Читать книгу A Deadly Business - Desiree Holt - Страница 10

Chapter 3

Marissa had forgotten how much fun special events could be, especially those in a small town like Arrowhead Bay. Last year she had managed to avoid participating in the Fourth of July festivities, other than having a special show at the gallery. It boggled her mind that what used to be a three-day celebration in this town now encompassed most of a week. Avery had insisted she join them at some of the events this year and even offered to pick her up.

“I can get there on my own, and I will,” Marissa had promised with a laugh. “At least to the biggest deals.”

She wasn’t quite sure how much she’d participate this year. She’d wait and see how she felt. But it was only Monday, and the town was already jammed with people. Out of curiosity, she took a slight detour past the marina, checking things out. The place was so full there were boats anchored just past the piers, their guests taxied back and forth by the makeshift ferry service the marina had set up. Most of the boats were decorated or in the process of being fancied up for the parade this weekend. The Driftwood Restaurant next to the marina, owned by the same couple, was already wall-to-wall people.

As she drove down Main Street, Marissa noted that, even though it was only Wednesday, the sidewalks were already jammed with both residents and holiday visitors. She was glad she’d decided to open the gallery early. Fourth of July banners hung from the lampposts along the streets and in almost every store window. She congratulated herself on bringing her own coffee and sweet roll. The lines at Fresh from the Oven and next door at Fresh Roasted snaked out both doors and down the sidewalk.

Lord. What would it be like by the time the weekend got there?

She wondered if Justin was teaching classes today, or had Avery sent him off on assignment? She hadn’t seen him since coffee two days ago, and she knew he was giving her the space he was sure she needed. He’d left a note on the gallery counter with his email, and she couldn’t count the number of times she’d started to enter it in her email program.

But she’d finally decided to talk to Avery first, confide in her. Ask her if she should clue Justin in. Right or wrong, she didn’t feel she could move forward with…whatever this was, unless he knew what he was getting into.

Maybe after this weekend, she’d ask Avery to carve out a few minutes for her. She sure didn’t want to wait much longer. Her body had turned itself into a constant state of readiness, and she was sure combustion was only moments away.

In a stroke of luck, a car was pulling away from a spot in front of the gallery just as she drove up. She was only mildly surprised to find people waiting in front, looking through the windows, and sipping coffee from their to-go cups. Or maybe it wasn’t coffee. They could be drinking mimosas or even straight vodka. She reminded herself to be calm and gracious, and lock up if the visitors got too unruly.

“Oh, you’re here.” A woman in walking shorts and a hot pink T-shirt smiled at her. “Good. We hoped you would be. My husband and I—we’re the Danforths, Laura and Howard—would really like a better look at the seascape in the window.”

“That’s one of my favorite pieces,” Marissa said, unlocking the door. “Come on in and take your time looking at it. I think you have to make friends with art before you decide to take it home.”

“Oh,” Laura Danforth said. “You are just so right. Howard, come look at this right now.”

Marissa hurried to hit the alarm panel then deposited her purse and her breakfast snack in the office. Then she slipped her handgun into her pocket and shrugged on the long vest that covered it. She had no idea what it was that had the hair on her arms standing up, or her neck itching. This was just a tourist couple out shopping. What was wrong with her?

But better safe than sorry was a motto she lived with each day. Brushing imaginary lint from her blouse, she eased back into the gallery, staying to the back so she didn’t crowd the couple. The seascape was by a local artist she’d been working to promote. This sale would be a big boost for her, especially if these people passed the word to others.

So, she occupied herself adjusting the other displays and sipping on her coffee.

“Oh, excuse me,” the woman called. “Could we ask you a couple of questions?”

Marissa ditched the rest of the coffee and walked over to them, smiling.

“Of course. What would you like to know?”

She went through her usual spiel with them, answering questions about the artist and what location the painting depicted. She considered it a good omen for the weekend when they bought the painting and didn’t quibble about the price. Still, she couldn’t shake that bad-vibe feeling. She was wrapping the painting in protective paper when she looked up to see Laura Danforth standing in the doorway of the packing room.

