by M. Malone
Rafe stared at the large screen. She’d lied to him. You already knew that. Is this what she’d been trying to tell him? When he’d told her they’d work it out together? His stomach flipped. She obviously knew who he was. The things he’d done… the things he’d done to her father. How the hell could she stand to be anywhere near him?
Or did she know the truth? If she didn’t know the truth about her family before she’d infiltrated his house, she certainly knew now after she’d robbed him and taken the information from that flash drive.
For weeks, he’d been kissing her. For weeks, he’d been making love to her. The woman on the screen was the woman he loved.
When he didn’t answer, Alan answered for him. “Since we know the brothers are here, we need to be on hyperalert. But we also need to work every avenue we can to find that woman. She could be the key to cracking the case against her brothers.”
Rafe couldn’t breathe. Every gasp for air was constricted through the narrowest of passageways. “Can you change the hair color on this thing?” There was a part of him that was still fighting. The part of him that didn’t want this to be true. The part of him that knew that it was all true.
Emilie nodded. “Yeah. To what?”
“Change the hair color to blond.”
Emilie crinkled her brow in confusion but leaned over her computer to execute the command. A few key taps later, the image on the screen was the spitting image of Diana.
Rafe put a hand over his chest, wondering if it was possible to die from shock. All this time and he’d had the key to the case living right under his nose. In his bed. In his heart.
She’d lied to him, betrayed him, and then tried to leave him behind only to come back and ensnare him even deeper. The haunted look in her eyes, it was no wonder it captivated him. It was the same haunted stare that had been with him for ten long years. The eyes that had made him question everything he thought he knew.
The eyes that now made him want to be a better man so he could deserve her love.
“I think I know how to bring the Vandergraffs in.”
The room went completely quiet. Emilie sat forward, anticipation on her face.
“You do? How?”
That snapped Rafe out of his delusion. If they were going to end this, for his sake and especially for Diana’s sake, it had to be done right. She was a victim in this whole thing and had been from the very start.
She’d been thrown into hellish circumstances the day she’d been born to a megalomaniac, sadistic monster like her father and then raised with two twisted brothers. But there were others who wouldn’t see it that way.
There would be people here in the FBI who saw her as just one more criminal and try to find a way to hold her accountable for the actions of her family.
Rafe wasn’t going to let that happen. Diana had been brave enough to come back to him even though she’d been afraid. All she’d cared about was making sure the information she’d taken didn’t fall into the wrong hands. She’d tried to leave him because she was worried about his safety. Hell, as little as she was, she’d jumped on a guy’s back to fight because she was worried about him.
He had to find a way to keep her protected in all this.
“I think I know a way to bring them in,” he repeated. “But first I need an immunity deal.”
Chapter Nine
“Why is it you need immunity, DeMarco?”
Rafe’s gut twisted as he stared up at the photo. Diana. She was the girl from all those years ago. Some of that pain she carried around was because of him.
There was the part of his brain that had to replay everything that had happened with them since he’d met her. Every conversation, every look, every touch. How much of it had been real?
He shook his head. No. What he felt had to be real. She’d come back for him when she hadn’t needed to and the anguish in her face when she’d told him she had secrets, no one could fake that. He knew her by now. This was what she’d been hiding. This was why she was afraid. And she’d come here today to turn herself in for him. To keep him safe.
There was no way he was going to let that happen. At this point, he could give two shits what happened to him. But he sure as shit was going to protect her. But he knew he had to tread lightly. Rafe glared at Emilie. What had he done wrong? Shit, what had he not done wrong? The thing was he would gladly go to jail a thousand times over if it meant protecting Diana.
Turning his attention to Emilie, he said, “Nice try. Not for me. In case you forgot, we’re on the same side. I’ve got a vulnerable witness in my protection. And if you come at her this aggressively, she’s going to be in the wind.”
