Page 23 of Guarded

Briar turned her attention back to him, a tiny bit of annoyance in her gaze that they had hidden it from her.

Matt blew out a breath. “There’s more.” He told her about Harding and their history. “He says he’ll only talk to me, and only in person. I’ve got until seven tonight to make it happen, or he kills his wife and little girls.”

Briar didn’t hesitate. “You should go.”

His spine straightened.To hell.“My place is here with you.”

“No. You heard the doctor. I’m fine. Baby’s fine. There’s nothing more you can do for either of us, but you might be able to save that woman and her daughters.”

“I can’t leave you like this.”

Her expression softened. “I love that you want to be here for me, but I’m okay. You might be the only person who can stop this from getting any uglier. You have to go.”

He shook his head, opened his mouth to refuse again but Trinity cut him off.

“I’ll stay with her,” she offered.

Briar smiled, patted her friend’s hand. “See? She’ll stay with me.”

“I’m in between jobs right now,” Trinity went on. “Got nothing better to do, and if Brody’s going with you—” As if on cue her cell chimed. She pulled it out, gave a rueful smile. “Speak of the devil. Okay, he’s definitely going. So I’ll stay here and camp out with our girl, make sure she behaves herself,” she said with a warning look at Briar, “and as soon as everything wraps up you can come straight back here.”

“I’ll be good, I promise,” Briar said, looking from him to Trinity and back again. “You know you have to go. You won’t be able to live with yourself if you don’t and it all goes wrong.”

“I won’t be able to live with myself if I leave and anything happens toyou,” he argued. But she was right. If she and the baby weren’t in immediate danger and they were only keeping her in for observation, and if Trin stayed with her… He would be an hour flight away. Hopefully he would be able to make contact with Harding and resolve this within a couple hours. And if he could save the wife and little girls, the duty bound part of him felt obligated to go.

“Are yousure?” he asked. Because he wasn’t.

“I’m positive,” Briar said. “I’m telling you, go. It’s okay. I love you and I’ll be right here waiting when you get back.” She grabbed for his hand, squeezed it. “Just be careful and don’t take any stupid risks.”

Matt was so damn torn. He weighed the decision in his mind, glanced between the two women. When they both nodded at him in encouragement, he relented.

“All right. But I’m keeping my cell on me at all times. If anything happens, and I meananything,” he said with a hard look at them both, “any more bleeding, another big clot, whatever, Trinity calls me immediately and I’ll be back here as fast as I can. Got it?”

The women nodded. “Got it,” they echoed, their expressions almost identical. It was eerie, how they did that.

His gaze slid to his wife, his conscience needling him. Shit, he didn’t want to go. His job required a lot of sacrifices on his behalf, but he’d never been this torn between duty and family before.

As if reading his thoughts, Briar’s lips curved into a knowing smile as she reached up to cup the side of his face. “Go make the world a better place.” She gave his shoulder a little push. “Go.”

“All right, I’m going,” he grumbled. “Love you,” he added, then bent to kiss her. Straightening, he pointed a finger at Trinity. “You hold her to her promise. Don’t let her move until I get back.”

“Oh, I won’t. She’s never had a warden this tough.”

Since that was the best assurance he could get under the circumstances, Matt made himself walk out the door and call the negotiator. “I’m on my way,” Matt told the man as he strode for the elevator. “Have everything ready when I get there.”

Chapter Six

“You really okay, or are you just faking it?” Trinity asked her after Matt left. “Because if you’re faking it in front of me, I’m gonna be pissed.”

Briar wanted Matt here, but in light of the circumstances, had pushed him to do the right thing. “I’m good. Just glad everything’s okay with the baby. That was scary.” Briar put a hand to her belly. Was it her imagination, or did the baby’s movements seem weaker and less frequent than they had yesterday? “I still feel guilty, though.”

She told Trin about the flying bit. “Matt and I had a fight about it before I left on this last trip. He thought it was too risky this late and was mad I went to the doctor and got permission to go anyway. In this case, turns out he was right,” she muttered.

“Yeah, and I know how much we both hate having to admit we’re wrong,” Trin said wryly.

Briar gave a half smile. She felt better about the baby now, but if something else went wrong and they lost it, part of her wondered if Matt would secretly blame her for it. She didn’t think she could handle that.

Trin took her hand. “You only think that because deep down where no one else can see, you and I are neurotic nutjobs. The doctor said she couldn’t be sure whether this was partly due to the flight or not. Matt told me it could have been caused by a bunch of different things, so if you’re quietly worrying that he’s upset with you, he’s not. He’s a smart guy.”

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