Rhapsody (The Teplo Trilogy #2) (33 page)

"I'll do what I can, Ames," Davis finally said, "but I can't make you any promises. This is a clusterfuck and if it doesn't end well, all hell will break loose."

"I understand, sir." And he did understand, more than he could say. He'd weighed the risks and made a decision for the sake of the case, knowing full well that it could get ugly. He wouldn't walk away from that unscathed. He'd never really expected that he would anyway. Sometimes, you did what you had to do and took what came.

"I'm going to check on the arrest warrants. I'll let you know as soon as they're in hand." Davis slapped him on the back and headed out.

Jason watched him go, wondering when the hell Davis had become the back-slapping type.

Right.

Three weeks, five days ago. Right after he'd tracked Lillian down in the emergency room and his job had become a nightmare of his own making. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Where the hell was Tristan?

"Dad, I'll be fine," Lillian told her father for the tenth time.

"I don't like leaving you here alone," he grumbled. "It's not safe."

"Tristan will be back from the meeting soon. Besides, the penthouse has a security alarm, a security guard downstairs, and a deadbolt," she pointed out…also for the tenth time. "Go, I'll be fine."

He stared at her, frowning.

"Daddy!" She scowled at him. "I'm not a little girl anymore. You can't sit in my room and protect me from monsters in the closet like you used to do."

His expression softened. "You remember that?"

A smile twitched at her lips, a little laugh escaping. "Of course I remember. Every time I got scared, you'd settle down in that rocker on guard duty until I fell asleep. How could I forget?"

"You were a baby. God, you couldn't have been more than four." He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

"You've always been there when I needed you." She was going to miss him when he left. Five hours away was too far sometimes. And not far enough others. "But I'm not a little girl anymore, and you guys have to stop trying to make decisions for me. I can take care of myself."

He didn't seem wholly convinced.

She rolled her eyes. "He'll help take care of me, Dad."

"He'd better." Her dad huffed when he said it, but he pulled her in for a hug and she knew she had won this round. "I miss you, Lily."

"I miss you, too."

"Come visit soon. You can even bring him with you. Does he fish?"

"I'm sure you could talk him into giving it a try." She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. He hadn't said Tristan's name once all afternoon, instead opting to use
him
or
that boy
. At least her dad didn't hate him though, because he would to be around for a long while if she had her way. And as the afternoon wore on, she was more and more determined to have her way.

They had a lot to sort out between them, true enough, but they had just as much—
more
—to fight for. After the last few days, she felt as if she were in a whirlwind. So much had happened in so many different ways. Keeping up was hard. Thinking straight was impossible when events kept racing away. And they were definitely racing.

After everything, she was allowed to be vulnerable, wasn't she? She was allowed to get hurt, be afraid, and become overwhelmed. And really, who wouldn't with someone like Tristan taking command? He was…God, he was so many things. Fierce and intense and exactly like the addiction she'd called him before. She knew he loved her, but sometimes that didn't make it any easier to understand him.

"I love you, kid," her dad said.

"I love you too." She hugged him tight and then stepped back to let him go.

"Lock the door. Arm the alarm. Don't open it unless it's him. Clear?"

"As a crystal," she promised.

"You have your gun?"

"It's in the kitchen."

"Good. Go get it, and don't let it out of your sight until he gets here." He leaned over and kissed her atop the head. "At least he had the sense to get you a gun."

"Dad!"

"I'm just saying!" He held up his hands.

"Go," she demanded, equal parts amused and frustrated.

"I'm going, I'm going. Yeesh." He hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. "You're sure you'll be okay? I can stay and wait for him with you."

"I'll be
fine
, Dad."

He sighed his defeat and then nodded. "Don't give him too much hell," he advised. "He looked miserable when you walked out today."

"I know," she whispered. She'd seen his expression before she turned away.

"If he ever hurts you…."

"He won't," she promised him. "But if he does, you'll be the first to know. I'm really sorry you had to find out the truth like this, Daddy. I never wanted to keep it from you."

"I know that, kiddo. But next time—
please
God, don't let there be a next time—give an old man a little warning before you go mixing yourself up in this kind of thing. I worry about you. To me, you'll always be that little girl afraid of monsters, but I'm not unreasonable, you know. You can talk to me about things."

"I know, but I didn't want you to worry about me anymore. You've already done so much for me this year."

