After a quick kiss, he threw the towel from around his neck to the chair by the bathroom. “The point is to fool the bad guys.”
He tossed the argument off. To him it probably meant nothing, but she wanted to be sure he saw himself as she did.
“Your identity is about more than your haircut. It starts in here.” She touched her palm to her heart. “And travels to here.” She tapped his head.
After all those hours of pillow talk, he still didn’t understand who he was, separate from the badge and the birthright.
He wiggled his eyebrows. “There are other body parts you could touch.”
“Behave.” The order died when she smiled. She couldn’t help it. Happiness flooded through her today.
Her emotions yo-yoed. One minute she thought they could try something without the threat of danger. Other times she knew to her soul this was the only time they’d have and she should treasure it.
“And for the record, you can tell the difference between me and Garrett. You and Sara.” He let his arms fall loose around her waist. “The bad guys will just see hair and react to that.”
“You’re awfully calm even though the guys you’re talking about are right outside and loaded down with weapons.”
“They have been since we got here.” He kissed the base of her throat.
She shoved against his shoulders until he pulled back and looked at her. “What?”
“I saw them last night when I went to check on Pax.”
One more secret added to all the others. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I knew they weren’t going to strike. They want me and Garrett together. They needed him to get here first.”
“So, naturally, you brought your brother here.”
His hands traveled down to her butt and lifted her until her body fit snug against his. “It’s going to be fine. You need to trust me on this.”
She knew he’d hate this part, but she had to say it. “Promise me you won’t take any unnecessary risks. No throwing your body in front of other people or diving to take a bullet meant for a stray dog.”
He gave her a look that let her know what he thought of her exaggeration. “Meredith, I have a plan.”
“So you keep saying.”
He sobered. “No matter what happens, I need you to know I’m fine.”
“That’s just cryptic enough to make me uncomfortable.” Maybe she would have accepted that a week ago. Now she expected the comment to accompany a round of gunfire.
Pretty funny for a woman who’d spent every minute of her life since she’d fallen down the stairs insisting she’d never experience violence again.
“I need my pants.” He tapped her bottom then went looking.
“I guess I can’t convince you to jump in a car with me and run away from here.”
He shot her a look over his shoulder. “You know I can’t.”
“I do. Yes.”
His turn back to her was slow. “Meaning?”
“Next time you launch into a lecture about how terrible you are, remember this moment. When everything is on the line, including your safety, you rush in. You’re that guy.”
“What do you think about ‘that guy’ exactly?”
“I’ll tell you after you finish this operation and actually get that rest you were ordered to take.”
His grin could have broken records. “Deal.”
* * *
L
ESS THAN FIFTEEN
minutes later, the whole team met in a small conference room on the first floor.
Jeremy scanned each of them, looking for any sign he’d tagged the wrong guy. The usual tells—sweating, talking fast, fidgeting—were absent. The collective years of training in the room got them beyond those basics.
No, if the mole was here, and Jeremy knew he was, he’d blend in. He’d cause the damage then weasel out without anyone ever knowing he’d been there.
Everyone took their positions, including the women, without complaint or tipping anyone off to a problem. The rumble of conversation added to the steady buzz of activity. Every person had a job and was doing it.
“Andrew?” Jeremy called out to the younger man and wasn’t surprised when the order made the guy jump. “You can set up over there and let us know if anyone breaches a fifty-yard safety zone around the building.”
“Yes, sir.” He slipped his laptop onto the desk and started typing.
“Are we the only ones in the hotel?” Sara asked.
“Yes, I even sent the manager out to be safe.”
Joel slipped into a green conference chair. “What makes you so sure anyone will come?”
He looked at Garrett as he asked, as if challenging him to make an accusation. Garrett ignored him and concentrated on his phone instead.
“I can answer that.” Ellis rounded the head of the table with a mug of coffee in his hand. He put his suit jacket on the back of the chair in one of the more obvious shows of territory marking. “Because Bruce wants Jeremy dead. He’s launched several attacks so far. He’s betting this one will work.”
