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“I trust you.” Her voice wavered only slightly.
The office was quieter than usual, devoid of the usual sounds of Ayla on the phone or Lex in a conference with one of the guys about a case, as though the weight of this meeting hung over the entire Black Heart Security team.
Carson suddenly appeared in the doorframe. “We background-checked Agent David Corbin six ways from Sunday. Denver and Lex pulled everything on the guy. We know everything, down to what size underpants his nana wears.”
The comment was meant as a joke to ease the crease of worry between Whitley’s brows, and it worked for a moment.
Then her face fell again. “How do we know he’s not dirty? Like that cop who was working with Talon Group?”
“If he were, we would have found it. We scraped deep and flipped over every rock.” Carson pushed off the doorframe. “I’m driving to the meeting point with you both.”
“I’ve got this,” Wyatt said. “You don’t need to babysit the handoff.”
“Wasn’t asking.” Carson was already reaching for his keys. “Two sets of eyes beat one, and I want a read on Corbin myself before she gets in a car with him alone. This isn’t up for discussion, Rhodes.”
Wyatt bit back the argument. He didn’t love it, but Carson wasn’t wrong, and this wasn’t the moment to burn energy fighting his own side. But him going along totally wrecked Wyatt’s plan to trail them.
That fierce expression Wyatt had seen on the mountain crossed Whitley’s face, and she pushed to her feet with a new confidence. “I’m ready.”
He clasped her hand as they walked out together. Carson got behind the wheel of an unmarked black SUV and Wyatt guided Whitley into the back seat and climbed in beside her.
They drove to the meeting point, the landmarks whizzing past the windows. When they pulled into the gravel lot of the motel, a dark sedan already sat waiting.
As they pulled in, a man in a gray suit climbed out and stood beside his door.
Whitley’s short intake of air made Wyatt glance at her. Then he pulled up the photo on his phone and compared his face.
“Face is a match.”
“Plate’s a match,” Carson said, cutting the engine.
“Stay here a second.” Wyatt met her eyes, and she nodded.
He climbed out first and Carson rounded the vehicle to speak to the agent. Wyatt checked the vehicle over thoroughly. Nothing hidden in the wheel wells. He crouched and checked under the car too and didn’t see anything that raised any alarms.
“Pop the trunk.”
The agent arched a brow at Carson, who gave him a flat look in return. Seeing he was outnumbered, the agent complied without argument, and Wyatt swept the inside of the trunk, finding it empty and clean.
Without a word, Wyatt returned to the SUV for Whitley. He assisted her out and led her to the sedan’s back door. Right before she climbed in, he caught her eye and looked pointedly down at his hand. Purposely, he flipped the child lock to the off position.
Her gaze flashed to his.
You’re not trapped.
Understanding, she nodded and slid inside.
He shut the door and stepped back to watch the sedan pull out of the lot and onto the highway, taillights shrinking fast into the distance.
He turned to Carson. Time to convince him.
“We follow,” Wyatt said, already moving toward the SUV. “Not close enough to spook Corbin, but close enough to reach her fast if that necklace so much as blinks.”
“That’s not the plan.” Carson’s jaw was tight. “The plan is we wait here. She’s a federal witness, Wyatt. If we tail a federal agent’s vehicle without authorization, we’re the ones who look dirty.”
“I don’t care how we look. I care if she’s safe.”
“I know that.” Carson’s voice sharpened as an instinct to command bled through. “But if this blows up and Black Heart gets painted as a rogue outfit that can’t respect jurisdiction, we lose every partnership we’ve built, every future case—”
