Page 44 of Taylor’s Warrior

After a brief stop at a drug store, so Caroline and Taylor could pick up some essentials, they hit the road for Las Vegas. Although he was driving, Rhys was still watching out for his woman. The further away from San Diego they went, the quieter she became.

“You okay?”

Rhys almost winced. Of course she wasn’t okay, but the inane question would serve to open up the conversation.

“I’m not sure. This all seemed so simple, but now, the more I think about it… I don’t know. What if…?”

Her voice tailed off. Rhys couldn’t determine if it was because she didn’t know what to say or if there was too much swirling around in her mind. “Are you scared he’s not going to be the man you remember?”

When she turned to look at him, her turbulent emotions were reflected only too clearly in her eyes. “I guess so. I want there to be a good reason for all of this, but what if something’s happened to turn him into someone I don’t know? Someone I don’t even want to know?”

“Tay, you’re overthinking this. You could come up with a dozen different explanations between now and arriving in Las Vegas, and it could be something else entirely. I know it’s easier said than done, but try to relax. Maybe get some sleep. We had an early start.”

“And a busy night.”

Her smile told him she didn’t regret that part of it at all. “We can repeat that as soon as you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now. Might be a tad difficult for you to carry on driving, though.”

The explosive visual nearly had him steering off the highway. A blowjob while he was driving could easily end up killing both of them, but it would be one hell of a way to go. “Tease.”

Her hand landed on his thigh and squeezed. “Maybe, but I always make good on my promises.” She waggled her eyebrows.

He chuckled and covered her hand with his. “So do I.”

They drove on, and when he checked her again a few minutes later, Rhys was glad to see she’d settled into the corner; her eyes were closed, and she was breathing with the slow rhythm of sleep. The physical rest would do her good, because if things were as bad as he feared, she’d need all her resilience to deal with it.

While his woman slept, Rhys pondered her father’s behavior. For her sake, he wanted the path his thoughts took to be wrong, but as they neared the state line and the prearranged stop once they crossed into Nevada, he couldn’t shake his suspicions that Charles Markham might be involved in some extremely shady dealings.

Soon after they crossed the state line into the Silver State the convoy stopped off for gas, which gave Rhys the opportunity to retrieve his weapon. He hoped he wouldn’t need to use it, but since state law allowed him to carry the SIG Sauer, he was going to do precisely that, thanks to Nick’s foresight in securing permits for multiple states when Rhys had first arrived in the US.

With Caroline and Taylor still busy in the restrooms and Dude standing guard to ensure they were safe, Wolf and Abe came to Rhys to discuss tactics.

“We’re an hour, maybe two, from the gated community—still okay with our plan to get to the house?” Wolf asked.

Rhys nodded. “As long as Tex has worked his magic.”

“He’s hacked into the visitor system and created a fake notification that we’re expected, all under fictional identities. When we’re done, he’s going to erase all traces of our visit from the closed-circuit TV system. We’re good to go.”

A wry smile lifted the corner of Rhys’ mouth. “Remind me to take out a full membership of the Tex fan club when we get back,” he murmured. “What if we need to produce ID?”

“Tex fixed that too.”

Wolf reached into his pocket and produced a number of company identity passes. Rhys looked at his—the photo looked suspiciously like the one on his Spectrum pass. “I think I detect Nick Blackmore’s hand in this.”

“He’s a good man. Wanted to do whatever he could to help, so when Tex asked him for photos of you and Taylor, he supplied these.”

“Thanks, Nick,” Rhys murmured.

“How’s Taylor holding up?” Abe asked.

Rhys glanced in the direction of the restrooms—no sign of the two women returning yet. “In some ways, better than I imagined, in other ways… not so good. Now we’re getting nearer, she’s not hiding it so well.”

“Understandable,” Wolf remarked. “You have any thoughts on what’s really going on with her old man?”

Before they’d left San Diego, Rhys had briefed the SEAL team on their objective and shared all the information they had, so they’d know what they were getting into.

Rhys shook his head and took another drink from his ice-cold can of soda—blessed relief in the Nevada heat. “Nothing specific, but my gut doesn’t like it. Given the intel we have, I have a hunch it’s not going to be something minor. We need to find out what’s going on, straight from the horse’s mouth. Then we decide what to do.”