Secrets and Seduction: 5 Romance Novels (53 page)

“Can’t work there.”

“Miss Alafita can bring you anything you need from your office,” Garrison said.

Bryce looked at Ciara. What she knew, Steele’s organization knew. He couldn’t caution her not to tell anyone but Steele without her knowing that he knew her secret.

Although now Ciara knew about Steele’s rival. It wouldn’t take long for Steele to shake out the traitor and it would either be bloody or the person would disappear like Jimmy Hoffa had. Bryce wondered if the Feds knew the person’s name, but he wouldn’t seal the man or woman’s death warrant by handing the name to Ciara.

“They’d follow her,” he responded to Garrison’s offer. “No safe house.” His voice had grown progressively hoarser as he talked. Now a coughing spasm gripped him. Afterwards he felt spent … and angry. Rage was the only warmth he felt in this cold, sterile room. Damn Steele’s whole organization.

“You’ll accept protection though?” Pollack insisted.

Bryce nodded. “Federal.” The word was nearly soundless.

Pollack and Garrison exchanged a look. Then Pollack glanced at Ciara. “Would you excuse us for a few minutes, please?”

She looked ready to protest, glancing at the three of them. But then she turned and left the room.

“You don’t trust the local cops?” Garrison asked, his voice low, his gaze sharply incisive.

“No.”

“You have proof? Names?” Pollack demanded, pen poised over his notepad.

Bryce shook his head.

“Yet you can still defend Steele,” Garrison said, “Knowing what you do.”

“Or suspecting it,” his partner added.

Bryce kept silent. He’d only said what he had to in order to stay alive.

Frustrated anger fired Garrison’s brown eyes. “We’ve got work to do to set up your protection. For now we’ll leave you with the cop who followed you from your office. I don’t think he wants you dead, if he’s corrupt.”

Cops had swarmed in and out of Bryce’s life since the ricin bomb, each one unknown. What was one more? But he debated saying aloud the rest of his doubts. The FBI agents were nearly at the door when he spoke.

“Feds can be bought too.”

Garrison drilled him with a look. A muscle bunched in his jaw. Clearly he wanted to ask for names but knew he’d get none.

Pollack didn’t suffer from a lack of words. “You’re sending us back to our office wondering if any of the people we work with are dirty. That’s low even for a lawyer who defends scum.”

Garrison tried again. “You could turn States’ evidence. Tell what you know. You’d go into Witness Protection.”

Bryce heard the click of heels outside his door. He couldn’t let Ciara report this conversation to Steele. “Can’t help you.”

Garrison’s eyes snapped with anger and Pollack’s narrowed with disgust when they left. They passed Ciara on their way out. She watched them go, frowning a little.

“They don’t look happy.”

Bryce settled his head back against the gurney and held the oxygen mask over his mouth, inhaling as deeply as he could. She was so easy on the eyes. Too bad she was a spy.

“Don’t like my choice of client.”

She moved closer to him. “It’s a popular opinion.”

Bryce shrugged. The tightness in his chest eased a little. He moved the mask aside. “Take the day off. I’m not going back to the office.” He took a drag of oxygen. “I’ll go home when I’m released.”

“I can drive you home.”

“Not necessary. Go home. Tomorrow’s July Fourth. See your family. I’ll be in the office on Thursday.”

“Okay.” But she frowned at him, looking him over. “Are you sure you’ll be all right here by yourself?”

“A cop is outside.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“My friend Sean is coming.”

“Oh. Okay.” She looked slightly relieved. “I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”

He nodded. Still she hesitated. Thoughts flitted through her expressive dark eyes, and then her chin jerked up. “See you.” And she left.

They were barely even friends, so why did he wish she’d kissed him good-bye?

• • •

Ciara called Baisden as soon as she left the hospital, relaying everything she knew. He insisted she stick to Bryce like glue from now on.

“Gannon knows about police corruption. This is what I’d hoped to uncover.” Excitement laced his voice. “Keep your eyes and ears open around him and Steele. Learn everything you can.

“If Steele owns the cops, Gannon should have accepted protection immediately,” Baisden mused. “That’s an anomaly.”

“But if someone is making a move in Steele’s organization, Bryce wouldn’t know if a person was working for Steele or his rival.” No wonder he hadn’t wanted police protection.