“I don’t get it.” Joel shook his head. “He has to know the spotlight will be on him if this happens. And he has to get through all of us first. Why take the risk?”
“Does he really have anything to lose?” Davis asked.
“Remember that Jeremy didn’t even think he was the target until an hour or so ago. There are a lot of enemies out there. It could take months to get to the right one. If Bruce were smart, by then he’d be gone.” Garrett pointed at his phone. “Jeremy, are you getting this on your end?”
He took out his phone and punched a few buttons to bring up a video. “Looks like we have a problem.”
“What?” Panic rumbled through Meredith’s voice. She was at his side before he could draw his next breath.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Pax and Davis will stay with you. Joel, you come with us.”
Shock sprinted across Joel’s face, but he tamped it back down. “Of course.”
Meredith stepped in front of Jeremy when he tried to leave. “You can’t go running off somewhere. You promised me.”
Her fingernails dug into his arms as she pleaded with him to stay. The pain he saw on her face ate at him. He wanted to explain, to reassure her, but all those opportunities were gone. Now he was stuck with moving her to the side so he could get going and hoping she’d understand later.
He leaned down and kissed her. In front of everyone and without a lick of privacy, he took her mouth and treated her to a knee-buckling kiss. When he raised his head again, her lips were swollen and her eyes unfocused.
He bolted. He was out the door when he heard her calling after him. To keep walking, he had to block the sound. He’d hear it again, probably as she yelled at him again, but he had to do this first.
Garrett scowled at his brother as he walked down the hall toward the exit. “What took you so long?”
“Meredith.”
Some of Garrett’s frown eased. “Women.”
The Hill brothers laughed, but Joel stayed quiet as he followed Garrett and Jeremy into the sunshine and out to the garages behind the hotel. The three of them stepped into a large empty room.
Jeremy walked the length of the space and tested the cabinets at the far end. Everything was right where it should be. When he paid his informant Jeremy would add extra this time.
Joel stopped in the dead center of the room. “What are we doing here? This doesn’t make any sense.”
Jeremy got his brother’s attention and nodded.
“We have some information we need to discuss.” Garrett made the announcement in an angry voice. “Anything you want to say first?”
“You still don’t trust me.” Joel turned away from Garrett to stare at a blank space on the wall. “This is unbelievable.”
Garrett came up behind him. This time he lowered his voice. “You’re with us because I do. It’s not going to seem that way, but I do.”
Joel spun around. “I don’t—”
“Go to the window. Do not believe what you see.”
Joel shook his head. “You’re not making any sense.”
Jeremy knew the kid was right on the edge. He was going to blow the plan by doing the job he was paid to do—question and verify. This was why Jeremy begged his brother to cut Joel in. They’d needed Ellis’s help to gather the men. Garrett insisted the trust line end there, and now they had an even bigger mess.
To keep from sending them all down the road into real disaster, Jeremy morphed into bad cop. He stalked over and grabbed Joel by the neck, shaking him while he yelled. “You heard your boss.”
“Do not touch me.” Joel kicked and fought. He even got in a shot or two, which had Jeremy swearing and dodging. But he didn’t let go.
He leaned in with his face right next to Joel’s ear and said the magic words. “When the time comes, tell them one dead. One almost dead. We trust you to do this.”
Joel stopped thrashing around.
The banging started a second later.
Jeremy shoved Joel to the far wall as the walls exploded with gunfire. Splintered wood flew through the air. Light streamed through the pattern of holes in the walls.
Shouts and screams echoed in the distance as Joel dropped to the ground. Jeremy fell into Garrett. The packets passed from one hand to the other.
With a snap, Jeremy broke the package. Going down in a hail of fake bullets, he wiped the “blood” over himself and let the rest of the packet drop to the floor. By the time they landed on their stomachs on the ground, red liquid pooled around them.
After a minute, the intense banging stopped, leaving the building to creak and moan as the remaining structure fought to stay standing.
The door opened and a woman screamed in a sound so full of anguish and pain that Pax covered his ears. They all stood in stunned horror as Joel rushed over to the Hill brothers, sliding across the floor to reach them first.
