Secret Obsession (Carder Texas Connections #6)(35)

When the blue tinge of her lips turned pink and her teeth stopped chattering, she looked up at him. “Falcon?” Lyssa’s brow arched.

Noah shrugged. “A name I’m known by. You should probably forget it.” Hopefully she would. The Falcon had a price on his head. He’d saved a lot of lives, but he’d taken more than his share.

Zane let out a small curse across the room. “I could use another set of hands, Falcon. You’re the integrated-circuit wizard.”

“Be right there.” Noah checked the time. “CTC’s plane should be here as soon as the weather breaks, Lyssa. We’ll get to Connecticut. We’ll find him. Your ring may give us the break we need.”

He rose and started to the back of the hangar.

“Noah.”

Lyssa’s soft voice made him pause. He looked over his shoulder.

“Thank you. For saving the ring. It’s more important to me than you can imagine.”

The words made Noah’s heart ache. “I know, Lyssa. I know.”

*

LYSSA DIDN’T KNOW how many times she wanted to cross the hangar to Noah. He huddled with Zane, each wielding tiny screwdrivers and focused expressions. She’d hurt him. She knew it.

But what could she say? Better to leave them be. She couldn’t tell Noah why the ring was so important. That she wanted her daughter to have a little piece of her father, wanted her little girl to know how much Jack would have loved her.

She couldn’t give that truth away. For his sake as much as her own.

The slam of the metal door caused her to reach for her weapon until she recognized Rafe’s soaking figure stomping into the hangar.

The heater had warmed up the place, at least until Rafe had opened the outside door. Lyssa rubbed her arms to ward off the cold gust of wind. The storm had worsened. No way would an aircraft be taking off anytime soon.

They were stuck in Dallas.

“If Archimedes is still here, he’s invisible,” Rafe said, brushing ice from his coat and hair. He walked straight over and warmed his hands by the heater. “It’s bad out there.”

“Well, we’ve caught a break,” Noah stood, joining them, an envelope in one hand, her necklace in the other. Zane sauntered behind Noah. He raised the small paper. “The microdot. Safe, sound, and intact.”

Zane snagged the tracer from his bag, placing it next to the ring first. Nothing sounded. He tested the envelope. The device squealed.

Noah smiled, though the light didn’t reach his eyes. “Archimedes will follow this.” He pried open a wooden crate, placed the envelope inside, then nailed it shut. “For now, he’ll think we’re still at the airport.”

“We’re not staying here?” Lyssa asked.

“The weather isn’t clearing. CTC’s plane can’t land. We can’t get out, but Archimedes can’t trace us, either. It’s time we reclaimed our advantage.”

Noah didn’t meet her gaze. He’d turned all business, their connection severed.

Maybe it was for the best.

Within minutes they’d gathered up their things. Lyssa raced to the SUV, snow, sleet and rain in a combination that had her slipping the last few feet. She nearly fell, but Noah scooped her into his arms and placed her in the backseat. Once she was settled, he turned to her and held out his hand.

The gold chain dropped and the sparkling ring swung from the necklace.

Her heart sped up. She clasped it to her. The ring was all she had of Jack. All Jocelyn would ever have.

“Thank you.” She swallowed around the thickness of her voice. “It means the world to me.”

Noah gave her a sharp nod and then readied his weapon, staring into the dim light of the afternoon storm. It’s not that she didn’t trust Noah to keep her secret if he could. But she didn’t trust that Archimedes wouldn’t win.

Noah probably wouldn’t understand the distinction.

By the time Rafe pulled into the front of a hotel near the airport and slipped out to check them in, Lyssa couldn’t handle the quiet any longer. “Noah—”

“Weather report says we’ll have to wait for at least several hours,” he interrupted, his tone curt. “Maybe longer.”

A small sigh escaped from her. She was doing the right thing, wasn’t she? What if she told him? Lyssa knew exactly what would happen. Noah would want to know where Jocelyn was. He’d want to protect the baby.

While Lyssa would do anything to hold her daughter in her arms, she’d become a pragmatist. She’d made a choice. Her daughter’s life over her own.

For now, Jocelyn was safe. If Lyssa tried to get in touch with them... A shudder settled at the base of her spine. Archimedes would find out.

Rafe opened the front door of the SUV and slid inside. “I got us a suite.” He grinned at Noah. “You paid.”

“I’m assuming you didn’t use my credit card?”

“Nah,” Zane said. “I transferred your money to our new fearless leader. Ned Bourne. Jason’s younger brother.” He chuckled.

At Noah’s slow shake of his head, Lyssa bit back a small smile.

The engine roared to life and Rafe pulled around to the back entrance of the hotel. “We’ll drop you off then pick up food. No reason to make ourselves visible,” Rafe said.

He tossed Noah the key. Noah snagged it from the air then grabbed a laptop from the backseat. Lyssa shouldered her duffel and followed him into the hallway.