Mine to Hold (13 page)

“Yeah.” She wished she could see him, but it shouldn’t be too much longer before they exited the airport—provided airport security hadn’t picked up the entire altercation in the terminal and decided to hunt her down.

“Hang on and stay quiet.”

The truck slowed. Her heart stopped.

The electronic window rolled down a moment later, and Tyler said, “Good morning.”

“Hmm.” The cashier made a noncommittal sound. “Is it? You’re here early.”

“Just dropping off someone for a flight.”

“Two dollars.”

After a rustling of bills, the window buzzed back up and the truck started moving again, picking up speed every second they rolled.

He lifted the backpack off of her, then tossed the blanket back a fraction. Cool air washed over her face, and she sighed with something between pleasure and relief.

Tyler jacked the phone back up to his ear. “Stay down another minute, Del. There are a few cops hanging around. Until we know who’s involved . . .”

Don’t trust anyone
. That had been his and Eric’s motto when they’d been together on the force.

The cab of the truck remained deathly silent except for her own breathing for the next few minutes. Finally, Tyler reached down and helped her into the passenger’s seat. “Good. Now, tell me, do you have a copy of the police report about the bomb that exploded your car?”

“No. I didn’t know who I could trust. I’d been asking questions at the precinct. I couldn’t get anyone to help me. I thought about calling Eric, but . . . After the bomb exploded, I just grabbed Seth, borrowed a neighbor’s car, and left town with nothing but the cash in my pocket. I stopped for a few supplies along the way and called an investigative reporter friend of mine, Lisa. She’d been helping me track you down. Once we pieced all the clues together, I drove straight to you.”

“Right.” Tyler’s jaw tensed. “You don’t know if it was C4 or a binary explosive? If it was an engine ignition or a remote detonation device?”

God, she’d seen the blast in her head a million times since it happened. Felt the shock, the roaring heat, heard the deafening roar of the blast. But she’d never picked the scene apart mentally with that much detail.

“Um, I don’t know anything about explosives, so no idea what they used. I started the car with my key fob. As I turned to pick Seth up, everything blew up. Damn near vaporized it.”

“Hear that, Deke? Yeah, I agree, sounds like it was rigged to blow when the ignition turned over.” Tyler turned a serious gaze on her. “Do you remember anything else? See anyone unusual loitering? Notice that your car had been tampered with?”

“Nothing. It was early morning. There was no one on the street. The sun wasn’t all the way up, so I couldn’t see anything unusual about my car.”

“Then what?”

“After the explosion, I screamed and stumbled back, shoving Seth to the ground. I covered him with my body. I got some scratches and bruises. He was okay, just scared. Oh, and it smelled terrible. A weird kind of . . . burned-orange-peel smell.”

“Shit.” Tyler gripped the cell phone even tighter. “Semtex, Deke?” He paused. “Yeah, run it by Jack. He’d know since he likes things that go boom. Let me know what he says. I’ll call later.”

With that, he hung up and turned to her. Whatever she’d said . . . Tyler’s face more than hinted it wasn’t good. “Tell me.”

He didn’t even pretend to misunderstand. “Semtex is the former Eastern Bloc’s version of C4. It often smells like a burnt orange peel. None of the other explosives really leave a signature odor like that.”

“Eastern Bloc?”

“Popular with the Russian Mob. They come up during your research?”

“No. From what I can tell, Carlson deals with street thugs and local drug dealers, not organized crime. Where would he get that kind of explosive?”

“From some really bad assholes. This shit is worse than I thought.”

Del dropped her face into her hand. Suddenly, staying alive felt like something way beyond her ability. “How’s Seth?”

“He’s fine, angel. Still asleep. Kimber and Alyssa will be there to get him soon and take him for a playdate with their kids.”

She nodded. Seth would enjoy having new friends and the chance to run around like a kid, not spend the day cooped up in a car. “Thanks.”

Still, worry plagued her. What happened if they didn’t catch Carlson right away? What happened if all her sources had dried up or refused to talk? She couldn’t leave Seth indefinitely.

