The Big Guns

by HelenKay Dimon

  Adam didn’t hold back when he speared her with his piercing green eyes. “Before you stumbled into our lives, Trevor didn’t know where our office was and didn’t know the address of that safe house. After a few hours with you, Zach’s been shot and our team has been infiltrated. Do you see a pattern?”

  “I get that you don’t like me.”

  Luke shoved a coffee mug in front of Adam and took over. “Trust, Sela. It’s an issue of trust.”

  Something in his softer delivery made her want to open up. The way Zach squeezed her hand helped, too. “I didn’t tip anyone off. I didn’t even know about the safe house until I was sitting in it.”

  “We’ll leave.” In typical Zach fashion, he delivered the bombshell, then stopped talking. Didn’t explain or elaborate.

  “What?” Sela and Luke asked at the same time.

  Then everyone started yelling.

  Zach simply raised his hand and the chatter stopped. “Look, I don’t know what Trevor was trying to prove by coming here. I can’t tell you what he really wants, except that for him to show his hand like that means Sela is important to him.”

  When this subject came up, she didn’t want anyone touching her. She folded her hands together on the table. “I told you—”

  “Professionally.” Zach lowered his voice and leaned in close, his breath brushing against her ear. “I know you’re not sleeping with him.”

  “How?” Adam asked in his usual booming voice.

  Maddie elbowed him. “You are so far out of line.”

  “I’m concerned.”

  Zach held up both hands this time. “I just know, okay?”

  Sela didn’t like where the conversation had gone. She wasn’t too fond of the way Zach ended it, either. He made it sound as if they were together when right now she didn’t know what they were. She just knew being linked to men based on nothing more than her being a woman was starting to get old.

  But the comment must have satisfied Adam. He nodded in response. “Fine.”

  Luke poured what had to be the fourth cup of coffee she’d seen him drink since she got there. “What are you getting at with this plan?”

  Zach blew out a long breath, as if waiting until he had everyone’s attention before continuing. “Trevor was obnoxious today but off his game. I think he knows Sela is in danger and that his work put her there. For some reason, he cares about her safety and his role in it and is trying to fix the damage.”

  “But you don’t think he’s behind the kidnapping?” Luke asked.

  “He wouldn’t hurt me.” Sela wasn’t sure of much but she felt confident in this.

  “Do you know that for sure?” Adam asked, this time without the kick of anger in his voice.

  Zach’s hand found her knee under the table. The warm touch sent a surge of inner strength through her. “I have to believe it.”

  Luke emptied his cup with one long gulp. “So, what’s your plan here, Zach?”

  “I take her into hiding.”

  Adam and Maddie leaned against the counter, neither of them looking all that impressed with Zach’s new strategy. With a quick glance, Maddie gave Adam a nod and he started talking. “Not sure that’s a great idea, man. Last time you tried that you got burned out.”

  A chill ran through Sela. She used to think she wanted an apartment with a fireplace. Now she didn’t even want to see a grill. That burning stink would stick with her forever. “I have to admit I’m not loving the idea, either.”

  “We’re not going to a safe house or any place that can be traced to any one of us.”

  “Then it doesn’t sound safe.” Maddie leaned into Adam and he slipped his arm around her shoulders. “As someone who’s been on the run and is even now in hiding, I don’t recommend it.”

  Zach held up his hands and looked around the warehouse. “Are we safe anywhere?”

  Sela didn’t know the answer to that, but one thing was clear. They were doing an awful lot of plotting about her life without consulting her. She understood Zach’s tendency to make a plan in his head and execute it without filling her in, but this was too much.

  The I-lead-you-follow thing wasn’t working for her this time. “Do I get a say?”

  Zach’s eyebrow rose at her sharp tone. “Which would be?”

  “I go to the police. Take you guys out of this. They can question Trevor… Why are you shaking your head?” Zach wasn’t alone. They all were. Even Maddie screwed up her lips and joined in.

  Luke shrugged. “He’s a powerful guy.”

  No wonder Trevor did so well. He even had these guys, these amazing men who could protect and defend better than any movie hero, believing his hype. She knew because she’d seen it over and over again. “He’s not above the law.”

  “He thinks he is,” Adam said.

  “Sela.” Maddie slipped away from Adam and moved to the chair in front of Sela. “I know you see him as some sort of savior but he’s a bad guy. He is wrapped up in a scheme that almost got me killed. All I was doing was living my life in witness protection. Gunmen came for me.”

  Sela had a hard time arguing with Maddie. She was so tough. Such a force of nature. “You think Trevor sent them?”

  Adam rested his hands on Maddie’s shoulders. “Maybe not, but he was part of the conspiracy. He is connected to people, through his business and through the information he’s collected. People who have a vested interest in keeping him happy and his reputation clean.”

  Sela pointed out the obivious, her strongest argument. “But I’m still alive.”

  “What’s your point?” There was no judgment in Zach’s tone, only interest.

  “He could have killed me at any time.” Sela looked around, willing them to get it. “Don’t you understand? I was the one asking for help yesterday. I called him for a meeting because I knew someone was following me. Someone got to me before I could get to Trevor.”

