“Webb?” Her brows dipped inward. “You mean the Secretary of the Navy? Isn’t he the one you don’t like?”
As she asked the question, the back door to the SUV opened. A second later, its occupant stepped outside.
“Hello, Mr. Braddock.”
Fucking Webb.
Standing almost as tall as Van, the guy stared back at him behind his own pair of shades. His receding hairline looked even more pronounced in person, as did the way his black suit stretched tightly around the man’s broad shoulders.
But it was the two men standing on either side of him that held Van’s attention the most. That and the pistols tucked neatly away in the shoulder holsters were clearly visible beneath their opened—and adorably matching—jackets.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He slowed his movements, keeping a safe distance between them.
Using the hand holding hers, Van gently eased Kam back so that his body partially blocked hers. His gaze remained on a constant slide between the three men staring back at them.
“You know why I’m here.” Webb’s voice was rough and deep. To the man standing on his left, he motioned toward Kam and said, “Get the girl.”
“What?”
Her entire body stiffened behind him, and her hand squeezed his in a grip that screamed of her fear.
“You’re not taking her anywhere,” Van growled, pulling Kam back even further.
But the one stone-faced crony didn’t so much as falter in his approaching steps.
“It’s okay, Braddock.” Webb pulled a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his chest. “I already spoke to Logan about all of this. I know Miss Dawari is innocent.”
He froze because…surely he hadn’t heard right. “What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded. Because something wasn’t adding up.
The last time they spoke, Webb was bound and determined to do whatever it took to bring Kam back to the States so she could be brought to justice for the crimes in which she’d been accused.
Of course, as he and his teammates had discussed shortly before their plane was blown up and they were all almost killed, the investigation they’d been spearheading the past three years wasn’t anywhere in the government’s books, which gave “justice” a whole new meaning.
“I said she stays with me.”
The man to Webb’s left pulled his weapon free. With his free hand, Van started to reach for his gun but was stopped when the guy walking toward them pointed his pistol straight at Van’s head.
“Damn it, Van, knock that shit off.” Webb started to walk the few yards between them. “I don’t have time for our usual song and dance. Which is why I brought this, so you could see proof that what I’m telling you is real.”
With no choice but to stand there—or get his ass shot, apparently—Van waited for the asshole to get close enough to hand whatever he’d brought over to him.
He took the piece of folded paper and unfolded it with aquick snap of his wrist. He quickly scanned what appeared to be an official document. His chest grew tight, and his heart fell to his feet when he realized what it was…
Order for Transfer of Custody to precede Witness Protection.
“What is it?” Kam’s voice sounded so small as she whispered near his ear. “What does it mean?”
“It means you have to go with them, sweetheart.” He looked over his shoulder to where she stood.
The look in her eyes ripped his heart to shreds. As if he were giving up on her. On them. And what they’d only just begun to share.
“No.” Kam shook her head with vehement force. “I won’t go with them. You promised me you’d protect me. You said?—”
“It’s not his choice, Miss Dawari.”
“Van, please…”
Dammit all to hell, he fucking hated every part of what was happening to her. She didn’t know these men. Hell, he only knew Webb. And since he’d made his feelings about the asshole known, that meant Kam was aware of the fact that Van didn’t trust him one bit.
