Relentless (21 page)

Looking death in the face might be partially responsible for her outlook, but Rhys understood it was who she was. She loved to learn.

If they'd had more privacy, he would have dragged her up against him and kissed the breath out of her just to feel her go soft and pliant in his arms. Damn, he loved how she responded to his touch and that her eyes went dreamy when he kissed her. When he'd slid inside her they'd gone all smoky, and her expression of absolute rapture when she'd come apart in his arms...

Withholding a groan, he wrestled his hormones into submission and focused on enjoying her presence. They had hours left until he'd be able to do anything to relieve the erection shoving painfully at his fly.

When the call came an hour later saying the pictures were done, he and Ben walked her back to the Escalade and Rhys drove the forty-five minutes to the reception at Seasons. Helping Nev out of the vehicle, his heart swelled at the tender smile she gave him. But he wasn't here to have a good time, he reminded himself. He was here to make sure she and everyone else stayed safe. Just because the day had gone without incident so far didn't mean it would stay that way.

They walked her to the entrance. The grounds sparkled with strands of white lights wound through the greenery, and the tall panes of the glass conservatory glowed in the darkness. None of the guests would ever guess snipers lay concealed in the foliage at strategic points, or that undercover police were on hand to prevent any problems. And none of them
would
know, because that's exactly the way Luke wanted it.

Inside the restaurant, they awaited the arrival of the bridal party and then dinner was served. At their table positioned near the exit, Rhys watched Luke pull out his phone and check the screen. After a moment, his dark brown eyes swung up and locked with his.

Oh, shit.
Nudging Ben discreetly under the table, he laid a hand on Neveah's creamy shoulder, loathe to leave her but needing to take care of whatever situation was brewing. “Will you excuse us for a few minutes?”

Her gaze delved into his, wide and alert. “Is everything okay?”

He forced a smile. “Everything's fine. We'll be back shortly.” He let his palm sweep over her upper back as he left.

Ben was right beside him, snapping his gum. “What's up?”

“Boss doesn't look happy.”

“Does he ever?”

Luke strode toward them with Dec on his heels. He walked out the French doors at the back of the room without looking back, trying not to draw attention from the other guests and knowing his team would follow.

They got as far as the row of boxwood hedges separating the lawn from the gardens when Luke wheeled around. “Security's detained a young south Asian guy in a Lexus at the first checkpoint. We're going in to have a chat with him and strip the vehicle.”

“Any weapons?” Rhys asked.

“Not yet, but he's got all the earmarks of a gangbanger.”

“Let's go introduce ourselves,” Ben said in the way of a man looking forward to the coming altercation.

They split into two teams, Rhys going with Luke, and Ben pairing with Dec. On foot they quietly made their way through the gardens the same way they'd rehearsed, and approached the checkpoint from behind. The suspect stood next to his low-slung silver sports car with his hands on his head, his arguments falling on the deaf ears of two undercover cops that had stopped him.

One of them nodded at Luke as he and Rhys appeared out of the bushes on one side. The kid jumped and cursed, eyes pinballing between them as if they'd just materialized out of thin air. Which was exactly what he was supposed to think. A second later, Dec and Ben appeared on the other side.

“Damn!” The suspect jolted again, one hand going to his chest.

“Hands on your head,” one of the cops growled, and the kid did as he was told, his eyes goggling because he suddenly faced four big men who'd appeared out of the shadows.

“What've we got here?” Luke drawled.

The second cop nodded at the rattled suspect and handed Luke a thin black wallet. “Says he's here to pick up a relative working at the reception.”

“My cousin,” the kid said, looking at them nervously. “He works at the restaurant.”

Luke glanced at the ID in the wallet, then handed it to Rhys and folded his arms across his chest. “Well then, you won't mind if we take a look in your car.” A very expensive luxury car owned by a kid that couldn't be past twenty-one. Kind of hard to imagine him being able to afford it by working a regular job.

He stiffened. “You need a warrant.”

“Not tonight.” Luke nodded to the cops. “Thanks boys, but we'll take it from here.” They both smirked and walked away toward the second checkpoint.

“Who are you guys,” the kid blurted as the cops’ footsteps faded away in the distance. “SWAT or something?”

