Relentless (25 page)

She gave him a few seconds after he pulled into traffic, but when he didn't say anything she couldn't keep quiet anymore. “What the hell is going on tonight, Rhys?”

He didn't answer, only checked the rearview and side mirrors as he pulled into the right lane.

So they could turn the corner to escape anyone following them, she realized with a sickening start.

Her fingers dug into her chilled palms. “If you don't tell me, I swear to— ”

“Nothing concrete,” he said tersely.

Concrete? What did that mean exactly? “Is there a threat?”

He nodded.

She wanted to scream. Trying to get information out of him was like prying a tooth out with pliers. “Is it against me?”

“Partly.”

The blood drained out of her face. She stared at him in disbelief. He was so calm, so composed behind the wheel, as though they were discussing the weather. “Tell me.”

He sighed and turned the corner, the headlights of passing cars a blur to her while they sped down the darkened street. “We have intelligence that says Luke, Bryn and you are possible targets.”

“For Tehrazzi?”

He didn't answer for a moment, and her vision went hazy.
He's here. Coming after you again.

“We caught someone earlier,” he finally said, his words jarring her out of her head.

At the reception. Holy shit. The air stuck in her aching lungs. “Who?”

“It's all under control now. Don't worry.”

She almost laughed, but stifled it because she feared it would come out in a hysterical burst. Biting the inside of her cheek until she found her voice, she struggled with the words. “So that's why you were called to Vancouver.” And as Bryn had told her, he'd agreed to come once he'd known she would be in town. He'd arrived with the full knowledge he was protecting her from Tehrazzi, knowing full well what the terrorist was capable of.

“Yes.”

Her guts started churning. “Jesus, Rhys, why didn't you tell me?”

“Because of the way you just reacted. I didn't want you to worry.”

Well she was more than worried now. “Is the threat against me credible?”

He cast her a sidelong glance. “I'm here, aren't I?”

Shit. “What else haven't you told me?”

He sighed. “I can't tell you everything.”

“Then tell me what you can.”

“Tehrazzi got his hands on a laptop during the mission when I was wounded. It had intelligence, some e-mails and other things on it. He knew about the wedding and your conference.”

She blinked. “But... Wouldn't the files all be encrypted or coded so he couldn't get access? Sam was the communications expert there, and she would have— ” The words died in her throat at Rhys's grim expression. “Oh God, she made a mistake, didn't she?” Sam had either lost or left the laptop behind, and Tehrazzi or one of his men had found it.

“Not exactly. There were a lot of extenuating circumstances on that op. It wasn't her fault.”

“So that's why they took her away for a debriefing right away in Kabul. They thought it was her fault. Damn, why didn't she tell me any of this?”

“You know she couldn't tell you.”

Yeah. Sam worked for the CIA. A lot of what she did and heard was classified. Weird, to think Sam had hidden things from her all this time, but now her phone call after the ceremony made all kinds of terrifying sense.

The engine purred as Rhys slowed to take another turn, and Nev didn't recognize the area. “Where are we going?”

“Police station. Ben's already there, so we'll give the police a description of the guy who's been tailing you and find out if we get any hits.”

She stared at him. “Why is Ben there?”

“We had a little incident during the reception that needed to be taken care of.”

Her guts were in knots. “Yeah, I already guessed that, but what kind of incident?” Had someone tried to get in with guns or a bomb or something while she'd been sitting there worrying about Rhys?

“It's all over now, except what Ben's working on. I doubt it's anything serious.”

She rubbed a hand over her unsettled stomach. He was lying. She knew it. And he wasn't going to say anything more about whatever had happened at the reception. She was going to have to deal with that somehow. “For the record, I don't believe a damn word of that, but I'm glad I'm finding this out at the end of the evening.”

“I'm sorry you found out at all, but in light of the guy at the hospital, I need you to be aware of the risk.”

And to think she'd been pissed off at him for frightening Dr. Shirani. She wrapped her arms around her waist. Icy tendrils of fear coiled around her subconscious. The thought of facing any kind of threat to her safety after what she'd been through was enough to make her want to curl into a fetal position and put her hands over her ears. She couldn't go through that again, she'd break into a million pieces.

