Silver Shield Security Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “So come on, tell me, are we?” His heart began to pound at the possibility. To have a child with Hope…it was more than he’d dreamed of and suddenly it was what he wanted more than anything else.

  “Well, I’m not sure yet. I missed my period and I’m regular as hell. So yeah, it is a possibility,” she said with a shrug even as she seemed to blush harder.

  “We’ll get a home test delivered tomorrow.”

  “You…you don’t mind?” She sounded unsure, which broke his heart just a little.

  “Hell, Hope. I told you I loved you and I meant every word of it. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy and a baby…” he felt himself get emotional. He never thought, never even dared to dream of becoming a father. He’d never believed that he would love a woman enough to want to have a baby with her. But Hope was his life and he trusted her completely. He knew she had his back. “I don’t mind,” he said when he could get his voice to work.

  Her eyes turned misty, then she leaned forward and kissed him soundly. “I love you, Russ,” she whispered against his lips. “Now, tell me what’s got you so worried.”

  He looked at her in surprise.

  “Don’t look at me like that. You didn’t even notice when I walked into the room.”

  He wanted to tell her that he’d noticed, he had just been too consumed by his investigation to turn, but he wisely held his tongue.

  “There’s something going down in D.C. and I can’t place my finger on it. Something illegal from the buzz I’m getting.”

  “Hmmm,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Emily and Ace are there, as well as the Shadow Force people. I don’t think that’s a coincidence, do you?”

  “I’m not sure I believe in coincidences anymore,” she said with a laugh.

  “Yeah. But I need to find out what it is ASAP because whatever it is, it’s happening soon.”

  Hope was silent for a while, then she brought out her phone and began to slide her fingers across the screen rapidly. She was speed texting.

  “What are you doing?” he asked her.

  “I’m mining my contacts from the Anonymous days. Someone is bound to know something,” she said without lifting her eyes from the screen.

  He left her to it and went back to his screen. He was feeling a sense of urgency. After several minutes, he heard Hope swear softly.

  “What’s up?” he asked, swinging his gaze to her.

  “Just a minute,” she said, rapidly sliding her thumb across the screen. Finally, she looked up, “There’s going to be an auction.”

  Rusty frowned. An auction? What did that have to do with what was happening in D.C.?

  “Okay?”

  “The auction is happening in D.C. and it is a weapon of mass destruction driven by Artificial Intelligence and nanotechnology, I think. The person wasn’t quite sure,” she said, glancing back at the screen.

  “Wait. Did you say a weapon?” He couldn’t be absolutely sure that it was Wayne’s weapon Hope was talking about, but his gut told him that there was a link.

  “Yeah, and it’s breakthrough tech from what I can tell. It seems it is a sort of autonomous android. Anyway, there’s going to be an illegal auction, it’s very much on the down low, and it’s taking place in D.C.”

  “When?”

  “Monday.”

  That was in two days’ time. He had to call Emily. He glanced at the time. It was almost eleven p.m. already. D.C. was an hour ahead, which meant it would be midnight there. It was late, but this couldn’t wait. He picked up his phone and dialed.

  **

  12:00 a.m., Memorial Plaza Hotel, Washington D.C.

  Emily lay on the queen-sized bed and gazed at the ceiling. She needed to fall asleep, but no matter how hard she tried, it just wasn’t happening. Since she got in from their strategy meeting a couple of hours ago, she had done everything she could to relax. She’d taken a warm bath. She’d paced up and down the hotel room. Nothing seemed to help. She had even tried watching some boring TV, but she was not a TV person.

  She got up again and began to pace. She knew what the problem was. It was the man in the room right next to hers. Just knowing that he was so close, that only a wall separated them, had robbed her of sleep. If she were not so tired, she would find it ridiculous. But she was tired, and her mind seemed stuck in replay.

  How could the memory of one single kiss keep her awake this way? She wanted to forget about it. Hell, she should have forgotten about it because it didn’t even mean anything. She told herself that he had only kissed her to get her to shut up. Yet no matter what she told herself, it didn’t stop her mind from reliving the feel and taste of his mouth each time she closed her eyes.

  Just then her phone rang. She reached for it in relief. Glancing at the screen, she saw that it was Rusty and answered the call. A few minutes later, she placed the phone on top of the desk with a thoughtful look on her face.

  This was serious.

  It was late, but she would need to inform Wayne. She got up and walked to the door, then paused. She looked down at what she was wearing. It was a pair of shorts and an old shirt. One of his old shirts. At least she was decent. With another sigh, she walked out of her room and crossed the short distance to his room.

  Chapter Nine

  Wayne sat at the side of the bed with his head buried in his hands. How had his life come to this? He had made a mess of everything. He thought back to the first time they had given him that ultimatum. General Carter had looked him in the eye and told him that he owed his country a duty. A duty that would take everything from him. He had assured him it would not turn out that way. It would all turn out okay. But if he failed to perform his duty, he would lose everything. Oh, he hadn’t said it in so many words, but Wayne had gotten the message loud and clear. Since an attempt had already been made on his life, and he did not want to put his family in the line of fire, he had given in. For the sake of his family. They had promised to keep his daughter safe and once he had gotten a divorce from Emily, she had no longer been a person of interest, which had ensured her safety.

