Chapter 11
“Audra, do you know where Theo was staying or what kind of car he drove?” Asher asked.
“A silver Honda sedan. I don’t know where he was staying. We always met in public places.” She glanced at Sam again. A concerned frown pulled his brows down, wrinkling his forehead. Audra balled her fingers up, so she wouldn’t reach out and try to smooth them away. This was the downside of asking Sam for help. Her attraction to him. She needed to maintain her composure so she could think. Sam was a distraction she didn’t need, and she was rethinking involving him. Except if she left, she didn’t know where else to turn. She didn’t trust her boss now. There were other people in the SIS she could go to, but no one she knew well enough to be certain they wouldn’t pass her concerns on to someone else.
Asher hummed.
“He’s busy again,” Dean said. Audra could hear a smile in his voice.
“Don’t mock my process,” Asher commented. “It gets results. I’m going to try to track his movements through the city. See if I can at least get a neighborhood where he was living. Audra, send me that file.”
“I will as soon as we hang up.”
Sam picked up the phone. “We’ll go through it here too. See if anything jumps out at her.”
“Sounds good,” Asher said.
“If you need anything, call,” Ford said.
“We will.”
“Keep us posted.” Ford ended the call.
Sam opened his web browser and passed the phone to Audra. “Here.”
She took it and stared at it for a moment. The screen wavered in her vision. She blinked hard and rubbed one eye.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” She wasn’t, but she was well enough to do what needed to be done. Her head hurt and she felt like she was swimming through a thick fog. Blinking again, she tapped the screen and typed in the address for her private server. After logging into it, she opened another window and pulled up the email account she kept that no one else knew about. “What’s your friend’s email address?”
Sam told her, and she typed it in, attached the files, gave him the password to access them, then hit send. “There. It’s sent.” She logged out of everything, then handed Sam back his phone.
He pushed it back to her. “Open the files.”
“Oh. Right.” She logged back into her server. Her brain was still struggling. “Sorry. My brain’s a little slow today.”
“Don’t apologize. I know how it feels.”
Something in his tone made her look at him. A sad understanding lit his gaze. Suddenly, his difficulty with words made more sense. Something had happened to him in the ten years they were apart.
She opened the first folder on the list. “You want to talk about how you know?” She sent him a glance through her lashes.
His expression closed. “Not really. One day, I’ll tell you. Right now, let’s focus on you.”
“I’d rather not. Talking about other things helps distract me from the fact someone tried to kill me.”
“You’re a spy, Aud. The possibility of death comes with the job.”
She let out an inelegant snort. “That doesn’t mean I’m not still rattled. You were a SEAL. You can’t tell me it didn’t bother you to get shot at.”
“Point taken.”
“So, distract me.”
“No.” He stood. “Scoot over.”
She did, and he climbed up on the bed next to her. Audra tried not to notice the clean scent of his soap as he leaned in to see the screen.
“What all is in the files?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I didn’t have a chance to go over everything. I found the pictures of myself when I was looking through his computer to make sure I copied the right things. I got interrupted before I could look further, so I just copied the entire hard drive. At home, I only looked at the pictures before I copied the drive’s contents and turned the USB stick over to Theo.”
“Who else knew Theo had the drive?”
“Probably our boss. Maybe an analyst, if she gave it to one. Possibly the feds here. We were working with the Violent Crimes division of the Vegas FBI branch. Chicago’s field office played a role too. This operation was a big deal. Planting me was an opportunity to take down a significant chunk of the Irish mob in the U.S. and in Europe. Liam’s a big fish. If this is an inside job, it could be in either agency. Theo and Dee might have nothing to do with it.” A thought struck her. “It’s possible she suspected a mole and was trying to protect me by recalling me.”
Sam’s hand landed on hers. He curled his fingers around her hand. “You did the right thing by listening to your instincts. If she’s not involved and was trying to protect you, she’ll understand when this is all over. It’s your life on the line, not hers.”
Audra studied his eyes, thinking about his words. She pressed her lips together and inhaled a breath. “Yeah. I know you’re right, but part of me feels like I’ve let her down. And the relationship between us will never be the same. Even if she’s innocent, she knows now that I don’t trust her.” Any way this situation shook out, Audra had a feeling she would be looking for a new job. Or at least end up transferred to a different division.
