He glanced at a street sign, estimating they were about a mile from their destination. Breaking the silence, he cast her a sideways look. “A team of agents will be waiting for our arrival,” he explained matter-of-factly. “They have the entire top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel blocked off with special security. They still have nothing on Carlos. He’s vanished.”
“You’ll be there, right? Not just this FBI team?”
The hopeful quality in her voice tightened those knots in his gut a bit more. “I told you I’d get you through this, and I meant it.”
She drew a heavy breath and exhaled, her response cold. “I have the utmost confidence in your ability, Agent Vega.”
Damn, he hated this. He shouldn’t reach out to her but found himself softly saying, “Nicole. I’ll still be near, still be by your side. I’m not going anywhere.”
She didn’t look at him. “Okay.”
Son of a bitch. He didn’t know what to do here. He wanted to comfort her. Hell, he wanted her in his bed. But he also knew what was best, knew she’d thank him later for this. So why wasn’t this easy?
He grabbed the phone and called in, directing the car to the side entrance of the hotel. In a matter of minutes, they were being shuffled to a private elevator. Constantine grabbed Nicole’s arm, wishing he could pull her close, but settling for keeping her within his grasp. They had appearances to keep up now, a jury to satisfy. He also had her safety to consider, and he trusted no one but himself to protect her. He was keeping her close, period.
Standing beside him, staring up at the blinking display of passing floors, she didn’t look at him, but he felt her relax, felt her relief at his nearness. If he did nothing else for Nicole, he made her feel safe. That was something, at least.
His hand never left her arm as they stepped into the hall and traveled to the end of a long corridor. He let her go only when an agent opened the suite they would call home during the trial. He entered directly behind her.
In the center of the small living area, Agent-in-Charge Nelson waited. An ex-military man, he wore his hair buzzed; his suit, pressed perfectly.
He nodded at Constantine, a look of respect in his eyes. “Good to see you arrived safely.” His attention turned to Nicole, and he offered her his hand. “Agent Nelson.”
Nicole took his hand for a brief moment. “Thanks for your help while we were out there,” she said. “How does this all work?”
“There are three bedrooms here. I put you in the one to the left. It’s bigger and nicer. Your boss dropped off some papers for your review. You’ll find them on the dresser.”
“Okay,” she said. “Thanks.”
Nelson continued, “We’ll want you in a controlled environment as much as possible, so only your direct family and people related to the case can visit on a limited basis. I need a list of anyone who might be allowed in, so we can check them out. If they aren’t on that list, they don’t get in. You’ll have two agents, in addition to Agent Vega, at all times.” His gaze flickered to Constantine. “After what happened with Flores, I don’t blame him for not trusting anyone.” He spoke directly to Constantine then. “We arrested him last night. He’s been asking to talk to you.”
“The day hell freezes over would be too soon.”
“Did he say why he did it?” Nicole asked.
“Threatened his family,” Nelson said, giving her a quick look. “But we have procedures in place to handle those things. I suspect we’ll discover it was more about money.”
“Money is a powerful drug,” she murmured softly, and Constantine knew she was thinking about her past. She’d told him how her father’s firm wanted the big billing cases, no worry about what lowlifes they defended. “Can I go to my apartment to get some things?”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. I can have a female agent pick up some things for you.”
“Thank you.” She hesitated. “Now, I’d better get on those papers that Dean left.”
“Let me know if you need anything,” Nelson said.
She inclined her head but didn’t comment, nor did she look at Constantine. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to follow her with his eyes as she left the room.
He focused on Nelson. “Why don’t we have Carlos yet?”
“We’re trying.”
“Not good enough. She’ll never be safe if we don’t get him. He’ll hunt her down to prove a point. That he can get to someone I’ve been protecting.”
“That he can get to you, and anyone near you, like you did him,” Nelson returned accurately.
A muscle in his jaw jumped. “Yes. He won’t kill me. He’ll kill anyone near me. That means she’s in real danger. I’m protecting her, so he’ll want to prove he can kill her.”