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Raul looked up at her questioningly.
She shrugged. “He hurt himself falling down.”
He nodded and stood up. “Guy’s clean, except for the badge, which is clearly a fake, and an ID with a company logo.”
“Don’t tell me. In the name of Sierra Security Services.”
His jaws bunched. “Bingo. So, before we do anything else, we immobilize him.” He turned his head and looked at her, narrow-eyed. “I can’t believe you did that. Not only that you had the courage to do it but that youcoulddo it. You’re not secretly a special forces operator, are you?”
The ringing in her ears had almost died down.
“What? No! Are you joking?” She stared at him. He was having trouble keeping a straight face. “Youarejoking. Good grief! I wouldn’t know which end of a gun to hold.”
“And yet … Fuck, that was one crazy move. Have no idea how you pulled that off. It was crazy dangerous. I nearly lost ten years of my life.”
He didn’t even mention that it washislife that had been in danger. Fake Cop had wanted to kidnap her, not kill her. But he would have killed Raul or at least shot him.
He looked up at her. “What was that? That walking up the wall thing?”
“It’s an element of parkour. I anchored myself to the man’s arm and did what is called a wall run. I’m not particularly good at parkour but I was a gymnast when I was in high school.” She ran a hand down in alook at megesture. “I’ve always been built close to the ground.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You weren’t training for the Olympics or anything, were you?”
Emma laughed. Her first genuine laugh in what felt like forever. “No. Not even close. I was bad at tennis, soccer and softball. But decent at gymnastics. And I was lucky that the guy was taken by surprise.”
“Yeah.” Raul closed his eyes, blew out a breath, stood up and hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her close to him. “He could have –”
“I know,” Emma said quietly. He could have pulled the trigger when it was against her head. So instead of having her ear ringing, she could be lying dead, with her brains splattered all over the dove-gray walls of the entryway. But she was not going to be kidnapped like Toby had been. No way. She was not going to be drugged and tied to a bed. The risk she took to avoid it had been worth it.
She was held closely to him. “So, what do we do now?” she asked into his shoulder.
Emma felt more than heard the big sigh. “First, I’m going to put this asshole in restraints, then I’m going to call someone to cart him away and then we’re getting out of here and I’m taking you to Portland, where I can keep you safe.”
Emma pulled away, looked up at that drawn, handsome face. He wasn’t in charming mode, he was in worried warrior mode, nostrils pinched, deep brackets around his mouth, pale under the olive skin.
The idea of being whisked away to Portland was really enticing. Felicity and Hope were there, with lots of security guys who were good at what they did, she’d be super protected. She’d beawayfrom all of this, whatever the hell it was.
But … Toby. She simply couldn’t leave Toby, abandon him like this.
“Raul.” Emma put her hand on his arm. “I’d love to wait this out in Portland, but I can’t. I can’t just turn my back on Toby. He needs a hand in figuring this out. I’m now up to date on his data and he can’t pull anyone else into this because there isn’t anyone else.”
Raul’s eyes had widened, the whites showing like a spooked pony’s. “Wait,what? You want to stay in San Francisco? That’s insane! You have to get out of Dodge, Emma. You can’t stay here. They already sent one guy, and they’ll keep sending guys until they get you. I’ll be by your side, but I can’t guarantee they won’t take me down first. The only way I can guarantee your safety is if you’re in Portland and I have my team. A plane could be here in a couple of hours.”
He made sense. But she just couldn’t abandon Toby. “Maybe Toby could come, too?”
Raul thought about it, head cocked to one side. “Mm. But I think Toby would want Colin and I don’t think Colin could just take an indefinite leave of absence without losing his job and jeopardizing his career. Wait. Maybe Black Inc can help.”
He pulled out his cell and called someone. She understood from the context that it was someone from Black Inc. “Hey. Raul Martinez here from ASI. I need some assistance.” He explained the situation and listened carefully before closing the connection.
He turned to her, holding her hands. “Okay, this is a compromise but I want it understood that this whole thing is against my wishes, Okay? If you’re wrong and I’m right, and you get hurt, I am going to be very angry and I am definitely going to sayI told you so.We clear on that?”
Emma didn’t smile because the guy on the floor, still out, was a living example of the seriousness of the situation, but she wanted to. Raul was so earnest, threatening to say an ‘I told you so’ as if it were a nuclear deterrent.
“Yes, we’re clear. What’s the plan?”
“A team of Black Inc guys are coming with two vehicles. The team will take out the trash –” he nudged the Fake Cop’s body with his boot toe, “and leave a new vehicle for us, so if someone is watching the garage exit, they won’t know it’s us.”
“The special film,” she murmured.
