If he’d hoped to make her blush, it had worked. She got an adorably embarrassed look on her face for a moment before giving him a Sunday-school-teacher glare. “It makes perfect sense. And I’m already involved.Ifthe person who attacked me in the parking lot and went through my apartment does have something to do with this, they aren’t going to just go away.” He could hardly argue otherwise when he’d been telling her how much danger she was in and why she couldn’t go home for the past few days. But that was why he wanted her to stay here—with him. “What if they are the same people who set you guys up? You can’t let this opportunity go by. You might be content to live in hiding forever, but I’m not.”
“I told you it wouldn’t be forever,” he snapped. “All I’m asking for is a few more days.”
“We could lose the advantage we have if we wait. Right now no one knows you are alive. Who’s to say that will be the case in a few days? We can set a trap and take them by surprise.”
“With you as bait? It’s not going to happen.”
He was practically shaking with fury, but she just sat there on the bed with her head tilted to the side ever so slightly, staring at him. Those big blue eyes penetrating and seeing far more than he wanted her to.
“Why not?”
“That should be obvious. It’s too goddamned dangerous. If these are the same people, they aren’t going to be fucking around. They will shoot to kill, and I can guarantee they won’t miss like they do in the movies.”
Just the thought made him almost physically ill. If anything happened to her...
He’d lose his freaking mind. Hell, just thinking about it was testing his sanity.
She continued to stare at him with a knowing look in her eyes that he didn’t like. “I’m sure we could come up with some kind of plan to minimize that risk. What is this really about, John? Is it because I’m a woman?”
“No.” But it didn’t hurt. Jesus Christ, look at her! She was tiny—or tiny compared to him. And unless Hermione had a magic wand tucked in the back pocket of her jeans, she didn’t have any superpowers.
Clearly she didn’t believe him. “If I were one of your guys we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“You’re right, but that’s because my guys are trained. They are some of the most elite operatives in the world. You are a reporter!”
“I trust you and whoever you are talking to on the phone to protect me.”
He didn’t deserve or want that kind of trust. “It’s not going to happen, Brit.”
“If I were anyone else, you wouldn’t be acting like this. You are letting your personal feelings blind you to what needs to be done. This isn’t just about you; it’s about the other survivors as well.”
She was right about his personal feelings. She wasBrand’s sister; he’d promised to look out for her, and using her as bait sure as hell didn’t qualify.
But he knew that wasn’t all of it.
“I want to do this, John. Not just for me or you or your teammates, but for Brandon. If there is a way I can find out who is responsible for his death, I have to do it. You can see that, can’t you?”
No. He wasn’t seeing anything right now except her lying in a pool of blood, and that sure as hell wasn’t going to happen. He was breaking into a cold sweat just thinking about it.
But he wasn’t as deaf or blind to her argument as he wanted to be. She was right. If it were anyone else, he might consider it. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was her, and she was...
Fuck.
She must have seen the slight opening and gone in for the kill. “Call the guy you are always talking to on the phone. See what he says. If he thinks it’s a good idea, we go forward.”
“No.”
“John, you are being—”
He cut her off. “If he thinks it’s a good idea, I’ll consider it. But only if I can be sure that nothing can go wrong.”
But he knew that was impossible. Something always went wrong.
Twenty
John stared down at the clouds from the airplane’s small window and wondered what the hell he was doing. How had he let them talk him into this?
He hadn’t slept the entire eight-hour flight from Copenhagen into Toronto. He was too on edge, and his head was spinning.