  He had done what had seemed like the right thing at the time.

  He was not so sure about that now. He was beginning to think that he should have stood his ground. He should never have let Emily go and he should have come clean with her from the start. Maybe together, they would have been able to protect their daughter. He had compromised and he was now paying the price.

  He could hear her pacing in the next room. He wanted to go to her and soothe her anxiety. Hell, he wanted to share her anxiety because he was also worried about Kendra. Maybe they could both soothe each other. But he remained where he was.

  He glanced at his phone. It was ringing now. He let it ring until the light stopped blinking. He had placed it on silent earlier in the day. After his lab was attacked he had tried to reach them. Well, more specifically, he had tried to reach the general, but no one had answered his call on the other end. It was his turn to ignore their calls because the time for talking was way past. They had broken their promise to keep his family safe. He was no longer bound by duty to a country that could not protect him or his family. He was going to do what was right. For him and for his family.

  He lifted his head suddenly. The sound from the next room had stopped. Had she finally gone to sleep? He heard a door open and shut. Getting to his feet, he walked to his door and paused. He knew Emily could take care of herself if there was danger, still, he could not help wanting to rush to her and keep an eye on her. You know, just in case she needed his help? It was possible that she was just going for a midnight stroll and wanted to be alone. He decided that he could keep an eye on her from a distance. She did not need to know he was following her. He pulled the door open and stopped in surprise.

  “Hi.”

  He looked down at the woman standing by his door, her hand up as though she was about to knock.

  “Hey,” he said.

  She lowered her hand slowly. “Where
you going somewhere?”

  Wayne shook his head. Seeing her standing there had scrambled his brain. He had not expected her at his door.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said, pushing her hair back behind her ears.

  He stepped back and waited till she was inside before shutting the door.

  “Everything okay, Em?”

  “I got a call from Rusty,” she said, looking worried. “There’s going to be an auction here, in two days.”

  “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

  “It’s an underground auction made up of high-caliber bidders from different parts of the world.” She folded her arms around her chest. “Wanna know what they’re bidding on?”

  Wayne had a very bad feeling, but still he asked, “What?”

  “A lethal weapon that is autonomous.”

  “Do we have any intel on who is behind the auction?”

  Emily shook her head. “Not yet.”

  Wayne placed his hands on his waist. It was his turn to pace up and down as he did some quick thinking. It was possible that any number of people might know that he was in town with the weapon, there was no way he could know who knew for sure.

  “There are only two groups that know definitely that we’re here.”

  “The guys who have Kendra,” Emily said.

  “And the government.”

  “Really? You think they are tracking our movement?” she asked with a frown.

  Wayne didn’t think, he knew. “I know the government will not be behind this auction.” Unless there was someone in the Pentagon who had sold out for money. He didn’t think so, but he was not going to rule anything out.

  “This means the bastards are planning a double cross!”

  At her angry outburst, he turned to look at her. Then he really looked at her. She was wearing an old tee that looked familiar. Maybe because it was one of his favorite tee shirts. He’d wondered what had happened to it. It was oddly touching to think that she’d kept it all the while and even slept in it. He didn’t want to think it meant anything, but it was difficult to not hope.

  He cleared his throat. “Ah, it does seem likely,” he said, replying her statement.

  “I swear, if those bastards touch one hair on my baby, I will haunt every one of them down and kill them.”

  Her fists were clenched and he saw the resolve on her face. He knew she meant every word too. Seeing her like that, so fierce and determined, like a lioness protecting her cub, stirred emotions in him. Actually, it stirred more than emotions, and Wayne turned away from her slightly to hide his growing erection. There was just something so sexy and primal about Emily when she got that way. It had always affected him in the past and it seemed nothing had changed. Already, the room seemed to have shrunk, pulling all his focus to the bed right in front of him.

  His heart began to race and he knew they had to get out before he did something he would regret.

  “I need some air,” he said suddenly. “Let’s take a walk?”

  She pursed her lips and he knew she was thinking about it. Then she shrugged.

  “Sure, I can’t sleep anyway.”

  “You’re worried about Kendra,” he said as he grabbed his jacket.

  It was early spring and the temperature dropped in the night. But that was not why he needed his jacket. He picked up his firearms and tucked them into the shoulder holster he’d shrugged into. Then he wore his jacket.

  “Hmm…Yeah,” she answered absently as she followed him to the door.

  They walked to her room. She picked up a few pieces of clothing then excused herself and slipped into the bathroom.

  Wayne looked around the empty room. Just like him, she’d only packed a duffel bag and it was sitting on the bed. He thought of peering into it then changed his mind. As much as she fascinated him and he wanted to get to know her once more, snooping around her stuff would only be counterproductive.

  She returned shortly after. She had changed into a pair of slacks and had put on a light jacket as well. He knew she was also carrying.

