“It has to be her,” Austin insisted. “No one else has any reason to go to these lengths to get Bella.”
Decker met Austin’s gaze with a scowl. “That guy nailed you with half a dozen rounds. Taking Bella back is one thing. Killing you is something entirely different. And laying down bullets so close to Bella is reckless.”
If it was Seaver, judging by the tenacity and ferocity of the men sent, she was getting desperate.
She can’t be happy if she’s dead.
The ugly weight returned to Austin’s gut.
“No more travel,” he told Decker. “Not until a VP is named for the Democratic ticket. And if she gets the nomination, we’ll have to stay put until the election is over. Keep looking.”
Decker gave a nod, and everyone went back to their searches.
The pilot announced their imminent landing and Austin moved to the bedroom to wake Everly. He stood there a minute, watching them both sleep. The air between them had been turbulent since her angry words earlier. Still, he was so grateful. Without Everly…
His mind took an unexpected turn. A troubling turn.
He leaned down and gave Everly’s shoulder a shake. When she opened her eyes, he said, “We’re landing.”
Then he returned to the front and sat across from Decker. “Tell Cooper to look back over Everly’s asset map and search for any enemies she might have had.”
Decker frowned, and his gaze skipped past Austin to the rear seats where Everly was settling in with a still-sleeping Bella. “You think this is someone trying to get back at her?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. All I know is that Seaver is leading nowhere, and no one made any move toward Bella until Everly came onboard. We need to change our point of view, expand our search.”
Decker agreed, and everyone settled into a tense silence as they approached home.
Austin looked out the window as the afternoon sun illuminated the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. But he didn’t see the dense jungle or the sparkling ocean. His mind was jumbled and tangled in Everly’s angry words.
This is not the way to raise a little girl.
Everly might think Bella was at risk living with Austin, but he’d seen exactly what kind of neglect and abuse she would go through at the hands of the Seavers. He’d watched Dawn go through that hell with his own eyes.
Still, he certainly didn’t want to raise Bella in fear. That was the reason he’d done all he’d done—to limit Bella’s exposure to danger.
Which meant making sure Everly wasn’t the source of that danger.
14
Everly splashed cold water on her face, once, twice, three times. She lifted her head and looked at her image in the mirror of her bathroom.
The feel of tingling in her skin and the sight of water dripping off her chin reminded her that she wanted to swim. Or run. She needed some way to get rid of this pent-up frustration. But Austin was on the pool deck, pacing while he talked on the phone. And if she heard one more “Are you okay?” from him, or caught one more distrustful glance, she was going to poke his eyes out.
The man flip-flopped back and forth like a seesaw. And Everly had never liked seesaws, not even as a kid.
She dried her face and tapped the screen of her phone. Still no messages. She’d played with Bella throughout the evening and put her to bed two hours ago. And no one from the team had contacted her yet. Silence meant something. But she wasn’t sure what. They either hadn’t found any more evidence of Seaver’s connection with the incidents on Turks and Caicos, or they had and were following the leads.
“Waiting sucks so hard,” she told her reflection.
She returned to the bedroom in her sleeping shorts and tank. Beyond the sheer curtains, she saw Austin wander past again, wearing a T-shirt and gym shorts, looking much the way he had when she’d stripped him the night before. The thought shot a ripple of awareness through her entire body.
She turned out the bedroom light and moved to a window, where she slowly, soundlessly, opened it a couple of inches to listen.
“I’m so glad the training turned out well,” Austin said. Obviously talking to Connelly again. “I appreciate your understanding. Yes. I’ll download all the data tonight and get back to you tomorrow or the next day to schedule a debrief with you.”
After Austin wandered back the other way, she closed her window. But Decker stepped out onto the patio, so Everly moved to the opposite side of the room, closer to the house, and opened a window there.
Austin disconnected with Connelly and dropped into a deck chair, rubbing a hand over his face. “Please tell me you found something.”