Daddy Devastating (12 page)

When Julia went back into the bedroom, Russ had already picked up Emily from the crib. The baby was awake, her forehead wrinkled as if objecting to the abrupt end to her nap. Russ kissed both her cheeks, whispered something to her and then passed the baby to Julia. Just as there was a knock at the door.

Julia’s heart dropped. She didn’t think this was another threat, and she was right. It was the two agents who’d driven them back to the hotel. One was a thin Asian man, and the other was heavily muscled, with blond hair. They were dressed in casual clothes but wore baseball caps with Cheesy Jack’s Pizza stamped on them.

One of them handed Russ three large pizza boxes while the other set two thick cardboard carriers filled with cups of soft drinks on the floor. The pair of agents had apparently brought along such a big order to help maintain their cover. It was enough food that it would definitely take two people to deliver it.

“We’ll do this fast,” the Asian man said. “There’s a car waiting at the service entrance at the back of the hotel. There are two decoy cars, too, because we don’t want anyone to know which vehicle the baby will be in.” He motioned for Zoey to take Emily, and she did, but not before Julia grabbed a quick kiss.

“Keep her safe,” Julia whispered to Zoey.

“I will,” the nanny promised.

And just like that, before Julia could get another kiss or add anything else, they were out the door and gone.

Russ stood there for several moments with the pizza boxes perched on his left palm, and he blew out a long breath. “The agents are experienced,” he told her. “They do this sort of thing all the time. And I trust them.”

Those were all the right things to say, but it didn’t stop the tears. Julia tried to wipe them away but more came. When Russ spotted them, he locked the door and slid his arm around her.

“I can’t believe this,” Julia mumbled. “Emily’s only been with me two weeks, and I feel as if my heart just walked out that door.”

“Yeah.” And while the one-word response might have been simple, it was laced with emotion.

Russ gave her a kiss on each cheek, as he’d done with Emily, and tipped his head to the pizza boxes. “You should eat something.”

She eyed the boxes. “There’s really pizza in there?”

“Smells like it.” He set the bottom boxes on the floor and the top one on the coffee table. He opened it. “Cheese, sausage and black olives,” he said. “It’s probably not your usual breakfast.”

No, it wasn’t; and she wasn’t hungry, despite the fact she hadn’t eaten anything for the past eighteen hours. Still, it wouldn’t help Emily or the Richardsons’ baby if she starved herself. So she got some napkins from the bar area and joined Russ on the sofa. He grabbed a slice, took a huge bite and then lifted the pizza and the foil it was sitting on to extract something beneath.

It was a thick, padded envelope.

“A CD from the park’s security system,” Russ explained, taking it from the envelope. “This is a copy, and the San Saba PD and the FBI are likely already reviewing it, but I wanted to see if I could spot the shooter myself—or Milo, after he left the meeting.”

Yes, she was interested in that, too.

“I need to use your laptop,” he said, and headed to the bedroom to get it while Julia ate her pizza. She still wasn’t hungry, but her stomach was growling.

Russ ate, too, as he loaded the CD into her laptop and started to go through the images that appeared on the screen. There were apparently multiple cameras, but Russ finally managed to locate the one at the picnic table. He saw Milo, Sylvia, Julia and himself.

He sped up the surveillance, but slowed it again when Milo made his exit from the meeting. Russ adjusted the feed so that it followed the man. Milo took out his phone, made a short call and headed for his vehicle—a black Mercedes that was parked not far from Julia’s own vehicle. He drove away.

“You think that call was to alert the shooter?” Julia asked.

“Could be. The lab at Quantico can try to enhance it to see if they can figure out the number he called. We might get lucky.”

They watched until Milo was out of surveillance range, then Russ reversed the action on the disk. Next, he changed the camera shots to the one in the area near the trees.

Both of them automatically moved closer, and their arms bumped into each other. Even though they were involved in something that could be critical, Julia wasn’t able to ignore the little jolt she felt.

