Dear God, Simon thought, as adrenaline surged through his veins. He automatically looked back at Archer, who was still scanning the room, likely looking for the most influential guests. When his gaze landed on Simon and the woman next to him, he frowned.
Was it really going to be this easy?
“That man over there?” Simon confirmed. “The one with the red rose pinned to his lapel? Be sure, Rita. He’s a very important man.”
“What?” Rita’s gaze flickered to Gil Archer. “No,” she said, taking Simon off guard. “Not him. Over by the bar. I saw the guy who paid me off standing over there. Talking to a blonde. I watched him talking. I watched his mouth. It’s him.”
Simon’s gaze instantly darted back to the bar. Karen was still standing there, but Nina was gone.
And so was the man she’d been talking to.
He turned to Rita. “Do you still see him in the room?”
She glanced around them. “No, no. One minute he was here but now he’s not.”
“Are you sure he’s the one that paid you the grand?”
“Believe me, I’ve had nightmares about his face. The photos were two-dimensional. Even seeing him now, from across the room, I recognized him. I felt him. I’m positive it was him.”
Although he was a little skeptical of her ID, especially because it was partially based on a “feeling,” Simon wasn’t taking any chances. Jase and Carrie were here and would keep an eye on Archer. In the meantime...
With fear clogging his throat, he strode across the room toward Karen, Rita Taylor in tow. “Karen,” he called. “Where’d Nina go?”
“She stepped out for some air,” Karen said, looking slightly alarmed.
“And you let her? Damn it, she was supposed to be staying with you and lying low. What the hell is she doing here?”
“What’s she doing here? At a fundraiser with the mayor, the police chief and tons of cops in attendance? Gee, seemed pretty safe to me.”
“She was just talking to an older man in a suit. Did they leave together?”
“What? No. I mean, I don’t know. She left, and then so did he.”
“Did you see where she went?”
“Through there.” Karen pointed.
Standing next to him, Rita Taylor said, “Don’t you leave me, Detective. You promised to take care of me. You promised.”
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not leaving you unprotected. Several of my fellow detectives are here.” His eyes found Jase, then Carrie. At his urging, they both nodded. “Do you see them?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go. You’re going to stay with one of them while I go after the man who bribed you. Only we have to move now or a woman I love could be hurt.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
NINA’S GAZE FRANTICALLY sought out the nearest outer door so she could indeed get the breath of fresh air she’d told Karen she needed. As soon as she spotted one, she shoved through it, stumbling into what appeared to be a narrow loading dock at the back of the building.
With a shaky hand, she propped herself up against an outer wall. Seeing Simon with that woman, leaning so protectively close to her, had wounded something inside her and she wasn’t quite sure how she was ever going to heal. Here she’d been agonizing over his expressed need to stay away from her in order to protect her, and he’d been getting his jollies with another woman. He wasn’t the man she’d thought he was. That was the only explanation. Otherwise, how else—
“For God’s sake, don’t look so damn heartbroken. Simon Granger isn’t screwing another woman, he’s on the job. Damn clever bastard.”
At the harsh masculine words, Nina whirled around. In the faint glow of the building’s outer lights, the same man who’d expressed concern for her at the bar stood glaring at her. And pointing a gun at her.
“What are you—?” She stopped herself from continuing. She knew exactly what he was doing. Threatening her. The real question was, “Who are you?”
“No one you know. This isn’t personal. Not for me.”
“You holding a gun to me isn’t personal? You must be angry with me for some reason. Let’s talk about it, please. I—”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t start with your psychobabble mumbo jumbo. I dealt with enough shrinks while I was on the force to recognize it when I hear it.”
“You’re a cop? Then why—” She immediately thought of the homeless men who’d been murdered. And the allegations that Cann had been killed by a police officer.
“I was a cop. Now I’m a damn security guard, having to work for chump