Do You Trust Me? (17 page)

Gage turned away and
headed to where they’d parked.

“Rina, forget the
damned book,” McCall ordered, trying to push her toward their vehicle.

“But-”

“Now, Rina. You can
send him a copy.”

“Please?” the guard
pleaded. “It will just take a second. I’d consider it a personal favor.”

He held the book out
to her, but as she reached for it, he dropped it. In the next moment, the book
in his hand had been replaced by a gun and he’d grabbed Rina’s wrist, tugging
her toward him.

“McCall,” Rina
screamed, trying to free herself.

McCall drew his own
gun, yelling, “Let her go. Now.”

When the guard
ignored him, he fired and hit the guard’s gun hand. The man screamed in pain,
and as he loosened his grip on Rina, McCall reached out and yanked her to him.

Gage whirled at the
sound of the shot, pulling out his own gun. A dark van pulled up in front of
them, skidding to a stop, and a man jumped out, knocking Gage to the ground.
The next moment, Gage was back on his feet, grappling with the man who’d hit
him, as two more men materialized from the van. One landed in a crouched
position and fired a shot, the bullet whizzing past Rina’s head and barely missing
McCall’s scalp.

Addison and Pedrosa rounded
the corner in a dead run, guns drawn. As McCall dragged Rina toward their car,
shielding her with his body, Addison snapped off a shot that caught the shooter
from the van in the arm. The guard was holding his wounded hand, his friend was
trying to staunch the bleeding in his arm. Pedrosa tackled the third man just
as a patrol car pulled up, blocking the van.

A crowd poured out of
the book store, drawn by the sound of the gunshots, and voices chattered and
shouted.

“Damn it, I’d like to
shoot every one of them,” McCall cursed under his breath.

“Go,” Gage yelled at
McCall. “Get her out of here. We’ve got a lock on things here.”

McCall half shoved
Rina into the SUV, jumped in, and cranked the engine. As he roared out of the
parking lot, he glanced in the rear view mirror at the chaos behind him. His
men indeed had things under control, with the help of the police.

He spared a glance
for the woman next to him, unhappy at what he saw. She had lost all color in
her face, and even clenching her jaw could not stop the chattering of her
teeth. Her hands were fisted in her lap and her body was rigid. He knew she was
holding herself together by a very slender thread.

Gripping the steering
wheel, he swore steadily as he maneuvered the vehicle through a maze of
traffic. He was doing a lousy job protecting this woman who might be the only
link to John’s information. And he was having a helluva time battling his
raging desire for her, which seemed to pop up at all the inappropriate times.
Like now, when he wanted to yank her into his arms and kiss away the
devastation on her face instead of concentrating on driving.

If he didn’t watch
himself, he’d end up costing himself his job and Rina her life. If history
repeated itself, he’d be totally destroyed.

****

McCall pushed the
speed limit until they reached Rina’s house, punched the garage door opener as
they pulled into the driveway, then closed the door as soon as they were
inside. He turned off the engine and blew out his breath. “Damn.”

“No kidding.” Rina
was trembling all over, her hands and body still shaking uncontrollably as she
fumbled with the seat belt.

“You’re white as a
sheet.” McCall flipped the catch on his own seat belt and put his arm around
her. He pulled her as close as he could, even as he realized what a bad move
that was. “Let’s get you into the house. Right now.”

Inside, he sat her in
a chair and went to get the bottle of brandy. In a minute, he was back, holding
out a nearly full glass to her. “Drink it. Just like the other day. You don’t
want to go into shock, and right now, that’s a real possibility.”

After she managed to
get more than half of it down, McCall took the glass from her shaking fingers. “I’m
going to turn on a hot shower for you. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded with
obvious effort.

When he returned, he
tried to get her to stand up from the chair, but she was still trembling so
badly she couldn’t move. Uttering a sharp curse, he swept her up in his arms
and carried her to her bedroom where he stripped off both her clothes and his.

“Come on. The water’s
good and hot.” He took her into the shower with him and stood her under the
spray. Without his support, she would have collapsed on the tiles. He held her
there until they were both waterlogged, then took her out and dried her gently.

“I found some sweats
in your drawer.” His voice and his touch were both gentle. “I’m going to help
you put them on. They’ll keep you warm.”

She was like a robot,
letting him manipulate her body which ever way he needed to. Finally, he
carried her to the bed, pulled back the covers, and laid her down on the
mattress. Her skin felt slightly warmer to the touch but not much, and she was
still shaking.

