Simon practically jumped on her. She felt his body slam into hers and then he was reaching for her phone. He easily wrestled the phone away. He hung up with a flick of his thumb.
“Simon!”
He stepped back, his eyes on the phone. “You were on the line for long enough for them to trace you. That’s why they let him call you in the first place. Damn it. You have five minutes. We’re leaving in three hundred seconds. If it isn’t in your hands or on your body, it’s staying here.”
He took the phone and tossed it on the table and then started to walk away.
“How could you hang up like that?” She felt like her feet were glued to the floor. He’d just ruined everything.
When Simon turned, all of their prior intimacy was gone and there was nothing left but the cold-blooded agent who would do his job as surely as the man who had spoken to her on the phone. “Don’t look at me like that. They would have killed him anyway. It was inevitable. I don’t know who they are yet, but I know the type. When it comes to their plots, everyone dies. There is no exchange with men like this. Your friend was dead the moment he took that job, and he was obviously trying to warn you about something. He could have told them where he stashed the package and allowed them to retrieve it and likely kill you as well. He did the right thing by handling the situation the way he did. He kept his bloody mouth shut so you could have a chance. Now get your things so his sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”
She started to pick up her phone. Maybe she could call them back, offer whoever was on the other end of the line a deal. Maybe she could still save Al. “Simon, you have to let me call back. He’s my friend. He was a good friend. He even came out to Venice to meet me once. I can’t just let him die.”
Simon moved in front of her, his body a wall between her and the phone. “Don’t you dare touch it, Chelsea. The mobile and its very-easy-to-track GPS will stay here. You now have four minutes.”
Without another thought, she ran to grab her computer. It looked like she wasn’t staying in Dallas after all.
Chapter Four
Simon selected a shirt from the dresser and quickly pulled it on, buttoning up with the ease of long practice. He exchanged his pajama bottoms for a pair of slacks and got into his dress shoes. He could put on a suit in less than two minutes. He would have preferred to shave before he headed out, but the fact that whoever was on the other end of that line had known his name meant there was no time for proper grooming. They had to move and fast.
Luckily, he was a man with a plan.
However, the idea of leaving Ian completely in the dark was now discarded. If they knew Simon’s name, they certainly knew Ian’s. He grabbed his phone and sent a quick text.
Have Chelsea. Trouble on the way. Expect company and watch your back. Will check in later.
He couldn’t take the chance that they would go after Charlotte to get to Chelsea. If they knew anything at all about her, they would know she loved her sister above everyone else. He tossed his own phone on the bed. He wouldn’t use it again. He had burners in his go bag, but he had something to pick up before they left for a motel and he tried to figure this mess out.
His phone immediately started ringing.
“Are you going to answer that?” Chelsea grabbed her laptop. She’d managed to put on her shoes. She stopped and stared at him. “How did you have time to put on a suit?”
Because he firmly believed in being dressed for the occasion, and there was almost never an occasion to not wear a suit. He was working after all. He needed to remind himself that this was strictly work. He was nothing more than a curiosity for her.
“I’m a gentleman. I can dress quickly. And I’m certainly not answering that phone.” He knew who it was and the minute Ian spoke to him he would take over. Simon wasn’t willing to let that happen. He reached into his closet and pulled out his shoulder holster. He slipped it on and quickly checked the clip in his SIG. “Are you ready?”
“Simon, we have to help Al.”
She looked so bloody beautiful standing there. Her whole body was soft, entreating him to do her bidding. Her eyes gleamed up at him. He wanted nothing more than to indulge her, but he wasn’t naïve. “Your friend is already dead and we will join him if we don’t leave now.”
Her rich brown hair shook. “He can’t be dead. Surely they’ll keep him alive for a while.”
Simon pulled his jacket on over the shoulder holster. It was perfectly tailored so there was no break in the line. He caught a glance in the mirror. He looked every inch the gentleman, but it was a mirage. Everything about him was a mirage. Chelsea would find that out soon enough. “I assure you he’s gone. He either wouldn’t tell them where he sent the information and they killed him or he did and they killed him. There is no other option. And either way, they will come here and they will try to take you.”
“I turned the locator off on my phone a long time ago, Weston. I’m not a newb.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant by that but she wasn’t thinking straight. “He knows you’re with me and he obviously has agents in the area. They’re on their way here. It’s time to go and you can’t take that with you. Pull the hard drive. We need to go.”
She shook her head. “It’s an SSD. I can’t pull the hard drive. Simon. I would have to take apart the system. I need this computer.”
He didn’t care that it was a solid-state drive. It wasn’t coming with them. “You’re not taking it and you know why. I have no doubt you have backups.” He grabbed the laptop and tossed it on the bed with the phone.
“I can’t access the backups without a damn laptop.” She dug her heels in.
He turned and hoisted her up and into his arms. He wasn’t going to listen to her complaints a second longer. He couldn’t afford to. He had no idea how long it would take the man on the end of that line to send his thugs their way, but he doubted it would be long. The man obviously had operatives in Dallas and they understood Chelsea’s circle.
“Put me down!”
Chelsea was spitting bile his way, but he ignored her. She struggled with being out of control, but this was one case where he couldn’t give it to her. She didn’t understand. Despite her horrible upbringing, she was a little naïve. She’d never really been in the field. Yes, she’d been forced to run, but from what he understood, she’d never had to fight the way she would have to now. She didn’t understand how quickly things could go bad. She’d been able to hide behind her screens, but Simon knew the truth. At some point a man or woman’s past always caught up with them.