“I wanted to wait until we had all the information before we called you.”
Mr. Thompson opened his mouth to argue when Kate came around Ash.
“Daddy.”
He hugged her as if he’d not seen her in twenty years. Ash watched, touched by this clear example of familial affection. He remembered those kinds of hugs with his mother and father. He might not seem like the kind of guy who was close to his parents, but he adored them and believed that they adored him. And he missed them every minute of every day, especially at times like this.
He glanced over at David and caught him watching. However, the moment had a different impact on him. David expression tightened and his eyes darkened. And when Ash made the mistake of catching his eye, he immediately turned away.
There was that guilt. Ash had worked for more than a year to ease his guilt, to make him see that the accident was not his fault. But once David made up his mind about something, his mind was made up. There was no changing it.
“Daniel,” Donovan said, offering his hand to Mr. Thompson as he finally released his daughter.
“What’s going on, Donny?”
Donovan gestured for Mr. Thompson to follow him back to the same loveseat Ash and Kate had just abandoned. The five of them took a seat in the small sitting area—after Mr. Thompson called to his wife several times to get her to pay attention to them—and Donovan quickly explained how the program David had designed notified him of a possible intruder and how he got Kate out of the house as quickly and safely as he could.
“We have reason to believe that whoever killed the security guard at your daughter’s bank is after Kate,” Ash said, watching alarm burst across Mr. Thompson’s face at the same time Kate looked down at her hands, resignation clearly written on the curves of her face. “We are working closely with the Santa Monica Police Department to identify this person as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we will be keeping Kate in a safe house we own in downtown Santa Monica.”
Kate’s eyebrows rose. So did Donovan’s.
Normally, in a case where there was some thought that the safe house had been compromised, the target would be housed at the compound. But Ash didn’t want Donovan and Kate to have the opportunity to spend too much time alone. Although they’d be physically alone in a safe house, all the safe houses were wired with cameras, so they were never truly alone. It’d be safer for Donovan. Then, when the case was over, if he wanted to pursue something, Ash couldn’t do anything about it.
“Our safe houses are as secure as this compound,” he assured everyone. “There is no reason to believe that there will be a repeat of what happened last night.”
“What progress are the police making?” Mr. Thompson asked.
“Our liaison with the Los Angeles Police Department, Detective Warren, will be here momentarily to update you,” Ash said.
“You got any coffee?” Mrs. Thompson suddenly asked, gesturing to the cup Ash still held, unconsciously, in his hands.
“Of course.”
Ash stood and made his way to the kitchen, digging a mug out of the cupboards and pouring coffee for her and refreshing his own. He turned to take the mugs back to the living room only to discover Mrs. Thompson had followed him. She was standing practically in his face, only inches from him, a warm smile on her lips.
“You sure are a looker,” she said softly, her eyes moving slowly over the length of him. “Are you married?”
Ash could normally handle himself with women, but this one was about as far from typical as any woman he’d ever met. He stepped back, but there wasn’t much he could do to protect himself, not with two coffee mugs in his hands.
“Veronica?”
She didn’t turn even as Donovan came up behind her.
“What do you say we go back to the couch? I think Daniel and Kate could really use your support right now.”
“Daniel can take care of himself,” Mrs. Thompson said, not taking her eyes off of Ash. “And Kate never liked me. She thinks I’m some sort of gold digger or something.”
“Yes, well,” Donovan began, clearly at a loss. “Sometimes even tough guys need a little comfort.”
Mrs. Thompson sighed heavily. “Oh, alright,” she said, her eyes raking over Ash one last time. “But you and I should have a conversation sometime.”
She took the mug of coffee Ash was holding for her, her fingers purposely scraping against his as she did.
Donovan and Ash both watched her walk away, settling beside her husband and making a great show of offering him a little hug.
“That one’s trouble.”
“Did we do a background check on her when we took the case?” Donovan asked.
Ash shrugged. “Don’t know.”
“Seems to me she would have reason to get Kate out of the way.”
Ash focused on Donovan, his eyebrows raised. “You think she’s smart enough to pull off some of the things this perp has done?”
“She wasn’t terribly smart, shooting the security guard in the middle of a fairly busy street, even if it was late at night. And she would have known about the security measures we placed at Kate’s house. I’m sure Daniel would have told her. Maybe she was just testing it the other night, trying to see what we’d do next.”
“Maybe.”
“Should check her out.”
“Yeah. I’ll get David on it.”
“There’s something else,” Donovan said. “Kate mentioned that her car was broken into two weeks prior to the security guard’s death. On a Monday, just like the night of the attack.”
“Might be connected. Might not.”
Donovan nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“I’ll talk to Emily about it.”
Detective Warren arrived a few minutes later. Ash and Donovan returned to the party and listened as she laid out the evidence they’d gathered thus far, which wasn’t much.
“We believe the perp was trying to place some sort of wire inside the window. We don’t know what the purpose was. It could have been for some sort of camera. Or it could have been for something else.”
