Her Covert Protector (Rogue Protectors Book 4)

by Victoria Paige

  “You are?”

  “I am. So no matter what that test says, I’m not leaving your side. Clear?”

  Their SUV took the exit for South Figueroa street. Without taking his eyes off the road, he repeated, “Are we clear?”

  Nadia exhaled a resigned breath. “Yes.” The situation between them was confusing because there were two relationships to consider here. Their relationship with each other if there was a child and, their relationship with each other when and if they decided to make a go of it. At this point, she didn’t even have the chance to be clearheaded enough to think.

  “Son of a bitch,” John growled. Their vehicle swerved and spun a sharp ninety-degree angle just as a black blur blew past the intersection narrowly missing her side. And like in freeze frame, she turned her head toward John, his mouth was moving but his voice receded in a vacuum as her scream filled her ears.

  “John!”

  A red pickup was barreling right toward his side. Their SUV zipped further, and the pickup rammed them in the rear causing them to fishtail and face oncoming traffic. Nadia held her breath as another Toyota sedan tried to avoid them, braking and sweeping sideways before screeching to a halt a car length from them. A Corvette braked and shoved the Toyota closer to the nose of her Subaru. It was surreal. Like they were in the front seat of a Hollywood action movie watching the unfolding chaos of cars smashing into each other.

  But as the pile up in front of them died down, the sound of crunching metal behind them escalated to epic levels.

  They whipped around to see what was happening. John was still cursing, already whipping his phone to an ear and using the heel of his hand to steer the Subaru within a metal cushion of stalled cars that were already lodged tight with nowhere to go.

  John tossed the phone on the dashboard and turned to her, releasing her seatbelt, and touched her all over. “Are you hurt?”

  “No, just shaken.” She didn’t even hit her head, but her shoulder and neck were starting to feel the burn of the seatbelt.

  “Are you sure?” His gaze scanned their surroundings.

  “I’m fine.” She forced air in and out of her lungs to avert the signs of an oncoming panic attack. “Oh my God, did the …”

  “Traffic lights,” he clipped.

  “This is the real thing,” she whispered. Her eyes searched the sea of disabled vehicles, her thoughts turning to the injured, the fatalities. “This is a mass casualty event.” Goosebumps raised on her arms. “What if the Crown-Key—”

  “You don’t know that,” he said tersely.

  People started to get out of their vehicles, stumbling around in a daze. She was debating the prudence of staying in or getting out of the Subaru.

  But John was already on it. “I need to get you to safety. Don’t get out until I come get you.” He grabbed his phone on the dashboard and left the SUV.

  Screaming and crying replaced the noise of steel scraping on steel. Nadia spotted a woman in the Toyota, trying to get out of the vehicle. She was pounding on her windows. “Help me!”

  “John …” Nadia said.

  “I’m on it.” He yanked open her door and helped her out and rushed her between the remains of pancaked vehicles amidst people wandering around like zombies. She realized why John wanted them to leave the scene.

  The smell of gas was strong.

  “Get inside the building.” He shoved her toward the structure that was beside the roadway. “Get into Cal Traffic Control. Check if they’ve been hacked.” He started running back toward the mangled mess of vehicles, gesturing for people to get off the street. “Go! Go! Go! Get off the road!”

  “Hurry, please! My baby!”

  The red-haired woman in the Toyota was still screaming. A good Samaritan tried to work the handle, but John could see both sides of the vehicle had sustained damage. They needed to break the glass. The fumes were stronger as he approached the car with the trapped woman.

  John unscrewed the antenna from the Toyota. “Stay back! Cover yourself if you can!” he yelled as he pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around his hand holding the antenna. Going in at an angle, he positioned it against the base of the window so the tip would strike the center. Pulling it back like a bow he turned his head away and let it fly.

  The glass cracked and spiderwebbed on the pane.

  “Hit it from inside!” John ordered.

