Honeymoon To Die For (12 page)

She’d been an easy target to manipulate.

By the end of two days in intensive planning, Ryder had realized just how dedicated she was to her job and how much she believed in what she did, which was a good thing for him on this mission. But the longer he was around Bianca, the more it was becoming evident that he’d chosen the wrong person and was regretting his hasty decision made in a moment of fury. She could end up getting hurt, and she didn’t deserve that just because she worked hard at her job.  

They should’ve given him some downtime to get his head screwed back to something imitating normal before having this offer shoved in his face, but Murdock had set a brutal pace and dared Ryder to balk.

 Bianca was a decent woman with a passion for her mission and for justice.

If only he could point all that passion and dedication toward hunting for the real killer.

As his anger had cooled, he’d realized one thing for certain. Jabbing at her for her role in this wasn’t going to bring her over to his side.

She shouldn’t be here, but she couldn’t leave now. It wasn’t as if Ryder could swap out for a new wife.

Wife.
He would never put a woman he cared about in this situation.

As they neared the elevator, Bianca slowed her pace. He moved his hand to her back to keep her heading forward, but her feet took shorter steps.

Ryder nodded at the security guard who would have already been alerted to use his keycard that was needed to activate the elevator. That was the only way to ride all the way down and access the secure underground garage that was available to only a select few.

Bianca asked, “What floor are we on?”

“Thirty-second. Why?”

“Just curious.”

Ryder took a look at her. She was pale.

Why now? She’d been fierce with Hubrecht, surprising the hell out of Ryder when she’d held her own with the man she believed sold weapons to terrorists.

Ryder hadn’t wrapped his head around
that
accusation yet, but it seemed there was a lot he hadn’t realized about this company or his family.

Bianca stopped short five steps from the elevator and muttered, “Guess it’s too many stairs.”  

Was she nuts? Ryder looked at her then at the elevator door, then he remembered her quick decision to take the stairs down from the helipad. “Are you saying you can’t—”

She swung around on him with a smile too bright to be real. “I said I’m ready to go home.”

Was she afraid of elevators or claustrophobic? If so, why wouldn’t she tell him? Did she think he’d use that against her somehow?

He could, but he wouldn’t.

Bianca had been through her share of stress today and it was only day one. He wasn’t going to push her to ride an elevator when she clearly had some fear of it.

What the hell? In prison, he’d sometimes run in place in the cell for an hour at a time. How long could it take to walk down thirty-four flights of stairs?

When Ryder lifted his hand to wave off the guard who had stepped inside the elevator to key it, Bianca caught his arm, holding it down and said, “Don’t.”

He dipped his head close to hers and shouldn’t have. He got a whiff of whatever she used for shampoo that smelled like lilac and his dick took note. “Don’t what?”

“I’m good with the elevator.” She whispered that on a shaky breath. “Please. Let’s just go.”

The guard now held the “open doors” button and watched them.

Everyone watched them. It would be this way all week.

Ryder couldn’t wait to get out from under the microscope. Bianca probably wanted that even more. He put his hand lightly on her back so she didn’t feel pushed, and followed her into the elevator. His fingers itched to slide up into her thick auburn hair and pull her against him. That would lead to his dick sliding in somewhere else, and based on her reaction to his touch in the chopper earlier, it wouldn’t take that long to get there.

He closed his eyes and pulled his hand away from her before she felt it shaking with barely restrained lust.

When he opened his eyes, his gaze landed on the slats of mirrors between the rosewood panels that were intricately carved with mountain and waterfall scenes. He had a memory of making faces in the narrow mirror sections and Hubrecht calmly telling him to turn around and act like a young man should. Ryder used to like getting away from Lady Anne on the weekends and coming to the office with Hubrecht. Been a long time since he’d thought about that.

The guard exited the elevator and the doors closed on a whisper.

Ryder asked, “Okay, what was that about?”

She wouldn’t look at him.

In fact, she was rigid as a board and her lips were moving like she was counting or reciting something. Still pale as a hotel sheet. The elevator was descending so gently you couldn’t feel the change, but it would take a few minutes to get down.