Interpol chick leaned forward, planting her hands on the center table and giving him a priceless shot of her quite spectacular tits. Too bad the view left him cold. “I’m curious. First how you came up with this magical witness just now? Because in the weeks I’ve been here, you haven’t said a word. I’m also curious about this witness floating on the wind and if you’re going to assist her with that.” She shrugged. “Because I must tell you, in terms you’ll understand, that would be a felony. If you have a witness, you need to turn her over to me. She can blow this Vandergraff investigation wide open.”
Rafe bit his lip to hold in a smirk. If only Emilie knew that she’d already seen the witness once, briefly. He doubted she’d make the connection from this old picture to the girl she’d seen ducking down the hall in his condo.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve been chasing this witness all over town as it is. And if we don’t get an immunity deal going, the witness is going to walk and you’ll have nothing. So if you want to have access, you’ll have to go through me.” Shit, he was losing it. But if Emilie Durand thought she was going to waltz down and take Diana from him, she had another think coming. All that woman cared about was cracking her case. She didn’t give a shit who she got killed in the process.
Emilie shoved herself back from the table. She scowled while she paced. “You’re obstructing an ongoing investigation. Do you know how long I’ve been chasing them? And you have the ticket and you won’t share?”
Alan held up his hands. “Everyone relax. Ms. Durand, calm yourself. Because at the end of the day, your investigation is on the Vandergraffs, not whatever witness Rafe has brought in. If we get the Vandergraffs, we might even get Boris too. That Russian has been on all our watch lists for a long damn time. There are a lot of open investigations we could close. So if I were you, I would listen to what Rafe’s witness has to say. Those three alone will make your entire career. You really want to spend it going after one of my agents?”
Rafe breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t been sure if Alan would back him up. Especially since Rafe had been blowing him off for weeks.
Then Alan turned his attention to him.
“And DeMarco. What the fuck? You have a goddamned witness? You’ve had one all this time, and you didn’t say anything? This is not an undercover assignment. You said you were done with those. You asked me to bring you in from the cold. Was I wrong to bring you in? Was this whole thing a fucking mistake, bringing you back and resurrecting your ass? I know you wanted to see your family again. Tell me I wasn’t wrong, Rafe. Tell me I made the right fucking choice, because to keep a witness from me is not a wise move on your part. Were you in the underbelly too long? Have you somehow forgotten that you are supposed to be the good guy?”
Rafe calmed the urge to knock Alan the fuck out. Alan had been a good handler. They’d been through a lot together. But Rafe wouldn’t hesitate to clock him if he at all insinuated that he hadn’t been a good agent all this time.
Through clenched teeth, he muttered, “Not a mistake. And you’ll forgive my lack of trust, considering how Interpol has been turning up at my house hinting that I’m somehow involved in something with the Vandergraffs.”
Alan’s eyes swung to the left.
Emilie scowled. “I merely stopped by for a drink and possibly some sex. I got turned down on all fronts. Nobody turns
me down. Unless they’re trying to hide something.”
Rafe shook his head. “Just not interested. You don’t really do it for me. I’m curious though. Was the attempted questioning about the night I killed the old man part of the come-on? Because if it was, you’re rusty.”
And just like that, her mask slipped. She wanted to appear aloof, but instead she just looked jilted and vindictive. She’d completely forgotten about their audience.
“Shut the fuck up. I know you had another reason for going there. How do I know your little band of assassins didn’t turn on you? I know your type, and sooner or later, Alan will know it too. I’m waiting for you to trip up. Once a thief and a murderer, always a thief and a murderer.”
Rafe ignored the twinge of pain somewhere near his heart. She was right. He was a murderer. Not a thief though.
“I’m sorry, but you have to amend your statement.” He shrugged. “The term is assassin. An assassin that you and your agency personally used to carry out things that you were too chickenshit to handle yourselves. Any blood that’s on my hands is on yours too.”
Emilie turned her attention to Alan. “He’s being insubordinate.”
