Chapter Eleven
“I think this needs stitches,” Gemma said once she’d secured the bandage over the deep cut on Rick Bannerman’s cheek. “Otherwise, you’re gonna have a scar.”
He smiled and grabbed her hand, kissing the knuckles. “A scar is always a great conversation starter,” he said. “I’ll get a lot of pick-up mileage out of it.”
She smacked his arm and pursed her lips. “God help the members of my sex.”
When she looked up from her brother-in-law’s business partner, she found Ky leaning against the kitchen counter, watching them.
Unlike Rick, Ky’s face was unmarked from the fight, but she’d noticed him rubbing a hand across his abdomen a few times while she tended to her friend.
Lord, she’d never been so scared in her life as when she’d cracked open the bedroom door, the gun secured in her hand, to see the looming hulk of a man come through the front door. Ky had him on his knees in a heartbeat and it was then she saw the dim light from the late afternoon sun cross his face and realized it was Rick Bannerman who was getting the crap beat out of him.
“Are you okay?” she asked Ky.
“Fine. Mind explaining why you’re here?” he asked Rick in a tone that told her he wasn’t hurt as much as pissed off.
Bannerman fingered the bandage at his face and flicked his gaze from Gemma to him and then back to Gemma.
“Josh wanted to make sure you two got here okay, encouraged by Kandy, I’m sure. She’s worried about you, Cleo.” He dragged the finger down Gemma’s cheek.
She wasn’t sure, but the sound that came from over her shoulder sounded a little like a growl.
“You need to stop calling me that,” Gemma told Bannerman.
He winced when his smile burst fast and easy. “Ow. I think you might be right about the stitches. Anyway, after you two got in touch and Josh set you up here, he realized he had no way to make sure you’d arrived safe and sound, or to check on you. Since I’m between jobs at the moment, and this is my place, he asked me to come. Sent me with supplies, too. They’re out in the car.”
He turned his attention to Ky. “I was surprised you’d found and programmed the boundary line alarm. I didn’t set it the last time I was here.”
“Good thing I did, then,” Ky said. “We knew you were coming.”
Bannerman considered him. “I’ve never had it go off when I’ve been here. How much warning did you have?”
“Thirty seconds, give or take.”
“You got the drop on me pretty quickly, then. Good job.”
Gemma couldn’t tell if Ky was pleased by the compliment or not. The unreadable expression on his face never wavered.
Cop face, again.
“He found your weapons stash, too,” she said, a little pride singing through the words.
“Okay, so now I’m impressed. And a little ticked off. I thought that room was well hidden.”
“I’m going to assume all those weapons are licensed and registered.”
Gemma’s head whipped around to glare at him. Why was he acting like such an asshole?
Rick’s response was to shrug good naturedly and smirk. “Free country. You can assume anything you want. How’d you find it?”
“The dimensions in the pantry seemed off.”
Bannerman nodded. “Good eye. I added it when I got the place a few years ago. Seemed like a good space to hide a room.” His eyes went to half-mast. “I may have to reconsider that, now.”
When Ky didn’t respond, Gemma jumped in, uneasy with all the testosterone floating around the room. “You said you brought supplies?”
The men glared at one another for a moment, then Bannerman nodded and turned back to her.
“In the trunk of the car. I told Kandy I only stocked emergency rations here, so she sent some stuff. Josh did, too. I’ll go get it all.”
“I’ll help,” Gemma said.
“Hang on a sec.” Ky reached out and grabbed her arm.
Bannerman looked between them.
“Go ahead. I’ll be right there,” she told him.
Just a simple touch from Ky had her breath catching. The memory of what they’d been doing when the alarm sounded jumped back to her.
“You didn’t stay out of sight like I told you to,” Ky said, his mouth flat, nostrils flaring, when they were alone.
Gemma glanced down at his hand and then back up at him.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t,” she said, tugging her arm away. She might as well have been trying to pull it through hardened concrete. He didn’t let go. “You could have killed Rick if I’d stayed up there and then where we would be?”
