Dark Deceptions (22 page)

And Nash’s.

Annie swallowed, her stomach churning as the words formed in her mind. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe he would have wanted
to know.

Just because her father had rejected her didn’t necessarily mean Nash would reject Adam. Although he’d made it pretty clear—both
then and now—what he thought about commitments and family. Still, the reality of a son was a far cry from an abstract discussion
about relationships.

She ran a hand through her hair, looking down at Adam as he slept.

She’d die before she’d let him be hurt. But maybe…

She shook her head. Nash had made no bones about what he’d wanted. About his life. And none of it had included her. Or Adam.

What if she told him the truth now and he rejected her son? The thought made her heart ache. It had all seemed so simple in
Colorado. But now, here, standing in Nash’s home, still warm from his bed, she wondered if maybe it could have been different.
If she and Nash could have found a way to make it all work.

If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.

Annie sighed, pushing away her tumbling thoughts. Too much had happened too quickly. She needed time to think. Time to make
the right decisions. Adam’s happiness was in her hands, and she wasn’t going to let him down. The most important thing right
now was to keep him safe. Everything else would just have to wait.

She squared her shoulders and walked back into the hallway, heading downstairs to find Nash. Halfway down, she stopped, the
sound of voices surprising her. Instinctively, she crouched low into the shadows of the stairwell, straining to hear the conversation.

“I’m sorry to get you out of bed,” Avery was saying. The two of them were standing in the foyer, but Annie could only see
Nash’s back. “But I figured you’d want to know that someone deliberately messed with your gun. She sleeping?”

Nash nodded, his head bent as he studied something in his hand. “Any fingerprints on the thing?”

“Yours… and Annie’s.”

“So you think I was right? That she sabotaged the gun?”

Annie’s stomach clenched, anger warring with disbelief.

“I don’t know what to think. But you said it yourself, she had access to the gun. And the necessary knowledge to fuck with
it. The question is why?”

“I don’t know.” Nash shook his head. “None of this really makes sense. Unless maybe she wanted to save the day. Make herself
look good so that we’d trust her? What if this whole thing is a ruse of some kind? A way to get inside A-Tac?”

“Seems like there’d be easier ways to gain access. But maybe you’re onto something.”

“Well, whatever’s going on, I don’t like the idea that Annie played us,” Nash said, his voice harsh. “Hell, played me. But
the truth is that it wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Any chance she’s aware of your suspicions?” Avery asked.

“No way.” He shook his head, his tone almost glib. Annie fought a wave of nausea. How could she have been so stupid?

“Good,” Avery said. “I’d hate to think we’d exposed ourselves any more than necessary.”

“So what do we do next?”

“Nothing. At least for now. We need more proof than just the gun. Along with a workable theory for motivation. And besides,
Tom will be here sometime tomorrow. He’s taking her back to D.C. Which, it turns out, may not be such a bad thing.”

“And the kid?” Nash asked. “What happens to him?”

“Not our problem. You just keep an eye on Annie. I don’t want anything else to go wrong.”

“Right.” Nash nodded, his face still hidden in shadow. “Keep her happy. I know the drill.”

Annie gripped the banister with shaking fingers. He’d done it again. Pulled her in. Made her believe. But it was nothing more
than a trick. A way to gain her trust. To trap her into saying or doing something she’d regret.

Holding her breath, she waited until Nash and Avery stepped out onto the front porch, then hurried back up the stairs. Instinct
demanded that she grab Adam and run, but she’d played this game before, and that meant waiting until the time was right to
make her move.

She slipped back into the bedroom, dropping the shirt and climbing back into the bed just as she heard his footsteps on the
stairs. Closing her eyes, she feigned sleep, willing her body to relax as he rounded the bed and pulled off his clothes to
slide in beside her.

She fought a gag as he pulled her close, his arm around her waist, his leg thrown over her hip. Nothing was gained by losing
it now.

“Annie?” he whispered.

She forced her breathing to slow. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

All she had to do was wait.

Sunshine streamed through the window and Nash pulled the pillow over his head, trying unsuccessfully to block out the light.
For a moment, irritation won the day, and then he remembered the reason he was so tired.

