Except…
“Like I said, I spoke to Logan.” Webb slid his glasses up to the top of his head, revealing his dark gaze. “He passed along the intel you’ve been gathering this week. Good job on that, by the way.”
Webb looked directly at Kam then, and Van immediately understood why. The son of a bitch had basically told her that Van had used her for information and nothing else. And sure, part of why he wanted time alone with her at first was to confirm what his gut had been telling him all along.
Which it had, and it damn sure hadn’t take several days for it to happen. Even before that first full day out to sea, Van had already known deep down that Kam wasn’t the realtarget.
She was sweet. Sexy. Smart-mouthed and strong as hell. And like him and his team, she was also an innocent pawn who was being forced into someone else’s sick game.
Kam let go of his hand for the first time since stepping onto the dock. “Is that all it was? Did you sleep with me to try to get me to confess to going after your team?”
“Fuck, no.” Van ignored the guys with the guns and turned to her. “You knew I wanted information.” She’d known that from day one. “But what happened between us had nothing to do with that. The man’s just trying to get you to turn on me so you won’t put up a fight.”
“You’ll be safe with me, Miss Dawari,” Webb claimed. “You have my word and that of the United States Navy.”
“She’s not going with you,” he growled again, sending the commanding prick a seething glare.
Webb simply shrugged. “It’s not forever, Braddock. And it’s for her own good. She’ll be under twenty-four-hour protection until we can locate the real culprit and bring them to justice.”
“I said no.” He tried reaching for Kam’s hand.
But the guy who’d stopped his earlier approach steadied his gun and continued walking toward them.
“I’ll call you as soon as we get settled in the safe house,” Webb promised. “It’s clear you care about what happens to Miss Dawari, so if you play your cards right, I may even be able to arrange for you to come for a visit.”
“Come with me, Miss.” The man with the gun motioned for Kam to start following him back to the SUV.
She took a step forward. First one and then another.
“Kam, don’t!”
“It’s okay, Donovan.” She looked back at him from over her shoulder. “I always knew our time together would come to an end.”
“No.” He gave his head a hard shake. “Not now. Not like this.”
“You have no choice, Miss Dawari,” Webb announced with booming authority. “That’s a courtorder signed by a federal judge. You either come with me peacefully or I will arrange for yours and Mr. Braddock’s arrests for interfering in an official Naval investigation.”
Official what?
“This is all off-book,” Van reminded the man as his desperation grew.
“Not anymore, it isn’t.” Webb shook his smarmy head. “I brought the president up to speed, and he agreed there was enough circumstantial evidence to reopen the case into the attack on you and your men. As such, Miss Dawari has been named a chief witness in the case.”
Meaning if he tried to stop the prick from forcing Kam to go with them, his ass would end up behind bars. And if he were sitting in a jail cell, he’d be no help to her, so without any other choice, Van was forced to let her go.
“You hurt her in any way”—he warned—“I will come at you with everything I’ve got.”
“You threatening me now, Braddock?” The fucker simply laughed. “Come on, boys. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us, and I don’t want to be late.”
With one of the goons still pointing his gun at Van’s head, the other curled his meaty hand around Kam’s upper arm and led her the remaining distance between them and the SUV. At the last minute, she swung her troubled gaze back his way.
“Thank you.” She sent him a ghost of a smile before disappearing into the shadows.
Her guard followed her inside, slamming the door shut as he went.
Thank you?
She’d thanked him? Forwhat?
