Something soft unfolded inside him as he watched her, something he had never felt for a woman before. He was afraid to put a name to it, afraid of what it might mean.
He glanced at the clock as he rolled out of bed, careful not to wake her. Five p.m. They had slept most of the day, but there was still work to do.
Grabbing fresh clothes out of the suitcase and his Glock off the nightstand, he padded into the living room, picked up the hotel phone, and ordered coffee and a couple of sandwiches for a late lunch. Then he got an outside line and phoned Hunter Brady.
“It’s Bran Garrett, Hunt. I need to talk to you about Mara Ramos.” Hunt had been keeping tabs on Ramos since Bran had asked for his help.
“Where are you?”
“San Diego.”
“I’m in the office. Just got back from Ramos’s apartment. If it works for you, we can meet here.”
“Works great, I’m not far away. We need to eat something, then we’ll be there. An hour should do it.”
“We? You’ve got Jessie with you?”
He’d been as straight with Hunt, a former police detective, as possible. They had worked together before, and Bran trusted him. “She’s here. She’s had a rough time, but she’s okay. I’ll tell you about it when I see you.”
Next he phoned Tabby, identifying himself since he knew she wouldn’t recognize the hotel number.
“Hi, stranger,” Tabby said. “How are things in the Mile High City?”
“Long gone from there. I need you to check out my phone, make sure it’s not giving away any secrets, including my location.”
Before he’d found the bug in Jessie’s purse, Weaver and his crew had tracked her to Dallas, then back to the airstrip in Colorado Springs where they had landed. He figured that was how they knew about his plane, but he had to be sure.
“Your phone’s got state-of-the-art encryption,” Tabby said. “But I’ll take a look.”
“Thanks. Anything new on the offshore accounts?”
“Not so far. These guys are really good, but I’ve still got a few tricks I haven’t used. I took a look at your guy Weaver in ADMAX. His first name’s Edgar. He’s from Georgia, in for a triple homicide.”
“Yeah, we found that out.”
“So far I haven’t run across anything you can use, but I’ll keep looking.”
“Great. Also, I need you to go deeper on Mara Ramos. I have a feeling she’s not who she seems.”
“I can do that.”
“Make it your top priority, Tab. These guys aren’t messing around. Yesterday, they crashed Chase’s plane.”
“Crap, Bran! Tell me you and Jessie weren’t in it.”
“I wish I could. We’re both okay, but we need this to end.”
“I’m on it. I’ll call you back as fast as I can.” The line went dead. When the doorbell rang, Bran grabbed his pistol, checked the peephole, then stashed the gun out of sight and opened the door.
His stomach growled at the delicious smells coming from beneath the silver domes on the linen-draped cart as the server rolled it into the living room. He signed the tab, tipped the server, then closed and locked the door. He was about to wake Jessie when she walked into the living room, her face washed and her hair pulled into a French braid.
She was dressed in clean clothes, a pair of beige leggings, her brown ankle boots, and the lightweight, short-sleeve, peach knit top she’d had on in Dallas the first time he’d seen her. Hey, even in November it was sunny and mild in San Diego.
He caught a hint of cleavage as she drew near, and arousal slipped through him. Even after the slow, easy, very satisfying sex they’d had in the tub, she stirred his blood.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“My head doesn’t hurt, and thanks to some very sweet lovemaking, I slept all afternoon. I feel great.”
