by Ivy Nelson
“I’ll take the bed by the door if you don’t mind,” he said as he tossed his duffel onto the bed.
“That’s fine,” she whispered. A whisper was all she could manage without bursting into tears. Her resolve not to cry was wavering. When Michael turned and closed the distance between them, she lost it and the tears began to fall. Her whole world felt like it was crashing down around her, and she didn’t know what to do. Michael’s arms slipped around her and he squeezed her tightly.
“Shh, Angel, it’s OK. We’re going to figure this out,” he murmured as he stroked her dark hair. “I’m here. I’ve got you.” He continued to reassure her as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the nearby bed. Sobs racked her body until there were no more tears left. Shudders tore through her for several minutes after the tears stopped flowing. When she lifted her head, her face felt three sizes bigger than normal and she suddenly felt embarrassed.
“God. I’m so sorry. I just got so overwhelmed all of a sudden.”
“No need to be sorry. It’s understandable. You can cry on me anytime. We should order some food. You must be starving,” he said as she scooted out of his arms.
As if on cue, her stomach made a loud rumbling noise, and she giggled. Hunger had hit her hard. Michael used his phone to find a place that delivered and placed an order for pizza, sodas and bread sticks. Forty-five minutes later they were enjoying the cheesy meal at the small table in their room.
"Tell me more about your parents and everything they told you regarding your birth,” Michael said. “I want to have all the information I can to pass on to my pal.”
Adara recounted everything she knew—which wasn’t much. “My parents were purposefully sketchy on details. They told me just enough to scare me, I think. When we get back to D.C. I plan to talk to them and see if they can shed any light on anything. It might be difficult though. They’re both in the early stages of some form of dementia. Doctors are still working to figure out exactly what. Some days are better than others though. I also know they have a safe deposit box with documents and such. Maybe that will shed some light on things.”
“It sounds terrible, but your parents not being able to remember everything may work in your favor. The less they can tell a Homeland Security agent, or the FBI, the less of the tipster’s story they’ll be able to corroborate. And if we find any official documentation of what your parents did, we’ll want to destroy it.” Adara didn’t fail to notice him wince as he said that last part. The cop in him wouldn’t like the idea of destroying evidence. But it made her feel better to know he was willing to go to great lengths to help her. It pained her to ask him to do anything that went against his core values though. She would have to find a way out of this without asking him to compromise his ethics or put him in danger of losing his badge. Michael had worked too hard to get where he was in his career. She eyed the bed he had designated as his own. It was so close to the door. Could she make a run for it after he fell asleep?
“Don’t even think about it.” The harshness of his tone startled her out of her thoughts.
“Don’t even think about what?” she asked, feigning ignorance.
“You know damn well what. I swear I’ll cuff you to the bed if I have to.”
“You wouldn’t dare. I told you. I’m not sure how I feel about all that kinky shit yet.”
His eyes narrowed and his demeanor shifted as he sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, Angel. As much as I would love to get kinky with you, this would have nothing to do with sex. You’re legally in my custody remember?”
She swallowed. OK, so she had forgotten that little detail. “I just don’t want you risking your badge for me. I think it would be better if I just disappear.”
“And look how well that turned out the first time you tried it,” he growled. “You’re stuck with me so you might as well let it go.”
Her shoulders slumped in defeat. He was probably right. They went back to their pizza in silence.
As they were finishing the last of the bread sticks, Michael’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the screen before he answered.
“Peter. It’s good to hear from you. I need your help.”
Chapter Four
“Jesus, Michael. What is it with my friends and their women getting into such big messes?” Peter Mercer asked after Michael gave him the details of Adara’s situation and what he had done to get her out of the airport.
“Tell me about it. Darci nearly took ten years off my life with her ordeal, and now this.”
“Well hey man, I’m still in D.C. Carrie and I decided to stick around for a while after Darci’s wedding. Forward me any information you have and let me know the minute you get back to town so we can get together and come up with a game plan.”
Michael agreed and disconnected. He stared for a moment at the pretty girl sitting across from him looking sad and terrified. His heart ached for her. This was a mess even he wasn’t sure how to clean up. But he would find a way. Even if she decided she didn’t want him or the life he was offering when it was all over, he would find a way to fix this for her. Hopefully, Peter Mercer would be able to help. As a former CIA operative turned Secret Service agent who now ran his own private security firm, he ought to have a few tricks up his sleeve.
“Take a shower, Angel. Try to relax before bed,” he told her. He knew he needed to sleep so he could drive them the rest of the way home tomorrow. But he was feeling too restless. As soon as they got back to D.C., he would have Peter meet them at his house. They still had another eight hours of driving tomorrow though. Hopefully he could pry a few more details out of her on the road.
An hour later he slid the door chain into place and moved a chair in front of it. It wasn’t that he believed anyone was after them, though there was always that chance, but he didn’t quite trust that Adara wouldn’t try to sneak out in the middle of the night. And if the people threatening her did have eyes on them, it was better to take precautions.
