Linked by deception, p.17
Linked by Deception, page 17
The only reason I wasn’t freaking out about this situation was because I knew that Ricochet had my back and always would. Those of us in the PSY-IV teams were more than teammates—we were family. An unusual and scary-as-shit family, but family nonetheless.
Ricochet slowed and stopped next to a fallen tree trunk thick enough to come up to my thighs. “Sit. We have a few minutes. They’ve got you on some painkillers, but you’re getting close to waking up.”
“Are you at the hospital?” I scrambled up and sat on top, waiting for him to do the same.
Instead, he braced his elbows against the wood’s rough surface and leaned back, stretching his legs out before he nodded. “I’m stuck in the waiting room.”
“Why?”
“You’ve got an officer talking to the nurse, wanting to interview you and Rabbit. So far, she’s holding strong, but it won’t be long before he gets through. Figured it was best not to draw his attention.” He frowned and pushed upright, folding his arms. “I think there’s a second set of eyes on you besides Officer Friendly.”
I picked at the trunk as I watched him. “Who?”
Instead of answering, he asked, “You recognize him?”
Across the small clearing, a figure with a familiar face appeared. He paced back and forth, completely oblivious to the two of us. My lip curled. “Yep, that would be Zane’s right hand, John No-Last-Name. So far, he’s played chauffeur and butler.” Something poked my butt, and I shifted against the rough surface of the trunk. Whatever it was disappeared, and the surface under me smoothed out. “Thanks.”
Ricochet shrugged, but his dark eyes didn’t leave John. “Ex-military?”
“That’s what Rabbit thinks.”
We both watched John do his pacing thing for a few seconds.
“I’ll see if we can’t get an ID.” Ricochet angled toward me, and across from us John blinked out of sight. “Catch me up.”
While Ricochet listened without interrupting, I kept to the high points, laying it all out—the program Zane wanted and why, our suspicions on Amalia, the break-in at the condo, and what I could remember from the car crash. Ricochet was a master of the blank face, and it was hard to read his thoughts, but I didn’t mind, because it was a relief to share. He made a good sounding board. By the time I wound around to the end, the anxiety dogging me had fallen back, more interested in sniffing the nearby bushes than nipping my ankles. It was a welcome respite.
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to Rabbit before they knocked me out, but I’m pretty sure the car was hacked.” Especially since Rabbit had to do his voodoo to ensure that we didn’t end up as roadkill. “I just can’t figure out why Zane would try to kill us. Sabotaging the car and putting us in the hospital doesn’t get Zane the program. In fact, it delays it. Which makes no sense, considering he seems to have a definite timeline in mind.” No matter how I went over the dinner with Zane and Amalia, I couldn’t detect any warning signs that we’d given ourselves away.
“I don’t think it was Zane.”
Ricochet’s grim statement, combined with the dark frown lining his brow, had me bracing myself. Amalia’s name popped into my head, but I dismissed it for the same reasons I didn’t believe Zane was involved. “Then who?”
Ricochet searched my face, but with no idea of what he was looking for, all I could do was stare back. He shook his head and finally answered, “Elena’s partner.”
That was not the answer I expected. I blinked. “Wait. I thought that was an unconfirmed possibility.”
He gave a disgusted grimace. “Was is the operative word, in this case.” He dropped his arms and pushed off the trunk to pace. “We got word yesterday that they finally confirmed that she was working with someone.”
I wasn’t sure what to think about his revelation. Having confirmation of a partner could go either way. Granted, Rabbit had created Mercer’s role on the possibility of a partner, but the confirmation that there was a real person working with Elena did not bode well for our cover. Ricochet’s agitated movements continued, but he didn’t say anything more.
I prompted, “But…?”
He pivoted on his heel and came back to me, stopping in front of where I sat, his gaze somber. “But they have no way to verify the partner’s identity.”
“If Elena confirmed she has a partner—”
“That’s the thing. Elena’s not talking.”