  The redhead didn’t hesitate and used her jacket to knock the broken glass into the pavement. She twisted around to grab her little girl and handed her to John.

  The toddler started crying.

  “Hold her.” He shoved the kid to a young man—a good Samaritan. John leaned through the window to adjust his leverage on the woman and hefted her out. The redhead was sobbing in relief and gave him a tight hug. “Thank you! Thank you!”

  She collected her toddler from the other man.

  “Come on!” John urged, scanning the wreckage of twisted steel for anyone else who was trapped. He shook his shirt out of the broken glass and put it back on.

  Sirens echoed in the distance. A blast shook the ground, sending flame and smoke shooting up a few intersections ahead.

  The flashing lights of first responders appeared. John blended back into the crowd that congregated in the parking lot of the building where he left Nadia. It was a mayhem of casualties, of people scrambling to help them, and spectators who had their phones filming the scene.

  Filming him.

  Shit.

  “John!”

  Nadia rushed toward him and hit him with such force, he took a step back and grunted. “Oh my God, that blast … I was so scared.”

  He cupped her face and tipped it up to him. “You worry about me too much.”

  Her eyes flashed, and she punched him on the shoulder. “If you don’t want people caring about you, then what the hell are we doing?”

  She tried to wrench away from his arms but he held fast. “Nadia.”

  “Let me go, asshole!”

  “Nadia!” He gave her a light shake.

  She didn’t answer but continued to murder him with her eyes.

  “I like it.”

  A puzzled look came over her face. “What?”

  He kissed her lightly. “I like it that you worry about me.”

  Her puzzlement turned into incredulous amazement. “What?”

  Turning her in his arms, John marched her back to the building. “Come on, Miss Powell, there’s some sleuthing to do.”

  “Cal Traffic Control confirmed anomalies in the feedback data of the magnetic sensors in the road strips,” Nadia said.

  Gabby and Kelso arrived with the full force of the CTTF team. CSI techs and detectives were dispatched to the original call-out locations of the ATMs that had been emptied of cash. Their team had moved to a nearby police station a few blocks from the building where Nadia and John first took refuge.

  First responders established a command post in front of the police station. Over sixty cars were involved in the pileup—two deaths reported along with numerous injuries. But because of the vehicle height and weight restrictions on South Figueroa, catastrophic crashes were minimized.

  In the station’s war room, Kelso was on the whiteboard, mapping out the intersections and the traffic lights that were affected. “So it was localized to these?”

  “Yes.”

  “Explain to me how all those lights turned green?” Kelso asked.

  “The computer managing the traffic lights has the ability to send minuscule adjustments to the timings depending on data it receives,” Nadia said. “But historical data has been built into its database so it doesn’t make knee-jerk reactions to a momentary crush of cars. The data analysts are taking a snapshot of the information that was fed into the system at the time of the anomaly and comparing it to their historical information. We’ll get a report soon.”

  “Where are we on the IT departments of the banks?” Gabby, who was sitting at the end of the table, asked.

  “Two ban
ks already sent their initial findings. It’s not a skimmer, but a hack that controlled the ATM software and bypassed the withdrawal limit that saw a high balance in a bogus account. The perpetrators also managed to wipe out the surveillance camera footage of every single camera within a half a mile radius of the ATM.”

  Muttered curses went around the room.

  “The Crown-Key did all this?” Henderson asked.

  “There seems to be a misunderstanding of what the Key does,” Nadia said. “It’s a penetration tool. It just finds a way to enter the network and deliver its payload.”

  “You’re saying any malicious software can use the Key to figure its way into the system,” Gabby said.

  “That, and from what I can see from its source code, it also has the ability to learn the best way to deliver a particular program.”

  The door to the room opened as John and Bristow walked in. John signaled to Kelso who nodded in return. Kelso addressed the rest of the CTTF squad. “We’ll pick this back up at HQ. I imagine top brass will want an update on this ASAP.”

