Page 88 of Blood Money

“Of course.” No way would he disappoint her by delaying that. He knew how much she wanted him home.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “How much time do we have?”

“None.” Reluctantly he sat up, easing her off him. Beneath the sheets his erection visibly objected.

Noticing the tented sheet, Alex grinned. “Too bad.”

“You have no idea.” Gray smiled back and stroked her cheek. “Another time.” He hoped.

Lt. Frye’s urgent command to get to the office was an omen. Somehow Gray didn’t think he and Alex would be alone for a long time to come, and it had nothing to do with bringing Nicky home. Now that he was trusting his instincts again, the source of his sudden anxiety came from something he couldn’t begin to explain, but it was there, simmering in his gut. Like a shit storm about to rain down on the city.

Right on top of his and Alex’s heads.

Chapter Twenty

At a red light three blocks from the precinct, Gray leaned over and kissed Alex. Not a quick peck on the cheek, but an openmouthed kiss that had Alex’s insides quivering for more. Sadly, the light turned green and minutes later Gray parked in a zone cordoned off for NYPD vehicles.

Before she could reach for the door handle, he rested his hand on hers. “You’ll do fine in there.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath and picked up her pocketbook from the floor at her feet. Her throat was still raw, but at least the goose egg on the side of her head had stopped pounding and the ache in her ribs had subsided to a dull throb. “Talking about yesterday will be the easy part. What I’m worried about is whether IA will still push for criminal charges against me with the DA.”

When she reached for the door handle, her hand shook. Even Gray’s calming presence couldn’t slow her snowballing anxiety. Most of all she wished they’d had more time alone this morning. Her decision to tell Gray everything about Nicky’s father last night had been thoroughly derailed the minute they’d stepped into the shower. She’d been counting on talking with him today, but with the debriefing moved up she hadn’t had the chance.

“After yesterday, it’s doubtful IA will have a leg to stand on where that’s concerned.” He cast her a meaningful look. “Forensics forwarded files that were on the thumb drive you snagged from the barn. I took a quick look at them on my phone while you were in the shower. I didn’t have time to fully evaluate the data, but I can tell already there’s some kick-ass stuff that will have the FBI, HSI, and INTERPOL drooling. After the meeting, we’ll fill IA in on everything you went through. They’ll have no choice but to recommend no charges be filed.”

“I hope so.” Alex hadn’t quite caught all of Gray’s conversation with Dom that morning while she was getting dressed, but she gathered whatever was on the storage device was hot evidence—valuable and unexpected.

“Let’s go.” Gray got out of the car and came over to the passenger side door to hold it open for her. He winked, a small gesture that bolstered her courage.

Ten minutes later, they were seated in the main conference room, along with Lt. Frye, Dom, and the FBI and HSI agents. Gray’s presence in the chair beside her was comforting, but what concerned Alex was the unexpected presence of Detective Simonetti at the table. This was supposed to be a debriefing, the results of which were to be forwarded to IA after the meeting. Not during.

“What are you doing here?” Gray looked at Simonetti, then to Lt. Frye. “We have a meeting with IA tomorrow.”

“I requested to be here,” Simonetti said with a smile that was far too smug for Alex’s liking. “And when I told Lt. Frye the reason, he agreed. He also agreed that it was important enough to bump up your meeting to today.”

Alex froze in the process of setting her bag onto the floor. This can’t be good.

Gray looked to Lt. Frye. “Should we talk privately first?”

“No. You’ll hear it soon enough.” Lt. Frye’s expression was grim, another thing worrying Alex’s stomach into knots. “Let’s get started. First, I want to hear about Alex and Nicky’s safety. Dom?”

Dom cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. His blue eyes were red-rimmed, as if he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. “As we already discussed, Pyramid assassins work mainly alone. I say this because Fatima unexpectedly had a partner. But since both the woman and her partner are dead, it’s likely that no one else in the Pyramid knows about Alex.”

“Can you be sure of that?” Gray asked. “I need to know if she or Nicky are still in any danger.”

Dom shook his head. “I can’t be sure of anything. Normally, Pyramid assassins have their own clients, and their own hits. In exchange for the Pyramid’s technical expertise and resources, individual assassins transmit a portion of their proceeds to the head office. But something about Fatima was different. Her having a partner was a serious break in protocol, and according to what Alex told us, it looks like she may have been planning to break into One PP to slaughter everyone inside.”

The direness of Dom’s words weren’t lost on anyone in the room. Even Alex had a sudden sense of doom that had nothing to do with her own situation. The Pyramid had to be stopped.

“But mass murder is not what the Pyramid does,” Dom continued. “It’s too showy. The Pyramid is all about making money, not mass shootings. Their success is dependent on their anonymity. Taking out everyone in One PP would call major public attention to their existence, which would definitely not be good for business.”

“Where exactly are you getting all this intel?” FBI Agent Will Tanner asked.

“Here and there.” Dom’s cryptic words elicited a frustrated sound from Agent Tanner.

“Moving on,” Lt. Frye said. “Let’s discuss the preliminary information on the thumb drive that Alex grabbed yesterday.”

“When did that report come out?” Simonetti asked. His eyes narrowed to crinkled slits, making him seem even more evil than Alex already considered him to be. “And why wasn’t I sent a copy immediately?”