Protecting Justice (The Justice Series Book 4) (20 page)

“Oh, boy,” Syd said. “Sounds like a safe house is a good idea.”

“I don’t know.” Fallyn shook her head. She wasn’t worried her life was in danger, and she didn’t like the idea of letting the president or anyone else know she was scared of them. “Isn’t that a little extreme?”

Tony nodded. “I was just on the phone with Grey and he agrees we need to put you somewhere off the grid. Except the Justice Team doesn’t have a safe house.”

Syd shifted her weight, her right hip jutting out. “And you want to use my shelter?”

“Grey says there’s a mother-in-law’s suite over the garage out back that’s empty.”

Syd gave him a look that said he was crazy. “You want to hide Fallyn out there?”

“You hide women in there all the time, Sydney.”

“And just how do you know…?” She caught herself and let out a sigh. “Grey told you. Of course. That information does not leave this room, you two.”

Fallyn and Tony both made agreement nods, but Fallyn spoke up. “I don’t want to impose on Sydney. We’ll find somewhere else.”

“The suite is not currently in use,” Syd said, “but what kind of assurance do I have that hiding Fallyn there won’t bring danger to my residents?”

“That’s my job,” Tony said. “She won’t have interaction with anyone. We’ll keep our comings and goings completely secret. You won’t even know we’re there. Plus, I’m gonna get some friends to help keep an eye on the place. Couple guys owe me a favor.”

Syd tapped a foot and threw a thumb over her shoulder, pointing at the door. “How will you get her there without your watcher knowing?”

Tony gave Fallyn a devilish grin. “I got that covered.”

Fallyn’s ovaries did a cheer at that grin. Man, how she loved to see him smile like that, all full of himself. When he let that confidence loose—those rare times—she found it disarming and a total turn-on. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” she asked.

His smile widened but he didn’t say a word.

Yep, definitely not going to like this
.

Seeing that smile, though, was totally worth whatever was about to happen. “I’m in,” she said, smiling back. “Let’s do this.”

* * *

“Here we go,” Tony said shoving the dining room table off the Oriental rug.

Fallyn looked at him, perfect eyebrows drawn. “Here we go what? Be careful. My sister bought that rug overseas at a bazaar last year. She loves—loved—it.”

He pointed at the rug. “Your chariot awaits.”

Her gazed snapped to the rug and back. “I don’t understand.”

“We’re gonna roll you up in it.”

“Are you insane?”

“Probably. But if you want to get out of here with no one seeing, this is your chance. We roll you in the rug, I carry the rug out with the clothes and put everything in the van at the curb and it looks like what it is. That you’re donating your sister’s things. I’ll come back inside, put on a few lights and the television, lock up and leave. If anyone is watching they’ll think you’re inside. By the time they figure out you’re not—”

“I’m long gone.”

He poked his finger at her. “Bingo.” He turned to Syd. “Don’t go straight to the shelter. Grey wants to make sure no one follows you. Loop around the city, then meet him at the bakery he said you guys get cupcakes from. Once he’s sure no one followed you, he’ll grab Fallyn and transport her to the shelter.”

Fallyn faced Syd. “Are you sure you’re comfortable with this? Whatever is going on, I don’t want you or any of your residents to get hurt.”

“As long as you’re not coming in or out the front door, I’m okay with it.” She glanced up at Tony, her lips spreading into a sultry smile and he suddenly understood Sydney’s power. “And if the big man here is adding some free muscle, we’re probably safer with you around.”

“Working on it.” Tony tapped his finger against his wrist. “Fallyn, tick-tock. We got shit to do. Grey is going to meet you and Syd at the cupcake place.”

She let out a huff, added an eye roll to fully cement her frustration. “Oh, my God, you are so pushy.”

But she dropped to the floor. Damn, he liked her. She might bitch a lot, but she knew when to give up the fight.

Stretched out on the rug, she folded her hands over her belly and Tony squatted next to her. “You good?”

“Yepper.”