“Or something,” Luke answered, and nodded at Rhys. “Take a look.”

Rhys went around to the passenger side and started in the glove compartment. The name on the registration matched the driver's license. “Car's his,” he told the others, digging through the contents. Oh yeah. “Bingo,” he said, lifting out a 9 mm Beretta.

The kid swallowed and backed up a step as though he was thinking about bolting, but Ben was right behind him to growl, “Don't even think about it.”

Luke stared at the guy dispassionately. “Now what on earth would a nice kid like you need a piece like that for?”

His Adam's apple bobbed hard. “I... I have a permit.”

“Do you.”

“It's for protection! I need to look after myself and my peeps.”

“Like your cousin.”

The kid dropped his gaze to the damp pavement, the pulse in his neck fluttering visibly.

“Turn around,” Ben snapped, grabbing the kid's shoulders and shoving him face first against the door. He kicked his feet apart and systematically frisked him. “Two knives,” he said, dropping them onto the pavement with a metallic clang. He patted over the kids coat pockets. “And a throwing star.” He leaned around to look into his eyes. “You a ninja or something?”

“I want a lawyer,” the kid blurted.

“I'll bet you do,” Luke said.

Rhys carefully went through the rest of the interior while Dec tore the trunk apart. Rhys pulled up the carpets to check for any hidden compartments and found one tucked inside the back passenger foot well. Holding a penlight between his teeth, he opened it up and felt his stomach clench. “Luke,” he said, letting his grim tone speak for him. In three seconds Luke was standing behind him.

“What've we got?”

Rhys reached in and lifted out a grenade. “Four of them.”

Luke's jaw tightened and his eyes darkened with suppressed rage. “Anything else?”

Like they weren't enough? “Two AK clips.”

“Dec,” Luke called out. “Appears our young friend has a fondness for Kalashnikovs.”

Dec looked up at them from around the trunk. “You shitting me?” Rhys understood his surprise. This wasn't the type of hardware you expected a gang-banger to carry around, so it looked like they might have something significant to face yet.

“Unfortunately, no.”

Standing up, Rhys aimed a lethal look at the kid as he thought of what could have happened at the reception if the cops hadn't spotted him. Christ, Nev and Luke's family were in there. He opened his mouth to start demanding answers, but Luke beat him to it, putting his face inches from the suspect's.

“Who the fuck are you working with?”

The kid wouldn't look at him. “Not saying anything else until I get a lawyer.”

“No?”

This could turn real ugly. Luke was on a hair trigger, and with the amount of firepower they'd just uncovered, the kid could have killed everyone at the reception. Twice.

Rhys looked at his brother, still pinning the suspect to the vehicle. “Ben, alert the others quietly, then go back in and make sure everything's secure while we get to the bottom of this.”

Ben nodded and drilled the kid with a venomous look before giving him a shove and jogging away.

“Found it,” Dec said, tossing pieces of the AK-47 to the ground with a clunk. “Hid the pieces in the undercarriage and behind the spare tire.”

Rhys could hear Ben's voice carrying to them as he gave instructions for the undercovers inside the reception via his radio. A few minutes later, a police cruiser pulled up and Nate stepped out. “Hey. Heard you found some interesting hardware. He cooperating?” he asked of the suspect.

“Nope. Says he's here to pick up his cousin. Just happens to have grenades, a Beretta and an AK.”

Nate's brows lifted. “That right? Well, you messed with the wrong people, kid. You might have noticed the size of these guys and their familiarity with weapons. I could tell you who that is,” he said, nodding to Luke, “but then he'd have to kill you. I recommend you not piss him off any more than you already have. Start talking.”

“I want a lawyer.”

Nate stared at him pityingly. “You know? I'm dying for a Starbucks right now. Maybe I'll take off for a while and come back after I've had my latte.”

“You can't leave me with them!” the kid cried. “You haven't even arrested me or charged me with anything!”

“So remiss of me,” Nate murmured, then in a quick move grabbed the kid's wrist to twist it up and behind him, while slamming him into the car again. Hard.

The kid let out an “oof” and struggled up onto his toes to stop his shoulder from being wrenched out of its socket.

