Page 30 of Forgiving His Past (Eagle’s Nest Securities #5)

Five hours and twenty-five minutes later…

Van kept his duffle bag secured over one shoulder while gripping the handle of Kam’s borrowed bag in the same hand. With his other hand, he held onto hers as they made their way up the dock toward the spot where he’d parked his truck a few days before.

In the back of his mind, he thought about that night. Their time spent at Archer and Cassie’s. The plane crash before. And how so much had changed in such a very short period of time.

Van also couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding. As if the worst was yet to come. On reflex, he held Kam’s hand a little tighter. And it was in that moment when he realized…

I never want to let go.

“Who’s that?”

Her sweet voice cut through his thoughts, and he followed the invisible line from her to where she was looking. His stomach dropped, and that sense of dread he’d been feeling formed a giant lead ball that settled heavy in his gut.

“Son of a bitch,” Van mumbled beneath his breath when he saw the blacked-out SUV with government plates. It was parked so that it was blocking him in, and there were two suited men standing guard.

“What is it?” Kam came to a sudden and complete stop. “Is it them?”

Shit. “No.” He shook his head, hating that he’d scared her like that. “Unfortunately, I know this guy.”

“Oh.” They resumed their steps. “Why unfortunately?”

“Because I’m guessing the man they’re guarding is Michael Webb.”

“Webb?” Her brows dipped inward. “You mean the Secretary of the Navy? Isn’t he the one you don’t like?”

As she asked the question, the back door to the SUV opened. A second later, its occupant stepped outside.

“Hello, Mr. Braddock.”

Fucking Webb.

Standing almost as tall as Van, the guy stared back at him behind his own pair of shades. His receding hairline looked even more pronounced in person, as did the way his black suit stretched tightly around the man’s broad shoulders.

But it was the two men standing on either side of him that held Van’s attention the most. That and the pistols tucked neatly away in the shoulder holsters were clearly visible beneath their opened—and adorably matching—jackets.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He slowed his movements, keeping a safe distance between them.

Using the hand holding hers, Van gently eased Kam back so that his body partially blocked hers. His gaze remained on a constant slide between the three men staring back at them.

“You know why I’m here.” Webb’s voice was rough and deep. To the man standing on his left, he motioned toward Kam and said, “Get the girl. ”

“What?”

Her entire body stiffened behind him, and her hand squeezed his in a grip that screamed of her fear.

“You’re not taking her anywhere,” Van growled, pulling Kam back even further.

But the one stone-faced crony didn’t so much as falter in his approaching steps.

“It’s okay, Braddock.” Webb pulled a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his chest. “I already spoke to Logan about all of this. I know Miss Dawari is innocent.”

He froze because…surely he hadn’t heard right. “What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded. Because something wasn’t adding up.

The last time they spoke, Webb was bound and determined to do whatever it took to bring Kam back to the States so she could be brought to justice for the crimes in which she’d been accused.

Of course, as he and his teammates had discussed shortly before their plane was blown up and they were all almost killed, the investigation they’d been spearheading the past three years wasn’t anywhere in the government’s books, which gave “justice” a whole new meaning.

“I said she stays with me.”

The man to Webb’s left pulled his weapon free. With his free hand, Van started to reach for his gun but was stopped when the guy walking toward them pointed his pistol straight at Van’s head.

“Damn it, Van, knock that shit off.” Webb started to walk the few yards between them. “I don’t have time for our usual song and dance. Which is why I brought this, so you could see proof that what I’m telling you is real.”

With no choice but to stand there—or get his ass shot, apparently—Van waited for the asshole to get close enough to hand whatever he’d brought over to him.

He took the piece of folded paper and unfolded it with a quick snap of his wrist. He quickly scanned what appeared to be an official document. His chest grew tight, and his heart fell to his feet when he realized what it was…

Order for Transfer of Custody to precede Witness Protection.

“What is it?” Kam’s voice sounded so small as she whispered near his ear. “What does it mean?”

“It means you have to go with them, sweetheart.” He looked over his shoulder to where she stood.

The look in her eyes ripped his heart to shreds. As if he were giving up on her. On them. And what they’d only just begun to share.

“No.” Kam shook her head with vehement force. “I won’t go with them. You promised me you’d protect me. You said?—”

“It’s not his choice, Miss Dawari.”

