Oh, god.
Horrified, Emma shot Trace a look. “Howard.”
His lips pressed together in a hard line. “See if you can reach him on your phone.”
Running across the room, she grabbed her purse from an accent chair in the corner of the room. Phone in hand, she pulled up Howard’s saved number, tapped it, and waited.
It rang once. Twice. Three times...
“Trace.” Fear rushed through her. “He’s not answering.”
“The perp Trev killed had a burner phone on him,” Sean spoke up again. “Someone had sent him a text with the safehouse’s address. The message mentioned calculated attacks. Plural.”
“Fuck.” Alarm crossed over Trace’s handsome face. “That means—”
“They’re coming for all of us.”
Her brother spoke the words Emma was already thinking.
These men, whoever they were, were coming after them. May already be here. And if Howard was dead...
“Ryker’s aware of the situation. He’s sending us coordinates to a secure location where we’re all going to meet, so keep your phones on you. Get to your agent and get the hell out of there. Now.”
“Copy that.” Trace grabbed his gun and wallet from the nightstand.
“I gotta go. We’re moving Mac to a different floor, just in case.”
“I love you, Sean.” Emma had to say the words.
“I love you, too, Ems. And Winters?”
“Yeah?”
“Keep her safe.”
Trace’s determined gaze met hers. “With my life.”
Emma was shaking her head as he ended the call. “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
She could hear the fear in her voice, but she didn’t care. Shewasscared.
For herself and Sean. For Mac and all the other R.I.S.C. members.
But at the forefront of her fear was the man standing less than three feet away.
Taking a step forward, she shook her head again. “If you got shot because these assholes were coming after me...I’d never forgive myself.”
Trace stalked toward her, an emotional storm brewing in his lasered gaze.
“Baby, don’t you know?” He rested a palm against her cheek. “I’d die for you, if it meant giving you a chance to live.”
Her sharp intake of air seemed to fill the room.
“Why?” She leaned into his touch. “I mean, danger aside, this week has been fun.Reallyfun. But you don’t owe me anything, Trace. You sure as hell don’t owe me yourlife.”
Clenching his fists at his sides, he walked wordlessly to the closet and opened a hidden panel Emma had no idea was even there. Grabbing two of the many guns stashed there, Trace also loaded his pockets with extra ammo and a very large knife.
“One...” He shoved one of the two guns in his back waistband and turned to her. “This week has been a hell of a lot more than justfun.”