“It’s better than dead.”
That still didn’t make her feel any better.
She pushed those thoughts away and focused on the files. There had to be an answer somewhere in all this stuff.
An hour later, she handed him the phone. “I need a break. We need a bigger screen. That one’s killing my head.” Leaning forward, she leaned her elbows on her crossed legs and pressed her fingers to her tired eyes.
“I didn’t bring my laptop. I just threw some clothes in a bag and got on a plane.”
A lump of emotion formed in her throat, making it difficult to breathe. She swallowed hard and blinked back the sudden moisture in her eyes. “I appreciate that.” More than he’d ever know. When she’d called him, she’d half-expected him to say he was too busy. But he hadn’t. He’d dropped everything to come help her.
He sat up beside her on the bed; his hand glided down the back of her head to weave through her hair. “Anytime, Aud.” Tenderness colored his voice.
She looked at him.
“I never forgot you, you know,” he said, his voice quiet.
“Me either,” she admitted. Their time together had been a highlight of her life. It had ended much too soon. But back then, neither of them had been ready for a commitment. Hadn’t been able to commit. Their jobs were too demanding, and neither wanted to give that up. She didn’t regret walking away from him, just as she was sure he didn’t regret walking away from her. They’d been in a different place then. They still were.
That didn’t stop the emotions from rushing back, though. Finally. She’d wondered when it would happen. Wondered when all the hunger and need she’d felt for him so long ago would come flooding in. It had, and now it was like it had only been days since they’d been together and not a decade.
His hand spread over the back of her head under her hair, holding her steady as he leaned closer.
“Aud.”
She laid a hand on the side of his neck and traced her fingers over his jaw. “We shouldn’t get involved, Sam.”
“Probably not.” His head dipped lower. “But like the last time, you’re irresistible.”
The low rumble of his voice washed over her. Her scalp pricked as her nerve-endings came alive. Why was it that this man had such an effect on her? From the moment they’d met, he’d made her body wake up and take notice. Ten years apart hadn’t done anything to change that. If anything, she wanted him more now than she did then.
She shifted, leaning in to align her lips with his. Pain shot through her injured hip. She hissed and pulled back.
Sam kept his hand on the top of her shoulders. “Are you all right? Is it your hip?”
Audra nodded and shifted again, putting her weight on her other side. “Yeah. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You probably just kept us from getting royally frustrated. I don’t want to stop at a kiss, and you’re not well enough for more.”
She met his eyes and saw the fire blazing in their blue depths. An answering heat curled in her belly, silencing some of the throbbing in her hip. She looked away. “How about we try to sneak into my condo? Get my laptop and more of my clothes.”
“What?”
She looked over to see the raw desire in his eyes turn to confusion, then understanding.
He shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. If someone’s watching the place, we’re just creating problems for ourselves.”
“That’s why I said sneak. I’m trained at covert surveillance. So are you. We can do some recon before we go in and find anyone watching.”
“Unless they’ve set up electronic surveillance. We might not find that.”
“I don’t think whoever this is is that smart. They ran me down in a public place, where there could be witnesses. If it really is Theo who the police found in the park, they murdered him in the same place. I’d say they’re more likely to personally stake out my condo.”
“Maybe so, but it’s risky. We don’t need the laptop. Or your clothes.”
“No, but I do need the documents in my safe so I can leave the country, if that ever becomes the plan.”
Sam groaned.
“I left my condo without any ID last night. I need those documents.”
“Won’t they get flagged and your boss will find out where you’re headed?”
“No. I have an identity she doesn’t know about.”
He chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?” Blowing out a breath, he got up and held out a hand to her. “Come on. Let’s go rent a car and get your stuff.”
Moving gingerly, she let him help her off the bed. “This means I have to take off this hoodie.” She shrugged her shoulders, bringing the soft, light blue material up around her ears. “It’s comfy.” It might be close to a hundred degrees outside, but in their hotel room, it was only seventy. The hoodie was doing more than keeping her toasty warm. It was like a safety net, holding her emotions back. So long as she was warm and comfortable, she could pretend everything was all right.
“I mean, you can sweat if you want and leave it on.” He grinned.
She scrunched her nose and pulled one arm out, resigned to leaving her cocoon. “No, thank you.”