Kiss Me When the Sun Goes Down (37 page)

“Wait one moment,” he frowned, his brows twitching closer together.  “You don’t think Carys had anything to do with that business with your bodyguards, do you?”

“I didn’t.  But her absence sort of casts a different light on things, don’t you think?”

“Never happen.”  He shook his head with absolute sincerity.  “The old girl might hate you, but she’d never think to take it out on your servants.” 

“You don’t think she’d hurt me by hurting the ones I love?”

“She might, but not your staff.” 

“They were more to me than staff, Aubrey.”

“Yes, but she wouldn’t be able to fathom that.  Servants are lower than humans in her eyes.” 

Still, it all sounded like too much of a coincidence to me, and definitely worth following up on.  “Thanks, Aubrey.  You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“If you do see Carys, tell her I’ve got things well in hand here, no rush for her to return.”

“Yep, I’ll be sure to pass that along,” I replied with a thin smile.  “Bye.”

Bishop wasn’t going to like this, not one bit.  But I knew there was one person I could count on to explore the possibility that it was Carys behind it all.  At the door to the attic, I stopped to cock my head, listening closely for any sign that Carter might be awake yet.  Sure enough, I heard him up and around, his movements regular, punctuated by the occasional groan or long exhale. 

If it was anybody else, I might assume he was indulging in a little private time, but I knew Carter’s usual routine.  Throwing open the door with a loud bang to give him plenty of time to adjust to the fact that I was coming, in case I was wrong about his activity, I took the stairs at a leisurely pace.  Just as I thought, he lay on one of the exercise mats, doing crunches. 

“Hey, Carter.  Sorry to disturb your workout,” I called out as I reached the top of the stairs.

“You’re fine, as long as you don’t mind if I multi-task.”

“Nope you go on ahead, as long as you don’t expect me to join in.”

“Gonna go soft on me, sunshine?” he grinned.  “Do I need to put you back on a regimen?”

Back in our hunting days he’d nagged me daily about my workout routine, and I felt just as unenthusiastic about it now as I had then.  “Girls are supposed to be soft and curvy.  Besides, it’s not like I can bulk up.  My body pretty much stays as it is whether I work out or not.  Why bother?”

“I do it because it keeps my reflexes sharp, that’s important in my line of work.  At least, it used to be,” he frowned, sitting up for a second before he switched to push-ups.  “If you didn’t want to spar, what did you come up for?”

“Can’t I just want to chat with my best bud?”  He fixed me with a stare on his way up, but didn’t reply before the next rep, so I decided to lay it all out on the table.  “Listen, I had a chat with Aubrey, and I think you might be on to something about Carys being behind this.”

That got his attention, and he stopped exercising, popping up into a crouch.  “Oh?  Don’t tell me he uncovered a plot against you.  Or did she try to use him against you and he warned you because he’s hoping you’ll be grateful?  Or was he hoping Bishop might be taken out in the crossfire?”

“Nothing so definite, but he did say that she left Vetis before New Year’s and after a brief return, she left abruptly again.  That seems like quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”

“Oh that.  I already knew that part,” he frowned, disappointed.

“You did?” I blinked. 

“Yep, I’m one step ahead of you.  I’ve got her tracked on a flight to New York on December thirtieth, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Carter gave an embarrassed cough.  “You were, um... busy when I got in last night.”

“Oh.”  I looked away, my cheeks burning.  Time to stick to the subject.  “Then she’s definitely in the country?”

Carter grabbed a metal rod mounted between two of the beams overhead and started his pull-ups.  “Yep.”

“It’s not a lot to go on, but it’s a start.  Do you think you can find out what happened to her after New York?”

“Definitely.  Can I do it without taking a trip to the Big Apple?  That’s more iffy.”

“Well, let me know if you find anything.  I do have that townhouse in New York if you need to take a trip.  Or maybe we should all go?  There’s strength in numbers.”

“What about Bishop?  Are you sure he’s gonna want to hunt down his ex?”

“Let me worry about Bishop, you see what you can do to track her down.  If we can prove she’s made it to the west coast, then maybe it’ll be easier for him to swallow.”

