“M-my editor. The article in the Post? It was mine. I told Lincoln it wasn’t ready, that it couldn’t go out until I gave the okay, but he went behind my back and published it anyway,” I rush to say before the angry expressions on the two men’s faces turn lethal. “He’s the one who outed Trevor as former CIA.”
“Still doesn’t explain why they put him on that plane so damn quick,” Dax says, and before I can explain, Ford clears his throat.
“I didn’t want to tell you when the Feds were here,” Ford says.
“Stop.”
Dax touches his ear, and Ford curses under his breath. “Hang on.”
As he strides out of the office, Marjorie enters carrying a tray with three steaming mugs of coffee, a sugar and creamer set, and a granola bar. “Pizza will be here in half an hour,” she says as she passes me the granola bar. “In the meantime, I got this out of the vending machine for you, dear.”
I tear into the wrapper, and across from me, Dax lets Marjorie take his hand and guide it to his coffee cup. “Thanks. Unless it’s food or our lawyers, we’re not to be disturbed.”
“Of course. You ring me if you need anything.” She passes Ford on her way out, and he sets a small metal box on the desk, then presses a button on the side. It flashes red twice, then green.
Ford blows out a breath. “Clear. They didn’t leave anything behind.”
“Anything?” I ask.
“Bugs. Get on with it, Ford.”
The granola bar gone, I suck down half the mug of coffee while Ford summarizes some of the worst parts of Trevor’s past—and mine. Gil’s betrayal, how Trev had to rescue Austin from Caracas after Gil tortured him, and his final operation for the CIA—killing his best friend.
“Fuck. So what? Farías wants revenge for Trev killing one of his double agents? That wouldn’t be enough for the government to just hand him over with no appeal.”
“There’s more.” The two men turn to me, and I suddenly feel so very small and alone. Trevor trusts them, so by extension, I do as well. But the way they’re looking at me…it’s like I just killed a member of their family.
Oh God. Maybe I did.
The realization threatens to suck me under. Barring a miracle, I’ll never see Trevor again, and everything that happens to him now. It’s my fault.
* * *
I can’t eatwhen the pizza comes, even though Ford and Dax have reassured me a dozen times that they don’t blame me and neither will Trevor. “You didn’t see him when they took him away,” I protest.
“Trevor’s one of the smartest guys I know,” Ford says.
“Excuse me?” This, from Dax as he tucks a napkin into the collar of his shirt and then carefully feels around for the paper plate in front of him. “You know I’m still in the room, right?”
“I said ‘one of.’” Ford snags a slice of pepperoni from the box and returns his focus to me. “Dani, this is going to sound…indelicate, but they arrested the two of you at 8:00 a.m., at Trevor’s place, and it’s pretty obvious you were in bed together when it happened.”
A flush creeps up my neck, but there’s no use hiding anything. If it would get Trevor back, I’d strip naked and let them check me for hickeys without batting an eye. “We…were.”
“When Trev told me about this trip, he left out the part about being in love with you. But it was so damn obvious, a neon sign couldn’t have been any clearer.”
I suck in a sharp breath. “We hadn’t seen each other in years.”
With a chuckle, Ford holds up his left hand and twists the obviously new and shiny ring on his finger. “I proposed to my wife more than twenty years ago. And then lost her until this past June. We got married right after Christmas. Love isn’t beholden to the ravages of time.”
When tears start to burn the corners of my eyes, I want to let them fall, but I can’t. I don’t know how.
“Call from…Ryker. Call from…Ryker,” a computerized female voice announces as Dax’s phone vibrates on the desk next to his paper plate. He tucks an earbud into place and taps it.
“How fast can you get to Caracas?” He asks without a single word of introduction. A moment later, he continues, “I’m going to put you on speaker. Ford’s here, along with Dani Monroe. She’s Austin Pritchard’s sister. Voice Assist, transfer call to speaker.”
“Transferring.”
After a crackle, a rough voice bursts from the phone. “Inara and West are somewhere in the middle of the Everglades for an off-book SERE training refresher. I can’t even reach them for another two days. But Graham and I can be in the air as soon as I find a plane willing to take us. You gonna tell me why?”
