’s get back to Alliance. I don’t like being on the street.” Kingsley helped Sydney get into Mason’s car. He moved to sit beside her and Mason got in the front, starting the engine.
“I’ll meet you at Alliance, we have a lot to discuss.” Frida turned and sashayed toward her car, her head high. Sydney wondered at her confidence and wished she was like that.
“So, Mrs. Knight, about the wedding night I missed.” Kingsley smirked, and she felt laughter bubble up and burst from her as the tension left her body replaced by a light feeling of joy at what she had managed to gain in her life in the last week.
“Yeah, let’s talk about that later, shall we.”
Giggling, she saw Mason roll his eyes in the rearview mirror as his lip twitched.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sydney needed plenty of deep breaths and Kingsley’s tight grip to finally find her inner calmness. She wasn’t completely steady, but at least she could think more clearly.
Once they were back at Alliance with reassurances given all around, Sydney gratefully accepted Cleo’s cup of coffee and plate of pastries as they sat in the conference room for a detailed summary of what had happened.
Sydney couldn’t believe Frida’s brilliant idea. Her heart dropped a little knowing that even if it was official on paper, it wasn’t real. As she twirled the gold ring on her finger, she had to admit it was a nice fantasy, imagining Kingsley as her forever man. Far for delusional, she knew they weren’t at that point yet, even if her heart yearned to say yes. Kingsley had said he was serious, but everything had happened so quickly between them, she had to remain sensible, and the best thing she could do now was focus on the task at hand. Only when the threat from her uncle was removed could the real discussion between her and Kingsley start.
“Our best bet is to follow the money. That list of terrorists on US soil is proof that Rutherford had a major role to play in them being here. I doubt it was directly hands-on, but he had to know what was going on. Whoever paid for it was in direct contact with Rutherford.”
Alex slicked a couple of keys on his computer, and at least a dozen faces appeared on the main screen.
Frida leaned back in her chair. “If you have details, I can send what you have to my contact and start searching for them.”
Alex shook his head. “If we do that, they’ll disappear underground. And that will include Rutherford.”
Kingsley moved forward in his chair, a frown on his forehead. “What do you mean, include Rutherford?”
“He may be the only one who knows everything, as well as where they all are, but we don’t have solid proof. If they go down, the money man will go after him and put him down if we’re lucky. If we’re not, he will vanish.”
Shane nodded at Alex. “At this point, the mission becomes complicated. Our first goal is to protect Sydney, and that happens by taking down her uncle. To do so, our only lead is the terrorists. We need to find where the money is coming from. Once we have that bit of information, we can cut off the head, and everything will fall apart. That will ensure Rutherford and his men are sent to prison for a long, long time, and terrorists are taken care of.”
Malco was the next one to come forward. “We’ve been trying to trace the money, and we’ve come to a consensus. We’ve confirmed that none of his official and unofficial accounts, those we could find, had a major intake of money. Same with his men, though I doubt he would trust anyone else to handle it. So we believe he may have gone another route. Alex, who has the most experience in counter-terrorism, pointed it out. These groups tend to transfer money using family members.”
All eyes turned to Sydney, and her heart leaped in her throat. “You think I wouldn’t have told you about something like that?”
Mercy snorted, and Cain laughed. “No, honey. What we’re saying is that it’s possible he hid the money under your name somewhere.”
She frowned. “I haven’t noticed anything strange in my bank account. Sorry, guys.”
Emme smiled softly. “I doubt he would be that obvious, Sydney. And maybe we’re wrong, but it’s something we’ve gotta search. It may not be recent. We ought to go back a couple of years in our search. It could even be linked to your parents. We won’t leave any stone unturned.”
Her brain raced, sifting through various possibilities. “Maybe there’s something in my parent’s papers. Some are still at my dad’s. The rest, the important ones, are in a safety deposit box. I have the address somewhere. And if I remember correctly, my uncle wanted me to retrieve something from it but I gave him the wrong bank. That’s where I met Kingsley.”
Before she could react, the team was already being divided into three groups, one continuing the web search, another heading to the storage unit, and the third going to her dad’s.
Stunned, she heard Kingsley chuckle beside her. “That means I’m staying here, doesn’t it?”
Kingsley took her hand and kissed it. “No way are we putting you in danger again. We’re gonna stay here, and you’re going to rest until the teams come back.”
She looked around the room, at the operatives with their heads already down, typing furiously on their computers. Deep down she knew in her current state she wouldn’t be able to sleep. After her stint at the police station, she felt slightly claustrophobic.
