Deadly Testimony (18 page)

Chapter Nineteen

“I’m going to need to make contact with Safeguard.” Lizzy tossed the disposable cell phone into a streetside trash can and took out her smartphone, scrolling through screens with her thumb.

“If we’re going to walk all the way to the offices, we’re headed in the wrong direction.” Kyle was not thrilled about traveling the distance. It would take hours. Perhaps she could be convinced to hail a cab. Or they could walk into any nearby hotel lobby and have the bellmen get one for them. It would satisfy Lizzy’s insistence on staying inconspicuous.

“No. We’re staying in downtown.” Lizzy glanced up and around for a long moment before going back to consulting her phone. “Safeguard is managing security for a charity a few blocks from our hotel this evening. Specifically, it’ll be my teammates on duty. We can contact them there.”

“Coincidence?” He had trouble accepting it. It was very convenient.

“Maybe,” Lizzy said slowly, slipping her phone back into her pocket. “Or Diaz wanted to make sure he and the team were close enough to provide support if things got dicey closer to the trial. He’d do it for any of us. The man’s instincts are freaking amazing sometimes.”

Her team was her family, he realized. They trusted each other to stand on their own and they were on hand in case they were needed. It was a far cry from the cutthroat corporate environment he’d been in at Phoenix Biotech and closer to the family business his father had run until they’d been bought out early in his career.

“They’ll be providing private security for a charity event tonight.” She had them pause as she pretended to fix her hair in the reflection of a storefront. “I can slip in and connect with any one of them. It’s just a question of getting in, blending and then walking out again. They’ll be able to finish up the event and meet with us afterward.”

“And we need them?” He didn’t want to spend all night arguing his cause to more people. His family could die while they all told him how important his testimony was.

Lizzy came to a stop and pulled him close, making it look like they were taking a selfie. He complied and assumed a silly pose. On the screen of the smartphone was a horrific image.

He swallowed hard as Lizzy used her thumb to swipe the screen, showing him another, then a third. They were photos of dead people, laid out next to a shipping container. Bloated, discolored, rotted, they weren’t recognizable at all but they were
people
.

Finally, Lizzy tapped the screen and switched to a text document with several names accompanied by contact information, including his employer.

“They found what was inside the shipping containers,” Lizzy whispered. “You thought they might be smuggling something, drugs, whatever. But it was much worse. This is definitely worth your life.”

Even when she released him and tugged him back into a walk, he had trouble shaking off the shock of it.

“Look, it’s a lot to absorb and I don’t blame you for worrying. This is your family we’re talking about, and your life. I’ve done okay on my own but to make sure this goes the way it needs to, I need reinforcements.” Her gaze caught him up and held him with soul-deep sincerity. “We’re not military or police, tied up in red tape, having to follow procedure. The Centurions will do the right thing. So once we do this tonight, we’ll make sure your family is safe, and then you need to do the right thing too.”

She wanted him to testify. This was the first time she’d expressed her opinion of whether he should or shouldn’t. But this news, those dead people, mattered to her. If he didn’t testify, they’d have died with no one to take responsibility for their deaths.

So far, Lizzy hadn’t led him in the wrong direction.

“Best chance to make the trade and get all of you out safely.” She didn’t make him a promise. He was glad she didn’t try to give him hollow reassurances. “You can’t do this by yourself and I’m not enough to keep you safe and your family too.”

“I’ve seen you do some amazing things all by yourself.” He smiled and was rewarded by a small return smile from her.

“I can do a lot of things solo. I like it that way.” She huffed out a breath. “But this requires a team.”

They continued down the street, stopping in the shelter of a fountain to sit and watch people walk by.

After a moment, Lizzy spoke. “If I wanted to stick to the exact letter of my contract and only keep you safe, I’d have to tie you up or sedate you until the trial. It’d be for your own good.”

“I’d never forgive you.” Even the thought of it made his stomach clench and he considered running down the street, away from her. But worse than not knowing where he’d go, he wouldn’t know who to ask for help.

