Secrets Collide (Bluegrass Brothers)

quick call.”
    “A call? To whom?” Gemma asked suspiciously.
    “I’m in Hollywood. I have connections all over the place. Let me just check out this Detective Greene and make sure he’s clean.”
    "Okay, that’s pretty smart," Gemma said as she nodded her head while Cy walked off a short way to make his call. If only this would end, maybe she could be free of the pressure strangling her heart.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Cy turned and gave Gemma a reassuring smile as he dialed the phone.
    “Happy retirement. Are you calling so late to rub it in that you’re drunk and with some starlet?” his boss’s gruff voice laughed over the phone.
    “Nope. But I did have this cute little number quite literally run into me. In fact, that’s why I'm calling. I’m walking home from the bar when I hear shouting. I check it out and look up onto the side of an apartment building where a woman is running down the fire escape with two professionals behind her,” Cy told his boss.
    “Did you get a good look at them?” he asked, the teasing having left his voice.
    “Sure did. Got a real good look at a tattoo one of them had on his wrist as well.”
    “I’ll be damned . . .”
    “You’ll be more than that. Her twin sister was murdered this evening and she’s holding the reason why in her purse. Her sister is Gia Perry.”
    “Holy shit. Where are you? I’ll send St. John to pick her up.”
    “St. John? He’s just a pup. No, I got her.”
    “You’re retired.”
    “And you can postpone that request with a push of a button.” Cy wasn't going to yield. No one was going near Gemma but him.
    “I have a better idea. You’ll like it; it’s off the books. Take Gemma somewhere with you and keep her safe. I’ll assign the case to St. John and if anyone is looking in the files, all they’ll find is a note about her being in a safe house. They’ll find you soon, though.”
    “I know.”
    “There’ll be a jet waiting for you at LAX. I’ll call around and find a private air strip for you to land on so we can keep this off the books.”
    “No problem. I know just the place,” Cy smiled.
     
    Gemma watched Cy as he made his phone call. Fred licked her hand as she kept glancing around. Something wasn’t right. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was off with him.
    He hung up the phone and she could see him take a deep breath. Did that mean Detective Greene couldn’t be trusted? “What did they say about Detective Greene?” Gemma asked as soon as he started walking toward her.
    “Gemma, those men who are after you are very bad men,” Cy started.
    “I think that's rather obvious, don’t you?” She was starting to lose her patience. He was hiding something and she wanted to know what it was right now.
    “They are professional killers. They won’t stop until you’re dead and whatever evidence you have is destroyed. I need you to come with me.” He was so serious that Gemma just nodded.
    “No. Wait. How do you know that? Where are we going? To the police?” Gemma fired off her questions as they came to her.
    “They are part of a dangerous international criminal ring. The tattoo I saw gave them away. It was a Roman numeral X. I’m going to take you to my hometown in Kentucky. A plane is waiting for us at LAX right now,” Cy grabbed her elbow and started pulling her down the alley.
    “You think I'm going to get on a plane with you and fly across the country to Kentucky? I don’t think so, bud. I don’t know you, and you certainly aren’t a stuntman,” Gemma said as she dug in her heels to slow him down.
    “You’re right about one of those things. I’m not just a stuntman. I’m CIA and I’m taking you into protective custody. No one can know where you are. Not your friends, family, or even the police. These men will be coming after you and I’m trying to give us as much time as possible to find a way to stop them. Now, we have a plane to catch.”
    “Do you think I’m an idiot? I don’t see a badge. I don’t know anything about you. CIA, my ass. What are you, some kind of undercover spy pretending to be a stuntman? Please, that’s so Hollywood.” Gemma laughed as she started to get angry with her rescuer. These tales were just too much.
    “Actually, yes. That’s exactly it. Now, we need to move.”
    “I don’t think so.” Gemma pulled back. There was no way she was putting her life in the hands of a total stranger.
    Bam! The sound of a bullet lodging into the brick building