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He pulled out the signal jammer Regan had given him and turned it on. Even so, he didn’t want to risk saying too much until the place was swept. He wanted Daisy out of this house and under HRT protection, but Gold Team was stretched thin with this hunt for the disgraced Navy SEAL from Louisiana.

She went to speak again, and he put his finger to his lips.

“Want some coffee?” He found a notepad on the table. Wrote, Careful what you say. Bugs .

She looked confused and frightened as she hugged herself .

He glanced at the table, saw two photographs and a phone SIM card lying on top of an envelope with familiar handwriting scrawled over it. Then he saw a note saying, “Give this to Jordan Krychek immediately.”

He glared at her, and she glared right back, but when she opened her mouth, he pressed his finger to her lips and her eyes flashed with something that wasn’t entirely hatred. It punched through his anger like a fist through paper.

Shaken, he moved away.

He wrote. Don’t mention anything important but act natural. He turned off the blocker because he wanted them to think they were staying here.

“I don’t drink coffee with men who assault me.”

He felt sick. “I’m going to make some anyway. It’s been a long day.”

He wrote another message. Get dressed. Collect all your stuff. We have to leave. Hurry .

“Take your time. Then we can sit down and talk.”

She left in a pissed-off huff, and he searched Kurt’s kitchen until he found some large freezer bags. He slipped the envelope in one, the photos and note into separate ones. SIM in another.

He pulled out his cell and snapped images of everything and sent it to Armstrong.

Armstrong called back immediately but Jordan didn’t pick up.

He texted instead.

Unsecured location. Send TacOps around to Montana’s home ASAP.

Take the evidence to the National Laboratory immediately. I’ll call them. Highest priority.

What do I do with Montana’s daughter?

Protective custody. I’ll arrange it.

She won’t like it.

And Montana would skin us both alive if anything happens to her.

Who’s going to do protective duty?

I’ll talk to Ackers. Take her to the HRT compound. Don’t tell her what’s going on.

Jordan grimaced. She already hated him, so what the hell did it matter if she hated him more? He was taking one for the team. Anything to keep her safe.

She came back wearing tight jeans and a black sweater that made her skin look pale and translucent. She’d slipped on Doc Martens, had her coat over one arm and dragged a suitcase that was almost the same size as she was.

“Let’s take these drinks into the living room, and I’ll explain everything.”

“Fine.”

He shoved Kurt’s bag against the kitchen wall. Picked up Daisy’s case and slipped the pieces of evidence into a side pocket. Zipped it shut. She grabbed her laptop case and notebooks. They left the house quickly, and he threw her luggage in his trunk.

“What’s going on?”

Jordan shook his head, scanned for a tail while flicking the signal jammer back on.

He floored it. They were close to Marine Corps Base Quantico, and he was relieved when he got there without spotting anyone following him. It would take time for anyone monitoring Montana’s house to realize they were in the wind.

“Why—”

“I’ll explain everything shortly.” He shot her a look. “We need to make sure you and your belongings aren’t bugged first.”

“Who’d bug me?” The skepticism came with a sneer .

He said nothing, got past the guards who’d already been told they were coming. He pulled up near the entrance of the National Laboratory. Got out and removed the photos from the side of her case.

“Hey, those are mine.” She followed him out of the vehicle and across the sidewalk, grabbing for the evidence, which he held out of reach.

“It said to give the note to me immediately.”

“Which is why I drove back here after school today. To find him and give them to him. I would have gone to the bar and asked around except some bastard threatened me last time I went there, and I was too scared.” She was getting loud again.

“I’m sorry.” He wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. “Why didn’t you call Ackers or someone?”

“I was tired by the time I got to Dad’s. I figured I’d have a bath and call Daniel in the morning and arrange a meeting with you at the compound, where I wouldn’t bump into the psycho who’d attacked me on Monday night.” She narrowed her eyes.

He inhaled a deep breath and prayed for patience. He’d earned her bad opinion with his behavior and rash assumptions, but he couldn’t turn back the clock, so they were stuck with the situation.

A Black woman in a lab coat met them at the door, and Jordan handed the things across and signed a chain of evidence log.

“I need copies sent to myself, Daniel Ackers, and Reid Armstrong. This is the number-one priority in the Bureau today,” he urged the tech.

“I want copies too. They’re mine. I want them back,” Daisy said stubbornly as the tech looked at her nervously before heading back into the building. She stood there shivering without her coat on. “When you’ve analyzed them, I want them back.”

“Your father said to give them to me.”

Her eyes filled with the glitter of angry tears. “They were the last thing he sent to me. I have a right to them. ”

Her grief was a dagger to his heart. Especially when he couldn’t tell her the truth about her father. Not yet.

“I’ll see what I can do. Daniel Ackers wants to meet with you at the HRT compound. We need to go over you and everything for electronic listening devices.”

“Fine. Daniel will help me sort this out.” They climbed back into the car, and he couldn’t meet her gaze. He drove quickly to the compound, relieved to see Jon Regan was already there with Crisco by his side.

“Who are these people?” Daisy chewed on her lip nervously.

“The techs who look for bugs.” Although they did a lot more than that. “They are on our side.”

She stepped out of the vehicle tentatively.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Regan stepped forward. A better liar than Jordan had ever been. “I would have introduced myself at the memorial, but we were rudely interrupted.”

Daisy nodded.

Jordan hadn’t noticed her at the memorial. He’d been lost in his own miasma of misery and avoiding the family and his teammates as much as humanly possible.

“I’m going to need your phone, sweetheart.

I have people going to your dad’s place to make sure it’s secure.

” Regan held out his hand, and Daisy gave him her cell without a qualm.

He handed it to Crisco who hooked it up to something in the back of their van as Regan began running a wand over Daisy’s body.

Jordan narrowed his gaze on Regan, but the man was all business. Regan nodded with satisfaction when he’d finished. She hadn’t lit up.

Next, he went to the trunk where he went through every single item in minute detail.

“Phone’s tapped,” Crisco called out. “I’ve put it in a secure box for now. Maybe we can trace the tap.”

Regan nodded. “There’s nothing in the case. Anything else?”

Wide-eyed, Daisy pulled her laptop case out of the back seat. “Here. ”

Regan ran the wand over the laptop case, and his wand lit up. He handed the whole thing across to Crisco who put it in a trunk. “I’ll get those items back to you within twenty-four hours.”

With that he gave her a nod, and the two agents climbed in their van and took off.

“What the hell is going on?” she demanded.

“It’s a classified investigation, I can’t?—”

She shoved against his chest. “It’s about my dad. I know it is.” Pissed. “Tell me what’s going on. Dammit. Tell me!”

She punched him, and he let her. Then the tears finally started to fall, and she bowed her head. He gathered her against his chest and tried to give her comfort. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

He watched Ackers’ car snake along the road, followed by a large black suburban. He recognized the Blue Team leader driving the vehicle and knew she would never forgive him for what was about to happen.

She could add it to his long list of sins.