Keeping Her Close Read online

  “I am flattered that you think me important enough to warrant your protection, Mr. Ferreira.”

  “Max.”

  “Max.” Her smile widened. “But you see, I am just a blogger, not a politician or a celebrity.”

  To be honest, I had thought the same thing, but her father was a high-level ambassador who had pulled his weight with the local government. I didn’t know the details and probably wouldn’t care about them if I did. I had always been a results man. Anything even remotely political caused me to break out in hives. Despite my aversion, this ambassador’s pull had caused a frenzy in the department that ended with me tracking down the woman with pale skin in LaGuardia International Airport.

  Not just any woman. Her. Tess Abbott.

  “Some would beg to differ,” I said. “Now, if you will come with us. I have men stationed out the rear exit and a motorcade ready to take you to your hotel.”

  She raised her brows. “Isn’t a motorcade a little excessive?”

  “Nothing is excessive when it comes to your safety.”

  The glass door opened next to us and her friend poked his head inside. “Tess, the cab is waiting.”

  “Thank goodness.” She nodded to me. “Good day, Mr. Ferreira.”

  “But the motorcade—”

  “Follow if you wish, but I must leave now, or I’ll be late.”

  “Late for what?” Vash asked as she disappeared out the door and around the corner of the building.

  “Damned if I know.” It only took a minute for me to recover from the put-down she had given me. “Get the men ready,” I said as I opened the door.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “What do you think? I’m going after her.” I pushed my way through the crowd and hurried around the corner in time to see her get into a taxi.

  “Wait!” I waved my hand as I approached, but it did no good. The cab pulled away from the curb and into traffic.

  “Damn it.” I punched the familiar code into my watch. “The principal has gotten into a cab. I repeat. The principal has gotten into a cab and is heading south toward Grand Central Parkway.”

  “What happened?” Vash asked when he caught up to me.

  I fisted my hands and kicked the side of the building. “Damn it.”

  “Max, you’re scaring me.”

  “She’s gone, Vash.” I said as Roy drove up to the curb in a long, black limo. “And if we don’t find her fast, I’m screwed.” I flicked open the passenger’s side door and slid inside as Vash got into the back. Within seconds we were following the cab, and I was planning on all the different ways I was going to wring that woman’s lovely neck once we caught up with her.

  Chapter Two

  TESS

  The cab driver glanced at me over his shoulder. “Where to?”

  Where to? How . . . American. I glanced at my watch and frowned. “New York University, please. And hurry, I’m late for a meeting.” I fidgeted with my dress until it smoothed out over my legs. That police officer back at the airport had unnerved me more than I cared to admit.

  It wasn’t his words. Lord knows I had dealt with stubborn men before. It was the way he looked at me. Most people I met had difficulty hiding their shock over my white hair and pale skin. While Mr. Ferreira had been surprised, that surprise had been quickly pushed aside for something that made my stomach flutter and my legs weak. The man had the most handsome features, and that hypnotizing smile almost caused me to give in to his wishes. In the end, my pride had won out over my hormones. My father needed to learn that he couldn’t control my life. I wasn’t fragile like my mother and was more than capable of taking care of myself.

  Kami raised his regal brow at me. “We’re going straight to the university?”

  I turned to my best friend and sighed. “I know you want to unpack. I’d love to do that, too. Unfortunately, thanks to the catastrophe in Munich, we are here much later than anticipated. I’m supposed to meet Dr. Mayalla in about twenty minutes.”

  “If you called her and told her about our detainment, I’m sure she’d understand.”

  I pressed my lips together and focused on the trio of wrinkles framing his eyes. Kami and I had been through hell to get here, changing our layover flight at the last minute in Munich when a bomb threat caused the entire airport to shut down. The threat turned out to be nothing, but we didn’t have the time to sit around and wait for things to settle. We rerouted our trip through Augsburg, and then changed planes once more in London before we were finally over the Atlantic.

  Before that we had been staying at a government camp on the Tanzanian and Ethiopian border. We had brought the people staying there food, medical supplies, and sunscreen, but it wasn’t enough. It’s never enough.

  “You have been through much. Some rest would do you good.”

  I waved my hand in dismissal. “There’s no time for rest, Kami. Dr. Mayalla is expecting us. I have notes and care packages from her extended family in Tanzania and am sure she is anxious to see them.”

  He visibly relaxed. “If I may make a suggestion—”

  “No, you may not.” I leaned back in my seat and offered an encouraging smile. “I’m sure she would be understanding, but you know how much I hate being around people. I won’t be able to fully relax until this meet-and-greet is finished.” I hated talking to people face-to-face and preferred the privacy of my computer. My popularity had grown quite a lot in the past two years, however, and I found that lectures like the one I was scheduled to give this week brought more money and focus to my causes than blogging alone. Despite this, I still craved the dimly lit bedroom of my flat back in London. There, no one stared at my odd-looking eyes or asked me questions about my skin color. There, I was safe.