I tried to make the connection but failed. It was as if he was talking in circles. “Then how do they know she’s working with someone?”
Ricochet leaned back against the trunk next to me. “You know how they decided to monitor her electronic safe?”
I thought back to the initial conversations and remembered one of the agency people mentioning that they had feelers embedded in an electronic storage file Elena had buried on the dark web. They’d speculated it was where she stored her payments. While they hadn’t managed to crack the virtual safe, they were excited to be able to use it as a possible trap.
“Someone tried to access it?”
“They didn’t just try—they succeeded.”
Okay, that doesn’t sound good, not even a little bit. “And they think it’s a partner? Not a competitor or someone with an ax to grind with Elena?”
“It’s not a competitor.”
“How do you figure?”
“A competitor would ransack and destroy, maybe booby-trap it on their way out. None of that happened.”
“What did happen?”
“They got in undetected, got what they wanted, and left. The only reason we know it was accessed was because whoever it was tripped the warning on their way out.”
“On their way out?” I might not be up to par with Rabbit’s skill levels when it came to technology, but I knew enough to realize just how good someone had to be to get in and move around without raising an alarm. Good enough that tripping it on the way out didn’t make sense, unless… “They deliberately set it off.”
“That’s the consensus.”
I bit my lower lip. “It’s a taunt.”
“No doubt. Which indicates they’re after more than money.” Normally, reading Ricochet was difficult, but it was clear he was just as worried about this development as I was. He watched me carefully. “You said someone broke into the condo and hacked the laptop.”
“Right, and they managed to impress Rabbit. He said they not only bypassed Zane’s security to get into the condo, but they also managed to install a sophisticated tracking program on the laptop. All without getting caught on video surveillance.” Putting the pieces together out loud left me wanting to slap myself for missing the obvious. “Shit. You think Elena’s partner is here.”
“Yeah, I do, and I think they’re gunning for you.” He watched me carefully. “They know you’re not Elena, Jinx.”
Shit damn fuck shit. Dread clamped sharp teeth around my chest and dug in. That was super not good. The fact that Rabbit and I were forced to tap-dance our way through Zane’s manipulative web of evil was bad enough, but with Elena’s vengeful faceless partner tossed in as well, we were screwed. With one call to Zane, our cover and the mission would detonate like an IED. The fallout would be horrific, not just for Rabbit and me but also for our team and the investigation into Hawes and Falcon.
My mind spun through our options. Sorting through this mess was like looking through a kaleidoscope. Every time I twisted it, another threat popped up. It was beyond frustrating.
“If it helps,” Ricochet said, interrupting my whirling thoughts, “I do have one good piece of news to share.”
Considering that everything seemed to be going to hell in a handbasket, I was all for some good news. “I’m all ears.”
“Amalia Black.”
I squashed the flash of excitement and asked cautiously, “She’s ours?”
He nodded. “Colonel confirmed just before I headed out to answer Rabbit’s request.”
Having Amalia on our side should have been a good thing, but I was still grappling with the whole vengeful-partner thing. It took a moment for the last part of Ricochet’s statement about Rabbit to sink in. “Wait—request? For what?”
“A ride.”
Uh, not the answer I expected. Granted, our car was toast, but Ricochet had been all the way in San Diego. “You flew out to deliver a car?” I shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why not have Wolf drop it off?”
He raised a brow, humor lighting the depths of his eyes. “Am I not allowed to join the party now?”
“You know I love having you here, but it seems like a lot to get you out here when Wolf’s already on-site.”
Completely unoffended, Ricochet shrugged. “First, the colonel’s worried about Wolf getting ID’d by Zane or Falcon.” He made a valid point. Six foot four, bald, and built like a linebacker, Wolf was hard to miss.
