Chapter Three #2
“Not won’t. Can’t,” Vince corrected. “You understand the concept of client confidentiality, don’t you, gentlemen?”
Sanders snorted. “Come on. You work for a private security firm. How difficult is it to give us an exact accounting of your movements over the past seven days?”
“You want the truth?” Grant glared at the men. “Your security clearance isn’t high enough for me to disclose that information.”
“And yours is?”
“Deal with it.”
“Who did you pay off to get that clearance?”
“You’re wasting time here, gentlemen,” Vince reminded them.
“My clients have cooperated with you to the extent they’re allowed.
If you expect them to break that confidentiality, you’ll need to go much higher up the food chain.
Now, I suggest you move along with your questions.
Otherwise, I’ll be inclined to tell you that my clients are going about their duties if you’re not charging them. ”
Sanders clenched his pen in a white-knuckled grip before turning his attention to Rayne.
A ball of ice formed in her stomach. The detectives would play hardball with her. Whether the approach was to rattle her or Grant remained to be seen. “What do you want to know?”
“Did you know Selena Baker or Dante Rivers?”
“No.”
They exchanged glances. “You never met them, even in passing?”
“No.”
“Why were you on Caledonia Road this morning?”
“Grant and I have a standing running date every morning when we’re in town.”
“How far do you run?”
“Usually five miles, sometimes eight.”
Conner frowned. “Why the different distances?”
“Depends on the time we have available. Sometimes our training regimen is aggressive and extremely difficult. Those days are lighter running days.”
“Would you kill to protect Grant?”
“What kind of question is that?” Vince asked. “Ms. Weatherly is in black ops, and Mr. Bowen is frequently part of her team.”
“So the answer is yes?” Conner asked without taking his gaze from Rayne.
He wanted the truth? Fine. She’d lay down some truth and see what came of it. The detective wouldn’t like her answer. In fact, it might garner her even more suspicious looks from the officers. “Absolutely, just as he would do the same for me or any of our teammates.”
“Does your boyfriend’s protectiveness come into play when you’re at home?”
“If Grant was in danger, I wouldn’t hesitate to defend him.”
“And I would defend her to my dying breath,” Grant said. “Self-defense is legal.”
Conner ignored Grant’s interruption. “Was Selena Baker a threat to your relationship with Ms. Weatherly?”
“No.”
“How can you say that?” Sanders demanded. “You just admitted you dated her at one time.”
“For four months.”
“So you walked away and never looked back.”
“Would you look back?” Grant countered. “She chose another man over me. Why would I want to win back a woman who considers me second best?”
Selena Baker was crazy to let Grant slip through her fingers. Grant was an amazing man, and any woman with sense would want him. Rayne counted herself lucky that he seemed interested in her. At least for now.
That might change when she revealed her past to him. The thought brought piercing pain to her heart.
Sanders zeroed in on Rayne again. “Ms. Weatherly, we need your whereabouts for the past week.”
She gave the same locations as Grant and waited.
Both detectives stared with more suspicion in their eyes. “You were in the same places for the past week?” Conner asked.
“Our teams deployed together.”
“Of course they did. And I suppose you can’t tell us where?”
“Sorry.” Not one bit.
The detective snorted.
“Are you finished with the snide remarks?” Vince scowled at the detectives. “We told you earlier that Ms. Weatherly and Mr. Bowen’s teams often deployed together.”
“Right.” Sanders sat back in his chair. “Ms. Weatherly, what exactly do you do on your black ops team?”
“Whatever they need me to do.”
“Not helpful,” Conner snapped. “Be more specific.”
She shrugged. “I can’t. We’re all cross-trained with other skills so we can fill in if a teammate is injured during an operation.”
“Is this another case of us not having the security clearance to know the details?”
“It’s a Fortress policy,” Grant said. “If you don’t like the rule, take it up with our boss.”
“Name and phone number?”
When Grant gave him the information, Conner grimaced. “Well, that’s a dead end,” he muttered.
“Why?” his partner asked.
“Brent Maddox is a hard-nosed Navy SEAL who never backs down.”
“You know him?”
“By reputation. We’ll get nowhere with him.”
The lawyer chuckled. “I see you have heard of our fearless leader. You are correct, Detective. Commander Maddox will not change his mind about mission details unless someone much higher on the food chain orders him to cooperate. That’s unlikely to happen.
” He glanced at his watch. “You have a few more minutes before my clients must leave. They’re training for a new mission, and I know you don’t want to interfere with their preparation. ”
Sanders picked up his pen. “Ms. Weatherly, we’ve already established you’re willing to kill to protect your boyfriend. Would you lie to protect him?”
“On a mission, yes.”
“What about when you’re not on a mission?”
“If his life was at risk, yes.”
“How well does he know you?”
Ice water ran through Rayne’s veins. They knew.
She should have realized the detectives had had enough time to run a background check on her.
She would have if she’d been in their place.
And while Fortress kept the operatives’ information secure, that security didn’t extend to juvenile records. “We met two months ago.”
“Where are you going with this?” Grant demanded.
“How well do you know your girlfriend, Mr. Bowen?”
Grant’s hold on her hand tightened. “I know what I need to know for the moment.”
“You should have checked her background.”
And there it was. Nausea bubbled in Rayne’s stomach. Would this never go away? What would Grant think of her after he learned the truth?
A slow smile curved Grant’s lips. “Some things are better off learned organically. She passed the extensive background checks, and Fortress offered her a job. That’s good enough for me at this stage of our relationship. The rest I’ll learn as we move forward together as a couple.”
Vince pushed away from the scarred wooden table and stood.
“That’s enough, Detectives. My clients cooperated by answering the questions they could.
Now it’s time for you to do your jobs.” He pulled two business cards from his pocket and tossed them on the table.
“For now, my clients need to return to training. If you think of more questions, contact my office and we’ll set up another meeting. ”
The lawyer opened the door and motioned for Rayne and Grant to precede him. Together, the three of them walked out with the detectives protesting as the Fortress employees made their way through the bullpen to the exit.
Once outside, Vince murmured, “Don’t say a word until we’re inside the vehicle.”
Grant wrapped his arm around Rayne’s shoulder and tucked her against his side.
She leaned against him, the stress of the past few hours slowly bleeding off. There was something about Grant that always caused this response.
Vince led them to a black Fortress SUV and unlocked the doors with a click of his remote. While he sat in the driver’s seat, Grant opened the back door for Rayne and climbed in beside her.
Vince waited until he turned onto West Main Street before he said, “I don’t know what the detectives have on you, Ms. Weatherly, but you should be prepared for them to come after you hard. Those boys think you killed Grant’s former girlfriend.”