Or what if Carlson found him?

“I see that look. Stop worrying,” Tyler warned. “Jack and Deke will never let anything happen to Seth. I swear it. Jack is a former Army Ranger. Deke was also military and did a little time with the FBI and still has connections all over the place. Seth couldn’t be safer.”

Those credentials did make her relax a bit. Her son was definitely safer with them. “If I thought for a second that giving up this story would make Carlson go away, for Seth’s safety, I would.”

“Somewhere along the way, you drew blood. You could have flown under Carlson’s radar if you hadn’t confronted him.”

“I was hoping to catch him off guard and that he’d say something for the record that was incriminating.”

Tyler just shook his head. “But since you did confront him . . . he’ll do anything to prevent what you know from going public. Today demonstrated that.”

“Since he destroyed all my latest notes, it’s going to take some backtracking to put the pieces of his warped puzzle back together so I can prove what I know. Right now, all I’ve got is my word about a conversation I overheard, plus a thug willing to pin a crime on a respected member of the community—none of that will hold up in court. I did get a chance to back up some of my evidence a few weeks before the explosion.”

Tyler sat up, hyper-focused. “In a safe-deposit box?”

“No.” She bit her lip. He wasn’t going to like her answer. “I put what I had at the time on a flash drive. I tried to think of the very last place that anyone would look for it. It couldn’t be my house or office. A safe-deposit box seemed too obvious. So . . . I snuck into Eric’s place.” Tyler’s eyes went wide, and before he could object, she plowed ahead. “Everyone in law enforcement circles knows our divorce was ugly. I figured if Carlson asked around about me, he’d never imagine that I’d hide my backup at Eric’s. I put it where I used to hide anything I wanted to keep private.” Even from Eric. Birthday cards from Tyler and her journal came to mind.

“When you called, he didn’t respond. So you need to get in the house and retrieve your evidence. Any chance Carlson knows that?”

“How could he? People don’t normally leave valuable items at their bitter ex’s place.”

“A bank might have been more obvious, but it would have been more secure.”

“Until he found some trumped-up way to subpoena the contents.”

Sighing, Tyler reached for her hand. “Yeah. This is all kinds of fucked up, but we’re going to fix it, angel.”

“You didn’t have to come with me.”

Tyler gritted his teeth. “Don’t start that again. We’re in this together.”

Del knew that tone of voice well. Conversation over. He’d used it countless times before on suspects—and a time or two on Eric. That deep conviction rumbling from his chest always gave her the shivers.

“You’re not the only one who wants to protect our son,” he said softly.

And she loved that about Tyler. When he cared, he cared big.

“I understand, but I want to be clear: What happened last night in your bedroom can’t happen again.”

She didn’t dare let him melt her resolve to keep distance between them. That kiss had been a huge mistake. They had a clear objective to take down Carlson and make Seth’s life safer. Anything else just complicated the situation. Tyler, being a heartbreaker, made it all even more complicated. She’d never forget the breathless, sublime moments she’d touched him, had him deep inside her. They’d connected in a way she never had with any lover. But he’d taken a chunk of her heart . . . and then he’d moved on. That’s who he was, and she’d be a fool to think that she—or even Seth—was going to change him.

“You want me to back off, keep my hands to myself?”

Even the thought of his hands on her made her belly flip. “Yes.”

Tyler turned to her as the empty road flew past and the sun crawled up the sky. His green eyes gleamed. He sent her a cocky grin. “Don’t hold your breath, angel.”

***

THE
morning passed by in a blur of tense silence and road stripes as mile after mile of back roads rolled by. They drove in a meandering path west as the sun rose. Tyler’s cell phone rang off and on, but his terse, one-sided conversations made little sense. But she understood that they were meeting someone in Houston for an exchange. If Tyler intended to pass her off to someone else for safekeeping, she’d leave him in the dust.

Del didn’t start the argument because he was strung really tight. He looked in the rearview mirror constantly. The police scanner tucked under his dash sputtered off and on, and he jumped to attention every time it did. She realized that he expected someone to be following them from New Orleans.

