On his way to the door he snagged another burner phone from the desk drawer and glanced back at the armchair. Firelight flickered invitingly over the butter-soft leather, the crystal of his tumbler catching the glimmers of gold and orange.
One more drink, he decided, snagging the bottle of scotch from the built-in bookcase next to the door. He’d earned it. Knowing Jones was dead called for a celebration.
Chapter Twelve
Matt cast a sideways glance at Briar as the cab drove them away from the airport. Georgia had left first in another cab, leaving them with the number for a burner phone she was carrying. They’d gotten the samples Georgia needed to submit to the man who’d ordered the hit on Briar, and until they figured out exactly what was going on, both she and Briar were going to ground. Matt prayed the other woman wouldn’t betray her fellow Valkyrie.
Briar sat next to him in the backseat, staring out the window at the darkened, snow-covered landscape. She’d been silent ever since they’d gathered the blood samples and cheek swabs back in the morgue. From what he could tell she wasn’t shaky or in shock. At least, if she was, it didn’t show on the outside. He hated that she was in pain and there was nothing he could do to ease it.
“You want me to grab us something to eat on the way?” he asked her quietly. They were on their way to a motel where they’d spend the night coming up with an action plan.
“No, I’m good,” she said without looking at him. Although there was a lot Matt still didn’t know about her, he knew enough to understand that losing Janaia must have devastated her. Confronting the evidence that she’d been poisoned couldn’t have been easy. Any other woman would have been shaken up, crying and grieving. Briar hadn’t made a sound.
He was worried about her. On top of all the rest of this shit with the CIA, this blow was too much for her slender shoulders. As strong as she was, she couldn’t bury her grief forever.
When she didn’t say anything else, just kept staring into the darkness as they sped down the interstate, Matt felt helpless to ease her pain. He reached for her hand, laced his fingers through hers and squeezed. She looked over at him, face solemn, squeezing in return before looking away.
Matt maintained that simple link with her all the way to the motel they’d stopped at in Aurora. He paid cash for the room and they carried their bags to the second floor. Just like the last time they’d roomed together, this place had two double beds. Matt wanted her in his, wrapped up in his arms for the night.
The lamp set on the nightstand between the beds glowed softly. He set his duffel over in the corner and faced Briar, who was sitting on the foot of one bed. She’d pulled off the wig and taken the contacts and cotton rolls out. Though it looked like she was staring into space, he could practically hear her brain humming from where he stood.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
She focused on him, dark eyes intense. “That I’m going to find whoever did this and make them pay.”
The deadly resolve in her voice took him off guard, it was so incongruent with her calm expression. Her reaction didn’t surprise him in the least though. He understood it perfectly, so he nodded. “You were really close to her.”
Now the anger burst into flame in her eyes. “She was the only family I’ve had since my parents died.” Before he could say anything else she stood and began pacing back and forth, as though the emotions roiling inside her were too much to contain and she had to keep moving to burn off the tumultuous energy seething inside. “I’ve been trying to figure out who’s behind this. If this was someone in The Company there’d be paperwork involved, official signatures needed. Even if this was done off the books or something was forged, it has to be someone with a lot of authority and know-how. There has to be a trail to follow.”
Matt studied her for a moment, sensed there was more she wasn’t telling him. “And?”
She took a deep breath, released it, some of the anger evaporating from her expression. “When I was on a job I only had contact with Janaia, and whatever assets I used for any given op. I rarely had dealings with anyone else in the agency, due to protocol and security reasons. I’ve been trying to think of links between the dead assets and Janaia and me.” She paused, sharpening Matt’s attention. “There’s one thing I keep thinking about.”
He waited, unwilling to push because he knew it wouldn’t do any good. If she wasn’t ready to tell him, nothing he said would make her divulge it. It was frustrating. By not turning her in and helping her fake her death, he’d stuck his neck out for her. Way out.