Page 61 of The Rough Ride

“Got it. Go get Ella.” She gave him a wan smile, stepped inside the bath and started the water.

Nick strodeto the kitchen and made a phone call. SecureIT was short-staffed tonight with everyone working. He had to find a back-up operative to watch the building while he drove to pick up Ella and Arlene.

She answered on the second ring. “Nicholas, twice in one week, you handsome stud. Want some company?”

“Cut it out, Lana. This is business. Are you in DC?”

“Got in yesterday and shook off the jet lag. What’s up?”

“How soon could you get to my place in Georgetown? I need you to guard my building. I’ve got a very important client here.”

“I’m thirty minutes away. Who’s the client?”

“Her name is Liz Nelson. She’s resting inside. I need you to watch the entrances and exits while I run an errand.”

“Got it. I’ll load up now.”

“I’ll be gone when you get here. Stay outside. Call me if you have any questions.

“Will she know I’m there?”

“I’ll make her aware of your presence. You’re the final layer of security. Thank you.” He hung up, reheated Liz’s lukewarm tea, grabbed a packet of peanut butter crackers and her phone, and headed for the bathroom.

Liz looked up as he set the snack on a built-in shelf by the tub. “Thanks. You’re still here?”

“I’m leaving in a minute. In a little while, someone named Lana will be guarding the outside of the building. She’sworked on Sanctuary missions before, but I’m not sure if you know her. Anyway, you won’t be alone.”

Her face softened as she picked gravel from the skin on her arms. “Thanks, Sergeant.”

He gave her a kiss. “Stay inside. No one can get in. You’re totally safe here. I’ll be back in a little while.” He pulled a Glock from one of the bathroom drawers, and set it on the counter. “You keep up with your target practice?”

“Always. Put it back in the drawer, please. With any luck at all, I won’t need it or the safe room.”

He slipped the gun back into the drawer. “It’s locked and loaded.”

34

Illusia hurled the vase of daisies at the marble fireplace. Shards of broken glass scattered across the gleaming wood floors of the open living area.You fooled me, Liz Nelson. Shame on you.

She touched the locator on her phone to be certain and looked around for her black running shoes. That vase was only the beginning of the destruction if Liz’s phone pinged a location again. And ping it did. She enlarged the screen, and traced the map. The phone was in Nick’s building. She slumped onto the bench in her small foyer and closed her eyes.

Logically, if the phone had been in the purse she’d seen on Liz’s shoulder in the parking lot, and Liz died in the blaze, then the phone should’ve melted right alongside her. From the vantage point she’d had through the binoculars, Liz didn’t have even a second to heave the purse aside and screamsave my new iPhone.

Illusia frowned. Gallows humor was not her forté.

Liz lived, and that was an unacceptable outcome. Period.Illusia hadn’t come this far to accept defeat. She’d need to work smarter to complete the assignment Jazz had left behind. The diary on his computer specifically stated that if he died overseas and Liz lived, then she, as his sister and only living relative, would need to avenge his death.

She wouldnotdeny her brother his last request. Not when Jazz had sprung them from the endless system of foster homes they’d grown up in when they were only sixteen. He’d supported them both by hacking. He’d always had at least three new identities in his pocket and even paid for her beauty school tuition with some dead guy’s credit card.

And yeah, Jazz’d been a little extreme in his attitudes about women, the government, and the military, but still, he’d beenthe greatest freaking brother on earth. Guilt swarmed her body, and she groaned.She hadn’t even been there to help him when he’d needed her at the end.

Illusia stood, rolled her shoulders, and stretched against the wall, taking a deep breath. She’d figure this out. Nick’s place wouldn’t be a piece of cake to infiltrate. He’d invented a new layered alarm system with sequences that randomly shifted and rearranged. She’d captured the sequence a few times, but two seconds later, it had updated and locked her out.

And forget about obtaining blueprints of the building. She’d tried. The building inspectors acted like they didn’t exist anymore, considering it’d been built in 1910. Even the guy she’d promised a little something-something couldn’t uncover anything on the recent rehab. Like the place was some kind of urban Camp David.

Shewouldget in eventually. But that required the luxury of time she didn’t have. She yanked Jazz’s military duffle from the front closet and planned while she packed. Balaclava,rope, handcuffs, loaded gun, black tape, blanket to cover the body, sensors she’d need to read the security system, extra cell phones, voice distortion equipment, climbing rope, rooftop anchor.

Shit.She hated climbing and heights.

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