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“You won’t,” Calloway countered, and even though Camila’s head was spinning, she could still appreciate the hell out of the woman’s tenacity. “I know you, Sam. You’re too smart for that. You know we can keep her at least as safe as you can, if not safer. And you also know that if I was feeling less than courteous, I’d pull rank and take the whole damn case.”
“I’d need to know what the protection detail looks like,” Sinclair said by way of agreement.
Calloway laughed in a soft huff. “It looks like it’s funded and run by the FBI.”
“I understand, but Camila is still my witness, which means her safety is my responsibility. Not to mention the fact that her brother is one of my detectives, and he’s going to want every assurance that his sister is safe.”
Roman’s spine straightened against the BMW’s driver’s seat, and Camila felt the look he gave her in about sixteen places all at once.
“He has it. I’ll do everything necessary to keep her safe.”
“Excellent,” Calloway said. “Let’s not waste any time starting protocol. Agent Roman, I’ve heard that the lake is lovely this time of year.”
With that, she ended the call.
16
Roman released an exhale and tried to force his thoughts to order, but it just wasn’t happening. From the second Camila had gotten that call from her brother, he’d been on high alert. As soon as that huge guy had stepped around the corner and looked at her with such murderous rage? Roman’s adrenaline had filled him in a way he’d never quite felt before, his primal instincts firing on all cylinders as they pumped exactly one message from his brain.
Protect her.
The sound of a car passing by their shadowy spot in the parking garage yanked Roman back to the here and now, and yeah, he’d have to do a brain dump on all of this later. Right now, they needed to move.
He turned toward Camila. “We need to get somewhere secure. I know this is a lot”—he reached out to circle his hand around her forearm, partly to comfort her and partly to comfort himself—“but are you okay to get moving?”
Camila was quiet for a beat, then said, “Look, a guy the size of a semi truck just shot at us, so no, I’m not okay. But I trust you. If you say we need to go, then I can do that. I don’t want to sit here if it’s dangerous.”
He put the BMW in gear and swiveled a gaze over their surroundings. “If it was dangerous, we wouldn’t be here. It’s just that there are even safer places, and the faster we can get to a secure location, the better.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “What should I do?”
Roman might be ready to do whatever it took to keep her safe, but no way was he not going to let her be a part of her own safety, either. Camila was far too capable for that.
“Keep your eyes open for anything that looks suspicious,” he said, heading toward the highway. “A car that sticks with us, someone driving erratically, too fast or too slow. Anything like that, just in case.”
She nodded. “Okay. I can do that.”
Wanting to reassure her—at least as much as he could, considering someone had tried to murder her less than an hour ago—he said, “It’s highly unlikely at this point that the guy who tried to hurt you hasn’t gone underground to regroup. He was counting on the element of surprise and it backfired. Plus, he caused one hell of a scene. I’m betting RPD responded quickly. They might even have him in custody.”
“Oh.” Camila blinked, her expression much easier to read now that they’d pulled out of the garage and into the evening sunlight. “Do you think so?”
“It’s possible,” Roman reiterated. “And if they do, this will be a short trip. But it’s equally possible that they don’t, so we have to play it safe. Once we get where we’re going, we’ll be able to check in on a secure line for a full update.”
“So, um, where is that, exactly?” she asked, and Christ, this must be overwhelming as hell for her.
“The FBI has safe locations all over the country. The one we’re headed to is at Arrowhead Lake.”
Her brows shot upward. “That’s over an hour from here.”
“It’s remote,” he agreed. He was familiar with the location as a matter of training—his unit had been responsible for protecting more than a few witnesses who had testified against money launderers and major players in multi-million-dollar racketeering schemes. He always needed to be ready to go there, even at short notice. “But the whole point is to go somewhere we can’t be followed or found. We’ll be able to spot anyone from literally a mile away at the lake house, and Calloway wasn’t blowing smoke about security. There might be closer locations we could use to hole up, but this one is the best spot for us to lie low.”
The words seemed to reassure her. “Thank you for going with me. I know this probably isn’t what you had in mind when you said you wanted to work this case. In fact, it’s probably the opposite.”
“No.” Roman shook his head, adamant, although she wasn’t entirely off base. Under any other circumstances, he’d have been pissed to be saddled with a protection detail over an active investigation, especially one this big. But he’d never be able to concentrate on nailing these bastards unless he knew firsthand that Camila was as safe as possible. He didn’t know if Calloway had managed to sense that (likely) or she still wanted him one step removed from this case (also likely) since he could be in danger, too. Either way, it didn’t matter.
“I’m exactly where I want to be,” he said.
After they got on the highway and a few more minutes passed, it was clear they weren’t being followed. Roman suggested that she try to close her eyes, if not to actually sleep, then at least to rest her mind and manage her adrenaline letdown. She snorted, of course, but compromised by leaning the passenger seat back a little and watching through the window as their surroundings changed from closely clustered high rises to rows of townhouses separated by gyms and restaurants and shops to fields and farms and wider rural spaces.
