Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Monday morning arrived far too fast for Kara, but the sun streaming through the open curtains woke her up, and when she glanced at the clock and saw it was almost eight, she immediately sat up, disturbing the very handsome, very naked man sleeping next to her.
"Is it morning?" he mumbled as he opened his eyes.
She smiled, wishing she could slide back under the covers and make love to him again. "It's eight o'clock. We have to get up, get to work."
He gave her a sleepy grin as he rolled over onto his side, hooked one hand around her neck, and brought her back down for a kiss that immediately sent a wave of desire through her.
But she somehow found the strength to pull away.
"We have to get up, Max. I need to get to the office and go over everything with my team, see if we can figure out where Caleb and Qadir and everyone else are hiding. "
His expression grew more serious with each passing word, and he sat up now, fully awake. "You're right. We have a lot to do. I need to touch base with Reza—"
"Reza?" she interrupted. "Is that the person who shall not be named?"
"Since I just named him, yes," he said with annoyance, which was directed more at himself than at her.
"I won't tell anyone. You can trust me."
"I know that, Kara," he said, the look they exchanged going far deeper than the words. "Anyway, Reza and I are working on something that may come in handy later."
"That sounds interesting. You're not going to tell me what that is, are you?"
"Not right now."
"Okay, fine. I'll wait. We should turn our phones back on.
" She got out of bed, grabbed the beautiful robe from the floor, and pulled it around her before walking back out to the living room to get her phone from her bag.
She had a couple of messages from her team, the most important one being a joint task force meeting with Damon's team at 26 Fed scheduled for ten. She texted back that she'd be there.
As she did that, Max came into the room, wearing briefs, his phone in his hand, a puzzled look in his gaze. "Caroline Rowe wants me to meet her this morning. She doesn't say why. Just says it's important."
"Where does she want to meet?"
"Garden Court at the Fritz Collection."
"A museum? That's strange. Maybe you should just call her back."
"I tried. She didn't answer."
"I don't think you should go, Max. Look what happened the last time a woman sent you an urgent text message needing to talk to you."
He frowned at the reminder of Samantha's text. "Fair point. But it's a big public venue, with security, certainly a different scene than the café."
"It's also a well-known museum in the city that someone might want to blow up."
"I need to hear what she has to say. I'm going to have to take that risk."
"What time?"
"Ten."
"See if you can change it to eleven thirty or twelve. There's a joint task force meeting at ten that I need to be at. But I want to go with you to meet her."
He sent a text and then waited. "She's writing back." A moment later, he looked up and shook his head. "She said it has to be ten."
"That's even more concerning."
"If she can't change the time, change the location. Meet her in the park." At his frown, she added, "I'm just worried, Max."
"It's a good idea. I'll have her meet me at Bryant Park."
"I hate us splitting up."
"Me too, but I doubt I'll be allowed into a joint task force meeting, and maybe Caroline has important information."
"Do you think it's about Dominic?"
"Probably. I suspect she wants me to talk him into bailing on the summit tomorrow."
"I hope it's more than that."
"I'll find out." He walked forward and took her hand in his. "Next time we spend the night together, we're going to spend the morning in bed."
"I like the sound of that." She let go of his hand. "I need to take a shower."
"Hang on."
She turned in surprise. "What?"
"Did I win? Me versus the bed?" he asked with a sexy smile on his lips.
"Definitely you," she returned.
"Good. Then let's see how I do in the shower."
"Max, we don't have time," she protested, but it was a weak protest at best.
"Then we'll have to be fast." As he stripped off his briefs and headed back to the bedroom, she had absolutely no willpower to say no.
It would be fast, she told herself, but as they got into the steamy shower together, she thought they might need just a little longer…
Max arrived at Bryant Park twenty minutes early.
Kara had dropped him off on her way to work, and it had felt strange to say goodbye to her.
But they planned to meet up after their meetings and compare notes, so it wouldn't really be that long.
And he needed to get his mind back on work.
He walked the perimeter of the park, checking for any potential issues.
