Page 61 of Dangerous Secrets

Concentrate.

It didn’t make a lick of difference if he was married or not. What was important was to settle his affairs right now so he could face the showdown that was coming with a clear head.

“Yeah? About time.” Jake’s nanny gene rose to the fore. He’d been nagging Nick to get married for almost ten years now. “About time you tied the knot, you idiot. I don’t know what you were waiting for, hell to freeze over? So tell me that means you’re going to settle down, find yourself a job that won’t get you killed?—”

It was Jake’s favorite rant and Nick was tempted to zone out and let him get it off his chest for the billionth time. But he wanted to drive as fast as he could to the van and the weather was worsening with every passing minute. The snow had let up a little, but the temperature was dropping and ice was building up. He needed to pay attention to the road. These conditions tried even his driving skills.

“Can it.” Nick fought the wheel as a sharp, strong blast of wind rocked the vehicle. “Listen, I’m tight for time, so I can’t explain the whole situation. Believe me when I say it’s . . . complex. All you need to know is that one Nicholas Ames—that would be me—married one Charity Prewitt a couple of hours ago.” He gave Charity’s full name—which turned out to be Charity Prudence Prewitt. He had smiled at that and the smile had earned him a poke in the ribs from her sharp little elbow. He gave Jake DOB, SSN and address. “If something happens to me, you’ll know.” Jake was the only person on the government ‘To Be Notified in Case of Death’ form. “Can I change my will on the phone? Right now? I want her to be my sole beneficiary. Sorry, Jake. When I kick the bucket, Marja’s going to have to do without her fiftieth diamond ring.”

“She’ll live,” was Jake’s wry reply.

“Okay—so now I really need to know whether I can legally do this over the phone. This is a formal request to you. You havepower of attorney. I want to change my will and make Charity P. Prewitt my sole beneficiary. Is that possible right now?”

Clacking in the background. Nick waited patiently, wrestling the wheel, trying to concentrate on the road.

“Done. Let me read it out to you.”

Jake read out the new will, which was identical to the old one except for the date, the name of the beneficiary and an addendum to the effect that Jacob Weiss, who had power of attorney over Nick Ireland’s affairs, recognized Ireland’s voice and was willing to swear an oath in court to that effect. “I’ll get that notarized, just to be on the safe side. Soon.”

“Now,” Nick said.

Silence. Jake processed that. “Okay, I’m leaving the office right now. There’s a very grateful notary on Lexington who bought himself a vacation home in Tuscany with what JLW earned him, so he owes me. I’ll get this notarized within the hour, Nick. That’s a promise.”

Nick knew it was as good as done.

“Thanks, buddy.” Nick felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as if a granite block he didn’t know was on his back had been lifted. “I owe you. Big time.”

“Pay me back by staying alive.”

“Do my best and thanks.”

Nick switched the off button and devoted all his attention to the road. Though it was early in the afternoon, the sky was almost black. The few cars he passed on the road all had their headlights on and were driving at twenty miles an hour, feeling their way over the roads rather than driving their way along.

The surveillance van was only twenty-five miles away, but there was a dangerous patch of road that wound in hairpin turns up a steep hill. It would be hairy driving with ice on the road. He wanted to get there, fight with Di Stefano and Alexei and get back before sundown.

Most of his head was taken up with negotiating the turns, but what remained of his hard disk was focused on Charity, and on what he was going to do to her when he finally got back to her.

Tonight was going to be probably the closest he would ever come to having a wedding night, and he was going to make the most of it. He had no intention of sleeping tonight. They were going to fuck all night long, punctuated only by food and wine and maybe the odd shower or two.

Nick was shaken out of those pleasant thoughts by a sharp jolt. Instantly back in combat mode, he checked the rear-view mirror and saw high headlights coming closer, close enough to ram him again.

It was only now that he realized his subconscious had noticed the black SUV all along. He’d simply put it down to some nervous driver following another driver on a night of bad visibility.

It wasn’t that, it was a tail. Shame on him for taking so long to pick up on it.

Nobody tailed him for long. He was hypervigilant in and out of a car. That this guy had been able to follow him just went to show how much Nick’s head was up his ass. Or up his dick.

God, if he did get offed, he’d fucking deserve it.

Thoughts of Charity and everything else fled from his head when the bastard behind him bumped his rear fender again.

Nick pulled away fast. The SUV had tinted windows. All he could make out behind the windshield was a male figure, tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a watch cap. Mud had been smeared on the plate. There was nothing to call in.

Nick bared his teeth when the guy behind him bumped the Lexus again, only this time harder.

Fucker was making a bad mistake.

Nick was a good shot, but there were better shots around. He was a good man in a fight, but had never won any martial artsawards. He’d been a damned good soldier and was shaping up to be a fine law enforcement officer, but he wasn’t the best there was.

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