will let you stop him from leaving for now.”
“Evidence.”
She nodded.
“Okay.” He stared at her. “Just one last thing.”
She looked away. “Yes?”
Hauling her against him, he slanted his mouth over hers, stole one kiss, hard and quick. “This isn’t over . . . not what we have. Understand that.”
She finally looked at him.
But this time, a faint, hesitant smile curved her lips. And that bleak look in her eyes was almost gone.
* * *
IMPATIENT, Joss barely managed to resist the urge to shift from one foot to the other. “Well?” he demanded as Taylor finished going through the photos and reports.
“It’s enough.” Then he grimaced. “For now, at least. Enough to detain him. Make him sweat.” Then he added, “And keep him from leaving the country.”
He flicked a look at Dru and inclined his head. “Well done, Ms. Chapman.”
She didn’t answer, just continued to stare out the window.
“We need to roll,” Joss said. “I don’t know how much time we have. Can we get the warrant rushed through?”
Taylor lifted a brow. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
Joss bared his teeth at him.
“I’m going with you.”
Taylor slanted a look at Dru. “That’s not—”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You wouldn’t have that evidence if it wasn’t for me. And you know it. It’s not like I’m a sodding civilian who’s going to blunder into this and make things worse. But I’ve got a stake in this . . . more than you can even imagine.”
Joss’s phone rang.
When Whitmore’s number flashed across the screen, he scowled. Then a tension knotted in his gut. Scenes played out in his head. Unlikely, awful scenes that he hated . . . hated . . . hated.
As he lifted a hand, silence fell through the room.
“Yes?” he said, his voice remote.
“Job is off,” Whitmore said, his voice harsh and ugly. “But I’ve got a new one for you. You’re so . . . resourceful, maybe you’d be good at this one, too.”
Joss closed his eyes. Even he knew what Patrick was going to say.
In his mind’s eye, spurred by that awful, amazing gift, he saw how everything would play out.
“What kind of job is this one?”
“You think you can find my fiancée?”
Joss slanted a look at Dru. Stared at her. “Misplaced her, huh?”
“One of these days, that mouth of yours, Sellers. It will catch up with you. Now do you want the job or not? One million, cash.”
“Oh, yes. I want it. And it will be the easiest million I ever earned.”
* * *
“THIS is a bad idea,” Taylor muttered as both Joss and Dru finished suiting up with the thin, body-conforming armor. It was far less bulky than the typical armor, and when Dru pulled on a loose blouse she’d borrowed from Taige, one couldn’t even tell.
“It’s how it has to play out,” Joss said, his voice remote.
“Does that mean I have to like it?”
Joss just grunted. Already his mind was focused on what lay ahead.
He needed a few minutes alone with Taylor. Just a few. Although the last thing he wanted to do was miss out on a single second with Dru. Quit your bitching, he thought sourly. He did what he had to. For the job. For her. Always for her.
As she started to smooth her hair into a braid, he caught Taylor’s eyes, jerked his chin.
A few minutes later, they were out in the hallway.
“You’re hiding something,” Taylor said quietly.
Ignoring him, Joss said, “I want you to make sure she’s protected if this doesn’t go well.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Taylor glared at him. “What do you think is going to go badly?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Joss said. “Just make sure he can’t get to her. He’s trying to—I’ve already seen that. She’s been working this thing alone, she has no resources, and I don’t—”
“She’s got resources,” Taylor said, cutting in. Closing the distance between them, he studied Joss’s face closely. “You need to tell me what’s going on. I can’t do my job if I’m in the dark, Crawford.”
Joss just shook his head. “You’ll make sure she’s safe. Just tell me that. I need to know.”
Blowing out a breath, Taylor said, “I’ll make sure of it. But she’s not on her own, Crawford. She had an escape plan. From day one.”
“And you know this . . . how?”
Taylor stared at him.
Joss turned on his heel. There was no time to think through the many ways Jones could have gotten that information. The harder question would be . . . why hadn’t