Icy Control (10 page)

In seconds the cloth had soaked through, and he knew something serious had been hit. There was far too much blood in too short a time.

“Sally,” Vicky panted.

Sally leaned closer, took her friend’s hand. Feeling helpless, Rob did what he could, knowing in his heart it would be of no use.

“It’s okay, Vicky,” Sally sobbed. “I’ll tell them. It’s going to be okay.”

Vicky sighed and Rob felt the life leave her. Sally cried harder. Rob was torn. It was wretched, but he couldn’t give Sally more than a few moments to grieve her friend. Brushing his fingers lightly over Vicky’s eyes—though he knew she was well beyond pain now—he closed her lids. With a deep breath, Rob leaned back on his feet. He tried to calm his heart rate and panting. Sally struggled valiantly, clearly trying to get herself back under control.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly, willing his warmth to seep into her body.

“She told me…” Sally gasped, unable to speak properly. “She was lying there, dying, and she told me the name.”

“We need to move, Sal,” he said as gently as possible. “We can’t have anyone knowing we were here. I think someone ordered Vicky’s death, hired professionals. Sal, love, if they have even an inkling she told you, they’ll come after us next. I won’t risk your safety.”

“But the police—”

“Are obliged to file reports, detain witnesses. You’ll be a sitting duck. I can protect you. Sal, do you trust me?”

Sally lifted her face. His heart wrenched. Her eyes were enormous, her cheeks streaked from tears. She was worryingly pale and clearly distraught. She lifted a hand to wipe her nose, but her gaze widened as she caught sight of her blood-stained skin. A horrified look crossed her face.

Harsh as he knew it would seem, Rob forced himself to act. He desperately wanted to wrap Sally safely in his arms, cradle her to his body and rock her, kiss away the pain and shock and make everything better. But there wasn’t time. Already he could hear the sirens getting louder. Rob would bet the local precinct’s switchboard had lit up within seconds of the first shot being fired. Vicky’s home would be inundated in minutes, if not sooner. Their window of opportunity to escape was closing.

Rob gave her his handkerchief, but then immediately took Sally’s free hand in his. Lowering their linked fingers out of her range of vision—so she couldn’t continue to stare, captivated, by Vicky’s blood—he tugged Sal to her feet while she wiped her nose.

Bending down, he picked up his folder and held it out to Sally. She put away the stained cloth then took his folder. None of these actions seemed to register in her eyes or any other sense. She was on automatic pilot, he guessed, her mind numbing as it tried to adjust to everything.

He loathed himself for bringing her into this and hoped she could forgive him one day. It would kill him if that innocence he cherished in her had been shattered. He would grieve if he never saw that look of wonder, just from the joy she found in the world, on her face again.

Picking up his gun and holding it low beside his body, Rob surveyed the ruined room and narrowed in on the corridor leading toward the back of the house.

“Come on, Sal,” he said, more to hear the words aloud and not the unnaturally still quiet. “It’s going to be all right. I’ll take care of you. We’re going to fix this somehow, I promise.”

“I’m okay,” she said, though her tone sounded dull.

Rob cast a look at her as he led her through the house out to the kitchen area. The room was cozy, another large set of windows that in the summer would let the sun in. He bet it would be a perfect breakfast nook, warm and intimate.

Better still, there was a back door leading out into a small garden.

“Let’s go,” he said, more for the sake of talking than actually asking her permission.

She didn’t resist as he led her through the kitchen. The key sat in the lock. He turned it, then opened the door. He let go of Sally’s hand for a moment to step out and check there was no one in the vicinity.

All the action appeared to be occurring on the street out front. Rob tightened his hand around the gun, his heart beating fast from the unsteady mixture of nerves and adrenaline. He hated the thought of innocent civilians crowding around and despised the necessity for the gun, but if those men attacked again, he needed to be ready. Not just to protect himself and Sal, but possibly all those potential hostages now wondering what had just occurred.

“Coast’s clear.”

He stepped back, took Sally’s hand again, not bothered by the drying, rust-colored blood that now stained them both. Sally looked like she’d bathed in it, though his arm was just as bad and hurt like a bitch. Scanning the area, he saw a small gate near the back of the property.

