Trusting Danger (Danger, #2)(16)

She closed her eyes at the thought. She did love him. It was just the stress of everything that had her worked up. Between law school and her father’s campaign, the past month had been insane. She was just overwhelmed, that was all.

That saying about a girl marrying someone like her father? If she married Gabe, that’s exactly what she would be doing. He was on a similar high trajectory as her father, but rather than political ambitions, his were more financial. Thomas Parker wanted to steer the country; Gabe Rogers wanted to steer the world’s financial markets.

Gabe reached for his phone and glanced at the screen. “Around the holidays, maybe?”

Nerves darted around inside Claire’s stomach like arrows, but she ignored them and gave him a jerky nod. She needed time to think about this, time to assess what marriage to Gabe might mean for her.

Being Mrs. Gabriel Rogers would bring her securely within his world, in orbit around him and his wants and needs 24/7. She’d probably have to give up her own hopes and dreams, although, to be honest, it wasn’t as if she even knew what those were for certain, just that they weren’t what her parents wanted for her. And they definitely wouldn’t mesh with what Gabe wanted.

Time for a subject change.

Trying to keep her voice even, she said, “This was a successful weekend for you.”

To her relief, he went with the change in topic. “Thanks in large part to you. The wives loved you. You’re like a good-luck charm. I only wish you could stay the week, although you probably wouldn’t have much fun with the group that’s coming in tomorrow. It’s all men, so it’ll mean several rounds of golf and a lot of expensive Scotch.”

Gabe’s phone pinged and he picked it up. As he tapped out a response to the message he’d received, he said, “We should pick out a diamond together when we get back to DC.”

Claire nodded but said nothing, re-running the conversation inside her head.

Why wasn’t she more excited about this? Was it because he’d taken her by surprise, or was it because something was wrong? Claire’s mother regularly reminded her that she’d married Claire’s father right out of college. Claire was twenty-four, two years past that. She couldn’t use the excuse of being too young.

Or could it be because he assumed you’d say yes, and didn’t even ask? an impish voice inside her asked.

Gabe tucked his phone back inside his pocket. “Are you sure you don’t mind that I’m not taking you to the airport? I have a tee time in twenty minutes, but I have a car coming to pick you up at eleven.”

This wasn’t anything new. Gabe was usually too busy to spend time doing something mundane like picking her up himself. It was much easier to send a car for her instead.

“No, it’s fine; you go ahead. I need to pack anyway, and I don’t have much time.”

“I guess I need to say good-bye now,” he said and pulled her close.

As Claire returned his kiss, she tried to muster the emotions she should be feeling right now. Passion, excitement, anticipation.

But all she felt was dread and a sinking feeling that if she wasn’t careful, her life would no longer be her own.





Chapter Thirteen





A little over an hour later, Grayson had changed clothes, packed an overnight bag, and switched to the task force’s Suburban he normally drove before picking up his new partner, Jeremy Cox. The kid wasn’t as experienced as Camden, but he had the discipline and training needed for the job. That was all that counted.

As they stood in the foyer of Claire Parker’s Georgetown condo building, Jeremy rang the buzzer for her unit while Grayson stood at the entrance door and looked up and down the street. Condos any larger than a studio apartment ran upward of a million dollars in this part of the city, and the info they had indicated Claire’s was one of three on the top floor, a penthouse unit.

When there was no answer, Jeremy shrugged. “Must not be home. Maybe she’s at church?” After all, it was early afternoon on a Sunday.

“Nah,” Grayson said. “Eli said she’s a law student at Georgetown. How much you want to bet she’s at the law library? Let’s head over to the campus.”

“Shouldn’t one of us stay here?”

Grayson shook his head. “I might need your help tracking her down. We can have Metro Police watch the block.”

He placed a call to Joanne, their admin at Phoenix.

“Jo,” he said when she answered, knowing the nickname would annoy her. “Jeremy and I struck out at Claire Parker’s home. Can you have Metro send over a black-and-white to watch out for her?”

“Grayson,” Joanne said pointedly, using his full name in the way she always did. It drove the guys on the task force nuts, especially Eli, who never failed to wince when she referred to him by his given name. “I’ll be happy to take care of that for you. Where shall I tell Elias you’ll be? He wants to speak with you.”

“No need. I’ll give him a call.”

Back inside the Suburban, Grayson dialed Eli’s cell and placed the call on speaker.

“I was just about to call you, Gray. Claire Parker’s name came up on the manifest of a flight from Jacksonville.”

“The flight’s in the air now?”

“Yes. It’ll be landing at Reagan National at two. We learned her father’s driver was scheduled to pick her up, so we made arrangements with him that will help bring the girl into our custody after she gets off the plane.”