Forced Alliance. Lenora Worth

thought you were taking care of things,” Armond blurted, his anger boiling over toward Josie.

      Josie went into tough-chick mode with a flip of those long, tattered brunette bangs. “Hey, I’ve already had a thorough report of the crime scene, and they didn’t find a gun. And we both patched things up to make sure your name won’t come up for now.” She put her hands on her hips and walked straight to the end of Armond’s huge teakwood desk. “I didn’t come out here in the middle of the night to enjoy the view, Mr. Armond. I’m good at what I do, but if you wanna find someone else—”

      “I don’t,” he said, waving a hand to a hovering guard. “I just have to be sure about these things.”

      “We all have to be sure,” Connor said, stepping in. “You need to get out of here. Josie and I think we need to go back into the city to do some footwork.”

      “Unacceptable. I have the latest electronic equipment right here. You can research anything you need.”

      Josie hit a palm on the desk. “Look, Mr. Armond, I know who you are and what you do. That’s not my problem. But if you want my services, then first, you need to pay me my asking price, and second, you need to trust me completely. Stop playing this game of passive-aggressive control. I’ll go out that door right now and leave you and your men here to finish this job.”

      “You leave when I say so,” Armond retorted.

      “You’re not my boss,” Josie replied.

      Connor smelled a fight. Maybe Josie was spoiling for one, but he wasn’t. Not just yet.

      “Hey, we have to stick together,” he said on an easy breath. “You don’t trust me, but remember, I did help you find the Benoit paintings—all three of them. And I haven’t sold you out to the FBI even though they’ve pulled me in, several times.”

      He glanced at Josie, remembering how she’d been in on one of the last debriefings he’d had to endure. “I’m here to help, Mr. Armond. You can still make a clean break by telling us who your partner is. Or haven’t you realized that someone inside your organization is betraying you in a big way?”

      “And that person could easily be you,” Armond replied.

      “Me?” Connor held up his hands. “I don’t like guns. And why would I take out Lewanna? She seemed like a nice girl.”

      “You shut up about Lewanna,” Armond shouted with a finger in Connor’s face. “You’re here because I decided to use your expertise instead of wasting you or maybe before I waste you,” Armond reminded him. “Just remember that whenever you think about walking away.”

      “Nobody’s walking here,” Josie replied, her eyes snapping with annoyance. “We’re here to protect you, and it seems apparent that someone close to you is involved in this. Let’s get over the paranoia and work on getting to the bottom of this.”

      Armond stared up at her, his dark brown eyes burning between insolence and fear. Josie stared right back, her expression unrelenting.

      Armond finally sat back in his big leather chair. “What happens next?”

      Josie stood, gave Connor a relieved glance and then turned back to Louis Armond. “We make a plan to move you. But until then, you stay put with your guards. You don’t let anyone but the two of us in or out of this compound.”

      “Understood.”

      Connor took over. “We go into the city, do our thing with setting you up in a safe place. Look for that missing gun. We’ll question the kind of people the police can’t even begin to find and we’ll get to the truth about who killed Lewanna.”

      “You will report back to me.”

      Not a question, but a demand.

      “Of course.” Connor came to stand by Josie. “I’ll keep you posted.”

      Armond stood and shook his head. “I need a more reassuring guarantee. Before I agree to move, you have to agree to one of my men accompanying you at all times. As insurance, of course.”

      Josie let out a sigh. “You need to trust us.”

      Armond motioned for the giant. “I will, because Beaux is going to be with you. He knows how to make people more trustworthy.”

      Connor and Josie exchanged looks. Beaux was big, really big, and he had a perpetual scowl on his meaty face. He’d be hard to shake. And deadweight in quick getaways.

      “Uh, that’s not such a good idea, Mr. Armond,” Connor replied.

      “Then we all sit here and watch and wait,” Armond retorted.

      Josie let out an exaggerated grunt. “Look, let’s just get moving with this before someone comes after you again. If he wants to tag along, then so be it. I refuse to sit here wasting precious time when I could be out there clearing you of any wrongdoing.”

      She gave Connor a look that could have melted the Remington sculpture displayed behind Armond’s desk. This was not going to be easy. But then, Connor had learned that working with criminals and agents never was. And here he stood caught between two very opposing forces.

      He had a feeling things would only get worse.

      Things got worse in the next second.

      They heard an explosion somewhere deep in the interior of the house.