“Whether we take it to Zack or try to bury it.”
He whistled. “It’s that bad? You don’t think this is something Freddy trumped up?”
“No. This is evidence from three different sources. I didn’t sleep much after looking at it. I don’t know what to think. I just know we have to do something. We have to find Deep Throat.”
In all the running of the night before, he’d almost forgotten a crucial point. “That’s going to be harder than you think since Lara’s informant isn’t Deep Throat.”
“Are you kidding me?”
It was a problem that should have kept him up all night. Instead, he’d done nothing but think about Lara. She made him soft. “Not at all. I got a good look. He’s a different man. We’re dealing with at least two people. I don’t know how many more. We could be dealing with a group, and that scares the hell out of me. I didn’t get a photo of the new guy. Did we ID the one Everly met? I don’t know whether to hug that girl or threaten to kill her.”
“I think she knows she’s in trouble. I heard Gabe shook the walls of the Lincoln Bedroom last night, and not in a good way.”
If Gabe was anything like him, he’d eventually shaken those walls with more than his yelling. Connor was rapidly discovering that no matter how angry he was with Lara, he still wanted her. He’d meant to lecture her, but the minute they’d gotten alone, the need to mark her, to remind himself that she belonged to him, had overwhelmed him. “I’m just glad she backed Lara up. At least one of them had the sense to carry a gun.”
“According to Roman, the woman was a known associate of the Krylov syndicate.”
Connor snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Okay. She wasn’t from the New York branch. She’s from Saint Petersburg, and I’m not talking about the one in Florida.”
She was from Krylov himself most likely. “So they’re sending in the big guns.”
“I think it’s safe to say they’re sending in people they trust,” Dax explained. “The woman Everly killed is wanted by Interpol in association with at least ten hits across the globe. She was an assassin.”
He was definitely giving Everly a hug. “So they’re sending professionals after Lara.”
“It would seem so. Listen, there’s something else I need to talk to you about. I discussed it with Roman last night. He dealt with the police and they’re keeping this quiet for now.”
“Good. The last thing we need is press.” They would hound Lara and if anyone got a hint this had something to do with Mad’s death, it would never end. Lara would be exposed and that might kill her.
“I think Roman’s going to make a play soon. It’s another reason to tell her and to bring her into the family. As long as Roman considers her an outsider, she’s a threat to Zack. This evidence of hers isn’t going to make it better. You need to sit down and talk to him or I’m afraid he’s going to try to crush her.”
He intended to explain to Roman that Lara was off-limits. He would make sure she didn’t do anything that could hurt Zack, but he wasn’t going to let anyone threaten her. “I told him I would handle her.”
“And he thinks she’s handling you. He doesn’t know her and quite frankly, Roman’s a cynical bastard who believes everyone’s out for themselves with very few exceptions. He hasn’t spent days tailing her. I know I haven’t spoken a word to the woman, but I like her. She’s one of those people who sort of glows.”
Like a fairy princess. “I won’t let him hurt her.”
“Then talk to him and soon. And come back to town. We had zero activity here.”
Getting her back home was his main objective. “I want to install a new security system and change her locks. I’m pretty sure she gives away keys to homeless people in case they want a place to stay.”
“I’ll call and get that started and upgrade the dog. Stop humping my leg!”
Dax was going to have to get used to Lincoln. Lara loved the ugly mutt and that meant he stayed. “That means he needs to go. His leash is on a hook in the front closet, and don’t forget the Baggies.”
“Baggies?”
“For the poop.”
“Dude, you owe me so big-time.”
“Somehow, I think you’ll find a way to make me pay you back.” He hung up and headed across the street to the coffeehouse there, his mind whirling with questions.
* * *
Lara tried to fall asleep again, but without Connor the bed seemed too big, the room too unfamiliar. She stretched and walked to the bathroom without bothering to put on her clothes. The truth was she didn’t mind walking around nude. It felt nice and Connor seemed to like her that way. When she was alone with him and they were naked together, she’d never felt more intimate with another human being. She loved being able to touch him, to lean against him and feel his strong arms surrounding her.
She washed her face and was grateful she hadn’t worn makeup the night before. The little motel was sadly sparse on the complimentary grooming items. There was a little box with a tube of toothpaste and a teeny-tiny shampoo and conditioner set. She had to finger brush her teeth, but at least she felt less grimy as she walked back into the room.
She found her phone and turned it on. A barrage of messages flared across the screen.
She sighed. Most of them were from Tom, but one from her dad asking her to call him caught her attention. She touched the screen to dial him back. After a few rings, he picked up.
“Lara? Sweetheart, are you all right? You didn’t answer your phone last night.”
“I’m sorry, Dad. I was busy and I turned it off. I just turned it back on. Are you all right?”
He paused. The line went silent for a long moment. “Sweetheart, something’s happened and I need to talk to you about it. I need you to know before the press gets hold of it.”
Her heart sank and she clicked the screen to put him on speaker as she started to gather her clothes. If her dad was in trouble, she needed to be with him. “What’s going on?”
“I told you I was going to meet with the president,” he began.
“Yes. Was that this week? I’m sorry I missed it.” She wasn’t really. Until she figured out what had happened to Zack Hayes’s wife, she wasn’t sure she wanted to meet the man.
“I’m not. It was a setup, sweetheart. I never met with Hayes. Roman Calder was waiting for me instead.” He sighed. “We had a long talk. I’m going to resign my seat.”
She looked down at the phone because something must be wrong with it. She couldn’t have heard what she thought she’d heard. Lara turned off the speaker and whipped the device up to her ear. “What? You’ve held that seat for ten years. Your constituents adore you. You can’t quit.”
“I’m afraid I have to. In a few days, a story will break about something that happened when I was in the state senate.”
A cold chill crept across her skin. He couldn’t be talking about what had happened when she was four. No one knew. It was buried. In order to dig it up herself, Lara had worked hard, called in favors, and still had to do a bit of reading between the lines. When the event had occurred, she’d been so young, but sometimes her anxiousn
ess and terror felt fresh. It still lingered under her skin. She couldn’t remember the precise details and that was almost worse. Her fear was vague, amorphous. It was precisely why she’d looked into the “incident” as her parents called it.
“Is this about the road construction contracts?”
“How do you know about that?” He sounded shocked.