Chapter 7
Shana was tired of sitting in the chair, answering endless questions about the police pension fraud case, her role and every last thing she knew about it.
She stood and tossed her empty water bottle into a wastebasket across the room, then began pacing.
If Kevin was startled or concerned, or anything else, he didn’t show it.
“You must have a secure phone I could use to call Dane. Let him know I’m okay. He’ll be worried.”
Kevin smiled at her. “Don’t you worry about Dane. He knows what’s going on.”
She didn’t like her old boss’s smile. Didn’t like the seedy motel they’d taken her to by way of a safe house. She didn’t know the two cops guarding her and she was starting to feel more like a prisoner than protected.
“So you talked to him?”
“Me? No. But the department has been in touch. It’s tricky with the threat. We don’t want to get him dragged into it, do we?”
“He’s already involved, isn’t he?” She lifted her chin in challenge. It had been too long since she’d laid eyes on Dane, since she’d left him at the curb outside the store on the streets of Sydney. She wasn’t worried about him. But she knew he’d be more than worried about her.
And then there was her mother.
There was no way she wanted her mother being used as a pawn in this mess, to get—what?
What use was she to Chancy Peterson? She didn’t think this was about revenge.
It was more about the missing money, she figured, and for some reason Chancy thought she knew where the money was.
Maybe even the New South Wales police chief believed that too.
If so, she was in deep shit and not even Kevin Ivory could save her by hiding her away here.
“Why do you say Dane is involved? Does he have information that Peterson wants?” The man’s eyes went intense and she noticed his jaw clench. He’d never been an easygoing type, but his behavior was too edgy for normal.
“Information?” The concern in her gut churned and melded to a weighty mass of dread. This was no safe house. She was not being protected.
“About who the inside man was in the pension fraud. You know they never recovered 80% of the money.”
Shana continued to pace around in a circle while she still had the chance. She had a feeling her movements were about to be restricted.
“No, I didn’t know,” she lied, making sure she was facing away from him. “I’ve been out of the country ever since the arrest.” That wasn’t exactly true, either. But this guy hadn’t been on the case prosecution team so maybe he didn’t know that.
He smiled. She paced around some more and tried not to look at the phone on the nightstand.
What were the chances it was operational?
She felt her fingers itching to snatch it up and call Dane’s number.
Instead she drew herself up and stepped up in front of Kevin, standing two inches taller than him thanks to her heels, and spoke with the kind of command that would do Dane proud if he’d been there to hear her.
“I want to call Dane. Now. Either give me my phone or arrange for a secure line. You have ten minutes or I’m walking out the door.”
He laughed. Somehow she’d known he would. It didn’t rattle her. She held her ground, her hands fixed to her hips, her business suit rumpled well past professional looking and her eyes boring into him.
“Suit yourself, Shana. You’re here for your own protection. I was given strict orders to keep you safe but—”
“By who?” She snapped.
“Who?”
“Yes, who gave you orders to keep me here?”
She stared at him and he stared back. She knew he was figuring out that she’d figured out that this wasn’t about her protection, that if push came to shove—and it would very shortly—she wouldn’t be allowed to leave.
What she hadn’t figured out yet was what they wanted with her, what they would do with her.
Were they actually planning to frame her? It would be nearly impossible to pull off—unless they were planning to kill her in the process. A dead scapegoat was far easier to sell.
At the exact moment when she sensed that Kevin was about to speak, she shoved past him and headed for the door, ignoring the two men who might or might not have been police officers who stood hovering inside the tiny room.
He spun around and she felt Kevin on her heels, but she was quicker and reached the door in time to pull it open and make it across the threshold.
It wasn’t until she stood outside on the cracked cement walk that she realized there were two men standing guard outside. Shana came face-to-face with the pair of men and it was clear as day to her that they were not from the police force.
The one closest to her as she stepped right grabbed her arm, but she’d anticipated the move and was quick to spin, grab his hand and wrench his arm back, then kick him in the balls, all in one smooth motion. The second man didn’t waste time drawing his weapon.
Kevin shouted at him to drop his gun. He hesitated. She pulled the gun from the holster of the man on the ground and held it high.
Although she didn’t see the man lower his weapon, she presumed he did. Her attention had been drawn away by the screech of tires and the unmistakable voice of Dane shouting her name. She yanked open the back-seat door and threw herself inside the moving car, which pulled away with a loud roar.
She jumped to a kneeling position on the seat and lowered the window with the stolen gun to defend them, but to her surprise, Kevin didn’t give chase. The two men had their guns raised, but Kevin must have held them back because no one fired a shot.
“You okay?” Dane had turned around in the front passenger seat to see her. He reached back, between the front seats to touch her thigh.
“That was so awesome, sis.” Billy laughed and shook his head as he cranked his car to its impressive max.
She ignored him, instead staring back at Dane, communicating everything she felt with her eyes, her body vibrating with the need and want and overwhelming relief at being with him again.
“How in God’s name did you find me?”
“It’s a long story. When you didn’t call, Billy and I did some investigating.
” He squeezed her thigh, taking a few beats to let his gaze bore into her, let it warm her and melt her.
In spite of the overflowing adrenaline, she felt calmer.
Her breathing changed from gulping gasps to half normal, the tightness in her chest eased.
He turned back around to face front but left his hand in hers, his arm at an awkward angle.
“What did you find out?” She already knew, but had to ask.
“They’re setting you up to take the fall for being the insider in the police pension fraud scheme.”