Page 55 of Serve ’N’ Protect

“Begging the questions, who was in the car with Mansfield and why did they both lie about it?” He continued staring off into the distance as if he were a million miles away.

Beneath her hand, his muscles tightened. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

When he looked at her, his face and voice were as hard as stone. “Six months ago, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia sent a diplomatic pouch to Mansfield through JFK Airport. Normally, a diplomatic pouch can’t be opened by the federal government, even on importation into the United States. But a bomb dog hit on it, so the Port Authority made the tactical decision to break protocol and open it anyway. Inside was a twelve-inch-long, gold-plated, jewel-encrusted knife.”

“So you think he’s the one who attacked you and killed Jack Barnes,” she said, stating the obvious. But it had to be said.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” But the glint in his eyes told her that was exactly what he thought. “He’s also a certified knife instructor and collector. Kade also ran the guy’s import history. In the last ten years, he’s imported over twenty knives from around the world.”

“And you’re going to his place tomorrow at six?” Based on his last words to Kade, that was exactly what he intended on doing. “Can’t Kade and Matt take care of this?”

“No,” he answered in a voice devoid of emotion, one so cold it frightened her.

“Why not?” She squeezed his arm, shaking him, trying to get through to him. “Why do you have to be the one to go? You shouldn’t expose yourself like that, and you’re still recovering.”

Dread sliced into her as she struggled for something else to say that would dissuade him. From the firm set of his jaw and the deadly determination glittering in his eyes, she knew there wasn’t.

A United States Secret Service officer had been murdered in cold blood and Markus left for dead. This was personal. She could no sooner have stopped him than she could have stopped a jumbo jet speeding down the runway. Then a lightbulb switched on her brain.

“You said he worked at the embassy. Doesn’t that mean he has diplomatic immunity? I saw something about that on a TV show. A drunk driver killed a girl but couldn’t be charged because he had diplomatic immunity.”

“He was born and raised here. He’s a U.S. citizen and has no diplomatic immunity. If he did do this, he can be charged with murdering a federal officer and the attempted murder of another.” As if Markus’s words weren’t enough to make her worry, fear curled in her belly as the corners of his lips tipped up in a deadly smile. “That is, if I don’t kill him first.”

Chapter Nineteen

As planned, they’d arrived and parked outside Robert Mansfield’s building an hour earlier than the guy was due to arrive home from work.

Windows in the apartment Mansfield lived in remained dark. According to Kade’s sources at the State Department, the guy was working a full day, despite it being Christmas Eve.

Streetlamps bathed the otherwise dark sidewalk in enough light for them to see their target when he walked the short distance home from the D.C. Metro station.

“How you feeling?” Kade asked from the passenger seat.

“Good,” Markus replied. He was good but still nowhere near 100 percent. He continued scrolling through his phone for a florist in Leonardtown, one that would deliver tonight.

Matt, who sat in the back seat with Ghost, leaned forward between the headrests. “McMurray would shit a brick if he knew you were in the field with us.”

“So don’t tell him.” Markus glanced up to check the sidewalk in case their target came home early.

“Copy that,” Matt said.

Tulips. Daisies. Roses. For the most part, he didn’t know one flower from the next and had no idea what kind Cassidy would like. Come to think of it, had he ever bought a woman flowers? Nope.

“What are you doing?” Kade looked at the screen on Markus’s phone.

“Ordering flowers,” he grumbled, still uncertain of what to buy. It was important that he make the right selection.

“For whom?” Matt leaned in more, shoving his head farther over the front seat so he could see what was going on.

“Cassidy.”

Kade snorted. “I take it this means things are, uh, happening between you two?”

“Yeah,” he muttered absently then caught the gleam in his friend’s eye. “Not like that, so get your mind out of the gutter.”

Matt pointed to the phone. “Get those. The yellow ones.”

“You sure?” Daffodils.