Honeymoon To Die For (27 page)

“A cozy pair if you ask me.”

“Guess old Ryder wised up and seduced someone who could do him some good instead of another sex kitten. Picked the right one from the looks of it.”

Bianca told her insecurity to shut the hell up. For the past two years she’d had no life. She’d first put her all into finding the evidence to prove someone at VDE was selling weapons to terrorists, then she’d taken on researching and analyzing evidence in two killings the FBI believed were connected.

With Ryder the number one suspect in Kearn’s.

Now she was married to the man everyone in her research unit had toasted her for helping to put away.

Had everyone, including her, been so caught up in fitting the evidence pieces into one neat little puzzle that they’d stopped questioning that evidence?

She slid into the booth after the maître d’ shifted the table away. Terrence scooted in right after her, a little too close. Bianca moved around the curved booth closer to the other side.

She couldn’t see the rest of the room from this position, which meant no one could see her and Terrence in this secluded alcove.

Terrence reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a prescription bottle. What pain or ailment was that for? He’d climbed out of his Jaguar sedan with stiff, labored movements.

She scanned the menu. No prices. Fine by her. She’d rather not know just how much money it cost to eat a meal in a place where hand-tooled copper chairs had cushions covered in needlepoint—each chair a different landscape design.

“Nice place,” Bianca observed. “Was it tough to get a reservation on short notice?”

“For most, but I’m a regular.”  Terrence gave her face a slow perusal. “You have beautiful eyes, Bianca.”  

She’d been taking in the décor until he said that. The compliment was sweet. Right? So why did it feel weird?

“Thanks.”  Bianca half-smiled and lifted the menu to hide behind. Once the drink orders had been taken—Diet Coke for her and some French wine Bianca couldn’t pronounce for Terrence—she engaged Terrence in a discussion of family and travel, hoping to make better use of her time with this Van Dyke.

“Tell me about your father, Terrence?”

“He’s intense, as you can imagine someone with his success might be.” Terrence paused thinking. “He’s not the most nurturing person.”

“Was it tough growing up with him?”

“It was for Ryder.”

Bianca took a risk and pushed a little harder. “I got the impression from Ryder that your father was harder on you.”

“Maybe.”  Terrence stared off. “But that was because he measured Janeen and me against Ryder, even though we all knew I could never measure up to Ryder.”

That was so sad the way Terrence described their relationship. “Ryder speaks highly of you and thinks his father doesn’t recognize your value.”

A smile touched Terrence’s lips as if he agreed but wouldn’t put words to the thought.

“Your father can be very intimidating.”

“Not to Ryder. He butted heads with Father all the time. He was the Mighty Komodo.”

“The what?”  She laughed.

“Father traveled to the Indonesian Islands in search of a rare orchid for his greenhouse. He faced off with a giant Komodo and admitted that he feared for his life. I’d never heard my father admit a weakness. When Ryder went toe-to-toe with him, we nicknamed Ryder the Mighty Komodo. My father wasn’t a fan of it, but the name stuck.”

Bianca filed away the information about Hubrecht—wild orchid collecting?—and Ryder for later, then turned the conversation around to Terrence.

Throughout the meal, he regaled her with stories of his travels to one country after another, never mentioning his frequent trips to Switzerland. Why not? She’d understand trips to see family in the Netherlands since Hubrecht was Dutch after all, but Bianca had found no immediate family connection in Switzerland.

Her intel showed that Terrence traveled there often to visit a medical facility where VDE had funded an expansion.

She’d only noticed because he hadn’t mentioned it.  

Bianca waited for their server to clear the dishes away before she pressed Terrence. “What an amazing amount of traveling you’ve done. What about Switzerland? I saw in a file at some point that you’d visited there if I’m remembering correctly. I’ve always thought it must be the most beautiful country.”  She composed her face into rapt attention.

He quieted for several seconds then said, “I’ve made several uneventful trips there, but as those were for medical treatments there’s nothing of interest to be told. Are you finished, my dear?”

So Switzerland was off limits as a topic.

Now she was even more intrigued.