Ash saw Donovan take Kate’s hand and squeeze it. He was the explosives expert. He knew what the wire was most likely for.
“We were unable to get fingerprints. The perp was apparently wearing gloves. And we still don’t know what scared him off.”
“In other words, you have no idea what’s going on,” Mr. Thompson announced, clearly and understandably frustrated.
“This is the way it generally goes with these kinds of cases, Mr. Thompson,” Detective Warren said, leaning forward and studying him with an earnest expression. “We are doing the best we can.”
“And what? My daughter remains some sort of target until you figure it out?”
“We’ll keep her in the safe house, safe from whoever this is, until we have a break in the case.”
“Wait a minute,” Kate said, suddenly straightening in her seat. “I have a business party tomorrow night. Ash said I could attend it.”
Detective Warren shot Ash a dark look. “Is that right?”
“That was before the wire was placed on her house.”
“Well, we can’t allow that to happen, Miss Thompson.”
“You don’t understand,” Kate said. “This is important for my career. I’ve already missed several days of work this week. If I miss the party, too, I could miss out on a promotion that they’re supposed to hand down at the end of the month.”
“There are more important things than your career,” Mr. Thompson said.
“But my career is important to me. And I’m going to go back to a normal life when this is all over, right? I deserve this promotion.”
“Kate…” Mr. Thompson said, warning in his tone.
“We can make it work,” Donovan said.
Everyone stared at him. It wasn’t like Donovan to override something a superior said.
“I can attend the party with her. David can hack the security system at the hotel
where it’s being held. And Ash, you could be outside.”
“There are too many people, too many unknowns,” Ash said.
“There were too many unknowns before, but you were okay with it,” Kate said.
“And Emily,” Donovan said, speaking as though no one else had spoken, “you could talk Jack into sending an undercover team. It’s possible the perp might come out of the woodwork if he knows she’s going to be there. He might reveal himself.”
Detective Warren studied his face, hers a sudden mask of thoughtfulness. “It’s possible.”
“But you can’t keep her safe,” Mr. Thompson announced, clearly astonished that they were even considering the idea. “This is my daughter, my only surviving child. You can’t possibly be thinking about making her bait now!”
“It might be the safest, quickest way we can resolve this,” Donovan said gently.
Silence fell over the room for a long moment. Then Detective Warren caught Ash’s eye, as she said, “He has a point.”
He looked at Donovan, wondering how much of this was coming from a need to prove that he was still the strong, unbiased operative he’d always been and how much came from a real desire to end this as quickly as possible. The one made the situation doable, but the other made it extremely dangerous. Gray Wolf never lost a target in its two years of operation. Ash was not prepared to have Kate Thompson be the first.
“Okay,” Ash said slowly. “But we do it my way. No deviation from the plan.”
Chapter 16
Donovan
We spent the entire day going over Ash’s plan step by step, over and over again, just like we’d always done for missions when we were both still Green Berets. It was exhausting, but necessary. The more we reviewed the plan, the easier it was to act on instinct.
Kate curled up on a couch and slept for a while. Her father left, dragging her stepmother behind him despite her clear reluctance to leave. She was even more pleased to meet Kirkland than she’d been to flirt with Ash. And when Joss came in and refused to speak to her no matter how much she badgered her, it became something of a game for her. Embarrassing. If Kate had been awake, he was sure she’d be horrified. Daniel clearly was.
I found myself wondering how lonely Daniel must have been to allow himself to fall into the trap that woman set for him. I hoped he was smart enough to get an ironclad pre-nup.
The new safe house was one I’d spent a great deal of time in six months ago. It was a little house about three miles from Kate’s bank. Very simple, like all the others, it had just a small kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms that shared a bath. I had thought Kate would dislike the place and make some comment about how cheap it all looked, but she hadn’t said a word.
I could hear her in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and going through her nighttime routine. Emily had collected some things for her from her house, for which Kate was grateful. I think she’d forgiven Emily for the kiss she saw her give me. I was happy for that because Kate needed to trust someone right now, and Emily was number one on the list of those I knew she could trust.
I stripped out of my clothes and crawled into bed, exhaustion making my eyes heavy. Tomorrow would be a long day. I needed to get some sleep, but the moment my eyes began to slide shut, I heard the door to the jack-and-jill bathroom open on my side.
“Kate,” I said softly, loving the sound of her name on my lips.
She came to the bed, crawling in beside me. Her hands slipped under the blankets, her fingers dancing on my bare chest.
“We can’t, Kate,” I whispered, gesturing with my chin toward the place where I knew a camera was watching down on us.
“I can’t just lay here with you?”
“It’s unprofessional. I’m on the clock now.”
“But you weren’t earlier?”
I opened my mouth to argue, but I could see the soft lilt to her lips. She was teasing.
“Have you stayed in this house before?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Was it a woman on the other side of that door?” She gestured toward the bathroom. “A scared, lonely woman?”
“I’m not supposed to—”
“You can’t just tell me the person’s gender?”
