Chapter 13

Case ran Nyx through her day multiple times. Her story remained consistent, but he had a feeling she was holding something back. At least she wasn't a practiced liar. He'd dealt with enough of those to last a lifetime. Still, it irritated the shit out of him that she was lying by omission.

He scowled at her, and Nyx's chin went up. Now she was angry, too.

Good. It was only fair.

Ignoring the frisson of heat, Case mentally reviewed the report she'd given. He decided she hadn't struck a deal with Vargas to save her own ass. There'd been nothing evasive when they'd discussed her meeting with the drug lord. When had she started tiptoeing around?

The library. When he tried to pin her down about her research, that's when she'd become vague. Had she discovered something about the treasure? Was that the secret she was protecting? He wanted that to be true a little too much, but something had happened in the library that she didn't want to tell him.

Another thought occurred to him, and it punctured his anger. "Did someone put his hands on you?"

Nyx's chin lowered, and she shook her head. "No! No one even made me feel uncomfortable. Not that way." He must have appeared dubious because she tacked on, "I promise, hon."

He studied her for a moment, decided she was being truthful, and relaxed a fraction. "What aren't you telling me, Fireball?"

"I don't know what you mean." She didn't meet his gaze, looking everywhere except at him. Yeah, Nyx was a terrible liar.

Case felt his temper climb again and worked to rein it in. The fact she was bad at it must mean she didn't do it very often. He needed to get the full story, though, and he didn't want to risk an audience for this discussion.

He took her hand, half expecting her to pull free. Instead, she held on tightly. She was scared, and it wasn't an act. "Come on," he said, and tugged her into motion. She followed him silently.

Leading her through the bedroom and into the bathroom, Case let go of her hand, and put the shower on full blast. "Okay. Let's try again. What aren't you telling me?"

Stepping closer to him, Nyx said quietly, "I found an old cell phone in the library."

With one sentence, she gave him an attitude adjustment. She wasn't omitting details to hide the truth from him. She'd omitted details because he might not have found all the spy gear.

Case ran a hand through his hair. Damn, he was so fucking used to being lied to that it hadn't occurred to him that this was the reason. It should have.

"The battery was dead, but it had a charging cord. This was late in the afternoon and I didn't have much time. I plugged it in long enough to get a little juice. I sent Archer, my boss, an SOS text."

"How'd you get a cell signal out here? I'm guessing it wasn't a satellite phone."

"I didn't get a cell signal. It connected to the hacienda's Wi-Fi."

Case felt a chill go through him. It took effort to keep his voice low and even. "You connected to the house Wi-Fi?"

She shook her head. "The phone did it while I wasn't paying attention. They must not have changed the router password for at least ten or fifteen years. That's my guesstimate on the age of the device."

"It doesn't matter whether you meant to connect or not. If Vargas is monitoring his home network, you were picked up."

"Yes," Nyx said slowly. "I never thought the phone would auto-connect, not after so many years."

It surprised Case, too. As paranoid as Vargas was, he'd have thought the router login would change regularly. If not, then at least when the equipment was upgraded. "How long were you on the network?"

As she grimaced, the water sputtered. "I'm not sure. It took a while to type out the message and longer for it to send, so probably more than five minutes."

"Fuck."

"No one burst into the library or harangued me afterward. They must not have noticed, and I put the phone back where I found it."

Taking her shoulders lightly in his hands, Case leaned forward. "Just because they're not checking in real time, doesn't mean someone isn't monitoring a log after the fact. With the phone as old as you say it is, it's going to stand out. None of the dudes working here are carrying around an antique mobile."

She nodded. "I know. It seemed like a reasonable risk to take, Lurch."

"Case." She stared up at him. "When no one can overhear us, you can call me Case. That's my first name. But only when no one can hear, okay?"

"Understood. Case."

He liked hearing her use his name, and he had to shake off the sensation. "Is there anything else you didn't tell me?"

"No, except—" Nyx paused.

"Come on, Nyx. We're supposed to be working together. What else?"

Another hesitation before she said, "I can't be completely certain the message was sent. The mobile went dead an instant after the progress bar showed complete, but I've never used a dumb phone before."

That was a problem he'd think about later. "You messaged Archer, no one else?"

"Only Archer. He has an emergency number, and he required us to memorize it. I'm not sure I know another phone number without looking it up in my contacts list." Her small smile was self-deprecating.

The water cut out and came on again. "Anything else?"

"No, that's everything, Case. I can probably come up with more details about the patrol if you want to ask specific questions, but I forgot to memorize the path through the house until my escort had me more than halfway back to the room. I'm sorry I missed that opportunity."

Case found himself staggered. She was apologizing for not paying attention to the layout? "It's okay. I can get us out of the hacienda. That's never been a problem. The issue is the wall surrounding the estate."