Bianca unconsciously dropped her hand back to the cushion between them and realized that was an error when Terrence covered hers with his. Every muscle in her body tightened in nervous reaction, but she didn’t jerk her hand away. She deserved bonus pay for keeping her smile in place.

He lifted her left hand. “This ring says it all.”

“I love it.”  The agency did better than good for Terrence to pass approval on the ring.

Terrence touched his lips to the back of her fingers.

Uh uh. They weren’t kissing cousins, kissing in-laws or any other mouth-sucking relation.

“Terrence...”

“Lady Anne can be harsh at times, but she’s right about one thing. You are a trophy worth winning. Ryder did well. I’m envious.”

Was he making a pass? Crap. And what in blazes did he mean by suggesting Lady Anne considered her
a trophy worth winning?
That had to be total bullshit. What kind of family did Ryder have? One the word dysfunctional didn’t begin to describe.

“Terrence, I’m married to your brother. This is inappropriate.”

“Oh, don’t take me wrong.” He released her hand. “I have no designs on you. I realize you two are deeply in love, right?”

In love? With Ryder? No, absolutely not.

“Deeply,” she sighed. Ryder wasn’t the only person capable of theatrics.

“He’s very lucky.”

She slowly returned her hand to her lap and didn’t even wipe it off on the napkin. Another bonus-pay credit earned. What had possessed Terrence to behave this way?

“As your brother-in-law, I’m concerned for you, Bianca.”  Terrence leaned toward her and she had to work not to cringe.

“Why? What’s wrong?”
Make another move on me and you can be concerned about keeping that hand
.

“Nothing is wrong, but I just want you to know you can turn to me if anything happens to Ryder.”

“What...what do you mean ‘if anything happens to Ryder’?”

He grimaced, hesitating as if he didn’t want to say more, but he finally explained. “Ryder was always a loner, even in school. I’m sure you know from the research you’ve done for the FBI that after leaving the Army, he was involved with some corporate security group. A lot of them were ex-military from what Kale said.”

“Who’s Kale?”  She knew exactly who he was.

“Kale Carter, head of VDE security. I don’t believe Ryder committed the murder, but I have a bad feeling that he might know who did or
suspect
who did.”

Terrence sounded sincere and worried.

“Ryder would never listen to me,” Terrence continued in a low monotone. “I tried to convince him to disappear for a while. Don’t look surprised. I’m worried about both of you. Whoever did commit that murder and set him up as the fall guy might be out to get him now that he’s free. I just want you to be careful and know I’m here for you should something ... happen.”

 Guilt slapped her over misreading his consideration. Maybe Terrence was just the touchy-feely type. She got the message loud and clear. He thought Ryder was in danger.

Ryder had been lucky to get away from Kearn’s people, but if her niggling conscience was accurate about her missing something in her research, and Ryder truly wasn’t guilty of the shooting, would the person behind killing Kearn want Ryder dead?

Her gut said yes, and that it was time to sit up and pay attention to her instincts, like her daddy had taught her.

Although, in spite of her instincts saying Terrence was acting a little off, he’d just proven himself to care about his brother.

Terrence watched quietly with a studious gaze.

Bianca patted his hand to let him know she understood his concern. “Thank you for sharing your concerns, Terrence. I’d hoped this was all behind us, but you’re right. A killer is still out there and Ryder’s vulnerable. I’ll talk to him, but I don’t think he’ll hide. It’s not in his personality to run from a threat.”

Her words rang with sincerity because everything she knew about Ryder indicated he was a fearless fighter.

By the time Terrence paid the bill and ushered them from the restaurant, it was getting close to four in the afternoon. Murdock expected her to get inside the VDE offices before five.

Bianca suggested, “If you need to go into the office, I don’t mind riding over with you.”

“Missing your husband already?” Terrence asked, smiling.

Answering that with a yes would make her sound like some lovesick newlywed. But wasn’t that technically her role? Still, she couldn’t play it that sweet without throwing up. “I’m not quite so needy, but I would like to see him in an office environment.”

“I doubt that you’ve been cleared through security yet.”

What could she say to that? Time to go big or go home. Bianca reached over and put her hand on Terrence’s arm as he started the car. “I understand that, but do you mean I can’t just walk in with you and say hello to Ryder?”

