“Tell her I was just doing my job.”
He shot her a pointed look. “You tell her.”
But in his expression, Sydney saw a different question.Whatreallyhappened?she knew he was asking. He knew something had gone terribly wrong, something that had nothing to do with his frantic fans.
Sydney leaned toward him until she felt the warmth of his arm pressed against hers, then typed something rapidly on her phone and held the device out. To the driver glancing at them through the rearview mirror, it must have looked as if she were showing him Claire’s text.
But she had spelled out a message completely different from what she’d just told him. Winter said nothing as he read it, but she noticed the way he paled, the way his arm muscles tightened against her skin.
Someone just tried to kill me.
9An Unexpected Guest
To Winter’s credit, he stilled his face into a picture of calm at the sight of her words. Still, she caught the clench of his jaw as he leaned his head close to her, the way his face drained of color, the way his eyes jumped to hers. To her surprise, it sent a wave of unease through her that cut through her fear.
He was afraid for her.
“I thought no one knew we were coming,” he whispered, his voice so quiet that she could barely make out his words. “Except for Panacea.”
Her eyes darted to the vehicle behind them—even from here, with only the silhouette of Claire visible in the other car’s passenger seat, she could see the manager twisted around in her chair to talk animatedly to the rest in the car, as if she were checking to make sure they’d all made it in one piece.
Sydney turned back, trying not to meet his eyes so that she didn’t see his fear there. “Guess someone does,” she responded. There was always a point in every mission where the danger became a reality, the point when Sydney would come crashing back down to earth. She just hadn’t expected it to come so soon this time.
Winter narrowed his eyes. “Did you recognize him?” he murmured.
Sydney shook her head. “I’ll give Niall the details. He might ID him for us.”
“Maybe there’s footage.” Winter’s eyes darkened. “There were plenty of cameras out there. Someone was bound to have caught something.”
“Maybe it was an attack intended for you,” she replied. “Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve been targeted.”
Winter shook his head imperceptibly. “If they’d wanted me, we’d know.”
He was right. The man had looked directly at her as he’d passed, had intentionally turned his body and his weapon toward her instead of angling it toward Winter. He’d been there for her.
The question, of course, waswhy. Who’d want Sydney dead now? The rebel groups plotting the assassination? If so, how would they know about her? No matter what, news of the failed attack would have already been relayed to whoever had ordered it.
Beside her, Winter picked up his phone. Sydney could hear Claire’s voice from the other side the instant he accepted the call.
“I’m okay,” he said.
“Good.” Claire breathed out a sigh of relief. “Once we arrive at the hotel, Dameon will come fetch you for your rehearsal. I’ll have food sent.”
“Okay,” he said again.
As they talked, Sydney typed up a rapid report for Niall, giving him as thorough of a description of her attacker as she could.
Seconds later, Niall sent a message back to her.
On it,he said.
here yet?she asked.
With the CIA now. Stay safe.
At least he had arrived now, too. His message—along with Sydney’s report—deleted automatically from her phone an instant later.
Stay safe. His two-word message of concern sent a twinge of comfort through her, and she let herself take a breath, forced herself to relax hershoulders a bit. Niall was here, the CIA was here—they had their allies on the ground. She would be okay. This was far from the most dangerous thing that had ever happened to her.
