RunningScaredBN (21 page)

And despite her sensible brain telling her these things were impossible, she couldn’t let go of the hope. She wanted to spend a thousand nights in his arms, exploring him, letting him explore her. She wanted to travel the world with him, rescuing victims. She wanted to share her hopes and dreams with him. She wanted to know what his dreams were. Oh dear heavens, she wanted it all.

His face was as stern as a general going into battle. “McCall just texted. He’s making the first call now.”

Riley’s mind went blank. All breath left her body. This was what she wanted, what needed to be done, and now that it was in play, there was no going back. This was going to happen.

“Ingram.”

Justin’s hard tone pulled her out of her panic. Ashamed at her reaction, she glanced around, surprised to find that only she and Justin were in the room.
 

She took a breath and stood. “The sooner we get this started, the sooner we get it finished.”

Not meeting his eyes, her gaze roamed the room. She was looking for something to do,
 
trying to come up with something to talk about other than what she really wanted to know. What was going on with them? Where had he been the last few days? Why was there this new distance between them? Was it over?

She raised her gaze to his and caught her breath on a gasp. She saw tenderness, heat, and something else she could barely put a name to.

“Justin?”

He held out his hand. “Come with me.”

She followed him into a smaller, private office. The instant the door closed, he pulled her around to face him.

“Before this goes down, you and I need to get a few things straight.”

***

LCR Offices

East Tennessee Branch

Noah punched in the number he’d been given, sat back in his chair, and waited.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Larson? Noah McCall.”

“Mr. McCall? Have you found her?”

“Uh, no. Not yet.” He added a small amount of arrogant exasperation to his tone. “My people have just started on the case. I do, however, have a few follow-up questions.”

There was a slight pause, and then Larson said rather cautiously, “Like what?”

“Has Jessica ever been to Greece?”

“Ah...” A slight sputter. “Um. Not that I’m aware of. Why?”

“Did she have any friends from there? Maybe someone who would have given her refuge?”

“I…uh. No. I don’t remember any of her friends or acquaintances being from Greece.”

“Hmm. Then this could be a dead end.”

“What do you mean?”

“As you know, we have contacts all over the world. On an initial inquiry we made, we found a man who used to work on a cruise ship. He claimed a young woman stowed away on a ship that was docked in Greece.”

Noah could just imagine Larson’s consternation. His need to keep Dimitri’s location out of the investigation was no doubt warring with the very real possibility that LCR had found a lead.
 

“The timeline fits. This was about eight years ago. The description fit Jessica, so he was shown the photograph you provided. He said that he remembers the girl as much thinner and very sad looking, but he thought it might be her.

“We’ll just keep looking,” Noah went on smoothly. “Knowing where not to look is almost as important as where to look. I’ll—”

“Wait. Wait. Um, are you sure it was Greece?”

There was something in Larson’s tone. Something not right. The man sounded genuinely surprised that Greece had been mentioned. Noah took a chance and threw out some more bait.

“The man thought it was Greece, but he also mentioned that the ship had several ports of call on that cruise. Perhaps this girl got on at another location, and he just thought it was Greece.”

“Well now, come to think of it, I do believe Jessica had a friend from somewhere around there. I don’t recall the girl’s name, but I remember Jessica making mention of wanting to visit her. This definitely sounds like it’s a lead worth pursuing, Mr. McCall.”

 
“If you think that it’s a possibility she visited her friend, then we’ll definitely look harder in that direction. Are you sure you don’t remember the exact location or the girl’s name? Perhaps your wife might remember.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember. And Loretta? Well, her memory isn’t what it used to be. I—Oh my, I just remembered something else. So tragic. The girl died in a car accident a few years ago.”

So he didn’t remember the girl’s name, but he knew she’d been killed. The man’s desperation was showing. He had not thought this through. There were more holes in his story than in a pound of Swiss cheese.
 

“That’s too bad. Still, it gives us a more focused area to look at. I’ll put my efforts into finding out more about this young woman who stowed away.”

“It would be remarkable if it’s her. I can’t wait to tell Loretta.”

“Don’t get your hopes up too much. Again, this could just be a dead end.”

“Any lead is better than nothing at all.”

“I’ll be in touch. Goodbye, Mr. Larson.”

The moment the call ended, Noah slammed his fist on the desk. He’d played a small hunch, but now he had even more questions. Larson had sounded genuinely shocked at the mention of Greece. Was Dimitri not there after all? Had they been looking at the wrong damn country all this time?

Chapter Nineteen

Justin looked down into Riley’s wary eyes. He knew he probably looked like roadkill. Other than the few hours he spent with Riley each night, he had barely had any sleep since they’d left home.
 

After meeting with McCall that day and hearing how broken Riley had been when McCall took her in, how her ordeal had left her so damaged she couldn’t even bring herself to speak, he’d been convinced of one elemental truth. Riley must be protected, no matter what. She had suffered too much. Allowing Larson or Dimitri to get their hands on her again, even now that she could protect herself and would have the best backup LCR had to offer, was just not acceptable.
 

He’d had a much-needed and brutal bout with Aidan and then started a plan of action. He had full faith in LCR in carrying off a successful mission, but they needed to use all of their resources.

He hadn’t mentioned his idea to anyone until he had everything in place. Once he was ready, Justin had shared those plans with his boss, told him what he had done. McCall had listened without comment, nodding at all of Justin’s carefully thought-out reasons.
 