The storm.

The chaise.

Annie.

With a smile, he rolled over, reaching for her, surprised when his hands met only the cotton of the sheets. He sat up, alarm
replacing the remembered heat of the night. Avery’s words came crashing back.

The gun. Annie’s fingerprints. And the possibility that she’d purposely jammed his gun. It didn’t make sense. But he’d meant
what he said. She’d screwed him before. He wasn’t about to let one night of mind-blowing sex make him forget that fact.

But she’d been asleep when he’d come back to bed. Looking so damn desirable—it had taken every bit of his willpower not to
wake her. Even now, just the thought of her writhing beneath him had his body reacting, hardening. Cursing, he pulled on a
pair of sweats and headed for the bathroom, checking the shower, and then down the hall to her bedroom.

Nothing. No sign that she’d been there at all.

He sucked in a breath, his suspicions warring with the memory of the evening’s untethered heat. The intensity had been amazing.
Better than before even, if that were possible. He shook his head with impatience, wanting nothing more than to find her and
take her back to his bed.

He rounded the corner and stopped, the morning light spilling from Adam’s doorway.
Of course
. He smiled, striding forward, certain that he’d find her with Adam. Her son came before everything else. She’d even insisted
on checking on him when they’d come in from the garden, the moonlight playing against her skin as she smoothed the hair from
her son’s eyes. She’d never looked more beautiful.

He stepped into the room, and his smile faded.

The room was empty.

As were the kitchen, the living room, and the dining room. He double-checked the bedrooms, and then, taking the stairs two
at a time, he headed for the garden, hoping to see the two of them playing ball or laughing in the sun.

But the backyard was as empty as the house. He clenched a fist, his jaw tightening with anger, as he fought against the obvious.
She’d played him. Again.

He checked the front garden, the garage, and even the attic, although by then he’d already accepted the truth.

Annie and Adam were gone.

I
thought you were going to watch her?” Avery said, his features harsh, his expression formidable.

“I was. Hell, she was right next to me most of the night.” Nash ran a hand through his hair, pacing in front of the white
board in the war room. He still couldn’t believe she was gone. That he’d been stupid enough to believe things had changed
between them. “I honestly didn’t think she’d run.”

“Even after our conversation last night?”

Nash shot a glance at Drake, who was straddling a chair on the far side of the table.

“It’s all right. He knows. So does Tyler.” Avery nodded. “I haven’t told the rest of the team about the gun yet. I wanted
to be sure we had hard proof that it was Annie.”

“Seems to me her running pretty much seals the deal,” Drake said with a shrug.

“Any way she could have overheard you and Avery talking?” Tyler asked.

“Shit. I didn’t even think about that.” He stopped for a moment, turning the idea over in his head. “But no. She was asleep
when I came back to bed.” He’d admitted his remarkable lack of self-control. It hadn’t been his first choice, but if they
were going to figure out where she’d gone, they needed all the facts. Even if they painted him an idiot. “If she’d heard me,
she’d already have bolted.”

“What about surveillance?” Drake frowned. “Surely security caught something?”

“I had Hannah pull the tapes the minute Nash called,” Avery confirmed, a slide filling the screen. “This is from just beyond
Nash’s backyard.” The camera panned once across the woods and then rotated slowly to cover the back of the fence. And then
suddenly the screen filled with static.

“She disabled the camera,” Tyler said to no one in particular.

“Went through a broken board in the fence. Not a bad plan actually. That field leads straight to the highway.”

“But we’ve got people stationed out there,” Tyler said. “How did she get through?”

“Security got a call for backup on the east side of campus around five o’clock.”

“Was there a disturbance?” Nash asked, anger burning in his gut, adrenaline making his nerves feel like they were all firing
at once.

Avery shook his head, his expression grim. “No. Turns out the call was bogus. And it traced back to a campus phone.”

“So no way to tie it to Annie,” Tyler said. “But I’m betting it was her.”

“She’s pretty damn resourceful,” Nash growled. Hell, she’d seduced him right into believing she’d changed.

