Tainted Evidence (Evidence Series Book 10)

by Rachel Grant

  Josh frowned and pulled the phone from his breast pocket. “That tone means it’s an emergency call from Raptor headquarters.” He ignored the flashing camera and jabbed at the touch screen. “What’s happening, Keith?”

  All the color drained from Josh’s face, and he took a step backward, bumping into a table. “Tricia? But how—?”

  The photographer kept taking photos, capturing the horror on Josh’s face. Maddie glared at the man. “Do you mind?”

  He shrugged and lowered the camera. “Sorry. I’m a photojournalist who got suckered into this job tonight. Whatever is going on with your friend is a helluva lot more interesting than this.”

  It was a cold statement, and she turned her back on him, catching Josh’s words to Keith. “Okay. Keep me posted. I can fly—”

  Josh had shown worry and concern many times in their short acquaintance. She’d been there when he found out he’d been doxed, after all, but nothing compared to his expression now.

  He hung up the phone and said, “The symposium, the one I mentioned before,” he nodded to Cliff. “The one in Indonesia that we talked about.”

  “What happened?” Cliff asked.

  “There was an attack on the hotel. It was a slaughter, apparently. They’re saying everyone—over a hundred people, hotel staff…everyone…they’re all dead.”

  The photographer gasped as the reporter by his side pulled out her cell phone. “Mr. Warner, can you tell me what symposium you’re talking about?”

  “You were supposed to go to that, weren’t you?” Maddie asked, ignoring the reporter.

  “Yes.” Josh closed his eyes and looked as close to breaking as Maddie had ever seen him. “Tricia Rooks went in my place.”

  12

  Josh paced a small office that was just down the hall from the ballroom. Maddie had dragged him out of the room before he could let loose on the reporter and photographer.

  “Let’s head to your house, so you’ll have access to Raptor servers,” she said.

  He nodded. The night had shifted gears with the speed and pain of whiplash. One moment he was meeting Maddie’s brother—and discovered he was the US congressman running for the Senate—then he was offered the job he’d been hoping to land for weeks, and then…

  No. It wasn’t possible.

  “I’ll drop you off on the way home,” he said. “Sorry our date is ending early.”

  She crossed her arms. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.” She stepped forward and grabbed his arms, stopping his pacing. “The date part of our night is over, yes. But let me keep you company. Let me make you dinner. Let me take care of you.”

  Was it wrong that he wanted to say yes? That he wanted to fall apart and let Maddie do the heavy lifting?

  He never fell apart. Not when Owen was injured in Somalia. Not when their coms were shot out in Afghanistan and they had to hike five miles thorough Taliban-held territory to get to the backup exfil point. Not when he was fourteen and his dad beat his mom to within an inch of her life and it fell to Josh to get her to the hospital because Ari—the one with a driver’s license—refused on the grounds that if cops knew what happened, they’d both end up in foster care.

  So why did this feel like a breaking point?

  Probably because in this instance, he was helpless. He couldn’t do a damn thing. Keith would never send him to Indonesia to track down the terrorists who attacked the hotel, not when he had Ava to consider. And Sean Logan was already en route on the company jet to claim Tricia’s body.

  He couldn’t even do that service for his friend. She’d gone to the symposium in his place. Josh should be the one who was dead right now.

  He didn’t harbor illusions that if only he’d been there, it would be different, that he could have stopped the attack. Some of the best security professionals in the world had attended that conference, and Tricia was right there among them. Now they were all dead.

  “Josh? Please. Let me take care of you.”

  He met Maddie’s gaze and gave a slow nod. “Will you drive? I need to make some calls.”

  “Of course.”

  They bypassed the ballroom as they left, and Josh settled in the unfamiliar passenger seat for the drive home. He spent the entire trip on the phone with various coworkers—asking questions of some, and with others, they just shared pained silence before hanging up.

