Edge of Danger (San Antonio Security #2)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Time had never moved so slowly. Brax was certain of it.

“One hour.” As if Chance needed to announce it. Like Brax hadn’t looked at the time every few minutes since they’d arrived at the office.

“And Robert knows where you’re supposed to be meeting him?” Tessa asked, standing at Brax’s side. They had been joined at the hip the past two days.

Not that he would’ve complained for anything, since it had been the happiest two days he’d ever spent. There hadn’t been anything in the world but her and Walker.

Mostly her. They hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other since that first night together, which had resulted in two days of jumping in and out of bed.

And the couch. And once on the kitchen counter, but that had been completely spontaneous.

Now, she was more precious to him than ever. He would’ve done anything for this woman who’d become his world. The fact that this would involve putting his useless half brother behind bars was gravy at that point.

He clasped her hand, squeezing once to reassure her. “He does. He said he’s familiar with the area. An old warehouse just outside of town.”

“Why would he be familiar with that?”

“Who knows?” Chance shrugged. “There could’ve been any number of illegal activities going on out there. Gambling, drugs, you name it. Robert isn’t exactly discriminating when it comes to how he gets his fix.”

“What bothered me was how glad he sounded when I told him where to meet,” Brax admitted. “Once he knew it would be an empty place, he seemed relieved.”

“What could that mean?” Tessa looked around the room.

Chance pursed his lips, his brow furrowing. “He’s suspicious, maybe? Then again, somebody who’s left nothing but havoc in his wake for so long is bound to be suspicious by nature.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do whatever it takes to calm him and get him talking.” He squeezed Tessa’s hand again, and the smile she offered went a long way toward easing his concerns for her.

She was handling this like a champ. He should’ve known she would. The pride he felt when he looked at her knew no bounds.

“You ready to make the call?” Chance asked.

She responded with a firm nod, her jaw tight. “Absolutely.”

Her hand didn’t so much as tremble as she punched in Jakob’s number. The phone’s speaker was turned on so they could all hear what he had to say and could coach Tessa through any sudden changes in the script.

Brax caught her eye as the phone rang. You can do this , he mouthed, giving her a thumbs up. She stood a little straighter, nodding once.

“Yeah?” The voice rang out in the conference room.

Tessa lifted her chin. “Jakob Hawkins?”

“Yeah, this is him. Don’t tell me. Tessa?”

“You know my voice?” Her lips pursed.

“I do. Although I never thought you would be the one reaching out to me. What’s this about?”

Her tongue darted out over her lips. “I know where Robert is, and I figured I should pass the information on to you.”

Right, right, stick to the script . Brax nodded, hoping to encourage her.

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, really. I told you before that I didn’t know, and that was the truth. But he’s in town again, and I know where he’s going to be exactly one hour from now. I thought you’d want to know.”

“I got to admit, you’ve piqued my interest.”

“Not so fast. I want a little something for my trouble. You’ve put me through the wringer, and I deserve at least a little something.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Brax prayed this would work.

“A thousand dollars,” Tessa announced, closing her eyes briefly when she said it. Brax had settled on this amount, thinking it was enough to make her sound serious but not so much that Hawkins would balk at the number.

“Sounds good to me. As long as I can get my hands on that loser.” He paused. “Where’s he going to be?”

“There’s a warehouse outside of town. He’s meeting somebody there.” She rattled off the directions as Brax had written them down.

“So he’ll be in the middle of nowhere is what you’re telling me.”

“I’m only telling you what I know.”

“Who’s he meeting?”

Tessa glanced at Brax. “Like I said, that’s all I know. That he’ll be there in an hour.”

“You expect me to walk into a situation without knowing who I’m going to find there? No way, baby. I’m going to need a little more than that.”

Brax shook his head, making sure Tessa saw him when he did it. No way was he going to let this scum set the terms.

“Like what?” she asked. Brax shook his head harder, waving his hands back and forth in a “no way” motion.

