“Jensen should still be watched closely,” Agent Wolfe replied. “We need to keep all our options open in case this is a setup. In the meantime, I need you to be extremely alert. We take threats against an FBI agent very seriously, although I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of that. However, my source did confirm that they don’t know you’re FBI, so we still have that working in our favor. Jensen will need to be watched 24/7 and you will need to put one other person under immediate surveillance.”
“Right away, sir,” Shawn said in reply to Agent Wolfe’s request. “Who is he?”
“It’s not a he,” Agent Wolfe said with a little more concern this time. “It’s Cydney Rayne. She’s the third person being targeted.”
Shawn’s back stiffened at the sound of her name as he pinched the middle of his forehead in an attempt to stop the headache that was rising. He hadn’t had this particular feeling of apprehension in three years, and suddenly past situations flooded the forefront of his mind as thoughts of something terrible happening to Cydney swarmed in his head.
“Miles, are you there?” Agent Wolfe asked. Just to be sure that he’d heard the correct name, he asked Agent Wolfe to repeat the third person being targeted once more. Hearing Cydney’s name again did nothing to ease his worry. Shawn confirmed that both Paul and Cydney would have around-the-clock watch and then he updated Agent Wolfe on the current course of events. Shawn agreed to set up a conference call with Agent Wolfe, Mr. Vallant and himself in a few hours so they could update Mr. Vallant on the case and decide if they needed to postpone the rest of the appreciation events. “Keep me in the loop,” Agent Wolfe said. “I have a feeling since someone has connections with the Indianapolis P.D., they won’t make a big deal about the possible kidnapping. They wouldn’t want to bring too much attention to themselves, but they will be looking for Jim soon, so I may have to send reinforcements.”
Shawn agreed with Agent Wolfe’s assessment and as he was hanging up the call, Indianapolis P.D. began to arrive at the hotel. Shawn walked over to Micah and told him they needed to get the P.D. in and out as quickly as possible. They wanted to follow protocol so that no one suspected Shawn was FBI, but they needed to maintain a low profile, as well. And Shawn needed Cydney to be on board in order to successfully do that. He walked over to Cydney, who was still sitting on the grass, and squatted down beside her.
“Cydney, I know you’re scared, but you’re in my care now, so you’re safe.” He lifted her hands in between his in an attempt to bring her comfort. Her eyes that had been staring out into the distance turned to meet his gaze. They were still watery, but she seemed to be more at ease.
“I need you to trust me,” Shawn continued as he helped her rise from the grass to stand up. “In a short while, the P.D. will probably need to talk to you about what happened.” He began rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “I need you to tell them that you had stepped out to get some fresh air and were grabbed. But someone heard you scream and came to your rescue.”
Cydney squinted her eyes in confusion as she observed his face. “Why do I have to lie?”
Shawn chose his next words carefully. “I need you to fabricate the story, not lie.”
“It’s the same thing,” Cydney retorted in frustration.
“Cydney,” Shawn said a little softer this time. “As CISO, I need to do my job, and there is something going on here that we haven’t figured out yet. My team and I want to make sure that everyone is safe.”
“Isn’t that why we have the police? How would you and your team do a better job than the actual police?”
“Because my team is aware of more than the police at this time. Something isn’t adding up and to be on the safe side, we need to talk to some of our connections in Chicago before information is spilled into the hands of the Indianapolis P.D.”
Shawn could tell she wasn’t buying his story, but he didn’t need her to believe him. He just needed her to follow directions.
“Cydney, please trust me on this one. You know from the short investigation you did on Jim Pearson that something is going on way beyond the everyday crime. Don’t you want to get to the bottom of this?”
He knew he had her on his side when her face softened in understanding. “Okay,” she said with an easy sigh. “I trust you.”
“Thank you,” he said then he gave Micah a positive head nod and encompassed Cydney in a hug.
Chapter 11
Shawn sent Micah to the secure location where they were holding Jim before requesting that one of his other security guards keep watch of the situation. Hmm... P.D. only sent two cars, Shawn noticed in suspicion and surprise. He darted behind the side of the hotel when a couple of the businessmen he’d been watching went to the police to inquire about what was going on, stating they were contributors of the Peter Vallant Company. Although they really could be contributors, Shawn didn’t believe that the cultural fair was their main reason for being in Indianapolis. In case they had connections on the inside and had seen a photo of him being passed around, Shawn couldn’t risk being seen.
Once he had a secluded hiding place on the side of the building where he could still hear everyone speaking, Shawn looked over at Cydney, who was talking with a police officer. It was evident that she was still shaken up, but she was handling the situation like a pro. He overheard her sticking with the fabricated story of needing fresh air and being taken by a masked man before screaming and being rescued by someone who she didn’t know.
Shawn’s attention was taken away from Cydney when he noticed one of the police officers a few feet away from her. The way he was watching her made Shawn uneasy.
“Take a look at the officer on your left,” Shawn said into his mike to his security guard that wasn’t standing too far from Cydney. His guard turned his head slowly as if surveying his surroundings before motioning with a subtle nod that something was definitely suspicious.