“You have the right to remain silent,” Nate growled and Mirandized him. Once the cuffs were on, he shoved him to his knees on the pavement. “Talk. Now. Last chance.”

“Your cousin's name,” Luke commanded, his drawl all but lost in his anger.

The kid swung his eyes up, all four of them towering over him with deadly serious expressions on their faces. Rhys's muscles coiled tight under his suit jacket. He thought about drawing his weapon to hurry the interrogation along, but the kid was now protected by civilian law. Damn shame.

“Has-Hassan,” he finally stuttered, flinching when Rhys shifted his stance. “He's one of the wait staff.”

Luke met Rhys's and Dec's gaze. “Get on it.”

Without a word they took off back to the reception, leaving Luke and Nate to find out if this was the threat they'd been anticipating, or if there were more to come.

Nev glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes and they weren't back yet. Something had to be wrong. Sam's warning kept playing in her head.

Tehrazzi. He's here.

The thought made her skin crawl. She rubbed her damp palms on the linen napkin in her lap and made a conscious effort to relax while she waited for Emily to return from the ladies’ room. There couldn't be any imminent danger to her or anyone else in the room, or the men would never have left them. Whatever they'd gone to take care of must be preventative.

“Welcome to my world.”

She glanced up as Bryn dropped into a chair next to her. “Where did they go?”

“No idea, but it must have been serious enough to warrant a firsthand look.” She shook her head. “Someone would have to be frigging nuts to try anything here. The whole place is full of ERT members and ex-Marines, let alone our guys.”

But radical militants
were
nuts. That's what made them so dangerous, and Bryn knew that every bit as well as she did. As for Tehrazzi... he was either insane or incredibly, craftily brilliant. Nev wasn't sure which of those options scared her worse, but she was betting he was a little bit of both.

Hating the fact she was sitting there when Rhys might be in danger at that same moment, Nev studied Bryn. She was a survivor too, and now engaged to a man who risked his life each time he went to work. She would never know where he was or what he was doing, or when he'd be home again. Nev shook her head. “How do you stand it?”

Bryn blew out a breath and met her eyes, not even pretending to misunderstand. “Truthfully? I haven't had to worry about him since we came stateside. Until now.” Her fake smile was less than amused. “When he does go back overseas... I'll just have to suck it up and do the best I can.”

Nev appreciated her honesty. “I don't know what I'd do.”

“You'd better figure it out fast.”

“What?”

Bryn rolled her expressive black eyes. “Please. Don't insult my intelligence by sitting there pretending you and Rhys are not ga-ga over each other.”

For a moment, Neveah was speechless. It wasn't every day she met someone as outspoken as she was.

“It's always the biggest that fall the hardest,” Bryn said with a grin.

If only that were true. What she wouldn't give for Rhys to fall in love with her. “You know how he is. I don't think he'll ever let himself be that vulnerable.”

“Oh, he'll struggle with it,” Bryn conceded. “But you already mean a lot to him. You're the reason he came here.”

The bottom of her stomach dropped out. “I am?” He'd placed himself in danger specifically for her? Again?

Bryn nodded, making the lights glimmer in her sable updo. “He told Ben he wasn't sure if he was equipped to go back into the field, but the second Ben mentioned your name, Rhys was in. He likes working with the guys and all, but you were the coin that tipped the scales.”

Glancing away, Nev put a hand over the suddenly hard ball of her stomach.

“Hey,” Bryn soothed, grasping her hand. “They're the best, and they're careful. They'll be all right.”

They were flesh and blood just like the rest of them, and their bodies were every bit as vulnerable to injury and disease. “That might mean more to me if I hadn't witnessed him dying already.”

Bryn flinched, no doubt remembering Dec's own close call. “Yeah. Point taken.”

The speeches had finished and the staff was busy getting the dance floor cleared off when Ben came back to the table. Neveah sighed in relief and waited for him to sit down, studying his face for any signs of stress, but his expression was calm.

Bryn beat her to it. “Well? What's going on?”

He helped himself to a forkful of scalloped potatoes from her plate with an impish smile. “What do you mean, sweets?”

“Ben,” Bryn warned through clenched teeth, “do me the courtesy of
not
treating me like an idiot. What the hell is going on?”