Russ must have felt it, too, because he gave her one of those smiles that made her feel as if she were melting.
Oh, mercy.
She was
so
in trouble.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “We’ll work all that out later. Promise.”

She stiffened. “Am I that easy to read?” she asked, wanting very much to know.

“Sometimes. Don’t worry. I don’t have you all worked out and understood in my mind. Truth is, you’re driving me crazy. I can usually peg people, put them in the right category or box. But I’m not sure where to put you, Julia.”

Unfortunately, she understood what he meant. “Maybe the attraction is because of Emily. Because subconsciously we’re trying to be parents to her.”

Sheez, it sounded worse when said out loud than it had when it was stumbling around in her head. “Or maybe not,” she amended.

While volleying glances between the screen and her, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. Quick and hot. It was a reminder that the attraction between them had nothing to do with Emily.

However, his smile faded when he spotted something on the screen. “Silas,” he said, pointing to the man who was near those trees where the shooter was likely hidden. Silas appeared to be hiding, too.

“He shouldn’t have been there,” Russ said.

She didn’t take the bite of pizza that was already on the way to her mouth. “Where should he have been?”

“Nowhere in the park itself. He was backup, and was assigned to be at one of the park entrances. He certainly shouldn’t have put himself in a position where Milo could have seen him. Remember, Silas was supposed to pose as the buyer.”

Julia gave that some thought, hoping that it didn’t blow the meeting. “So why was he there?”

“I’ll ask him as soon as he’s found.”

A few moments later, the CD showed Silas ducking out of sight. More time passed, and she could see the images of when the shooting started.

Russ panned around, and even though it seemed as if the shots were coming from the trees, Julia couldn’t be certain of that.

“Is it possible Silas was the one shooting at us?” she asked.

“I don’t know, but he’s got some serious explaining to do when he gets back.”

If he gets back,
Julia silently amended. If Silas was the shooter, if he’d gone rogue, then it was possible the person who’d hired him had already killed him. That could be the real reason he was missing.

Russ’s phone rang, and he set aside the rest of his pizza so he could take the call. He glanced at the caller ID, frowned, and when he answered it, he didn’t say his name. He only said, “Hello.”

“Sylvia,” he said, a moment later, and he put the call on speaker.

Good. Because Julia wanted to hear what the woman had to say. It was because of Milo’s threat and the shooting that Emily had to be rushed away to a safe house, and Sylvia probably had answers about what was going on. Of course, the question was, would Milo’s assistant share those answers?

“How did you get my number?” Russ asked.

“Someone contacted me. A friend of yours, he said. And he wanted me to call you.”

Julia hoped that friend was an agent, and she remembered Russ telling the Asian man in the car to try to get in touch with Milo or Sylvia.

“Who tried to kill Julia and me?” Russ demanded.

“We thought you might be able to tell us that,” Sylvia countered.

“Why would I know?”

“Because the man who did the shooting was the same person who arrived at the Wainwright Hotel this morning. He went inside and stayed for over a half hour.”

She was talking about Silas and the meeting with the Richardsons. It didn’t surprise Julia that Milo knew about that, but she wondered how he’d interpreted that meeting. Had he been so suspicious that he’d ordered those shots to be fired?

“What makes you think my visitor had anything to do with the shooting?” Russ wanted to know.

“Because I saw him in the area after you left. Milo saw him, too.”

“Maybe because Milo hired him to fire those shots?”

“Impossible,” Sylvia insisted. “Milo has no reason to want Julia Howell or you dead. This is simply a business deal, and fired shots and a police investigation would only delay things.”

“Does that mean this business deal is still on?” Russ asked.

“It is if you still have a buyer,” she replied.

“I do,” Russ assured her.

Sylvia didn’t respond immediately, and Julia heard someone else talking in the background. “Could you hold on until I step outside?” Sylvia asked. “There’s something I need to tell you, and I don’t want an audience.”

Julia looked at Russ to see if he knew what this was all about, but he only shook his head. They waited for what seemed an eternity, but Sylvia finally came back on the line.

