by Rebecca Deel
Remy walked up to Adam. “Ready,” he murmured.
“Who are you?” Forrest demanded, his eyes narrowed.
“Remy, a friend of Adam’s.”
Adam introduced the two agents, then stepped aside. “Go straight back. Coffee is ready in the kitchen.” He knew the minute the agents caught sight of Veronica. Both men froze.
He eased around Forrest and Crosby, leaving Remy at their backs. Lily stood beside Veronica, a mug of coffee cupped in her hands. The women had sliced the rest of the chocolate cake and stacked several small plates along with forks on the counter.
Forrest’s hands fisted. “Miles. I’m surprised you’re here.”
“Really? After someone trashed my home, you expected me to go back there and pull the covers over my head while one of our own sets me up for a hard fall?”
“Whatever fall you take you deserve,” growled Crosby as he bore down on her. “Why did you do it? How could you turn on us?”
Adam glided in front of the furious agent, neatly cutting him off from his target. “Back off, Crosby.”
“Are you threatening me, Walker? Please, tell me you’re threatening me. I have a pair of handcuffs just your size.”
“Stating facts, Agent Crosby. I don’t threaten.” He just delivered. These men weren’t touching Veronica without a court order.
“Sit,” Lily said. “Do you take your coffee black?” She set her mug on the counter and walked to the coffee maker where four empty mugs waited.
“Yes, ma’am.” Forrest’s gaze focused on Lily. “I’m Clay Forrest with the DEA. This is Art Crosby.”
“Lily. Sit and we’ll talk. Would you like a slice of chocolate cake?”
“This isn’t a social gathering,” Crosby snapped.
She poured the steaming liquid. “Your loss. The cake is fabulous.” When the mugs were full, she covered the cake again, then distributed one mug to each person.
Adam and Veronica sat on one side of the table, Lily and Remy on the other, leaving the two agents to sit at the ends of the table.
“Where have you been for two weeks, Veronica?” Forrest asked.
“In Mexico on an assignment from Dane.”
“Got any proof?”
“Check the name Valerie Wilder. The flight records will show me entering the country two weeks ago.”
“I already did. There’s no record of your re-entry into the US.”
“I flew her into the country on a private jet.” Adam sipped his coffee before setting the mug aside. “She was not physically able to fly commercial.”
A snort from Forrest. “You look healthy enough to me, Miles.”
“Los Diablos held me captive for several days. They weren’t good hosts.”
From the expressions on the men’s faces, they didn’t believe Veronica. She glanced at Adam, resignation in her gaze. “Help me show them.”
“Baby, you don’t have to do this.”
“Maybe if they believe one thing I’ve said, they’ll be more inclined to believe the rest.”
Although he didn’t think so, he rose when she stood and turned her back to Forrest and Crosby. She remained motionless while he raised the back of her shirt far enough for them to see rows of neat stitches Sam that used to close the slash marks.
Because Sam documented the injuries and showed the pictures to Adam, he’d been prepared for the stitches. The photos had revealed older scars on her back that were almost silver under the light’s glare. His heart turned over in his chest, suspecting the cause of the marks on Veronica’s back. The thought of someone hurting her made him want to pound the person who abused her.
Once he released the hem of her shirt, Adam couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her for a moment. When her body relaxed against his, he dropped a soft kiss on the side of her neck, and seated her again. He glared at the two stunned agents as he sat beside Veronica. “Satisfied?”
“Los Diablos aren’t known for keeping their prisoners alive unless they want something from them.” Forrest pulled a notebook and pen from his pocket. “What did they want from you, Miles?”
“Information.”
“About?” Crosby snapped.
“DEA operations in Mexico and our agents. They knew too much.”
“Los Diablos is aware of our ongoing operations and the agents involved?” Forrest’s pen hovered over the paper. “Specifics?”
“My interrogator questioned me about the missions by name and the agents involved in each one. We have a leak.”
“Yeah, you,” muttered Crosby.
Adam covered Veronica’s hand with his. “If she had leaked the information the interrogator wanted, Veronica would be dead. They wouldn’t have needed her.”
“How did you escape?” Forrest asked.
“Adam and his friends.”
“A rent-a-cop and his buddies faced down a vicious cartel and rescued you?” Crosby sneered. “Come on. Tell me another lie I can use to toss you in prison.”
Remy set his mug down on the table with a thump. “Do you know who we work for, Crosby?”
“Some private security firm. They’re all over the place. Any two-bit thug can get hired by them.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “We’re with Fortress Security, and Brent Maddox, the CEO, wouldn’t hire you if the president himself recommended you.”
The agent’s face turned red. “Why not? I’m a well-trained federal agent.”
“You’re closed minded and don’t listen. Maddox only hires the best and that doesn’t include you.”
Forrest stayed Crosby’s rebuttal with an upraised hand. “We’re straying off topic.” He stared at Veronica. “Fortress Security operatives rescued you.”
“That’s right.”
“How did they know you were in trouble?”
“Dane told one of my contacts I was missing and to send in Fortress. From what I understand of the timeline, Dane was killed a few hours later.”