“Van, please…”

Dammit all to hell, he fucking hated every part of what was happening to her. She didn’t know these men. Hell, he only knew Webb. And since he’d made his feelings about the asshole known, that meant Kam was aware of the fact that Van didn’t trust him one bit.

Except…

“Like I said, I spoke to Logan.” Webb slid his glasses up to the top of his head, revealing his dark gaze. “He passed along the intel you’ve been gathering this week. Good job on that, by the way.”

Webb looked directly at Kam then, and Van immediately understood why. The son of a bitch had basically told her that Van had used her for information and nothing else. And sure, part of why he wanted time alone with her at first was to confirm what his gut had been telling him all along.

Which it had, and it damn sure hadn’t take several days for it to happen. Even before that first full day out to sea, Van had already known deep down that Kam wasn’t the real target.

She was sweet. Sexy. Smart-mouthed and strong as hell. And like him and his team, she was also an innocent pawn who was being forced into someone else’s sick game.

Kam let go of his hand for the first time since stepping onto the dock. “Is that all it was? Did you sleep with me to try to get me to confess to going after your team?”

“Fuck, no.” Van ignored the guys with the guns and turned to her. “You knew I wanted information.” She’d known that from day one. “But what happened between us had nothing to do with that. The man’s just trying to get you to turn on me so you won’t put up a fight.”

“You’ll be safe with me, Miss Dawari,” Webb claimed. “You have my word and that of the United States Navy.”

“She’s not going with you,” he growled again, sending the commanding prick a seething glare.

Webb simply shrugged. “It’s not forever, Braddock. And it’s for her own good. She’ll be under twenty-four-hour protection until we can locate the real culprit and bring them to justice.”

“I said no.” He tried reaching for Kam’s hand.

But the guy who’d stopped his earlier approach steadied his gun and continued walking toward them.

“I’ll call you as soon as we get settled in the safe house,” Webb promised. “It’s clear you care about what happens to Miss Dawari, so if you play your cards right, I may even be able to arrange for you to come for a visit.”

“Come with me, Miss.” The man with the gun motioned for Kam to start following him back to the SUV.

She took a step forward. First one and then another.

“Kam, don’t!”

“It’s okay, Donovan.” She looked back at him from over her shoulder. “I always knew our time together would come to an end.”

“No.” He gave his head a hard shake. “Not now. Not like this.”

“You have no choice, Miss Dawari,” Webb announced with booming authority. “That’s a court order signed by a federal judge. You either come with me peacefully or I will arrange for yours and Mr. Braddock’s arrests for interfering in an official Naval investigation.”

Official what?

“This is all off-book,” Van reminded the man as his desperation grew.

“Not anymore, it isn’t.” Webb shook his smarmy head. “I brought the president up to speed, and he agreed there was enough circumstantial evidence to reopen the case into the attack on you and your men. As such, Miss Dawari has been named a chief witness in the case.”

Meaning if he tried to stop the prick from forcing Kam to go with them, his ass would end up behind bars. And if he were sitting in a jail cell, he’d be no help to her, so without any other choice, Van was forced to let her go.

“You hurt her in any way”—he warned—“I will come at you with everything I’ve got.”

“You threatening me now, Braddock?” The fucker simply laughed. “Come on, boys. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us, and I don’t want to be late.”

With one of the goons still pointing his gun at Van’s head, the other curled his meaty hand around Kam’s upper arm and led her the remaining distance between them and the SUV. At the last minute, she swung her troubled gaze back his way.

“Thank you.” She sent him a ghost of a smile before disappearing into the shadows.

Her guard followed her inside, slamming the door shut as he went.

Thank you?

She’d thanked him? For what?

“Smart choice, Donovan.”

“Fuck you, Webb.”

With a shake of his head, the smug bastard chuckled softly as he and the man holstering his gun got into the vehicle and drove away.

Van immediately pulled out his phone, texting the team that he was back and calling an emergency meeting. Webb—and whoever sent those two hitmen—may have won the battle for now, but…

I will damn well win the war.

“The turn is coming up.” Secretary Webb told the man behind the wheel. “Next one on the right.”

Kam sat silent behind the passenger seat, the armed guard sitting next to her only a few inches away. The smell of expensive leather and cheap cologne added to the already-present nausea churning inside her gut.