Deadly Games - Cate Noble [55]
“I wasn’t implying otherwise.” She tugged nervously at the hem of her shirt. His shirt. That she was on the verge of tears deflated his anger.
His gaze took in her bandaged wrist, reminding him that she was the injured party.
Damn it, this wasn’t about what used to be. He was supposed to protect her.
“I apologize,” he said. “You’re right. And I give you my word that it won’t happen again.”
She opened her mouth, then simply nodded. “I’m … going to take a shower.”
“Fine. I need to check for e-mail and phone messages before we leave.”
As Gena gathered clean clothes, Rocco pretended to be engrossed in firing up his laptop. When she finally disappeared into the bathroom, he was left feeling like a tyrant.
Rather than try to analyze why, Rocco got dressed and packed his bag.
While waiting for his laptop to make a secure connection, he activated his cell phone. The phone beeped, the display showing two missed calls. One from Cat, one from Dante. Both left callback numbers.
Rocco called Dante first. Both men were early risers.
“I hoped you’d call,” Dante said.
“What’s up? Are you and Max still in Tennessee?”
“We’re back in D.C.,” Dante said. “I’ve got a couple updates for you. Cat tried to reach you last night. Your nephew left the safe house. Adele thinks he went to meet his girlfriend. We’re trying to trace them by cell phones, but in the meantime Adele won’t relocate without him.”
“Damn it! I’ll kill him.” Didn’t Billy realize his antics could endanger his girlfriend as well? Rocco pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe Rocco needed to level with his sister and nephew—give them a better idea of the danger they faced. “I’ll call Adele. And when you find Billy, I want to talk to him.”
“Actually, Cat or someone else will have to work that. We’ve finally got news on Taz, but it’s not good. He tracked Erin Houston to Springfield, Massachusetts, and has taken her hostage. Taz wants her to lead him to Rufin.”
“Jesus! How is Max handling that?”
“Initially he went apeshit but he’s since been able to monitor enough of Erin’s thoughts to know she’s unharmed. Their connection keeps breaking, however, and Max suspects Taz is drugging her.”
Rocco didn’t understand how the whole head connection thing worked, but he knew he wouldn’t like it.
“If Taz wants Erin to bring him to Rufin, then they’re likely headed your way,” Rocco said.
“We’re setting up surveillance at Rufin’s old location, where Erin last worked with him.”
“Damn. I feel helpless.”
“To a degree, me too. But here’s something else you need to know. The Thai government doubled the reward on your head, which has stirred interest with some of the international bounty hunters. We’ve got reports of one of them nosing around Sugar Springs, looking to pick up your trail. You should think seriously about getting backup.”
“I’ll look into that as soon as we hang up.”
“Then let me give you the last bit of news. From Travis. Minh Tran sent a text to your phone, acknowledging your ‘arrest.’ Said he’ll contact you with a new deadline and instructions. Travis feels certain Minh Tran had your place staked out, probably intended to follow you and grab Rufin before you left D.C.”
“I would have expected as much,” Rocco said. “Did Tran mention anything about Maddy’s fate?”
“Not directly, but Travis doesn’t think Minh Tran is stupid enough to harm Maddy right now. She’s still his only leverage, especially since the attempts on Gena have failed.”
Rocco rubbed his head. “I hope Travis is right. I’ll be in touch.”
After disconnecting, Rocco moved to the small table where his laptop sat. The news that a bounty hunter had traced him to Sugar Springs was worrisome.
He thought about his plan to cross into Mexico. It still seemed the best choice, especially since he and Gena would be using new aliases.
As Dante suggested, it was also time to get help to guard Gena. If Rocco could get her to a secure location in Mexico, he could fly back to D.C. and let himself be spotted there to lure the bounty hunters away from Texas.
Rocco reviewed his mental Rolodex and came up