“True.” Ciara could almost hear Baisden thinking. “Gannon should be off balance. Maybe we can push him over to our side. Is he?”

“It’s hard to read Bryce. He keeps his emotions firmly under control.”

“Has he warned Steele that you know of?”

“Not in my presence. In fact, he’s never spoken to Steele when I’ve been around. That’s strange.”

“Maybe he doesn’t trust you yet. He’s keeping his dealings with Steele private.”

“But it’s public knowledge he’s defending the man.”

“But anything else between them is secret. I need you to win the man’s trust enough to find out what he’s hiding.”

“That won’t be easy. Bryce keeps his own counsel.”

“There’ll never be a better time. Three attempts on his life in two weeks have got to have him thinking about his mortality. He won’t want some of his secrets to die with him if the next attempt succeeds.”

“Offer myself as a confessional?”

“Whatever it takes. Get that information, Ciara.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ciara hung up, slipped the phone into her purse and stared at the emergency entrance. Her hand rose to touch two fingers to her lips as she remembered Bryce’s kiss. Her heart danced with excitement. It had been unexpected, and had thrilled her. But why he should feel the need to thank her for the simple act of holding his hand made what Baisden asked seem like treachery.

She knew how important it was to unmask corrupt law officers. But did Bryce have to get ground up to obtain that information?

Ciara hesitated before calling a cab. She didn’t like leaving Bryce alone. After the letter bomb exploded, none of his employees had dared come near him. She’d been the first to reach out to him, and not because she’d already been exposed to whatever had been in the bomb. She couldn’t stand to see him suffer.

• • •

Sean arrived at the same time as Dr. Khalil. Sean’s brown hair stood up in tufts like he’d pulled on it on his way here. “My God, what happened?”

“It wasn’t ricin,” Bryce forestalled Sean’s incipient heart failure. His remaining hoarseness probably didn’t help Sean’s state, although his friend let out a loud sigh of relief.

But it made Dr. Khalil frown. “But you inhaled something.”

“Yeah.” Bryce told them in brief, terse words. In retrospect his reaction sounded ridiculous. He ended with, “There’s nothing wrong that rest won’t cure.”

“I’d like to run tests to be sure,” Dr. Khalil said.

God, not more torture. “I feel fine.” Well, that was an exaggeration, but compared to the ricin attack Bryce felt like a million bucks. He looked to Sean for his friend’s support.

But Sean frowned. “Bryce, Dr. Khalil is right. I know I’d feel better if the hospital checked you out.”

“It wasn’t ricin. I’m all right.”

“The tests won’t take too long, Bryce,” Dr. Khalil argued. “I can’t in good conscience release you without them.”

With bad grace Bryce conceded defeat. But the tests took hours, mostly spent waiting, and then more time waiting for Dr. Khalil to return to examine the results. Which showed exactly what Bryce had said. His lungs were irritated. They needed to rest.
He
needed to rest.

Sean argued for Bryce to stay overnight, but Bryce had had enough. First the bomber had derailed his planned day, and then Sean and Dr. Khalil had hijacked the rest of his day. Bryce was going home to his own damn bed.

As he exited the room, the FBI agent on duty detached himself from the wall and attached himself to Bryce.

Damn. His life was no longer his own.

Ciara had washed her clothes, stocked the kitchen of her extended-stay hotel and was just deciding what to do for dinner when her cell phone rang. When she saw her mother’s number on the caller ID, Ciara sighed and braced herself.

“Hello, Mama.”

“
M’hija
, tomorrow Carmen is having a holiday cookout. Your brothers and their wives and children will be there. You hardly get to see your nieces and nephews. I thought now that you are so close you could come even though it is mid-week.”

Ah, the mother guilt trip. It was easier to ignore when Ciara lived an hour-and-a-half away. “I don’t know if I’ll be free or not.”

“What are you going to do? Work?” That last word dripped with derision. “It is bad enough you do not have children of your own, but to ignore your nieces and nephews? Ignore your brothers and sister and their wives and husband? All because you are angry at me?”

Ciara sighed again. “I’m not angry at you, Mama.”

“I did not raise you to lie, Ciara. And shame on you for staying away. You have been in town for days.”

And working. But her mother didn’t want to hear that. “All right, I’ll be there. What time?”

“Noon. I know you do not cook — ”

“I’ll stop at the store and pick something up.”