  “You don’t have to come with me,” I said after a few moments. “We can meet up for dinner later instead.”

  Kami shook his head. “If even a fraction of what those cops back there said was true, then you’re going to need someone to look out for you.”

  I closed my eyes as weariness washed over me. “I’m sure my father is just being overprotective, again. If it was up to him, I never would have traveled to Africa in the first place.”

  “The witch doctors—”

  “Are backward thinking idiots with no regard for human life.” I opened my eyes and turned in my seat to face him. “Someone has to stop them from killing those poor children and selling their body parts as medicine.”

  “You know that the local government is aware of the problem and is doing all it can to help. Perhaps if you worked through them instead of trying to do things on your own—”

  “You know me, Kami. I was never really good at playing by others’ rules. Besides, the government’s idea of helping is shipping the poor children away from their families and sending them to other countries.” I shook my head. “Did you speak with your family?”

  “I tried, but you know how they feel about me.”

  “Yeah, I do.” I reached out and held his hand. The old ways still held strong in Tanzania, and it was difficult to change people’s minds. Albinism wasn’t the only thing believed to be born of the devil. Homosexuality was as well. While his parents accepted him, they also knew that his life in Tanzania would be harsh at best. So they had saved up money and sent him to London to attend school. It was at the university where we met, and it was our shared feeling of being outcasts that bonded us together. His tech savvy helped me keep the blog up and running, and his knowledge of Tanzanian culture helped me bring the problems there to the center stage.

  “Are they letting you come home?”

  “No, it is still too dangerous.” He squeezed my hand.

  “And?” I asked as I leaned closer. “What else did they say?”

  He glanced up at me. “They said that your blogs attacking the government have made their lives difficult. People no longer trust them.”

  I let go of his hand. Kami’s parents had tried to help our cause as much as possible from their p
ositions in the Tanzanian government, but in many cases their hands were tied by local politics. “I’m sorry, Kami. You know I’d do anything for them, but I can’t stop speaking the truth. This is too important.”

  “I know. I just wish you’d be more careful. Your bold words will only bring you trouble.”

  I smiled reassuringly at him. “I was careful in Tanzania, if you remember, but we are far away from that place now. You can relax.”

  “You should never underestimate the power of those who wish uphold the traditional way of thinking. Some will go to extreme measures in order to preserve their way of life.”

  I thought about Kami’s words, and about the conversation I had with the sexy cop back at the airport. “My father may be overdramatic, but he wouldn’t act without cause. I wonder what has gotten him shaken up?”

  “It could be anything, really. As a UN ambassador, I’m sure he is exposed to a lot of information neither one of us can see.”

  “True, but—” I lurched forward as the taxi came to an abrupt stop. A loud crash echoed through the cabin and I threw up my hands as I slammed into the seat in front of me.

  I screamed as the windows broke inward, showering us with glass. The taxi spun in a circle and I felt as if I was on an amusement park ride as the world turned upside down and swirled around me.

  Pain blossomed through my head and limbs as I struggled to remain conscious. Everything happened so fast. Before I took my next breath, I was dangling upside down from my seat.

  “Kami?” My voice sounded strained and came out barely above a whisper. I cleared my throat and blinked my eyes. “Kami, are you all right?”

  I glanced at the seat next to me. Kami was strapped into the seat and hanging upside down. Blood trickled down his temple, and it looked as if the seat in front of him crushed his legs. I reached out and shook his shoulder.

  “Kami, wake up.” When he didn’t respond, I shook him harder. “Kami.”

  Suddenly, a face appeared in the window next to me. “Are you okay?”

  It was the sexy cop from the airport. Seeing him first made me self-conscious, then silly. Yes, I probably looked like hell, but this wasn’t the time or place to worry about appearances.

  “Mr. Ferreira.”

  “Please, call me Max.” Worry lines creased his forehead as he dipped lower on his hands and knees to get a better look at me. “Can you move?”

  I nodded. “I think so.” I did a quick mental inventory. Everything hurt, but nothing felt broken.

  “Wiggle your fingers for me.”

  I did.

  “Can you move your head? Your legs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  I reached for my friend. “Kami.”

  Max frowned. “Vash, you got him?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Max’s friend appeared on the other side of the car.

  Max reached his arm around me.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting you out of here.” He placed his hand on my belt. “Put your hands up by your head. On the count of three, I’m going to undo the belt and pull you out.”

  “Wait—”

  “There’s no time. The car’s engine is leaking.”

  “What about the driver.”

  “Never mind him. Ready?”

  I nodded.

  “One, two . . .”

  Max undid the belt. I grunted as gravity took hold, pulling me toward the pavement. Max caught me before I crashed and then swept me out of the car in a graceful, fluid motion. Before I could blink, I was out of the car and cradled in his arms.

  “It’s leaking gas everywhere,” Vash called out from the other side of the car.

  “Then get back!” Max jogged away from the vehicle and dove behind another car as a deafening boom filled the air.

  “Kami!” I struggled in Max’s arms, trying to get back to the taxi.

