Chapter 5
Cate was on edge the rest of the day.
Draco insisted on visiting the Brotherhood Protectors International headquarters to check in with Dmytro, hoping he had more information about Alpenhorn, Brunner, Calloway, Freddie and anyone else who might be associated with them.
Though Draco trusted Hammer’s team implicitly, Brunner’s warning echoed in Cate’s mind.
Don’t mention Alpenhorn to anyone.
Well, it was too late, anyway. They’d mentioned it to the entire team and her father, who worked at the State Department.
Thankfully, only Dmytro and Hammer were in the office when Draco and Cate arrived.
Cate filled in Hammer on their meeting with Stefan Brunner and the man’s strained reaction to the mention of Alpenhorn, along with his warning not to mention it to anyone.
“I sent one of my men to the address listed for Alpenhorn,” Hammer said.
“There was nothing there. No office, mail or documents to be found. The lease on the address had been paid for two years. When my guy tracked down the landlord in the auto repair shop, the man said the place had been empty since he leased it. All the lease documents had been handled through a leasing agency via phone and mail. Once the rent for two years was paid, the landlord didn’t question it.
The leasing agency said it was a backup location in case they needed it. They might not occupy it immediately.”
“Did he have the name of the leasing agency?” Cate asked.
Hammer nodded and tilted his head toward Dmytro at his computer terminal.
Dmytro held up a hand. “The leasing agency was bogus. The payment was made in cash, deposited into the landlord’s bank by a private courier service.”
“Not traceable.” Cate sighed. “Anything else on Brunner?”
“Other than that, he has a wife, two children, and a nice townhouse in the city, no,” Dmytro said. “The bank where he works has an extremely effective firewall.”
In other words, Dmytro hadn’t been able to hack into their data.
Not that Cate condoned illegal methods of gathering data. It might not be right to hack, but it sure as hell wasn’t right for Dana to go to jail for murder, especially when the son of a bitch husband of hers most likely wasn’t dead at all.
Every time she thought of Marcus framing Dana, her anger spiked.
“Worried about tonight?” Draco asked when Hammer left the conference room to make a phone call.
“A little,” she admitted. “More anxious than anything. I know patience is part of my job description, but something about this case makes me feel like there’s a clock ticking, ready to explode at any moment.
” She sat at the large conference table and drummed her fingers on its surface.
“I feel like I need to be moving, not waiting for nine o’clock.
Surely, there’s something we could do in the meantime to move this case forward. ”
Draco sat beside Cate and draped a hand over the back of her chair. “Dmytro is still combing through the internet and the dark web. He’s very good at it. If there’s information to be found, he’s our man.”
“Thanks for the endorsement,” Dmytro said from his corner, tapping away on his keyboard.
Cate popped out of her seat and paced the length of the room and back. “Dmytro’s good at data mining. My expertise is people. Who else can we talk with that might give us another clue?” She flung her hand in the air. “At this point, I want to run out in the street and confront our gray man.”
Draco stood and watched as she passed him again. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. They tried to snatch you once. If you confront the man who’s been following us, he might take the opportunity to grab you.”
“At least it would force his hand.” Cate frowned. “I’d love to interrogate him. I don’t think he’s our nine-million-dollar thief, but someone hired him. At the very least he could point us in that direction.”
“If he’s good at his job, he won’t be cornered or caught,” Draco said.
“What if we employ more of Hammer’s people to help us catch him?” Cate asked.
“We might consider it if Brunner doesn’t come through,” Draco stepped in front of her, bringing her pacing to a halt. “Why don’t we get something to eat? You didn’t have lunch.”
“You haven’t had lunch, either.” Cate rubbed her belly. “It is almost four o’clock, and I guess I am getting a little hangry.” She looked at Draco. “You must be starved.”
“I could eat,” Draco said with a grin. “And I’d rather find food while it’s still light outside. Maybe we’ll see our gray man.”
Cate brightened. “Maybe we will.”
Draco’s lips pressed together. “On second thought, it might be better if we have food delivered here. I can’t have you accosting a potential mercenary to demand answers.”
“You can hide in here.” Cate headed for the door. “I’m going for food. If I happen to corner a man in a gray overcoat...well, it could be an accident…or not.”
“You better go with her,” Dmytro called out.
Cate grinned as she pushed through the conference room door with Draco on her heels.
“You’re running roughshod over one of my rules,” he grumbled.
“What? Because I’m hungry and want food?” she said as she marched for the exit.
