Page 19 of ELITE Justice
She leaned against the wall as she carried on an internal war. Should she trust Jonathan to help her get the minuscule amount of information she had collected to the right authorities? Or throw his very fine ass out of her apartment and tell him to stay away from the diner because she never wanted to see him again?
But she did want to see Jonathan again. Their date had been wonderful, up until she’d caught him searching her place. She wanted him to return to her bed and repeat everything they’d done to each other…and more.
Could she trust the man sitting at her counter? He’d told her Guardian wasn’t in the special operations business for Uncle Sam. But, maybe, since he’d once been in Marine SpecOps, he knew who to tell about the terrorist cell she was now convinced existed within a few blocks of her apartment.
Jonathan half stood and dug into his pocket.
So, he’d put on pants. But had he planned on leaving or returning to her bed? And her?
Well, hell. She’d trusted him with her body, she could trust him with the information.
“Can you decipher my notes?” Gwen pushed off the wall and walked toward Jonathan.
He froze. “I was—”
“I know what you were doing.” She laid the gun down on the kitchen counter as she passed and strode to the island. “Go ahead. Copy my notes. Maybe you can make sense of them. I sure can’t.”
“Are you involved in—”
Jonathan thought she was tangled in this mess?
“Hell, no!” Furious now, she tried to explain. “There’s a group of refugee teenagers that come into the diner after school. Since they speak Arabic and have no idea I know the language, they talk. A lot. Their families are involved in something big…like a local terrorist cell, which is planning something huge for next week.”
“Next week?” Jonathan probed. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, unfortunately.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “I just don’t knowwhatthey plan to do.”
“Who have you told about this?” His tone was accusatory.
“No one, yet.” She shrugged. “There’s not enough there to tell anyone of authority, and who’s going to believe me?”
“I believe you.” His words shocked her, but it’s what she’d hoped. “And there’s more here than you think. I’m sure Homeland Security has people in Dallas on the Watch List, but with all the new refugees, not to mention the local crazies, they can’t keep up.” He smiled at her, and she wanted to melt into him. “This is the kind of information they need.”
“Should I call them?” Then she thought about it a moment. “How do you get ahold of the terrorism division of Homeland Security? Is there such a thing? Isn’t that the whole purpose of that department?”
“Yes, but I can cut through the bureaucratic bullshit.” He held up the flash drive. “May I keep this?”
She nodded. “You can? How? You told me Guardian wasn’t into black ops. Do they have other government contracts?”
He clicked a few keys then looked up at her. “I didn’t say that. What I said was that I didn’t know of any governmental contracts.” He grinned. “That takes place so far above my pay grade that I wouldn’t know about it. On the other hand, I work for a great guy who knows the right people.”
“Quin?” She couldn’t imagine him being that well-connected. He was also new to the Dallas area.
“No, our owner, Alex Wolf.” Jonathan stared at her for what seemed like forever before he slid it back into his pocket.
She raised her eyebrow, knowing there was more, and silently asked for the truth.
Sheepishly he admitted, “I’ve already talked to Alex about this, right after I saw the notes on this computer that evening in the diner.”
Gwen was no fool. She read between the lines. Heat ignited behind her eyes. She would not cry, no matter how much it hurt. Determined to speak around the tightening fist that choked her throat, she asked anyway, fearing she already knew the answer.
“Is that why you asked me out tonight?” Damn it, her voice had broken. Now he knew how much their date had meant to her. “Don’t you dare lie to me.”
“Yes, but—” He came around the edge of the island and she stepped back.
Grabbing her gun, she pointed it at him. “Get out.”
CHAPTER9