  Nadia, Kelso, and Gabby stayed behind while the rest of the team exited the room. Henderson, though, was casting suspicious glances at Garrison and Bristow.

  “Please don’t tell me you have more bad news,” Kelso groaned when the door closed.

  “Dmitry Vovk left Kiev on a plane bound for LA,” John said.

  17

  It felt like a long day—and John was used to long days, used to waiting for more information, biding his time to make a move. Fourteen hours since the crash this morning, and they were still at CTTF HQ. But he was also impatient. He could compartmentalize, but at that moment, everything in his brain was focused on the woman he was watching through the transparent glass of the CTTF lab that was Nadia’s domain.

  She’d been assisting Cal Traffic run some tests to protect their infrastructure from the recent hack. Nadia was halfway through deciphering the source code. These latest attacks on the traffic network as well as financial institutions had been picked up by major news channels. That brought increased scrutiny from the mayor and from federal agencies. Nadia had transferred her data on the bank fraud to the Secret Service.

  Bristow, meanwhile, was doing his best taking down videos on the internet of John. So far, only two had shown a clear capture of his face. It was still two too many. Exposure of this kind sounded the death knell for an operative’s career, and he wondered what made him throw all caution aside and rush headlong into the fray to help people.

  That was something Jacob Mason would do.

  His gaze focused on Nadia again, and he checked his watch.

  Kelso exited the lab, spotted him, and headed his way. “I told Nadia to go home. She should be done in a few.”

  John nodded.

  “Thanks for your help today and with the DHS,” the detective continued. “Nadia would be heartbroken if they’d taken this case away from her. No matter what an asshole Huxley turned out to be, he was still her friend.”

  “I just cut through the bureaucracy, ego, and bullshit,” John replied. It also helped that he reported directly to Admiral Porter. “To send this to DHS would only have us starting from square one. Nadia’s prior friendship with Huxley is an advantage.”

  “Yeah,” Kelso agreed. “She put out feelers on the dark web for information. There are several white hats eager to help she said.”

  His phone buzzed. Levi had been monitoring travel into LA. “I have to get this.”

  The detective gestured for him to go ahead and walked back into Nadia’s lab.

  John swiped the screen. “What do you have for me?”

  “He’s a no show,” Levi said.

  His muscles locked. “What?”

  “The plane’s manifest just updated and put him as a no-show. I’ve accessed the surveillance at the gate the aircraft deplaned and he wasn’t on it.”

  “The fucker knows we’re watching him,” John said. “How about our contact in Kiev?”

  “He assured me he saw Dmitry clear the security gates.”

  “Follow up with him and see if he’s somehow evaded surveillance and returned to any of his residences.”

  “Already did.”

  “Also crosscheck his aliases on any flights, from any destination in the U.S. If you don’t get a hit, expand your search to Canada and south of the border.”

  “My search is running now. It’s going to take a while.”

  “Damn. You’re beginning to think like me,” John said. “Want my job?”

  “Not a chance.” Levi chuckled then hung up.

  He tucked away his phone just in time to see Nadia exiting her lab in brisk strides. She was practically bouncing. He sighed. Kelso had been plying her with caffeine much to John’s annoyance. Still, he wasn’t about to stand in the way of how she interacted with her colleagues … yet. He understood what was needed.

  “Ready when you are,” she chirped as she took a sip from the latest caramel macchiato Kelso had served her.

  John gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “You look wired.”

  She raised the sixteen-ounce cup and grinned. That was her third one of the day from what he’d counted and that didn’t include the coffee he handed her this morning.

  “Obviously.” His gaze past her shoulder and spied Kelso locking up Nadia’s lab and leaving with a guy from their tactical team named Henderson.

  He asked Kelso, “Where’s Woodward?”

  “You didn’t see her sneak out?” the detective asked. “You’re losing your touch, Garrison. Declan ordered his wife home.”