Ricochet continued with his explanation. “Second, without a car, you’ll be dependent on ride shares with unknown drivers. You’re being hunted, and that access point is too easy to exploit. It makes the colonel uncomfortable. Hence, my new role as your personal driver. And third…” He pushed away from the tree and stood next to me, his earlier humor replaced by a seriousness that indicated this was the real reason the colonel sent in Ricochet. “If you can’t use your friendly neighborhood telepath for an SOS, you go to the next best option.” He tilted his head and opened his arms. “Me.” He held out a hand. “Come on. Time for you to wake up.”
I took his hand and slid off the fallen tree. As my feet hit the forest floor, the trees blinked out, and I found myself staring into the hazel depths of Rabbit’s worried gaze. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and that sexy-as-sin stubble lining his jaw. Emotions I wasn’t prepared to face clamored for attention. Difficult as it was, I ignored them.
Relief wiped away the fine lines of stress as he managed a faint replica of his normal grin. “Hey, cher, you with me?”
My heart clenched, and unable to resist, I lifted my hand and stroked his jaw despite the dull protest of my shoulder. “I’m right here, Cajun man.”
He closed his eyes, but not before I caught the rush of gold streaking through the golden depths. He angled his head, covered my hand with his, and pressed a kiss against my palm.
The rough rasp as he held my hand to his face, combined with the unmistakable tenderness of his touch, had goose bumps cascading over my skin. He whispered, “Merci, Bon Dieu,” with an intense emotion that left an unexpected hot pressure behind my eyes as my stubborn determination not to name what I was feeling took a devastating hit.
I managed to blink back the tears. “Hey, I’m okay.” The words came out husky.
A minute or two passed before he lifted his head and brought my hand back to the bed. Instead of letting it go, he wove his fingers with mine. “How do you feel?” His tone was casual, but I knew better.
I thought about it. “Stiff and sore but not enough for them to keep me here.”
He studied me, clearly not convinced. “Head?”
“Dull ache but not bad.”
“Mmm.” It was one of those hums filled with skepticism. “So, if I asked where your pain was on a scale of one to five…?”
“Two.”
“So, three, then.”
I squeezed his hand. “And if I asked you the same question?”
Finally, I got something close to his normal grin. “Same answer.” Without letting go of my hand, he half turned, snagged the nearby chair with his foot, and dragged it closer. He sat down, which put us face-to-face, and then pressed the button that raised the top part of the bed so I was sitting up.
Seeing the signs of exhaustion on his face, I knew he’d stayed up and on guard. “Tell me.”
“Car’s totaled and at the police impound. No way to get to the black box and figure out who did this.”
That was a given. It wasn’t like we were in a town where the colonel could reach out and nudge someone into giving us access. This time, we were the civilians. “Not a surprise, but we may not need it.”
“You talked to Ricochet?”
I blinked. I didn’t expect him to make the connection quite so quickly. “Yeah. How did you know he’s here?”
He motioned to the half-filled coffee cup on the table next to him. “Thought I saw him when I went for coffee.” He let go of my hand and sat back, and the bed moved a bit as he propped his feet against the bottom rail. “Didn’t have time to chat, considering I was trying to stay ahead of the nice officer who was getting off the elevator about the same time.”
“Ahhh, so you’re hiding out, then.” Mindful of the various tubes and wires attached to machines that continued to beep and hum, I shifted. There were some significant protests from abused muscles, but as long as I took my time, I was good.
“Yes, ma’am.” In his chair, Rabbit tensed, watching me with an eagle eye. “Pauline was nice enough to keep him busy until you woke.”
“And Pauline is…?”
“Your eyes are turning green, darlin’.”
I snorted.
Despite his obvious fatigue, Rabbit managed to flash one of his charming grins. “Pauline is our nurse, and she was very willing to inform the nice officer that you were sleeping and he should come back later. She also provided our stylish outfits, since our clothes are a bit of a mess.”
I noted the neat pile of scrubs waiting on the bed behind him. I didn’t think Pauline’s protective streak had as much to do with me as with Rabbit’s innate charm. “So, he’s gone?”
