“Okay,” she said in a low voice. Turning slightly, she unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, and he wondered if she was trying to get his mind on another track. But she was only retrieving the cell phone from where she’d said she put it. She reached inside her bra, pulled out the instrument, and held it out in her hand.
He took the phone from her, feeling the warmth of the plastic that had been next to her skin. Conscious that her gaze was fixed on him, he stepped to the kitchen counter and turned on a fluorescent light so he could see what he was doing. Using a knife, he pried the back off the phone and examined the inner workings. Carefully, he took out the SIM card and held it up.
“This could be nothing more than an ordinary card,” he said.
“I know. But I think the clues Arnold gave me argue that it’s something else.”
“Let’s hope so.”
He looked around the room, evaluating his options. “I’m going to put this in a safe place.”
“Where?”
He waited a beat before saying, “I think it’s better if I don’t tell you.”
She swallowed hard. “Maybe that’s right.”
He clicked the case back on the phone and shoved the knife back into a kitchen drawer.
“Be right back.”
When she nodded, he went to the basement stairs. Of course, a basement was an unusual feature on the Eastern Shore, but Rockfort had found a house with one.
After turning on the light, he descended and looked back the way he’d come. Elena was nowhere in sight, and unless she had some kind of reverse periscope, she wasn’t going to see what he was doing.
He walked to the tool bench. There was a small gap where one of the table legs was attached to the top, and he shoved the card into the space, then used a screwdriver head to push it far enough in so that it was invisible. If you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t be able to find it. After replacing the screwdriver, he returned to the first floor to find Elena standing where he’d left her, looking lost and uncertain.
He’d been intent on taking care of the evidence. Now he suddenly thought of everything that had happened to her during the past few hours and had to fight the impulse to reach for her and fold her into his arms. She looked like she needed holding, but he thought that was a bad idea, considering the passion that had flared between them when he’d kissed her in the car after their dinner together.
As he’d held her then, he’d thought about asking if he could come inside with her. If he had, he would have bumped into her brother waiting for her. That thought helped him keep his objectivity. And also brought up another point. What if he’d confronted the brother earlier? Could the last few violent hours have been avoided? Would he have known by looking at Alesandro that something bad was about to go down? Or would he have simply thought that the brother was being hostile to a guy who wanted to sleep with his sister?
He tried to dismiss that last thought and return to the subject of violence. He was used to it, but Elena wasn’t. And because he wanted to help her cope with her recent ordeal, he said, “You should drink something.”
“You mean liquor?”
“I was thinking water. We both should.”
He opened the refrigerator, took out two bottles, and handed her one. He unscrewed the top from the other and lifted the bottle to his lips, drinking deeply.
She did the same.
“Now what?” she asked.
“I’m going to contact Rockfort Security and tell them what happened.”
“Okay.”
He considered it a good sign that she agreed.
“Do you think your brother is still at your apartment?” he asked.
“No.” She gulped. “After I double-crossed him, he would try to get away before those men caught up with him.”
“You didn’t double-cross him.”
“That’s how he thinks of it.”
“He asked you to get involved in something unsavory, and you realized you couldn’t go through with it.”
She clenched her fists at her sides. “I should have come to you first instead of going to the S&D building.”
“Why didn’t you?”
She unclenched her fists, then clenched them again. “Family loyalty. And…I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
“Because?”
She lowered her head, and the posture made him reach for her. When he pulled her into his arms, she melted against him, and he pulled her close. It felt good to hold her, like the two of them were in this together—and they could get out of it together. Family loyalty had gotten her into a mess. She could have flat-out refused, but she hadn’t done that. It made him wonder what it would be like to have someone so totally committed to him that they’d do anything he asked.
“You’re a tough guy. And ruthless, like the soldiers back home.”
“That’s how you see me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I have a tough exterior,” he muttered and was glad she didn’t ask him what he was really like. Did he actually know? Or had the past year changed him into someone he didn’t recognize? Instead of revealing anything more than he wanted to, he said, “We could both use some rest.”
“Yes,” she murmured.
He eased away from her, wondering if the situation was going to look better in the morning. He didn’t think so, but maybe Max or Jack could do some investigating in Rockville and find out who had come after the brother.
“I don’t suppose you know who demanded that your brother send you over to S&D on that unfortunate mission,” he said.
“No.”
“And Alesandro’s probably not going to tell you.”
“Maybe he doesn’t even know who’s really behind it.”
“That’s possible,” he conceded, wondering if it could be true.
He had just downed another swallow of water when an alarm started to ring and he knew the situation had just gotten a whole lot worse.
“Shit.”
He’d brought Elena here because he thought it was safe—at least for the time being. Apparently he’d been wrong. Hopefully not dead wrong.
Chapter 15
Turning, Shane charged into the safe-house office and looked at the monitor.
Elena followed him. “What’s happening?”
“We’ve got company.”
“How?”
He kept his gaze fixed on her. “I’d like to know. Did you have something on you that would lead them to us?”
“No,” she said in a shaky voice, then more firmly, “No. I mean, what would it be?”
Scenarios spun through his mind as he strode to the control panel and clicked off the alarm, then crossed the room and did the same with the lamps he’d turned on, plunging the room into darkness. It sure hadn’t taken long for the bad guys to arrive. It looked like they’d come down from Rockville right behind him and Elena. A nasty thought struck him. What if the thugs had put a transponder on his car—just in case? If he managed to get Elena out of town, they’d know exactly where the two of them had gone. That scenario made as much sense as anything else.
The kitchen held a lot more than food preparation equipment and dishes. He hurried back and took a pair of night-vision goggles from a drawer. With them in hand, he killed the lights, then crossed the darkened room to the side of the window. When he looked out, he could see men coming up from the road, slipping through the tall grass and shrubbery, and silently advancing on the house.
“I see five men out there.”
She closed her hand over his arm. “This is my fault. Let me help.”
“It’s not your fault,” he answered automatically.
“It is. And maybe I can get us out of it.”
“How? You’re not going to give them that SIM card.”