I put a hand up. "Okay, I don't care. I don't want to know that shit. It's nasty." I glance around at the empty lake and the still parking lot with nothing but Derek's car in it. Rory is using some magical binoculars to scope the scene out. There is nothing moving anywhere under the streetlights in the park or parking lot. I feel like I'm betraying Derek in every way, but if he knew I was here only to clear him, he might not hate me so much when he finds out. There is no if he finds out; I have a terrible feeling he already knows where I am. Losing him is still bigger than anything else, because no matter how I try to figure it all out, I can't see him being the killer they're seeking. I can see him being something for the CIA. He's brilliant and serious and exactly what a government agency would be looking for.
Rory comes back. "He's not here. No heat registering in this area for a mile."
Antoine pulls a cell phone out and makes a call, speaking softly. "You certain we have no one in this area who would be of interest to him?" He pauses, obviously listening to the person on the other side. His face twists. "FUCK!" He hangs up, looking fierce instead of smooth and sexy. "There's an ambassador to Jordan from Qatar in the area. His cousin lives nearby in Hunts Point. He's staying with him for a weekend before heading off to New York. No one knew he was here. The forms you fill out declaring the addresses you'll be at, this address was last on the list-he filled it out backward. According to it, he should be in New York this week, but the UN summit meeting is next week."
Rory turns, sprinting back toward the van. "Stay with her."
Antoine gives me a look. "You believe now?"
I shake my head.
He nods. "You will. When we get there this guy is gonna be dead in some twisted, sick, accidental-looking way. You wait." He sounds so smug and bitter. It's such a change from the funny guy he was ten minutes ago.
When the van comes tearing down the road to us, we hop in, and instantly they go to work-talking on cell phones and looking at screens, typing and texting. It's bananas to see people working in such a frenzy. Rory is shouting for a team to get in place with Derek's car and to apprehend him on the spot when he returns, while Antoine is looking up the address on a map. "The house is gated; no one can enter to knock on the door. It's a bell at the gate. We need a squad car there now-they need to wake the residents. We'll go in the side yard and sneak in the back door in case he runs." He hangs up and looks at me with the same severity as moments before. "You'd better be ready to bring it, Barnes, or you can sit in the van and wait."
"I want to wait."
Rory shakes his head, looking back at me while still driving. "No. She comes. He'll know she's here. She's at risk now."
I don't know the entirety of what that means. I have to assume he thinks I shouldn't be with Derek anymore. Like this is now me walking away from it all.
But I won't. I won't walk away from him. I love him and he loves me, and he isn't the man they're looking for. I don't care what they think. I know him.
The van stops with a jerk, and Rory hauls me out of the backseat, jamming my gun into my hands. "Don't pull that again. I'll smack ya around till ya remember who ya are."
I scowl at him, but he drags me to a large rock wall at least eight feet high, nodding his head toward it. I shake my head, but Antoine runs, leaping and climbing up the wall. I stuff the gun in the back of my pants, totally certain I'm going to shoot myself in the ass. He lowers his hand as Rory lifts me up.
Antoine drags me to the top of the wall, heights promptly becoming another item I realize is outside my comfort level.
Rory jumps up, climbing and dropping to the other side with no issue. Antoine shoves me. "Jump."
I shove him back. "DON'T!"
He tilts his head to the side. "You jump or I push."
I growl, feeling something spicy building inside me. I've gone along with this nonsense in hopes of showing them how wrong they are, but I'm getting tired of the bullshit. I sit on the wall, turning on my stomach and letting my legs hang over the edge. Slowly I lower myself down the wall, but Rory grabs me from below, dragging me before I'm ready. I drop, holding back my scream as he catches me. We are face to face, staring at each other in the dark. The dim light from the moon and streetlights flickers, making it so I can see he's looking me in the eye with an expression I'm not comfortable with. Slowly he lowers me down, making me slide down his body until I drop to the ground softly. His arms don't release me, but there is something I recall about him. I know him. I know this embrace and the smell of his body against mine.
Not that it matters. My heart still belongs to the man who has lovingly cared for me for years.
We creep along the side yard to the mansion. I pause, stunned by the beauty of the house before me. The few lights on inside glow like lanterns, lighting up the massive rooms inside the brick castle. The yard is the size of a city block, with grass all the way to the large dock at the bottom of the yard. Waterfront houses are usually fancy in this area, but I swear I have never seen any like this one.
"Who lives here?"
Antoine puts his finger to his lips. "Some rich guy from either Qatar or some other obscenely rich country."
"Damn!"
Rory grabs my arm roughly. "We aren't here for sightseeing, Sam. We need to find Dash before it's too late."
I jerk my arm free, annoyed at his constantly touching me. I don't think I've ever been big on touching. I follow them up the yard, staying behind the massive trees and bushes.
My heart should be in my throat. My stomach should be a concrete block, waiting to fall into my bowels and cause the worst diarrhea known to man. My palms should be sweating. My mouth should be cotton.
But none of those things are occurring. My heart hurts, but it's wholly for the dishonest thing I am doing to Derek. Maybe I'm an idiot, it's entirely possible, but I love him and he's never done a single thing to me besides lie because he was worried about me and wanted to protect us.
I can't fault Derek for any of it, especially not while I'm trespassing in a foreigner's yard trying to prove his innocence. I now understand how far he would go for me.
Rory opens the door to the basement, leading us into a billiards room with a massive bar and a large sitting area with leather couches and chairs. It's quite the room, considering it's the basement.
Our basement has boxes and old things Derek refuses to junk out.
Antoine and Rory have their guns out as we climb the stairs. In the house above, it sounds like people are being woken by the police. A woman is speaking quickly, flooding the silent air with emotional words in Arabic. She speaks, and slowly my mind filters the words through something. "She says they woke up and he was gone."
Rory glances back at me. "I know. Who do you think taught you Arabic?" I swallow hard, making him laugh. "You didn't know you could speak it?" I shake my head.
Antoine rolls his eyes, taking the steps until he meets a police officer. He flashes a badge. "Is the ambassador in the house?"
The young cop shakes his head, confused at how we are here already.
"Any sign of a struggle?"
"No," he answers, glancing back up the stairs. "We searched everything. Looks like he walked out the front door. Didn't take a car."
I cock an eyebrow smugly. "Well, we know he wasn't with Derek then. His car is still parked."
The cop's confused look worsens. Rory points at me. "Ignore her, it's her first rodeo."
They all laugh, but I miss the joke. The Arabic woman speaking has my attention again. "She says he wasn't feeling well at dinner. He was thinking about going to the doctor."
Rory grabs my hand, dragging me up the stairs, past the cop. We hurry back to the road where the van is parked.
The ride to the hospital is silent. I don't know what to add to the awkwardness of the empty air, other than more awkwardness, so I don't speak. Instead, I gaze out the window as we cross Evergreen Point Bridge, heading back into the city.
Antoine parks the van in front of the emergency entrance of the hospital Derek works at. My stomach tightens. Did they know he worked here?
As we climb out, I abandon my gun again, watching them pocket theirs. It seems weird to take a gun into a hospital.
Rory storms to the emergency nurses' station, asking them things in a near whisper and flashing his badge. The nurse at the front desk looks confused for a moment, but her computer gives them an answer. Her face lights up as she points, smiling at him in a way that makes me want to warn her. He speaks to Antoine for a moment before he places his hand at the base of my spine, controlling the direction and speed of my gait.
I wish for a half second I had brought the gun. When the elevator doors close and we are alone, I shove Rory back, sticking a thin finger in his face. "Touch me again and I break whatever is making contact with me."