  John raised a brow. “Ordered. Now that I find hard to believe.”

  “Don’t ask,” Kelso grumbled. “I don’t want to understand or attempt to understand the dynamics of their marriage.”

  “Good point.” He turned back to Nadia and looped her backpack off her shoulder and slung it on his.

  “You’re that guy from Homeland, aren’t you?” Henderson asked, his gaze scrutinizing.

  “Yep,” John acknowledged the man briefly before addressing Kelso. “Well, I guess I better take our prized analyst home.”

  “Take care of her.”

  John wrapped an arm securely around Nadia. “Count on it.”

  “I feel so special.” She grinned up at him.

  Definitely wired.

  When they arrived at the garage where he parked the Escalade, Nadia said, “Henderson’s been asking questions about you.”

  John had asked Bristow to take him back to Nadia’s apartment to pick up his vehicle. Thank fuck it wasn’t his SUV that was involved in the pileup. He had a lot of upgrades in his including bulletproof tires and windows which would be useless in a wreck.

  “And?” he prodded.

  “I told him to mind his own business.”

  “Sassy, are you?” He kissed the top of her head before letting her into the vehicle.

  When he got in beside her and started the engine, she continued, “He’s a good tac lead … well, second to Kelso when he’s not leading. He’s also very observant. You show up every time we face a real terrorist threat in LA. First with Raul Ortega, second with the Ebola bioweapon mutations, and now this. He said if you were truly Homeland Security, you’d be throwing your weight around, but you always stay in the background.” She paused for effect. “He said that’s what spooks do. That you’re a spook. There’s no other explanation.”

  He drove the SUV out of the LAPD parking lot, getting on Third to head to the 101.

  Fuck, he knew this. If he hung around Nadia while she was working this big case, too many people would start to notice. The first time, he let Roarke take the lead. And the second? He remained in the background until the FBI tried to take the case from Gabby, and John had to step in. And now? It was personal as well, very personal, but he was all in.

  After his actions earlier today, his CIA career hung in the balance. But what struck him after his weeks of conflict was he suddenly attained clarity.

  He ca
red for Nadia. A lot.

  He did want to build something meaningful with her, but he refused to put a label on it yet.

  “Let him stew over it,” he said.

  “Ha! That’s what I’m doing. And he knows better than to piss me off because … ” She wiggled her fingers. “I hold the Key.”

  “You’re too straight-laced to do anything illegal.”

  “Ha! Is that why you’ve been hell-bent on getting me to do illegal stuff?”

  “When did I make you do something illegal?”

  “No. You call it something fancier like ‘rogue operations’.”

  “Nadia,” John said, biting back a smile. “What exactly is in your coffee?”

  She laughed before slurping to the end of her fancy-ass concoction. “Probably too much sugar and caffeine. I can’t metabolize alcohol well, which is why caffeine is my drug of choice.”

  They were both skirting the elephant in the room, or rather, in the SUV. Not one word was mentioned about “the situation” since the pileup this morning.

  “You’ll have trouble sleeping tonight.”

  “Oh, I’ll crash. Don’t worry. If anything, I’ll keep you company with season two of Hodgetown.”

  John debated on what to say, but he seemed content to let her chatter on about the several leads she acquired on the dark web. He was fascinated by her passion. Usually, he got irritated with techs trying to show off their expertise, but not Nadia. There was something about her. He probably didn’t understand half of what she explained, but John hadn’t felt this passion in a long time.

  He learned a skill because it was what was needed for the job. His initial passion was to serve his country. But as the years rolled by and he had to deal with the scum of the earth, sometimes having to make deals with them just to preserve the greater good, he grew more detached because that was the only way he could stomach what needed to be done.

  To preserve the greater good.

  His stomach soured at the thought.

  “John? Are you even listening?” Nadia jolted him out of his thoughts.

  He glanced at her. “You said you had a lead on the dark web.”