Slipping off his weapon, he stashed it in the bedside drawer before taking off his smart watch and emptying his pockets. In case they needed to move quickly in the night, he slept in his clothes, something he hadn’t done since his last undercover stint. Adara had managed to fall asleep. He only hoped he could do the same.
Five hours later he sat wide awake, only having gotten a few hours of fitful, dream-filled sleep. After scrolling through his e-mail and watching the sports channel on mute for a little while he decided to wake her. It was nearly five a.m. The sooner they got on the road, the earlier they could get back to D.C.
She was adorable waking up and he wanted nothing more than to draw her close and fall back to sleep with her. After a bit more nudging though, she was fully awake, and worry marred her features once again.
“Come on, Angel. Let’s get on the road. We’ll stop and grab breakfast somewhere along the way.”
“Coffee is all I need, and I’ll be fine.”
“You have to eat. You have a long day ahead of you,” he scolded.
She just scowled at him and headed for the door. Someone’s in a good mood, he thought dryly.
Once in the car, he mapped the rest of the trip to D.C. Just shy of eight hours.
Three hours into the drive, his cell phone rang. The name on his phone caused him to cringe. Chief Stanton.
“Fuck,” he swore before pressing the answer button on his earpiece.
“Morning, Chief.”
The string of expletives he was greeted with did not surprise him. The chief was not a gentle man.
“I can explain everything when I get there, Sir,” he said with less confidence than he felt.
“You damn well better, Silas. Your badge depends on it. From where I sit, it looks like you’re aiding a terrorist. You could go to jail for that shit, son.”
“It’s not what it looks like, Sir,” Michael said. “I know you trust me. I’m asking for that trust for just a few more hours until I’m back in town.”
>
Chief Stanton reluctantly agreed. “You’re lucky this hasn’t hit the news, or I wouldn’t be able to give you any leeway.”
Adara’s eyes grew wide and Michael realized she could hear both sides of the conversation.
“Michael, you should just hand me back over to Homeland when we get to D.C.”
“Fuck that, Adara. You have no idea what that would be like for you. Trust me. You want to avoid Homeland custody if you can.”
“You’re not losing your God damned job for me,” she said, her voice raised a few notches.
“Don’t take that tone with me, Angel.”
“Don’t order me around like a submissive. I’m not Darci.”
For some reason that struck him as funny and he laughed louder than he probably should have given the scowl on her face. The laughter didn’t last long though and he turned his own scowl on her.
“You most certainly are not Darci. I’m not attracted to her like I am you. Nor has she ever been my submissive. I’ll be the one to decide what I will and won’t do in this situation. I’ll never violate your consent, but I’m keeping you as safe as I can until we figure this out. And you will listen to me. Not because I’m your Dom, but because I’m the one keeping your gorgeous ass out of prison or from getting deported.” He kept his tone low and even despite the anger that was bubbling just beneath the surface.
Adara’s face paled at the mention of prison. “Why would they send me to prison? I haven’t done anything wrong. I figured at worst, they would deport me.”
“That’s bad enough isn’t it? That threat alone should be incentive enough for you to listen to me.”
She sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just don’t like being bossed around. Which is why you and I will never work.”
“Let’s talk about that later. I think you’ll find I’m about much more than bossing you around.”
Her mouth opened and he could tell she was going to ask what he meant, so he stopped her. “I said later. We have more important things to focus on right now.”
• • •
“We’re meeting Peter at a diner not far from my place,” Michael said as he tossed their bags into the back of his SUV. They had stopped at the airport to return the rental car and pick up Michael’s vehicle. Adara was exhausted and just wanted to go home and sleep. But Michael wasn’t having it. While she was legally in his custody, he was making her stay with him. For some reason that Peter hadn’t told them yet, he didn’t want to meet at Michael’s house.
In the SUV, Adara closed her eyes and tried to relax. At this time of day, she could catch a half hour catnap while they sat in traffic. Thankfully, Michael didn’t try to talk. He just let her sleep. When she opened her eyes, they were pulling into the diner parking lot. A man was lounged against a silver sedan and Adara recognized him instantly from Darci’s wedding. It was Peter Mercer.
“Michael, good to see you man. Sorry about the circumstances.” The tall man hugged Michael like a brother and Adara smiled.
Peter turned and offered his hand to her. “It’s good to see you again, Adara. I’m sorry for the sticky spot you find yourself in.”
“Let’s go get a table so you can tell us what you’ve found out,” Michael said before Adara could respond.
Inside the small diner, the three claimed a small table in the corner.
Peter didn’t waste any time getting down to business. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” he said.
“Can we start with the good news please?” Adara asked softly.
The tall man smiled kindly at her. “Of course. The good news is, Homeland doesn’t have any real proof of the claims against you. If we handle this right, we can keep it that way.”