Draco swung her behind him before she could open the door and step out onto the sidewalk. “I’m in charge of safety.”
“And I’m in charge of the investigation.” She stood in front of him, hands on her hips. “I can’t investigate if I’m cooped up in an office. Waiting hours for a meeting is time I could spend talking to other people.”
Draco gave a single nod. “Point made. Who would you like to talk with?”
Cate opened her mouth and then closed it. “Someone.”
“Exactly. Brunner said he’d give us names. Those are the people you’ll talk with—after we meet with him tonight. Now, unless you have another thread to pull, can we get something to eat?”
“I hate it when you make sense,” she said on a sigh.
Draco grinned.
“And I hate when you know you’re right and grin like an idiot.” She lifted her chin. “If you want food, you’d better wipe that stupid look off your face and get moving.”
Instead of taking offense, Draco chuckled, ruining all of her bad-tempered haranguing. “Yes, ma’am.” He popped to attention, saluted her and opened the door. “Just let me clear the exit.”
She waited patiently, tapping her toe.
Okay, not so patiently.
When he proclaimed it was safe, she marched through the door.
“And by the way, I can’t wipe that stupid look off,” he said, leaning close as she stepped through the door. “It’s my face, like it or not.”
The problem was that she liked it. A lot. Too much.
However, she couldn’t let him worm his way past her defenses.
Not this time.
Hadn’t she learned over the years that people didn’t stay? They said they loved you and then...
Left.
Her mother to death.
Her father, when she’d needed him most while grieving her mother’s passing, had left her for work.
And Draco.
Because he was afraid?
“Give me a break,” she muttered under her breath.
“What was that?” Draco cupped her elbow and leaned close, his breath stirring the tendrils of her hair around her ear, making butterflies erupt in her belly.
“Nothing,” she said. Butterflies be damned. She wouldn’t allow herself to fall for the man. Not a second time. Not after he’d bailed on her without so much as a fuck off.
“We’re supposed to be a happy couple on vacation,” he whispered.
“Huh?” Her brow puckered as she tried to remember where she was.
Not in Virginia. Alone. Left behind.
“You know,” Draco said. “Our cover? A couple? Happy?” He drew a smile across his face.
How could he be so casually jovial when she was trying to be smart, stoic and protective of her heart? All this pretending to be a couple was messing with her mind. If she wasn’t careful, she’d start to believe their playacting was real and kiss him again.
Her heart fluttered and settled in an unnatural flurry of beating that hammered against her ribs.
Get a grip.
When this investigation was over, they’d go their separate ways.
Draco would return to Texas, and Cate to Virginia. They would never see each other again.
Her heartbeat slowed to a miserable crawl.
She’d been devastated when Draco had ghosted her the first time. How would she feel when he did it again?
Was it ghosting when you knew what was to come?
Did it make a difference?
Her heart would ache just as much.
And that was the problem. As much as she told herself not to let him back under her skin, he was there.
Well, fuck.
“You’re frowning again,” Draco said softly. “If meeting with Brunner is worrying you so much, don’t do it.”
She shot a glance his way, his words yanking her out of her freefall into her residual feelings for the man beside her. “Not meet with Brunner? Are you out of your mind?”
“You’ve been frowning and quiet since we left the Brotherhood building. Before that, you were pacing in the conference room. If this meeting with Brunner has you wound too tightly, don’t go.”
“So far, he’s the only link we have to who is behind the nine-million-dollar theft,” Cate said. “I’d sooner lose a limb than skip out on that meeting.”
Draco turned to look at her. “I’d rather you didn’t lose a limb, if it’s all the same to you. They’re pretty impressive all attached to the appropriate places.”
Cate rolled her eyes. “I’ll be at that meeting tonight, with or without you.”
“With me,” he said. “You said it yourself. It’s not negotiable. So, what’s got you stewing so hard that you can’t stop frowning?”
“Nothing,” she answered too quickly, not wanting to admit she was thinking of him.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “Something’s bothering you. Fess up. It’s your rule to speak the truth.” He touched her arm. “Spill.”
Oh, hell no.
She refused to confess she still had feelings for the doofus. “I’m fine. Just hungry.” She lifted her chin toward a pizzeria ahead on the right. “Pizza okay with you?” she asked, knowing he loved pizza and how great it would be as a way to deflect his direction of questioning.
“I could eat a pizza,” he said. “And, by the way, I know what you’re doing.”
“Getting food?” she played ignorant.