Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(69)
“I don’t believe them.” They’d made him sick, but he still didn’t believe. “Yeah, they look incriminating at first glance. But his eyes aren’t open in any image. I think he’s drugged.”
“Maybe. I’ve got Lara trying to reach a friend of hers. I’d like to get hold of the original photos and let him take a look. Also, I’d like to look at that videotape again. Not me, really. That’s not my specialty, but Freddy’s a genius when it comes to exposing a cover-up.”
Dax groaned. Freddy. Dear god. The last time he’d tangled with that freak, he’d nearly had his head taken off by a swinging axe. Freddy might be brilliant at debunking or proving conspiracy theories, but he was also pretty inventive with home security. “I thought he went underground preparing for the apocalypse or something.”
Freddy had taken off when he’d figured out Connor was CIA. Lara’s friend did not like government agents. Of course, he’d also been the one to figure out that Joy Hayes’s murder hadn’t been an accident. They all owed the man.
“According to my wife, he’s got several hidey-holes, as he likes to call them, and Lara has a way to reach him,” Connor explained. “She takes out an ad in some weird newspaper asking for parts for her SETI machine. Apparently, the search for extraterrestrial life is code for call me.”
Dax snorted. “ET phone home.”
Sometimes he loved Connor’s new geek wife.
“That’s horrible, but yeah, it fits. We’ll try to bring him in and get him to take a look at the material. Until then, Gus has a new bodyguard and we’re sending two out your way. I would prefer you use one of them.”
He wasn’t keen on that idea. “What the fuck do I do about Holland? How do I ever make this up to her?”
“You don’t. You try to find someone new. Look, she won’t expect you to make it up to her. She knew what she was sacrificing and she did it to protect you. In her head it’s over and there’s no going back. Are you angry with her for lying to you? Do you blame her for Mad’s death? Because that, my friend, is not logical. I can’t imagine you wouldn’t do the exact same thing she did. You’re pissed because you’re the man and you don’t need protection. Well, get your panties out of a wad. She’s a law enforcement agent and you captain a boat. If she needs to be protected from missiles or submarines, you’re the go-to guy. She knows more about this than you do. If she made this call it was because she loved you enough to give up everything to protect you.”
It burned through him. “I’m not mad. And you’re right. If she’d told us back then, we wouldn’t have understood even the small piece of the puzzle we do now. I can’t look back.”
“She won’t be mad because you bought what she sold you. She wanted you to. Mission accomplished.” He paused. “Courtney is another thing altogether.”
How the hell did he make her understand why he’d done what he had? He couldn’t justify it in his own head. She’d been sacrificing and he’d done her best friend. And then bragged about it earlier today. “She’ll never forgive me.”
“Probably not. Look, she thinks she’s done with this mess, but we both know otherwise.”
He’d made her a target just by walking through her door. “I’ll come back to D.C and hire a private investigator, do things as quietly as I can. If I don’t see Holland again, maybe the Bratva won’t come after her. You said the original man who made the threats is dead, right?”
“Yes, but they would have hired someone new immediately. They don’t let things like this get pushed aside or forgotten. I would assume the minute Mad started looking into the diary they assigned someone to watch all of us. And if what happened three years ago has anything to do with what’s happening now, they’ll come after Holland.”
What had he done? Had he really put her in danger all over again? “But she’s not connected to us any longer.”
“So what? She knows something.” He scoffed. “More than any of us, really. She’ll be an asset to us, so a target to them. I’m going to ship this intelligence to Roman and Zack. I’ll call in a bodyguard for Holland.”
“She won’t accept it.” Dax’s stomach turned, knowing a lifelong criminal was likely already watching her. “She’ll tell us all to go to hell and go about her normal life.”
And then someone would kill her.
“So what do you suggest?”
Dax sighed. “I suggest I get used to begging, Connor. Because I can’t let her go. She’s mine. She’s always been mine. I shouldn’t have left her back then. I should have stayed and fought it out with her. I won’t make the same mistake.”
Connor whistled. “Just remember this is a woman who knows her way around firearms.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around these days.” How was he even going to get Holland to trust him again, much less protect her? She’d rather shoot him. Unless . . . “Hey, can you get Zack on the line for me? I need him to do me a small favor.”
*
Holland sniffled and wished she’d thought of stopping for a bottle of wine. Or whiskey. Maybe that would be better. Which one went with mourning and ice cream? Unfortunately, she didn’t know of a website that gave recommendations on the best way to drown one’s sorrows when the one who got away returned to town.