Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
The next day, Noah gave Danica his spare laptop, and she holed up in the guestroom for most of the day. She only came out briefly to grab lunch, and she ate it upstairs.
A courier pouch arrived with her phone, which had received a clean bill of health from Bennett Security. No trackers or spyware. When he knocked, Danica snatched the phone from his hand and shut the door again.
Last night, he’d lain awake, listening to her breathing while she slept. She’d tossed and turned, moaning like she was having a nightmare, but he’d stayed put on the floor. Even though all he’d wanted in the world was to crawl into that bed with her and hold her.
Every moment he spent with Danica was filled with temptation.
Like that kiss on the patio. He’d nearly popped a boner in front of his teammates.
But really, could they have blamed him? When she’d bitten his lip…
Jeez. Way too hot. And the fact that he hadn’t expected it had just heightened the experience.
That woman was dangerous. In more ways than one.
Part of him wished they could just drop the “romance” subterfuge altogether. He’d miss having that excuse to touch her, but it would be a lot easier to focus on his job. This wouldn’t be such a damned test of his willpower if they weren’t playing this game.
Acting like he wanted her wasn’t difficult. The real fiction was pretending she didn’t fire up every part of him with need.
Noah opened his encrypted messenger app and checked in with Tanner and Chase, neither of whom had any updates for him. Then he contacted his friend Sean, the detective with the LAPD. He sent along the photo of Danica’s eagle tattoo sketch.
Sean replied quickly. He thought the design looked familiar, but he wanted to check up on a few things before stating any opinions.
That left Noah to sit back and ponder what they should do next. Even though he already had a strong hunch.
So far, Danica had scrapped virtually all of her plans for her visit to West Oaks. All except the museum gala, which would be tomorrow night.
Which meant that, if the kidnappers wanted to make another attempt, they’d probably do it at the museum.
Noah planned to add bodyguards from his own team to the guest list, and Danica had promised to discreetly arrange it with her museum contacts.
But at the event tomorrow, it wasn’t going to be easy to keep his teammates placed in key positions.
They also wouldn’t be allowed to carry weapons through the metal detectors.
He decided on two people—Tanner and Rex.
Noah trusted Tanner completely. As for Rex, he was quiet and serious, always reliable.
Both had extensive skill with hand-to-hand combat, which would make up for their lack of defensive firepower.
And unlike Devon, neither had gone to the initial meeting with William Foster-Grant, so their employment with Bennett Security would be less obvious.
Danica had also provided him with the layouts for the museum, showing all the entrances and exits. Tomorrow, Noah’s team would be as ready as they could be.
Finally, Noah got tired of waiting for Danica to emerge. He knocked on the guestroom door again, then went inside.
Danica was sitting at the small desk in the corner.
“Are you finished stalling?” he asked.
“What are you talking about? I’ve been trying to reschedule meetings and deal with the absolute mess that all this chaos has created. Not to mention the fact that I don’t have my own computer back. I’m not…stalling.”
“Pretty sure you are. You said you didn’t want to hide, but you haven’t left this room in hours. You haven’t left this house since you arrived. And as much as I like having you here, it makes me think you’re avoiding something.”
She glared.
“Dani, if you want to get out of town and head to a safe house instead, we can do it. Right this second. That would be my first choice. But you vetoed that idea.”
“And my decision is the same. I’m not running away.”
“Then you know where we have to go.”
She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “My father’s house.”
“Exactly.” If someone close to Danica had betrayed her, it was very likely that the individual was in the Foster-Grant residence right now. The longer Danica stayed away, the more obvious her suspicions would become.
And there was always the possibility they’d turn up new clues while they were there.
“It’s not like me to avoid anything,” she said. “Especially things like confrontation. But this… I still can’t get my head around the idea that someone I trust could be trying to hurt me.”
“I know.” He crossed the room and put his hands on her shoulders. “Anything I can do to make this easier?”
“Except for just being there with me?”
“That goes without saying. But how will your family react when you tell them we’re together?”
She glanced away. “I’ll handle them.”
“Just give me some advance warning if Soren decides to duel me with a poison-tipped sword.”
“A bodyguard who makes Shakespeare references? How do women ever resist you?” Then a grin slowly snuck onto her face. “This is going to be hard no matter what. But I have an idea that could make it slightly more fun.”
Noah hoped so. Otherwise, this was going to be one of the most awkward “meet your girlfriend’s father” moments he’d ever participated in.
The engine of Noah’s Ducati rumbled as he pulled into the Foster-Grants’ driveway. Danica’s arms were tight around his waist. They hadn’t gotten to ride very long or very fast, but she was right.
It had been fun.
He stopped the bike in front of the house.
Danica got off first, pulling her helmet from her head. She’d worn a backpack carrying her own bag from yesterday, plus a few items of his that he’d added. They weren’t sure if they’d stay overnight. That depended on their reception. But Noah wanted to be ready for anything.
He tugged off his helmet and carried it under his arm. Rosie had parked behind them in her sedan, and she followed.
They walked toward the front entrance to the house, where Blake Halston was waiting on the steps.
“Is there a reason for this stunt?” Blake barked.
Noah figured it was best if he not answer. In fact, this seemed like a time that the less he said, the better.
“You wanted me to come back to the house, didn’t you?” Danica said, gesturing with her hands. “Here I am.”
Blake’s hard gaze moved over to Noah, accusations in his eyes.
But before Blake could speak, William Foster-Grant emerged from the shadows of the open doorway.
Unlike Noah’s own dad, who looked every bit the mechanical engineer he was, William could’ve been an aging billionaire straight from central casting. He had thick brown hair that had gone silver at the temples. A slim but strong build. Expensive, yet understated business casual clothes.
“Danica. It’s a relief to see you back. You have no idea how worried we’ve all been.” William hugged his daughter.
“Noah was looking out for me,” Danica said.
“So you’ve been telling me.” William’s scrutinizing gaze slid over to Noah. “It’s been a long time. This is not the way I would’ve imagined us meeting again.”
“No, sir. I guess not.”
William grasped his hand in a vise-like grip. Noah squeezed back.
He’d chosen to avoid the man the other day, but not because he was intimidated. Noah didn’t actually give a fuck whether William Foster-Grant liked him. Not unless it caused problems for the people he cared about.
But this was the man’s house, and Noah had been raised to be polite.
“Give my regards to your mother and father?” William asked. “I understand they’ve moved out of West Oaks. It’s been years since I’ve seen them.”
“Yes, sir.” He assumed William didn’t actually want details on the Vandermeer family, and Noah didn’t feel like giving them.
“Are we going to stand around out here, or can we go in?” Danica asked.
William waved for them to follow. Danica grabbed Noah’s hand.
Blake brought up the rear, and Noah felt the man staring into his back.
Suddenly, he wondered if this was such a good idea. He felt an urge to sweep Danica into his arms, get back onto his bike, and speed away as fast as he could.
But it was too late now. They were inside, and a security guard shut the door.
“If you all don’t mind,” William said, his voice suddenly a deeper pitch, “I’d like to speak with my daughter. Alone.”
Noah took an involuntary step toward her. She glanced at him, giving him an almost imperceptible shake of her head, then walked away with her father.
They disappeared down a hallway, going toward a different wing of the house. It was the first time Danica had been completely out of his near vicinity in more than twenty-four hours.