He caught Ryder’s gaze. “I need to get to DC.”
Miller thrust the back door open, and a wave of cool air washed into the house. “Vehicle’s gone.”
“She’ll be hours ahead of you,” Ryder said.
“I don’t care. I just need to get there.”
“I don’t understand,” Olivia cut in. “Why DC? The note says she plans to disappear.”
“Because she’s going after Roberts herself,” Marley answered before Zane could. Slowly, she shook her head. “She’s trying to protect you.”
Yeah, Zane had already figured that out. He looked toward Eve’s sister. “She’s lying. She doesn’t believe Roberts is the mole, so she’s planning to confront him herself.”
“Stupid woman,” Ryder muttered. To Marley, he said, “Get on the horn to Mack and get our plane fueled and ready to go.” Then to Zane, “She can’t have more than a three- to four-hour head start. Flying private, we might beat her. If we hustle.”
Zane wasn’t so sure. When Eve put her mind to something, she found a way to make it happen, then and there.
“I still don’t understand,” Olivia said. “She can’t show her face anywhere. The government’s watching for her.”
Olivia obviously didn’t know the extent of Eve’s career. “She knows that. And she’ll find a way around it. She has a stash somewhere in Seattle—money, passports, disguises—in case things went wrong.” He focused on Ryder again. “If she went back for that, then yeah, it’s possible we might beat her. But probably not. This is Eve we’re talking about.”
He headed for the stairs, already cataloging what he’d need to take with him. Ryder’s voice stopped him. “Archer.”
With one hand on the newel post, he looked back. Ryder stood in the archway between the entry and great room. “Yeah?”
“Is she worth it?”
Eve had asked him the same thing. In that motel. And then he hadn’t been able to give her an answer. His gut told him she’d run this time because she loved him, not because she was trying to end things. But there was always the possibility he was wrong. Was she worth getting his teeth kicked in again if he found out he really was just a means to an end?
“I loved you, you son of a bitch.”
Confidence swirled in his chest. “More than worth it.”
Ryder nodded. “Then I’m in. Get your gear. We’re gone in ten.”
Eve stood in the trees outside ADD Ian Roberts’s brick colonial on the banks of the Potomac in Alexandria, Virginia. Dusk was just settling in, and no lights had come on inside the house yet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t home.
Common sense told her surprise was her best friend at the moment, but her mind kept second-guessing her decisions. She knew Archer was probably spitting nails right now, but she didn’t want him to walk into another situation that could possibly get him killed. Not when she was the reason, and not when she could be the one to end it.
She’d gotten the lay of the land earlier. The big old colonial was at least three stories, with tall white pillars that rose from the front steps all the way to the roofline, and a balcony that stretched above the double-door entry. A daylight basement and multiple decks opened to the back, and more windows than she could count gazed out at the wide river. Beyond the patio sat a swimming pool, a dock, and a forty-foot sailboat bobbing on the river.
The more she looked around the lavish property, the harder it was for her to deny the fact the man had money. More money than she’d expected. That didn’t mean he’d gotten it selling Company secrets, though. He could have inherited his money, like Archer.
Yeah, right. When, during this entire ordeal, have you been right about anything?
Pushing aside the doubt, she tried the doors on the bottom level and first deck. All were locked. Thankful for the dimming light, she climbed the closest tree, then jumped to the roof. Her boots crunched on the roofing material. She paused, waiting to see if anyone came running out. When nothing happened, she climbed over the peak, then dropped to the third-floor balcony and reached for the door.
The handle turned without resistance.
Exercise equipment filled the rectangular room. A flat-screen TV was mounted high on the wall.
She moved to the door and quietly opened it. The third-floor hall was quiet and empty. Moving down the steps, she pulled her Glock from its holster at her lower back and held it in both hands. Wood creaked under her boots. She paused steps from the second level and waited, her heart pounding in her ears.
Again nothing moved. No sound echoed through the house. But the sudden tightness in her chest brought her feet to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.
“You don’t have to do everything on your own.”
How many times had Zane said that to her? More times than she could count. More times than she deserved to hear. Against the handle of her gun, her palms grew sweaty, and the air seemed to clog in her throat.
Understanding pushed pinpricks of heat up her neck and cheeks. What the hell was she doing? Whether Roberts was the mole or not, she shouldn’t be here alone. If the last few days had taught her anything, it was that they worked better together than apart. And Zane was right. She didn’t have to do everything alone. She could lean on him and not lose a part of herself in the process. She could love him and not have to fear the future. Because she was a better person with him than without.
Of course, right now he was probably seeing only red because she’d run from him again. He couldn’t possibly know that’s what she’d needed to do to realize she couldn’t live without him.
Warmth unfurled in her stomach and spread all through her body, and a completeness—one she hadn’t expected to ever feel again—took up space right in the middle of her chest.
Slowly, she backed up the stairs. No, she wasn’t doing this alone. She’d leave, call Zane, try to make things up to him. Then come back with him and do this right.
Wood creaked on the stairs. When she reached the top step, she turned back for the exercise room.
A hand wrapped around her mouth and jerked her back into a hard, solid body. “Not the smartest move you’ve ever made. Not even close.”
24
The muzzle of a gun pressing against the base of Eve’s skull caused her entire body to stiffen. “Drop the gun, Juliet.”
Eve knew that voice. Knew it well. And knew it meant business.
Disbelief at her utter gullibility whipped through her like a tornado, sending her stomach into a hard, tight knot. She’d missed the signs. Hadn’t even seen this coming, even though she knew better than to trust the people around her. She’d clearly been blinded by emotion on this one.
Slowly, she lowered her hand. When it was at her side, she released her hold on the weapon. It clanked to the floor at her feet with a deafening thunk.
“Good girl. I always knew you were smart.”
Carter.
Sweat broke out all over Eve’s skin as she lifted her arms in surrender. “Y-you staged that scene in the park to make it look like you were dead?”
“Things were getting too hot,” he said at her back. “I couldn’t have people looking my way. And it would have worked too. If you’d died there like you were supposed to. Your will to live keeps fucking with my plans, Juliet. Where’s Archer?”
Her mind spun. “H-he’s not here. I left him in Washington.”
Carter was silent at her back, and she knew he was contemplating whether she was telling the truth or not. Finally, he said, “I want you to know I tried, Juliet. I really did. I tried to get you to back off, but you just wouldn’t. All you had to do was let Archer die in Guatemala so I’d know you wouldn’t be a problem, but you couldn’t even do that. I never wanted to involve you, but you left me no choice.”