Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Adriana rapped at the door, her heart pounding in time with the two knocks.
When Knox swung the door open, she whispered a quick, “Hi.” She’d been unable to find her voice with his eyes locked onto her mouth as if he wanted to kiss her.
She still couldn’t believe what had happened between them last night. Apparently, it took working together and a bullet for them both to admit the truth that’d been dangling above their heads like mistletoe, taunting them for years.
His eyes moved north to hers, and he lightly shook his head as if scolding her for the bulge he was now sporting in his pants. And yeah, she noticed.
His smile converted to an I-want-to-spank-you kind of smirk. Okay, so she’d made that part up, but the thought, even if inappropriate, made her hot. Everything about this man drove her wild, though, and she could finally scream the truth from the rooftops if she wanted.
“How’s Sarah?” he asked but didn’t move out of the doorway yet, and it was probably because he was trying to “de-tent” his faded denim jeans.
She’d visited Sarah at the hospital, took a detour to Ike’s room after—still no luck with him—then worked at the field office for a few hours before coming back to the hotel. She wanted a chance to see Knox before she flew to Atlanta.
“She’s okay. The doctors gave her something yesterday to flush the drugs out of her system. She’ll probably be leaving the hospital this afternoon. She doesn’t like being there with Ike in the building.”
“I don’t blame her.” He brushed her hair off her tense shoulders, studying her neck. And . . . he spotted the hickey he’d given her.
Yeah, they really had kissed like they were teens again in the room last night. So much time to make up for, though.
A smile met his eyes, and her cheeks heated as he repositioned her hair to hide the evidence.
“How are things with your people?”
“A.J. and Wyatt arrived in Dallas,” he said and finally shifted to the side to allow her entrance, “so they’ll be leaving for the compound soon.”
“Oh, good.” She sidestepped him, her body skimming the lines of his hard chest in the process. “I have to meet up with the rest of your father’s protection detail at two to prep for the flight to Atlanta. It does help he has his own jet for traveling, though.”
Knox checked his black wristwatch. “Rodriguez staying back to work the investigation, or is he going with you?”
“He’s coming. He didn’t want to risk having your dad go out of town without him.
Quinn will report to him if she finds out anything new.
” She viewed the team at work in the room before looking back at Knox.
“Quinn’s smart, though. I don’t think it’ll be long before she makes the militia connection. ”
Jessica removed her glasses and focused on Adriana. “We can’t afford to have the FBI showing up at the compound this weekend, not with our men there. We’ll need to keep an eye on her and what she finds out.”
“I’m still not sure who we can even trust on the inside.
If anyone in the FBI field office is actually working with that militia, they’ll give the compound a heads-up if the Liberation Defense Force’s name is brought up,” Adriana said.
“I’ve asked Quinn to speak to me first before sharing new intel. ”
“You think she will, especially given your connection to me?” Knox raised a questioning brow.
“I think we can trust her,” she said with a nod.
“Even if there’s not an insider, once the Feds discover the militia, they won’t be in a rush to go after them.
They’ll get blowback from the higher-ups.
DHS will be worried about another Waco incident, and they won’t be eager to move in on the compound anytime soon unless Ike confirms he was sent to kill Bennett by Darius.
” She sat on the couch and glanced back and forth between Asher and Jessica working side by side at the desk.
“Are you feeling better?” she asked Jessica.
“At the moment.” She smiled. “Lots of saltine crackers. Little sips of water. Thanks for asking, though.”
Asher reached for Jessica’s hand between their laptops. The guy was pretty built, but he reminded Adriana of a cuddly teddy bear with how he looked at Jessica. It was endearing.
“Adriana’s right.” Luke’s words pulled her attention his way. He was sitting across from her, dressed in khakis, a white tee, and wore black-framed glasses. A military-grade laptop rested in the hard-shell case on his lap. “The FBI’s hands will be tied without ironclad evidence.”
“We’ll get the evidence Quinn needs and hand it over when the time is right,” Liam said.
“But if any evidence is obtained illegally it won’t be useful,” she reminded them, even though, surely, they’d know that. “The case would get thrown out of court, and Darius would walk.”
“We’ll figure this out.” Knox sat next to her and clasped her hand, taking her off guard. “It’s what we do.”
Her heart stammered at the gesture. And when her gaze traveled across the room, there was a twitch to Liam’s lips as if fighting a smile before his eyes returned to his screen.
“Any luck tracking the whereabouts of the rest of the militia members?” Knox’s grip of her hand tightened.
How many times had he held her hand before?
And yet, this time was different. So. So. So. Different. Electric. Warm. Tingly. All the things. Touching her in all the places.
