He understood the move. She’d decided to give him a bit of room, but she wasn’t trusting anyone with her safety—not him, not CTC. She had armed herself with easy access to the .45 and her knife.
“What do you need?” Grainger asked. “Safe house?”
“She wants to track him down and eliminate him.” Noah lowered his voice. “She wants to be bait.”
The sound of drumming fingertips filtered through the phone. “It’s risky.”
“I know.” Noah said. “If you can’t do it—”
“I didn’t say that. If half of the murders they’ve assigned to him are true, he needs exterminating. I’ll pull Rafe, Zane and Elijah.” Grainger paused and Noah could almost hear the man he had once called partner thinking through every conversation they’d ever had. “She must be important.”
Noah’s memories of a flag-draped coffin lingered in his mind, of the woman broken and sobbing, struggling to remain standing. No comparison to the warrior she had become. “She is.”
“Expect the team in a few hours at Chicago Executive Airport. Elijah will want a firsthand look at the crime scene.” Grainger let out a long, slow breath. “You want this done so the feds can prosecute?”
“Not necessarily,” Noah said as he took in Lyssa’s strained features. “I want her safe.”
“You got it. No rules.”
Grainger hung up, and Noah pocketed his cell. He faced Lyssa. “They’ll be here soon.”
“You trust them?”
“They’re smart, savvy and won’t run from a fight,” Noah said. “And they’ve saved my life more than once. Kind of like Jack.”
She shoved her hands into the pockets of her wool coat. “I can’t afford to pay you,” she said. “Everything I made while in WitSec has gone to training and weapons.”
“I owe Jack my life.” Noah gritted his teeth until his jaw ached. When he, Jack and Reid had started out in the Marines together, they’d covered each other’s backs. That had never changed. Once Jack proposed to Lyssa, he’d taken a job stateside. Supposedly safe, to live out his life with Lyssa. He wasn’t supposed to die at the hands of a madman in his own home. Noah would keep that oath. He’d cover Jack’s back this time. “The last thing you need to worry about is money.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank me when Archimedes is behind bars.”
“Or dead,” Lyssa said, her gaze pointed. She pulled a piece of paper out of her bag. “Since Archimedes is obviously in Chicago and found my apartment, we should—”
Noah lifted his hand. “Hold on. You may have had an idea how you want to run this operation, but I’m in charge now. Archimedes has the upper hand at the moment. I want to put him off balance. We do this my way, Lyssa. I tell you when to run, to duck, to jump. I don’t want an argument. We’re switching up the game.”
Lyssa frowned at him. “I let Gil pick my location, set up the meetings. Look what happened to him.”
“I’m better than WitSec. So is my team.” Noah crossed his arms. He’d do anything to keep her safe, even risk her anger. As long as she didn’t run, they had a chance. “Are we in agreement?”
She paused, chewing on her lip. “I keep my weapons?”
Noah nodded.
“If we’re not in immediate danger, then I want input. You’ll listen?”
Damn, she was tenacious. He liked that about her, so he told her the truth. “You know Archimedes better than anyone. I’d be a fool not to take advantage. But I also know a few things about strategy and egomaniacal killers. I get final say.”
Lyssa studied him, her green eyes intelligent and thoughtful. “I won’t stay if I think we’re losing ground. I won’t spend another year in hiding. I just can’t.”
There it was, that small break in her voice, the vulnerability that clutched his heart and squeezed it into submission. He couldn’t afford his emotions to take over, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from these strange feelings that bubbled inside. He shoved the distraction away.
“CTC is bringing in a forensics expert, a computer tracker and...muscle. We’ll finish the job.”
“And what will you do, Noah? Besides try to take over.”
“Me?” He pulled out a small coin and handed it to her. “I play with toys. Put it in your pocket. Keep it with you day and night.”
She stared at what looked like a quarter and held it in her hand, giving him a suspicious glance. “Why give me a quarter?”
“It’s a tracking device. Pretty much unlimited distance. I want to know where you are at all times.”
“So, if Archimedes takes me and kills me, you’ll find my body,” she stated flatly.
Noah clasped her arms, the cheap wool coat scratchy under his palms. He pulled her to him. “Where’s your faith, Lyssa? You showed me enough bravado to go after him. Now you have help. The best there is. We’re not going to fail you. We’ll keep you safe.”
“Jack believed he could protect me from anything. He was trained. Archimedes killed him.”
She shook her head, her gaze falling to the ground. “That psycho found me even when they removed my case from local jurisdiction and took it to the D.C. office. As much as I want to, I can’t believe in you, Noah.” She lifted her chin, her gaze unwavering and honest. “I can’t afford to believe in anyone.”
Darkness had fallen over the city. More shadows, more hiding places. Lyssa crouched in the alleyway across from her apartment, four men at her back. They’d been waiting here over an hour. The temperature had dropped even more. Her fingers twitched. She pulled the coat tighter around her but couldn’t stop the shiver.
“Here,” Noah said, wrapping a soft scarf around her neck and rubbing his hands over her arms. “We’ll get you someplace warm soon.”
“No police,” Rafe Vargas commented from his position just behind them.
She peered over her shoulder. The former Green Beret looked as if he could kill without caring—not unlike Archimedes—except Rafe’s expression wasn’t crazy; it was tortured. The patch over his left eye gave him the look of a pirate, but something in his expression when he’d exited the private plane and taken her hand in his had made Lyssa pause. He wasn’t a killing machine. He was a man who did what he had to do. All these CTC operatives seemed to share that trait.
For the first time in a long time she wondered if they had a chance to get Archimedes.
“Reid is as good as his word,” Noah said. “He’ll call in the murder tonight. Until then, we have unfettered access to the crime scene.”
“He could get fired for not reporting,” Zane Westin murmured behind them. “Especially since it’s Archimedes.” The operative specialized in electronic surveillance, but his bulk made Lyssa wonder at his other skills. He looked nearly as dangerous as Rafe.
“It’ll be obvious the body has been there for twenty-four hours,” Elijah interjected. The forensics expert carried some sort of large case. “Even the county medical examiner could figure that out based on core body temp, much less the FBI task force.” He snapped on his gloves. “When can I get inside?”
“Reid should be here by now,” Noah muttered, glancing at his watch.
Narrow lines of worry deepened