"I'll do better," Nyx said and there was a fierce note in her voice.

She seemed to need a response. "I know you will."

That cleared her expression and his Fireball beamed up at him. He'd never met a woman like Nyx Templeton before. He wasn't sure there was anyone else like her.

Befuddled, Case reached into the shower to turn off the water and fought off the urge to kiss her.

Nyx stayed on the opposite side of the sitting room from Case and tried to work up some interest in the television. She didn't have much success since he was more enticing, especially with only a towel on.

Washing their clothes in the bathtub had been her idea, but she hadn't considered the ramifications. Case had his towel, and she wore nothing except his fatigue shirt. Something about not wearing any panties while he was half-naked aroused her. Something. As if he wasn't sexy has hell. As if she hadn't been attracted to him from the first instant she'd sat down at his table four days ago.

She focused harder on the TV. Relationships were for after she was finished with school. How many times had she listened to her mom lament not getting her degree thanks to husband number one? How many times had her mom told her to do what she wanted to do in life before finding a man?

Nyx realized her gaze had traveled back to Case and sighed. He tempted her to throw aside all the caution she'd learned watching her mom deal with her exes. Watching her mom handle everything alone because Nyx's dad was off on some top-secret Special Forces mission and gone for six, eight, ten months out of the year.

Besides, even if she wanted to hook up with Case, there were issues. Like the fact he was on an op. He was her brother's best buddy. She was working for the Paladin League. And maybe the biggest nope of all, there could be cameras or mics in the room that Case hadn't found.

It would just be her luck to have her first time filmed by a drug cartel and uploaded to some porn site. Try finding a job with that hanging over your head.

"You're frowning," Case said, dragging her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry. I'm thinking too hard." And that was the truth. It was just that she was thinking about Case cashing in her V-card and not about their predicament. She changed the subject. "Do you think our clothes will be dry in the morning? Damp clothes might be worse than smelly ones."

Case shrugged. "It's too late now."

"Thanks," she said saccharinely. "I realize that." Immediately, she shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be bitchy. My nerves are getting frayed."

He rose and crossed to her. Nyx found herself mesmerized, half hoping his towel stayed in place, half hoping it didn't. Case might have a lean, runner's build, but his shoulders were broad, and he had muscles. So many delicious muscles that she wanted to touch and stroke and kiss and— He sat next to her on the couch and rational thought left her brain. Instead, all she could think about was his tousled blond hair, serious blue eyes, and full, kissable lips.

"What has you on edge?"

"Right now? I can't stop thinking about tomorrow. Someone will be sent to bring me back to the library and I'll have to research historical documents again. What if I don't find anything about the treasure? The odds are good that nothing is there. What does Se?or Vargas do to us then?"

"I don't know." He put his arm around her, cuddling her into his side. "I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you safe, Fireball. Believe it."

For a moment, words escaped her. All Nyx could think about was the warmth of his bare skin against her. She had to give her brain a hard kick. "I do believe it. But today we were separated. It's likely he'll do the same thing tomorrow. If I'm in trouble downstairs, you won't know anything about it if you're up here."

He frowned. After a moment, he said, "Vargas will probably bring you in for an update before returning you to the library. Tell him you can work faster if I'm helping you."

"Why would he believe that?"

"I can read Spanish."

"So can his men."

"Yeah."

Nyx tried to think of an excuse to have Case in the library with her, but it took her full concentration to keep from reaching out and touching him. He had a light smattering of hair across his chest. She wondered how it would feel against her fingers. He also wore a silver chain that landed below his pecs with some kind of Norse-looking pendant at the end of it. No doubt he was so used to his dog tags that it felt strange to not have something on, but he couldn't wear them on a covert op. She was tempted to reach out and touch the pendant. And the skin around it.

"Tell him," Case said slowly, "that I've helped you before and I know what sort of thing you're looking for. That I have experience with historical research."

He also had a light line of hair that started below his navel and traveled underneath the towel tied at his waist. It fascinated her, and she curled her fingers into the palms of her hands before she did something stupid.

"Nyx?"

"Hmm?" She didn't manage to raise her gaze.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you want to untie the towel and climb on top of me." His voice was thick and her head jerked up. His eyes were hot. "I'm willing, but if I missed a camera, I'd rather we didn't entertain Vargas's men."

She stared at him blankly and then the words registered. Nyx felt her cheeks become scalding hot. What did she say? She'd been caught gawking at him. Her own voice was thick when she choked out, "Right. No entertainment."

Nyx tried to ease away unobtrusively, but Case squeezed her shoulder and she stayed where she was. She wasn't sure if it was because he wanted her close or he was worried about some hypothetical camera, but she didn't want distance between them either. Not yet. Even if she was completely mortified.

She better start reciting the reasons she always said no because it seemed she needed a reminder about her goals.