His nostrils flared indicating sheer annoyance. A part of me wanted to continue egging him on.
“Bite?” I did my best to stretch my arm across the top of the Blazer, but only after stepping on the running board.
He cocked his handsome head, pointing to the vehicle. “Get inside.”
“Yes, sir.” Unlocking the door, I slipped in, acting as if I wasn’t going to allow him to climb in.
As he bent over, staring at me through the driver’s window, I read more concern on his face than I’d seen before.
After I quickly unlocked the door, he slid into the cab and I was surprised when he didn’t try to take the keys from my hand.
“What’s wrong?”
He took a deep breath, always contemplating what to tell me. “The mole was found.”
“The mole?”
“The person responsible for sharing my location in Vermont with a range of assassins.”
“Who was it?”
His entire demeanor had changed since stopping at the gas station. Whoever he’d talked to on the phone had alerted him to several discoveries. “A traitor. There is nothing worse than sharing time and space with someone you believed you could trust only to realize they were playing a role. A treacherous game.”
The quick look he gave me had me holding my breath. “I don’t understand.” Why was I holding my breath? I’d done nothing wrong except for listen in on his private conversation. Okay, and I’d called my friend to warn her. What was so horrible about that?
“I’m so sorry. Who was it?”
“My pilot. He’d been with us for years. Years. One of my brothers considered him a friend. Hell, he came to several holiday eventsover the years with the entire family. Can you imagine what it’s like to find out someone you completely trusted betrayed you?’
“Why would he do that?”
He laughed. “Why do men do anything? For money. You can buy anything you want, Fleur, including false loyalty.”
“What will happen to him?”
“Well, right now he’s on ice.”
“What does that mean?”
Very slowly he turned his head and it seemed as either if he was testing me or searching to see if I could be trusted. “That means his punishment will wait until I return. Although my men will soften him up in anticipation of my arrival.”
“You’re right. I don’t need details. How did you find this out?”
“I called my brother. Since we’re in the dark at this point, Alexander had been picking up the slack, discovering as much about what we’re dealing with as possible. Starting wars based on partial information isn’t in our best interest.”
“Just spill it, Montgomery. Whatever it is you need to tell me, please do. I can take a lot in my life and have through the years as I’ve shared with you, but beating around the bush isn’t one of them. Just say it.” The weight of the candy bar left a tingling sensation in my hand, a lead weight as if prepared to drag me into hell.
“Fair enough. Danny had been staying at the motel for several days.”
“What? What are you saying?”
He nodded, looking at me. Was an accusation in the statement? “He checked in the same day I arrived in town.”
I knew instantly what he was insinuating. “You think Danny was hired to kill you.”
“I think there’s a distinct possibility. As we both know, if he was, then he joined a long list of people prepared to do so.”
“For the Bratva he worked with.”