Rabbit’s grin faded. “Yeah, but he’ll be back.”
Neither of us was thrilled about that prospect, since dealing with the police meant asking for added complications. “Any chance we can get out of here before that happens?”
“Slim to none.” He didn’t sound any happier about it than I felt.
“Why?”
Rabbit’s response was slow in coming. “You know those tests they ran on us when we were admitted?”
I managed to nod even though something in his tone had me bracing myself.
“It seems we were poisoned.”
Chapter 17
Rabbit
“Poisoned?” Jinx squeaked.
It was kind of cute but not enough to make up for the yellowing bruise that stood out against her pale face, which served as a visual reminder of how close to death we’d come the previous night. The image of Jinx lying in that damn hospital bed, pale, bruised, and battered, was sure to haunt me for a good long while.
“The asshole who hacked the car managed to divert the carbon monoxide through the air vents.” I fought to keep my voice level. The mix of frustration, anger, and fear hovered at a low simmer, but it wouldn't take much for it to boil over.
“Explains why it felt like I was drugged,” she murmured, a frown creasing her brow.
“If I could get ahold of that damn ECU, I could reverse engineer the hack and figure out who has a hard-on for us.” And if it comes back to Zane or Amalia, I’m going to enjoy taking their asses out.
“About that…” Jinx waited until I looked at her before continuing in a low voice. “There’s a good chance the hacker is Elena’s partner.”
My brain stumbled, and when it found its footing, my mouth moved. “Say it again.”
Jinx quickly relayed her conversation with Ricochet. By the time she was done, I had to agree that our hacker was out for blood, specifically Jinx’s. I didn’t feel any better now that I had a target, especially since that target was still faceless. Even the news that Amalia was Delacourt’s mole didn’t dispel the coiling tension. Jinx might be reassured, but I harbored some serious reservations regarding Amalia’s true loyalty.
But with the vultures that were currently circling us, I had other concerns. “We need to get out of here.”
“We can’t show back up to the condo after being MIA all night.” Jinx watched me as I got to my feet. “Chances are high that Zane will be waiting for us, especially since he had the car bugged.”
I winced as it hit me that we might have an even bigger issue. “Yeah, about that… that bug might have been active until I was able to shut down the car’s ECU.”
She was quiet for a moment. The beeping monitors began to pick up speed as a look of alarm came into her face. “Shit, that means he heard the entire thing.” She grabbed her blanket and threw it off her legs, making as if to get up. “If he shows up here—”
“Whoa, slow down.” I shifted until I was in front of her, pressing my hands to the mattress on either side of her hips and caging her in place. “Take a breath.”
She locked her hands on my forearms, her fingers digging in deep enough to leave an imprint as she did as I asked. I suppressed a hiss of pain as her hold pressed against the bruises running along my arms. I must have given myself away some other way, because she quickly let go. “Sorry.” The color swept into her cheeks.
“I’m okay, sugar. Take another one,” I said.
She did as I asked, and the beeps slowed while the agitated blush slowly faded.
“Better?”
She gave me a jerky nod, her eyes not quite meeting mine. “This isn’t good, Rabbit.”
“I know.” I softly brushed the unbruised side of her face. I didn’t want to add to the bad news, but she needed to know exactly what we were facing. “He hasn’t shown up in the five-plus hours we’ve been here, so that has to count for something.” I waited for her reluctant nod before continuing. “Besides, it’s not the accident itself I’m worried about.”
Her gaze jerked to mine. “Then what?”
“We both used our names—our real names.” Only because our faces were so close did I catch the wash of trepidation behind her eyes. I knew she was remembering using both of my names.
She swallowed, her throat working. “Do you know if it was transmitting or not?”
“It was active when we got in, but I can’t confirm if it was still live when I realized what was happening.” I went back through the events, but some of it blurred together, making it difficult to pin down. “I know I fried it when I went after the hacker, but before that?” I shrugged. “Things are still fuzzy.” I straightened and went to step back.
