Page 63 of Bare
“You have to protect her.” Her voice was a croak, as if her vocal cords had fallen victim to the glacier slowly overtaking her body.
“She and her fiancé are already in protective custody,” Agent Kemper responded.
“And Christian?”
“He’s safe.”
“Can I talk to my sister?” The need to hear her sister’s voice, to have audible proof of her safety, was as primal as the need to breathe.
“I’m sorry,” Gary answered. “That would compromise their safety.”
Of course. That made sense.
“What about Davis?”
“There’s a team at your stepfather’s house. We won’t let anything happen to your family,” Gary assured her.
But something had already happened. Sage had been threatened, and her family had been forced into hiding. They wouldn’t be safe unless Rosemary returned the laptop. She would do it. In person. Alone. By the deadline. Just like Moresco wanted. She didn’t care about the risks. She would die protecting her family if she had to.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Aleksei asked.
How did Aleksei know there was more?
“He said they would know if the files had been accessed, transmitted, or copied.”
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
Kemper nodded. “That about sums it up. The bureau sent me to get Rosemary and the laptop. The plan is to copy all the data and, hopefully, find something to base an arrest warrant on so they can send a SWAT team in to pick up Moresco before the deadline.”
Aleksei leapt up from the couch. “If they do that, Rose will never be safe.”
Goose bumps rose on every piece of skin where Aleksei’s body had touched hers. If she wouldn’t be safe, her family wouldn’t be safe either.
“I’m not giving my computer to the FBI. I’m not putting my family at risk,” she said.
Gary sighed and shifted his chair a few inches away from the stove. His features were handsome, but he looked weathered and beaten down, as if he’d carried too heavy a burden for far too long.
“I’m not asking you to. I’ve had a bad feeling about this from the get-go. I had the same feeling with the first Moresco op, and one of my best men ended up dead. The tech guys are good, but there’s no guarantee they’ll get into those files or that Moresco won’t know they accessed them. I want to nail Moresco, but I’m not going to risk you or your family. I already have too much blood on my hands.” Gary mopped sweat from his brow with a tissue. “I’m not asking you to give the computer to the FBI. I want you to give it to me. I’ll take it to Moresco for you.”
She rose from the couch, her limbs stiff and shaky. Her family had sacrificed their entire lives for her. Her mother had made her health the focus of her life—attending every appointment, holding her head while she’d vomited from chemo, scrubbing the house and wearing a mask, and staying in an unhappy marriage for financial support. Sage had foregone dating. Sage skipped parties, dances, and weekend trips to stay home with her to watch movies and play board games. Her sister had stripped to pay their bills after Davis abandoned them. Sage had gotten her the experimental drug that had saved her life.
Now it was Rosemary’s chance to rescue her family. Her turn to be the strong one. Her turn to do what had to be done to protect her sister, no matter the cost. She wasn’t going to let anyone else suffer or take risks for her. Not Sage. Not Virus. Not Aleksei. Not Kemper.
This was something she had to do herself.
“I appreciate your offer, but I won’t risk you or anyone else getting hurt. I’m going to take the laptop to Moresco myself, and I’m going to do it alone.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aleksei could not believe what he was hearing. Rosemary had just said she was taking the laptop to Moresco herself, and Kemper was offering to give her a ride, all nice and easy, as if she needed a lift to the goddamn grocery store. As if she wouldn’t be walking into a room full of criminals who likely wanted her dead. That laptop was the only leverage they had, and Rose’s brilliant plan was to walk into the warehouse and hand it over like a deer trotting into a hunter’s cabin.
“You are not fucking serious.”
The words flew out of his mouth unedited. He might have chided Virus earlier for being too direct, but this was not the time to temper his words. This was a shit idea, and he was going to let Rose know it.
Her lovely pink lips pressed into a straight line. “I am absolutely serious.”
“You really expect me to let you go in there alone?”