“Look, Milo wants the deal to be completed at noon tomorrow at the city golf course,” the woman continued. “He wants both Julia and you there. You provide him proof that the money is in the offshore account, and he’ll give you the location of the baby.”

“I don’t want Julia at the meeting,” Russ countered.

“That’s not negotiable.”

Russ mumbled some profanity. “Everything’s negotiable. Just tell him. While you’re at it, tell him that he’ll only get half the account number for the deposit. And one more thing—I want the meeting to take place here in the lobby of the Wainwright Hotel. No more outdoor venues where people can be in trees to shoot at us.”

Sylvia hesitated. “I’ll tell Milo what you’ve requested and I’ll get back to you.” More hesitation. “Just how much do really know about what’s going on here?”

Russ pulled back his shoulders. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we should talk. Face-to-face. Just you, Julia and me.”

“Right,” Russ mumbled. “Is that because you want a second chance at trying to kill us?”

“I didn’t try to kill you!” she practically shouted. “I didn’t try to kill anyone.” When she continued, her voice was considerably softer. “Look, this is just a job, and I didn’t sign up to be an accessory to murder. That’s why we have to talk. There’s something I have to show you before you walk into that meeting with Milo.”

He glanced at Julia and shook his head. “How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?” Russ asked.

“You don’t. But I’m willing to meet with you at the police station. I’d be stupid to try to kill you there.”

Russ stayed quiet a moment. “Are you a cop?”

“Hardly.” Sylvia’s answer was fast and loaded with disbelief that he would even suggest it. “I’m just someone who’s concerned about Milo and what’s going on. Be at the police station in one hour, and maybe what I show you will help keep us all alive.”

Chapter Ten

Russ hoped Sylvia’s meeting wasn’t a ploy to draw Julia and him out of the hotel. That’s why he arranged to have a security detail follow them in the unmarked car that had been delivered to the hotel for him to use.

Still, even with a security detail, there was the possibility that something could go wrong.

Julia was obviously concerned as well, because she kept a white-knuckled grip on the arm rest, and she spent the entire ten-minute drive glancing all around them. Russ wanted to reassure her that they were safe, but he knew that wasn’t true. If the person who’d tried to kill them wanted to make another attempt, the only thing that would keep Julia out of harm’s way was to send her off to the safe house.

Russ was going to work on that.

He could find an agent to guard her while he had the big meeting with Milo. But if the meeting didn’t go as planned for, on the following day with Milo, then he had no choice but to get Julia out of San Saba. Hell, he should get her out immediately, but he was positive she wouldn’t go, despite the drained color on her face and her raw, exposed nerves.

“What do you think Sylvia wants to show us?” Julia asked.

“I don’t have a clue.” And he didn’t.

This meeting had come out of the blue, and Russ didn’t know if that meant Sylvia was getting cold feet about the deal, or if she had something else in mind. It was that something else that put a knot in Russ’s gut. He didn’t want Julia in any more danger, but he hadn’t wanted to leave her at the hotel either, because no one would go as far as he would to protect her. And it didn’t seem to matter if he didn’t want to feel that way about her.

“You okay?” he asked her, as they pulled in to the parking lot.

“Don’t worry. I’m not about to have a panic attack.”

He caught onto her arm and turned her to face him. “That wasn’t what I asked. Are you
okay?
”

She moistened her lips, pushed a wisp of hair from her cheek. “I just want this to be over so I can be with Emily.”

He wanted the same thing, and he wanted it sooner than later.

Because Russ thought it might help them both, he leaned into her and gave her a quick kiss. It felt comfortable, as if quick, reassuring kisses were part of their normal lives instead of something he’d just started to experience.

“You’re not going to put your hand up my dress to stop me from going nuts, are you?” she asked.

Russ thought she was only partly serious, so he kissed her again, and he wished that they were at a place and time where he could figure out where the hell they were going with the dirty thoughts and long, lingering looks.

“Maybe later,” he told her, but it wasn’t as much of a joke as he wanted it to be.