Jamie pointed at her. “And that is the Gabby I remember. Smarts mixed with a dash of snark.”
“I haven’t been feeling too snarky lately. But I knew that Randall was worth a fortune, and I knew that money makes people crazy. But money would be a stupid motive, because I didn’t inherit anything. Believe me, I would know if I was suddenly swimming in millions.”
“Any other motives come to mind?” Ryan asked.
She looked at him—straight at him—and then nodded. “Yeah. And I’m sorry about this one. It’s probably crazy and I don’t mean to bring back memories, but I wondered if someone from the past thinks I’m Felicia—and is annoyed because she’s supposed to be dead. Crazy, I know, but I also read a lot of thrillers.”
Ryan glanced sideways at Jamie, who was grinning right back.
“What?” Gabby asked.
“Not crazy,” Jamie said. “Been there.”
“And you ruled it out?”
Jamie opened her mouth, then closed it again. Then she raised a brow, as if handing the question off to him.
“That means you haven’t ruled it out,” Gabby said.
“We mostly have,” Ryan countered. “But not completely. I’m not ruling anything out completely. Not yet.”
She looked between the two of them, her brow furrowed. “Was my sister a spy?”
“No,” Ryan said. “At least I never thought so until I met you. She was a sweet girl with a sharp wit. I liked her.” He smiled, remembering. “I liked her a lot. For whatever that’s worth.”
“It’s worth a lot, actually.” Her voice was soft, her smile a little watery. “Thank you.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to find out in the long run,” Ryan said. “But the woman I knew was nothing but kind.”
Gabby nodded, then sighed. “It’s weird. I’m not sure if I want the reason behind this to be me or her. If it’s her, it probably means she wasn’t the kind of woman I’d want as my sister. But at least this might end when whoever is hunting her realizes the mistake. If it’s me, I have a perpetual target on my back.”
She stood and stretched. “Can I use your restroom?”
Jamie pointed it out to her, then moved from the arm of his chair to the coffee table so that she was facing him straight on.
“You believe her,” she said, and it wasn’t a question.
“I do.”
“Good. So do I.”
“Pass me her backpack.”
“What?”
“I believe her,” he said. “But I’m not being stupid.”
“Ryan, come on. I—”
“No argument, Jamie. Someone drugged you. And if she’s staying here, I want to be certain.”
She picked up the backpack and tossed it to him. “She’s staying here?”
“If we send her back to a hotel and something happens, neither one of us will forgive ourselves. That’s why I’m looking.” He put the backpack down beside the table. “But I’ll at least do her the courtesy of asking her.”
“Thanks,” Jamie said, then brushed a sweet kiss over his cheek. “I love you.”
“I know.”
A moment later, Gabby came back, her eyes a little red, a little puffy.
“Hey,” Jamie said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Will it?”
“Ryan believes you.”
“Yeah, but he still wants to check my stuff. Go ahead.” She nodded toward the backpack. “Weird acoustics in this place.”
He laughed, but he still checked. Then he handed it to her. “I had to be sure.”
“It’s okay. I like that you’re thorough. Especially if you’re on my side.”
“We are,” Jamie said firmly.
“I’m glad. Because whoever is doing this will just keep coming after me, right?”
“I’m afraid so,” Ryan said. “And here’s the bad news. I think it’s you. Not Felicia. I think whatever’s going on is all about you.”
“Ryan!”
He reached over and squeezed Jamie’s hand. “I know, but it makes the most sense.”
“Why?” Gabby asked. “Why do you think that?”
“Because I’ve been thinking about Felicia. Really thinking about her, and really looking at you. I don’t think she duped anyone. Maybe it was a fair guess before I knew you were you, but now? No. Holding on to the delusion that she’s a spy…” He trailed off with a shrug.
“But—” Jamie cut herself off with a nervous glance toward Gabby.
“What?” Gabby looked between the two of them. “What’s wrong?”
Jamie’s brow furrowed as she looked at Ryan. “But then why did they leave you on the train? You said that supported the theory that the train attack was an extraction.”
“Supported,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t prove anything. And the more I think about it, the more I think I was just lucky. The train was almost across the bridge and definitely over the border by then. And, hell, maybe they wanted a survivor. Someone to go back to Randall and pour salt in his wound. Maybe they were just lazy and thought I’d bleed out.”
He met her eyes. “The truth is, I’ll never know why I survived. Maybe because I was meant to find you,” he added, brushing his thumb over Jamie’s cheek. “In the end the only thing I know for sure is that I did fail Felicia. And holding on to a cobbled-together story that she was a spy is—well, it’s just a bullshit way for me to shed a little guilt.”
He stood up, then shoved his hands in his pockets as he gathered his thoughts. “Maybe anybody else in the job would have failed her too, but I was the guy at the front lines, and I didn’t get it done. With you, Gabby, I will get it done. That’s a promise.”
He turned and met Jamie’s eyes. “And I keep my promises, don’t I, Kitten?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking at him with so much love. “You do.”
“Thank you,” Gabby said, wiping away a tear. “And not to put a damper on that awesome speech, but would you mind telling me how?”
* * * *
“I swear to God, I’m going to find out who the hell is behind this,” Ryan told Jamie. “Even if I didn’t like Gabby, I feel like I owe it to Felicia to take care of the sister she didn’t know she had.”
He’d just shut the door behind Baxter and Gabby. Ryan had intended to send Baxter alone to get the rolling suitcase she’d left at her hotel, but Gabby had insisted on going too.
“I’m glad you believe her,” Jamie said.
“I do,” he assured her. “You never doubted.”
“Blind faith,” Jamie said. “And I doubted a little. I just didn’t like that I did.” She glanced behind her at the door. “They will be okay, right?”
“They will. I have a feeling Baxter will stick close.”
“And then she’ll stay in the suite with us until we can figure this out.”
“That is also the plan,” Ryan said. They’d just finished talking about it. How Gabby would stay with them for the next few days. How Baxter and Ryan would do everything in their power to trace the threat—and eradicate it.