“Don’t leave me,” she
begged when he started to move away.

“I won’t. I’m just
going to throw on some clothes. I’ll be right back.”

McCall again cursed
steadily as he pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and ran a comb through his wet
hair. He’d taken her into the shower to warm her up, to take care of her, and
now he was dealing with a raging hard-on. This was stupid. Stupid, stupid,
stupid. And it had to stop now. He’d nearly lost her again today. His job, this
thing with Rina—whatever it was—and too many secrets made the whole situation
impossible.

He was being punished
for the past. He just knew it, but what the hell was he supposed to do?

****

To Rina, it seemed
like a year before McCall was beside her again, holding the rest of the brandy.

“Drink some more of
this,” he ordered, holding the glass for her.

“Are you trying to
get me drunk?” she asked with a feeble attempt at a smile.

“Get down as much as
you can. It will help you fall asleep, too.”

“I don’t think I’ll
ever sleep again.” But she dutifully sat up and sipped the fiery liquid.

“Gage and Les and the
others are back. I need to go talk to them, but I won’t be long.” He started to
walk away.

She clutched at his
hands, refusing to release him. “No. Don’t go away.”

“Rina, I have to find
out what’s going on. I’ll just be a minute.”

She shook her head. “Have
them come in here.”

His jaw clenched. “I
don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I don’t care what
they think. And I need to hear what they have to say, too.” She shut her eyes
tight to blink back tears, then opened them again. “Those men shot at
me
today, McCall. They tried to kidnap
me
. Please don’t keep secrets from
me.”

“All right.” He pried
her hand from his arm, lifted it to his mouth, and kissed it. “Let me get them up
here.”

In seconds, the room
seemed filled with large, lethal men. McCall sat on the bed next to Rina. She reached
for his hand again, gripping it as if it were a lifeline, and watched each of
the men for some reaction, but everyone’s face was carefully blank. Except for
Gage, whose eyes narrowed at the physical contact. She stared back at him
defiantly, and he dropped his gaze.

“Let’s have it,” McCall
said.

“But...” Gage shot a
look at Rina.

“It’s all right. She
doesn’t want secrets. It’s her life so I guess she’s entitled to hear what you
have to say.”

“Okay.” Gage shrugged.
“It’s your call.”

He leaned in the open
doorway while Les, Addison, and Pedrosa tried to make themselves inconspicuous
against the wall.

“Status report,”
McCall said.

“We got everything
taken care of,” Gage reported. “But we had to call Sully to clean it up.”

“To handle the
locals, you mean?”

“Yes. Otherwise we’d
have been in a huge mess. Two incidents so close together and all. Anyway, he called
whoever he had to. Then, like one big happy family, we all trooped to the local
lockup and stashed the bad guys.”

“So where are they?
Still with the locals?”

Gage shook his head. “Sully
sent a team in to pick them up and carry them off. We waited until they got
there.”

“And the cops were
okay with that?”

Gage shrugged. “You
know Sully. He always makes it happen.”

McCall looked at all four
men. “What did we find out about them? Who are they? And who sent them?”

Rina tensed as she
waited for the answer.

“Nada. Zip. Not a
word.”

“They wouldn’t even
give name, rank, and serial number,” Les put in. “We got them medical attention
for the gunshot wounds. Other than saying they weren’t allergic to anything,
they didn’t even groan. You’d think their tongues had been cut out.”

“Maybe they were
afraid someone would do just that if they talked.” McCall exchanged a look with
Gage. “We have to find out who sent them. We can’t keep playing Russian
roulette with Rina’s life. I’ll call Sully later to see what he’s found out so
far.”

Gage nodded. “All
right. He’ll be stashing them at the usual place, right?”

“Yes. Meantime, we’re
all eating in tonight. I want full coverage on every area of the house.”

“Want me to call out
for pizza again?”

“No. I don’t trust
strange delivery guys.” McCall thought for a minute, then pulled out his wallet
and extracted some bills. “Let’s do this. We could all use a decent meal. One
of you run to the market for steaks and stuff. That always seems to be the
easiest. Gage, you’re cooking tonight.”

“One thing we can all
produce is a good steak, right?” Gage grinned. “No problem. I’ll go to the
market myself, so I can pick out what I want. Miss Devargas, you try to get
some rest.”

“Thank you, Gage. And
let’s make it Rina, okay? I think we’re way past formality.”