A waitress approached with menus and a coffee pot which she used to fill all three coffee cups. They took a few minutes to scan the menu before ordering appetizers to share while they talked. When the waitress left to put their order in, Peter continued.
“The bad news is, someone, not the government as far as I can tell, is watching both of you. I checked both of your places and found bugs. I have a feeling they will trace back to the terror cell that your supposed birth family is a part of.”
Adara paled. “How long have they been watching me?”
“That I don’t know, but I’m working on finding out.”
“We’ll stay at a hotel while we figure that out. How do we handle Homeland?” Michael asked.
“That’s a tough one. First, I don’t know what kind of records your parents have, but I would advise you to destroy anything you can find. Michael tells me your parents have a safe deposit box.” Adara nodded as he continued. “Let’s go through that together and see if it will shed some light on anything. We may pay your parents a visit too and see if they’re having a good enough day to remember anything. We can’t do anything to get rid of whatever texts these creeps have sent you and that could be a problem. But you can show that they were harassing you. When they interview you, you need to keep playing dumb.”
“That should be easy,” she said curtly, “I honestly have no clue what’s going on. When my parents told me I might not be a legal citizen, they never hinted at anything like this.”
“Stick with that answer. You have no idea what these people are talking about. We’re going to coach you through how to answer Homeland’s questions. They take terrorism seriously and this could take a long time to clear up. But because on paper you are a legit U.S. citizen and they have no evidence of the claims against you, they shouldn’t pursue it forever. You should think about finding an attorney as well.”
Adara’s eyes widened. “Why would you do all of this for me?”
“Michael is family. He cares about you, which makes you family. My wife is an investigative journalist and can sometimes dig up things even I can’t. With your permission, I’d like to get her help with this.”
Adara nodded. “Thank you, yes. I appreciate it.” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she dabbed them with a napkin, attempting to keep herself from bursting into all out sobs.
“Angel,” Michael said, gripping her hand. “Don’t cry. We’re going to get you through this.” Turning to Peter he said, “Any brilliant ideas for what I can do to get out of this mess with Chief Stanton?”
He thought for a moment then said, “The trial for Theresa Holden is about to start. Can you claim Adara is a witness in that case? She was marginally involved.”
Michael nodded. “It’s a stretch, but it might be believable. The chief knows how close I was to that case, and she is on the list of potential witnesses the DA could call.”
“It’s late, you probably won’t hear from Homeland until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. If they start harassing you right away, it means they are looking very hard at you. If they wait a few days, it means they have bigger things on their plate. Let’s hope for that.”
Adara pushed the now cold eggs around on her plate. All of this was so overwhelming. As if he could sense that she was on the verge of losing it again, Michael slipped his arm around her and kissed her hair.
“Hey, let’s take a step back from all this for now. We’ll go see your parents tomorrow. We can go get checked into a room and get settled for the night.”
“That sounds good,” she said quietly. Mention of her parents reminded her of something.
“We might want to go to my house first. I have a couple boxes of my parent’s belongings. I haven’t really looked through it all, but there is a bunch of paperwork and a couple of journals in there. It’s a place to start for the night.”
The three headed to the parking lot where they agreed to meet at Adara’s house.
“You doing OK, Angel?” Michael asked as they navigated evening traffic.
“As good as I can be, I guess. I’m just overwhelmed, and I don’t understand what is going on.”
“We’ll figure it out. I promise, Angel.”
“I don’t think that’s a promise you can make.” She didn’t
mean to sound so bitchy. “Sorry. I’m just tired.”
Michael squeezed her hand as he pulled into her driveway. “It’s fine. Let’s get this done so we can get you into a bed.”
In the driveway, Peter cautioned them. “Be careful what you say. I kept the bugs in place because I want to see if I can trace the signal they are transmitting. Just go in, get what you need, and let’s get out. If you don’t object, we can just give the whole box to Carrie. If there is anything incriminating, I’ll destroy it. I won’t let Michael do that because he has his badge to think about. He’s not even here right now,” he said with a wink in Michael’s direction.
As soon as they were in her house, she went right for the hall closet where she kept the boxes. She pulled them down and handed one to each of the men.
“Go get checked into a hotel,” Peter said as he loaded the boxes into his trunk. “Michael, if anyone questions why you’re in a hotel, just tell them you don’t want to take a witness to your personal residence. If you want, I can check the two of you into a suite in my name, just to cover your tracks. I don’t know how closely these guys are following you.”
Michael nodded. “That’s not a bad idea, Peter.”
It wasn’t long before Adara found herself checking into another hotel with Michael. At least this time it was a nice one. The suite was large, with two bedrooms, a living room style sitting area, and a spacious bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. Who was paying for this? Hopefully they wouldn’t have to stay here long.
“Thank you for all your help,” she said to both men as she looked around the room. “I’m not sure what I would have done without both of you.”
“I won’t say I’m happy to help because there isn’t anything happy about this situation, but you can always count on me, Angel.”
