"I'm Trent Donovan," he said to her, then reached for her arm. "I'll get you inside safely."

Devlin and Trent, along with two other guys who'd come out of the SUVs, made a circle around her and Ben and led them into a side employee entrance of the hotel. They walked fast down a flight of stairs, then through a short hall where they boarded the freight elevator. The men stayed around them in a tight circle and Ben held her hand with a death grip.

Their room was on the very top floor, all the way down the end of the hall next to another exit door. Trent swiped the card through the lock, but she and Ben weren't immediately allowed inside. The two other guys went in first, then came out with stoic looks on their faces, small devices in their hands with green lights flashing across the top bar.

"It's clear," the light complexioned guy with the sprinkle of freckles over his nose said. That was the only normal looking trait this guy had. His head was completely bald, his eyes an eerie shade of...gold? She probably would have deduced they were hazel if she wasn't so tired and overwhelmed by hit men and going into hiding.

The second guy was of the same big build as the rest of them, his eyes dark and ominous, his skin a tawny shade that, along with his ink black hair, gave her the impression he was of Latino descent. She was sure they'd said their names at some point, or maybe not. Maybe they were so secretive that they weren't supposed to tell her their names. But Trent and Devlin had. They were Ben's relatives she thought. At any rate, her mind was whirling with facts and accusations and limitations and possibilities. Her legs wobbled when she walked and she felt at any minute she'd collapse and embarra.s.s herself in the midst of all this mess.

"Come on inside," Ben told her. Then he placed a hand at the small of her back for support. Again, he seemed to know what she needed and offered it without question.

"Rio's going down to get some food. Burgers and fries good?" Trent asked, looking at her.

Victoria nodded, then spoke. "That's fine." Then she looked around the room. "There are too many doors," she said absently.

Trent nodded toward the doors as he spoke. "Bathroom, clothes closet, utilities closet-ironing board, etc.-adjoining room door. We booked both rooms so you don't have to worry about nosy neighbors."

"Oh," she replied, then felt foolish for noticing in the first place.

"So what happened?" Ben asked the moment the door closed behind the one named Rio, the Latino one.

The freckled one-Devlin called him Ace when he gave him his a.s.signment-stood outside the door on guard. Trent had gone to the window, drawing the curtains closed before sitting on the edge of the table. Devlin stood in the middle of the room, arms folded over his chest like he was some type of super hero.

"Radcliffe wasn't impressed by what I had to say," Trent told Ben. "He denied everything, then threw me out of his office. But my bug had already been planted. Not ten minutes after I left he used his cellphone to call Vega. Dev had already run a skip trace on his phone and linked it to our mainframe at the office. The call is recorded."

"Sonofab.i.t.c.h!" Ben cursed, walking across the room with his back turned to them all. "I should have said something sooner."

"And you would have been dead sooner," Dev replied without hesitation. "Or at least they would have come after you sooner. You're the justice guy, so it stands to reason you wanted proof first."

Trent nodded. "He's right, Ben. Don't beat yourself up about this. You played the hand you were dealt. Without concrete proof against Vega you knew he'd walk again. Keeping quiet kept you alive longer."

"And now what?" Ben yelled, spinning around to face them. "Now he's after Victoria too! I've involved her when I could have handled it myself."

Trent shook his head, but Victoria touched a hand to his arm indicating she could talk for herself.

"Jules involved me the moment he handed this case down. He was adamant that I take the case, that I be the one to beat you. So I took it. I walked into this with my eyes wide open." Even if what she'd been seeing when she walked into this situation was more along the lines of ultimate victory against the man who just could not stay out of her dreams.

"Really?" Trent said, rubbing a hand over the light goatee at his chin. "Julius Talmadge. He's planning to run for public office, isn't he?"

"Yes," Victoria replied, a bit taken aback by the swift change in subject. "He's already put in his official application to be on the ballot. So he needs this case. He needs a big win under his belt," she said and instantly thought of the erratic way he'd been acting in her office earlier today, or yesterday she figured since it was well past midnight.

"And he's desperate to have Vega jailed before he gets elected?" Trent continued.

"It's a big case for the city," Ben told him. "I had a couple of higher ups give me a call during the first trial. The head of police for one. He wanted to know how I could sleep at night trying so hard to get Vega acquitted."

"Of course the cops would feel that way," Trent said almost absently. He'd begun rubbing his fingers over his chin.

"Not exactly," Dev added. "Didn't Alayna Jonas disappear while in protective custody, which was spearheaded by the police?"

"Correct," Ben said, folding his arms over his chest.

Victoria loved when he stood like that, with his legs slightly parted, his face grim with concentration. He struck that pose a lot in the courtroom and it never failed to arouse her.

"That's why Noah and I were convinced there was a leak," Ben finished. "n.o.body should have known where Alayna was besides the two detectives a.s.signed to take shifts with her and their commanding officer."

"Do you know who they were?" Trent asked.