“You know, we’ve been coming here every year for the past ten years, all except for last year. I just told Howard I don’t think I remember seeing the gallery before this. Are you new?”

Marissa paused for a moment, her hands stilled in the process of taping.

She’d be new to a lot of people. It didn’t mean anything.

Or did it?

“Well, new to you, I guess. I moved here two years ago. I think just about a month after the Fourth of July celebration.”

“How do you like it?”

She looked up at the woman and smiled “I love it. Arrowhead Bay is a warm and friendly town. I’m on the water. The people are great. This was a very good move for me.”

“What brought you down here?” Howard Danforth had joined his wife and stood there with his arm draped around her shoulder.

Marissa studied them for a moment. They looked harmless, relaxed and happy like any other tourist couple here for the celebration and festivities. But she’d learned over and over that appearances deceived, and you should never take anyone at face value. She had their information from the credit card receipt. She’d just ask Avery to run a check.

She lifted the wrapped picture and handed it to Howard.

“Enjoy your painting.”

“Oh, we will,” Linda Danforth gushed. “Every time I look at it I’ll think of being back here at Arrowhead Bay.” She looked around as she and her husband headed toward the door. “This is a very nice gallery. You have a great selection, and I always love discovering local talent. I’ll be sure to tell our friends about it.”

“Thank you so much. Please come back again next year.”

The moment they were gone she hurried to her little office, grabbed a bottle of water from her minifridge, and drank half of it down before taking a breath. It disturbed her to see a slight tremor in her hands. What was the matter with her? For three tense years in London, under the very nose of one of the most vicious men in the world, she’d had nerves of steel. Now, despite the safety of her new surroundings, it seemed she was jumping at shadows. She supposed that was what happened with living every day knowing that Stefan Maes had vowed to destroy her.

She capped the water bottle and returned it to the fridge. This was ridiculous. Her old identity was buried under multiple layers. She’d grown out her hair from the short auburn flip she’d worn for three years and let it go back to its natural long honey brown. Just that alone had made a drastic change in her appearance. She’d even gained ten pounds; a fact she wasn’t sure she was all that happy about. She had changed her wardrobe, and even trained herself to walk differently. It still amazed her the things the CIA could train a person to do when changing or burying an identity.

So cool it, she told herself. The Howards were just what they seemed, a boating couple here for the weekend. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have Avery check them out.

As busy as the morning turned out to be, she didn’t have time to give much thought to the situation, and by noon her nerves had settled, and her sales had exploded. She made a note to bring out items she had stored and to contact the local artists she worked with to see what they had they’d like her to show.

She was just closing down her computer and thinking about lunch when the bell jingled to announce someone. Wearing her best public face, she hurried out of the office and relaxed when she saw it was Justin.

He lifted an eyebrow. “I can’t tell if that expression on your face means you’re glad to see me or if I should turn around and walk out.”

Her laugh had a slight hysterical edge. “Glad to see you. Very glad.”

His face sobered. “Trouble?”

For the first time since the CIA had recruited her, she was struck with an urge to unburden herself to someone and have them assure her things were fine. What was up with that? She hadn’t needed anyone for a long time. Maybe it was the unsettled feeling she’d been plagued with of late, a feeling that told her she might not be as safe as she thought.

Stop it, she thought. Why was she seeing dragons all of a sudden?

She forced her mouth into a smile. “Oh, no, no trouble. Just very busy. Way more than last year.”

“But that’s good, right?”

“Yes. It is.” She waved her hand around the display area. “I’ve replaced at least half of the art on display since I opened. I don’t remember the crowd being this big last year.”

“It keeps growing every year. Avery sent me to fetch you for lunch. She has a table at the Driftwood and she saved space for you.”

Lunch? With people she didn’t know?

But why was she spooked? Nothing had happened.

“Oh, I don’t know…” She twisted her hands together. The Danforths had tickled her Spidey senses and unnerved her. She wasn’t sure she was up to facing the crowd at the restaurant.