He started to put his arm around her, but he wasn’t sure she’d appreciate the gesture or if it would make things worse for her.

Her purse started buzzing, but she didn’t notice it with her attention locked on the buttons lighting up slowly as they passed each floor.

“Bianca?”  When she didn’t say anything, Ryder brushed his hand over her hair.

Touching her usually brought some reaction even if it was a death glare.

There it was.

Her pretty lips pursed in annoyance, but that failed to hide the fact that something bothered her. “What,
dear
?”

He mentally smiled at the attitude loaded in that
dear
. “Your purse is buzzing.”  

“What?” She scrambled to dig her phone out and pulled it to her ear. “Hello? What’s wrong, Mama? I couldn’t hear all that. Are you talking about Daddy?”

Mama and Daddy?
Was this some bogus phone call from Murdock? And hadn’t he warned her about not bringing a cell phone, because it might get confiscated at some point and traced back to the FBI? One glimpse at Bianca’s ashen face pushed Ryder’s annoyance aside. She barely contained her distress, which was saying something for a woman who strived to prove she was tough.

Her face took another radical change when she slapped a hand on her forehead and moved the phone away from her ear, muttering, “This can’t be happening.”  She pulled the phone back and said, “Calm down, Mama. The connection is breaking up. I can’t understand what you’re saying.”

A soft ding sounded and the doors to the elevator opened.

Bianca kept trying to say something but either couldn’t get an opening or hesitated to speak freely.

Ryder put his arm around her and ignored the new bout of lust brought on by touching her. He kept his voice low. “You’ll have privacy once we’re in the limo.”

She didn’t snap at him or jerk away.

Gratitude filled her eyes at his suggestion. “I’ll call you back in five minutes,” she promised the caller, Mama, then pressed the off button.

A potential family crisis might be the opening he needed to get her out of this mission.

Did he really want that? If Bianca got pulled, how would Ryder find what he was after without her computer expertise? He didn’t know, but this might be the chance to right a wrong. He didn’t wish her family any harm, but if that phone call turned into a family emergency, it would provide the perfect reason for Murdock to pull Bianca without raising Hubrecht’s suspicion.

But would Murdock want evidence of Hubrecht funneling arms to terrorists badly enough to leave Ryder out here running solo?

Logic said yes.

But Ryder’s gut said,
not a chance
.

CHAPTER 10

Did every disaster in Bianca’s life have to strike at one time? She sank into the creamy black leather seat of the second stretch limo of the day—of her life.

How was she going to explain to Murdock that Ryder had been
welcomed back into VDE, but
she
wouldn’t be until Hubrecht had a full background check run on her that would take two weeks?

And now Mama called saying something about Daddy and a heart attack.

Had she meant Daddy was
having
one or was Mama just using one of her sayings like, “Lord have mercy, your skirt’s too short. You’re gonna give your daddy a heart attack.”  

Tell me Daddy isn’t sick
. Bianca fought against the panic of losing someone else she loved. She’d never been this way until Sara Lynn was killed. Daddy had suffered a mild heart attack eighteen months ago and Bianca was just now getting to the point she could get through a day without the fear of losing him or Mama.

Bianca would put up with anything to get inside VDE, but if her Mama or Daddy truly needed her, she’d start walking home now if that was the only way to get there.

Ryder told the driver, “Head downtown. We’d like to ride a bit before going home.”  Then he raised the privacy window and turned on the stereo just enough to shield their words again. He put his hand over Bianca’s that held her phone. “The Van Dyke home is ten minutes away. This drive through town will give you some time to talk to your family without having to rush.”

“Thank you.”  Why was he being so nice? Shouldn’t he be gloating over getting inside VDE without her? He was crazy if he thought he was leaving her at home tomorrow, but she’d handle one crisis at a time. Family first.

Ryder watched her face that had to be showing all the pain in her chest right now. He asked, “Is something wrong?”

Where to start with that list? “Just need to return this call.”

The minute the limo was underway, Bianca hit speed dial on her prepaid cell phone. She’d gotten it just for an emergency. She covered her conversation with her cupped hand.