"Hamlin, the chief, was the commanding officer since this was a political hit. The two detectives were Richley and Alvarez, both veterans of the force. Noah and I both came up dry trying to figure out where the leak was. But knowing there was one is why I didn't turn both the notes over to the cops."

"Where are the notes?" Victoria asked as she'd sat on the side of the bed watching and listening, wondering how all these pieces fit together.

"I have them in my office," Trent replied. "Noah dusted them for prints, came up with none besides yours and Ben's."

"I never gave the police my fingerprints. How could he know they were mine?"

"He matched them to the majority of the prints lifted from your house the night of the attempted break-in," Trent told her.

Victoria nodded, wondering when she'd become one of the victims versus her usual job on the other side of the law. This all seemed to happen so fast and to be spun so completely around her she could hardly breathe. But there was something missing. A huge piece of this puzzle wasn't available to them and until they got their hands on it-or her-they'd still be in danger.

"I think they're all working together," Ben said finally, his voice deep, strong, serious. "There's one circle of corrupt individuals all covering each other's backs. That's how Vega keeps slipping through the system, that's why he can kill and walk away. They're protecting him."

Devlin nodded. "I think you're right."

"The question is why?" Victoria asked, following Ben's train of thought.

"Money," Trent answered. "It is the root of all evil, right? If everybody keeps the other's pockets lined, they can all remain powerful and rich without being caught. I'm going back to my office to start tracking the money going in and coming out of some of these accounts."

"I'll work the computer, map out their political connections," Ben added.

"I'll stay on security. Noah just texted me that he's sitting on your mother's house personally," Dev said to Victoria. "The lovely chief of police will be attending a function with the mayor tomorrow night, so all available officers are on security detail for the convention center, the mayor and the chief."

"Leaving Vega free reign to hunt us down without anybody knowing until it's too late," she added. They were definitely all connected.

"Ace, Rio and I will stay here with you tonight. Tomorrow we move again," Dev said, heading for the door. "Keep the door locked, don't open the curtains and don't answer the phone. If I need you I'll call your cell. You do the same for me," he told Ben, who nodded in agreement.

Rio did some timed type of knock and Dev let him in. Victoria had no idea how the man knew Rio was even on his way up. Then again, he'd probably texted him too since Devlin had continued to hold his cellphone in his hand the entire time they'd been talking.

The food smelled heavenly, and while Victoria wasn't normally a fan of processed take-out, her mouth had already begun to water at the smell of hot French fries and a juicy burger.

"Ace is going to stay at the door. I'll guard the front desk," Rio told Devlin and waited for his approval.

Devlin nodded. "I'll watch the back. Call me when you two are up and ready in the morning," he told Ben.

"We'll be up early. We need some things from our houses if we're going to be gone a few days," Ben added.

Victoria nodded. "I need my laptop and some clothes and I need to call my friend. She's expecting her first baby and if I don't show up for work, she'll worry. I don't want her worrying about me."

"Who is she?" Trent asked with concern. "They might already know about her."

Victoria's heart plummeted. "No," she whispered.

Ben was across the room in no time, sitting on the bed beside her and taking her hand. "She's Grace Ramsey, a.s.sistant DA and wife of Judge Clifton Ramsey."

"d.a.m.n!" Trent cursed. "If Vega figures that out, they're definitely in danger."

"Or the judge is already on his payroll," Devlin commented blithely.

"No!" Victoria protested immediately. "Clifton's not like that."

"Okay, I think that's enough for tonight," Ben spoke up. "In the morning we'll figure out how she can contact Grace without causing too much of an issue. I've known Grace Ramsey for years. She's not involved in this."

Devlin obviously wanted to press forward, but a nod from Trent stopped his idea.

"If anything changes, you call me right away," Trent told Ben, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

The two men stared at each other a moment, and to Victoria it seemed like one h.e.l.l of an emotional bond. They were family, so that would be expected, but this seemed a little more intense, like they both recognized the danger and hated it equally.

"I will."

Devlin walked up to Ben and gave him a very curt nod. "I'll be right out back."

Ben mimicked Devlin's nod and their gazes locked. There was no physical contact, but the bond here was strong too. Devlin would die for Ben and for anyone he cared an ounce about. She could see that in the big man's dark eyes, could read it in the ready-for-war stance he kept at all times. And she couldn't help it, she admired him for that type of loyalty and devotion.

She admired each of the men who would circle around to protect her from a coldhearted killer.

CHAPTER 16.

An hour later, Victoria and Ben had eaten and with more than a little trepidation climbed into the king sized hotel bed. During the meal, neither of them had spoken of the current events. In fact they hadn't spoken much at all. Ben wasn't sure what was going through Victoria's mind and he wanted to get away from what was going through his.

He had no idea how things had become so screwed up. In all the years he'd dreamed of being with Victoria, he'd never thought they would end up like this. In some hotel laying in a strange bed unable to think of anything else but their safety. For that alone he wanted to strangle Ramone Vega.