Leaving the room, Sydney stopped in her tracks, her mind blank. For the last few days, her adrenaline had been pumping, on a hunt for clues or on the run to survive. Now having to stop and wait, it was as if her body didn’t know what to do.
Kingsley came behind her and circled her waist, engulfing her body with his heat. “You look so lost. Tell me what’s wrong, love.”
“I wish it was safe to go outside and walk on the beach. I feel cooped up.”
Kingsley kissed the top of her head, staying silent for a moment. “I think I have an idea.”
Letting go of her, he grabbed her hand and led her to a door behind the reception area. Sydney frowned as Cleo smiled at her as she carried a fresh pot of coffee toward the conference room.
Behind the door was a small staircase leading up. When Kingsley unlocked the trap door at the end, fresh air came rushing in. The door led to the rooftop, and to one of the most beautiful sunsets she had seen. It was as if the sky had exploded in every hue of crimson and gold possible. To see the sky, to be outside, to have the smell of the ocean
tickling her nose was precisely what she needed. Standing there, she closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled deeply. It felt better than a hot shower or ten hours straight of sleep, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the smile of the most gorgeous and considerate man she had ever known.
“Thank you. I didn’t know how much I needed this. To see the sky, to be still, just for a minute.”
His smile reached his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be a minute, we can stay as long as you want, although we may need blankets at some point.”
Relaxing more and more, she admired the horizon, trying to empty her mind of all the anger, fear, and doubt, just to be in the moment. Aware of Kingsley, she focused on the wind blowing her hair and the last rays of sunlight warming her cheeks. She heard him coming closer, stopping short of touching her, merely acting as her protector, as he’d done so many times since she’d first met him when he’d burst through that emergency exit door.
Blindly, she reached for his hand, and he reached out too, touching the ring on her finger before taking her hand in his.
“We did everything backward it seems.”
The sadness she heard in his low voice thickened his accent and made her turn. “What are you talking about?”
His eyes fell on their joined hands and the gold ring. “I mean that in an ideal world, I would have seen you on the street, we would have talked, maybe I could have convinced you to come for a coffee. We would have dated, and after many, many dates I would have popped the question in a romantic setting with a diamond ring with the hope you’d say yes.”
Her practical mind took over. “What are the odds of that happening? I hardly went out, and you don’t seem like a guy that goes for walks for the fun of it. If not for this situation we would never have met. Admit it.”
Kingsley stepped in front of her and took her other hand. Eyes downcast, she saw the ring on his hand and licked her lips in apprehension. “I… I feel as if I’ve trapped you because of my problems. You’re a good man. It’s in your blood to act when someone is in danger. What if it was that selflessness in you that turned you into my knight in shining armor? Maybe our emotions got mixed up. If you want, we can have this marriage annulled.”
He cupped her cheek to force her to look up and cut off the flow of words, uncertainty, and pain spilling from her. His blue eyes gleamed with tenderness, but his face was severe. “I know how I feel about you. So often I’ve had danger pursuing me like a shadow. That constant fear for my life, and the lives of my team, always made things clearer. From the moment I saw you, I knew. You’re not the first person I’ve saved, Syd, but you’re the only one who’s touched me, deep in my soul. I don’t know what happened and I don’t care. But I’ll tell you what it’s not. It’s not mixed up. It’s as clear as I’m seeing you, touching you right now. I love you. It’s as simple as that. My only regrets are that you’re still in danger and I wish that I’d been able to propose properly. Ask you in a more traditional way. Because I can be traditional.”
His smirk made her smile. The words he spoke warmed her belly and wrapped around her heart. “We did everything backward, Syd, but if that was the only way I got to have you in my life, I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
“We barely know each other. What will happen once we take care of my uncle?”
Gently, he brought her into the safety of his arms. “Why don’t we discover that as we go? One step at a time? For example, I would like it if we could find a place by the sea. It may be expensive, but I’m going to ask for a raise after this mission.” When he winked at her, she laughed.
“Caitlin asked me to help her with her K-9 squad. What do you think?” She was nervous about revealing her intentions as they’d never talked about the future before.
“Would that mean you’d be at the Agency all the time? Because if that’s the case, I love it. You need to have your own dog, too.”
Sydney thought about the little ball of fur she had seen that morning, and her heart started to beat faster. “Do you like dogs?”
“Yes. I love them. And I can’t wait to discover everything else you like and dislike.”
Snaking her arms around his neck, she whispered against his lips, “I love you.”
With a groan, he took her mouth for a heated kiss that made her burn for him. When he finally allowed her to take a gulp of air, he spun her in his arms.