“I didn't tell you to scare you, Nev,” Rhys said, glancing over at her. He reached across the console and took her hand, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. “I just want you to be aware, that's all. We've got security in place at the hotel, and undercover agents at all the venues. Plus you've got Ben and me.”

“I had a right to know,” she argued, growing angry. “How would you like it if I knew something was wrong with you but I kept it to myself so you wouldn't worry?”

“I'd hate it. But then I'd realize you were trying to protect me.”

“Yeah, like you'd be okay with
that
.”

He kept on rubbing her hand. “So, you still planning to give your speech tomorrow?”

Hell, she hadn't even thought about it yet. “Why, you're saying I shouldn't?”

“Didn't say that. Just wondering how you feel about it now that you know what's happening.”

Well, she certainly wasn't looking forward to it like she had been before this conversation, but... No. She was no coward. “I'm still giving it. Terrorists have already taken enough from me, and this is a cause I really care about. I owe it to the men that died in those mountains to stand up at that podium tomorrow and honor their memories.”

She couldn't be sure, but she thought he smiled a bit. “That's what we figured you'd say.”

“We?”

“Sam, Ben and I.”

“So Sam
did
know about this beforehand and she still didn't say anything?” She was totally hurt.

“Even if she did know she couldn't tell you. Of course she suspected something was up, but her hands were tied without being privy to the intel, so she sent Ben along with me.” He grinned. “As backup.”

The conversation with her cousin the night before she'd flown in from Vancouver came back to her in an insightful rush. So that's why Sam had invited Rhys over for dinner and put him on the phone to her. She was going to strangle Sam when she saw her.

Rhys pulled into the parking lot of the police station and parked near the stairs. He cut the engine and came around to help her out of the truck, holding her elbow like a total gentleman as he led her up the concrete steps and into the building.

Inside, uniformed officers were busy at desks or talking on headsets and cell phones. Computers whirred, printers and faxes hummed as they spat out documents.

A female officer looked up from her terminal. “Can I help you?”

“We need to see Ben Sinclair.”

“Ben Sincl— oh, the guy with Nate.” The woman pushed back from her desk and dropped her pen on the scribbled notes on its surface. “He's in the back. Follow me.” She led them through a maze of cubicles to a staircase and up to the second floor. Rhys kept hold of Neveah's arm as they walked down the carpeted hallway, their footsteps hushed on the geometric chocolate and tan designs. For such a big man, he moved quietly.

“Right in here,” the officer said, and gestured to the room at the far end.

Rhys knocked once and opened the steel door. The brightly lit beige room smelled of stale coffee and lukewarm Chinese takeout. Ben and Nate both glanced up at them as they entered, poring over what looked like a stack of mug shots while they ate. Containers of barbecue pork and chow mein were laid out on the black laminate surface of the table gracing the center of the room.

Ben set down his chopsticks and smiled. “Hey. What're you two doing here?”

“Just came from the hospital,” Rhys said as he pulled out a chair for her.

“And?” Nate said. “What happened?”

“Luke's brain injury finally caught up with him.”

“Yeah, I heard he went down in the middle of the dance floor.”

“Nev read him the riot act— ”

She glared at Rhys. What she'd done was her
job
, and nothing less.

“— and we took him in for some tests. He's got a craniotomy scheduled for first thing in the morning.”

Nate whistled, sharing a meaningful glance with Ben. “Well that must have been a fun moment, dragging his sorry ass to the hospital.” His dark brown eyes swung to Neveah. “How'd you manage that one?”

“I reasoned with him.”

Ben choked back a laugh. “I'll just bet you did.” He looked at his brother. “You could have phoned that in, so I gather something else came up to bring you here?”

Rhys laid a hand on her shoulder and she tipped her head back to see him.

“Tell them,” he said.

She didn't like being ordered around, even by him, but she had to admit things were tense right now. With a sigh, she said, “I saw someone at the hospital near Luke's room that I think has been following me.”

Two pairs of eyes zeroed in on her, one icy green and the other like black coffee. “Care to elaborate?” said Ben.