Alan shook his head. “No he’s not. He’s a special agent. He’s doing his job.”
“I thought he was retired!” Emilie screeched.
“That paperwork hasn’t been put through yet. Too busy.” Alan looked like he was fighting a smile as Emilie’s face turned bright red. “You seem to be taking this case entirely too personal. Do I need to take this up your food chain?”
She clamped her mouth shut then. Rafe tried very hard not to smirk at that. Unfortunately though, a tiny one might’ve snuck through. He’d never thought that Alan’s refusing to accept his retirement might come in handy, but he sent up a silent prayer of thanks at his old handler’s stubbornness.
“Now, about immunity. I’m not taking you to my witness until you have something for me in writing. And given the Vandergraff activity, I’d hurry.”
Alan pursed his lips. For a long moment he and Rafe had a standoff. Rafe refusing to budge. And Alan waiting him out. But eventually Alan reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and made a call. “I’m going to need an immunity deal in the next thirty minutes.”
Diana’s hands shook as she stared down at the paper. “What is this?”
Rafe’s gaze was hard and unflinching. She could see the love, but more than anything she saw the determination. He nodded at the man, then the woman. “These are agents Granger and Durand. FBI and Interpol. And this is your freedom. Sign it.”
She had no idea what was happening. When they had come in this morning, he’d brought her in, told someone that she was a walk-in, and then some guy had led her down to this office. Which, in all honesty, looked more like an interrogation room, all fluorescent lighting and linoleum floors. He’d told her someone would be in to talk to her in no time. But she had been waiting over an hour.
Next thing she knew, Rafe was walking into the room accompanied by a gorgeous redhead that reminded her of Jessica Rabbit, and a middle-aged, stern-looking, thin-lipped man.
He hadn’t said a word, just handed her the paper. Her eyes scanned the document. It was an immunity deal. Oh hell. They knew. And now her brothers were going to come for Rafe. Because the more she read, the more she saw the deal was just for her. “I don’t think I can do this.”
Rafe leaned forward, planting his hands on the table. His voice was soft but pleading. “There is no other choice. You sign this, you’re protected. You don’t”—his eyes shifted to the left—“and they’ll throw you to the wolves. So please, for the love of God, sign the fucking document.”
A shiver ran through her, and she took the pen that he offered. This was not their deal. This was not what she wanted to do. But the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. That agreement was shit right now. Even though she’d come in here to protect him, he was now the one protecting her.
And from the looks of the other two in the room, she was going to need all the help she could get. She took the pen and added her signature before she handed it back to him. The relief flooded his face immediately, and the tension around his mouth eased. Then he mouthed, thank you.
He took the document and handed it to the other man. “Immunity.” He turned his gaze to the redhead. “Now you can’t touch her.”
“Rafe, I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“It’s okay, Diana. I need you to tell them everything. All of it. Leave nothing out.”
She took a deep breath. “I guess this part you know. My father, he died when I was thirteen. You were there obviously.” She cast her gaze downward. “After he was killed, I was sent away to boarding school. After I finished secondary school, I went to Penn. I knew nothing about father’s businesses or what my brothers actually did. All I knew was that my father left me a trust fund. He’d always been adamant about that. That each of us have money of our own. He made us memorize the numbers backward and forward so we could do it in our sleep, and we could always access our funds. He set up my accounts, along with my brothers’. So I know their numbers as well. Those will come in handy for you later, so maybe you can track their movements or something.”
The redhead, Emilie Durand, scoffed. “We’ll need your accounts too.”
“You can have it. I don’t want any of that money now that I know how he acquired it.”
Rafe shook his head. “We’ll go ahead and leave your accounts alone for now. Your mother’s family was wealthy. I’m pretty sure she left you some money in there as well. So let’s deal with your brothers first, and then we’ll talk about you. Continue.”
Diana swallowed. “I wanted to find out who killed my father.” She glanced at Rafe and then back down to her hands. “I learned everything I could about that night, pieced together everything I could. Hired people to learn more. For months I watched you.”