  They left the hotel together and strolled down the street in silence. There were a few people about, but the streets were mostly deserted. They were each lost in their thoughts, and for Wayne, it was a comfortable silence. That was something that had changed about her. She used to love talking, at least to him. He hadn’t minded much, but there’d been times when he’d craved silence. The new Emily didn’t seem to speak much. To anyone.

  “If they’re planning on double crossing us, we need a strategy,” she said at last.

  “We can’t afford to lose track of Kendra,” Wayne agreed.

  “No. We know that they’re going to be at Lincoln Memorial tomorrow evening.”

  “Unless they get their hands on the prototype before then.”

  Emily shot him a look. “Try and think positive here.”

  “I’m trying to, but let’s be realistic. What if it’s another group that arranged for the auction? That means they have a plan to get their hands on the prototype without the exchange because they don’t have our daughter.”

  She huffed in annoyance. Coming to a halt, she turned to face him. “Okay, suppose you’re right, what then? How do we get our daughter back? We need a plan, dammit!”

  Wayne ran a hand through his hair. “I have no plan, okay?” he snapped in frustration. “I have no plan. My family is in danger because of me and I just don’t know how the hell I’m going to get us all out of this,” he said in anguish.

  They watched each other in silence. Then she closed the gap between them and her arms went around him.

  He paused for a nanosecond then sighed as he pulled her close. He shut his eyes and inhaled her scent. Having her like this in his arms felt so good. Almost beyond words. They stood that way for several minutes then she stepped back. Reluctantly, he let her go.

  “Where is the prototype now?” she asked suddenly.

  “In my hotel room, why?”

  “We need to get it now. I’m feeling very uneasy and can’t say why.”

  Without a word, Wayne grabbed her hand and they broke into a jog. They were a few feet from the hotel when the blast went off. They came to an abrupt halt. They exchanged looks then their gazes went to the hotel.

  “What was that?” Emily asked.

  “It came from inside the hotel. I think it’s one of the rooms.”

  They both froze.

  “The prototype!” they said at the same time and hurried inside.

  There was pandemonium inside the hotel as harried staff struggled to evacuate the guests. Wayne located the service stairs and they ran up to their floor. They met Jasmine and Asher in the corridors.

  “What happened?” Wayne asked even though he had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer.

  “Bomb blast. Your room,” Asher replied, confirming Wayne’s suspicion.

  “We’ve evacuated everyone,” Jasmine said.

  “Where’s Simeon?”

  “Probably out in the grounds trying to find out who set this up,” Asher replied.

  Wayne knew that planting a bomb in his hotel room was not a random occurrence. It had something to do with the prototype. He froze.

  The prototype!

  He felt a nudge and turned to find Emily looking at him. He could read the question in her eyes, but even before he opened his mouth to tell her what the problem was, he saw the horror in her expression. Almost as one, they sprinted down towards his room. He got there and came to an abrupt halt. Emily bumped into him, but he did not feel it.

  The hotel room he’d left moments ago was gone and in its place was little more than rubble. He stepped in and saw that there was a gaping hole in the wall. He could see right through to the room Emily was occupying.

  Finally, his gaze swung to where the safe should have been. Strangely, the safe was still sitting there, but the door had been blown off and the interior sat empty. Wayne walked to it, stooping down, he examined the marks around the safe then fingered the edg
es. It was clear that whoever had done this was an expert.

  He straightened up with a sigh. This was bad, but it was not impossible. He was not going to let anything keep him from getting his daughter.

  “The prototype is gone, isn’t it?”

  Wayne turned to see Asher and Jasmine standing just inside the door. His gaze swung to Emily and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. He wanted to tell her that it was not over yet, but something held him back and he kept silent.

  In the silence, they suddenly heard the piercing sound of the police siren.

  “You need to get out of here, Wayne,” Emily said abruptly.

  The others nodded their agreement.

  “There’s still a missing person alert on you, right?” Jasmine asked.

  Wayne nodded. With his refusal to answer the general’s phone calls, he was pretty sure they would have tightened security and intensified their search for him, not like they didn’t know he was in D.C., because they probably did. He was not really trying to hide anyway, he just didn’t want to be placed in confinement, unable to do anything about rescuing his daughter. He knew that they needed him on that stage when the convention began, presenting his research and showing a demonstration of what the weapon could do. But he could not count on them to keep Kendra and Emily safe. So he needed his freedom.

  “We all need to get out of here,” Asher said. “Let’s meet at the park in ten. I’ll ask Simeon to bring the car around.”

  With a nod, Asher and Jasmine walked away. Wayne shifted his glance to Emily. She was staring at him; her emotions close to the surface. She opened her mouth as though to say something, then with a shake of her head, she turned and also walked away.

  He stood looking after her. The siren was getting closer. His glance swept around at the room. His duffel bag was also gone. Luckily, he had his firearms on his person. And everything else that mattered. With a last look, he turned and walked briskly out of his room. He paused to peek into Emily’s room, but she was gone. He had to get out before the hotel security made their way up there. He had just gone out through the fire escape when he heard footsteps.