“So the Fortress operatives did this out of the goodness of their hearts?” Skepticism rang in his voice. “Like they’re protecting one of my agents without a contract?”
“We owed Veronica,” Remy said. “She provided the information for us to rescue Adam last year.”
Forrest’s gaze shifted to Adam. “You were held captive?”
“An undercover op gone bad in a different country.”
“You passed on classified data,” Crosby accused Veronica.
“The information had nothing to do with DEA operations. I stumbled across his location while on another mission and passed it to Fortress through a go-between.”
“And for that Fortress spent thousands of dollars to save your worthless hide?”
Adam stood, placed both palms on the table, and leaned toward the belligerent agent. “Last warning, Crosby. You’re in my home on sufferance. One more insult to Veronica and I’ll escort you to your vehicle where you will stay until your superior is finished.”
“Adam.” Veronica pressed her hand to his lower back.
“He isn’t allowed to insult you, Vonnie, not after what you suffered to protect him and your co-workers.” He broke eye contact with the insufferable agent and speared her with his gaze. “Not after what you endured to protect me.”
“What does that mean?” Forrest asked. “How did you protect Walker, Miles?”
Veronica held out her hand to Adam. When he sat again, she said, “A third of the interrogation was about DEA activities in Mexico. The other two-thirds centered on Adam. The interrogator knew more about him than I did.”
“Yet here you are, in his house, apparently involved in a relationship with the man.” Forrest’s eyes narrowed. “How long have you known Walker?”
“The first time I laid eyes on him was in that death chamber.”
“You didn’t have any contact with him before then?”
She shook her head.
Adam drew in a slow breath. He knew where the questions were headed. Would Veron
ica believe him or the two agents determined to blame Adam instead of looking inside their own agency?
“Have you considered Walker might be the reason for your captivity?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Veronica laced her fingers through Adam’s. “He would never do that. Adam is a good man, one of honor and integrity, and I trust him.”
“You just admitted you don’t know him,” Crosby pointed out.
She shrugged. “Some knowledge doesn’t take a lifetime to learn.” Veronica knew to her bones Adam Walker would die before he betrayed her. She had faced death to keep him safe. During the past year, she’d come to care about the Fortress operative. The past few days had only served to deepen her feelings.
“When did you return to U.S. soil?” Forrest asked.
“Four days ago.”
“Where have you been all this time? Why didn’t you check in? You violated protocol, Miles.”
“I was in a private medical clinic receiving treatment, then came here to recuperate.”
“I wouldn’t let her check in,” Adam said. “It wasn’t safe.”
“Why do you say that?”
“There’s a leak in Veronica’s network. Otherwise, Los Diablos wouldn’t have taken her so easily. She’s smart and takes precautions to keep herself and her identity safe. If Dane trusted his own people, he would have sent in a DEA team to rescue Veronica. He didn’t. He asked Fortress for help, knowing we would get her out of there or die trying.”
“I want confirmation you were at the private clinic for treatment,” Forrest told Veronica.
Her stomach knotted. Sorensen’s life and that of his family was at stake. It was one thing to risk herself. She wouldn’t endanger the doctor who treated her with kindness despite his grumpy attitude. “I can’t do that, sir.”
The agent bristled. “Why not?”
“The doctor’s identity can’t be compromised. He has enemies like we do, and a family to protect. I won’t be responsible for his children losing their father and perhaps their own lives. If I give you the information, what guarantee do I have the name of the doctor and his clinic won’t be leaked to the wrong people?”
Forrest didn’t answer her question. What could he say? Someone in their office talked to the wrong people.
“What do you know about Dane’s death?” he asked.
“Not much. I was in Mexico as a guest of the cartel at the time.”
“Which you can’t confirm,” he reminded her. “Look, Miles, I’ll level with you. Things don’t look good for you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” The manufactured evidence of her betrayal was damning by any standards.
A glance at Adam before Forrest turned his hard gaze back to her. “Dane has documents in his email that incriminate you as the leak and traitor. Wouldn’t surprise me if you arranged for your handler to meet an untimely end.”
Man, hearing those words hurt more than her father’s belt and fists had. “Hard to arrange anything from a concrete and stone cell.”
“You could have set the plan in motion before you left the country.”
“Dane was my friend and mentor. Even if he made me angry, the worst I would have done was resign from the DEA.”
“Maybe you arranged his death in the heat of the moment, then was sent to Mexico. You weren’t in a position to cancel the assassination.”
“Wow. You don’t think much of me as an agent, do you? A car accident is a risky way to try to kill someone. He could have survived the accident. Then where would I be?” She shook her head. “No, If I’d wanted Dane to die, I would have shot him at point blank range and gotten rid of the gun. He trusted me. I could have killed him before he realized what was happening. But I didn’t kill him or arrange for anyone else to do it in my place. Dane was a good friend who won’t see his son’s face.” That hurt her almost as much as knowing she would never see Dane again or hear his booming laughter.
She lifted her chin. “I will find out who killed him, sir.”
“We have enough to take you in, Miles.”
“No, sir, you don’t. Otherwise, I’d already be in cuffs. Those documents in Dane’s email are from an anonymous email address and they were generated on the day after I left for Mexico.”