They hit the outskirts of Houston just before lunch. The morning rush had dissipated, but they still slogged through some heavy traffic. He stopped behind a gas station/mini-mart a few miles off the highway and told her to use the bathroom if she needed to. She did, keeping her head low around their cameras. On her way out, she longingly eyed the water bottles, but she was almost flat broke. And she’d be damned if she’d ask Tyler for anything more. He was already extending himself to help her. She refused to be a leech. When they got to L.A., she’d access the emergency fund she’d stashed in her garden.

Emerging from the little service station as traffic lazed by in the muggy air, Del came to a complete stop when she saw Tyler talking to a beautiful Asian woman with sleek curls brushing the top of her ass and a dress that wasn’t much longer.

The woman spoke in animated hand gestures and a wink. Tyler grinned. An immediate stab of jealousy knifed her in the heart. Del took a deep breath. Tyler wasn’t her man. He’d kissed her. So what? Apparently, he had a mad crush on his boss, Alyssa. Ex-boss. Whatever. Del knew that Tyler’s heart wasn’t hers, and that was for the best. Once this was behind them, they’d figure out some custodial arrangement beneficial to all and go their mostly separate ways. Tyler had always had a healthy sex drive and liked a lot of variety. Obviously, nothing had changed.

He caught sight of her and motioned her over. Swallowing the anger she didn’t want to feel, she made her way to the duo.

“Del, this is May. Remember Tara, back in Lafayette, married to one of the Edgington brothers?”

“The redhead who isn’t pregnant, right?”

“Yet. Logan is taking a land-based assignment in a few months. He’ll fix that quickly, I’m sure. Anyway, he has a friend named Xander who sent May to help—”

“Seriously?” She grabbed his arm. “Excuse us,” she said, dragging Tyler away from the beauty with the kohl-rimmed eyes.

“The fewer people who know what’s going on the better,” she pointed out. “I don’t know Logan, much less his friend. And who is this woman? We’re trusting her because she’s a friend’s friend’s . . . girlfriend?”

He frowned, then wrapped an arm around her waist, the gesture meant to comfort. “I get it, but we don’t have more appealing options. I’d trust Logan with my life. Xander is solid. This woman hasn’t been told anything except to exchange cars with us. Carlson’s goons will have gotten the license plate number to my truck from the security cameras at the airport in New Orleans. They’ll be tracking a black truck with Louisiana plates and giving law enforcement my plate number. I guarantee you, if we’d stayed in the truck longer, we would have been pulled over on some bullshit charge and detained until Carlson could reach us. Since you bought a plane ticket, he knows your destination, angel. If you think he isn’t watching I-10 like a hawk, you’re deluding yourself. Now get in the car.”

Del closed her mouth. Of course Carlson would have law enforcement on his side. For all she knew, he’d put out an APB on her. Did that make Tyler guilty of aiding and abetting? Was some crooked, small-town cop waiting just around the next bend for Tyler’s big truck to appear so they could pull it over? She realized now that she’d only crossed the country unaccosted because Carlson hadn’t known her destination, and he hadn’t realized she’d be driving her neighbor’s car. The kind widow had gone for a month to visit her daughter who lived overseas and wouldn’t miss the little Honda for weeks.

But with her stunt this morning, Del realized that she’d killed their element of surprise and put them both in danger.

“Sorry. I didn’t . . . think it all the way through.”

“You’re not used to thinking like this. Don’t beat yourself up, angel. Get in the car, and let’s go.”

She nodded, then thanked May as she walked toward the sleek, gray Lexus sedan. She pulled the doors open, marveling at the new-car smell of the leather seats. Everything was pristine. The car probably cost more than she’d made last year. It was love at first sight.

Especially when she spotted the small cooler of water bottles sitting on the floorboard of the passenger’s side. She grabbed one gratefully as Tyler climbed in and pulled away. He watched May drive off with his truck in the rearview mirror.