“You don’t get claustrophobic do you?”

“Only around slimy politicians. Vocational hazard.”

Syd snorted and Tony grinned down at Fallyn, took in her goofy smile and his chest seized. He leaned in, popped a quick kiss on her lips. Couldn’t help it. The woman was fearless and it flipped every one of his buttons.

In one way or another.

He pulled back from the kiss and their eyes locked. “Thank you,” Fallyn said. “We’ll do more of that later.”

“So,” Syd clapped her hands together. “I’ll just wait outside.”

Tony pecked her lips again. “Honey, fair warning, when I get you into a bed, I’m gonna rock your world.”

“Promises, promises.”

She reached up, smacked her hand over the back of his neck and dragged him in for another soul-frying kiss that made his little brain salute.

Somehow, this thing just got a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

After loading Fallyn into Syd’s Fresh Start van, an apparent donation from one of the local car dealers, Tony marched back into Heather’s house, checked all the windows and doors, flipped on some lights and the television—CNN—and sat at the kitchen island to give Syd lead time.

He set his phone down on the cold granite and propped his chin in his hand. How much sleep had he’d gotten these last few days? Normally, he didn’t require a lot. Five hours a night usually got him through. He might be averaging five over two days and now that he’d sat down, the lack of movement in the house, the lack of chaos lulled his body into thinking a nap might be imminent.

Not today. At least not now. Once he got Fallyn settled with his buddy Matt on lookout, he’d grab a combat nap.

And maybe, circumstances permitting, give Fallyn an orgasm or ten.

His tired and filthy mind drifted, formed a picture of Fallyn, stretched across a bed—a big bed—waiting for him. Bare-assed naked except for her shoes. What his obsession was with the shoes, he didn’t know, but she had wicked sexy shoes and they would go nicely with her birthday suit.

The icemaker in the fridge flipped a fresh batch of cubes and the
thunk
brought him out of his mind travel.

He checked his phone again. Nothing from Grey yet. It had only been thirty minutes and with traffic, Syd could be stuck in a snarl while looping the city.

Sitting idle wasn’t helping. Another walk-thru of the house wouldn’t hurt. Just to be sure. He stood, shook out his legs, scooped up his phone and headed upstairs where the safe—that goddamned safe—in Heather’s bedroom had been left ajar by the intruder. Another failed attempt to obtain the one thing he wanted.

Heather’s tablet was proving mighty popular. Now all they had to do was figure out why.

Halfway up the stairs his phone rang. Grey. Finally.

He punched up the call. “What’s up?”

“We got a tail. And I can’t shake him.”

Chapter Twelve

One of Fallyn’s clients, Gail Hanson, always said bad things happened in threes. Fallyn decided if that was true, she could relax. She’d met her day’s quota. First the president, then Special Agent Bronco, then the intruder. In fact, after the past week, she was pretty sure she’d met the entire year’s quota.

Justice Greystone’s Dodge charger wound its way around a section of the city Fallyn had never seen before. She took another bite of cupcake and leaned her head against the headrest. “Syd was right. These are excellent peanut butter-chocolate cupcakes.”

Grey glanced in his rearview. “They’re her favorites.”

Syd had driven around the city enough to make Fallyn’s head spin; Grey was doing the same. It had taken Fallyn at least ten minutes to unroll herself from the rug in the back of Syd’s van, Tony had wrapped her up so tight. She’d never been claustrophobic, but being wrapped up in that rug and not knowing where she was going made her a touch carsick. Once she was able to exit the rug and climb up to the seat to talk to Syd, her stomach settled. A few minutes later, and in a different vehicle driving through the DC twilight, she was ravenous.

Stress did that to her. The adrenaline and uncertainty of what came next. Not all stress was bad, but either way, it made her hungry. Her dad had never been big on doling out hugs, but he’d shoved more than a few plates of spaghetti in front of her during her teen years.

As she polished off another bite of cupcake, she wondered where Tony was and if he was okay.