  Tricia had lived in the Virginia compound for the last year. There was a special bond between the group of senior operatives who lived in the compound. They’d all ended up in freshman-type living quarters for their own reasons. Nate, because it was the only job Raptor offered when he transferred from the Alaska compound. Chase, because he’d needed people to watch out for him after the trauma of what happened to him in Alaska. He’d tried living on his own and hated it.

  Josh had moved in when Owen was finally stable and took a job as a trainer that came with housing. Living in the compound, Josh had been able to look after both Owen and Chase.

  Tricia had moved into the compound because she wanted to save money for a down payment on a house. Living in the compound saved a lot of money. No rent. No food costs. No utilities. Hell, Raptor even provided their cell phones and vehicles.

  Trish had joked that the longer she lived in the compound, the more square feet she could afford, and she loved not having to cook or do dishes. She was a social person and enjoyed the communal areas—she was always up for games and movies in the lounge and had been teaching half the operators the fundamentals of tennis on the indoor court. She crushed them all on a regular basis, but Josh had finally learned how to score the game.

  She was vivacious, cheerful, smart as hell, and seriously badass. She’d been a police officer in DC before taking the job with Raptor, and she enjoyed the more even tempo of security work after the brutal intensity of working vice.

  Tricia had plans for her future and was doing everything right to make it happen, and now, she was…gone.

  “Keep me posted,” he said to Nate after a long silence neither of them had a clue how to fill. “And give Leah a hug from me.”

  “Will do,” Nate said. “Take care of yourself, Josh. I mean it.”

  He glanced sideways at Maddie. Had she somehow mind-melded with Nate?

  “I will.” He hit the End button and noted they were only a block from his house. There was no point in making another call, so he tucked his phone in his breast pocket. “Nate wants me to take care of myself.”

  “Sounds like Nate knows you.”

  He managed a faint smile. Apparently, Maddie knew him too.

  They reached his house, and Maddie hit the button for the garage door. Josh deactivated the alarm system with a remote in the SUV. She shut off the engine as the door closed behind them. They were alone at last, but this was nothing like he’d imagined it would be to return here when they’d set out this evening.

  Josh leaned back in his seat and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry this isn’t the date we planned.”

  “And I’m sorry about Tricia, and everyone who was at the conference. Over a hundred people? The scale of that is…unfathomable. A massacre.”

  He nodded. He was having trouble wrapping his brain around it himself. It wasn’t a battle in a war zone. It was a gathering of people in business suits enjoying the cocktail reception on the last night of the conference. Tricia might even be wearing her mermaid gown.

  He closed his eyes. His brain immediately delivered up images of a hotel in flames.

  When he’d talked to Trish about taking his place, she’d made a joke about it being a male-dominated event, and maybe she’d finally meet someone worth her time in Indonesia. She’d found dating difficult in DC—too many men were threatened by her job and badassness, and she would be in a gathering of men in her field.

  “Is there…any hope? Do you know for certain Tricia is dead?” Maddie asked.

  “No. But given what we do know, it’s highly unlikely she survived. They hunted everyone down and shot them, and set fire
to the hotel to draw out anyone hiding in their room. One call made it through to report the carnage, and they witnessed people being shot as they fled the flames.”

  She let out a gasp. “That’s…horrible.”

  He gave a sharp nod. He couldn’t dare hope Tricia had somehow survived. Hope only made it that much worse when the truth was confirmed.

  He opened his door and slipped from the vehicle. He circled around to help Maddie down from the high seat—a hazard of her short stature and the big SUV—but she’d managed on her own and reached in to grab her clutch from the center console. She couldn’t reach it, though. Even in heels, she was too short, so he leaned in behind her, his body pressed tight to hers as he grabbed her bag.

  He’d figured his sex drive was dead for the night, but the feel of her round ass against his upper thighs stirred something.

  She leaned back against him, and he wrapped his arms around her and just held her. A moment of silence and peace.

  He was glad he wasn’t alone tonight, and even more glad the person he was with was Maddie. He pressed his face into her neck, her soft perfume filling his senses. “Thank you for insisting on keeping me company.”

