Dangerous Attraction: Part Three (Aegis Group) (4 page)

“You want to tell me what’s going on between you two?”

How long had it been since Bliss talked guys with her sister? Ages.

“It’s...complicated,” she said.

“He’s not your usual type.” Wendy tilted her head to the side and smiled.

“No.” Bliss fidgeted and glanced away. Things with Travis were too uncertain to talk about yet. Not until she knew where they stood with each other.

“So what’s up? I’m guessing you didn’t stop by with a federal escort just to chat.”

“I wish I did.” She turned back to Wendy. “It’s Daniel. He tried to kill Travis earlier, and they know he killed a cop outside the safe house where I was. They think he already knows where this house is, and they want us to all go to the station. More people. More protection.”

“That’s why Mom and Dad are there?” Wendy’s eyes widened until they seemed to overtake her face.

“Yeah. They think he’s obsessed with you, but he won’t go up against a lot of people to get you.”

“There’s a lot of people here, though.” Wendy nodded out the window where they could see the superfluous lawn guy strolling around.

“Yeah, but they thought I was safe too, and someone died protecting me. Do you want that to happen here, too?”

“No.”

“Then come with us. Please?”

Wendy chewed her lip for a moment, clearly torn. And why wouldn’t she be? There was a small army stationed around her, keeping her safe. The rest of them didn’t have that.

“Okay. Here, hold Paul for me while I go talk Grayson into it, okay?” She handed the baby over and tweaked his nose a little.

Gestures like that were new. Before, Wendy hadn’t been able to look at, much less hold, her child. The change was remarkable. A single brush with death and she was ready to live again.

Bliss followed, staying on the edges of the group while Wendy spoke with her husband in low tones.

“No. No, we aren’t going to hide out with a baby at the police station. We can’t stay there forever. They need to do their job and catch this man.” Grayson slashed his hand in the air.

“If it was that easy, don’t you think they’d have done it by now?” Wendy held onto his other hand, her composure a thing of beauty. Just last week she’d have crumbled in on herself if someone raised their voice.

“I’m not putting you at risk.”

“Is it worth risking other people’s lives?”

“Going to the station isn’t going to fix anything. It’s not like he’ll walk in and hand himself over to the cops just because you’re there.”

“Then we bait him,” Bliss said.

All eyes turned on her. She latched onto Travis’s gaze.

“They can’t find him. We know he’s hurt. Why not bait him? We could go back to your house, set a...a...trap, right?”

From the tight set of Travis’ lips she had a pretty good idea she was onto something. If he didn’t like it, well, too bad. She didn’t want to go into Witness Protection, and she didn’t want to have to spend the rest of her life being afraid of Daniel Campbell.

“I’d do it,” Wendy said.

“No,” Grayson snapped.

“I don’t like it either,” Travis said.

“It could work,” Connor pitched his voice over Wendy and Grayson’s argument. “Set you up at their house. Stage the security and keep officers inside and out of sight. It could work. Nice thinking.”

She didn’t believe for a second Connor hadn’t already considered this option. He winked at her and turned toward Travis and Grayson. Dimitri was already on the phone, probably calling Ryan to set it up.

“No, we’re not doing it, and that’s final,” Grayson said.

“I am.” Wendy drew herself up and stared at her husband as if she were ready to do battle. “You asked what you could do to help me. Do this. Help me make sure this man is behind bars and isn’t a threat to us any longer. Hiding will only make it worse.”

Grayson’s face twisted in anguish. “I just want to keep you safe.”

“I know.” Wendy leaned in and kissed her husband.

Bliss glanced at Travis, who was already staring at her. She could hear a similar argument coming from his, but with a lot fewer words.

It’s my choice. My future. My life.

W
endy followed the police officer and Grayson into the house.

Their home.

She saw it with new eyes. When they moved in, she was so happy. Each piece of furniture, all the colors, she chose them with care. Looking at it now, she remembered all the reasons she loved it. Her husband had designed this especially for them. A home they could raise a family in, grow old together in.

Paul gurgled and waved at her from the car seat.