  Adam stared at her for a second before turning to Luke. “The other player.”

  With that, all of the tension in the room disappeared. It was as if someone had popped a balloon and all the anger deflated. She didn’t know if switching topics away from Trevor did it or if they finally believed her. Either way, she was relieved. From the way Zach squeezed her thigh, she assumed he felt it, too.

  “Who is this player?” she asked.

  Zach leaned back and threw his good arm across the back of her chair. “We’re not sure.”

  “Trevor ever talk with you about this?” Luke filled his cup and finished off the pot when Maddie slid a cup in his direction.

  “About you guys, yes. All the time. About Vince and how he wasn’t convinced Rod was dead, yes.”

  Adam sighed. “Those are our two options, aren’t they?”

  “Sorry, babe.” Maddie curled up against Adam, brushing her hand over his arm and sinking in when he returned the caresses.

  Seeing the six foot–plus Adam gentled by this woman flipped a switch inside Sela. The wall of resentment building around her heart crumbled. He was human and protective of the people he loved. Sela admired that even as his attacks on her had her gritting her teeth. Watching his big hand smooth over Maddie’s arm hit Sela with a punch of envy. She craved that closeness. That stability. And that’s what it was. In the middle of all the chaos and danger, Adam and Maddie bickered but the heat in their eyes for each other never banked.

  All of the men appeared to have that weakness for their women. She glanced at Zach, taking in his flat mouth and the dark stubble over his chin, and wondered if he would ever give his heart so freely.

  “The two other people who knew about the warehouse and had access to the safe house information were Rod and Vince,” Luke explained. “Either one of them could have fed the pieces to Trevor and the other members of the conspiracy, who are all now dead.”

  Zach snorted. “Conveniently.”

  “Rod and Vince had inside information on the WitSec participants. They were the handlers of the two dead women and—”

 
; Maddie raised her hand. “Me.”

  So much of what they said made sense to Sela, but a few major pieces didn’t. “But both Rod and Vince are one of you guys. They’re insiders.”

  Zach shifted just enough to move the focus back to him. “Which makes this personal.”

  She glanced around and saw the determination in their faces, felt it pulsing through the room like a living, breathing thing. She knew she’d walked into something so much bigger than her. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”

  A bleakness filled Zach’s eyes as a chill moved across the room. “If the trail leads to Trevor or Vince, or even Rod, we’ve agreed to follow it. If we don’t, this could all start again.”

  “Apparently there’s a lot of money to be made in selling out WitSec participants,” Maddie said.

  “Not anymore.” Adam kissed Maddie’s forehead. “Not on our watch.”

  “I THOUGHT WE SHOULD meet.” Vince crossed his ankle over his opposite knee and relaxed into the chair across the desk from Trevor.

  Once again Trevor found his office served as the dropping ground for weak men operating under the delusion of false power. Men who collected money from criminals and then acted as if the WitSec participants were the parasites of society. John Tate and his underling Russell Ambrose, the man who tried to kill Caleb and his ex-wife, Avery, had walked this path. Even Trevor’s own brother, Bram, had gotten mixed up in the mess and forfeited his congressional office’s integrity in the scam.

  In quiet moments alone, Trevor had to admit his role in setting the entire plot in action. One unguarded moment he’d asked about getting rid of an ex-wife and Russell had taken the nugget and ran.

  Now Vince.

  As suspected, there had been an inside man at Recovery all along. It explained why the team could not just put the conspiracy down once and for all. John Tate was dead because of his hubris, but he ended up being smarter than Trevor gave him credit for. Using Vince was a smart call. Now Trevor had to figure out what game the man still insisted on playing.

  Trevor cleared his throat, aiming for the right mix of disinterest and authority in his tone. “I must say, I was surprised to get your call.”

  “You have had some dealings with friends of mine.”

  Trevor had to believe Luke suspected Vince. There was no other reason for the man to keep pushing his agenda after all his partners were dead. He should slink back into the shadows and remain quiet, live off the money he’d collected and be happy.

  He likely would have if it had not been for Luke and his team and their vow to find Rod, no matter the cost. Trevor decided to test his theory. “Does Luke consider you a friend?”

  “Somewhat.”

  Trevor doubted there was even that much, which would explain the reason for the impromptu visit. “So, what can I do for you?”

  “Nothing.”

  Not the answer he expected. “I’m not accustomed to having business meetings where I just stare at the person across the desk from me.”

  Vince smiled. “Do you usually prefer to have your assistant present?”

  There it was. The warning shot.

  Trevor tried not to move, not to let a look or move tip off his reaction to the words. The burning fury of having this rat track Sela down. “She is on vacation.”

  Vince unfolded and refolded his hands. “Is she?”

  “Do you know something I don’t?”

  “Probably.”

  “Where is she?”

  Vince chuckled. “I believe you just said vacation.”

  Trevor considered grabbing the gun from his desk drawer and ending this game right now. “What is it you want?”

  “An understanding.”

  The last time Trevor engaged in this sort of conversation he ended up with Tate thinking he was in charge. Trevor had no intention of riding down that road again. “I’m listening.”

