I Belong to You (Inside Out #5)(70)

Royce passes the photo to Luke, who looks at it and sets it down. “When was this taken?”

“A few days ago, in Texas. And now that Corey claims Ava is here, we have to assume the man in the photo is here as well. And Jimenez is not a man to be taken lightly.” I hand a file to Royce. “His detailed history is inside, but I’ll summarize. Killed his own mercenary team. Hired assassin. Coldblooded killer. Like I said: He costs money.”

“Ricco—and now Ryan, it seems—fit that profile,” Royce says.

“Once Ricco found out Ava killed Rebecca, he would have had Ava killed. I can’t believe he’s behind this while she’s still alive.”

“Or,” Blake says, “Ava seduced Jimenez and she’s pulling his strings.”

“I considered that,” I reply, “but my hunter says Jimenez is missing an emotional chip. He’d f*ck her and slice her throat in the same ten minutes.”

“Then we get Ryan off the streets,” Luke says, “and we get him to call off Jimenez.”

“Houston, we have a serious problem,” Jacob says, holding up the photo. “Remember I told you that Crystal had an incident with a man on the street?” He holds up the picture. “She said he had a big scar on his cheek—like Jimenez.”

My blood runs cold and I dial Crystal. “I need you in the conference room immediately.” I end the call and glance around the room. “She will be protected. You know Ava and Jimenez are in town. We can’t be sure Ryan will confess or call Jimenez off, especially if he was prepaid to do something. Find them.”

Luke shifts in his chair. “If there’s anything the Walker men understand, it’s protecting our women. We’ll protect her.”

“Yes,” Royce agrees. “We’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

“Can we talk to this ‘hunter’ ourselves to speed this process up?” Blake asks. “If he’s got connections we don’t, we need to be working with him.”

“Right now,” I reply, “I find dividing my resources creates peace of mind. I need you to do what you do, and he’ll keep doing what he does. If he gets a lead, I’ll pass it on.”

A knock sounds on the door and Crystal enters, pausing as everyone turns their eyes on her. “Why do I know this is bad news?” she asks, shutting the door behind her.

I stand up and motion for her to join me. The mask of indifference I wear like a second skin doesn’t fool her; the instant my eyes meet hers, she pales and closes the distance between us. “What’s happened?”

“We need you to look at a photo and see if it’s familiar.” I indicate my chair.

Her brow furrows but she sits, and I kneel beside her and open the folder to a large picture of Jimenez.

She stares down at it for a moment. “Who is this?” she asks me.

“Do you know him?”

“Yes.” She glances at Jacob and back at me. “He’s the man I saw outside Riptide when I was with Jacob.”





Twenty-one

Crystal . . .

I turn over the photo of the man with the scar, and shiver. There’s something about him that spooks me, and I don’t get spooked. “Who is he?” I repeat.

“Everyone out,” Mark orders, pushing to his feet.

The entire room is standing in a blink, making tracks for the door, but Royce lingers. “I’ll call you after that situation is handled.”

Mark gives him a nod. “The sooner, the better.”

“Agreed.”

By the time he’s followed the rest of the men into the hallway and shut the door, I’m on my feet, too.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“The man in the photo is a high-dollar mercenary who’s traveling with Ava. We don’t think he’s working for her. We think he was hired by someone with deep pockets.”

“What exactly does a mercenary do? Did he help her escape?”

“This one is a high-paid assassin. Killing people is what he excels at, and someone with a lot of money obviously contracted him.”

I lean against the conference table. “Oh God. He was in my face, standing right here.” I hold my hand an inch from my face. “Right here, Mark.”

I welcome the way his big body frames mine, his hands on my shoulders, steadying me. “Ryan is being arrested on money laundering charges, and we think he’s behind this. That gets him off the street.”

“It doesn’t get that monster off the street, or Ava.”

Mark cups my cheeks. “I need you to go to Paris until we catch this guy.”

“I’m not going to Paris.” I pull his hands from my face and try to push away from him, but he doesn’t budge. “Don’t do this now, Mark. This is one of those rare times I can feel trapped very easily.”

He instantly steps back and I dart away.

“I’ve been fine through all of this. Completely fine, but what if that man comes after my family? I have to warn them. I have to go see my father today.”

“We’ll go see him together.”

“No, we won’t. He’ll hate you before you ever have the chance to defend yourself. I need to see him myself. I need to call him and figure out when we can meet.” I press my hand to my forehead. “I don’t even want to go to his house tomorrow night. That’s going to bring attention to my family, but he’s going to insist.” I shake my head. “I can’t go see him. That’s not safe. I have to call him.”