“Oh, Ciara.” Two words sure could carry a load of mother guilt and quiet despair.

“I’ll bring ice cream for the children. Everyone likes ice cream.”

“Very well. I will see you tomorrow.”

Ciara hoped there wouldn’t be any matchmaking. She didn’t know which was worse — inviting any single men to the family gatherings or listening to her mother castigate her life choices and lack of husband and children.

But the next morning as Ciara stood on Bryce’s doorstep, she had second thoughts about the crazy plan she’d hatched in the desperate aftermath of last night’s phone call. She had no idea what she was doing inviting Bryce to a family picnic. She took a deep breath and rang his doorbell anyway.

A blonde woman opened the door. Ciara gaped. Had Bryce finally found a girlfriend to replace Monique? Or was this the possible affair that had caused Monique to dump Bryce? Disappointment and anger stabbed at Ciara. The beautiful day dimmed.

“Can I help you?” The woman’s voice was businesslike. In fact, her suit was businesslike too, in a severe way.

“I’m here to see Bryce.”

“Who are you?”

“Ciara Alafita.”

“Just a minute.” And the blonde woman shut the door in Ciara’s face with a click.

Ciara stared at the door, perplexed. It couldn’t be a girlfriend. Bryce liked his blondes gorgeous. That woman had seemed like a butler, protecting the house from riffraff.

Protecting the house.

Ciara could have kicked herself for her stupidity. Relief almost made her sag. The woman was a federal agent.

Finally the door opened again and the blonde stepped back to let Ciara in. “Mr. Gannon’s in his office. I understand you know the way.”

“Yes, I do.” Ciara should have known he’d be working. She proceeded to Bryce’s office.

Whatever she’d been going to say flew out of her mind as she rounded the doorway and saw him sitting behind his desk. He wore a red polo shirt that fit snug to his wide shoulders and firm chest. Her mouth dried. Her body felt achy. His suits disguised his body’s athletic power. She’d seen his bare chest yesterday, but there was something mouthwatering about a man in a tight shirt.

Bryce looked up from his legal tablet and caught her gawking at him like a teenage girl gushing over a pop star. “I gave you the day off.” Yesterday’s hoarseness was gone.

“I know.” She stepped fully into the room.

Bryce’s gaze swept over her red knit sundress and sandals. His once-over lingered and warmed her. His gaze rose to meet hers once more. There was a hint of a smile on his chiseled lips.

“That’s a different look for you.”

“And you as well.” She smiled at him in invitation. “I’m wearing this for my mother.”

“I won’t keep you from your family get-together. Did you need something?”

“I’d like you to come with me.”

Bryce didn’t catch his momentary shock fast enough and Ciara savored the ability to prick his perfect composure.

“Go with you?”

“Sure. You need to escape this house and the case for a few hours.”

Bryce laid his pen down and leaned back in his chair. “It’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t intrude on employees’ family time.”

“You won’t be intruding. In fact, with you there my mother will be on her very best behavior and I won’t have to take any heat.”

“I see. An ulterior motive.”

“Bryce, I really want you to come. It will do you good to relax for a few hours. And my mother is a great cook. Although our holiday food is a little non-traditional. You may have noticed I’m Hispanic.”

“I’ve noticed. So the food has a Latin influence?”

“Definitely. You’ll come?”

His gaze drifted behind her. “I’m not sure I want to put your family in danger.”

“Nobody would expect you there, so it’s perfect. Like hiding in plain sight.”

“Let me see what Agent Andrews thinks.” Bryce rose. He wore long khaki shorts that made his lean legs look longer.

Ciara practically gaped at his brown leather sandals, but she refrained from commenting. Of course he relaxed at home. When she wasn’t there.

She followed him to the kitchen where they found the agent drinking a Diet Coke.

“Miss Alafita would like me to go to her family’s house for the Fourth,” Bryce said. “Do you have any security objections?”

“Is it inside or out?” Andrews asked.

“Out,” Ciara answered.

“Family only or will there be strangers?”

“I hope it’s only family.”

“What do you mean?” Andrews asked sharply.

Ciara saw that Bryce was just as focused on her. She felt her cheeks warm. “My mother likes to matchmake.”

She felt Bryce’s attention intensify.

But Andrews relaxed. “How many people will be there?”