Carter jumped down to the mat.  “I’ll stay on it.”

“Thanks.”

I sailed down the stairs, closing the door behind me to give him some privacy to change out of his sweaty clothes before he got going. 

“Is there something I should know about?”  Bishop’s voice at my back scared the bejeezus out of me, and I choked on my own spit as I wheeled around. 

“Oh God, you scared me,” I sputtered, not at all relieved when I saw the look on his face. 

“You honestly think Carys is behind this?”

“I guess you overheard, huh?”  So much for gathering more evidence before I brought it up to him again.  “I don’t know, maybe.  Don’t you think it’s weird that she just happens to be in the country when things start falling apart?” 

“The opposite side of the country, not here.”

“We don’t know that, it was days ago.  Carys could be anywhere by now, even in the house across the street, like you said.  And that shooter was British, she could’ve brought him with her.

Bishop shook his head.  “That’s a lot of coulds in there.  Anja, I know her, she’s not that vicious.”

“Not that vicious?”  My jaw dropped.  “How can you say that after what she did to you and Rob?  She tried to kill me.”

“She’s capable of lashing out, yes,” he admitted with a reluctant breath.  “But we’re talking about a complex strike with military precision.  That’s out of her depth.”

“Which is why she brought that Brit with her to handle stuff like that.  She didn’t work out the strategy, she just batted her eyes and pointed at my house, telling him to make me suffer.”

“That’s pure speculation,” he frowned, and I lost my temper.  Why was he taking her side over mine?

“At least I’m speculating.  You’re just burying your head in the sand.  Which tactic do you think will produce results first?”

“I’m not burying my head in the sand, I’ve got people out there checking into it.”

“Well, so do I.”

“Good luck with that,” he snorted.  “I’m pretty sure my people will turn up something before Carter does.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.  Carter has something the Order doesn’t.”

“And what’s that?”

“He’s not just following orders.  He’s doing this because he cares.”

“A little too much if you ask me,” he muttered, and my jaw dropped for the second time.

It took me a few seconds to find words again.  “I don’t believe what I’m hearing.  Are you seriously bringing jealousy into this right now?”

“The guy’s got a crush on you, that much is obvious.”  Bishop lowered his voice, pulling me away from the stairs, and I did him one better, continuing on to the ground floor.  I didn’t want Carter to have to listen to this nonsense. 

Once we reached the foyer, I turned on him, hands on my hips.  “Why do I think I’ve heard this one before?  Oh, could it be because you gave me the exact same song and dance about Rob?”

“Who happened to be in love with you,” Bishop tossed right back at me.

He had a point.  “Carter’s not Rob, and I’ve never given him any reason to think I feel that way about him.  I love him like a brother, Bishop, we’re family.  And if you can’t trust that, if you can’t trust me, then we’ve got bigger problems already.”

Bishop closed his eyes, taking a slow breath before he opened them again and spoke.  “I’m not saying that.  I trust you fine.  I’m just saying that you can’t trust the opinion of a guy who’ll do anything to please you.  Of
course
he thinks this could be Carys’ fault, because that’s what
you
think.”

“He was the first person to bring it up, not me, remember?  Carter’s willing to think outside the box to find whoever’s picking us off.  You’re the one who’s so wrapped up in your old feelings for Carys that you can’t see what’s right in front of your face.”

“That’s not what’s happening.”  His brows furrowed closer together, and so did mine.

“It sure looks that way to me.”

Bishop’s hands clenched into fists, and I thought he might punch something, but instead he turned on his heel.  “I need some air,” he muttered, stalking out.

So much for happy ever after. 

I grabbed the nearest throw pillow and screamed my head off into it, letting go of some steam in the only way that wouldn’t end in bloodshed for the moment.  Just when I thought we’d grown past all the stupidity in the relationship, Bishop had to go and say something brainless again.  What had I been thinking, that he’d change his ways overnight?  I had to trust that he’d come back when he cooled off and we could try again.  But what if he didn’t?  What if he decided it was too hard, despite the promises made the night before?

I couldn’t think of that, or the fear that settled in the pit of my stomach, as I went back into my study to get some work done.  Felix had sent over a brief plan outlining the duties he could take over for the time being, and I sent him back my approval. 

