Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
" I can't believe that guy," Izzy said, once he'd gone. The meeting had shaken her more than she cared to admit. "Surprising us like that."
Viper holstered his gun. "The worrying thing is how he found us. If he can, so can the bad guys. We're not safe here anymore."
She sighed. "You're right. I suppose it's time to head back to D.C. I can't stay away much longer anyway, my followers will be getting antsy. Besides, I have to meet with the board members about the mine. They don't even know that my father was murdered."
It was all rushing back. The responsibility, the threats, the fear.
"Did you believe him?" asked Viper as they walked back inside. "Henderson, I mean."
"Yeah, I did. I've heard my father talk about GHMG Holdings before. He was praising their work in Nicaragua. If I was going to sell to anyone—" She frowned. "I just don't like being ambushed."
"Can't argue with you there." Viper checked the corridor as the elevator opened.
Izzy sighed. "So, we're back to looking over our shoulders everywhere we go?"
"Unfortunately, yeah. We've become careless these last few days. I've become careless. I should have kept my guard up."
She took his hand. "I thought we were safe here too."
They went into their room. The window was open, letting in the warm breeze. After being so relaxed these last few days, the tension was back. She stretched her neck and tried to push it away. "Okay if we fly back tomorrow?"
He nodded. "I’ll clear it with Pat, but it's probably for the best. I don't know how much longer we'll be safe here, now that our location has been compromised."
"Henderson won't tell anyone."
"You can’t be sure of that. Anyway, anyone tracing Robert or Emily's phone will know."
Izzy sat down on the bed. The last few days had been like a dream. She couldn’t believe they're coming to an end.
Sensing her mood, Viper sat down beside her. "We still have tonight."
She turned and threw her arms around his neck. He smelled so good, felt so good, that she wanted to hang on forever. "I know, and I intend to make the most of it."
Much later, as Izzy lay in a post-orgasmic haze, she thought about Henderson's offer. What would Robert and Raf say if she sold her share to GHMG? They'd object, for sure. Henderson would bring in his own team to run things, absorb their company into his own.
Except, nobody knew the company like Robert, and Raf to a lesser extent. And what about all the other people who worked for Omega Enterprises? Would their jobs, their livelihoods be on the line too? Every decision she made affected so many other people.
To be honest, it would be a relief to offload the company and go back to concentrating on her own enterprise, but what were the consequences? Her father had left her with a responsibility that she couldn’t take lightly.
She turned to Viper, sleeping silently beside her. At least, she thought he was asleep. His breathing was even and steady, but she was never sure with him. He woke up at the slightest noise. Instantly alert, like he’d been awake the entire time. Another occupational hazard, she guessed. Even when he was sleeping, it felt like he was watching over her.
She'd miss having him beside her.
Not as a bodyguard, but as a partner.
These past few days...
She smiled as she thought about what they'd done, how they'd been with each other. It had been perfect. Apart from the way they’d gotten here, she wouldn't change a thing.
Their flight landed at Dulles International Airport at three o’clock that afternoon. They'd caught a taxi to Mexico City earlier that morning and flown first-class back to D.C. Izzy had been on edge the entire time.
She had to resist the urge to take his hand. Now that they were home, she had to keep up pretenses. She pushed aside the heaviness in her heart and took a steadying breath. This was her reality now, and they both had to deal with it.
“You okay?” Viper glanced down at her.
She nodded and forced a smile. He looked ridiculous walking through the airport in his shorts, dolphin T-shirt, and leather sandals, especially with his imposing bulk and height. She noticed how people eyed him up, then moved out of the way as they came through. Thankfully, it was the end of August, American in the midst of a heatwave, and people were returning from summer vacations with bronzed faces and mismatched tan lines. In that respect, they fit right in.
Pat had sent a car for them. A woman in a pantsuit with flaming red hair stood at Arrivals holding a sign that read "Victoria Granger".
Izzy smiled. Viper must have told them the name she'd checked in under.
"That's me," she said, coming to a stop. They had very little baggage, just canvas bags containing the few things they'd bought from the hotel store.
The woman nodded and held out a hand. "Rose Clayton, but everyone calls me Thorn. I work for Blackthorn Security."
"Izzy Beaumont," Izzy said, shaking it. “Why Thorn?”
“I’m prickly, I guess.” She grinned.
"Viper Morgan."
"It's good to meet you, Viper," Thorn said, nodding at him with respect. "I heard about what you did in Colombia. Great job."
Izzy turned to look at him. That’s where he’d been shot.
“It was nothing.”
Thorn punched him on the arm. "Don't be modest, Viper." She turned to Izzy. "This guy saved a whole bunch of people in a resort shooting a couple of months back. He's a hero."
She could have sworn Viper was blushing. "I didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done."
Thorn scoffed. "You went into a resort under attack and saved lives when most people were running in the opposite direction."
Izzy gazed at him in wonder. Why didn’t that surprise her? He’d come for her, after all. She could just imagine him springing into action over a terrorist attack.
He was a hero. Not just her hero, but other people's too.
He strode ahead, eyes on the ground.
"I didn't know," she murmured to Thorn. She'd read about it, of course. The resort attack had been on the news channels and in the papers, but she hadn't known Viper was the mysterious special forces operative who'd gone in and gotten people out.
"Are the FBI any closer to proving the cartel wrote those letters?" Viper asked, changing the subject.
