She did. How could she not? As much as she knew she needed to walk away, she couldn’t force herself to take that first step now that he was standing right there in front of her.
“I don’t care what name you use. I don’t care what shadows are chasing you. I just want to know the woman you are now. I want to help. I want to understand. But you have to let me in.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Then we’ll figure it out together, but wewillfigure it out.”
Silence again. Her heart thundered against her ribs as she stared at him, wanting desperately to grasp hold of everything he offered.
He closed the distance and pulled her into his arms.
She didn’t resist, even though she knew she should, because she wanted it as much as he did.
When they stepped back out into the main room, it was clear the others had told the marshal about the web searches.
The marshal growled as he gave a slow swing of his head. “But we weren’t the only ones who noticed the search on Julia Moretti.”
She spun to Bobby, then back to the others in the room. “What do you mean? Who else was searching for me?”
The room went still. The youngest of the group shifted awkwardly by the table, the one by the computer monitors frowned at the tension, and the one she had spotted always at Bobby’s side leaned against the wall like he was ready to jump in if it all went sideways.
Bobby ran a hand over his mouth. “When I asked Blaze to run the first one on Julia after I thought I saw you on the casino floor, the marshals weren’t the only ones who noticed.”
Deke glanced at her, a scowl twisting his features. “Told you this was a bad idea.” He growled at Bobby. “You don’t know what you set into motion.”
“I didn’t know there would be monitors on her name,” Bobby muttered. “Kind of happens when you’re left in the dark when the woman you love vanishes overnight.”
“Well, you just painted a bullseye on her back,” Deke said. “And put her entire family’s safety at risk.”
Bobby turned to her. “I never meant to hurt you or cause any of this to happen. I just wanted answers. After all these years, I needed to know why you disappeared on me.”
The marshal stepped between them. “Well, it’s too late to put it in the box now. We all need to talk. Because if that second ping came from who I think it did…” He looked at Bobby. “You just let a very dangerous man know Julia Moretti is still alive and where he can find her.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EVERYONE STILL HAD A job to do, so after Elvis made Delaney promise she wouldn’t disappear and that they would work this out together, she and the U.S. Marshal headed to the security room. Not before the marshal took some bacon with him, of course, but they were gone all the same. And all Elvis wanted to do was rush right out after her. After all, it hadn’t been the smoothest of conversations. None of their conversations had been easy since she entered his life again if he were honest with himself.
“I need you to promise me,” he had said for her ears only. “Don’t disappear on me again. I couldn’t take it.”
She lifted her chin as if to argue. “I never meant to disappear the first time.” Her eyes shimmered, fury and fear behind them in equal measure. “You think I want to vanish now? I left one life behind already, remember? I’m not doing it again, no matter what.”
He gave her a slow bob of his head, swallowing the tight ache in his throat. “Good. Because whatever’s coming, we’ll figure it out together. Blaze will track that second ping on your name. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Now Levi stood in the middle of the room, hands on his hips, staring at Elvis. “Well, that turned into a cluster real fast. You couldn’t wait two more days to go off script and get your answers?”
“Levi—”
“You knew this summit was high profile with cameras, reporters, keynotes, and someone with the skills to piggyback whatever you were doing,” Levi continued, cutting him off. “You just went with it and jumped without looking.” He shook his head. “You know better. Now, I need to know if you’re still here with us. We need to get this weekend behind us before you go any further down this new rabbit hole.”
Elvis folded his arms over his chest as he gave the other man a curt nod. “I never back out of a job. Now, what do you need from us?”
Levi stared at him for a moment, arms folded over his chest, aggravation pinching his features. Elvis understood the man’s annoyance now that everything had blown up on him, but there wasn’t anything he would have done differently. Now all he could do was his job, and he simply stood there and waited for Levi to tell him what that was.
Finally, Levi blew out a breath and passed out their assignments, and the first thing he did was separate Elvis and Hawk.
“You’ll be with me,” Levi told Elvis. “Gideon will go with Barrett, and Taylor can go solo this time around.”
“If it’s all right with you, I’ll hang with Colin,” Blaze said. “I have a feeling you all might need a referee.”