“Hello?”  Her mama always answered the telephone like she expected bad news.

Deep breath. “You weren’t serious about Daddy, were you? He’s not in a hospital is he?”  Nothing could happen to the one man who hung the moon in Bianca’s world.

“Baby, your daddy’s right here. You know we don’t go to hospitals except that one time. He’s too ornery to have another heart attack.”

Bianca closed her eyes and dropped her head. “Mama, how did you find me?”

“I tried your cell phone, but it didn’t work. So I called that emergency number you gave me, you know for that girl, Sandra, you used to work with? She said you might be on an airplane heading out for a honeymoon. You know I don’t like airplanes. They ain’t safe.”

Bianca sighed. This was a perfect example of why no one but Sandra had her temporary cell number. She’d trained under Sandra, who’d worked for the agency ten years and left four months after Bianca had started. They became fast friends, and Sandra was the one person Bianca had figured would understand when Bianca told her she needed someone to funnel a call to her if an emergency arose while Bianca was out of pocket on agency business. A safety valve if her parents had a problem, because she knew Murdock would not tell her until the mission was done.

Bianca could not live with herself if her family needed her and couldn’t find her.

But having a call routed to her prepaid phone was definitely better than her mother being patched through to Murdock.

“Mama. Back to Daddy—is he or is he not sick?”  Bianca threw a glance at Ryder who acted as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary. Bianca closed her eyes again to concentrate on what her mother was babbling on about.

“No, Baby, your daddy’s never sick. You know that. Of course, he did get a cough two weeks ago, but I gave him some honey with salt. Remember when I used to give you that?”

Please, God, help me out here?
“Then what is this call about, Mama?”

“Oh, your daddy got a call from Elbert who heard from Sadie’s sister in Toccoa that her cousin the hairdresser—you know the one that permed Betty’s wig and fried it—anyhow she heard from her brother in Conyers that they had a picture of you on the television and said you were a gittin' married. Your daddy got all worked up, well I did too, but your daddy started hollerin’ at the phone, so I hung it up before Elbert sent the loony wagon. Just tell your daddy that it wasn’t you they was talkin’ about and he’ll be okay.”

Not now
.
Bianca hesitated, debating on what to say.  She’d planned to complete the mission then recap the non-classified parts of the assignment
for her parents before they heard rumors. A simple plan based on solid logic until the Appalachian network had rolled into action. Her parents hadn’t even heard about Prince William and Kate’s marriage until Kate was pregnant.
 

Bianca had felt safe for a week.

One week. That’s all she’d needed.

Her gaze drifted to her skirt. She fidgeted with the hem, unable to avoid the truth and finally admitted,
“That
was
me getting married.”
 

“You married that man you helped put in jail? They said you got him out, too. Honey, don’t tell me you’re one of those women what fall in love with convicts.”

God, it sounded awful put that way. “No, I didn’t fall in love with a convict.”

Ryder made a sound that could be a muffled chuckle but he had yet to even laugh. Now would be the wrong time for him to get a sense of humor.

When Bianca flashed him what she hoped was a look of don’t-give-me-a-reason-to-hurt-you, Ryder merely lifted an eyebrow in disregard.  

“But you married that fella?” her mama said with total disbelief. “Why would you do that? You didn’t even invite us.”

Bianca rubbed her head. What had she done in her life to be punished like this? “I did marry him, but it’s not what you think.”  She couldn’t divulge the truth, even to her mama,
especially
to Mama. “This was a last-minute thing and you never know. It may not work out.”

“Now, baby, you know we don’t believe in divorce. If you marry a man, you make a lifetime commitment. He may not be our first choice for a son-in-law, but the news said you convinced everyone he was innocent so he must be and if you think so we do, too. If you’re his wife, then he’s part of this family.”

No safe way out of this conversation.

Bianca would just have to keep her parents in the dark until the assignment was over. She might be bound to Ryder by law right now, but after Bianca was done with this mission, she’d drive up to her family’s home with her annulment papers and explain everything.