"I'll let Pat brief you on that," Thorn said. "I'm not a hundred percent on the details. It's not my case."
He gave a curt nod.
They got into the car. Thorn opened the back door for Izzy. She glanced at Viper to see if he'd sit beside her, but he walked around to the passenger door. It was protocol and they had to keep up appearances.
Thorn was a confident driver. She navigated the junctions and intersections as they left the airport with ease, and then joined the flow of traffic back to D.C. "So, you two have had quite an adventure," Thorn said, once they were in the fast lane, overtaking the slower cars on the interstate.
"You could say that." Izzy glanced at the back of Viper’s head, slowly moving from left to right and back again, constantly alert. "I owe my life to Viper and Phoenix."
"Pat is so glad you're safe," she said. "He's waiting for you at HQ."
"Is that where we're going?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah. I know you're probably desperate to get home, but it won't take long. He wants to debrief you and give you an update on the investigation."
She sighed inwardly. All she wanted to do was take a shower, get changed into her own clothes, and fall into bed. Preferably with Viper, but she knew that was not going to happen. Not anymore. Not now they were back. He was her bodyguard, and she was the client, or principal, as he called it. Their closeness at the resort seemed to be fading away, and there was nothing she could do about it. "Okay."
"I hope you don’t mind if Blade joins us," Pat said. They were sitting in his office, on the comfy chairs, around a small coffee table, two cups of coffee in front of them. Viper was close enough to touch, but he was stoically refusing to look at her.
“Not at all.” Izzy had only met Blade briefly. He was a giant of a man, at least a head taller than everyone else, and broader than most. While his stature was intimidating, he had a reassuring smile, and exuded the same kind of masculine capability that Viper did.
As he came in and perched on the edge of Pat’s desk, she wondered how he found clothes to fit him. He really was enormous.
"Excellent job in getting her back," Blade said, shaking Viper's hand.
"Thanks, but I had help.”
“I heard.”
"Izzy, when you're ready." Pat nodded at her to proceed.
She took a deep breath and thought back to the party on the yacht. "I was talking to Robert on the deck of Casper's sailboat, when all of a sudden, four masked men jumped over the side and grabbed me. They threw me into a small motorboat and took me to this old fishing trawler that was moored some distance away."
"We know that much," said Blade. "Viper followed you on the jet ski. That's how we knew the name of the ship."
"You followed me?" He’d neglected to mention that part.
"Only as far as I could," he muttered. "Then I ran out of gas."
"The Coast Guard picked him up some time later," Blade supplied. "Luckily they found him, otherwise he’d have been drifting for days."
Viper ground his jaw. "There were a lot of vessels in that vicinity. Someone would have spotted me eventually."
Izzy stared at him. The guy wasn’t afraid of anything.
She carried on with her story. "They hauled me onboard and locked me up in this stinking cabin."
"Did you see their faces?" asked Pat.
She shook her head.
“I did,” Viper cut in, and proceeded to tell them about the golfers at the hotel in San Diego, how they’d chatted up Emily, and how he and Phoenix had cut them down in the jungle in Mexico.
Izzy sat quietly, taking it all in. The terror she’d felt on that trawler, the fear in the jungle, it would never leave her. Viper had killed for her. What guy did that?
“The FBI pulled some prints from their hotel room,” Pat said. “They can match them against the bodies in the jungle. Do you know where you landed?”
“I could probably work it out,” Viper said.
Pat nodded. “They’ll send a team down to retrieve them.”
“I just want it to be over,” Izzy whispered.
Pat leaned over and took her hand. "We'll get the people who kidnapped you, Izzy. Don't worry about that. It's just a matter of time."
She saw Viper nod in agreement. Why didn’t she feel as confident?
“Unless they come for me again, we’ve got nothing. The FBI might be able to identify the mercenaries, but how will they prove the cartel is behind this?”
The men didn’t have an answer.
She took a deep breath. "We could use me as bait.”
"No."
"No way!"
"Absolutely not."
All three men spoke at the same time.
"Hear me out. If we set up the perfect kidnapping opportunity, then you guys could swoop in and catch them, and this nightmare will be over once and for all."
"I'm not prepared to put you at risk," said Pat firmly.
"They might not resort to kidnapping again," added Viper. He didn't need to explain. He meant this time they might just kill her. Easier. Quicker. Cleaner.
No more bargaining.
She swallowed. "They won’t. I’m useless to them dead, remember. Raf will inherit my share of the company and the status quo will remain unchanged. They need us to sell, which means they have to use me as leverage."
"Let's table that for later." Pat glanced at Blade worriedly. "In the meantime, we'll keep working on it. Viper will continue to be your personal protection agent."
She nodded, her gaze shifting to her lover, the man who’d shared her every moment for the last week, give or take. He still wouldn’t look directly at her. Maybe he was afraid his boss would realize that they’d been sleeping together and fire him.
"Unless you’d rather I assigned someone else?"
“I’m okay with it,” Viper blurted out, at the same time as she said, "That’s okay. I trust Viper. I don't want anyone else guarding me."
Pat nodded. "Okay, good. We'll be in touch. Take care, Izzy, and call if you see anything suspicious."
She stood up and hugged him. "I will. Thanks, Uncle Pat. I appreciate all you're doing."
He smiled. "You're in good hands."
She snuck a look at Viper behind Pat’s back. "I know."