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Hastily stepping forward, he pulled her into his arms.
“No, I can’t believe it,” she whispered, scorching heat searing the back of her throat. “The failed raid, Manny’s death, is it all because of Jim?”
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, it’s the only explanation.”
“Then…he must be working for Conchello,” she mumbled, clutching Scott tightly. “Jim didn’t send me down here to keep me safe and look for evidence against Conchello. He sent me here to have me killed.”
“You must remember Conchello is the puppet master,” Scott said grimly. “He’s the one pulling the strings. If he wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be here. Dan, and apparently Jim too, are working for him, but there’s no telling what they know about each other, or the orders they’re following.”
She slowly pulled back and nodded her head.
“You’re right, but it doesn’t alter the fact that Jim isn’t the brave, honest, wonderful man I’ve admired. He’s a treacherous bastard.”
Scott knew all about betrayal.
The bitter pill.
Easy to choke on, but once swallowed, it burned in the gut with a white hot heat. Blinding rage followed, causing errors in judgement and maddening hours of self doubt.
“Weren’t you worried leaving the cash in a hotel?” he asked, wanting to distract Elizabeth from the hellish news.
“What?”
“The money,” he repeated. “Weren’t you worried about leaving it?”
“Not as much as I would have been keeping it in the cottage, and I didn’t want to carry the case everywhere I went.”
“Tell me about this case.”
“Before I left L.A., I put the money in a security briefcase. Being in covert ops for the Navy you might even know what I’m talking about. It’s impossible to smash, the locks are hidden, and it interferes with any kind of GPS device.”
“The Trident?”
“That’s the one, it’s great, but it looks like what it is, a case made for carrying valuables. I didn’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention on my way to your boat, so I transferred the money back into my regular bag.”
“Smart girl. Where’s the case now?”
“In a dumpster—Scott!”
“What?”
“I just realized…that’s why Dan kept coming back to your boat. I texted Jim and told him I was with you. He must have passed it on. They are working together.”
“Ah, yes, and that’s why he was so persistent,” Scott muttered with a grimace.
“Fuck,” she hissed, tears brimming and her fingers curling into fists, “I’m suddenly really, really angry—I mean, like, anger I’ve never felt before.”
“Hey, look at me,” he said firmly, cupping her chin and tilting her head up. “Focus on how lucky you are to be alive, not only alive, but with me, a guy who has you in a safe house and is now—officially—your personal bodyguard. Together we can outwit these bastards.”
“You really think so?” she managed, her face crumpling as she stared up at him. “I can’t see how…”
“I understand what you’re feeling,” he continued, recognizing the self doubt already seeping through her. “When we’re victims of treachery, it smashes the very foundation of everything we believed to be true, and we start to lose confidence. You just learned the man you trusted with your life is actually your enemy.”
“But why, Scott, why he would do something so despicable? He’s one of the most admired men at the DEA. Nailing the bad guys has been his life’s work.”
“There are any number of reasons good guys turn bad. It’s usually about money.”
“But to have Manny killed and send Dan after me…no…I can’t stand this! I have to talk to him!” she suddenly shouted. “I have to talk to him right now! I want to know how many dollars Manny was worth. How much I’m worth.”