“Absolutely.” He gave
her a warm smile, then exited the room.

When they were alone
again, McCall turned back to Rina. She felt only marginally better than she had
before, but at least she’d stopped shaking. She wasn’t sure the terror would
ever go away, and she had no intention of being more than an inch away from
McCall.

“They wanted to kill
me, didn’t they.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Not right away. They
wanted to take you with them. Rina, they’re convinced you have something they
want. That’s why they tore the house apart, and that’s why they keep trying to
get their hands on you.” He searched her face, looking for some kind of clue. “What
is it they’re after? Can’t you tell me?”

She fingered the
locket absently.

Tell him, tell him.
Don’t be stupid.

No. She was still
trapped by John’s words.

You’ll know. He’ll
give you a sign.

She sure as hell didn’t
think great sex was the signal her brother meant for her to look for.

Trust no one. I’ve
been betrayed.

John hadn’t said
trust no one but McCall.

Oh, John, how could
you do this to me? We’re in the middle of a crisis, and I’m acting like a
frightened school girl.

“You look like you’re
doing a lot of tough thinking, Rina.” McCall’s voice was flat, hard. This was
the McCall on the job, not the man in her bed. “I’m asking you once again, is
there something I should know? Something you’re hiding? Are you ready to tell
me why you went to John’s that night? And I mean the real reason.”

If you only knew what
I was thinking, McCall.

She shook her head. “I
just can’t get this afternoon out of my head. That’s all.”

“All right. Have it
your way. For now. “ He stood up and pulled the covers up to her chin. “I want
you to try and sleep a little. Then we’ll have dinner. You need to get some
food in your system, even if you’re not hungry.”

He was angry, but she
couldn’t do anything about it. Not yet. Not even with her life on the line. She
had to be absolutely sure.

“You’re right.
Suddenly I feel exhausted.” She lay back and closed her eyes, wishing all of
this was over and she could get back to her normal life.

Normal
? Did she even know
what that was any more?

Chapter Ten

Rina slept fitfully
for an hour, restless sleep that did her little good. McCall managed to
persuade her to eat, and she choked the food down just to keep from arguing
with him.

When they were
finished and the others had left the room, he poured coffee for both of them
and sat down opposite her. “We have to talk about something that I know you’ll
give me a hard time about. Today was too close for comfort, so we have to set
some firm rules for you to follow.”

“I’m not canceling
the appearance at the Alamo.” She set her jaw in a defiant line. “We worked too
hard to get it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” She glared at him
over the rim of her mug. “Anyway, Shar would kill me.”

“Actually, I think
she’d kill us first. I’ve seen pit bulls that were friendlier.”

Rina managed a weak
grin. “That’s Shar. Blunt and to the point.” She looked at McCall. “She’ll
never stand still for this, and neither will I.”

“Sully was right, you
know.” He looked at her over the rim of his cup. “When you’re dealing with
people as high up as the ones we’re after, you can be sure killing anyone in
their way means nothing to them.

“I think two bizarre
episodes constitute enough reason to at least cancel the two upcoming appearances
in Austin.” He held up a hand as she started to protest. “We’ll have a harder
time preparing for those, and it really isn’t worth the risk. Will you at least agree to that? Then we can concentrate on preparing for the Alamo event.”

Rina sighed. He was
right. She could afford a little give and take here. “It’s nice of you to ask
me, since I know you could just demand it and get Sully to back you up. Okay. I’ll
tell Shar. Just hold your ears for the explosion.”

Gage wandered back
into the kitchen at the tag end of the conversation. “Your friend Laurel came
by while you were sleeping. She didn’t threaten me with bodily harm, but I’m
sure she wasn’t far from it.”

Rina stared at him. “What
did you tell her? Laurel’s not so easy to get rid of.”

Gage chuckled. “All
you need to know is I handled it.”

Rina dropped her head
into her hands. “Oh, lordy. That will just make her more persistent.”

“Laurel can be a
bigger problem than Shar,” McCall told her. “Shar has your best interests at
heart, no matter how aggressive she gets. Laurel’s like a hungry wolf, sniffing
around for raw meat. Trust me. She didn’t come over here because of any real
desire to check on your well-being.”

Rina sipped the last
of her coffee and went to the sink to rinse her cup. “Laurel is...Laurel. I can handle her. But I’ll have to call her, or she’ll just pop up again.”