"I'm not afraid to die," she said, snapping Ben completely out of his own self-pitying thoughts.

"What?"

She pulled the sheets up and flattened her hands over her chest, which he a.s.sumed she was doing by the sounds made. The room was dark as they'd already turned off all the lights.

"I've never been afraid to die. When I saw my father lying on the sidewalk, blood seeping from his chest, the one thing I remember clearly is the most peaceful look had come over his face. He'd never looked like that in life. So I took comfort in the fact that he was in a better place. Then my mother told me that death is as natural as life and that no matter what we did during the in-between time, it wouldn't change the final outcome. My mother's very candid about things like that."

Ben couldn't help it. Despite the subject, he chuckled. "I like your mother."

"Most people do," she said with what he imagined to be a smile.

"I won't let you die," he said seriously. "That's not an option."

"I know this sounds strange considering what I've thought of you for so long. But I won't let you die either, Ben. I just won't."

He reached out a hand, knowing that it would find hers eventually, just as eventually they'd found each other. Intertwining his fingers with hers seemed natural enough. Sliding across the bed to be closer to her did too. When Victoria turned on her side and let her head fall against his shoulder, he prayed that would be a natural reaction for her, one that would last for years and years to come.

It was a couple hours later when Victoria woke up to use the bathroom. She slipped from beneath Ben's warm embrace, hating like h.e.l.l that she had no other choice. Stopping on her way to the bathroom, she peaked out the window, grabbing the curtain in her fists and pulling it apart only slightly. Their view faced the back parking lot. Devlin's black SUV was parked in the same spot as it was when they'd arrived hours ago.

Finally making it to the bathroom, she was washing her hands when she heard the soft hum of a cellphone vibrating. She a.s.sumed it was hers since she'd hung her jeans and t-shirt in the bathroom. It was bad enough she had to put these clothes back on for a second day; no way was she going to sleep in them too. Besides, she and Ben had already been intimate. There was really no need for modesty at this point. He'd slept in his boxers and she in her underwear and all was well. Or as well as circ.u.mstances would allow.

Pulling her pants down from the hook on the back of the door, she reached into her pocket for her cellphone. There were eight text messages. At the sight she remembered her phone had chimed just as she'd gotten out of the car to see Ben on her steps yesterday. Two from Grace and six from an unknown number. Victoria read Grace's messages first. No baby, just wondering where she was. Right. Regardless of what Devlin and Trent thought, she was definitely going to call Grace when it wasn't nearing six in the morning.

She read the first of the unknown messages and her heart raced.

Need to talk to you. In person. Soon. AJ Victoria didn't know anyone named AJ and she didn't recognize the number.

Really need to talk to you. Can't trust anyone else.

He's going to kill me!

That was the last message, the one received just three minutes ago, the one that this time was signed: Alayna.

Alayna Jonas was trying to contact her. Victoria couldn't believe it. Her heart beat so loud she could hear it roaring in her ears. She needed to call her back.

No. What if her phone was being taped?

Maybe she could text her.

No. If this was a setup they could trace her number and find out where she was.

But she needed to talk to Alayna. Or rather she definitely needed Alayna to testify at trial next week. If the girl knew enough to contact her, she must know everything that was going on. For the next few minutes, Victoria paced the bathroom, wondering what she should do.

If she woke Ben, he'd want to call Trent and Devlin and they'd set up some sort of sting that would go in with guns blazing to bring Alayna back. Victoria knew the tone of text messages could easily be misconstrued, just like that of email messages. But she couldn't help but feel the fear reverberating through each message she'd read. Wherever Alayna was and whoever she was with, she was definitely afraid for her life. And Victoria didn't like that at all.

When she'd walked until she was dizzy from moving around in the small bathroom, she put the lid down and sat on the commode.

"Think, Victoria. Think," she whispered to herself.

Seconds later she was switching on the phone, hitting one of her speed dial numbers and waiting for Grace to answer.

Grace was not a morning person, and being pregnant only seemed to make that worse. She answered the phone sounding like there were a couple of frogs in her throat.

"Grace!" Victoria whispered urgently. "It's me. I need you to listen to me carefully."

It took Victoria two explanations before Grace was awake enough to understand what she was saying. At that point, she shifted from groggy sleepyhead to panicked best friend. Then it took another round of explaining to calm her down enough so that she was eventually saying, "I'm on my way."

Now Victoria needed to figure out how she was going to get out of this hotel room without Ben or any of their guards finding out. I should just tell Ben, she thought as she finished dressing and picked up the tube of toothpaste left in the bathroom. Squirting it onto her finger, she tried not to gag as she sc.r.a.pped that finger over her teeth and did a quick rinse and spit.

If she told him, he would want to come with her. Worse, he would want to bring Trent and Devlin with them. That might make Alayna run. After all, if the woman knew who Victoria was and how to get in touch with her, she was sure she knew who Ben was and still had made it a point to contact her instead. That meant she didn't want to talk to Ben. Which meant Victoria couldn't tell him.