Terrence sat back for a moment, thinking, then sighed. “I’m not staying long so I don’t see the harm in taking you up with me for a quick visit.”

Hallelujah. She pulled her hand back but gave Terrence a bright sister-in-law smile. “That would be so nice.”  

At the Van Dyke building, Terrence guided Bianca through security as his guest. She managed to ride up in the elevator without hyperventilating, barely, only because she mentally worked through her files, recalling details on every employee in key positions. She used the mental exercise to distract herself, and kept her eyes on the mirrored slats between the wood panels, working hard to keep Terrence from seeing her distress.

Terrence led the way through the top floor of offices, pointing out his on the way then pausing to tell Ryder’s female assistant—cute, collegiate-looking blonde that she was—that Bianca wanted to surprise Ryder.

“Thanks again,” Bianca said when he excused himself outside Ryder’s door then strolled away.

Bianca tapped on the door. A muffled “come in” sounded from within the office. Inside, Ryder sat with his head down, monitor on his right and his nose stuck in a file on his desk. “Be with you in just a minute,” he mumbled.

“Take your time,” she said.

His head jerked up.

“Bianca.”  Ryder’s face broke into a smile. Big, sexy smile. Like he was genuinely happy to see her.

Scary thing about it, she was happy to see him, too. This whole pretending to be married had some major pitfalls. She got to glimpse something she would never be offered—marriage to a man who lit up her day.

Back to business.

Ryder stood, looking past her as his expression changed to one of concern. “How did you...?”

“Janeen had to cancel on shopping so Terrence took me to a late lunch and he brought me up here.”

He came around the desk and stepped past her to the doorway. “I don’t want to be disturbed, Jenny.”

Closing the door, Ryder took Bianca by the arm. He used a remote from his desk to switch on soft music, just as he had last night in his room at the house, then he moved over to the window where he whispered, “Hubrecht won’t be happy if he finds out you’re up here.”

She whispered right back, “Then let me on the computer now.”

“I’ve asked for a laptop to take home.”

“We’ve tried that,” she said, indicating her FBI research team. “I have to access the network from inside here.”

A beeping started at Ryder’s desk.

They both looked over. Ryder squinted at the monitor. “What the hell is causing that?”

Jenny’s voice outside the door said, “He has someone in there.”

Ryder cupped Bianca’s face and said, “Kiss me like you mean it.” He crushed his lips to hers and she kissed him back, loving the way he tasted.

The door burst open. “Ryder!”

He took his time ending the kiss then put his arm around Bianca’s shoulders when he turned them to face the man who had barked at Ryder. Sam Long stood there.

Sam passed a scathing look over Bianca then that feral gaze moved to Ryder. “You two in Hubrecht’s office now.”

Ryder didn’t move. “Why?”

“I have security coming who will escort you there.”

Bianca’s stomach hit the floor. What had she done by coming here against Hubrecht’s orders?

Worse, what had
Murdock
done and how did he see this as gaining anyone’s trust?  

CHAPTER 27

Ryder kept his arm around Bianca until they reached Hubrecht’s office. What the hell was going on with the computers? Every office he passed had computers making a beeping sound or flashing monitors.

Sam walked into Hubrecht’s office and kept going until he stood with Hubrecht. Next to them was a man with an earpiece and throat mic. He was five-ten and his hair was buzz cut except for the short black curls on top of his head that fit his dark, Polynesian look and build. A Glock 17 was holstered at his hip. Intense eyes scoped everything while he watched Hubrecht’s monitor and spoke softly, letting the sensitive throat mic pick up the words.

Had to be Kale Carter, head of security.

Kale paused, pulling the radio away when he spoke to Ryder.  “What’d you launch into the network?

“Me?”  Ryder didn’t have to act incredulous at that. “I just figured out how to set up my email. Do you really think I’m computer savvy enough to cause whatever is going on?”

Sam cut in. “No, but your
wife
is.”

Ryder wanted to kick himself for giving them reason to point their trigger fingers at Bianca. “She just walked in and wasn’t anywhere near the computer.”  He glared at Sam. “Right?”