  She turned in his arms and hugged him. They stood there in his closed garage in the open vee of the car door and held each other. It was somehow exactly what he needed.

  Tears welled, and he didn’t fight them. Tricia was dead. She deserved his tears and grief.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  He said nothing, just held her tight and allowed his emotions to flow.

  His phone vibrated. Maddie’s cheek was pressed against it, and she pulled back, ending the moment too soon.

  He was in no shape to answer the call. Tears in front of Maddie was one thing.

  When he made no move to answer the call, she gingerly pulled the phone from his breast pocket. She showed him the screen. It was Keith. “Do you want me to take it?” she asked.

  He nodded. If Keith was calling now, it was important, but he doubted he’d be able to choke out even a greeting.

  She hit the speaker button and said, “Hi, Keith, it’s Maddie.”

  “Maddie. Is Josh available?”

  She met his gaze. He gave a short nod but made no move to take the phone.

  She nudged him back and stepped forward, closing the car door with her elbow before leaning against the side of the vehicle. “He’s listening.”

  He smiled. Her answer was somehow perfect.

  “Great. I’ve got news he needs to hear. We just received confirmation from Indonesian police who were the first on the scene. There were two survivors recovered from the grounds who were transported to a hospital in Jakarta. One of the survivors is a Black woman with blue braids.”

  Josh let out a gasp that was half sob. How many Black women with blue braids had attended the symposium? Odds were, only one.

  “She has a chest wound and possibly head trauma as well,” Keith continued. “She’s unconscious and is in a medically induced coma at this time.”

  She wasn’t out of the woods, but she was alive. There was hope.

  “Thanks, Keith. That means everything,” Josh said, not bothering to hide the emotion in his voice.

  “I know. Trina and I have been crying since we first got word she might be dead, and now we’re crying with hope. Sean will know more when he gets to the hospital tomorrow. We’ve already changed his flight path to Jakarta. If things go well, he’ll be flying Tricia back to DC in a few days.”

  “I want to go to Jakarta,” Josh said. “I can help with the investigation.”

  “No can do. The FBI is all over this one. One of their negotiators is likely one of the dead. Sean will offer Raptor’s assistance, but we don’t want to screw with their investigation. Besides, you need to be there to handle this new contract with Nielsen and to train the volunteers. Rav is really pleased with the initiative you’ve taken there. It’s meaningful work, with the added bonus of great PR for us.”

  Josh nodded, not caring that Keith couldn’t see his response. “Okay, but if things change, I’m the first to go to Jakarta.”

  “Deal,” Keith said. He cleared his throat. “And um…what happened to Tricia brings it all home again, so I’ll just say it: you are my brother in all but blood. Love you, man.”

  Josh also cleared his throat, finding it hard to breathe and speak. Finally, he managed, “You’ve been my best friend for a decade, and we’ve been to hell and back more than once. Love you too.”

  “Trina sends you and Maddie her love too.”

  He could no longer speak, so he just nodded, and Maddie said, “Give Trina a hug from me. I’ll take care of Josh.”

  “Thanks, Maddie. I’ll call if I get more news. Night.”

  Maddie hit the End button and met Josh’s gaze, a beautiful watery smile on her face.

  He took his phone from her hand and slipped it into the back pocket of his trousers. He didn’t want the hard rectangle between them when he held her this time. “Well, tonight has been an emotional roller coaster.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her snug to his chest again.

  She nodded and swiped at the tears that rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t even know Tricia.”

  “And the good news is, you will get to meet her.”

  “I can’t wait,” she croaked in a teary voice.

  Josh kissed her, a soft kiss. Sweet, comforting. Not asking for anything. She kissed back with the same sweetness.

  They drew apart, and he stared into her eyes, which were still wet with tears, and he knew his were the same. She smiled at him, and his heart did a little flip. In such a short time, she’d taken over his fantasies. They’d spoken on the phone every night since they met, and he’d spent his days looking forward to the nightly call. The important moments of each day had been accompanied by planning in his head how he’d tell her about it that night and imagining her reaction. And when he couldn’t wait to share a tidbit, he’d shot off a text and gotten a warm rush with every reply.