"It's my job to worry." He sighed, frowning. "And I guess it's now that boy's job, too."

Lillian reached out and patted his hand. "He's not that bad, Daddy."

"No," he sighed, disheartened. "I don't suppose he is. Don't tell him I said that though. He still has groveling to do. A whole lot of it." He snorted and shook his head before getting back to business. "Be safe, kiddo. I mean it. And you call me if you need me to come back here, understand?"

"I will. Promise." She hugged him a final time and as quickly as he'd arrived, he was gone. She couldn't even really be upset with Tristan for calling him. She'd missed him so much, and she
did
understand why Tristan had called him. She might not like it, but she understood.

She set the alarm, threw the deadbolt, and eased herself down onto the couch, thinking about all the things she wanted to say to Tristan. If he sent her away after that, well, at least she'd said what she needed to say. At least she hadn't just given up.

Closing her eyes, she sighed, more exhausted than she'd been in a long time.

She jolted awake when her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she mumbled as she fished it out of her pocket, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Miss Maddox, this is Jason."

"I know, and it's Lillian, Jason. Just Lillian. What's going on?" she asked, the tone of his voice instantly bringing her wide awake. "Is Tristan okay?"

"Ah, I haven't seen him today."

"What do you mean you
haven't seen him today
? He said he had to be–" She broke off with a gasp. Her heart stalled in her chest.
Of course
he hadn't gone to the debriefing. "He went after them alone," she said, flying up into a sitting position and swinging her legs off the couch. The muscle throbbed in protest and then settled. "He did, didn't he?"

"I don't know," Jason said. "Kincaid has been keeping an eye on the club today and he hasn't seen him yet. But yes, I suspect that's where he's heading. Are you with your father?"

"No." She felt numb, terror blotting out everything but Tristan.

"Where are you?"

"At the penthouse."

"I'll be right there. Keep the doors locked and do not let anyone inside until I get there, okay?"

"Jason, you have to find Tristan. He's going to get himself killed!"

"I know," he said, his voice grim, before the line disconnected.

She clamped a hand over her mouth as her stomach roiled.

Please let me be wrong
, she prayed, fear surging through her.
Please.

"Christ!" Jason swore, snatching his keys from his desk and thrusting his phone into his pocket. "Janet!" he yelled as he jerked his office door open and stepped out. She jumped at her desk and swung her head in his direction, her mouth hanging open. "I've got to go. I want you to call me as soon as we have the warrants in hand. As soon as."

"Yes, sir."

"Tell Alvarez he's in charge of the team until I get back here. I want them ready to move as soon as Davis gives us the go ahead. And tell Simon I want that entrance found now." He headed toward the elevator.

"Yes, sir," she called out.

Within minutes, he was in the Rover, heading toward Lillian.

He picked up the phone and dialed another number.

"Yo?"

"Are you certain Tristan hasn't shown up there?" he demanded.

"He hasn't been here. There's no one here but a bartender and the douche one, Steven." Kincaid huffed. "Steve-o. Stephan. What the fuck ever his name is."

"You're absolutely positive?"

"Goddamn, Ames. Yes, I'm sure. He. Hasn't. Been. Here. You are worse than a–"

"Son of a bitch," Jason swore, cutting him off. "Call me as soon as he shows up, Kincaid."

"Yeah, yeah. Been there, said that, Ames."

Jason cursed and ended the call before dialing Lillian's number.

"He has his cell turned off," she said as soon as she answered. She sounded panicked. "I've tried to call him, but I can't…he's not answering. Oh God, I should have known that he was going to do this. How could I be so
stupid
?"

"Breathe, Lillian," he encouraged, silently cursing Tristan for turning his cell off. They couldn't track him with it turned off and the devious bastard knew it. "He's not at the club, okay? Just breathe."

"You're sure?" she asked, her voice quivering as she inhaled sharply and then exhaled.

"I'm sure, doll. He's not there. Try to stay calm and wait for me, okay? I'll be there as soon as I can." He didn't have the heart to tell her he had a feeling he knew where Tristan was.

"Please hurry," she whispered before ending the call.

He accelerated, weaving through traffic at twice the legal speed. He dialed again, really friggin' grateful for blue-tooth. "Warner? I need your help, buddy. We're looking for a 2014 Dodge Viper SRT, black in color. It's registered to Tristan Riley." He rattled off the tag number. "Find me that fucking car."