“It’s just lunch, Marissa. With a couple of nice people.” Justin smiled, but she caught a questioning look in his eyes. “Come on. You can sit next to me and I’ll protect you. Or maybe you can try out some of those kickboxing techniques if someone pisses you off.”

She couldn’t help the tiny laugh that escaped.

“You must think I’m an idiot. I’m just not a very social person.”

“Oh, I think you’re very social.” He winked. “And sociable. Come on. Lock up and we’ll head over there.”

“I can’t believe she got a table. Is there even a place to park?”

He nodded. “A little thing like a crowd never stops Avery.”

Marissa double-checked the alarm when she set it. Her training had taught her to be extra cautious whenever she sensed something might be off. Even though she might be chasing shadows where there were none, she wasn’t about to take chances.

Justin helped her into the black Vigilance SUV he’d parked by a fire hydrant.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting a ticket?” she teased.

“I didn’t think I’d be long. And besides, I have a little pull with the police department.” He glanced over at her. “All set?”

She nodded.

“Not my business, but you seem a little uptight today,” he commented as he pulled smoothly away from the curb into traffic.

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind right now. This big weekend. Some other stuff.”

“You know, I’m a good listener if you ever want to bounce anything off of me.”

What she wanted to bounce off him weren’t ideas. Her hormones, so ruthlessly suppressed for so long, had decided to revolt.

“Good to know. And thank you. I’ll remember that.”

The parking lot at the Driftwood was as jammed as she’d expected, but Justin wheeled the SUV into a slot with a Reserved sign.

“It’s good to know the right people,” he teased. “Come on. I prescribe a glass of wine with lunch.”

Marissa seldom drank anything stronger than iced tea or coffee, but she had to agree that a glass of wine sounded good. And Avery’s friendly face at a table out on the covered porch helped her relax, even if it was an infinitesimal amount.

“I’m glad Justin was successful dragging you out of that gallery,” she said. “I’m sure you’ve been busy, but everyone has to eat lunch and I figured you could use a little break.”

Justin pulled out a chair for her then sat down in the one next to her. Sheri March sat next to her sister. Blake Morgan and a woman she figured was his wife occupied the other two chairs.

“We meet again,” Blake greeted her. “Marissa, this is my wife, Samantha. Sam.”

Sam held out her hand. “Blake tells me you own Endless Art. We’re going to come by this weekend, if you haven’t sold out to the tourists.”

“Please stop in.” She smiled at Sam. “I love helping people select just the right pieces.”

Lunch turned out to be better than she expected, if only she could get rid of this edgy feeling. When she ordered a glass of wine, Avery looked at her and lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. She managed to relax and enjoy the conversation, although she caught Avery sliding looks her way now and then.

“Justin’s going to drop me at Vigilance before he takes you back to the gallery,” Avery told her. “That okay with you?”

“Oh, sure. It was nice of you to send him to fetch me.”

“I wanted to make sure you took a little break.”

Marissa said goodbye to Blake and Sam and reminded them to stop by and see her. As they wound their way through the dining room to the exit, she scanned the restaurant, taking note of the crowd, and wondering if any of them had picked up the flyers the Driftwood had been kind enough to put out for her.

She almost stumbled when she spotted the Danforths at a table with two men. It wasn’t them, however, as much as the two men they were with who tickled her senses. On the surface they looked like the other tourists in their casual attire. She couldn’t define it except to say they reminded her so much of the men she’d dealt with for three years in London.

She wasn’t aware she’d stopped walking until Avery bumped into her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. My mind must just be wandering today.” She started walking again but Avery was right in step with her.

“Your mind doesn’t wander,” Avery said in a low voice. “Not like that. What did you see?”

“What? Nothing. I—Nothing. Really.”

Avery gave Justin a silent signal to move on and tugged Marissa off to the side.

“I know that look. I’ve seen it on enough faces in my line of work. Something spooked you. Who or what did you see that threw you off balance?”

Justin had turned and was looking at her with a quizzical expression on his face. She moved forward again.