At some point, I’m not sure when,  I stopped working and sat staring at the shadowy garden outside my window.  Carter found me like that when he burst into the room.

“Hey, I got a lead on Carys.  Are you okay?”

“Yep, I’m peachy keen,” I replied, snapping out of it.  “What’ve you got?”

For a second he looked like he wasn’t going to let me get by with that, but then he shrugged it off and continued with his report.  “Carys chartered a jet from New York to San Jose.  The jetway there is a joke.”

“You’ve mentioned that before.”

“Anyway, I hacked their security feed and I’ve got visual confirmation that Carys arrived, and her plane’s still here.”

That clinched it.  Not only was she in California, but San Jose was less than two hours away from San Francisco.  “Good work, Carter.”  I logged off the computer and swept everything on my desk into one not so tidy pile.  “Alright, then that’s where we start.  There has to be a trail from there.  A cab or rental car, hotel reservations.”

Carter didn’t move an inch.  “What about Bishop?”

“I told you, he’s going to need some solid evidence before he comes around.  Her being in the vicinity isn’t going to do it.” 

“He’s not gonna be happy, you taking off like this.”

“Since when did you become such a big Bishop fan?”

“When I saw how happy he’s made you,” he shrugged, and I stared up at him in shock.  “I still think he’s a prick sometimes, and he doesn’t deserve you, but I know he wants you as much as you want him.”

“Which is why he’ll understand when we get back with the evidence.  He might not think it’s so shiny that I’m off hunting down his ex without telling him, but I need to go do this on my own.”

“Not without me, you’re not.”

“Obviously,” I grinned.  “I’m independent, not stupid.  Let me leave him a quick note, and we’ll go.”

I didn’t spend over long on the note.  I didn’t want to take the chance that he’d come back before we left and start arguing all over again when he found out where we were headed.  All I could hope for was that he’d give me a chance to explain when I saw him next.  That he’d keep an open mind about Carys.  If he couldn’t, we didn’t stand a chance.

B
ishop stopped by HQ to take care of some work he’d been putting off, trusting in the only thing he’d been able to count on for the last three centuries to get his head on straight – the job.  Only he couldn’t focus on it.  He approved a transfer to cover Mason’s territory since it was anyone’s guess when he’d be back, but the rest of the work remained largely untouched as he brooded over the way the argument with Anja had spiraled out of control. 

He was smart enough to realize that he wasn’t the most objective person where Carys was involved, but he truly did think Anja was reaching when it came to laying blame at her door.  Bishop also knew himself well enough to know that it’d been a good idea to get out of there before he said something else he might regret, and wait for his temper to cool down. 

The thing was, he knew he didn’t have anything to be jealous over.  Even if Carter did have a thing for Anja, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that she loved him and only him.  Still, it didn’t make those feelings go away whenever he thought about another man having eyes for his girl.  That wasn’t Anja’s problem though.  He had to learn how to get over it instead of letting it get to him.  The accusation against Carys had just thrown him off balance.

Bishop didn’t even want to explore the possibility that it was Carys behind the attacks, because if that was true, then it meant that he was partly to blame.  If he’d never left Carys to pursue Anja, then Lee and Gunnar would still be alive, and Anja’s family wouldn’t be scattered to the wind.  But what if Carys actually
was
to blame?  He owed it to Anja to listen to the possibility.  Seeing as how he wasn’t getting any work done anyway, he slipped out and sped back to the house, eager to set things right with Anja. 

The Victorian was dark when he approached, though he could see the security detail in place outside.  Anja couldn’t have gone to bed already, could she?  The night wasn’t even halfway over. 

Bishop let himself in, calling out in case Anja was brooding somewhere in the dark.  “Anja?  An?”  Had she gone in to the office alone without her security staff?  Even upset, he didn’t think she’d do something so reckless.  And then he found the note and realized it was so much worse. 

It read:

Bishop,

I don’t expect you to understand or approve, but I need to do this.  I have to know.  You don’t have to worry, I took Carter with me to track Carys down.  I’ll call you later.

Yours always,

Anja