“We’ll see.” His cell
phone buzzed, and he looked at the caller ID. “I need to take this. I’ll be
back in a minute.” Despite the encroaching darkness, he let himself out to the
patio and walked away from the house to take his call.

“Dinner was very
good,” Rina told Gage. “A man who can cook should go far.”

“I think my skills
are somewhat limited in that direction, but steak I can handle.” He smiled at
her, trying to ease the strain that gripped her. “McCall will get things under
control, Rina. That’s what he does.”

“He’ll have a fight
on his hands if he keeps pushing cancellation of March second. If he’s so damn
good, he can just figure out how to keep me from getting snatched. Besides,
with the crowd that will be there, grabbing me might be a little difficult.”

Gage shook his head. “There’s
where you’re wrong. Sometimes a crowd is the safest place to pull something
off. All those diversions.” He leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets,
studying her face. “You know, when John called you that night, he may have said
something important without you realizing it. Holding back right now isn’t the
smartest thing you can do.”

His voice was even
and smooth, warmer and less demanding than McCall’s, but Rina gritted her
teeth. Today had made her realize more than ever that opening up to the wrong
person could jeopardize whatever had probably cost John his life. She fisted
her hands in her lap to keep from touching the locket.

“Sully said John
thought there was a traitor in the group,” she told him. “Don’t you think you should
find out who it is before trying to get your hands on John’s evidence?”

Gage made a face. “That
may be harder to do than anyone thinks. Whoever it is, he’s very good or he
would have been discovered by now.” He studied her face. “Just think about what
I said, okay? Despite how things look on the surface, I can tell there’s
tension between you and McCall. If you don’t want to talk to him, you can
always dump on me. Anything I can help you with, just let me know.”

“I’ll think about it,”
she told him.

Gage had walked back
to the front of the house when McCall let himself back in. His expression gave
away nothing.

“Are you going to
tell me what Sully had to say, or should I guess?” She was irritated at his
natural instinct to hold things back from her.

“I don’t have any
good news,” he said finally. “And I don’t want you to worry any more than you
already do.”

“Oh, and I won’t
worry if you keep secrets from me?” She stamped her foot. “I want to know about
those people from today. And the ones from yesterday as well. Right now. You
owe me that much, McCall.”

“You know Sully wants
to keep as tight a lid on things as he can. And you—”

“Will make a huge stink if you try to shut me out again.” She waved her hands in the air. “So
answer my question. What have you found out?”

“Nothing.” He dropped
into the chair next to her. “Flat out nothing.”

“Nothing? That’s not
possible.” She leaned toward him slightly. “Don’t lie to me, McCall. Quit
messing with my head. It’s already messed up.”

“When I say nothing,
that’s exactly what I mean.” He dry-washed his face, and a muscle jumped in his
cheek. Something flashed in his eyes, something Rina could have sworn was rage.
But at what? “And it gets worse,” he went on. “There’s a reason we got nothing.”

“A reason?” She
frowned.

“Something we didn’t
plan for or expect. The men we captured today? They’re dead.”

“Dead?” Rina felt the
blood drain from her face, and her hands—finally steady after her nap and
dinner—began to tremble again. She tried to swallow, but nothing got past the sudden
lump in her throat. “How could they be dead? Weren’t they in custody? Didn’t
they have guards?”

“Yes.” McCall nodded.
“Sully tucked them away in a special place he uses for interrogation. Someone
got to them. Double taps on each of them. A silencer, so we wouldn’t hear
anything.” He looked hard at her. “Rina, one of our agents is dead, too.”

“What? One of your
agents?” She was sure she sounded like a babbling idiot, but she couldn’t think
over the panic racing through her. If these people could get at someone in a
secure facility, what chance did she have? No, she wouldn’t think of that.
Couldn’t think of that.

McCall looked
venomous. “No one, and I mean absolutely no one, can get access to the place
where they were. Only team members or someone they give the information to.
That means John was right. There’s a traitor on the team.”

“Oh, my God, McCall.”
Her heart was banging against her ribs.

Is it him? Is he just
putting on a very good act?

“Sully is well and
truly pissed. He personally screens everyone he puts on the team. We’ve had no
casualties in three years. Now, all of a sudden, John disappears and Gary
Holland is dead.”

“Oh, my God,” Rina repeated.
She dropped back down into her chair, her legs suddenly unable to support her.
Hot tears pricked her eyelids. Furiously, she blinked them away.

“It also confirms
something for us,” he said.

“What?”