“It’s nothing. Really.” He knew nothing about her situation, so he’d probably think she was an idiot for being spooked by strangers.

Avery, right behind her, touched her shoulder. “It may be, but just in case, let’s figure out what spooked you.”

Yes, maybe it was nothing, but she didn’t want to worry about it all day. Not smart.

“Not here.” She lowered her voice even more. “See that older couple with two dark-haired men at a middle table? Just take a quick look, like you’re scanning the room.”

Avery’s mouth turned up in a quick smile. “I think I can do this, Marissa.”

Marissa’s face flamed. Of course, she could. She was in the business. “I think they’re watching us. Let’s all go back to Vigilance. I’ll tell you what happened today and hope you can assure me I’m jumping at shadows.”

“Of course. Come on.”

Marissa said little on the ride to Vigilance, digging around in her brain to find whatever it was that had triggered her reaction to the Danforths. She still had no specific answer when she was seated across from Avery in her office, holding a fresh cup of coffee.

“Okay.” Avery studied Marissa. “You aren’t one to jump at shadows, so let’s have it, no matter how insignificant.”

Marissa took a sip of her coffee. How to phrase this so she didn’t sound nuts? “That couple I showed you,” she began. “They came into the gallery this morning. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about them. They looked like any other holiday couple, tanned, relaxed, casually dressed. They were friendly and raved about the gallery. They even bought that seascape I’ve had on one of the main easels.”

“But?” Avery lifted an eyebrow. “Something set you off.”

“The questions they asked weren’t any different than I get from so many others, but…” Marissa shrugged. “I don’t know. They asked if I was new to the area. Said they’d been here every year but the last one and didn’t remember the gallery. When I told them I’d only been here two years, that last year was my first Fourth of July event, they said that must explain it.”

Avery nodded. “Sounds like normal chit chat.”

“I agree. Even when they kept asking me things like where did I move from and why here, there was nothing I could put my finger on. It just sounded more like an inquisition than casual conversation.”

“Was that all?”

Marissa shook her head. “No. Yes. I don’t know. When I saw them at the Driftwood, the two men at their table reminded me of the men I met in London who might have you killed for choosing the wrong silverware.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound good. Brian Gould told me you have good instincts, and I believe he’s right.”

“If they’d been coming here for several years, wouldn’t you have recognized them?”

Avery shrugged. “Maybe, but not necessarily. We get hundreds of people for this weekend every year. Unless I had a reason to cross paths with them they might not have landed on my radar. Do you have their information with you? I can do a quick check.”

“Yes. I copied it from their credit card slip.” She handed a piece of paper across the desk. “I’d at least like to know if they are who they say they are.”

“Okay, let’s see what we can find.” She picked up her desk phone and pressed a button. “Ginger? Can you come in for a second?”

Marissa knew that Ginger was the go-to person at Vigilance for computer searches. If she couldn’t find it, no one could.

There was a light rap on the door, and then Ginger poked her head in. “You rang?”

“I did.” Avery handed over the slip of paper. “See what you can find out about these people. And—”

“I know, I know,” Ginger interrupted. “You want it five minutes ago. Gotcha.”

“If Stefan Maes sent these people, how the hell did he know where I was to begin with?” Marissa raked her fingers through her hair. “The CIA was meticulous about erasing every detail concerning Lauren Masters. And I have not left this place since the first day I set foot in it.”

“That’s a difficult question to answer,” Avery told her. “I—”

Before she could finish her sentence, a cell phone sitting on her desk chimed.

“I need to take this right now.” She rose from her chair. “Can you excuse me for just a minute?”

Marissa lifted an eyebrow. “Of course. I’ll just step outside. Let me know when you’re finished.”

She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Was she making something out of nothing? Letting her imagination run away with her? Maybe these people were art thieves who scouted galleries and made a purchase to look normal. How on earth would anyone find her here, anyway?

“Avery kick you out?”

Marissa startled as Justin came out of the big electronics room. “What? Oh, no. She got a phone call she had to have privacy for.”

