Deadly Game (Fortress Security #5)(64)

“You sure she’s all right, D?”

“She told the doctor to tell me everything. I’ve seen her chart, x-rays, the works. I’m sure, man. She’s a tough little thing. What happened to the guy beating on her?”

“Dead,” Remy said, voice flat.

“Good. Brent’s in the hall?”

A nod. “Jon and Eli, too.”

“I’ll be back.” Jake clapped Remy’s shoulder and glanced at Rowan. “Coming?”

Rowan stood, winced at the sore muscles making themselves felt. Remnants of ditch diving. She followed the medic from the room and stepped into Brent’s open arms. He hugged her tight. Immediately, the ball of ice in her stomach melted.

“You okay?” he murmured.

“I am now that you’re free and Lily is recovering.”

Brent turned to Jake. “You agree with the doctor?”

“Lily needs a few weeks to heal, but she will recover. In a fair fight, she would have taken them down, Brent.”

“Test results confirmed the drugs?”

“Oh, yeah. High levels of steroids in Carstairs and the two you and Remy captured. I suspect the same results will show up in the other men. Maybe Taylor can confirm those results for us with the ME’s office or Zane can hack into the ME’s computer files.” He patted Rowan’s shoulder. “From what your lady told me, Carstairs was getting ready to pull the trigger on Lily. Because of Rowan, he didn’t get the chance.”

Brent’s arms tightened around her. “Any leads on Carstairs’ location, Adam?”

“Not so far. Zane’s monitoring all his accounts and his phone. So far nothing.”

Rowan lifted her head from Brent’s chest. “Carstairs is missing? I thought he was in police custody.”

A grimace from her boyfriend. “He escaped.”

Terrific. Now they’d have to keep watching over their shoulders for Carstairs. The knot in her stomach reappeared. She sighed. At this rate, she wouldn’t be eating much any time soon.

“We’ll find him, baby.” Brent cupped the back of her neck.

“Want me to track him down, Brent?” Jon asked.

He was silent a moment, then shook his head. “Stick to Zane’s plan for now. Carstairs will find us soon enough.”

“Boss, I’m due at the coffee shop in a few minutes,” Adam said. “Should I call for a replacement?”

“No. Jake will stay with Lily and Remy. Watch your back, Adam.”

“Yes, sir,” he said and walked away.

“He looks good,” Eli said, then grinned. “For a Marine.”

Brent chuckled. “Let’s get out of here. Rowan needs to rest.”

Taking care of her again. What about him? She suspected Brent hadn’t slept much before the attack. “So do you. Eli, will you and Jon be taking over guard duty so Brent will sleep?”

“Absolutely.” Eli winked at her. “He needs lots of beauty rest. Sorry, sugar, but in my opinion, your boyfriend needs serious help in that department.”

“Wolfe.” Brent scowled his direction, but his eyes were twinkling. “Shut up.”

Eli burst into laughter. Even his taciturn partner chuckled. In the SUV, Rowan settled into the backseat with Brent while Eli climbed behind the wheel.

Once Eli drove from the parking garage, Jon handed Brent a gun along with bullets in some kind of black metal holders.

“Thanks.”

“Figured the cops confiscated yours.”

“Yeah. Second weapon I’ve lost to the cops this week. Which safe house are we headed to?”

“Zane set us up in a suite at the Garden Inn in Murfreesboro. He used it when he was protecting Claire.”

An hour later, Rowan walked into a very nice suite. “This is wonderful.”

“I’ll tell Z you approve.” Eli bolted the door. “One of our female operatives picked up clothes from your place and brought them here.” He nudged her to the bedroom on the right. “See if you need anything else.”

“Trying to get rid of me, Eli?”

“No, ma’am. Just want to be sure you’re comfortable before we move on to the next portion of the agenda.”

Right. Inside the room, Rowan closed the door and turned on the light. On the bed was a suitcase and a garment bag. She opened the soft-sided case and examined the contents. The operative hadn’t missed anything important. It would be nice to have a choice of clothes.

The garment bag drew her attention next. What was in there? She didn’t own a garment bag. Rowan grasped the zipper and separated the halves. Her breath caught on a soft gasp.

Inside was a gorgeous navy blue dress along and a black pant suit with two pairs of low heels, all the perfect sizes. Where had this come from? A small white envelope was in one of the shoes. She slid the card out. Oh, man. The outfits were from Brent, things he hoped would make two difficult days a little better.

Until this point, she’d been teetering on the edge of falling in love with the SEAL. This simple act of kindness pushed her all the way over and now she was in a freefall she had no hope of stopping. Rowan couldn’t deny the truth. She was in love with Brent Maddox.

The question now was how did he feel about her? Hopefully, he’d grow to feel the same. Being in love by yourself was scary business. Rowan closed the garment bag, grateful to forgo shopping. She’d dreaded the prospect of buying clothes for this occasion, knowing she would have had a difficult time holding her emotions at bay. Because of Brent’s thoughtfulness, she didn’t have to.