Bare Facts (4 page)

C
harity welcomed the chance to embrace her true self as she shoved Daniel to the side and brought up her weapon. She fired off one round and realized that her angle was wrong. She’d brushed her target’s thigh, but that was all.

The target fired back, hitting Alonzo, and she stepped in front of Daniel to protect him with her body if need be. She wore a Kevlar vest, so she wasn’t too worried about getting hit. And she knew she could get her target if she was in the right position.

But the target spun on her heel and took off. She drew Daniel to his feet, but he jerked his arm out of her grasp and took off at a dead run after his assailant.

“Dammit, Daniel!”

But he said nothing, just ran flat-out and with more speed than she’d expected from an executive. She took one moment to yell at Daniel’s driver to call 911 for Alonzo, then followed Daniel.

They’d disappeared around the front of the building toward the hotel entrance. She caught a brief glimpse of the target weaving through the crowd. Charity paused for a moment to take in the entire situation and assess the best way to catch the woman who’d tried to kill her client.

She analyzed the paths through the crowd and the cars and then crossed the street. There was a lot less foot traffic on that side. She lengthened her gait and dug in, running flat-out. She kept Daniel in her sights as well as the target.

She hit a button on her belt, alerting her team that she needed them. She finally got ahead of her target, and crossed the street again. The target slowed, realizing she was trapped between her and Daniel. But then she dashed out into the street, nearly missing being hit by a city bus.

Charity cursed and took off after her. The bus had slowed traffic, and Charity was able to get to the other side just in time to see her target climb onto the back of a Harley-Davidson and drive away.

She memorized the license plate and turned around to confront Daniel as he came up behind her.

“What the hell were you doing?” she asked, while breathing heavily.

“I wanted to question her,” Daniel said, his breath just as heavy as hers.

“I can’t protect you if you’re going to do stupid things like that.”

“My plan isn’t to be protected. It’s to find the person threatening me and confront them.”

“Ah, so you’re hoping to end up dead?”

“I almost had her.”

“I know. I didn’t think she’d bolt into traffic. Why didn’t I think of that?”

He shrugged. And she realized now wasn’t the time to analyze what had gone wrong. Daniel was vulnerable out on the street. He started walking back toward his car and she hurried to keep up with him. He was tense and angry but something else was going on with him as well.

“You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Someone just tried to kill you.”

“It’s not the first time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that I’ve ruffled feathers before. Was Alonzo okay?”

“I didn’t stop to check. I asked the driver to call 911.”

“Why didn’t you stop? I was clearly in pursuit.”

“Because my job is to protect you, not Alonzo. And why didn’t you stay put?”

“That’s not in my programming.”

He fascinated her, she thought. He was complex, and she had the feeling that he had as many different layers as she did. That he was used to letting people see what they wanted to see, something she was very familiar with.

They approached the car and found an ambulance and the cops waiting for them. Justine was already working the crime scene, talking to witnesses.

The cops immediately drew Daniel aside and started questioning him. But he wouldn’t cooperate until he knew that Alonzo was being taken care of.

She watched him talking to the EMTs and realized that loyalty was important to him. That his people were important to him.

“You’re staring,” Justine said, coming up behind her.

“I’m not staring; I’m keeping an eye on him. This area isn’t too secure.”

“I know. He doesn’t act like a man who just had his life threatened.”

“He’s arrogant.”

“And pissed off,” Justine said.

“He’s not what I expected.”

“What’d you expect? Someone like Senator Perry?”

“I guess. He’s not our normal client. There’s more going on here than just blackmail.”

“Ya think? Did the bullet exchange change your mind?”

Charity punched her friend in the arm. “You’re being annoying.”

“That’s part of my appeal.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re always alone.”

“No, that’s not the reason. Ready to walk me through what happened? Anna’s inside talking to the staff, trying to get a bead on whether anyone saw the sniper earlier.”