“Yeah, she gets a lot of those.” He studied her face. “You okay? You look a little shook up. Was it those people you saw at the Driftwood?”

“Um, just some questions I had.”

She had a weird feeling Avery’s call had to do with her. The same impression that she’d had during her last meeting with Craig Joffrey. She sipped at her cooling drink while she tried to keep herself together. When Avery opened the door and beckoned her back into the office, she had a hard time not yelling for Avery to tell her what it was all about this second. When Avery asked Justin to join them, Marissa knew there was trouble.

“First of all, Marissa,” Avery began when they were seated, “I need your permission to fill Justin in on your background.”

Marissa clutched the arms of the chair. She was right. Maes had found her. Otherwise why involve Justin? Why tell him her secrets?

“Is it— Do you—”

“Justin knows you. Plus, he would never give up secrets even under torture. And we’re going to need him.”

She swallowed hard, then nodded. “Yes. All right. If you think it’s necessary.”

“It’s necessary.”

“Then go ahead.”

Marissa sat there, tense, hands fisted in her lap, while Avery filled Justin in on her CIA stint, the way it had ended, and the fact that Maes had put a price on her head. Justin absorbed it all and when Avery finished he turned to her, his lips curved in a warm, reassuring smile.

“Whatever this is,” he told her, “I’ve got your back. We’ll keep you safe.”

“Thank you.” She looked at Avery. “Okay, let’s have it. What was that call about?”

Avery leaned forward. “That was Brian Gould. Talk about a coincidence of timing.”

Cold dread landed in Marissa’s stomach like a lead fist. She hated that her instincts had been right.

“It’s bad, right?”

“I won’t lie to you. It’s not good. Brian said ever since Stefan Maes learned you were the one who blew the whistle on him, he’s had people poking into every corner of the world, looking for you. He’s as sneaky as the CIA. Brian assured me they’ve been keeping an eye on Maes, knowing he has a vendetta against you. This is the first time, however, they’ve heard one of his people actually sighted you. This couple must have called Maes as soon as they left the gallery.”

“So, I was right about them.” Cold dread knotted itself in Marissa’s stomach. This was no time to fall apart. Besides, she was better than that. Now she needed her training to kick in.

“Yes, you were. The people they were lunching with had to be part of a team in the area in order for them all to connect so quickly.”

She did her best to swallow back the sick feeling gripping her. “But how did they know to come here?”

“Sometimes it just happens by accident,” Justin told her. “No matter how careful you are. Someone who knew you as Lauren might have come through here and spotted you. You’ve probably changed your appearance a lot, but it’s not impossible. It could be any number of things. Bad luck is a constant companion in this business.”

“Adrian McCormack could have spotted you, too,” Avery pointed out. “Brian and I thought this would be a great place for you to create a new life, because Vigilance is here, and we can protect you, and Sheri does a great job as police chief. The down side is so many people come through here on their boats it’s not as controlled as we’d like.”

“Please tell me exactly what Brian said.” Marissa was doing her best not to panic. That never helped the situation.

“Word is out now that Stefan Maes is gathering a crew again.” Avery shook her head. “He’s been doing it so far under the radar that none of Brian’s sources got a sniff of it. He learned about that in the same phone call that said you’d been made. He called me right away.”

“Maes has enough connections he could put an army together if he works it right.” Marissa twisted her hands together to still the sudden tremors. Her trail had been wiped clean. The CIA had wiped her identity from every electronic file. Nothing to do with her current existence was written anywhere and Brian Gould was the only person who knew where she was, or so he’d assured her. But three years in the game had taught her nothing was absolute.

The one thing she couldn’t control was chance.

Someone with a sharp eye could see through her current appearance, if they were looking for her. Or maybe Maes had gone to the trouble of having her photo manipulated so, despite any changes, people could spot her.

Just then the message app on Avery’s tablet pinged. She read the screen and frowned.

Marissa swallowed back the anxiety that surged. “What?”

“Well, your instincts are still as sharp as ever, and it goes along with what I just heard. There’s no record of these people except for credit cards with a post office box for mail. No real estate, no voting records, no navigation information, nothing.”