“Tonight was the third time I've seen him since arriving in Vancouver. First on Friday morning when I went out for a run with my colleague, Mike. The guy was right outside the hotel, and I noticed him right away, kind of like a sixth sense. I don't know why but I was sure he was watching me, and when he saw me looking at him he left.” Ben and Nate regarded her silently. “Then about forty-five minutes later I saw him on the Stanley Park seawall. As soon as he knew I'd seen him, he disappeared again. Then tonight, same thing.”

Nate grabbed a pen and paper. “Can you give me a description of him?”

She wrinkled her brow as she thought. “About the same height as me, so around five eleven. Middle Eastern appearance with short black hair, and he had some gel in the front of it. Short, well groomed goatee and dark brown eyes.”

“Build?”

“He looked like he was in good shape. Muscular throughout the upper body.” She thought about him for another moment. “Sorry, that's all I can think of to describe him. No scars or anything else I can give you.”

“That's okay,” Nate said. “Here. See if any of these guys resemble him.” He pushed a stack of printed photos over to her.

Damn, the pile was over an inch thick. “Are these all suspects for some crime?”

Ben and Nate both looked at Rhys.

“She already knows the worst of what's going on,” he said. “Level with her.”

“These are some potential members of local terrorist cells,” Ben said evasively. “If you can pick out your shadow, it might give us an edge. That would be a major break for us.”

“God, yes,” Nate muttered, heading over to fill his paper cup with more stale smelling coffee as Neveah went through the pictures. Rhys stood behind her. She felt his body heat as he gazed down at the pages over her shoulder.

“What about the kid you brought in?” he asked Ben.

“Gang member, cousin to a bunch of the guys in our list.” He jerked his chin at the pile of paper she was looking through.

“So far we can't pin anything on him other than illegally possessing a weapon,” Nate put in.

Rhys shifted behind her. “And the ‘cousin'? He still in custody?”

“Yeah. I'm giving him another hour or so to think about his options before I go in to question him again.”

Neveah scanned the last page and then tidied up the pile. “Nope. None of these guys look familiar.”

Nate sighed. “Just once I want my job to be easy.”

“Where're you taking her now?” Ben asked Rhys, jerking his chin toward her.

“Our hotel.”

Ben nodded. “I'll take Luke's room, since he won't be needing it.”

“Thanks.”

She hated being talked about like she wasn't even in the room. “I need to go to my hotel first, then,” she said, knowing it was futile to argue against staying at the other place. “My speech is first thing in the morning. I need my notes, my computer, my suit and other stuff.”

“I can swing by and pick those up for you later,” Ben offered.

She shot a glance at Rhys, trying to assess what the danger level was. “Can't we just stop now?”

He considered it for a moment. “I'll go up with you, though.”

Of course he would. He was chivalrous enough that he would have done it anyway, but with any kind of a perceived threat against her he'd be even more uptight. So much for a romantic evening alone.

“But right now you're going to stay with Ben while I go back and check out the hospital. I'll pick you up on my way back.”

Since she didn't have a choice, she dropped into a chair with a sigh. “Fine.”

After checking the hospital with Dec and increasing security's awareness that Luke might be at risk, Rhys went back up to his boss's room. The door was closed, so he knocked and waited for a reply before opening it, and walked in on a whole lot of awkward tension.

Left in the room with Bryn and Emily after the newlyweds departed, Luke lay on his back with his eyes closed while the women sat next to his bed. It was obvious he wasn't asleep, and equally as clear he wished everyone would leave him the hell alone. Rhys felt for the guy. A man should be allowed to suffer in private after what he'd gone through tonight.

“Someone's coming to relieve Dec shortly,” he announced, breaking the tense silence. “But he said he'll stay if you want.”

Luke cracked one eye open to look at him, pointedly avoiding his ex-wife. “Naw, but thanks.” He shifted his gaze to Bryn. “Tell him I'm good and then go on back to the hotel.”

Luke must have figured out Rayne and Christa weren't the only ones in for a night of romance. The way Dec and Bryn had eyed each other all night made no secret of the fact they'd be spending the night having the kind of sex Rhys was looking forward to having with Neveah. The instant he got her safely into his hotel room.