“Thank you, Priscilla. Set him there on the counter.” Wendy waved at the marble surface and waited for the housekeeper to put her things down.

“Glad you’re home.” Priscilla smiled.

“Me too. Give me a hug?” Wendy squeezed the young woman tightly. Oh, the things Priscilla had put up with over the last year. Wendy would have to bug Grayson about doing something nice for her.

“This is the last of it.” Bliss set the last of Paul’s things on the counter while the men tended to the luggage.

“You didn’t have to get that,” Wendy said. Bliss never listened. She was her big sister, always looking out for Wendy, even when she didn’t ask for it.

“I need something to do.” Bliss dug into the bag containing Paul’s formula and bottles, separating the clean from the dirty.

“You could take a break from managing my life and, I don’t know, go do something for yourself?” Wendy nodded at the big brute of a man stalking through the living room heading for the office where Grayson sequestered the federal agents.

“What? No.” Bliss’ frown was more telling than the way she wouldn’t look at him.

“What is going on with you two?” Wendy rocked Paul and leaned against the counter. This felt like old times. When they used to talk about each other, and not just how Wendy had managed to drag herself out of bed.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah right.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine.” Wendy shrugged. “Oh, Priscilla, where’s the phone you picked up for Bliss?”

“You—what?” Bliss rolled her eyes.

“Hush. Mom and Dad will freak out if they can’t stalker-call you from across the house. It’s your same number, too. Don’t give me that whole
I want to pay for my own stuff
crap, either.”

“Fine. I love you, and you rock.” Bliss wrapped Wendy in a tight hug.

This was what she was living for. To love her sister, to see her family grow old together. Depression had almost stolen this from her, but now she was ready to fight for it again.

Wendy would also have to get Travis alone at some point and bully him into being nice to Bliss. She deserved someone who made her happy, and a life that didn’t involve looking after Wendy.

“These are your tracking devices.” Connor handed the girls what looked to be small pins. “Fasten them inside your clothes, somewhere we won’t see them. Keep them on your person at all times, just in case.”

Just in case my ass.

Travis would make sure Bliss didn’t need it. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight, much less out of the house. This plan set his teeth on edge for a reason he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something bad was going to happen, and he didn’t know how to stop it.

“Just in case—what?” Bliss turned the tracking device over in her hand.

“We want to be prepared for everything.” Connor folded his hands together. Ever since they’d stepped foot in the Hortons’ house, the agent had just about bent over backward to keep everyone happy.

“Nothing better happen,” Grayson muttered, staring daggers at Connor, then Travis, as if he had something to do with this.

If Travis had his way, Bliss would be across the globe already.

“Anything else?” Wendy glanced over her shoulder, toward the sounds of Paul crying. Since they were back at their home, most normal routines were being picked up and the house staff was back on the job, which meant half a dozen more people to keep an eye on.

“That should be it. Go give the little guy a bottle, eh?” Connor smiled.

The house had received a bit of a makeover in the last two hours. All of the windows had blinds and curtains drawn, whereas before they’d been left open to let in all the natural light. Clusters of officers and agents were set up to do their jobs, and the family moved in and around them all.

If they were lucky, one of the guards on the perimeter would take Daniel down before he ever set foot on the property. But that was a big if. Chances were, he’d run off, tail between his legs, and wait for a better time to strike. At least, that was what Travis would do.

Bliss followed Wendy into the main living space. She’d avoided him since proposing this plan of hers, and for good reason. He wanted to have a chat with her. This wasn’t an incredibly dangerous operation, but it was far more risk than he was comfortable with.

She needed time to trust him again, but he wasn’t good with giving her space to do that. Everything in him said to stay right by her side.

“Hey, sunshine.” Connor stopped in front of Travis, forcing him to look at the man. “Do a security walk-through with me.”

“Why?”

“Because your job involves a lot more protecting people than mine. I just find the killers after the act. Come with me.”

Travis glanced at Bliss one last time before following the agent into the foyer.

“We were able to disable the cameras, thanks to Lali. He should be blind as far as inside goes.”