“Like you meeting me there.”

Chance held Brax’s arm, signaling him to stay quiet. It was easy for him, wasn’t it? If Luke had been there, he might get it, but he and Claire were at the safe house with Walker.

To his horror, Tessa asked, “And what would happen once you see Robert there, just like I promised?”

“You’d be free to go. I don’t need anything from you but a little bit of insurance. I’m not walking into some empty warehouse without knowing I’m covered.”

Brax vibrated with rage. Was he supposed to stand back and let this happen? How could he live with himself if Tessa got hurt? Or worse. Why would she want to breathe the same air as this scum?

“Okay,” she agreed, and Brax gritted his teeth against the torrent that threatened to pour out. Every filthy word he’d ever learned wanted to make itself heard, plus a few that might not have existed.

“Meet you there,” Hawkins promised before ending the call.

Brax managed to wait until a series of beeps signaled the line had gone dead before exploding. “Why would you do that? Why would you agree to anything he asked?”

Her eyes went wide, her mouth falling open in surprise. “Because he wouldn’t have gone if I wasn’t going to be there. Weren’t you listening?”

“You never let the target dictate the terms, Tessa. I don’t want you going anywhere near him.”

“Do you think I want to be near him? This isn’t something I’m looking forward to, you know.”

“Okay, you two.” Chance tried to get in between them, but all Tessa did was sidestep so she could continue glaring at Brax like he was the bad guy.

“I’ll do anything to keep Walker safe. Got it?” she asked, hands on her hips. “Don’t ask me not to do whatever it takes. If showing my face is going to get Hawkins to relax and believe Robert’s there and he isn’t in any danger, that’s fine by me.”

“It’s a solid plan,” Chance reminded him. “Weston’s already out there with Rick and his guys. We’ve wired the entire warehouse, and you’ll be wearing a wire and recording every word Robert says. The cops will pick up Robert and Hawkins a couple miles from the warehouse. And I’ll be outside watching Tessa. Once Hawkins leaves with Robert, I’ll follow and keep Hawkins from killing him before they reach the police.”

Brax nodded. “Right, right. I know that. But there was a plan in place for this call, wasn’t there? And here we are, going completely off-script. I don’t want Tessa there.”

“You might want to try not talking about me as if I am not here,” Tessa suggested, raising an eyebrow.

He scrubbed his hands over his head, at a loss. “You know it’s not like that. I’m not trying to talk around you or like you don’t matter. If you didn’t matter, I wouldn’t be so against you getting yourself wrapped up in this.”

“Newsflash—” she went to him, looping her arms around his waist “—I’m wrapped up in it. I’ll show my face, Hawkins will trust Robert is inside, and that’ll be it.”

“Come on. We’d better get moving.” Chance motioned for them to follow him outside.

Brax knew there was nothing more he could do. No time. The plan was already in motion. He had to be there before Robert showed up.

They walked outside together, hand in hand. “Listen to me, please,” he urged on the way to the car. “You can’t get too close to Hawkins. Play your part, show your face, then get out of there. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“You promise?” He turned to her, taking her precious face into his hands. She would never understand how important she was. How her well-being meant more to him than his own. Why, if it seemed like he came down too hard on her, it was done out of love.

“I promise.” She covered his hands with hers, smiling. “Hey. After all I’ve been through to be with my baby, to be with him without looking over my shoulder, do you honestly think I’d risk getting killed? Risk leaving him alone? No way. I promise you I will play it safe.”

He kissed her once, firmly, before letting her go. There would be time for everything else later. He could show her and tell her everything she meant to him. How his life had meaning now thanks to her and Walker. How he’d waited so long without knowing he was waiting, because he could never have imagined somebody like her existed.

Somebody so perfect for him. So perfect in general.

As long as she stuck to her word and Hawkins didn’t decide to do something crazy, he’d have the opportunity to tell her everything he held in his heart.