“Keep them back and look for the shooters.” Wood crunched under his knees as Joel moved around the bodies.
“Let me help.” Pax rushed in ready to offer medical assistance.
Joel sat back. “One dead. One about there.”
“I’ll do CPR.”
Joel caught Pax’s hands before he could touch the bodies. “Call an ambulance.”
Chapter Twenty
Meredith stumbled around in a helpless daze. She’d walked the hospital floor about a hundred times since the ambulance had brought Garrett and Jeremy in. With every step she tried to wipe away the memory of the bloodbath.
Streaks of red across the floor. More bullet holes than she’d ever seen at a practice range. Bruce’s men had opened fire as Garrett and Jeremy talked. All the technology had failed. All the promises of being safe and coming back rang hollow.
She’d tried to fall over Jeremy and push some life into his still body but Ellis had closed in. His men, absent when the world exploded, poured in after. With talk of crime-scene evidence, the men pushed them all out then loaded Garrett and Jeremy into the ambulance in a rush.
She didn’t even get to see Jeremy’s face. She had no idea which brother Joel had pronounced dead.
Her eyes burned from all the tears. She looked around the private waiting room on the floor Ellis had cleared of other patients. Amazing what the right government badge could do. If only he had stepped up earlier.
Pax and Davis talked in hushed tones in the corner. Andrew paced and managed to look concerned even though he didn’t know anyone in the room except Ellis. Sara sat in a chair with her arms wrapped around herself and rocked.
The only person missing from the group was Joel. Secret Service had carted him away as he protested and proclaimed his innocence.
Meredith choked back the bile in her throat. She’d believed him. Stuck up for him. Her stupidity had led the brothers to slaughter.
Another time when she’d read a man wrong. This time it might cost her everything. The idea of Jeremy dying had her sobbing. She coughed to hide the sound. She had to be strong. She could fall apart later.
A doctor stepped into the room. His blue scrubs were stained with red and a grim line ran across his mouth.
Ellis met the doctor before he could search the room for family members. “How are they?”
The doctor shook his head. Every slip from right to left cut away a piece of her. Her coffee cup dropped from her hand. The hot liquid splashed against her legs but she didn’t feel it.
“We lost one. He was dead when he arrived. There was nothing we could do.”
Meredith heard a cry. A long scream that sounded like
no.
She looked around and realized everyone was looking at her.
Pax rushed to her side. “I got you.”
“He can’t be dead.” A shocking numbness settled over her body.
“Let’s sit down.” He put her in a seat then sat next to her.
His arm was around her and the cool air blasted from the air-conditioning vents, but nothing touched her. She closed her eyes and saw Jeremy captured in a deathly stillness. She opened them and the nightmare continued.
“We’ve stabilized the other brother, but he’s in critical condition,” the doctor said without any emotion. “The next few hours will tell. If he makes it until tomorrow morning, the chances are good he’ll survive.”
The word propelled her to her feet. Pax made a grab for her but she squirmed out of his hands. She pushed through the crowd and reached for the doctor’s arm. “Why aren’t you using their names?”
“What?”
“Who is dead? Which one?” The answer would devastate one woman in the room and save the other.
The doctor cleared his voice and glanced at Ellis before continuing. “That’s the problem. They’re identical. We don’t know.”
The comment didn’t make any sense. She knew. Sara certainly knew.
Meredith reached for Sara, dragging her out of her seat to stand with her in front of the doctor. “She can tell them apart. Tell them.”
“Stop.” Sara dug in her heels and skidded across the floor. “I can’t.”
The words hit Meredith like a slap. She turned on Sara. “You know the face of the man you love.”
Sara kept shaking her head. Her vacant eyes wouldn’t meet Meredith’s. “Don’t ask me to go in there.”
Meredith shook her. “How can you sit out here and not need to know?”
Ellis was on her a second later. Firm hands wrapped around her upper arms and pulled her off Sara. “Meredith, enough. Everyone is upset.”
Meredith shook her head. She was willing to do anything to shake life back into her dying body. “Is this you upset? You’re barely breathing.”