AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sure. I have a lot of time off accrued. I’ll call in personal time.”
“You, too.” Raul shot a hard look at Emma, who by the accounts of her friends was a workaholic, and coming from Felicity and Hope, that was saying something.
“But –”
“I suggest you call in sick and don’t know when you’ll feel better.” Raul usually hated being the bad guy but he had no compunctions here. Bad juju was leaking out of the situation all over the place. Her bank seemed to be in the middle of it. Over his dead body was Emma stepping into that place.
Ever again, if he had any say over it.
Toby sighed. “He’s right. At least until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“And why you were kidnapped and drugged and restrained.” Raul said that in a hard voice because they had to beremindedthat bad people were serious here. “Until we figure it out, you stay away from that place.”
For someone who dealt with the future all the time, she didn’t seem to connect the dots.
“You know, I can’t stay away forever. I mean they’d fire me.”
Toby shrugged. “Do you care?”
“Well … no. But problems have a way of following one around, right?”
“True,” Toby admitted.
“So, what happens if we never figure out what’s going on?”
Raul just stood there, jaws clenching. She was smart. She knew the answer. She just didn’t want to acknowledge it.
Toby threw her aget realglance. “Girl,” he said. “You and me? Together? We’re not going to figure it out?”
She smiled. Apparently, in her world, she and Toby were Masters of the Universe. Capable of anything. But in Raul’s world, where there were terrorists and drug cartel bosses, it didn’t work like that. In Raul’s world there were some seriously bad men who didn’t melt away once you figured out their grift. Once they got your scent in their nose, they came after you with everything they had and they never gave up until you were dead.
And that was an image in his head he couldn’t shake. Emma, dead. On the ground, that vivid red hair around a face the skim milk color of death. That color he’d seen too many times. Body slack, all that liveliness gone.
Wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t leave her side until every single goddamn string was tied up tighter than a duck’s ass. Until the most serious threat in her world was too much cholesterol.
That’s when the idea settled in his mind as fact and not wishful thinking. Emma was coming back with him to Portland. No question. He wasn’t leaving her here, not even when the money question was solved. Because someone had kidnapped Toby and drugged him. The idea of beautiful Emma, drugged and kidnapped … Toby might not have been to their taste but Emma sure would be.
He’d go absolutely crazy back in Portland worrying about her.
She had to come back with him. His bosses at ASI would hire her in a heartbeat. Their IT department, run by Emma’s best friends, Felicity and Hope, was the heart of the company. The ASI operators couldn’t imagine going on a mission without the incredible intel and super sophisticated gear Felicity and Hope provided. But Felicity was this close to popping twins and her man, Metal, wouldn’t let her work more than a few hours a day. Hope picked up the slack but she was starting to be overworked. Another computer and tech genius, and one who already meshed with Felicity and Hope, would be welcomed with open arms.
Raul wasn’t leaving without her.
There were steps to be taken before then, though. First, get Emma fed and rested, second, solve whatever the fuck was going on and hide her involvement from ever reaching the ears of Marin, then getting the hell out of here.
Raul twirled his finger in the air. It was a team leader’s signal to head out, part of the military’s extensive sign language in the field. But after a billion movies, everyone recognized it aslet’s go.
He looked out the window at the darkening street. “Okay, let’s rest up, everyone, and we’ll meet back here tomorrow at … nine?” He looked at Colin, who was feeling Toby’s pulse.
“Ten,” Colin said without looking up from his watch. He was frowning. Yeah. Toby’d been sedated for days. He’d held up remarkably well but he needed to rest.
“Ten it is. Emma.”
She nodded, bent to kiss Toby’s cheek, smiled at Colin and joined Raul at the door.
Raul held the car door open for her and watched as she sat, settled, sighed. He’d been right to insist that they call it a day. She looked tired.
It was a gorgeous evening, the kind postcards were made of. The city gleamed.
