Page 19

J ake stared at the ceiling, aware of the ribs in the mattress pressing against his back. He could blame them for keeping him awake, but it wasn’t the lumpy mattress. It was Livvy and the way she’d pulled away from him. The way she’d shut him down, refusing to even talk it out with him. She’d gone from loving and cuddly to throwing up a brick wall between them, and she hadn’t even explained why.

He rolled onto his side and punched his pillow with a vicious blow. If it had been an opponent, he’d have been unconscious on the floor. He glanced at the other bed. Livvy appeared to be sound asleep. But as he studied her he realized that she was faking sleep. Her fingers twitched on her pillow, and her eyes moved beneath her lids. Livvy wasn’t sleeping, either.

The realization gave him a little hope. Maybe tomorrow she’d be willing to talk about this. At least give him a reason she was shutting him down. He stared at the sprinkler heads on the ceiling. There’d been a spark between them even before she left the FBI. Was that spark what triggered her resignation? He hoped not. He hoped she hadn’t quit a job she clearly loved because of him.

As he stared at the plain white tiles and the sprinkler heads on the ceiling, he realized he couldn’t force her to get involved with him. Couldn’t force her to tell him why she was backing away. He couldn’t even stop her from getting on that plane back to Helena. Livvy was an adult and in charge of her own life. And if she didn’t want to get involved with him? That was her decision and he couldn’t force her to change her mind.

He closed his eyes and rolled over. Opened them again when he heard Livvy snuffle in the bed that was only a few feet away. He wanted to climb into that bed with her. Draw her against him and hold her while she slept. But he didn’t have that right. Couldn’t force Livvy to do what he wanted.

Flopping onto his back, he let his gaze travel around the room. Finally he closed his eyes, trying to force himself to fall asleep. He’d be driving back to Washington tomorrow, and if he didn’t get any sleep, he’d be a danger on the road. So he closed his eyes. Ran through everything that had happened since they’d arrived in Brooklyn, looking for hints of what he could have done better with Alexei and his crew.

The answer, he realized, was nothing. Nelson had sent him to Alexei to be murdered. They’d failed, because he was still alive. But at least they’d confirmed Nelson and Windsor were working with the Bratva. When he returned to Washington, he’d work on figuring out who Nelson and Windsor reported to. Diana might have some ideas about that. He wished Livvy was still an FBI agent, because he trusted her. Knew she wasn’t a mole. But Livvy had to return to Helena and her job with Blackhawk Security. She wouldn’t be there to back him up.

So he’d figure it out on his own.

Finally, after tossing and turning for far too long, he fell into a restless sleep. When he heard Livvy moving around the room, he opened his eyes. She’d opened the curtains, and it was daylight. Time to pack up and head back to Washington.

He grabbed his pants from the coffee table and found a clean shirt in his luggage. Took both of them into the bathroom.

When he emerged after a shower, Livvy had thrown the duvet over her bed and was sitting against the backboard. He nodded to her. “Morning, Livvy,” he said as he walked back to the couch.

“Morning, Jake,” she replied, her voice tentative and soft.

He frowned. Swiveled to face her. “You afraid I’m pissed off at you?” he asked.

She held his gaze for a long moment, then looked away. “I’d be pissed if you’d done that to me.”

“I’m not pissed,” he said with a sigh. He turned his back on her and started to pack his suitcase. “What I am is sad. I have… feelings for you, Olivia. And I suspect you have feelings for me, too. But you’re more interested in running away than trying to work things out. I never thought you were a coward, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Wanting something different from you doesn’t make me a coward,” she said.

“Refusing to acknowledge how you feel makes you a coward,” he shot back. Before she could answer, he held up his hand. Turned to face her. “You don’t have to answer me,” he said. “Don’t have to tell me why you’re so freaked out. That’s your business, and I don’t have the right to force you to talk to me. But maybe you need to think about it yourself. Maybe you need to figure out what you want. How to get it.”

He tossed his kit bag into his suitcase, then shoved the lid down. Snapped the locks, then set his suitcase on the floor. “I’m gonna need to eat something before we start driving. I don’t want to eat in the restaurant, in case Alexei’s men are still looking for us, but we could do room service again. Or we could start driving and find a restaurant along the way.”

“I can’t go that long without coffee, and I’m pretty sure you can’t, either,” Livvy said. “Let’s order room service. I’d like French toast and bacon.”

“Sounds good,” he said, reaching for the room phone. “I’ll order it.”

When the two orders of French toast and bacon arrived, along with a carafe of coffee, Jake sat on the couch, with his plate on the coffee table in front of him. Livvy sat at the table where they’d eaten their other meals. Neither of them talked while they ate.