Rob led Sally, still silent and unresisting, to it, then pressed her hand lightly. The fence was only slightly higher than he was, so when he stood on his toes, he could see over the top. A quick survey showed no one he could see.

“I’m grateful we had to park a few streets away,” he said, trying to be upbeat. He hated the thought of what a cabbie would say should they try to flag a taxi just now. And even though the tube saw all manner of strange sights every day, two blood-stained people sitting mildly at the station would surely attract more attention than they wanted.

“Here’s hoping we don’t get called in for trespassing, eh?” he added as he closed the gate behind them, took Sally’s hand again and squeezed it.

Her eyes flickered and she seemed to focus on him properly for the first time since the gun shots had started.

“I don’t want to go back to your office,” she stated, some of her strength returning.

Rob released her hand, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her close against his body. Kissing her forehead, he enjoyed that one second of time where it was just the two of them. He then led them toward the street that ran behind Vicky’s home and tried to orient himself as to where they’d parked.

“We’ll go back to my place,” he said, making sure to keep only warmth in his tone. “You’ll feel better after you’ve cleaned up.”

“Do you need a hospital?” she asked.

“Nah,” Rob insisted, surprised. Clearly Sally’s brain was starting to once again take in her surroundings. “This is just a scratch. I have some bandages and adhesive tape at home that we can use to protect and close the wound.”

Sally wrapped her arm around his waist, leaned her head against him and they slowly made their way back to the car. Rob knew she was a far cry from feeling perfect, but there was color in her cheeks and much of her usual calm was returning. He’d know in the next few hours, but he hoped he hadn’t caused her irreparable damage.

Holding her like the precious object she was to him, Rob returned to the car and tried to puzzle out what the hell was going on.

Chapter Five

Rob had purposely kept his bathroom door open to keep an ear out for Sally while he made a couple of quick calls. Firstly he’d called Waldron, letting him know they’d need a few agents for containment at Vicky’s place. Word would trickle through London slowly, but sooner or later there would be connections between a recent art heist and the very visible murder of an art restorer. It might even be a day or two, but someone would put those pieces together at some stage. The Agency needed to be ready to field questions when they did.

Waldron appreciated the heads up, and despite complaining of another ruined evening and potentially long night appeasing the various political powers that be, he seemed resigned to remaining at HQ for the foreseeable future.

Rob’s second call had been somewhat longer, and more delicate.

“Williams.”

“El, it’s Rob. Look, I have some bad news.”

“If you’ve thought of some lame arse excuse to try and shove the writing of that bloody report onto me, you can stick it in the orifice of your choice. I’m hoping to drag James away from here sometime in the next hour or so, grab some take-out and then sleep for a solid eight hours.”

“No,” Rob sighed, then thought of his folder spewing papers in the gunfight. He’d grabbed what he could, but had no idea whether he’d gotten it all. It was possible he’d lost the notes he’d made. “Though I think I might have lost what little of the rough draft I’d managed to scrawl up, I’ll have to check my folder later. Look, we were attacked at Vicky Parker’s place—”

“Hold on. Attacked? Where are you?”

Rob heard James swear in the background.

“James? Rob? What the fuck? One of you, tell me what’s going on.”

“Sally is friends with Vicky Parker, the restorer—or forger depending on your viewpoint—who touched up the Cezanne after someone added those codes. We went to question her. A group of people, at least four of them, shot up the house, armor piercing rounds, can you believe? Vicky was critically hit in the neck. She bled out in less than a minute. Sal and I tried to save her, but it was impossible.”

“Oh, shit. How is Sally? Are either of you hurt?”

“We’ve got some scrapes, a few scratches and bruises. I’ve let Waldron know, but it’s a bloody mess right now. Sal is pretty upset. She’s in the shower, I think. Look…keep an eye on James. We’ll come in soon, but I need to make sure Sal is okay before I take her back to HQ. I’m still on board for the report, but it just got a whole lot more complicated. I believe Vicky managed to tell Sally who hired her, but this isn’t the time for me to push her.”

