Lenora Worth - Forced Alliance

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.

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