“Color me surprised.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice. “I knew when Adrian McCormack blew the whistle on me I’d have a target on my back for life. Maes is not the type of person to forget. You can bet tracking me down has been high on his list.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Avery frowned. “Let me think a minute. The first thing we have to do is get you out of his line of sight.”

Yes, please. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought that Maes had tracked her here. Killing her would be the most merciful thing he could do if he got his hands on her.

“Maes has had two years to stew over his situation and nurture his hatred for me,” Marissa pointed out. “I still don’t know why he’s not in prison.”

“Because he has a team of very expensive, very good attorneys,” Avery reminded her. “They have been making the case that everything was done by people who worked for him and that he had no knowledge of any of it. And truly, I think the CIA was just as happy to put him out of business rather than go through a very long, very expensive trial.”

“Poor man.” Marissa snorted. “He’s had to live off his legitimate enterprises, which aren’t quite as lucrative.”

“He’s also had all this time to plot and plan. I’m sure, knowing about him and knowing his type, he’s working on some method to fill those coffers again.”

“You can bet the farm on that.” Marissa shook her head. “I have this weird feeling that he’s cooking up some disaster.” She stopped breathing for a moment. “I thought he was pretty much neutralized.”

“‘Pretty much’ being the operative words,” Avery pointed out. “He’s persona non grata in several countries and of course he lost billions when the CIA froze his accounts. It seems none of those banks want to do business with him anymore, even for legitimate reasons. He must be a nasty piece of work. He even had to pull his legitimate accounts from Switzerland and they’ll take just about anyone.”

“Those accounts are just a drop in the bucket compared to what he made from his illegal activities.” She locked her fingers together in her lap. “So where is he getting money to replace what he’s lost? He can’t exactly fund his revenge from his legal accounts.”

Avery nodded. “According to Brian, he’s been pulling strings wherever he can, tapping every crooked, evil source to line up some cash. Word is he thinks he can mount some kind of operation to reclaim what he says was stolen from him.”

Marissa swallowed back the nausea creeping up in her throat.

“He can do it, too,” she told Avery. “He’s got all those unstable third world governments beholden to him. If he can gather his core team of monsters he has a good shot. Except…”

“Except what?”

“Except, like I said, he lost billions because of our operation. Many billions. He can’t get enough handouts to match the amount. Besides, I know Maes. Revenge will be as strong a need as building a treasury again.” She slammed her fist on the arm of the chair. “How does he get away with this? Why can’t the CIA or someone just go in and shut him down?”

“You know yourself stealth is his middle name,” Avery reminded her. “He knows how to bury his activities until the last moment. After what you did to Maes, there’s no way Brian or anyone could get a person into his organization undercover. Because he’s been burned, and badly, he’s twice as suspicious of everyone and everything.” She studied Marissa. “Those people are probably just a small piece of a larger network checking everywhere for you. Maes still has plenty of money to fund an operation like that.”

“I know he’ll be playing this very close to the vest, like you said.” Marissa swallowed back the tendril of fear trying to curl its way through her. “He wouldn’t want word to leak out until he’s ready to pounce.”

“Right,” Avery agreed. “He wouldn’t risk sending you into hiding someplace else. He didn’t count on your instincts still being as good as they are.”

Marissa rubbed her face. “I feel like I’m in a bad dream and can’t wake up.”

“Speaking of hiding,” Avery continued, “that’s exactly where we’re going with this. We need to get you out of here until we can figure out how to neutralize him.”

“Good luck with that.” Marissa inhaled a deep, steadying breath, trying to think of all the loose threads here. “If I leave so suddenly, just the way I disappeared from London, won’t that be sending a signal to him that it’s really me? What about the gallery? Won’t people think it’s weird if all of a sudden, it’s closed? And what if that couple comes back again just to check on me for Maes and start asking questions?”

“I’ll have someone at the gallery.” Avery made notes on her tablet. “If anyone asks, we’ll say you were called away on an emergency. We’ll cover everything here.” She curved her lips in a reassuring smile. “This isn’t our first rodeo, Marissa.”