Twenty minutes after their food and coffee arrived, they refilled their travel mugs with coffee from the carafe and got ready to leave. The elevator was half full, and they rode down to the lobby in silence. It took only a few minutes to check out, then they took the elevator to the parking garage.

Jake put himself in front of Livvy as they stepped out of the elevator on their parking level. He stood silently, listening, and he knew Livvy was doing the same. After five minutes, he looked over at her. “I don’t hear anything. How about you?”

“No. Nothing,” she said, in the same sharp whisper he’d used.

They’d parked close to the elevator so they wouldn’t have to walk down rows of cars that would be potential ambush points. In less than five minutes, they’d loaded their bags, gotten into the car and were driving out of the garage. Twenty minutes later, they’d left Brooklyn via the Verrazzano Bridge and cruised through Staten Island into New Jersey. When they reached New Jersey, Jake let out a long, relieved breath. He’d expected an ambush at some point on their way out of Brooklyn.

“You watching that side-view mirror?” he asked Livvy.

“I am. No signs yet of anyone following us.”

“We left really early. Probably too early for Alexei and his men to be up and about.”

“Hope so,” Livvy said, still staring at the mirror. “But I’ll keep watching.”

The drive back to Washington D.C. was smooth. Quiet. Neither Jake nor Livvy said much, because there wasn’t much to say. When they reached the outskirts of D.C., Jake glanced over at her.

“Not sure what your plans are, but I assume you’ll be returning to Helena at the earliest opportunity. Do you want to go to headquarters and talk to Diana? Tell her what happened, and see how her investigation is going?”

Livvy frowned for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Yeah. I need a sense of closure. Need to know what she plans to do next.”

“You don’t have to be there in person,” Jake said carefully. “I can drop you off at your car, so you can get back to Helena, and Diana can fill you in later.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then looked away. “I know that’s what you’d prefer, but I’d like to talk to Diana with you.”

“I think you know it’s not what I prefer, but I figured that was what you’d want. If you want to talk to Diana, I’m happy to go directly to headquarters.”

God, could they be any more awkward with each other? Any more stiff and careful?

Blowing out a breath, Jake found a place to park and exited the car with Livvy. By the time they reached Diana’s office, Jake was not just uncomfortable. He was getting pissed off. But he forced himself to smile at Diana’s receptionist. “Is the Director available?” he asked.

“What are your names?” the woman asked. “I’ll ask her.”

She picked up the phone and murmured into it. Then she ended the call and smiled at them. “Go ahead into her office.”

Jake opened the door for Livvy, then followed her into Diana’s office. Her desk was cherry wood, gleaming in the sunlight from her window. Bookshelves lined two walls, stuffed with books and file folders. Diana stood up as they entered. “Welcome home,” she said, holding out her hand to shake first Livvy’s hand, then Jake’s. “Have a seat and tell me how it went.”

They sat in the chairs in front of the beautiful desk and took turns telling Diana exactly what had happened. When they reached the part about the ambush in the alley, Diana frowned. “You’re both okay, right?”

“We’re fine,” Livvy said. “I didn’t want to shoot him, but he gave us no choice. If I hadn’t, he would have killed both Jake and me.” She shrugged. “That was yesterday afternoon. We left for Washington this morning.”

“It sounds like you accomplished a lot,” Diana said. She smiled. “I’ve had both Windsor and Nelson under surveillance since before you left. They’re both fairly… cocky,” she said. “Neither of them checks for bugs in their apartments. Or their cars. I had them both arrested yesterday. Even without your reports, I have enough evidence on both of them to put them away for a very long time.”

Jake leaned forward. “Any sense of who they report to in the Bureau?”

“Not yet. But I’m working on it,” she said. “I’ve put surveillance on three people, although only two are serious suspects. I’ve also wired their cars, their homes and their briefcases.” She smiled. “These suspects go nowhere without their briefcases.

“Now that you’re back in town, once I have your written reports from your meetings and the surveillance you installed in Alexei’s office, I’ll go to the prison and question Nelson. Windsor too, but I think Nelson is the brains of that pair, and he’ll know more. Right now, I can say with some confidence that two of the three people I’m focusing on are Russian moles. Eventually, Nelson and Windsor will confirm that for me.” She smiled. “I have many tools to convince them to cooperate and give up their contacts.”

Jake pushed a piece of paper across the desk to Diana. “This is the access code for the cameras Livvy and I installed in Alexei’s office. I’m not sure how helpful they’ll be, but you might get some useful information from them. Unless you speak Russian, you’ll need someone to translate the tapes for you.”

“Thank you.” Diana smiled. “I have several people I trust who speak Russian.”

Jake stood up, and so did Livvy. “We’ll both write down our thoughts,” he said. “I’ll get mine to you in the next day or two.”

“And you’ll get mine shortly after I get back to the Blackhawk Security compound,” Livvy said.

