Her expression fell, but she nodded. He watched her stand and grab her bag before entering the bathroom. Once the door closed, he got up.
Pacing the small room wouldn’t give his brain enough space to work out the issues at hand—he needed acres of ranch for that—but a tiny motel room off the beaten path was all he could manage for now.
The shower started behind the door when he paced by. Window. Door. Picture of bear cubs.
As he passed the table, he glared at the laptop. He didn’t understand every detail concerning the spyware on her computer, but Silas told him it was bad and the evil fingers went deep. Whoever had placed it in her system hadn’t yet breached her files containing the genetic editing research she did. But they were close.
Knowing she couldn’t overhear him with the water running, he walked to the window and looked out on the stark landscape as he added his entire team to a group call.
Boone picked up first, and Josiah and Noah clicked in after that.
Silas said, “What’s up? I’m pretty busy cleaning your girlfriend’s computer.”
Ross swiped a hand over his face, battling the word girlfriend. The statement hit home hard. What was Pippa to him?
She was dear to him. Always had been, from the time they met as kids. She was someone he looked forward to talking to and watching her grow her skills on the ranch or with the flyrod.
Landon and Mathias responded to the call, and Ross took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“Ross? You good, bro?” Boone drawled.
“Yeah. I’m thinkin’ about Seattle. I know I said we need to lay a trap there, but now I’m second-guessing that decision.”
“Did something else happen?” Concern came off as a rougher edge to Boone’s voice.
“No. We’re safe for the moment, and I’ve got Roman on my six. But the convention’s a big security risk I’m not sure we’re ready to handle.”
“We’re ready,” Josiah said with conviction ringing in his tone. “We’ve worked bigger venues. Remember the size of that crowd during the riot outside Denver? We handled that shit—we can do this convention.”
He considered all the options. He had to think of Pippa—she came first.
“Let’s talk through every angle. This is our roundtable right now.” An image of them in their white hats, circling the conference table back on the ranch, filtered into his mind.
Josiah sent them a diagram of the conference center, and they discussed areas of concern. They agreed to keep Pippa from her family’s house and to place two unmarked cars on their street in case.
Talk turned to the shootout on the highway.
“I ran that plate you gave me, Ross. Get this—it isn’t even real,” Josiah told him.
He paced to the table, listening for the water to shut off in the bathroom. “What do you mean?”
“Someone created a fake plate.”
“That sounds like a whole other investigation to me,” Noah added.
“But not our problem right now. Did the police ID the men after they were recovered from the wrecks?”
“No word on that as of yet, boss. I’ll keep you updated. Whoever is after Pippa has enough money and resources to hire outside help.”
“Run financials on every person on the list, Josiah.”
“I’m ahead of you. Nothing’s come up as of yet.”
Boone spoke up, “We’re just glad you had Roman with you.”
“Yeah, we’re going to send The Guard a big fucking thank-you barrel of whiskey for their help. If Roman hadn’t been on that road, Pippa and I would be dead. Or I would be and she’d be kidnapped.” His throat clamped off for a moment. He pinched the bridge of his nose and fought through the emotions that statement raised in him.
He couldn’t lose her to these assholes.
“Let’s dig deeper. What else can we find, maybe through her computer risk? I want names. Then every one of you is going to interrogate someone on that list I gave you.”
“Got it, Ross. I’m sending the names to everyone now.”
“Thanks, Josiah.” His tone was steeped in warmth for his team. He started to ask Boone about the possibility of reaching Seattle sooner to scope out the hotel where he’d keep Pippa safeguarded, when the shower shut off.
Knowing she might overhear, he pitched his voice low. “Keep vigilant, men. I’ll be in touch.”
When Pippa opened the door, he was digging in his bag for clean clothes. He dropped his bag of toiletries to the bed and looked up at her.
She’d removed his shirt, and damn if he didn’t miss seeing how it hung around her long, naked thighs. Her wet hair dipped over her shoulders to dampen her clean top. “Shower pressure’s not that great, but the water’s hot.”
He nodded. “I’ll shower in a minute. I need to talk to you.”
Her eyes widened a fraction as she crossed the room. When he caught a whiff of her body wash, his insides gripped with desire.
“Sit down.”
She arched a brow. “I have a feeling this is a standing moment. I think better on my feet.”
“I can relate. Okay, I’ll say it plain. I’m not sure we’re going to Seattle.”
She blinked. “You said you’re going to draw out the person who’s after me.”
“I’m not sure it’s the right move. We’re analyzing the situation, but fact is, you might miss that conference, Pip.”
He expected her to give a stoic nod, the way she always did and always had as a child when told she couldn’t do something.
But she whirled on him, face alight with anger. “No.” She slashed a hand through the air between them. “I’m not missing that conference. There’s a lot riding on my speech. I’m not only delivering hope to an entire room full of people who this subject matters to. I’m giving hope to the world.”
Stunned by the emotion and strength in her voice, he could only stare at her. This was a side of Pippa he’d never seen before.
“This is huge to me, Ross. And you know how important careers are to people like us.”
They were more alike than he ever thought.
He steeled his thighs to keep from going to her and pulling her into his arms. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Because she was city and he was country. She was book-smart and he had common sense. Despite these variations, when he looked into her eyes he saw she was right.
Their core values and their upbringings were only a small portion of that similarity. She’d grown into a strong and capable woman with enough brains to turn him on just as much as the body she’d morphed into. They were both driven…and they were in this together.
His phone buzzed. Still holding her gaze, he brought it to his ear.
“Ross, we need Pippa to sign in. She just received an email I think might be of interest to you.”
Heart in his throat, he hurled himself the few steps across the worn carpet to the laptop. He caught her by the wrist and dragged her to the table. She gulped off a cry of surprise as they stopped before the computer.
“Josiah says to sign in. You got an email.”
Staring at the device, she lifted her fingers and dug them into her hair. He shot a glance at her face and saw fear spelled across her beautiful features.