  “He’s fine,” Max said as he tightened his grip. “Vash’s got him.”

  I relaxed my muscles as he eased my head down onto his shoulder. Tears poured down my cheeks as the weight of what just happened hit me like a brick wall.

  Max, God bless him, just sat there and held me close, rubbing his fingers up and down my back as all the stress from the last twenty-four hours fell out of me and onto his suit jacket.

  “We have to go,” Max said after a long moment.

  I wiped the tears from my face and looked up at him. “I’m not leaving Kami.”

  “You can’t stay. We need to be gone before whoever sent that car to hit you realizes that you’re not dead.”

  “What?” I forced my fingers to uncurl from his shirt. “No, it was an accident.”

  “That was no accident. I saw the whole thing.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Come on.” He shifted his weight beneath me. “Can you stand?”

  “I think so.” I struggled to my feet. Every muscle in my body screamed in pain.

  “Damn.” Max swept me up into his arms once more. “Where are you staying?”

  “The Jade Hotel. It shouldn’t be too far from here.”

  “You’re not staying there anymore.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Did you reserve the room under your own name?”

  “Of course.”

  “They’ll expect you then.” I glanced around and noticed that we were on a busy city street. Walkers were gathering a half a block away and gawking at the scene. Several members from Gabe’s team were trying to keep them away. Some moved around the parked cars to along the sidewalk, circumventing the cops to take pictures with their phones. During the commotion, Gabe moved away from the wreckage and toward a small sedan parked on a side street in the opposite direction. He set me down on my feet next to the passenger-side door.

  “Hang on.” He took off his suit jacket as he moved to the driver’s side door.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as he wrapped the jacket around his hand. Instead of answering me, he punched the driver’s side window.

  I put my hands over my ears as glass shattered inside the car. Max reached in and opened the door.

  “You’re stealing the car?”

  “Borrowing it. We can’t take the limo.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s compromised. Everything is compromised.”

  “I don’t understand.” I crossed my arms. “I’m not getting in there.”

  “You don’t have a choice.” He nodded back toward the wreckage. “Whoever called out that hit is going to be back to make sure the job was done right. Chances are, when they return, they’ll be disguised as someone you’d trust, like an EMT or cop. Hell, for all I know, someone on my own team set us up. That’s why we need to do something unexpected. If you want to stay safe, you need to get into the car.”

  “But you’re stealing.”

  “We can discuss my morality later.” He brushed the glass off the seat with his jacket and hit the button to unlock the driver’s side door. “Get in.” He got in and started fumbling underneath the steering wheel.

  Sirens went off in the distance, as I stood there and wondered what to do. There was a good chance Max was over-reacting, and this was nothing more than an accident. But what if he was right and someone was trying to kill me? I didn’t want to risk my life to find out. I slid into the passenger seat as the engine hummed to life.

  Max let out a long breath and shifted the gear into drive. “You might want to put on your seatbelt.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere safe.” He punched a button on his watch. “Check in.”

  People I didn’t know all spoke in some gibberish code as Max nodded and spoke back. Frowning, I glanced down at my hands. They were stained with blood, although whether it was Kami’s blood or my own, I wasn’t sure.

  It was all so surreal. It felt as if my life was spinning out of control. I wanted something solid, something real that I could hold onto and ground myself against this rising tide
of emotion.

  “Where’s Kami? Is he okay?” I asked.

  “They’re taking him to the hospital.”

  “But is he okay?”

  “I don’t know.” Max lowered his arm and glanced over at me as the sedan pulled away from the curb. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why would someone do this?” I shook my head. “This had to be an accident.”

  “I saw the whole thing,” he said. “The car that hit you ran a red light. He sped up as he entered the intersection.”

  “Perhaps he was on drugs or drunk.”

  “Maybe.” I could tell by Max’s voice that he didn’t believe me. “Do you really want to take that chance?”

  “I want to talk to my father.” I pulled out my phone and began scrolling. He was the one who alerted the local authorities and assigned the extra protection. Chances were, he’d be the one with the answers.

  Max grabbed the cell from my hand.

  “Hey.”

  “Don’t call him just yet.”

  “Why not?”

  He glanced in my direction and then returned his focus to the road. “Whoever is after you is not only dangerous, but knows a lot about your schedule. Until we figure out how they’re getting that information, we should consider everything compromised.”

  “You think someone tampered with my phone?”

  “It’s possible.” He hesitated, then rolled down the window and tossed the phone out into the street. Then he took off his watch and threw that out of the car as well.

  “Hey!” I shouted. “What are you doing?”

  “They can track you with the GPS on our phone,” he explained. “My communicator has GPS as well.”

  “How am I supposed to figure out what’s going on if I can’t talk to my father?”

  “You can. We’ll get another phone just as soon as we’re safe.” He turned at the next intersection and slammed on the breaks as we hit a wall of traffic.

  “What are we going to do now?” I asked as he hit the steering wheel in frustration.

  “Get somewhere safe where we can dump the car.”