“Is that still on?” He nodded at the security system panel.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Travis pulled out his cell phone and texted the agent.

Could be hacked.

Connor glanced at his phone and flashed him a thumbs up.

I’ll put Lali on it. Meet me in the office.

“I think it’s time I headed out,” Connor said. “See you in the morning.”

“Later.”

Travis watched Connor open and close the door, then flip the locks. There was no way to be sure if they were being observed, but at least they’d laid the foundation for making Daniel think otherwise.

“Need to tell everyone to stay away from the panels,” Travis said once they were in the safety of the office, behind closed doors.

“Texting Ryan now. He’ll talk to the officers and let the girls know. All right, so we’ve got a lot of people out there.” He turned to the office wall they’d procured to organize the sting. “There are five guys in the gates, roving around the community. We’ve got two guys in the pool house with eyes on us, and cops stationed near every point of entry, most of them within sight of another cop. What do you see?”

“Too many cops.”

“If we went with less, Grayson would be out.”

“Daniel’s going to catch sight of them and we’ll be stuck here twiddling our thumbs while he gets on the road. If he’s smart.”

“He is smart, but his obsession rules him.”

“That’s what I don’t get about these guys. They can’t kill if they’re dead or caught.”

“A lot of them don’t think they’ll get caught or they don’t care. They can’t control it.”

“Which do you think Daniel is?”

“Neither. He thinks he’s a god. He thinks he’s above all this. His obsession will make him slip up. He can’t leave Wendy behind, not after he abandoned his kids.”

Travis shook his head. It made no sense to him, but it didn’t have to. So long as he kept Bliss safe, everything else would work itself out.

“Hey guys.” Grayson opened the office door and leaned in. “We’re turning in.”

“Good night,” Connor said. “You should hit the hay. I’m going to find a couch somewhere and cat nap.”

Travis nodded. He wasn’t planning on sleeping anytime soon, but no one else needed to know that. The first floor was quiet, everyone out of sight and the lights turned down low. He did a circuit of the second floor and wound up outside the double doors leading into a guest room.

The light was still on inside, and he could hear the TV.

He still didn’t know where he stood with Bliss, if she wanted him here or not. If she kicked him out, he’d stand watch in the hall outside her room all night long. Until Daniel was caught, or better yet, dead, he wasn’t going anywhere. That thought gave him pause. Was it true? His gut said yes. That kind of conviction was hard to ignore.

Bliss meant something to him. And her safety was more important than anything else.

Travis knocked on the door and waited.

No one answered, but he heard the soft padding of feet across carpet.

“It’s Travis,” he said.

A few seconds later the lock on the door released and it opened. Bliss stepped back, leaning her head on the wood.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

“Please.” She waved him in and closed the door behind him again.

At some point she’d showered and changed again into pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

“How’s everything looking?” She gestured at the house and sat down on the bed, curling her legs under her.

“Good. If he shows up, we’ll catch him.” He did a slow walk around the room. If he had his way, she’d be away from all the windows, but that wasn’t how Grayson’s house was built.

“Will you sit down and stop prowling around?”

“Just checking things out.”

Did he sit on the bed, or give her space?

Bliss hugged a pillow to her chest and stared at the muted TV. Some holiday re-run was on, so at least she wasn’t watching the news.

Screw it.

Travis crossed to the bed, toed off his boots, and stretched his legs out. She’d let him in, so it was something.

“You still mad at me?” he asked. Might as well get right to the point.

“What?” She scrunched up her eyebrows and glanced at him. “No.”

“Then what’s up?” She’d practically avoided him since they’d crashed the Hortons’ CIA house.

“Did you see Wendy?”

“Yeah.”

“Not like—see her, see her, with your eyes. I mean—did you look at her?”

“She seems different.”

“Yeah. You know, I’ve been scared what all this would do to her, if she’d just give up and wither away, or live petrified of what would happen next, but...it’s like she’s woken up. She’s awake and fighting back. Grayson said she’s her old self again. But not, because she was never this...determined. It’s crazy that something so bad has done her so much good.”