  He wanted this relationship to continue. To deepen. To have a partner to face the highs and lows of life together, as she’d been here for him tonight.

  “I’m crazy about you,” he whispered.

  The automatic garage door light chose that moment to shut off, leaving them in inky darkness, robbing him of seeing her face at his declaration.

  She laughed, and then her mouth was on his, and the kiss wasn’t sweet. It was hot and demanding and everything he wanted from her. He hiked up her dress and scooped her from the ground, not breaking the kiss as she wrapped her thighs around him. He navigated the dark garage to the stairs, kissing her every step of the way.

  She lifted her head and asked, “Is that…a gun under my calf or…do you have a tail?”

  He laughed. “Inside-the-waistband holster specially tailored for this tux. In DC, I provided undercover security for a lot of formal political events and needed to carry concealed.”

  “That’s…hot.”

  He laughed and kissed her again. With her arms around his neck and legs wrapped around his hips, it was easy for him to support her with one arm under her ass as he gripped the rail to climb the short flight of steps to the interior door. The garage opened into the laundry and mudroom. He didn’t bother with the light switch as he breezed through with her clinging to him.

  The living room was dark, with curtains closed thanks to the doxing. He made a beeline for the plush L-shaped sofa that faced the fireplace in the large, open-plan room. He set her down, his mouth still on hers as he knelt before her.

  After a long and very thorough kiss, he raised his head and met her gaze in the dim, ambient light. “I want to make love to you.”

  She reached for his shirt and pulled on the tail of his bow tie, then began opening buttons.

  He chuckled and said, “Tell me you want me too.” He wanted to hear the words as much as feel her hands on him.

  “I want you, Josh. I want to feel you deep inside me as y
ou come. As you make me come.”

  He reached behind her and tugged down the zipper of her dress just low enough to loosen the bodice. The cut didn’t allow for a bra, and her full breasts were revealed. He slipped a hand into the top, making the opening wider, then he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked on one while his hand cupped and gently squeezed her other breast.

  She made a breathy noise, and her fingers slipped into his hair, holding him there. He released her just enough to say, “What else do you want?”

  “This,” she said. “Exactly what you’re doing.”

  He switched to the other breast. “Go on.”

  “I want to taste you. I want your face between my thighs, your tongue on my clit. I want you to fuck me, and I want you to make love to me. I want one to blur into the other. I want dirty, and I want sweet. I want wild, and I want sensual. You make me feel all these things emotionally. I want the physical version too.”

  She’d somehow managed to put into words everything he’d been thinking and feeling. He wanted everything she’d described and more.

  He rose to his feet and doffed his jacket and cummerbund, then finished unbuttoning his shirt.

  She leaned forward and said, “Leave it on. Your bow tie loose around your neck like that and your shirt open and partially tucked in, it’s fricking hot.” She opened his fly and freed his cock, stroking him from base to tip, then down again, following her hand with her open mouth and wet, warm tongue.

  He gasped at the suddenness of the sharp, intense pleasure of being in her hand and mouth.

  She tilted her head up and met his gaze. The head of his penis between her lips, she sucked and released him, her lips brushing the tip as she whispered, “This. Is. So. Hot. I never knew a disheveled tuxedo could be so wildly sexy.” And then he was deep in her mouth again, his cock pressing the back of her throat.

  “You look”—he couldn’t hold back a gasp as her tongue ran along the underside of his cock—“so damn hot too.” His view of her mouth on him, the open top of her dress that gave him glimpses of her full breasts and hard nipples, which bounced as she went down on him, was perfection. She leaned forward, moving to the very edge of the couch, her head blocking his view of her breasts, but now he could see her backside with the sexy dress hiked up to her hips. She wore sheer dark lace panties, and he itched to get his hands on her ass again.