Page 38 of Deadly Threat
Celina stepped back and Nova looked around for Owen and Thunder. “Who was that?”
“Beatrice Reese.” He wrapped both his girls in his arms and kissed them.
Nova laughed and Celina gave him the stink eye, as he began gathering the papers. “You’re leaving?”
“Raincheck on our plans for later?”
She huffed, but without real effort. “Did you get a lead?”
“Working on it.” He stuck the papers in his briefcase and headed for the door. “I’ll check in with you as soon as I can, but don’t wait up.”
Pinching her lips, she followed him. “Good luck. I hope you find her.”
He gave her another kiss. “Me, too.” The night was chilly and stark as he stepped outside. “We’ve got to.”
Sixteen
Mia’s body felt flush and alive for the first time in months. Her nerves buzzed pleasantly in the continuing afterglow of Malachi’s lovemaking and her brain felt clearer, sharper.
The ocean was dark, a cloudy night sky accompanying them as they took the coastal highway south back to San Diego.
Her disguise was more like camouflage, and the bulletproof vest Malachi insisted she wear added bulk and weight to her torso. Her boobs felt squished, but he wouldn’t have let her come unless she followed all his rules. Wearing it was one of them.
She worried her hands in her lap, the dark gloves he’d given her ready if she needed them. The landscape around the former lab’s compound had appeared to be overgrown, and he insisted she wear thick-soled boots with long pants and sleeves to protect her skin.
She didn’t believe he’d let her get out of his truck once they arrived, but he had prepped her for any and all contingencies.
She liked that about him. For once, it was nice to lean on someone else when it came to overthinking the possible threats that lay in the dark.
A strand of black hair tickled her chin. She tucked it behind her ear. The wig was high quality and light on her skull but still felt odd, itchy. As he’d dressed her, he’d questioned her on various things—the night Lopez had grabbed her outside the fundraiser, the things Marcher had said to her, did Amber have any enemies? Usually, recounting her ordeal was fresh torture, but this time, she’d felt a healthy detachment, as though it hadn’t all happened to her.
Probably still riding the high from his touch, his kiss.She didn’t want to come down from that, and certainly not to relive her ordeal.
Underneath it all, she sensed he was getting at something. Laying out all the events, the tiny details, like a general preparing for battle. The questions were leading him down a path. He’d thought over each of her responses, asked more, then frowned in consternation at a few of her answers. She’d chuckled at the question about Amber’s enemies—didn’t every politician have plenty of those? But Malachi had wanted to know about non-work ones—friends, family, boyfriends, or donors whom she might have had closer relationships with that could have been upset with her over personal things. There was a handful of exes, but Mia couldn’t see any of them as threats. There was Constance—Amber’s college roommate who’d been her finance manager. Amber had given her a job with the city when she’d been elected, only, Constance had been embezzling from the campaign funds, and Amber had been horrified. Pressing charges and sending her friend to jail had taken a toll on Amber, but Constance was no threat now.
Besides, Mia was sure this was King and Lopez, not an unhappy ex, behind her sister’s kidnapping. Those two were playing a game to get at Newt Marcher.
Malachi took a turn, leaving the highway. “You’re quiet. You okay?”
She bit her bottom lip. They’d left Ladybug at Mia’s apartment. The lack of her constant companion was as odd as wearing the vest and wig. “Just trying to figure out, still, why these men took my sister and where she could be. I feel like we’re spinning our wheels.”
“I know this is tough, but remember, everyone is doing their best to find her.”
But don’t get your hopes up.
The unsaid words hung between them. She took a slow, steadying breath. The tone in his voice was a familiar one. “Are you prepping me for disappointment?”
He glanced at her. “She may not be there. Odds are she isn’t. There are hundreds of places they could have taken her.”
“You don’t excel at pep talks, do you?” Mia had spoken to her parents before they’d left. Her mother was convinced and hopeful that a ransom call would come. They had no money to speak of, so it would be pointless to demand they pay up, but Mia had played along. This raid had to work. They had to find Amber and bring her home.
Malachi chuckled without humor. “I’m better at giving orders.”
“I noticed,” she teased. She reached over and caught his hand, threading her fingers through his. “Thank you for doing this. For defying Dupé and bringing me to the takedown.”
His strong fingers closed around hers. “If they see us, my ass is grass. We have to remain outside the perimeters and lay low.”
“I know, but it means a lot to me that you would risk your good standing with the Taskforce to let me be here.”
