Page 53 of Beyond the Rules
I got dressed and marched down to the bunker. Tanner was on duty, bent over his laptop, punching the keyboard as if it’d done himwrong.
“Sit-rep?”
“You know how we’ve been monitoring Nina’s accounts from the safety of Phoenix Prime’s super-secureservers?”
“Standard security procedure,” Isaid. “So?”
“There’s been no activity since Nina arrived.” Tanner brought up the account on the big screen. “Until now. This private message just showed up on her Facebookaccount.”
My eyes narrowed on the message.You’ve got forty-eight hours to turn yourself in to me. You know where to find me. If you don’t show up, people you care about will die.If you don’t believe me, check on youremployer.
“What the hell?” My blood smoked through my veins. “Is DimayevthreateningNina?”
“No, he’s not threatening her,” Tanner said somberly. “He’s coming after her with all he’s got.” He clicked on his mouse and brought up the picture of a dark-haired, expensively suited woman. “Do you remember Lina Roberts, the attorney whohiredNina?”
“Whatabouther?”
“Lina is dead, drowned in her pool.” Tanner’s frown deepened. “Her maid found her yesterday. Her death is being investigated as an accident. I’m not sure the findings will hold when the body gets to thecoroner.”
Fucking Dimayev. The guy was slick, so I doubted there were gonna be any obvious ways of linking him to Lina’s death. He was cleaning up his trail. Meanwhile, his wife was probably fish bait in some Russian lake. Nina was the last person who had proof of his crimes. If she was gone, he’d bescotfree.
“If we tell Nina about this, she’ll want to go back to San Francisco and look after her friends,” Tanner said grimly. “At the very least, she’ll want to warn them of the danger. I bet Dimayev is stalking her friends and relatives, not to mention her place, her accounts, everything. The minute she shows up, she’sdeadmeat.”
Dimayev had just deployed adeadlytrap.
“She can’t go back,” I said. “We can’t allow her to leave our line ofsight.”
“Agreed,” Tanner said. “But we can’t let Dimayev kill innocent people. Nina would never forgive herself or us if anyone gets hurt becauseofher.”
Tanner was right and I wasn’t gonna letNinadown.
“Maybe we can use this to our advantage.” I paced the bunker. “Nina’s list of close friends and relatives is short. We may be able to remove some out of the line of fire, her mother, for sure, Mr. Wang, Susie Mae. We’ll put them in protective custody and see if we can catch Dimayev inreverse.”
Tanner’s frown didn’t let up. “Fine, but to do that legally, we’ll need theFeds’help.”
“I’ll call Josh.” I marched to my workstation and sat down in front of my computer. “It’s our best chance to getDimayev.”
Tanner whirled on his chair and faced me. “WhataboutNina?”
“Whatabouther?”
“Think about it,” he said in his most infuriatingdidactictone.
“Don’t…” I clenched my teeth and got my temper under control. “Justtellme.”
“Nina will think she has a right to know about this,” Tanner said. “It’s how sherolls.”
Fuck me. Tanner was right. Nina would be spitting mad if she found out that we kept Dimayev’s message from her. But I’d rather she’d be mad than dead. I wanted her to be safe. Even if I couldn’t have her, every cell in my body was committed to herprotection.
“I’m not letting Dimayev get his hands on Nina,” I said. “It’s not gonnahappen.”
“Me neither.” Tanner’s determination matched mine. “And neither willAiden.”
“We’re in agreement then,” I said. “But this is an operational decision.Mydecision. If things go bad, I’ll take the heat. We’re not telling Nina squat about any of this and she’s staying here, with us, whereshe’ssafe.”
“No arguments from me,”Tannersaid.
“Activate the full team.” I sat down and clicked on my com. “Let’smove.”