Bridal Armour. Debra & Regan Webb & Black

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СКАЧАТЬ gave the name of the hotel and the driver pulled away from the curb. The typical airport traffic was lighter on the employee access route, but the cab fishtailed a bit in the worsening conditions. He hoped the driver knew which way was which, because Thomas had no idea. It wasn’t quite a whiteout, but the wind had picked up and was blowing snow sideways across the car.

      “Hard to believe this is October,” Jo said with a subtle nod toward the driver.

      “Looks more like January,” Thomas agreed.

      He had questions for her, all of which had to wait until they were alone. He heard an alert on his phone and pulled it from his pocket.

      He frowned, recognizing Deputy Director Holt’s personal number on the missed call list. Thomas had left clear instructions for the current cases. He scrolled down to check messages, but between the heaters on high and the interrupted signal he couldn’t make out anything but “committee.” Sitting next to Jo, he assumed Holt was trying to give him a heads up about her.

      “Problem?” Her smile was tight and her hands were in her pockets again.

      Thomas shook his head. “Nothing Holt can’t handle.”

      That answer only seemed to increase her anxiety as her lips thinned and she crossed her arms. When the cabbie turned toward long-term parking rather than the outlying circle of airport hotels, Thomas couldn’t ignore his instincts any longer.

      Slowly, his gaze locked with hers, he tucked the phone back in his pocket. Slower still, he placed his hands, fingers spread wide, on his thighs.

      When she didn’t move, he arched a brow.

      Finally, she followed suit, showing him her hands were empty before folding them in her lap. “Truce?”

      “Too soon to tell,” he replied with brutal honesty.

      “I know this is unexpected,” she said, her voice pitched too low for the cab driver to overhear. “Work with me. Please.”

      He thought of the wedding plans, of his beautiful niece turning into a lace-covered bridezilla monster and decided both he and Lucas had faced tougher challenges. The rehearsal and dinner was hardly optional, but given his current predicament—unarmed in a blizzard with an obviously determined and still-talented agent who had clearly made an effort to get his attention...

      “You have twenty-four hours.”

      She nodded, her tension easing fractionally.

      “I will not miss her wedding.”

      “Agreed.”

      He thought it was an odd response, but the cab pulled to a stop behind a beige compact SUV and their conversation halted.

      She paid the driver while he retrieved their bags from the trunk. When the parking lights flashed indicating she’d unlocked the vehicle, he opened the back hatch and put their luggage inside. The engine rumbled to life, startling him, and he looked over his shoulder to confirm she was controlling the car.

      “Remote start,” she said hurrying over.

      He suddenly caught a whiff of an unmistakable odor of a lighted fuse, a precise scent he’d hoped never to come across again.

      “Should have remembered it soon—”

      “Jo, run!” But she kept moving closer to the car.

      Throwing himself at her, he took them both to the icy pavement. He rolled them into the driving lane, his body the only shelter he could offer.

      In his mind, it was Germany all over again, right down to the snowy conditions.

      The blast of heat washed over them, obliterating the car and, for a moment, the blizzard conditions. The pavement shook with the force of the car dropping back down to earth and the detached, analytic part of his brain wondered just how high it had blown.

      He risked a glance toward the ball of fire. The luggage had been vaporized in the explosion. His clothes, his irreplaceable surprise for Casey and whatever Jo had packed for her little venture were long gone. Reactions and assessment had to wait for later. Right now, they needed to move. Easing his grip on Jo, he looked into her midnight eyes, and weighed the sincerity of the shock and terror he saw there.

      He knew she could be a consummate actress; it went along with their line of work. Various scenarios cycled through his mind, all of them bleak. Was she the perp or the victim? Had this been an attempt on her life or his? Both? Maybe she’d changed her mind about killing him or maybe the timing came down to a faulty fuse or signal on the bomb?

      He wanted answers, but survival was first and foremost. Going separate ways seemed like the most prudent solution in light of the current circumstances. But the phrase “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” kept nudging him. Was Jo a friend or enemy?

      Uncertain, he made his decision based on their relationship prior to her role with the Initiative committee.

      “Are you hurt?”

      “No.” Snowflakes caught in her long eyelashes. “You?”

      He gave a snort, but before he could answer, her eyes went wide and she flipped him onto his back. “Your jacket was on fire,” she explained.

      Well, her quick thinking and the deep slush seeping through the fabric had put it out now. He made a mental note that her reflexes and physical ability seemed to be in perfect order. It wasn’t all that comforting considering his seemed to be a bit sluggish.

      “Thanks.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, removed the battery and tossed both pieces into the fiery wreckage. “Give me yours.”

      She scowled, but did the same with her own cell phone.

      “Now let’s move. Stay low.”

      “I know the protocol,” she snapped, anger clear in her eyes, intensifying the flags of color high in her cheeks.

      The attitude was a good sign. Maybe. He just didn’t have enough facts to sort out the situation. “Prove it.”

      “That car was rented in your name. I changed your reservation and picked it up for you days ago,” she answered before he could ask the obvious question. She held up a key fob with the logo of a different make. “My car is two rows that way.”

      He nodded and motioned for her to lead. Again.

      They moved quickly through the lot, but he knew anyone could be watching, waiting for the right opportunity to pick them both off.

      How had the bomb been triggered? And who wanted him dead? There were a number of possible answers to both questions. He mentally narrowed the list to people who wanted to eliminate them both, but that left him plenty of names to consider. And only sprouted more questions as he wondered who knew they were both in the area.

      When they reached her car, he noted the license plate and watched her use a compact from her purse to check the undercarriage for problems.

      She nodded, convinced it was safe, and they climbed inside. He suspected she was holding her breath the same as he was СКАЧАТЬ