“Asher and I are working on that now,” Jessica said. “None of the fifty members have taken flights out of Texas, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t leave another way.”
“But we’re hoping our guys can make some positive IDs on the members tonight,” Asher added.
“You think everyone will be at the compound this weekend? Well, most everyone?” she asked in surprise.
“The group convenes the last weekend of every month. It’s mandatory,” Asher explained.
“We’ll have to keep the situation fluid and see how it goes. I don’t know if I want one of my guys there more than a night,” Luke said.
She knew Luke and Jessica were the owners of Scott & Scott, but the guys still gave off an intense SEAL vibe.
The chain of command in the military was strong. Respect stitched into every line of their dress blues, both literally and figuratively.
And it was obvious the respect for leadership had continued outside the Navy because she felt it in the room.
They were a tight unit. There was a shared trust amongst them.
But when she’d Googled Jessica out of curiosity the first time Knox had mentioned her name years ago as co-owner with Luke, she’d found an IT background only.
Not a military one. Her presence had always been a bit of a question that tickled the back of her mind.
There was more to Jessica’s story, wasn’t there?
More to all of their stories, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
They’d explained they were in the private security business, nothing Knox hadn’t already told her, but something didn’t add up.
And she was beginning to think that “something” was why Knox had held back so much of this part of his life from her.
“Did Sarah confirm if Ike had a laptop on him the day of the shooting? Something he used to take down security?” Liam asked, fixing his attention on her. “Or did he have outside help on that?”
“He didn’t drug her until after he got her out of the hotel, because he needed her to be able to leave by foot, so she remembered a lot from that day,” she began.
“She said he was on the phone with someone before the shooting while on a laptop. Someone had walked him through how to cut into the security feeds.”
“Any ideas who?” Liam asked.
“No. Quinn checked Chelsea’s work laptop to see if she accessed the hotel’s servers at that time, but she didn’t find anything abnormal, and Chelsea wasn’t logged in then. But Chelsea did have a background in IT, so she may have been able to assist,” she explained.
“What are you thinking, Addy?” Knox’s phone rang after his question. “It’s A.J.” He placed the call on speaker and rose.
“Hey, call me back on a secure line. Call my burner,” A.J. said abruptly and hung up.
Luke pulled out a cheap-looking flip phone from a bag by his foot and dialed up a number before placing the phone to his ear.
Knox tucked his cell back into his pocket, never losing hold of her hand.
“Can I put you on speaker?” Luke asked as soon as the line connected, and was that code for Adriana is in the room, can you talk in front of her?
Knox squeezed Adriana’s hand briefly as if in apology, but then Luke placed the call on speaker.
“Our boy Aaron called me, and he wants to meet,” A.J. announced.
“What?” Adriana let go of Knox’s hand and stood in surprise. Her heart a hammer in her chest. Her breastbone the nail it was pounding. “Where?”
“He said he’s innocent and has information, but he can’t go to the FBI,” A.J. answered. “He saw Knox on the news yesterday, and he figured Knox was working with me. He wants to meet at seven tonight. No address provided, though.”
“So, how are we supposed to find him?” Jessica asked.
“Get this, he said the pretty Secret Service agent working with us would know where to find him on a Friday night.”
Everyone in the room turned and looked at Adriana. What the hell was he talking about?
Luke shifted the computer off his lap and stood, clutching the phone with eyes on Adriana. “Does that make sense to you?”
She dragged her palms down her face when realization dawned on her. “Yeah,” she said. “I know where he’ll be.” Her stomach tucked in. “She’s serving his favorite tonight. Pork chops.”
“What?” Knox rose. “Who?”
“The woman who lives across the street from him. She told me that Aaron never misses a Friday dinner.” How had she not realized Aaron could be hiding in plain sight all this time? But why would the woman hide a possible assassin?
“We’ll handle this,” Luke said to A.J. “Call us when you’re at your next location.”
“Roger that.”
Adriana turned away from the room, her mind spinning.
Knox wrapped a hand over her shoulder, but she couldn’t face him. If she looked into those beautiful brown eyes, she’d do anything he wanted, even if it meant jeopardizing her career.
How could she not tell Rodriguez Aaron’s location, though?
He shifted her hair off her shoulder. “You do what you need to do,” he said close to her ear, but not so low his people couldn’t hear him. “I’ll respect your decision.”
“But if the FBI arrests Aaron, the militia might panic and know we’re onto them, and then our guys could be in danger,” Jessica said, and her words were like an icy whip of reality against her skin. “And we could also lose our best lead.”
“This isn’t an easy decision to make,” Luke added. “I don’t envy your position, but—”
“There’s only one choice,” she said, trying not to let fear swallow her words. “And that’s whichever one keeps you safe.”