“That’s good,” she said. “Do you have a description?”

“Yes, Alonzo gave us a fairly good one.”

“Ms. Keone?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Officer Blane Ketting—I’d like to take your statement now.”

“I need to make sure that Mr. Williams is in a secure area before I talk to you.”

“I’ll go find an office inside that we can use,” Justine said, walking away.

She noticed that Officer Ketting watched her friend go. Justine never realized her appeal to the opposite sex…well, that wasn’t necessarily true. Justine didn’t like her appeal to the opposite sex.

“That’s fine. We’re securing this area. Do you want to go back to the station?”

“I’d rather not. Can you give Justine five minutes to find us a place?”

She knew that Sam would already have contacted the police department, using his contacts to alert them to what was going on. The officer backed off and she went over to Daniel.

Daniel watched the ambulance pull away with another one of his people in it. Another one of his people had been injured in this war that Sekijima had started. And it could be nothing else. Sekijima was coming after him old-school style, striking at his family and weakening him.

He needed to kick something or strangle someone—preferably that bitch who had tried to kill him. He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and turned around with a glare.

Charity didn’t back off but he saw her guard come up. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” He fucking wasn’t going to tell her that he was angry because this was twice that he’d been struck in his own house, so to speak. He wasn’t about to start talking because he knew that expletives and impotent rage weren’t meant to be expressed vocally. They needed to be channeled into a single focus. And now she was in danger. He knew the assassin that Sekijima had sent had gotten a good look at Charity.

Hell, she was impossible to miss with her blond hair and knockout body, but more than that, the other woman would have recognized the trained fighter that Charity was. She’d almost caught the assassin and that would be the first thing that Sekijima would be told about Charity.

He was going to fucking find Sekijima and ring his goddamned neck. But first he had to find a way to protect her. He figured he’d have to keep her with him if he was going to keep her safe.

“Take a deep breath, Daniel.”

“Why?” he asked, his mind racing over the possibilities.

“Because you look like you’re about to do something crazy, and the cops are still here.”

“Fuck that. I’m not worried about the cops.” And he wasn’t. He could handle them if he had to. He’d made friends in high places since leaving the streets.

She drew him away from the cops, processing the scene and looking for evidence. He noticed almost absently that she still protected him with her body and kept the wall at his back. She was really top-notch at what she did.

“I’m sorry I was crass,” he said.

“Don’t be. I want to curse, too.”

Without a second thought, he drew her to him and claimed the kiss he’d wanted in the elevator. He knew it was a piss-poor decision but he needed to taste her. Wanted to feel her tongue moving against his. He groaned in the back of his throat as her hands came up around his neck. She arched into him and then slowly drew back.

He let her go because he knew he had to. But that one taste wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him. He wanted more of this woman. And now he’d endangered her life.

“Daniel,” she said. Just his name falling from her lips, and he knew he wanted to hear it again. Hear it when they were both naked and he was buried hilt-deep in her silky body.

“I can’t believe that bitch got away,” he said, forcing his mind off the images of Charity in his arms.

“We’ll find her. I got the tag and Anna’s already running the plates.”

“It’ll be a dead end.”

“Even dead ends have clues,” she said.

Her voice was firm and he felt her resolve. “I’m firing you, remember? Why do you care?”

“It’s what I do. It’s what we do for all of our clients,” she said.

“Is that all I am to you? Another client?”

“We hardly know each other.”

“I guess that’s my answer.”

“What do you want me to say, Daniel? You intrigue me, but this isn’t going anywhere. Right now you’re looking for a place to channel your rage.”

He hated how clearly she saw him. So many people were content just to see the surface man. The quasi-civilized façade he presented to the world. But not Charity. He suspected that was because she had a mask of her own.

But he didn’t really care why. He didn’t like anyone to see the parts of himself he hid. And he knew just the way to drive her away. And he needed to drive her away. He needed her angry and walking out of his life. Because a split second before she’d shoved him to the ground, he realized that she’d take a bullet for him.