“We need to discuss where we’ll live, and we need enough space in the backyard for your dog and still be close to Alliance. I can’t wait to take you home and show you around. That could be our honeymoon.”
“You’ve got everything planned.” She should be scared of how fast things were going between them, but she wasn’t because it was the right and most perfect decision.
“You’ll see I’m good with details. It has to do with disarming bombs for a living. We need to change your ID to Knight, get you a passport too. And I’ll put your name on my papers, including my life insurance.”
Sydney rolled her eyes. “There’s no rush. I’ve never had a life insurance policy, so I can continue to be insurance-less for a while longer.”
As she giggled, Kingsley’s face turned expressionless for a moment. It was something she saw him do when he was struck by an idea. “What? What did I say?”
“That’s it! That’s how he hid it.”
Sydney looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “What are you talking about?”
Kingsley kissed her brow before touching her shoulders. “The team went through everything under your parent’s names, and yours and didn’t find anything. He could have hidden the money through a life insurance policy under your name. It’s not something we would have looked at because the amount of any insurance can be significant and it’s not something we would suspect. And if I remember correctly, Alex said that he’d found your name listed on a life insurance policy. Rutherford probably took it out in your name and it’s something so common you would have dismissed it.”
“You mean a genuine life insurance policy?”
“I doubt it, but if it looks and feels like one, why would we have checked where the money came from? I wouldn’t be surprised to find it in the papers you stored in your safety deposit box. That would be something you would have naturally put there.”
Hope surged through her. “Is it what we need to get rid of him?”
Kingsley kissed her hard before smiling at her. “I sure hope so. Let’s go tell the team. And with a bit of luck, we can put this nightmare behind us and plan for the future. Our future.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“It’s the only way, Knight!”
Kingsley faced off against his fellow Brit. “I don’t fucking care, Mason, find another one. She is not going into that bank. It’s probably a trap, and you know it.”
“I know, but we’re prepared this time, they won’t get to Sydney, I promise. And we don’t have time, she’s the owner of the box, she has to be there.”
Kingsley paced back and forth across the room, one hand on his hip, the other running through his hair in frustration. “We both know you can’t guarantee her safety!”
Cain glanced at the two men, his face calm. “Any better ideas?”
Kingsley racked his brain for a way out of this situation and found none. The only way to make the bank give up the deeds to the life insurance policy was for Sydney to go in and go through the security checks in place for it.
“Fuck,” he shouted in frustration.
“If we go in early, just after the bank opens the place should be quiet. We’ll have some of the team inside and some in the surrounding area. We won’t lose her.”
Kingsley nodded at Mason. “Fine,” he growled, “but I want inside as close to her as I can get.”
“Bad idea. Let me take point with her. You’re already worked up.”
“Are you saying I can’t protect my woman?” Kingsley asked ready to put Mason’s teeth down his throat.
“No. I’m saying you’ll be better placed working
this from outside the bank. My skill set is close protection, it’s what I do best. Let me do it. I won’t screw this up.”
Mason was right but Kingsley had to fight the burning feeling in his gut that made him want to pick Sydney up and run. “Fine, we do this your way, but if I get one whiff it’s going sideways, I won’t think twice about taking over.”
Mason nodded his agreement. “I would happily step aside.”
Caitlin, who had been sitting quietly watching them argue, threw up her hands in frustration. “Now that’s settled can we get the rest of the team in here and plan the logistics? We have less than two hours before the bank opens.”
Kingsley felt like his jaw would snap it was so tense. “Yeah, let’s get this done. I’ll go fetch Syd.”
Caitlin gave him a wink and a grin. “How about I do that? You two always manage to get distracted.”
Kingsley laughed at that and agreed.
He sat down opposite his teammates a few minutes later as the plan was explained to them all, including Sydney who was seated on his right side. “Is that okay with you, Syd? If it isn’t, just say so and we’ll find another way.” He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
He watched as she looked around the room before focusing her gaze back on him. “If there were another way you would have found it, so I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She cupped his cheek. “I trust you guys implicitly.”
“I’ll be the one inside the bank vault with you, Sydney. We feel Kingsley will be better placed outside.”
“Okay, whatever you think best,” Sydney replied looking at Mason as he spoke.
Ideas were tossed about and dismissed until the team had a plan they thought would work best for them. It involved the entire team being either inside or outside the bank. It was a risk, especially as they thought there was possibly a leak inside the bank that would inform Rutherford if she moved the papers. Kingsley knew though that there was no other way and he could only pray their plan worked.