Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE DAY COULDN’T GET over fast enough. And it wasn’t even like he could concentrate on what he was doing. He was useless to the Silvers because all he could worry about right then was Delaney and what he had caused because he had to prove he was right about who she was.
As soon as the day was over and the last speech given, he headed straight for Colin’s room where the others were waiting.
He didn’t knock, just scanned his key card and entered.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee and tension hung in the air like competing colognes.
Roman, who wasn’t even supposed to be there, sat at the desk, two laptops open, fingers dancing across keys in a rhythm too fluid for casual work.
And beside him sat Delaney, leaning over one of the screens, her dark hair spilling forward, brows knit in concentration.
How on earth could she concentrate like that on her work when everyone who spoke to him today had to repeat themselves because his mind was somewhere else?
He could only smile at her dedication to her job amid all the chaos.
She had gotten rid of her blazer this time, just a silky top and slacks that looked expensive and sharp and like they didn’t belong in a war zone.
Which, to be fair, this casino might become at any moment thanks to him.
But really, it wasn’t his fault. Not really.
He just wanted closure. Wanted answers about what happened to the one girl he had fallen in love with so many years ago.
The course of his entire life had been set because of her vanishing one night, and he wanted to know why.
He thought he deserved at least that much.
“I was hoping you’d still be here,” he said as he crossed the room to be closer to her.
She didn’t flinch, which told him she’d either seen him come in or was too locked into what she was working on to care. “I’m told I’m not allowed to leave.”
Thanks to Blaze texting him earlier, letting him know they were moving to the Silvers’ command room, he didn’t waste time searching her out.
Of course, Blaze also told him there was another problem in the form of an unknown man pretending to be on the casino’s security team.
The safest place was a room the man, whoever the hell he was, wouldn’t think to look.
Still, that hadn’t stopped the pit in Elvis’s stomach from getting tighter.
As his gaze swept the room, he clocked Levi standing in the corner, arms crossed, and the marshal nursing a coffee while sitting at the table, like it might save the world. No one looked alarmed, just tired as well as focused.
“Have we found him yet?” Elvis asked once he reached her, glancing over at Blaze and Colin.
Blaze shook his head. “No, but I managed to track both pings on her name, both names, and it all traced back to the same IP address in Florida. I’ve already passed it on to Dane and the others.”
“Two names?” Roman spun in his chair as he stared at Delaney. “You said that earlier. What names? D., please… what the hell is going on?”
Elvis watched as Delaney looked around the room.
Everyone there but her partner knew what was going on, and he could see by the look on her face that she didn’t like it.
He knew the exact moment she decided to tell her partner her secret.
She glanced at the marshal and then shrugged, as if to say sorry.
The man just growled back at her as he rolled his eyes. “Why not? You haven’t listened to me yet.”
She moved to sit down beside Roman, rubbing her hands back and forth on her thighs as she took a deep breath.
And then they all stood or sat wherever they were and listened as she told the man everything, all about her mother being an accountant for Alberto Serrano, who was a powerful and ruthless East Coast crime boss with a sprawling criminal empire that included money laundering, racketeering, extortion, and contract killings.
Her mother didn’t know any of that at the time, of course, or the full extent of the operation when she did start getting glimpses into the grittier side of things.
She worked for the company under one of its legitimate fronts, Serrano Holdings.
But then she uncovered clear financial trails that led to a murder-for-hire payment and tracked it to an offshore account, which she discovered funded illegal arms deals.
It was then she feared for her family’s safety if they ever found out what she knew.
“But it got worse,” she went on, “when Mom came across some surveillance footage hidden under something she thought was mislabeled data that showed the execution of a man who had tried to flip on Serrano. It wasn’t just damning; it was irrefutable proof of Serrano ordering a murder.
” She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck.
“She made copies of the video and then reached out to the authorities, which led to one nightmare after another before finally costing me my life back then.”
“Holy shit,” Roman hissed, staring at her, disbelief all over his face. “That had to be frightening as hell.”
“It was,” she assured him. “Mom wouldn’t even tell us what was going on at first. But then she had to testify. That along with the evidence she had found and some of her forensic accounting records, became the backbone of the prosecution’s case. And that’s when it got even scarier.”
She glanced over at Elvis, and he could see the anguish in her eyes.
“Other witnesses started disappearing,” she went on, turning back to Roman.
“Mom received death threats, and we were even followed at different times. They kept us hidden until the trial, and then after Mom’s testimony, they shoved the four of us into Witness Protection.
It happened all in one night, and I could only bring certain things, not even allowed to tell anyone I was leaving.
My real name is Julia Moretti. Fate turned me into Delaney Mae Rhodes.
And I’m sorry I had to keep all this from you. ”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “I suppose that’s why no childhood horror stories. You couldn’t tell the scariest of them all.”
She nodded, lips pressed into a thin line.
“But now she needs to go back under with an entirely new identity,” Donovan said, giving her a pointed look, arms over his chest. “Especially with Leon roaming around the hotel and casino. We have to get you out of here.”
Elvis stared at the man for a moment, and then turned to Delaney. “It’s your decision. What do you want to do?”
She looked at him, really looked, and he could see the choices flashing through her mind.
Then she took a deep breath, arms folded over her chest, as she stared at the marshal.