“I appreciate that,” Diana said. “I’ll keep you both in the loop about our moles. You deserve to know who they are and what happens to them.”

She leaned closer. “I also instructed Roman Peters, the agent who is assisting Sergei and his wife Elena, to keep you informed of what’s going on with them. He has your email addresses and phone numbers. He’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Livvy said. “We appreciate that.” She smiled. “Naturally, we want to keep track of both Sergei and Elena.”

“Of course you do,” Diana said. “Thank you for arranging that. According to Roman Peters, Sergei is giving him a lot of very valuable information.”

“Great,” Jake said. “I’m glad he and his wife are safe, and that he’ll be able to help the FBI.”

There was a moment of silence, then Jake said, “Livvy has to return to Helena. I’ll get my paperwork done today, because I’m pretty sure Livvy is leaving tomorrow.”

“I am,” Livvy said.

Diana’s gaze settled on Livvy for a long moment. Then she looked at Jake. “I see,” she said.

Jake wanted to know exactly what she saw, but he wasn’t about to ask. “I’ll try to have that paperwork on your desk tomorrow,” he said.

“Thank you both,” she said. She turned her gaze on Livvy. “The door is open anytime you want to return to the FBI,” she said.

Livvy smiled, but Jake didn’t see much joy in it. “Thank you, but I’m very happy at Blackhawk Security,” she said.

Diana nodded. “I personally, as well as the FBI as a whole, thank you both. I’ll look forward to talking with you soon, Jake.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As soon as they walked out of Diana’s office, Jake steered Livvy toward the outside door closest to her office. When she frowned up at him, he said, “We don’t want to run into whoever Nelson and Windsor report to. Don’t know if Alexei has told him yet that they didn’t kill me. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

Livvy’s mouth turned up in a smile, but again, Jake saw nothing happy in it. It felt strained, as if she couldn’t wait to get away from Washington. And him. “Yeah, nice to keep that in your back pocket.”

They stepped outside and had to walk several blocks to get back to Jake’s car. When they reached his apartment complex, Jake pulled up beside Livvy’s car in the parking lot. When she swiveled as if to get out, he put his hand on hers. He’d be damned if she ran off before he could say his piece.

She looked at his hand covering hers, then slowly raised her eyes to his. Holding her gaze, Jake said, “Before you go, Livvy, I have a few things I want to say.”

It looked as if she recoiled. Drew into herself. Grabbing the handle for the door, she tried to open it. Jake engaged the lock, then leaned a little closer.

“The least you can do is take a few minutes to listen to what I have to say,” he said, holding her gaze. His voice was too sharp, but her attempt to flee pissed him off.

“I think we said all we needed to say last night.” Livvy swallowed, and Jake watched her throat ripple.

“Not everything,” Jake said. He stared at her, and he saw her flinch. As if what she saw in his eyes was painful. Unwelcome.

He didn’t give a damn. He was gonna say his piece anyway. What could she do? Fly farther away than Helena? Three thousand miles should be enough space to make her feel safe.

“I don’t want you to go back to Montana, but I think you already know that, Olivia.” She winced when he used her formal name. “I want to pursue a relationship with you.” He held her gaze and took a deep breath. “I love you, Livvy, and no, it’s not sudden. It’s been building for a while. I was fascinated by you since before you left the Bureau. The last week only confirmed what I felt for you. I want to make a life with you. Marry you. Have a kid or two with you.”

She opened her mouth to speak, and he held up his hand. “You don’t have to say a word. You made your feelings very clear last night. That’s why I’m making mine clear today. I only have one thing left that I want to say. If you change your mind, let me know. Call me. Come to Washington and tell me. Or ask me to come to Helena to see you. Based on what you said last night, I’m not expecting to hear from you, but I’d like to be pleasantly surprised.”

Without waiting for her to answer, he swung out of the car and opened the trunk. Picked up her suitcase and her briefcase and carried them to her car. When she popped the locks with her remote, he put both her briefcase and suitcase in the trunk.

She didn’t look at him as she slid into the driver’s seat. She adjusted the mirrors, which as far as Jake was concerned was an excuse for not looking at him. Who the hell had driven the car since she last did?

Finally she started the engine and looked over at him. He stared back, keeping his face blank. She nodded once, then drove off without looking back. But he saw her staring into the rear-view mirror as she exited the parking lot.

When her car was out of sight, he took his own suitcase and briefcase out of the car, then carried them up to his apartment. Once inside, he slammed the door so hard that the frame shook. He searched every room, and checked all the tells he’d left among his belongings. Nothing was out of place.

Tomorrow, he’d review the listening devices he’d placed around the apartment, but tonight, all he wanted to do was write up his report for Diana and do his best to put Livvy out of his head.

A fool’s errand, he knew, but what other choice did he have?