  “I understand you are very good at keeping confidences. Your brother used his offices to help out his friends and nearly got Claire, Luke’s wife, killed.” Vince hesitated, as if waiting for a swift denial or argument.

  Claire’s ex had nearly killed her, not Bram. Bram was well in the background on that one. But Trevor refused to give Vince the satisfaction of correcting him, of engaging in a verbal battle. Otherwise strong men often lost the battle of strategy when they talked too much. Better to listen.

  Right on cue, Vince continued. “You’ve supplied men for some unorthodox ventures and dipped your fingers in some pretty nasty business involving John Tate and WitSec.”

  The man was right on the verge of admitting his role in the venture. Trevor could tell Vince wanted to brag, wanted to let the world know about this brilliance. “Would you happen to have personal knowledge about those alleged dealings, Vince?”

  “I’m a retired government employee.”

  “Enjoying that, are you?”

  The stillness and blank look disappeared. Vince fidgeted in his chair, losing that calm grace the longer he spoke. “I don’t have anything to lose.”

  Trevor never liked that phrase. He couldn’t think of a time when it was accurate. “Oh, now that’s where you’re wrong. We all have something to lose, be it reputation or money or our very lives.”

  “Eloquent. People told me that about you.” Vince moved around, crossing and uncrossing his legs. “They also used the word smart. Are you smart, Trevor?”

  “Generally.” Trevor could smell it. The fear and panic. Vince was a man who kept straight until he veered so far off the path of right that he couldn’t even see it anymore. Oh, he acted tough and tried to give off the illusion of control, but Trevor knew better.

  “Smart men know when to stay out of the way,” Vince said.

  Just as predicted, the power balance had shifted. Trevor waited it out and the control came back to him. Patience. It was that easy. “That is my intention unless certain innocent parties get caught in the middle.”

  “Like your assistant.”

  “That would be a good example.”

  Vince stared at the ceiling for a second before resuming eye contact. “See, I’ve found office workers, secretaries and such tend to know a lot of information. They don’t have the same pressures on them and can sometimes be made to talk.”

  “Not Sela.”

  “I wonder if that’s true.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “No.”

  Trevor had his answer. Vince didn’t have her. That meant someone else did. Trevor’s mind flipped through the images from the Recovery warehouse. The smoke and injuries. Those came from fighting…from rescuing.

  It seemed so obvious. She was with Zach, probably was right in the building the whole time.

  “I think we want the same thing here,” Vince said with more than a little menace in his voice.

  Since Trevor wanted to wipe Vince off the face of the earth, Trevor doubted that was true. “And how do we go about meeting our goals?”

  “When I figure that out, I’ll call you.”

  “Until then?”

  Vince stood. “Just be ready.”

  Trevor knew he would be.

  Chapter Thirteen

  With his hand against her lower back, Zach walked Sela into the open marble entryway of the stone mansion off Massachusetts Avenue. Touching her felt right. So much so that he thought about humming along with her, but he knew if he pointed out the habit again she’d stop.

  Her mouth dropped open as her gaze swept over the sprawling double staircase. The off-key music faded as she threw her head back and stared at the stained-glass skylight above her.

  Oversize houses were the norm for this part of the city. Ambassadors and old money mixed well here. In an area ripe with money and prestige, this house stuck out. It reigned over the rest, sitting on an incline and reaching three soaring stories into the sky.

  The grounds included a guesthouse, greenhouse and separate garages for the owners’ fleet of antique cars, but Sela couldn’t stop gawking at the insid
e. “What is this place?”

  “A house.”

  Her jaw dropped even farther. “Yours?”

  “Doubt I could afford the door knocker out front.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “It’s the Hampton mansion.”

  “Let me be clearer.” She slipped her arm through his and walked over to the elaborate table in the middle of the foyer. “How do you have a key and why are we here?”

  “I’m doing some work at the house.”

  She skimmed her fingers over the intricate inlaid woodwork on the tabletop, outlining each differently colored square. “Shooting people?”

  “I have other skills.”

  “Good to know.”

  He wasn’t touching that comment. Not when his need for her lay so thick in the air. “The owners gave me a key.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “On an ocean liner for three months.”

  “Must be nice.”

  Being trapped and unable to touch dry land for days at a time sounded like a nightmare to him. “I’m not really a water guy.”

  She smiled as he led her toward the door under the staircase. “That would explain why you went with Army over Navy.”

  “That and my dad was an Army man.” He turned the knob and hit the overhead light. “We’re going here.”

  She glanced down the steep set of steps. “Downstairs?”

  “Our movements won’t be seen and I have more control of the surroundings in a limited space.”

  “I doubt the basement is small.”

  “There are something like ten bedrooms and fifteen baths in this house upstairs. Trust me, I can handle and surveil the few half-finished rooms downstairs much easier.” Her back heated under his palm as he guided her to the staircase.

  She turned around and sized him up. “You’re not lying, are you?”

  “About?”

  She laughed. “That was kind of a scary male response, asking me to narrow down the lie and all, but I was talking about whether you’re really allowed to be in here. We’re not trespassing, I’m guessing. There aren’t attack dogs and a security company on the way, right?”