It would be stupid and he would end up dead.

“I wouldn’t forgive me either.” Lizzy leaned back as her gaze swept across the high buildings and rooftops. “So we step up our game and upgrade this to a team operation.”

He was grateful. So much so, he didn’t have the right words. Thank you seemed too simple. And it felt unlucky to say it yet.

* * *

Lizzy gave Kyle time to work through whatever was going on in his head. Apparently, he was good to go because he stood and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, tugging her along a few feet. “Well, it looks like we’re headed back to Pike Place Market.”

“For what?” She lengthened her strides to match his, noting the pace of the tourists and businesspeople around them. It was the end of the workday and the streets were becoming much busier.

Good. Easier to get lost in the crowd. Though she was going to have to stash him someplace and go back for her gear at the other hotel.

“You wanted to slip into the private party tonight to talk to your teammates.” Kyle didn’t resist when she pulled him onto a side street to change their course.

“Yeah, there’s not a lot of time for me to figure out what catering company they have and get hold of a server’s uniform.” She wondered if she could be so lucky to have Maylin’s company catering the event. There was a chance. Maylin was one of the top caterers in the city.

“Ah, but that’s your usual approach.” Kyle made a
tch,tch
sound. “You said we needed to become harder to predict, blend in more. Be harder to find.”

“Yes.” For a man who’d almost died the other day, and been caught next to an explosion intended to flush him out today, he was sounding way too upbeat.

All right, she was being dramatic. Edict hadn’t found him yet, hadn’t realized he’d been so close.

Kyle nodded. “I’m done hiding and ducking for cover. From here on out, I want to outsmart our opponents. Walk right past their noses before they realize we’ve been there. Today, they threw a temper tantrum because they found where we were and didn’t find us, based on what you told me. I wish to drive them into insanity wondering where we are.”

“Don’t get full of yourself. Today was lucky. If we hadn’t been part of that tour group, you could’ve been spotted coming out of the store when the blast drove us all out into the street.” He needed caution and a healthy fear for his goddamned life. Hell, she was afraid for his life.

“That’s just it.” He tipped his head back and studied the sky. “It’s only a matter of time in a cat-and-mouse game. We need to change the rules because the longer we allow this to draw out, the more chance we have of losing. The game changer will be meeting up with your team and taking action.”

As they crossed the street and entered the market area, melding into the press of people shopping in the tight hallways lined with goods, he laughed. “If we’re going to do this, we’ll do this the way I do things.”

* * *

Lizzy stared at her reflection in the mirror.

“You’re beautiful.” Kyle was a dark shadow over her left shoulder. His words were simple, and when they first met a couple of days ago she’d shrugged his compliments off as meaningless. Candy offered by a man to sweeten her mood. She’d never believed it to be sincere.

But she knew Kyle a little better since their first, brief meeting. Even if the time had been short, it’d been intense. Or maybe she was willing to believe the words more. Either way, his comment brought heat to her cheeks and a pleasant warmth blossomed in her chest.

The tiny cocktail dress she was wearing had been his choice and was the epitome of the stylish “little black dress.” A simple black sheath covered by a sheer layer of chiffon cut to accentuate her figure and fall in a handkerchief hemline just short of her knees. It was sexy and elegant, daring and modest at the same time. There was even enough swing in the skirt to more or less hide the line of her handgun, holstered on her thigh. She’d never have chosen something so perfect herself. Hell, she hated trying on clothes. For her, it was all about the accessories.

And the shoes.

He’d picked this dress out from a rack at one of the shops around Pike Place Market though. She had no idea how he’d spotted it or known how it would look on her. Then he’d found her the shoes. At first glance, they’d been simple black pumps. Then Kyle had lifted the pair to show the heel and the pale cream silk with black lace ribbons tied in a tasteful bow. They were elegant. Sophisticated. Feminine.

Everything she loved about a pair of shoes and exactly the opposite of what most people would assume she’d wear.

They were what he thought she could be when most people only saw what she did for a living.