The police officer looked at one of the businessmen and nodded his head in Cydney’s direction. The gesture was so quick that one might not have noticed the elusive way the officer acknowledged the businessman. But Shawn was trained to notice the slightest of movements and his quick eyes followed the way the men observed one another before they both settled their eyes on Cydney.
Moments later, she had wrapped up her conversation with the police officer and had turned to walk back into the hotel. “Stay with her at all times,” Shawn said to his guard as he continued to observe the men outside. Once Cydney was inside the hotel, the officer who had jotted down the details of her story walked over to the other officer and was joined by one of the businessmen. They looked from the hotel entrance and back to each other, no doubt trying to develop a plan of action.
“Shawn, Cydney is refusing to follow me and insists she be allowed to go to her hotel room to change. I’ll stand guard outside,” Shawn heard in his earpiece.
“Absolutely not,” Shawn stated into his mike. “She needs to be taken to our office. She’s too accessible in her hotel room.”
Just then, the officers got back into their police cars, and two of the businessmen walked back into the lobby. Man, I know that guy, Shawn thought as he observed one of the businessmen. He’d seen him on a billboard or something, but he couldn’t quite place his name.
“They’re coming in,” he said on his mike to his security guard. “Don’t take the elevator to Cydney’s room, take the stairs to our location. Do you copy?”
“Shawn,” Micah’s voice said into his earpiece. “The light isn’t flashing that indicates his mike and earpiece are on. You need to go check it out. Last place I had him was outside Cydney’s room.” Seconds later, Micah’s voice filled the mike again. “I have a visual. Our security guard is fighting another man on the floor. The other guy is taking Cydney to the stairwell. The rest of us are on our way for backup. ”
Reacting as quickly as possible, Shawn entered the
hotel through a side door and entered the stairwell, taking two steps at a time. When he was almost near her floor, the stairwell door above him flew open and he could hear Cydney’s distressed voice.
Shawn was two floors down from them so he quietly opened the door to the floor he was on, preparing to catch the culprit off guard. Once Cydney and the man passed the door Shawn was stationed behind, he swiftly opened the door and entered the stairwell, knocking the man on the back of his neck with the bottom of his pistol. The man tumbled to the ground and almost took Cydney with him, but Shawn was quick to rescue her. Grabbing her hand and jumping over the unconscious man on the floor, Shawn didn’t waste any time getting Cydney out of harm’s way. “I have her, but the guy is unconscious on the third floor,” Shawn said when they exited the stairwell and ran right into a crowd of people. The event was coming to a close and attendees were beginning to leave the cultural fair.
“We caught the other guy, too,” Micah’s voice said through the earpiece. “We’re on our way to get the guy you knocked out now.” Shawn sidestepped through the mass of people as he tried to make his way to their secure office. Cydney wasn’t fighting him, making the trek through the crowd a whole lot easier.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on alert. Shawn stopped walking for a few seconds as he did a 360-degree turn around the crowd, making sure he kept Cydney safely tucked on his side. There were several men sprinkled in the crowd who no doubt had him and Cydney as their main course of interest.
“Cydney, we have to go for a little ride,” Shawn said into her ear as he tugged her arm and ventured toward a side exit.
“Shawn, I’m scared,” Cydney exclaimed behind him as they ran through the door. As suspected, a glance over his shoulder proved a few of the men were hot on their trail.
“I know, but we have to get out of here,” Shawn said as he made his way to one of the vehicles he’d requested in case of an emergency. Shawn and Cydney darted through a parade of trees, leaving the hotel grounds with darkness working in their favor. The car was hidden in a parking lot behind several houses in a nearby neighborhood. Once they were inside the car, Shawn called Micah on his phone since his earpiece and mike were now out of range.
“Micah, we had to leave the hotel. There were several more men in the hotel lobby. I’ll make some calls, but you and the men need to be alert. We can’t trust the Indianapolis P.D. so I need you to make some calls to Chicago P.D.”
“You got it,” Micah replied. “We also found Paul Jensen in one of the utility closets near the conference rooms. He’d been beaten up pretty badly, but he’ll be okay.”
“Thanks. I’ll make a call so he can be put under immediate witness protection.” Shawn hung up, then hit number one on his speed dial, ignoring the curious look Cydney shot his way before he turned his head back to the window. The number he called went straight to voice mail so he was forced to leave a message.
“Agent Wolfe, this is Agent Miles,” he said as he heard Cydney gasp before she placed her hand over her mouth and turned her head toward him. “We have a situation and we need backup immediately. I have Cydney Rayne, and the other victim needs to be placed under witness protection. My team is aware of the situation.” He dared to look at her and instantly regretted it. Her eyes squinted together and her breathing grew more rapid. She was fuming. He could tell that she felt betrayed. He saw it in her looks and body language, but he didn’t have time to dwell on the situation. He had to figure out where to take her until the FBI was able to get more answers. He didn’t trust anyone right now and he refused to let anything happen to her. He knew seizing Cydney and escaping to a secure location out of the reach from any P.D. or drug-related gangs was against protocol, but reason had flown out the window the moment he’d noticed she’d been taken earlier that night. “Call me back ASAP.”
