Page 70 of A Shot at Love
“Maybe not,” Rick said.
When they both looked to him, he shrugged. “In a twisted sense, it might be brilliant.” He turned his gaze to Ky and narrowed his eyes. “If you are involved, what better place to keep an eye on Gemma than while she’s in your care. A few feigned attempts on her life, a few location switches, and then suddenly, bam! She dies and you can’t be suspected because you’ve done everything in your power to keep her alive. It’s a tragedy she’s dead, but nothing points to you.”
Gemma crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to one side, her lips pulling down at the corners. “That’s just stupid. You just said these phone calls point to him.”
Rick nodded.
“So if they do, then he’d be suspected. That blows your theory to crap.”
“Only if the calls were discovered,” Ky said.
Rick shot a finger at him. “Right. It’s safe to say whoever orchestrated this is going to pin Gemma’s death on you. Especially—” he stopped and cast a quick glance at her.
Gemma knew immediately what he’d been about to say. She turned to Ky. “Especially if you die, too. Because then you couldn’t defend yourself against any allegations or charges. You’d be guilty after the fact.”
The air in the room chilled and Gemma squeezed herself tighter.
“So,” Rick said again, “who hates you enough to want to kill you and destroy your reputation in the bargain?”
*
It was a good question.
Ky stood and walked to the kitchen, head spinning. He grabbed some bottled waters from the kitchen and handed one to Gemma when he returned. A little shock sparked through him when his fingers skimmed hers and by the way she sucked in a fast breath, he knew she’d felt it, too.
“Ritandi is, of course, the name that heads the list,” he said, sitting. “I’ve been a bug up his ass for three years. When I arrested Calafano I could practically hear him screaming.”
“So it makes sense, then, he got to somebody in the bureau, maybe even on your team.”
Ky sighed. “Unfortunately, it does.”
He was still having a great deal of difficulty thinking any of the men he’d handpicked for his investigative team could be involved. He’d worked side by side with these men for over three years. He knew their families, their kids’ names. He’d worked diligently to establish their trust and confidence in him as their team leader. To suspect one of them may be something they weren’t, well, it was hard to imagine.
His gaze lifted to Gemma. She stood opposite from where he sat, the water bottle in her hand, a look of quiet introspection on her beautiful face. He’d give his right nut to know what she was thinking.
And his left one to take her in his arms again and disappear into her.
“Listen kids, I’m beat.” Bannerman rose and stretched. “I’ve been on the road since late last night without any sleep, so I’m heading up. Get me those names and we’ll start fresh in the morning, ’kay?”
Ky nodded.
Rick stopped, kissed Gemma on the forehead and swiped a finger down her cheek as he’d done earlier. “Get some sleep, Cleo. You’re looking haggard.”
It took every bit of control Ky could muster not to drag her away from him.
Gemma stuck her tongue out at Bannerman, and said, “I love you, too, old man.”
With a chuckle, he jogged up the stairs. It was in that moment Ky realized the man would be sleeping in the room next to Gemma’s. The room with one of the king-sized beds.
When Gemma turned her gaze back to him, her eyes narrowed. “What?”
Ky waited a beat. “You and Bannerman?” He cocked his head.
“Yeah?”
Ky just lifted his brow, his question clear.
“Me and Rick? Good Lord, no!”
“You two seem pretty…in sync.”
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
Ky bit the inside of his cheek.
Gemma sighed and rubbed her hands along her thighs. “He’s like an older, totally annoying brother. The kind you love and who’ll stick up for you in a fight, but who you really can only take in small doses because he’s such a pain in the ass most of the time.” She shrugged and added, “We’ve worked together on a few surveillance cases. I told you that the day we met.”