Rafe swallowed hard but said nothing.
She had no choice but to continue. “I figured that if I got close to you, I would have a chance to recover the diamond. So I devised a plan. You were supposed to find me along the side of the road, needing help. I assumed you’d take me to a hotel or something. Once we’d met, I planned to run into you in the city later and strike up a friendship. Only that’s not what happened. You took me home. My plan had worked far better than I’d ever dreamed.” She waited for him to say something. He didn’t, but the muscle in his jaw clenched.
The redheaded agent rolled her eyes. “So you figured you’d flirt with him and that he’d just tell you everything?”
Diana glowered at her. “No. I didn’t expect him to tell me anything, actually. My plan was to get close to him and see if I could access his safe.”
She could almost feel Rafe’s stillness. This was hard. Too hard. But he knew the story already. So she just needed to get it out. Ignoring the other two in the room, she turned toward Rafe.
“You were different than I thought. And at the beginning, the whole plan was information. Find out who killed my father. But the more I got to know you, the harder it was to imagine your killing someone for no good reason. And of course then there was the safe.”
He frowned. “Yes, the flash drive you took.”
She inhaled deeply. “That wasn’t what I was after. I was looking for my mother’s diamond. The Jewel of the Sea. Twenty-five carats. Practically priceless. It used to be in my father’s study. The night before he died was the last time anyone saw it. And then that night. After…” Her voice trailed. She took another deep breath before continuing. “After I was told to get in the closet, I saw the person who killed him, running across the lawn. I thought maybe that person had taken it. Then I opened your safe, and it wasn’t there.”
He frowned. “I never took that diamond. And I sure as shit didn’t make my egress across the lawn. It was too exposed. I took the tunnels to a checkpoint about half a mile away and drove out.”
She shook her head. “I don�
��t know. That’s what I remember. It was a long time ago. At any rate, I started to put the pieces together. While I’ve been watching you, apparently my brothers have been watching me. They want the diamond even though it was willed to me by our mother. Every woman in my family has given it to her daughter on the eve of her wedding night as a sort of dowry. Apparently, my brothers have promised it to Boris. Along with me.”
The redhead leaned forward. “Boris Klinkov?”
“Yes. That’s him. After I saw the files in Rafe’s safe, that’s when I started to realize what was going on. I saw the files Rafe had on them. My father, his business, the trafficking, my brother’s roles in it all. I knew too much at that point. Once they found out I didn’t have the diamond, I knew they’d kill Rafe and me. I figured if I ran, they would come after me and leave him alone.”
“Convenient,” muttered Emilie.
“It’s the truth. There were other files that I stole.” She slid her gaze to Rafe. “Those files, I realized, were really dangerous. I knew I shouldn’t have them. I knew if anyone ever saw them, people might die. So I brought them back to Rafe. I told him as much as I could while trying to not implicate him or get him killed.” She glanced up at the middle-aged man. “I had no idea what my brothers intended. I had no idea how many people they are willing to kill or willing to hurt. But I knew I had to do something. That’s why I told Rafe I wanted to come in and tell you what I knew.”
The older man stared at Rafe. “You already had her in here?”
Rafe smirked and shrugged. “I asked for immunity. I just neglected to tell you that she was already here.”
The redhead stared at him with a mixture of hunger and fury. Diana didn’t like her. Matter of fact, Diana was feeling awfully violent toward her. She wanted Rafe, and the other woman was irritated that Rafe didn’t want her. Yeah bitch, he’s mine.
The old man shook his head. “I swear to fucking God, DeMarco.”
Rafe glared at him. “She has immunity. She was going to tell her story regardless. Now I just prevented that one”—he pointed at the redhead—“from using her as bait. That’s all. And this was the only way that was going to happen. I know how things work here. How you use people. I’m trying to keep her alive because she worked hard to keep me alive.”