“Don’t worry about any of that, I’ll cover things from here. Take care of Sally,” El reassured him.

Rob heaved a sigh of relief, pleased to have El say that. It took a load from his mind.

“I owe you, El,” he thanked her.

She huffed out a laugh. “I know, and you’re going to pay me back by still writing this report. Look, if you need anything, either of you, call me. Okay?”

“I promise. I need to go to her. Talk later, El.”

After saying their goodbyes, he closed his phone, took a deep breath and stripped out of his bloodstained shirt and pants. In only his boxers, he entered the bathroom, surprised and saddened to see Sal sitting on the tiled floor underneath the warm spray, still fully dressed. Her knees raised as she pulled her arms around them, she huddled in the corner, her head lowered and her nose red. She’d evidently been crying.

Rob silently pulled two enormous, fluffy, fresh towels from under the sink. He placed them on the edge of the basin then stepped out of his boxers. The air was cool on his naked skin. Rob opened the door to the shower stall then closed it behind him. The water pounded on him, drenching him in seconds. He crouched down then sat next to Sally.

She turned immediately to face him. He wrapped an arm strongly around her, hugging her to his side. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he then tenderly brushed her soaking hair from her eyes.

“I thought she might have to answer questions from the police,” Sally said huskily. Her voice sounded creaky, as if her throat was raw from crying. “Or maybe they’d have a file on her and want to push her for details on her past jobs, something like that. She never played with the big boys, she was proud of the fact she always took the small, manageable jobs that paid well and helped her make ends meet. Plus she loved the thrill of it, the extra push she felt to stretch her talents. If I’d had even an inkling we’d bring those people to her door—”

“Hey,” he cut her off. He kept his voice low and soft but the tone firm so she couldn’t ignore him. “Sal. Listen to me. Carefully, okay?”

He waited till she nodded, a jerky motion.

“Sal, we didn’t bring this to her door. I swear it. I might have looked distracted, and you’re a very strong temptation to me, but I checked our tail thoroughly. Call it my latent paranoia, courtesy of working at the Agency coupled with that slightly non-linear method of thinking we talked about earlier today. We weren’t followed, and there’s not a chance we were tapped or listened to inside HQ. That’s not possible. I promise.”

Sally shivered but remained silent. For a moment he thought she might not believe him, or wasn’t listening. His heart stung. He tried to reword himself mentally, get his point across in a stronger way. He’d tell her over and over until she believed him if that’s what she needed.

“It wasn’t us?” she said quietly. Sally lifted her head, blinked the water from her eyes as she tried to meet his gaze.

Rob brushed his fingers lightly over her face, waited until she’d locked eyes with him. “It wasn’t us. I swear. I knew she was your friend, and I made sure we wouldn’t bring this to her door. We didn’t lead them to her. They were professionals, and they were there to kill her. Bullets don’t go through wood and glass like that, not normal ones. They were armor piercing rounds. These guys knew they wanted to attack her and had the right equipment. This wasn’t some random drive-by or seizing of an opportunity by following us. They tracked her down and came prepared.”

Sally shivered again. She fluttered her eyes shut and nodded. When she looked at him next, her gaze was clearer, sharper.

“Thank you, Bobby. For trying to protect her. I saw how you laid your body over both of us. I know that bullet graze you got was meant for either her or me. You’re truly a hero, the most wonderful man.”

Rob twisted his mouth wryly. He was about to make a dry comment, but she pressed her fingers to his lips.

“No, don’t. You’re my guardian. My knight in shining armor. I don’t care that you have all that control, or that we’ve wasted so much time. We’re here now and I know the true depths of your feelings. I know you’d do anything to protect those who need it. And though I can’t promise I won’t worry, I don’t even want to be parted from you again. I love you.”

“I’m no knight,” he insisted. “I was terrified I’d lose you, that you’d be hurt and it would be all my fault. When those shots rang out…” He let the words trail off. His throat constricting just at the memory of that sound, the fear that had inundated him. He’d truly frozen in that moment, unable to breathe or react. It played in his head on repeat, like some horrific movie scene he just couldn’t get rid of because it had been real.