After Shawn hung up the call, Cydney wasted no time asking the obvious question. “Agent Miles...as in an FBI agent?”
He looked from the road to Cydney, surprised that after tonight’s events, she still looked as sexy as ever. He had enough experience to know that victims of any type of traumatic experience sometimes lashed out at those around them if they felt betrayed in any way. In this case, he didn’t expect any different from Cydney.
“Yes, I’m an FBI agent,” Shawn finally stated, watching Cydney as she put her head in her hands. When she lifted her head back up, her eyes were full of disbelief and astonishment.
* * *
An FBI agent? How in the world had she missed the fact that he was an FBI agent? “So,” Cyd said with a slight drawl of her tongue. “What are you doing at the Peter Vallant Company?”
“Well, I run my own security firm,” Shawn stated as he stared out into the dark road. “But I’m also working undercover for the FBI to try to solve a case that has taken three years to resolve.”
“How long have you been with the FBI?” she asked quickly.
“Ten years,” Shawn answered just as fast.
“How old are you?” she asked, a little surprised at herself for not asking him that earlier.
“Thirty-two.”
“And you run your own business and work for the FBI?”
“Yes, my business is in the beginning stages.”
“Then you must have a lot of resources to track people.”
“I have resources and connections in the government or otherwise.”
“You know a lot about me?”
“I know enough.”
Hmm. “Do you mean you know me because you ran a background check or do you mean you know me sexually?”
“I take it that that is a rhetorical question, right?”
“No.”
“Then the answer is both. I ran a background check and—” he said as he turned to look her straight in the eyes “—I definitely got to know you sexually.”
Cyd’s breath caught in her chest. Don’t salivate over him, girl. Get it together!
“When will I be able to go home?”
“Hopefully in a week.”
“A week! Where are you taking me?”
“Under witness protection...with me.” Aw, heck, naw! She couldn’t handle that. Asking him questions was not only taking her mind off what had almost happened to her, but it was also solidifying the fact that Shawn was a man she shouldn’t be involved with. Not only was he missing attributes on her list, but he also had a dangerous job with severe consequences.
“What if I demand to go home?”
He gave her a sidelong glance. “I highly doubt you’d choose to be put in danger.”
Only then did Cyd realize she’d been sitting as straight as an arrow in the passenger seat, afraid to relax until she understood what was going on. Their back and forth Q&A was exhausting, yet it was helping, and she tried to convince herself not to get upset at the man who’d recently saved her life not once, but twice. But she couldn’t help how she felt, no matter how hard she tried. The fact that he hadn’t told her his true occupation hurt, although deep down she understood why he couldn’t. But the real kicker was the idea of her being forced to stay with him for a few days in who knows where. That really boiled her blood.
Cyd finally relaxed in her seat as the enormity of the possible circumstances that could have occurred enveloped her consciousness with brute force. She loved to live on the edge of danger, but she’d always gotten her thrills by leaping out of airplanes or diving into deep coves. Almost being kidnapped—twice—was not her idea of living dangerously. That was just plain dangerous. Did I get myself into this trouble when I began my investigation of Jim Pearson?
“Don’t think it’s your fault, Cydney.” Shawn interjected her thoughts. “He’d targeted you long before you targeted him, but you’re safe now.”
“You know,” Cyd said as she placed her right hand on the dashboard and leaned i
nto him, “you really need to stop this whole mind-reading thing. It’s beginning to creep me out.” She gave a derisive look to match her sarcastic tone.
Instead of responding to her comment, Shawn gave her a penetrating stare that momentarily labored her breathing. Even with all the commotion that had happened earlier, his masculine scent encircled her nostrils and induced her desire. When he turned back to the road, Cyd took the opportunity to admire his profile. She noticed the worry lines in his brow, evidence that he was concerned about her. His right hand tightly gripped the steering wheel, flexing as he passed by cars as he switched lanes. Cyd’s head dropped to the right as she studied his firm jawline. She had so many more questions she wanted to ask, but if she was honest with herself, she’d realize that she was afraid to learn all the answers, at least for tonight. She also realized that she didn’t really know much about the real Shawn Miles, the man behind the devastatingly good looks and charming personality. Of all times to be mesmerized by a man, now was definitely not the best time. She thought he was mysterious before, but the man she observed now was far more mysterious than she’d imagined.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked as she leaned back to an upright forward position in her seat. He didn’t answer right away and when he did, he kept his eyes glued on the road.
“I’m taking you someplace away from the public until I get a handle on what’s going on.”
Away from the public? “Like in the woods or something?” Cyd asked with a slight rise in her voice.
Shawn laughed at her question. “Or something,” was his only answer. Only then did he glance over at her again. “Why don’t you take a nap and I will wake you when we get there?”
“What about my family? They’ll want to know what’s going on.”
“I’ll call your brother-in-law Daman and he can inform your family. I want to check on a few things before you contact them directly.”
“What about the rest of the events for the Peter Vallant Company?”
If Only for Tonight Page 10
