She fought the urge to squirm. Heath moved toward her as if sensing her discomfort, and the heat from his body washed over her. While he didn’t touch her, just having his solid form near calmed her rioting nerves. A little.
Ryker cut Denver a look and sighed.
Anya frowned. What were the weird undercurrents going on? Her face heated. She’d had no right to involve these people in a battle with a serial killer. They seemed to already have enough going on. “I know I’ve created danger with the Copper Killer, and if it’s a problem, I can go work with the FBI.”
“Good idea,” Ryker said bluntly.
Denver just studied her. She’d seen a wild bear once on a refuge, and Denver’s gaze was similar, somehow. She rubbed her suddenly freezing arms.
“No,” Heath said. “The FBI will store you somewhere they think is safe, and I doubt their security at this point. This guy has outmaneuvered them before.”
Denver rubbed his chin. “True.”
“The decoy offices?” Heath repeated without much patience.
Ryker slipped a hand into his pocket. “Across town. Just for show, but we made a good effort. Fully protected with the same measures, along with one large apartment upstairs that we can make look like we use it. Very similar to what we have here, but this place is our safe zone, and it’s untraceable. The other is a decoy zone,” he said evenly. “We need to discuss how far and how public we want to go. The more visible we become, the faster we’ll need to get out of here. It’s a hit-and-run op, or we’re dead.”
Anya shook her head, her stomach aching. The apartment she’d temporarily shared with Loretta was all the way across town. She didn’t know this neighborhood at all. “You guys are talking weird lingo here. What are you saying?”
Nobody spoke.
Ryker cleared his throat. “Also, we, ah, retrieved all of your belongings from the apartment you were sharing with your sister across town. Everything is in boxes upstairs.”
They’d done what? Anya paused. “How?”
Once again, nobody answered her.
Zara looked at Ryker and then straightened her shoulders. “How about I take Anya upstairs and show her Heath’s apartment?” She reached for Anya’s arm with a soft touch. “You’ve been on the road for two days. The showers aren’t luxurious by any means, but I’ve stocked them with very nice supplies.”
“Good idea.” Heath kept his veiled gaze on his brothers and then gave Anya a gentle nudge. “I’ll be up in a few.”
Anya looked around but couldn’t think of a protest. They had every right to keep their lives private, but now she was part of this op. For the moment, part of the team.
Yet they didn’t trust her. Her chest ached, and she lifted her chin, drawing on a calm mask. How nice would it be to belong? To really belong to a family again, like she’d been with her father? Her eyes were gritty, and her hair felt limp. Maybe a shower would wake her up. “Okay, a shower sounds nice. Heath, when you come up, I want to know what’s going on. If I’m going to be part of this plan, then no more secrets.”
Did Denver snort?
Anya swung her gaze to him, but his face remained expressionless. Just who were these people? Big badass blank slates, that’s what.
But who?
CHAPTER
16
Heath waited until Zara had squired a bewildered Anya out of the parking level before facing his brothers. “All right. Let me have it.”
Denver crossed his arms, which amounted to a full-out lecture of disapproval.
While Heath usually spoke up for Denver, this time Ryker jumped right in. “You told me she was all bruised up when you first met her, although she seems fine now. What the holy fuck are you doing?”
Heath sighed and dropped the bags. “What needs to be done. The bruises weren’t from a man. Well, not a man she was involved with. This isn’t about me or childhood scars. My past doesn’t drive me.”
Denver snorted.
Ryker interpreted. “Our childhood scars do more than drive us, and you know it. Own it before it gets you killed.”
Ah. As usual, his brothers were worried about him and not themselves. Even so. “Anya was bruised training in self-defense. She’s not a battered woman, and I’m not having flashbacks to my mom.”