“I am,” he said. “Could I tempt you back up to my room? I think an hour in bed with you—”

“Don’t. I’m not going to let you use sexist comments to drive me away.”

“I don’t have to; you are off the job anyway.”

“Not until I see you safely to your jet.”

“Mr. Williams? Ms. Keone? We really need your statements.”

Daniel walked away from Charity and didn’t look back. He followed the officer into the hotel and through the lobby. He was hyper-aware of everything going on around him. He searched the faces in the crowd—knowing Sekijima well enough to know that he’d have people planted there. People in place in case his assassin failed.

But the faces were all unremarkable. Some tourists, some businessmen, no one who stood out. Which was exactly what he’d expect from Sekijima and his people. All the same, Daniel studied them and memorized the faces. Sekijima didn’t have unlimited resources and Daniel knew from experience that Sekijima’s inner circle would be small.

“Do you recognize anyone?” Charity asked under her breath as they moved through the lobby.

“Not yet.”

“Do you know who’s threatening you?” she asked.

Her insight made him realize that he was wasting an opportunity to use her talents. She saw him too clearly, and he didn’t want her to know the real man he had buried beneath years of pretending to be wealthy and sophisticated. But he wouldn’t mind using her special abilities to track down Sekijima and his killers.

He hurried his pace and glanced over his shoulder one last time before they entered the hallway behind the front desk. He glanced not at Charity but at the sea of faces.

One of these faces, Daniel would see again. And when he did, he’d act.

Charity couldn’t get a handle on Daniel and gave up when he pointedly turned away from her in the office where the police were questioning them. Justine and Anna were already in there, Anna seated with her laptop up and running and Justine leaning over her shoulder.

This was just not her day, she thought. She walked over to her team and immediately felt a sense of peace steal over her. Justine didn’t mention Daniel again or the fact that Charity had been watching him with more than just diligence on her mind.

“What have you found?” Charity asked.

“The cops found a spent casing and we think a bullet is lodged in MacAfee’s body. We’re hoping to get a ballistics match on that one,” Anna said. “This is a rough composite sketch of the shooter. Does it match what you saw?”

Charity leaned down and studied the face on the screen. She closed her eyes for a second and recalled the details of the woman who’d tried to kill Daniel.

The face of the Asian woman was etched in Charity’s mind and the next time she saw her, Charity wouldn’t hesitate to take her out of the game. Self-anger wasn’t productive but she was ticked off that she’d let this assassin slip through her fingers.

The computer program that Anna was using was state-of-the-art and had millions of facial features to choose from. “The eyes were a little further apart. And her bangs were swept completely off her forehead.”

Anna made a few adjustments with her mouse and then leaned back. Charity checked it again, comparing the image in her mind with the one on the screen. “That’s it. Daniel might be able to add more details.”

“Daniel?” Anna asked.

“Our client. What did you find out about the driver and pilot that he’s using?”

“The driver is with the cops now, talking to them about what he saw. The company he uses checks out and the personnel assigned to him have been working for them for over five years,” Justine said. “I’m nearly as certain as I can be that they are legit and not a threat.”

Justine never trusted anything or anyone all the way. Which was one of the things that made her such an asset to the team. Anna was the most trusting of the three of them. She tended to believe in people until she had proof that they weren’t trustworthy. Charity, on the other hand, fell somewhere in the middle.

Was that why she was struggling with Daniel? He was one of those gray areas that she wanted to trust but her gut was screaming at her that he was hiding something.

Of course he was, she thought—he’s being blackmailed.

“Charity?”

“Huh?”

“Do you want me to take over guard duty at the airport?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s my job, I’ll finish it. I would like you and Anna to get there before us, check the plane and make sure that everything is as it should be.”

“I agree,” Justine said. “Whoever is after Mr. Williams is serious about taking him out. Two strikes in two days.”