The LCR leader had concurred that it was a good, solid strategy. He agreed that it should work and, most important, would ensure Riley’s safety. Justin had been relieved to have him on board. McCall’s assistance was integral to things going forward. Then McCall had put a kink in everything when he’d asked, “What does Riley think about this?”

When he had explained that he’d wanted to get everything in place before bringing her on board, McCall had shaken his head and delivered a final summation. “She’ll never go for it.”

Admittedly, Justin had squelched all the niggling doubts in the back of his mind that he should have talked with her before moving forward. But he had convinced himself that when he presented the plan, fait accompli, she would agree. McCall’s statement had brought all those doubts back to the forefront.

Deciding the best defense was a good offense, Justin backed up against the edge of the desk and pulled Riley forward until she was standing in front of him. Keeping his hands on her shoulders, he locked his gaze with hers. “You need to know a few things, Ingram. First, I have a deep admiration for you. Not just for overcoming so much, but for what you’ve made of yourself. You have more courage and grit than anyone I’ve ever known.

“I’ve watched you dodge bullets, take down men three times your size, and rescue countless victims without showing the least amount of fear. Hell, the injury you received last year would’ve killed most people. You’ve got bigger balls than men ten times your size.”

Riley’s startled laughter was a welcome sound. He had said the last part intending for her to laugh, but the words were true. He’d kept his word to McCall that he would let her work through her emotions in her own way, but now that things were under way, he could wait no longer. They had to do this and soon.

“There is no doubt in my mind that you can destroy Dimitri, as well as William Larson and his disgusting band of human traffickers.”

“Why do I hear a but in there somewhere?”

Instead of giving her a direct answer, he said, “You know Mia Ryker. Right?”

She frowned her confusion. “Of course I know Mia. She and her husband, Jared Livingston, are former LCR operatives, though they still work with LCR from time to time. Jared’s the one who trailed Larson to LA.”

“Jared is still there, but Mia is coming here.”

“It’ll be good to see her again. Did Noah ask her to help out with this part of the op?”

“In a way.”

“In what way?”

Pushing aside all the doubts that were suddenly screaming for attention, he continued his explanation. “You and Mia have similar appearances.”

“Yes,” she said slowly. “I even switched places with her once on an op. We have the same build and coloring. No one even noticed. But what’s that go to do with—”

Her eyes grew wide as comprehension hit. “You want her to pose as me for this op.”

“I don’t want you to have to see that bastard Dimitri again. Or Larson either. Neither man has seen you in years. Yours and Mia’s physical similarities are close already. With a little extra makeup and enhancements, they’ll never doubt that it’s you.

“I’ve rented a place in upper East Tennessee, high up in the mountains. Used to belong to one of those doomsday preppers. The place is surrounded by a twelve-foot wall and an electric fence. It’s a fortress. No one’s around for miles. Most importantly, no one could get to you there. Anna can stay with you. We’ll set up guards to patrol the grounds twenty-four seven until this is over. You’ll be safe.”

Her initial reaction was immense relief. She wouldn’t have to see the monster again. Wouldn’t have to hear his voice, smell his fetid breath, brace against the fear of his touch. And Larson. She wouldn’t have to suffer through seeing the people responsible for putting her in hell.

She felt almost dizzy from the sense of freedom. Nothing extra would be required of her. The demons of her past would be destroyed, and she would…she would…

“Oh no. Oh, hell no.” Jerking out of Justin’s grasp, Riley jumped a foot away from him.

She had almost fallen for it. She couldn’t decide whom she was more disappointed in—herself for being so damned naïve and weak, or Justin for his arrogance and lack of faith.

“Riley, think about it. You won’t have—”

“I don’t have to think about it.” Hands on her hips, she glared at him. “This is my right. I deserve to bring these bastards down. No one has that right more than I do. I’ll be damned if I’ll let you treat me like a victim.”

“I’m not treating you like a victim. I’m trying to protect you.”

“As my partner, you protect me by having my back. Just like I have yours. You don’t lock me away or hide me behind closed doors. You don’t treat me like I’m some useless, untrained civilian, incapable of handling myself.”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Then what are you doing, Justin? Tell me. Because it sure as hell looks as though you don’t think I can handle this op. If you don’t, then we need to go to McCall and make some changes. I need a partner who believes in me.”

“I do believe in you, dammit. And McCall already knows about this.”

The betrayal hit her harder than she’d thought possible. She stumbled back, heard her numb lips whisper, “He doesn’t think I can handle it either?”

“Of course he does. This has nothing to do with what you can handle. Hell, I just told you you’re the strongest person I know.”

“Words, Kelly. Actions speak louder than words.”

She turned on her heel and started for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to talk to Noah. If he doesn’t think I’m strong enough to do this, then he can at least tell me to my face.”

“Dammit, stop!”
 

A hand grabbed her shoulder. She whirled, and her fist zoomed to his face. A split second before it landed, she pulled it back.
 

Instead of ducking or blocking the punch, Justin twisted his mouth in a small smile. “That’s what you call control, Ingram. Not slugging me when it’s probably what you’d most like to do.”

“What I’d most like to do is to never have had this conversation.”

He closed his eyes, rubbed at a spot between them as if he had a headache. In all the years they’d known each other, she didn’t think she’d ever seen Justin look so tired or frustrated.

She still seethed with anger, but she tamped it down and asked quietly, “Why, Justin?”

He shook his head. “I handled this badly. I was trying to protect you, and instead, you took it as an insult to your abilities.”