“Andrew Brechtel has
a very long reach into every part of the government. It underscores how
dangerous he is and
that
scares me even more.”

“So what happens now?”

Tell him. Tell him
right now.

But the tiny flicker
of doubt wouldn’t go away. She had only his word that all the calls he made
were to Sully and not someone else. He was like a ghost slipping in and out of
the house, abruptly terminating his calls whenever she came into his space. If
only this almost obsessive physical attraction wasn’t complicating things
further.

It shamed her that
she could give him her body without any restrictions but not her trust.

Oh, God, John. Why
aren’t you here to tell me what to do?

“I have to call Sully
back later,” he told her. “We’ll discuss options from here on out.”

Rina pushed herself
up from her chair, her body finally under control by sheer effort of will. “I’m
going to bed. All of a sudden I’m extremely tired.”

“Don’t forget. You
need to call Shar about Austin. And Laurel before she shows up here again. What
will you tell her?”

“I don’t know. It
depends on what story she’s gotten from today. But I will call Shar and cancel
the rest of the signings.”

“Good.”

Despite the situation
and the current tragedy, when he looked at her, banked fires still gleamed in
his eyes. A thrill skittered along her spine, and she turned hot and cold by
turns. She couldn’t get their last episode in the bedroom out of her mind, or
the way his dominance aroused her to the boiling point.

“She won’t be happy,
but I’ll do it.”

“Okay, then. I’ll see
you in a little while.”

She just nodded and
headed for the stairs, wishing a clue would fall on her head and she could do
what she had to do.

The conversation with
Laurel drained whatever strength she had left. Fielding questions and not
giving answers was increasingly nerve wracking.

“No one is saying
anything,” Laurel complained, her voice strident. “I called Shar, and she said
she doesn’t know a thing. Who the hell was shooting, Rina? What was it about? How
does it involve you? My God, I was so scared for you.”

Maybe McCall’s
opinion of her friend was affecting her, but what she heard in Laurel’s voice didn’t seem like concern. “I’m sorry, Laurel. Truly I am. But it really didn’t
have much to do with me. I was just...in the wrong place. That’s all.”

“Oh, right.” Laurel snorted. “Pull the other one.”

“I’m telling you, it
has nothing to do with me.” Rina leaned back against her pillows, feeling the
first tendrils of a headache.

“I find that hard to
believe, honey. This is Laurel you’re talking to. You’re the only one of my
friends involved in police-related incidents in two days. Don’t tell me that’s
a coincidence. Come on, Rina. Give.”

“I don’t know what
you want me to tell you, Laurel.”

“How about if I come
over and bring a bottle of wine.” Laurel lowered her voice. “You can tell me
all the details about that hot lover of yours.”

Rina sighed. “I don’t
think that’s such a good idea. McCall and I really need some privacy right now.”

“Oh, right.” Laurel couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “What about all those lethal-looking
men hanging around your house? Oh, wait. You didn’t think I’d find out about
them? They did their best to hide when I came over. Except, of course, for the
hottie who answered the door. Don’t try passing them all off as friends of your
lover.”

“Give it a rest,
Laurel. I’ll call you after McCall leaves, okay?”

“How about lunch?” Laurel persisted. “The three of us. My treat.”

“No lunch. No drinks.
I really need to get my act together for March second.”

“Oh, yeah. The big
event.” Laurel’s voice drop to a conspiratorial whisper. “Are you going to get
some face time with the president?”

Rina snorted. “More
like waving to him from across the Alamo grounds. Security’s going to be very,
very tight.”

“Oh,” Laurel teased. “I know you. I’ll bet you find a way.”

Rina had had enough
of the verbal sparring. “Listen, Laurel. I appreciate your call and all the
invitations. I think we’re just going to hole up in the house for a while
though. But thanks anyway.”

She was exhausted by
the time she was finally able to hang up. Taking a deep breath she speed-dialed
Shar.

“As long as you’re
okay, that’s all I care about,” was the first thing the agent said.

Rina allowed herself
a small sigh of relief. “That’s good, because you have to cancel the rest of
the signings.” She waited for the explosion.

A long silence hummed
across the connection. Then Shar cleared her throat. “I won’t ask you again
what this is all about. Maybe when it’s all over you can work it into a plot.
But I’ll take care of the cancellations. No problem. We’ll reschedule when this—whatever
this is—is all over. You just tell that McCall if anything happens to you, I’ll
kill him myself.”