“How do you know that information?” he snapped.
Veronica smiled.
“You could have written them ahead of time, then set them to send after you left,” Crosby pointed out with a nervous glance at Adam.
“Why incriminate myself? Contrary to what you believe, I’m not stupid. If I wanted to implicate anyone for being a traitor, I would have pointed the finger at you.”
Crosby scowled, shifting his weight, as though he was coming after her for that insult.
Adam pointed his finger at the agent. “One cross word and you’re out.”
The agent blew out a breath. “You were with Carol when her SUV exploded.”
Veronica thought about how to answer questions without hurting Carol. “I wanted to talk to her about Dane.”
“You couldn’t do that at the office?” Forrest asked.
“Not without dodging fists, bullets, and handcuffs. I saw her in the food court and decided to take a chance.”
“What happened in the parking lot at the mall?”
Veronica summarized the events. “Sorry I can’t be more help. Adam and I didn’t touch Carol’s SUV as you’ve already seen in the security footage. We arrived before she did and followed her out. Someone else tried to kill her.” Perhaps to tell Veronica anyone around her would be a target. Her fingers tightened around Adam’s. He was in danger because of her.
The agents went through everything three more times. Standard questioning procedure, but her energy dropped to almost nothing. How was she supposed to do a stakeout with Adam if she couldn’t stay awake?
Adam stood, drawing Veronica to her feet. “Veronica needs to rest. She’s still recovering from her ordeal. If you have more questions, talk to her tomorrow.”
Forrest looked as if he would argue until he studied her face. He stood. “Pending the conclusion of our investigation into allegations you leaked classified information, I have to ask you to turn in your badge and duty weapon.”
Lily gasped, outrage plain on her face.
Veronica had expected the demand. Didn’t make it hurt less to hand over the hard-earned badge and weapon she’d carried for five years. Would she hold them in her hands again?
“We’ll be in touch tomorrow, Miles.”
“Call Fortress and leave a message,” Adam said. “Veronica will call to arrange a time and place to meet.”
The agents frowned. “Why can’t we contact her directly?” Crosby asked.
“Her safety is at stake and you have a leak. Do you blame her for not being readily accessible?”
“Make sure you respond in a timely manner, Miles,” Forrest said. “Otherwise, we will come back with a warrant for you and your boyfriend. If you want to keep your man out of jail, be available.”
As soon as Veronica’s co-workers left, she turned and walked out the back door. She sat on the bench she and Adam occupied earlier. Veronica buried her face in her hands. Never in a million years did she think she’d be forced to give up her badge. Voluntarily hand it over because she was walking away from a long career with the DEA? Sure. Not this humiliation. And to have it happen in front of an audience, especially Adam, made her cheeks burn and her eyes sting. His opinion of her mattered.
Though she hadn’t heard a person approaching her, someone sat on the bench. Without looking, she knew her supporter was Adam.
A second later, his muscular arm wrapped around her shoulders and drew her against his side. “I’m sorry, Vonnie,” he murmured. “We’ll clear your name.”
Instead of replying, she turned and pressed her face against his throat. Her heart hurt so much she could barely breathe.
Adam wrapped his other arm around her, hand cupping the back of her head. Occasionally, he pr
essed a kiss to her temple, but didn’t insist she talk. Veronica needed time to control her emotions before she tried talking. Otherwise, she would end up a sobbing mess.
She beat down her father’s voice in her head telling her she’d be a failure no matter what she tried to do. He was wrong. She was an excellent DEA agent. She would be again unless she moved on to something else and didn’t occupy a bed in a federal prison.
Veronica shuddered. Cops did not fare well in jail. That wouldn’t happen, she reminded herself. Adam and his friends at Fortress wouldn’t allow it. Her lips curved upward. If the worst happened, she wouldn’t be surprised if Adam flew her out of the country and stashed her somewhere safe until he cleared her name.
Adam’s grip on her tightened. “We’ll get through this.”
When she could talk without her voice breaking, Veronica said, “I need to borrow a Sig.”
“Sure. Choose whatever you want from my weapons room.”
She gave a soft laugh. “Your weapons room? Oh, man, I’m dating the perfect man for me.”
He cupped her face. “I have a confession.”
Cold seeped into her bones. No. She couldn’t have misread him that much. “Tell me.”
“After I learned of your role in my rescue, I kept loose tabs on you. Nothing that endangered you. Zane asked R.J. if you were safe and passed the information to me. We didn’t contact anyone else.”
“Fair enough. I asked about you, too.”
“Yeah? During the past year, I began to care about you, Vonnie.” His thumb brushed her bottom lip in a gentle caress. “I didn’t set you up. I couldn’t. You mean too much to me.”
She closed the gap between them and kissed him, the kiss one of aching tenderness. “Thank you for telling me, but I already know you didn’t do this.”
This time, he initiated the kiss. Unlike hers, Adam’s kiss was a claiming. Hard, deep, hot. Perfect because underneath the claiming was gentleness and care.
When he lifted his mouth from hers, he said, “We have three hours before we leave.” He drew Veronica to her feet. “Choose your weapon, then go rest.”