I groaned. “It was a woman.”
“Did she come on to you?”
I debated the merits of lying to her, but I knew she would know it was the lie the moment it was out of my mouth. And avoiding the question all together was not going to happen because I’d already let myself think about it too long.
“Yes,” I finally said.
“Did you do anything about it?”
“Of course not.” I shrugged the blankets off my shoulders as I sat up. “You really have to go, Kate.”
“Come with me.”
She crawled off the bed, moving slowly, a seductive smile on her lips as she made sure I got a lovely view of the peak of her breast that came with her position on her hands and knees as she backed away from me.
I watched as she walked to the bathroom, pausing in the doorway to wiggle her finger at me. I knew Ash wouldn’t like it. I knew I was walking a path that could take me to utter ecstasy or complete devastation. But I couldn’t help myself.
I got up and followed her, careful to leave my smartphone on the bedside table.
I pushed open the bathroom door and found her leaning against the sink. She’d taken off the light shirt and panties that she’d been wearing, and she was leaning there, her ankles crossed and her arms arranged so that they covered her breasts as her hands rested over her pubic mound. It was the most erotic sight I think I’d ever set my eyes on.
“Was there something in particular you wanted?” I asked, as I leaned against the doorframe, trying to adopt a casual stance when my heart was pounding and my body absolutely ached to touch her.
Her eyes came up slowly, raking over my body like fingernails scraping my flesh.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said softly. “Your hands on my hips. Your mouth on mine. Your cock—”
“That’s pretty specific,” I said, pushing away from the doorway.
“Well, you know what they say. A woman who knows what she wants…”
“They say that?”
“Someone does.”
I approached her, lifting a piece of deep, auburn hair and pushing it behind her ear. I let my fingers hesitate on her jaw, sliding slowly down to her bottom lip.
“I think you’re just a tease.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“Because you have this way of only allowing me to see what you want me to.”
“And that makes me a tease?”
“It does.”
“I think it’s more about keeping a few secrets. Once you know everything, life becomes quite boring, doesn’t it? And you wouldn’t want life to be boring.”
Oh, hell!
I thought I might have a stroke. So fucking beautiful! The way she was looking at me, the way she made my heart pound as if I’d just run an entire obstacle course at boot camp. I wanted her. It was simple and primal. It was almost unbearable.
I ran the back of my fingers slowly along the outside of her arm, watching as it slid over her upper arm, her elbow, sliding down along her slightly out turned wrist. And then I slid my finger inside the palm of her hand, my fingertip caressing her hand while my nail brushed the moistness of her silky lips.
“I don’t think knowing everything is all that boring,” I said, as I moved closer to her, my lips just brushing the outer lobe of her ear.
“Maybe boring wasn’t the right word,” she said on a long sigh.
I moved my finger around, rotated it until she gave a little gasp and I knew I had it in just the right place. She turned her head as I brushed my lips against her upper jaw, her lips puckered as she reached for me. But if she was going to deny me, I wasn’t going to simply give her what she wanted. She’d have to work for it.
I moved closer to her, working another finger between he
r hand and her cunt. She pressed her lips to my throat, her tongue touching me so lightly, so gently, that it gave birth to a groan that got stuck in my throat as I ran my own tongue along the outer edge of her earlobe. I worked my fingers tighter against her, sliding a fingertip over the swollen bud of her clit. She moaned against my throat, the vibration rushing through my flesh to ignite my nerve endings.
“You taste so good,” she whispered.
“I want to taste you,” I said, pressing that finger tighter against her clit so that she would know exactly what I meant.
She made a funny little sound as I kissed her throat, my lips slipping down to her arm, to follow the same path my fingers had followed moments before. I pulled my fingers away and her eyes were bright, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, as I slowly slid to my knees.
“Donovan,” she whispered, the last syllable coming out like a moan, as I gently urged her knees apart.
I kissed her thigh, tugging a little flesh between my teeth before moving on to the next space. That’s how I moved up her leg, a little bit at a time, loving the little sounds that escaped her lips as I came closer and closer to where her hands were still pressed against that place I so desperately wanted to touch. I felt her tense, as I reached the sweet dip between her leg and her beautiful cunt. But then I turned and began again just above her other knee, enjoying every sweet inch of her thigh.
She lifted her foot and rested it on my shoulder as I continued my exploration. I don’t know how I had the self-control to take so much time, but I did, and I was loving every second of it. How long had I dreamed of being here, of being back in the arms of the only girl who’d ever meant anything to me? How long had I imagined her face? How long had I dreamed of her, of this distant chance of being back with her? How many conflicts had it gotten me through, thinking of the possibility of this moment? I wasn’t about to rush it.
I ran my hand over the back of both her hands as I reached the center again. I looked up at her and found her watching me, a dark blush staining her cheeks.
“Don’t be shy, baby,” I said.
“Do you remember the first time you called me baby?”
I pressed my hand to her inner thigh, urging her hips to open a little wider.
COLE (Dragon Security Book 1) Page 26