Ky shook his head, took a deep breath, and Gemma could see for the first time he wasn’t as much pissed off as he was furious.
“You didn’t know that it was Bannerman—”
“Yes I did.”
His eyes narrowed. “How?”
Gemma bit her bottom lip. “I-I opened the bedroom door when I heard the fighting. I could make out Rick’s face from the light coming through the front door.”
“You opened the door and looked out?”
“Y-Yes.”
“After I specifically ordered you to lock it and stay out of sight?”
Her back shot up straight at his tone and word choice.
“Yes, I did. Why are you so angry at me?”
Instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you disobey me? Why, after all we’ve gone through the past few days, would you disregard what I said, knowing we were potentially under attack again?”
“But we weren’t. I—”
“Why, Gemma?”
She stared at him with her mouth wide open, the response dead on her lips. It was the first time he’d ever spoken her name aloud and the sound of it across his lips made her knees shake.
He took a step closer and wound his free hand around her other arm, pulling her square to him. “Answer me,” he whispered.
His eyes had turned to twin daggers, piercing straight through her.
“B-because I thought you were in trouble. I heard…the fighting…I was…worried.”
“About?”
Gemma’s lips slammed together.
He gave her a tiny shake. “About what?”
“You, damn it! I was worried about you!”
Ky stared down at her. From the way his brows lifted and his eyes widened, she knew hearing her statement had surprised him as much as it had her to declare it.
Gemma licked her suddenly parched lips. “We’re all alone here. You have no backup. No one to cover you. No one to fight with you. Damn it! I wanted to make sure you were okay. I wanted to help.” She squirmed against his grip, realizing her voice had a slightly hysterical pitch to it. “Now let me go.”
He didn’t. In fact, his hands tightened around her arms as he stepped so close she had to tilt her chin up to see him clearly. Those gorgeous hooded eyes softened under his glare. He cocked his head to one side and took a breath so deep, she felt the air around her pull into him. When he let it out, it fanned, hot and moist, against her face. She felt her nipples tighten, her stomach muscles go slack, as he continued to stare at her.
Good Lord, the man made her want.
He opened his mouth to say something just as Bannerman called into the house, “You coming to help me or not?”
* * *
She’d done it because she was worried about him.
Ky couldn’t get that statement out of his mind.
Or, how she’d felt in his arms.
And let’s not forget the way she tasted.
She’d disobeyed him, risked her life, because she had his back.
Ky didn’t know whether to be mad, glad, or worried.
It was his job to protect her, not the other way around. He was responsible for her safety and well-being.
But Jesus, she’d purposefully put herself in potential danger by opening that bedroom door without any consideration for her own safety. She’d admitted she hadn’t known their intruder was Bannerman until she’d seen his face. Until that moment she’d been prepared to fight the threat with him.
Funny thing was, he knew she could. Gemma was more than capable with a firearm, as she’d proven to him, and equally as able with hand-to-hand maneuvers.
The second her words penetrated through him, all his anger flew, replaced by something overwhelming. He wouldn’t put a label on what he felt, it was crazy to, but something had changed between them. Something he was powerless to fight against and, truthfully, didn’t want to.
Her response when he’d taken her in his arms had been surprising. Not to mention mind blowing. She’d never given him one single indication she found him desirable, in fact, until she’d kissed him back, he thought she considered him barely tolerable. But that kiss hadn’t been one of tolerance. No, she was fully invested in it and if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d been as turned on as he had.
If the alarm hadn’t sounded he’d have tossed her over his shoulder and run into his bedroom, dropped her onto the narrow bed and climbed on top of her.
Then again, they might not have made it that far. The kitchen counter certainly looked sturdy enough for what he’d had in mind.
Her giggle pulled him out of his musings. She was standing in the kitchen, her arms leaning on that same counter he’d been thinking about, watching her friend eat the remaining pasta she’d cooked for dinner. Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed.