“Thank you.” She smiled at his reflection in the mirror.

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re getting better at taking a compliment.”

She lifted a shoulder, left bare by the cocktail dress. “You’re getting better at giving real ones.”

He stepped closer to the mirror, and her, adjusting the lapel of his suit. The man did clean up well. Good suits had something in common with military uniforms. They could make a person look sharp. But it took a certain kind of man to put it on and own it. He might not be a soldier by her terms of experience, but he was a man of action and having him at her side tonight was actually a welcome comfort. Her nerves were steady and she didn’t have the itch between her shoulder blades urging her to constantly look around to see who might be creeping up on her.

“Why the sudden frown?” Kyle placed a hand on her shoulder, the heat of his touch seeping through her skin.

Her nipples tightened slightly in response and she firmly told her libido to rein it in for the next few hours.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror again and blinked. Her face had gone neutral. Blank. It was one thing to know you wiped your expression to hide your thoughts and it was a completely different thing to catch a glimpse of yourself doing it. Not bad. Just...a learning exercise.

Turning up the corner of her mouth she gave a slight shake of her head. “A girl could get used to the idea of having you around. It’s a dangerous concept.”

He gave her a playful leer. “Am I that distracting?”

Turning to face him, she flicked an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder. “Maybe. Not the issue though. You put people at ease. It’s a hell of a skill. But I can’t afford it.”

His expression faded slightly. “It’s not my intention to distract you or take your edge away.”

“You don’t.” She wanted to reassure them both. “I won’t let you.”

Somehow the silence after her statement echoed in the hotel room.
Awkward
wasn’t the word for it.

“I’ll make sure I’m on point.” She wanted to clarify. Wanted to take away the words that sounded too much like a rejection. But it wasn’t as if he’d made a long-term offer. So why was she suddenly stumbling over her own words? “You be sure to follow the instructions I gave you. No horsing around.”

He chuckled. Of course he’d get up to a few things.

It was a risk, taking him along. But Kyle had a couple of good points. He was safest with her and he also helped her blend into the kind of crowd this social event was expecting far better than if she went in there alone. Definitely less predictable than her trying to infiltrate the catering staff. Their pursuer probably didn’t know her face. Since this was a masked gala, they wouldn’t recognize Kyle’s behind the solid black domino he’d acquired and there was a low likelihood they’d anticipate him making an appearance in any case.

To be on the safe side though...

“Let’s get some of the gray streaked into the sides of your hair.”

Kyle scowled. “Is it really necessary?”

“It’s about stacking the deck in our favor.” She waited. “The people after you have you pegged for midthirties. They won’t be looking for a silver fox.”

“That might be the closest you’ve ever come to saying you find me irresistible.” When she only huffed at his statement he sighed and shrugged out of his jacket. “I probably should’ve anticipated this before I got fully dressed.”

“True.” She reached into her duffel and came out with the hair chalk. Easy application and it did wonders to change a person’s look in seconds. Just as easily removed for another quick change later. She tossed it to him.

“It’s a good thing this is one of my older bespoke suits.” Kyle caught the package of hair chalk neatly. “I’ve lost a few pounds over the last few days. Otherwise, the bulletproof vest would mar the fit of my suit noticeably.”

“Fortunately, not a primary concern for tonight.” He’d looked very good as far as she was concerned and she felt better having him wear the vest all the time. Wouldn’t save him from a head shot, but it was protection from most shots taken at him.

“Perception is always a primary concern.” He tossed the argument back over his shoulder as he stepped into the bathroom. “Sometimes you don’t want people to notice you, sometimes you do. There are times to be recognized as the center of attention and others when it’s more advantageous to skirt the sidelines. The point is, you always want to have optimal control over how you are perceived.”

True. A skill some people worked on for years and one she hadn’t gotten the hang of yet. “You have a point there.”

“Controlling perception is fairly challenging. I’ve found the game to be an interesting mental exercise over the years.” His voice projected well even from the bathroom and she made a mental note not to let him talk her into having sex in there.