Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(25)
“Well, unless you can think of a way to get into Kerra Ruby’s summer bash, I’m afraid we won’t have a choice. And trust me, and this is hard for me to say because I agree with everything you’ve said about Sebastian, but I don’t know of any other way.”
“We could break into his home,” Lizzy suggested.
“Which one?” Valeria asked, pointing out the difficulty of hunting Roland down. “We know exactly where he’ll be tonight. There’re so many people at these things, it makes it easier to get in and out. As long as we have an invite, we can move freely once inside.”
Lizzy groaned. “I’ll call Sebastian to find out when he will be back in town so we can meet. I find it’s better to try to read him before asking for anything. In the meantime, let’s get some sleep.”
Valeria looked around and settled on a chair in the living room as Lizzy picked up the phone to call Sebastian. He was going to love this early wakeup call. Grant sat up, stretched, and patted the couch for Valeria to lie down. Lizzy watched out of the corner of her eye as Valeria lay down, resting her head on Grant’s tree trunk-sized muscled leg. In seconds, she was asleep with Grant’s protective hand on her hip.
“Hello?” Sebastian didn’t sound sleepy at all even though it was five in the morning.
“It’s Elizabeth. Where are you?”
“I’m in my gym. Where are you?” Sebastian asked, his voice dripping with a mix of seductiveness and demand.
Lizzy wanted to roll her eyes. Sebastian didn’t like giving anything away. “Which city are you in?”
“DC. I got here as quickly as I could after hearing what happened to Birch. The country would be a worse place if Birch weren’t in it. I was waiting to call him to see how he is doing until later this morning.”
“He’s alive, which ruined someone’s plan.” Lizzy tried to be casual, but she was sure Sebastian knew she was acting. “I know he’ll want to see you. I need to see him as well. How about two SA Tech employees visit him this morning? Meet at the hospital at nine?”
Sebastian was quiet for a moment. “I can do that.”
“Good. See you then.”
Lizzy hung up without waiting for Sebastian to say goodbye. She had just enough time to rest for a couple hours before seeing which side Sebastian truly fell on. She sent a secure message to the team informing them of the plan. As Lizzy left the kitchen, Valeria had a hand resting on Grant’s upper thigh. He rested one hand on the top her head and the other on the indent of her waist.
“Come to bed.” Lizzy looked up to see Dalton standing shirtless at the bedroom door. In seconds, his body wrapped around hers as he held her. The warmth and the utter feeling of complete safety had Lizzy instantly falling into a heavy and dreamless sleep.
* * *
It took Birch screaming at the doctors to get them to leave. His Secret Service had to stand guard on the other side of the thick doors leading to his closed wing. His doctors were great and all, but one, Birch didn’t know if any of them were reporting to Mollia Domini. And two, they enjoyed eavesdropping way more than Birch was okay with.
He had two hours to see both Sandra and Sebastian without anyone coming in. Jason was allowed in with a credential saying he was with the chief of staff’s office. Humphrey joined him as they walked in together wheeling a large suitcase filled with papers to be signed and cards from well-wishers. The suitcase would be checked by his agents before they would be allowed onto his floor.
Humphrey and Jason arrived just as the floor was being locked down. “Did you see that Sebastian is coming in an hour?” Humphrey asked, tossing all the “important presidential papers” in the trash as Jason set the piles and piles of get-well cards on Birch’s table next to his bed and then dragged a chair over toward the door to sit.
“Yes. I hate that I have to do it here. I feel weak in the hospital, but at least I’m getting it over with. I don’t know what I’ll do if Sebastian—” Birch couldn’t finish.
Tate reached over and grabbed his hand. She knew how important Sebastian was to him. He was more than a friend; he was like a brother to him. But brothers could be betrayed as easily as friends.
“Do I need to stay?” Jason asked.
“No. Lizzy will be here.” Jason just raised an eyebrow and continued with his cold stare. “She can handle herself, trust me. I’ve seen video of her in action.”
“No offense, but if push comes to shove, I don’t think she’ll shove as hard as she should.”
“She put a bullet between her ex’s eyes. I think she’ll be fine.”
Jason shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
The door down the hall opened and Sandra stepped in. She looked around as Humphrey hurried from the room. “Ah, Sandra. We’re down here. Sorry, we had to clear the hall so we could discuss any national security issues that come up.”
Sandra walked in with worry written all over her face. Worry for herself or fake worry for him, Birch didn’t know, although he did know she was one hell of an actress. Sandra glanced at Jason questioningly and Jason smiled. For a split second he looked like a kind, caring man. “I’ll be just outside, Mr. Orville.”
“Oh, yes. We’ll head back to the office shortly.” Humphrey smiled as Jason headed to a chair on the other side of the door. He would still be able to hear them, but Sandra didn’t know that. “One of my aides. We had a ton of get-well cards to bring the president.”