“I know, I know. I just feel as if the last two years have been for nothing.”

“Not for nothing,” Avery assured her. “You’ve made a life here, friends, and all those things will still be here when we shut down Maes.”

“But what can I do? Where can I go?” She wanted to scream and throw things. “This just sucks.”

“What we can do is get you out of here until this Maes situation can be handled and this whole thing comes to an end.”

Marissa raked her fingers through her hair. Didn’t she know that shutting down Maes was a near impossible task? “God. Am I going to be running from him for the rest of my life?”

“No. Not gonna happen.” Avery took Marissa’s hands. “They—we—will stop him, I promise you. But you can’t hang around until that happens.”

“Where will I go that he can’t find me?” God! “Montana? It gets very cold there. Or maybe the Yukon Territory. It’s even colder.”

“I have an idea, but I need a few minutes to take care of the arrangements. Justin will take you to your cottage while I make some calls. Pack only personal items. Write down your clothing and shoe sizes for me, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Sizes?” Marissa frowned. “What for?”

“You’ve made it a habit to dress down here in Arrowhead Bay. Nothing outstanding in your clothing that would call attention to you. I want you to blend in with the crowd where you’re going.”

“What crowd? Where? What kind of clothes? No cold weather gear. Please?”

Avery chuckled. “No Yukon Territory, I promise. This is very private resort that’s the only thing on a small Caribbean island. I know the owners and they owe me. No one will be able to track you there.”

Marissa chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t know. Are you sure it’s the best place for me?”

“It’s perfect. The people who vacation there do it because they are protected from the outside world. They get a lot of very wealthy European businessmen and their wives. Some of them come for private meetings and combine business with pleasure. No reporters. No place where they could be spied on. No commercial transportation to leave a trail. The only access is by boat or water and unexpected arrivals are not permitted. Rosewood has a trained security force to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Europeans?” Marissa froze. “Don’t you think—”

“No.” Avery shook her head. “I don’t. It so happens last year the Morgansterns hired us to vet all their guests, including repeaters in case anything changed. But just to be sure, I’m going to run the current list through the rest of the month past Brian Gould. If it’s a problem, we’ll look elsewhere. Now get going. I’ll take care of your clothes.”

“My car,” Marissa began.

“No worries. We’ll bring your car here and store it in the Vigilance garage. That way people will have to guess whether you drove, or flew and left your car at the airport. Or whatever.”

Marissa tried to sort everything through in her mind. It’s a good thing, she thought, that the CIA had trained me in the art of disappearing at a moment’s notice.

“When you get back here I’ll have all the details. And Justin will be going with you.”

She looked at Justin, who just smiled as if this was an everyday occurrence in his life. But there was something else swirling in his eyes, too. Something that made her nerve endings tingle.

“With me?” Marissa’s eyes widened as her body responded. Good lord. She was going into hiding with the man who starred in all her fantasies?

“Of course.” Ignoring them, Avery made some notes on her tablet. “You didn’t think I’d let you go off without protection, did you? Justin’s one of the best I’ve got. Plus, you know him and will be more comfortable than with a stranger.”

“But can he just take off like this? Doesn’t he have assignments?”

“Yes.” Avery nodded. “This one, right here. Just like any other I might send him on.”

“Avery, that’s really very nice of you, but I can’t afford your prices. Or the cost of wherever you’re sending me.”

“This one is on the house, my friend. I owe Brian Gould and I like to think we’ve become close these past couple of years. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do this and something happened to you that we could have prevented. Now let’s get this show on the road.”

As she rose from her chair, Marissa thought again about being in a secluded, exclusive resort with Justin. Alone. With the first man in years who had made her body sit up and take notice of what it was missing. Just how was she supposed to deal with these feelings that kept cropping up whenever she saw him or heard his name? Sure, they’d danced around this a little, each testing the other, but in reality, she didn’t know how he felt. What if she was misreading his signals and somehow made a fool of herself?

Was she leaving one kind of danger only to walk into another?