Trusting Danger (Danger, #2)(46)

Knowing he’d done his best, he nodded. “All right, pack your things. I’ll take you over as soon as you’re ready to go.”





Chapter Thirty-Six





Even in her numb state, Claire didn’t miss the sidelong gazes Grayson kept giving her on the way to Georgetown. Staring out her window, she ignored him, not wanting to talk right now.

As he parked in front of her parents’ home, she took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. She should be excited to see them, but the only emotion she could summon at the moment was mortification.

God, she was so embarrassed. The shame of what Gabe had done made bile rise in her throat. Her head kept spinning as she thought about what she’d just learned.

At first, she hadn’t believed it, but now things were beginning to make sense. All those times she’d wondered how Gabe was able to afford such a lavish lifestyle. It seemed she had an answer now, and the truth was gut-wrenching.

How many victims were there? And how many of them had she helped Gabe entertain during the past year, unwittingly helping to lure them in?

Claire used her key to enter the front door, and her parents rushed into the foyer from the living room, worry creasing their faces.

“Claire, thank God!”

Claire’s mother, Eva, grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace, surprising her with the depth of her emotion. Her father joined in, holding them close for several seconds. He then backed away to extend a hand to Grayson, who set Claire’s suitcase and tote in the foyer and accepted his hand.

“Thomas Parker.”

“Grayson Matthews.”

“Thank you for bringing Claire home safely. We’ve been worried sick.”

Claire’s mother seemed unwilling to let go of Claire’s hand, even after the foursome had walked into the living room, and that was fine by Claire. She’d been so worried about their safety the entire time she was in the safe house, and found she missed them a lot. This uncharacteristic physical contact from her mother warmed her, and she welcomed it.

When Grayson explained Gabe’s arrest, Eva stiffened and dropped Claire’s hand. “There has to be a mistake.”

“There isn’t,” Grayson said. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Eva looked to Thomas. “But we invested with him.”

“You’ll be hearing from the SEC about that.” Grayson explained his team’s suspicions about Gabe’s likely involvement in the kidnapping attempt, and Eva sank onto a chair.

“My God.”

Thomas looked at his wife with concern before shifting his gaze to Grayson. “We don’t want to keep you, Agent Matthews.”

Apparently, Grayson knew a clear dismissal when he heard it. He turned toward Claire, and the intensity in his eyes nearly stole the air from her lungs. He’d kept her safe, but this was it. He was leaving.

Her sadness compounded when her father said, “I’ll show you out,” stealing any chance she had for a private good-bye.

Holding Claire’s gaze, Grayson paused, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something. Then he looked toward her father, who had moved toward the door.

With a resigned look, Grayson turned back to Claire. “Good-bye.”

When he plucked something from his pocket and extended it to her, she accepted it without looking at it, hardly registering that he’d just returned her phone. Instead, she focused on the tingles that ran up her arm as his hand brushed hers.

“Good-bye,” she whispered, and her stomach bottomed out as he walked out the front door.





Chapter Thirty-Seven





Leaving Claire with her parents like that—so abruptly, not having the chance to talk—had eaten at Grayson for the past two days. He couldn’t get the girl off his mind.

Although the threat against them appeared to be contained, Camden and Autumn had decided to stay at Grayson’s for a few more days, which elated him. Having them there helped keep his mind off his troubles.

Regina had been arrested, joining her boyfriend behind bars for their roles in the murder-for-hire plot. After incriminating himself when shown the faked photos, Deck Wallace would have enough years added to his current sentence that he would probably never see the outside of the prison again.

At the office Tuesday morning, Grayson did his best to stay busy. He drove the lab techs crazy with repeated calls for updates.

No, they told him, they were still waiting on lab results on Lawson’s vehicle.

No, they still hadn’t learned who owned the burner phone used to contact Rex Gibson and order the kidnapping of Claire.

And as for Gibson, he still wasn’t talking.

Grayson’s frustration made him crankier than usual, snapping at everyone in his path. When his coworkers began spinning on their heel when they saw him approach, he decided to hole up in his office. He cleared off his desk and reread the files on all the cases he was involved in at the moment—the drug ring, the kidnapping plot, the murder-for-hire—looking for something they might have missed.

Every day, he called his mother. When their conversation wound down, a little shorter each day since she had no energy, he would then speak to his aunt Mary. She’d take the phone to another room for privacy, and there would give him an update on his mother’s condition.