“So when are you gonna marry me, Cleo?”
Ky’s senses went on hyper alert, his insides clenching.
“You are so easy.” Gemma rolled her eyes. “Give you a hot, home-cooked meal and you pledge your eternal devotion. That’s so lame.”
“I’m not easy, I’m smart. I know a good thing when I see it.”
“Easy.” She nodded and pointed her finger at him. “You don’t want someone you might have to—God forbid—share emotions and feelings with. You don’t want a wife, you just want someone around who’ll feed you and clean up after you. Get a maid.”
Bannerman laughed and shoved another forkful of pasta into his mouth. “You know me too well, Cleo.”
“And remember what they say about how familiarity breeds contempt,” she shot back, with a smirk.
Her eyes flicked to Ky and the smirk died.
“Why do you keep calling her Cleo?”
Ky regarded their visitor through assessing eyes. Roughly the same height as he, Bannerman’s shoulders were doorway-wide, his arms and torso looking like they were a frequent occupant of a gym. Ky could still feel the force of the man’s elbows against his ribs. It was surprising none were cracked.
Military-cut dark hair framed a wide forehead. His eyes were equally as dark, their expression guarded and closed as he looked across the room at Ky.
“It’s because of the way I wear my hair,” Gemma said for him.
It took him a moment. When the meaning burst through, he nodded. “Cleopatra.”
“He started calling me that one day at the shooting range. It stuck.”
“It fits,” Bannerman said.
“It sucks.”
He grinned at Ky. “She hates it.”
“Which,” Gemma threw up her hands, “is why he refuses to stop. Typical teenage-boy behavior.”
“Yeah, but you love me, admit it, Cleo.”
For an answer she blew a raspberry through her lips.
The good natured banter between them struck a quick spark of envy in Ky.
“As much as I love sparring with you, babe,” Bannerman said, “I’ve got some stuff to go over with Agent Pappandreos.”
“Oh. What stuff?” Gemma asked. “Can I hear it?”
Bannerman shot a quick glance at Ky, a question in his gaze. “Up to you.”
Ky looked at Gemma.
“You know what?” she said. “On second thought, forget it. I’d rather go have a shower.”
He tracked her the entire way up to the second floor.
“She’s easy on the eyes, isn’t she?”
Ky turned to Bannerman. “You’re the second person who’s said those same words to me in the past week.”
Bannerman grinned again. “She’s a good kid. And one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met, especially if you can get past those inch-thick defensive walls she wears like armor.”
“Keane mentioned she has trust issues. I’ve seen it for myself.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t let a lot of people in, and even when she does, she tends to be guarded. I’m glad, though, she decided not to stay. Josh sent me with some intel for you and I’d rather she not hear it.” He pulled out a laptop from a duffel bag he’d brought in from the car, along with groceries and food from Kandy. He’d given Gemma an overnight bag from her sister as well.
“This system is encrypted,” Bannerman said as he booted up the laptop. “Josh figured you needed something secure to work with.”
“I’ve actually got my own.”
He went into the bedroom and brought back the device Theo had given him.
“A friend gave me this before we left DC.”
He’d been planning on doing research all day, but the walk in the woods and then the need to burn off his sexual steam with the punching bag had shoved the idea to the back of his mind.
“Let me see that.”
Ky handed him the laptop. A few quick keystrokes later, and a low, appreciative whistle sailed passed his pursed lips.
“You got this from a friend?”
Ky nodded.
Bannerman’s eyes went to half-mast again as he regarded Ky. “I’d like to meet this friend. This system makes mine,” he chinned his laptop, “look like a second-generation throwback.”
Ky’s lips twitched. “You said you had some intel for me?”
He shifted to his device and typed. “After you got in contact, Josh asked me to do a little digging into Ritandi and his organization.”
“I know everything I need to know about Ritandi.”
Bannerman shot him speaking glance. “I’m sure that’s true. To a point.”
