Bullseye: Seal

“The FBI? DEA? You’re working with them?”

“What did you say before?” He rubbed his knuckles across the stubble on his jaw. “It’s complicated.”

“But what you’re telling me is that if it was some federal agency trying to trap me, they wouldn’t have sent you out here to protect me from that agency.”

“Exactly.” He placed his hands over her restless fingers. “I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. Can you try not to go off on me? I’m just asking.”

Her gaze shifted to his broad hands covering hers. God, his touch felt good—warm, secure. She nodded. “I won’t go off on you.”

“Is there any reason why these people would think you know something about your father’s business? Did he give you any information? Leave anything to you?”

“There wasn’t much left.” She slipped her hands from beneath his. Unless you counted the bank account on Isla Perdida. The same type of account her father had set up for her mother when they split, the one Mom had been using ever since to fund her lifestyle. Blood money.

“They seized all his assets...and mine.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He drummed his fingers against his glass. “They must think you know something. They wouldn’t contact you, otherwise.”

“They’re sadly mistaken. Do you think I’m in danger from them?”

“You could be.” Sounding casual, Josh lifted his shoulders, but they were stiff, indicating anything but casual.

“Great.” She pushed away the mug of beer. “What was your original assignment? Get close to the grieving widow? Why the pretended interest in the property? Why not just approach me?”

His gaze floated over her left shoulder and she wondered if he’d heard her. Then his attention snapped back to her face. “I thought it might be better to get to know you in a nonthreatening way first. I did shock you with all these revelations, didn’t I?”

“Partly because I thought you were a mild-mannered programmer.” Although there’d been nothing to suggest Josh Edwards/Elliott was mild mannered in any way, shape or form—her gaze skimmed over the powerful muscles on display beneath his shirt—especially form.

“My instructions were to get close to you.” He cleared his throat. “This is a new type of assignment for me, so I wasn’t sure about the best approach.”

His lips twisted into a half smile, and her gaze lingered on his strong jaw imagining for a second what it would feel like to get close to Josh Elliott. Then she flipped her hair over her shoulder and said, “Honesty?”

“What?” The hand holding his beer mug jerked, and the amber liquid sloshed into small waves.

“I said you could’ve tried honesty in approaching me.”

He curled his hands around the heavy, beveled glass and stared into its depths. “You really would’ve been open to a navy SEAL on a secret assignment appearing on your doorstep?”

“It’s not like you were personally responsible for the deaths of my father and husband.” She rolled her shoulders. “Besides, I accepted you when you did tell me the truth, didn’t I? I mean, we’re sitting here sharing a beer.”

He held up one finger. “Ah, that’s because I saved you in the alley, and you were still shaken up. I’m not sure you would’ve been so...accepting otherwise.”

She screwed up her mouth and didn’t bother refuting him. The man in the alley had shaken her up and she hadn’t appreciated Josh’s intervention at the time. Now that she knew Ricky really was dead, she was grateful for his protection. This might be a new type of assignment for him, but he’d caught on quickly.

Digging her elbow into the table, she buried her chin in one palm. “How exactly did the Navy SEALs fit into the raid on my father’s place?”

“I can’t talk about that.”

“Okay, top secret.” She tapped her fingertips against her cheekbone. “What now?”

“Keep your eyes and ears open, and be careful. I’ll be here to look out for you until we can figure out why your father’s associates are trying to contact you.”

“If they tell me anything, I’ll be sure to pass it along to you.”

His dark eyes narrowed. “Tell you anything? Why and how would they have the opportunity to tell you anything?”

As she studied his glittering eyes, a chill touched her spine. In that instant she had an odd sense that she was staring into Ricky’s eyes again. Josh’s expression contained that same single-minded ferocity that Ricky had, but surely, Josh had a passion for good and justice, not evil and greed.

“I mean, if they text me again or, God forbid, call me since they seem to have my cell phone number.”

Josh leveled a finger at her. “You’re not going to run off and meet anyone again, are you?”

“No. I just thought...” She glanced down and studied her fingernails as she trailed off.

“Ricky’s dead, Gina.”

“I know.” A single tear puddled in her right eye. Ricky had died a long time ago.

Josh slouched back in his chair and downed the rest of his beer. “Are you ready?”

She tapped her phone to wake it up, and the numbers of the clock glowed in the dark bar. “My mom’s going to think I had one hot date.”

“If you want her to think that, you need to take a couple of deep breaths. Your face looks—” he touched a finger to her cheek “—tight.”

His fingertip seemed to scorch her, to brand her. She sucked in a breath, and then shook her head. He was right. The events of the evening had taken their toll on her. The fear still had her senses buzzing.

“With any luck, my mother will be sound asleep and not lying in wait to ask nosy questions.”

“Did your mother have any contact with your father after the divorce?”

“Divorce?” She dropped her phone into her purse. “Your sources aren’t very well-informed. My mother and father never divorced, but they had very little contact after the separation.”

“Did they separate after she discovered his business, or did she know his line of work before they married?”

“Top secret.” Her lips formed a thin line, and she dragged her finger across the seam. If Josh, and the US government, didn’t know the details of her parents’ lives, she sure wasn’t going to inform them.

She still had to protect her mom.

Clasping her purse to her body, she pushed up from the chair. “I’m ready to go.”

Josh hopped up beside her and placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her out of the still-crowded bar. They spilled onto the sidewalk, joining the rest of the late-night revelers, stragglers from spring breaks across the country and snowbirds escaping the last ravages of winter in the Northeast.

A few steps later, and a popping noise had the press of people scattering and yelping in confusion.

Gina tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and stumbled off the curb. The cars in the street honked, as people surged into the road from the sidewalk to escape the firecrackers.

As Gina stood on her tiptoes to find Josh, she noticed from the corner of her eye a car peel away from the curb where it had been illegally parked. She turned toward the white sedan, and the back door flew open. A man lurched into the street and made a beeline for her.

Taking a step backward, Gina bumped into someone who wouldn’t budge. She put a hand out. “Excuse me.”