Of course, he is.
He’s Tony Gerard, one-man army
. He would have laughed at her for worrying about him.

Syd and Fallyn had met Grey at the cupcake shop, where the leader of the Justice Team had handed his fiancée a box of goodness. Syd had smiled, pecked him on the cheek, and dug out a cupcake for Fallyn. “You look like you could use this,” she said. “Guaranteed to make you feel better.”

“I like your girlfriend.” Fallyn licked frosting from the top of the cupcake. The rich chocolate flavor mixed with the creamy peanut butter really was doing a world of good for her attitude. She no longer wanted to kill someone. “She’s no nonsense like me.”

“That she is.” He checked his side view. “So who do you think is trailing us?”

Right. Back to reality. It sort of pissed her off that some freak behind them was ruining her moment. Sometimes a girl needed to enjoy her freaking cupcake without worrying about who might be after her. “Most likely, someone the president sent to make me nervous. Second guess? Special Agent Bronco.”

She felt like adding that they both could go screw themselves, but that was unprofessional, and while Tony might appreciate her bluntness, she had the feeling Grey wouldn’t. She wasn’t worried about the person trailing them. If anything, this was a show of power from Nicols, following up on his earlier threats.

“Tony brought me up to speed on everything.” Grey took a sharp right, running a red light without hesitation. They were on the outskirts of the city, passing endless row houses, interrupted here and there by a gas station or pizza place. “Do you think our tail is the same person who was in the townhouse earlier?”

“Could be, but I swear, Syd lost anybody who followed her. She was all over the city. And why would anyone follow her, anyway? Tony made it look like I was still at the townhouse with him, right? That was the plan.”

Grey didn’t verbally confirm, but he didn’t need to. They both knew Tony was an expert at his job. “I didn’t see this tail when I snagged you from Syd. We picked them up a mile after we left the cupcake shop. Who besides Tony would have a GPS tracker on you? Did the president or any of his men touch your clothing or handle your purse?”

Fallyn lifted an eyebrow at Grey. “Tony has a GPS tracker on me?”

“Three to be exact. Security precaution.”

Security. Right. She still felt violated a teeny, tiny bit. Should probably insist Tony make it up to her later. “I understand the reason. I just don’t understand why he didn’t tell me.”

Grey shrugged. “Did anyone handle your purse or coat besides Tony today?”

Fallyn thought it over. “No. I sat across from the president in his limo. He never touched me or my clothing, thank God. Neither did any of his Secret Service agents.”

“I doubt Bronco would tag you either. Still might be a good idea to ditch the purse and coat.”

Fallyn finished off the cupcake, brushed crumbs off her hands and shrugged out of her coat. “I left my purse back at the townhouse, so Tony has that. Where do you suggest I ditch the coat?”

Grey punched a button on his door. An electronic whirring noise came from her window as it slowly slid down and disappeared.

“You can’t be serious,” she said, hugging the coat to her. “This is a Burberry. It’s my favorite.”

Her exasperation didn’t phase him. “Toss it,” he said without so much as a glance her way.

Sighing heavily, she shoved it out the window as they drove over a tiny bridge. Cool air rushed in at her and she fought off a chill as the sun sank lower on the horizon.

All she wanted was a glass of wine, another one of those cupcakes and a hot soak in a big tub.

And maybe a little hot, bodyguard sex.

Yep, that would definitely be a bonus.

The window made its whirring noise as it closed. Grey took a left, cutting across a couple of lanes to drive by some large abandoned warehouses. “Let’s talk about who had motive to kill your sister. I looked into the whackos who threatened her after the vote on the military pay raises and none seemed legit or capable of this type of thing. I agree with the FBI findings; there were no credible threats.”

Mr. All Business. She tried not to grieve over her lost coat. “If the theory Tony and I are working on is correct, the president. If his son shot down that plane, he wouldn’t want anyone to know about it. Plus, he has vast resources. Offing my sister would have been a piece of cake. He easily could have found out about her heart condition and had someone give her that dose of Perisoladol.”