“What does that mean?”
Bannerman shrugged and flicked a hand at him. “Look, you’re a federal agent. You go by the book because everything you find has to be above board and beyond reproach to get an indictment that sticks.”
Ky nodded. “We can’t leave any room for his lawyers to wiggle through.”
“Right. So you go about obtaining info through legal and judicial avenues.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t.”
Ky just stared at him.
“I’ve got…access is the best word,” Bannerman said, “to a whole other level of information. The kind you can’t even imagine exists. The kind, if you wormed your way into, even accidentally, could get you killed.”
“Who are you? Or should I say, what are you?”
“Nothing but a lowly private eye. But once upon a time, well...”
Ky remembered Gemma telling him Rick Bannerman had been a sniper in, “a previous life.”
More than a sniper, he thought. Much more.
“So, assuming you found out something I can’t use legally,” he said, “what is it and how can I use it?”
“I’m going on the assumption the witness Gemma saw eliminated was under wraps and only a very few knew where he was, yes?”
Ky nodded. “Very good, wraps, actually. I haven’t been able to figure out why my agents left the hotel with him that day. They were under strict orders to never leave the floor we’d had him sequestered on.”
“Orders they disobeyed?”
“Apparently.”
“No.”
When he didn’t respond, Bannerman turned this laptop around so Ky could see the screen. “This is the cell phone call log of your dead agent Jackson Hunter from the day of the killings.”
Ky stared down at the screen, speechless. And furious.
“How can you possibly have access to this?”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. Just accept it as a gift, no questions asked.”
“A gift?”
“Yeah. Your witness bought it at what time?”
Ky told him.
“Look at the log. An hour and half before they were killed, Hunter received a text from this number.” He pointed to the screen. “Do you recognize it?”
“No. Whose is it?”
“That, I can’t answer. It’s an untraceable number and believe me, I tried. The only thing I can tell you is when I pinged the towers connecting the call, I got bounced through a shitload of routers. The closest I can come to figuring out the origination point is somewhere in DC, New York, or Philadelphia.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything. It could be anyone who called him, from his wife to another agent at the bureau.”
“True, but it’s a mighty big coincidence your agents were barred from leaving the hotel for what? Six weeks or so? And then ninety minutes after one of them gets this text, they’re out the door and dead. Makes you wonder.”
Ky had to agree.
“Any thoughts, then, on why they left?”
Through pursed lips, Ky said, “None.”
“My guess, if you want to hear it, is someone told them it was okay to take Calafano from the hotel.”
Ky shook his head. “No one had the authority to do that. No one but me. And I certainly didn’t give permission for it. Every meal had been ordered in and eaten in the suite we had him secured in.”
“Interesting. Who knew where you were keeping Gemma after she was attacked?”
“The remaining agents on my team, my superior, and the agency director.”
“No one in justice?”
“No. Since we obviously had a leak, I figured the less people who knew her whereabouts, the better. Why?”
Bannerman typed again for a few seconds. When he was done he turned the screen back to Ky. “This number,” he said, indicating the one on the screen he was referring to, “comes up four times on the ASA assigned to the case.”
“Barly?”
“Yup. All the calls were made after you had Gemma in seclusion.”
“Do you know whose phone the calls were made from?”
Bannerman sat back and lowered his chin, his gaze targeting straight to Ky’s. He got the impression he wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Yours.”
Ky’s mouth fell open.
“It’s a number personally registered to you.”
“That’s impossible.”
Bannerman nodded. “Josh felt the same way when I told him. That’s the only reason you’re still sitting here—alive.” He said it as if they were discussing what to have for lunch: calmly, without any inflection in his voice.
“If he thought for one minute you were a danger to his sister-in-law,” Bannerman continued, “we wouldn’t be having this conversation and Gemma would be with me on a flight back to New York while your body rotted in the woods.”
Ky believed him.
“So, it looks like someone’s setting you up for a fall, son.”