“Get my family out of sight. We need to end this. If we can connect Leon to the Serranos, then we can put them all away, and I can get my life back.”
“I don’t think—”
But Elvis never gave the man a chance to finish whatever he was going to say.
“You heard the lady,” Elvis said, guiding Delaney toward the door, already deciding he was going to search every inch of her room before letting her anywhere near it. “I’ll be staying with her in the meantime.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but Elvis cut her off before she could utter a word. “No discussion needed. We’re doing this my way.”
Delaney glanced at Roman, who simply shrugged. “Go ahead,” he told her. “I’ll keep digging in here. We’ll figure it out.”
As they walked, Elvis fell into step beside her. There was silence for a few moments, but then she had to say something.
“I didn’t mean to cut you out back there,” she said.
“You didn’t. You just did what you always do—handle everything yourself.”
She smirked. “Old habits. I’ve always had to do things myself. Ever since… Well, I just have.”
He bobbed his head. “A hard habit to shake, I’m sure.”
They reached her door, and as soon as he saw it, he could tell something was wrong. It took three swipes of her key card before the door would ping open, and the door handle already had a handprint on it that he knew the housekeepers would have wiped away after Delaney had left that morning.
He reached out before she could open the door, stopping her as he stepped in front of her. “Let me.”
He eased the door open, taking a step inside. He immediately cursed under his breath.
The lights were on, and by all appearances, there had been no forced entry. However, the air had that charged, off-kilter feel to it he recognized from dozens of missions and crime scenes. Someone had been inside her room and recently.
“Bobby…” Her voice wavered behind him, and he felt her hand on his back as she tried to see around him.
He turned toward the bathroom, noticing the door slightly ajar. As he peeked inside, something red glistened on the mirror.
It wasn’t blood, but rather lipstick. Deep crimson, written with bold strokes that formed two words, one name. Her name. Her real name—JULIA MORETTI.
Elvis’s gut dropped as he stared at her name. She rushed past him, a hand covering her mouth as she stared at the message on the mirror. And there was no doubt it was a message. A warning, really. They had found her, and they were letting her know.
“How—?” Her voice cracked.
He didn’t hesitate. He spun and checked every inch of the room: the closet, under the bed, even behind the shower curtain. “It’s clear.” He shook his head as he turned to her. “But you’re not staying here tonight.”
“Bobby…”
“This is not open for debate.” He faced her, eyes locking with hers. “It’s obvious they know who you are and where you’re staying. They might be on their way here now or watching this place. It would surprise me if they weren’t already heading this way.”
He spun around the room as he reached for his phone. “Pack up what you need. You’re coming back to my room.” He hit Hawk’s name and placed the phone to his ear.
As soon as the man answered, Elvis told him what had happened.
“I’m bringing Delaney back to our room. See if the one next to it is vacant, and if it is, you and Blaze take that one.
Also, have Blaze rig up some sort of incognito camera outside so I can see who’s walking the hall. We’re on our way.”
“Do you want us to come to you?” Hawk asked. “Provide a stronger escort.”
He shook his head. “No. We’re taking the stairs, and hopefully, we can avoid being noticed. I don’t need Leon seeing us moving rooms.”
“Tell him to give me five minutes,” he heard Blaze call out. “I’ll shut down the cameras long enough for him to get to the stairwell. If they’re piggybacking the feeds, they won’t see anything.”
“All right,” Elvis said. “Five minutes. And if you need to call that security director to clear out the room next to ours, do it.”
He waited the allotted five minutes while Delaney packed a bag.
He peeked out into the hall before motioning for her to follow him toward the stairwell.
By the time they reached his suite on the eleventh floor, Blaze and Hawk were already coordinating with Levi, who was still in his suite and on speakerphone.
He paced the room as he relayed what they’d found to the others casting a quick glance at Delaney who stood at the window, arms wrapped around herself.
“I can’t believe this is happening again,” she said to her reflection, but Elvis heard her anyway. “After all my hard work, all my sacrifice, everything I lost…”
He stepped up behind her, leaving the others to finish the details. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he leaned in, keeping his voice low. “They’ve always been watching for you, and I’m sorry I drew their attention here.”
“It’s not your fault,” she told him, staring at his reflection in the mirror. “You didn’t know anything, so you didn’t know what your search would do. To be honest, neither did I because it was supposed to be over.”
“I know,” he whispered. “But I’m still sorry. And it’s not over. So we fight smart. And we do it together.”
She said nothing to that. She simply reached up and gripped the lapels of his jacket, knuckles white.
“Bobby…” Her voice was different now, low and raw. “This is a bad idea. Deke will not be happy. He’ll want to whisk me away again. He’s already threatened it. More than once.”
He nodded, but didn’t pull away. “Yeah. Probably. But that changes nothing.”
Delaney pushed up on her tiptoes and kissed him hard, her hands on his chest. This time the kiss tasted like memory and warning all at once, tearing through the years like they were nothing but paper.
Elvis didn’t resist. He couldn’t. He loved her once, wanted to marry her and be at her side for the rest of his days. Hell, he had never stopped loving her.
He slid his hands up her sides, relishing the feel of her in his arms. When he pulled away, she held that look in her eyes, that one that had always broken him in the past, and he knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her.