Page 87 of Too Guarded to Love

That explained Harlee’s radio silence. “What happened next?”

“Jonathan stomped away from the woman on the horse when he spotted me. He said the Diablos were terminating his contract and he was afraid they were going to terminate him too. I spotted a gun under his jacket and got the feeling I was a loose end he was tying up, so I shot him.”

Linc snorted. “Just when I thought she couldn’t get any more unhinged.”

“As I was running away, two Diablos who had tracked Jonathan to the stables grabbed me and tossed me in the back of a van.” Natalie glanced at the fingerprints on her shoulder. “I pretended to be unconscious so I could listen to what they said. Want to hear what I learned from them before I escaped?” She leaned closer. “The Diablos had Jonathan put a tracker in Olivia that can record through her skin and clothes.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and pulled back from her stench. “I know. Tell me something I don’t.”

Surprise flashed in her gaze. “But do you know that the tracker hasn’t been transmitting video or sound for the past two days? It’s designed to store data on the device in case that happens, and they really want the footage of some technology demonstration she saw at the White House.”

“Olivia wasn’t present for the presentation.” Kane muttered a thanks to God for that. “How did they know about the party plans?”

Scarlett gasped. “Shit. I mentioned it after we discussed Richardson and Chavez’s marriage last week. Olivia was still in the room.”

Nic’s patience snapped. “It doesn’t fucking matter how they know. What matters is they think Olivia has the information they want. In. Her. Body.”

Nic forced his expression into a mask as cool as the temperature in the stairwell as he fantasized about wrapping his hands around Natalie’s neck. “Did the Diablos say anything about an ambush at the airstrip?”

“Yes. I escaped from the van while they were taking part in it.”

“If they wanted Olivia’s tracker so bad, why didn’t they snatch her then?”

“I didn’t catch everything they said, but from what I could make out, that was a demonstration so they could get more footage on the tracker.”

And once they got that tracker out of Olivia, Nic would take pleasure in smashing it into pieces. “That still doesn’t explain why they didn’t take Olivia afterward.”

“Some guy named Ray wants her to operate on the woman who fell off the horse. His new wife is a rodeo fan and wants to see her compete again.”

“Ray is the person who was mentioned in Jonathan's communications with the Diablos,” Edgar said. “We’re working to identify him.”

The reminder teased Nic’s brain, as if he was missing something obvious, but he didn’t have time to sort it out. He was done with this waiting for more intel shit.

The cold, powerful fury coursing through his veins scared him. He didn’t ask for permission. Didn’t care what the consequences would be for his actions. As long as Olivia didn’t bleed out from someone slicing into her beautiful body with a scalpel or whatever harm the Diablos had planned for her, he’d gladly suffer the fallout.

He visualized his target.

Fire.

A V-Strike streamed from his wrist. It hit Natalie in the center of her thigh. Lunging forward, he caught her before she hit the ground and hauled her against the windowpane.

Ignoring Edgar’s reprimand, he gripped both of her wrists in his steel and yanked them above her head. “Tell me, Natalie. What exactly did Jonathan share about my superpowers?”

She quaked as she turned her cheek into the glass. “Some…something about lasers you can’t see shooting out of your arm and leg.”

“Sounds like science fiction, but let’s have some fun and say I can shoot lasers out of my limbs. Do you think they would hurt?”

“Y…yes.”

He squeezed her bruised shoulder. “Would you like to imagine more lasers hitting your body?”

A yelp squeaked from her throat. “No.”

“Who is the threat in the operating room and how do the Diablos plan to get the tracker out of Olivia? Oh, and I’m going to need that code to unlock the doors.”

He wouldn’t need it for the windows though.

Olivia spoke through the mind comms. “Nic, I need you.”