But everything looked normal for a Monday morning.
Located in Midtown, the park was always busy with people cutting through on their way to work, tourists clustered around the coffee and hot chocolate kiosk, and the usual collection of chess players, and people-watchers, occupying the movable chairs scattered through the space.
kiosks that were already setting up for the holidays, and the usual collection of chess players, readers, and people-watchers occupied the tables and chairs scattered throughout the space.
He positioned himself near the fountain at the center of the park, where he could see all the main entrances and keep his back to the New York Public Library's imposing presence.
Caroline appeared at exactly the appointed time, entering from the Sixth Avenue side.
She looked completely out of place among the casual parkgoers—her tailored black wool coat and leather gloves were perfectly appropriate for a business meeting in a climate-controlled office but made her stand out like a beacon among the joggers and dog walkers.
As she approached, she scanned the crowd, her movements tight with nervous energy. She clutched her purse against her body like a shield, and her usually perfect composure showed cracks of genuine anxiety. When she finally spotted him near the fountain, her relief was visible even from a distance.
"Why the change in location?" she asked.
"Museums are too contained. Here, we can see trouble coming."
He tipped his head toward a nearby empty table. "Let's sit."
Caroline did as he requested, perching on the edge of a chair, but she didn't relax. Her posture remained rigid, alert, like someone who expected to run at any moment.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Dominic is in trouble. I think he's been lying to you, to both of us."
"About what?" he asked, his pulse speeding up. But he cautioned himself to proceed carefully. Caroline was extremely loyal to Dominic, maybe even in love with him, as Kara had suggested. Whatever she was about to tell him could be a setup.
"Last night after he got off the phone with you, he told me that David Hartford is dead, that he was plotting revenge against everyone connected to the tower fire several years ago, that David was responsible for Samantha's injuries, the bomb at the café."
"You're not telling me anything I don't already know."
"Dominic started drinking heavily. Like I've never seen him drink before.
I thought maybe it was the shock of one of his friends wanting his girlfriend dead, wanting him dead.
But it was more than that. After a couple of shots, he started talking about mistakes he's made, that maybe he had finally crossed a line he couldn't come back from.
" She cleared her throat. "I feel like I'm betraying him, but I'm scared.
I know you're his friend, not just a security guy, and I hope you'll want to help him. Promise me you'll try."
"I can't promise anything. What else did he say?"
She gave him a troubled look. "He said that he never should have made a deal with the devil."
"Who's the devil? Qadir?"
Her eyes widened. "You know?"
"I'm guessing. What deal did he make?"
"I'm not entirely sure. But he said after Cody and Ray were killed that he knew he was going to have to work with someone or he was going to have to give up on the project in Tajikistan."
"So, he made a deal with a terrorist for protection? Why wouldn't he tell me that?" His gaze narrowed on her nervous face. "I'm supposed to protect him at the groundbreaking. Why wouldn't I know about this deal?"
"Because you're part of it," she breathed, her words coming out in a quiet rush. "I didn't know. I swear I didn't. I'm not even sure I'm putting it all correctly now. But—"
"What did you say?" He interrupted her rambling with a piercing stare. "What exactly are you saying?"
"I think Dominic hired you because he was told to do that. This Qadir wanted Dominic to bring you to Tajikistan."
His mind raced, spinning back to the past, to the casual meeting in London, the job offer that was absolutely perfect, the timing of everything that had followed.
He'd thought he was using Dominic, but Dominic had been using him.
"He was setting me up. That's why he has never really cared about my plans.
He doesn't need me to be safe; he needs Qadir.
" He paused. "But that plan was about getting me into Qadir's territory, and I don't think he's in Tajikistan anymore. I believe he's in New York City."
"I think you're right. And I think Dominic talked to him last night, right after he spoke to you.
That's when he really started drinking. He also told me he wasn't going to the summit, but no one could know that until the last minute.
And he wanted me to pack my bags, get his plane ready, make sure we could leave at any moment. "
"Dominic thinks Qadir is going to blow up the summit."