“So what else have we got?” Drake said, pushing away from his chair. Obviously he was as anxious as Nash to get on with the
hunt.

Avery nodded. “A car was reported stolen about a quarter mile from the far side of the woods. Owner came out early this morning
to head to work. Car was gone. I’ve got people looking, but so far no sightings. It’s a black Honda CRG. 2005. New York license,
ADL-4681.”

“But we don’t know for sure that it was Annie who stole it,” Tyler said, writing down the number. “And even if she did, the
first thing she’d do is ditch it when she had some distance and find something new.”

“Yeah, but she’s traveling with the kid,” Nash said. “That’s got to slow things down.”

“Or make her more desperate,” Drake observed. “I mean, the truth is Annie has a hell of a lot of experience with running,
not to mention staying off the radar. And the cold hard facts are that we have no idea where she’s going or what she might
have planned.”

“The way I see it,” Avery said, “there are two scenarios. The first is that something spooked her. Maybe she did overhear
our conversation, or maybe she was always planning to run, but if that’s her motivation, then she’s going to want to move
quickly and get as far away from here as she can.”

“And the second alternative?”

Avery sighed. “We could be right about her being involved in this whole scheme somehow. Either trying to fulfill some bargain
she made with the kidnapper—Dominico’s assassination or something she’s kept from us—or worse, maybe she’s in league with
whoever has been pulling the strings and this whole thing is a lot uglier than we anticipated.”

“Either way, sitting here talking isn’t going to do us any good,” Nash said, sliding a clip into his gun. “We need to get
out there now.”

“I agree.” Avery nodded. “Drake, I want you to follow up on the Civic. See if you can run it to ground. Hannah will handle
things from here. She’s already been working with our security and local law enforcement. And, Tyler, I want you to work on
other transportation options, any other stolen vehicles, airports, buses. Hell, anything that comes to mind. Jason will provide
backup.”

“What about me?” Nash asked, hands fisted as he waited for orders, Drake and Tyler already heading for the door.

“I want you at Dominico’s country house. With Emmett. It’s possible the ambassador is still a target.”

“But I—” Nash started, but Avery shook his head, brushing the words aside, his expression brooking no argument.

“I need you on point with Dominico.”

“Fine, I’ll go,” Nash said. “But, Jesus, Avery, she’s got Adam with her. There’s no fucking way she’s going to kill someone
else in front of her son.”

Annie jerked aside the curtains of the Sweet Rest Motel room, peering out at the almost-empty parking lot. She knew that stopping
was a risk. Nash and his friends would be looking for her by now. She needed to keep moving. But Adam had been hungry. And
tired. And confused.

So she’d stopped, the mother in her overriding the operative. After wolfing down three White Castle burgers, Adam had fallen
asleep, and she hadn’t wanted to wake him. So instead she watched out the window, wondering how the hell she’d wound up here.
Running.

She hated the idea. Had hated it the first time, too. But as in Saida, she’d been given no other option. For a brief moment,
she’d been fooled into believing that Nash truly cared, that there was still a chance for them and for Adam. But after overhearing
his conversation with Avery, she’d realized it had all been a fantasy.

Despite all his grand talk about having faith, he’d been playing her, believing all the time that she was in league with her
kidnapper, certain that she was in some way betraying him and his precious A-Tac. It was an insane assumption, but then he
had always been quick to believe the worst.

And even if somehow she’d managed to get past his betrayal, there was still the matter of Tom, another supposed ally turned
enemy. It was clear that all Tom cared about was his career. And bringing in the woman who turned traitor and tried to kill
an ambassador was headline-making stuff. She had no doubt that he’d use her situation to promote himself.

It’s what he’d always done.

He’d used her before, but at least then it had been mutual. He’d needed a way out of a situation gone bad, and she’d needed
to disappear—to reinvent herself and build a life for the baby she carried.

She’d trusted Avery and Nash. Thought that they’d had her back. CIA taking care of CIA. But they’d made it more than clear
last night that that wasn’t the case. Tom was on his way to take her back to Washington. And neither Nash nor Avery was going
to lift a finger to stop him.