by Lori Foster
Her physical appeal wasn’t out there and in your face.
It was subtle, something that came from her as a woman, her gentle nature and wounded soul. It was far more potent than a stacked body could ever be.
When the rattle of her water pipes quieted, Logan paced closer to the adjoining wall.
She’d finished her shower.
Closing his eyes, he tried to picture her naked…but came up with an incomplete image. She hid so much from him, every inch of skin from her collarbone to her elbows, her waist to her ankles.
And still, somehow, she turned him on until he almost couldn’t take it. Her outfits were so well suited to disguising her figure that most times he strained his eyes trying to figure out the curves of her body.
Frustration mixed with imagination kept him from sleeping at night, leaving him mostly antsy.
She seemed so starved for company, his company, that it broke his cynical heart and nearly corrupted his convictions.
If he only wanted sex, he could have it.
But he wanted her.
Naked, lights on, hair loose and that special little smile in place…
“Shit.” On edge, he scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, laughing at himself. Any more of that and he’d be prowling his apartment with a hard-on. He had to work it out with her, and soon.
He’d tried things her way. Too many days of sensual torture hadn’t gotten him the desired outcome. Tonight he’d press her, emotionally and physically. Because of his end goal, he’d feel like a bastard, but he’d do it anyway. If it blew his cover, then he’d suffer the consequences, but he had to—
The ringing of her cell phone stilled his turbulent thoughts.
He knew it was her damned brother keeping tabs on her. Calls from Rowdy Yates were the main reason Logan had the handheld audio device; bugging her apartment would have been too risky.
Listening through the thin walls was safer.
Retrieving the audio device from beneath a desk drawer, he put in the earbuds and pressed the receiver to the wall. He missed the first few words of Pepper’s greeting, but he caught her distress right away.
Every call from her brother seemed to cause her grief.
“What if he catches you?” she asked with worry, and then, “It’s entirely possible. Even if I try to keep him here…well, no.”
Logan frowned. What if who caught him? He adjusted the volume and waited.
“Rowdy, listen to me, please.” She lowered her voice but not enough. “It’s too dangerous. Of course I trust you, but if Logan catches you in his apartment, he’ll probably call the police. Then what will we do?”
Rage coalesced, crowding out guilt, pity—annihilating every other emotion. Rowdy Yates planned to break into his apartment.
Bingo, you bastard. I have you now.
Even if he didn’t hear a specific time for this breakin, he’d let Reese know. He’d get things set up in advance so that—
“There’s no reason. He’s just a nice guy.” A pause, and then, “I just know, that’s all.”
Jesus. She thought he was nice? Logan closed his eyes, but that did nothing to alleviate the remorse. Before it was all said and done, Pepper Yates would be badly hurt. By her brother and by him.
In the end, she’d consider him far from nice.
“When you find nothing, then will you let it go?”
Logan held his breath—until Pepper said, “Thank you.”
So she agreed to whatever scheme her brother cooked up? That’s probably how it had gone throughout their lifetimes—Rowdy leading her down the wrong side of the law.
Never mind that she didn’t know he was the law.
“I was supposed to go to his place tonight, but I can ask him over here instead. Yes, I’m sure. I just want it done.”
Logan curled a hand into a fist. Tonight would be the night. After so many dead ends, he should have been relieved, even exuberant.
Instead, he felt the great weight of his conscience and sadness for what he would lose, and for what he never had.
With Pepper Yates.
*
AS REESE STARTED UP the steps to his second-floor apartment, one of his female neighbors came out her door. He paused to give her a smile, a greeting, but she didn’t acknowledge him. She locked her door, checked it twice and went past him as if he didn’t exist.
No eye contact. Not even a quick glance. She avoided him like the plague.
Because for sure, she saw him.
Not like anyone could miss a man of his size. Women teased him about being a hulk. Men walked a wide path around him. He’d been blessed with good genes from the males in his family lineage, giving him height and strength. As a bachelor he had time to hit the gym a few times a week, so he stayed in shape.
Women noticed him, damn it.
But she acted as if she didn’t.
Snooty gal. Alice-something-or-other. Sort of classic looks; baby-fine brown hair cut in a blunt, shoulder-length style, soft brown eyes, very fair skin, average build on the slim side.
He glanced back at her, but she appeared lost in thought as she went out the entry door with single-minded purpose. He’d noticed that about her a few times already. Wherever she went, it was as if she was on a mission. Even when she took out her trash, she did it with extreme focus, as if it took a lot of concentration to get anything done.
It was part of Reese’s nature to size up everyone in the building. Hell, everyone in his area. This particular neighbor didn’t necessarily interest him any more than the others, but male ego deigned that he disliked being ignored. By anyone. He was a friendly guy. Jovial even, damn it.
But he couldn’t be real jovial with a woman who shut him out so completely.
Reese shook his head and continued on to his apartment. It had been a hellishly long day at the station, and he looked forward to a beer, televised sports and a thick ham sandwich. Alice-something-or-other wasn’t worth additional thought.
Arms loaded down with purchases, he got the key in the lock—and heard the maniacal barking.
With a heavy sigh, he opened the door to the destruction of his belongings. The dog, all black with long ears and soft curly fur and a hyper disposition, yowled and barked and whined while running a frantic circle around him.
He left a wet trail everywhere he went.
Great. At least he had hardwood floors. Carpet would have been…no, Reese didn’t want to think about that.
Resigned, he set down the bag and dug out the leash and collar. “Thought I wouldn’t come back, huh?”
Dropping to his back in a submissive posture, the dog wiggled his way toward Reese.
Reese couldn’t help but smile. “I think you’ve already drained your pipes, but we may as well start a routine, right?” He fastened the collar around the dog and attached the leash. After pocketing a few of the plastic bags used for cleanup—a really distasteful idea—he stroked the silky fur along the dog’s back. “Let’s go, Cash.”
With the dog alternately refusing to budge, then bounding this way and that, Reese relocked the door and went back out front. Sweat glued his dress shirt to his skin, heat wilted the tie around his neck, and an old injury set his left thigh to throbbing.
Being more social than Alice-something-or-other, the other neighbors in the building greeted him. One hot blonde flirted, as she always did, but Reese wasn’t dumb enough to bring trouble to where he lived.
Well, except for Cash.
The dog jumped up on an elderly neighbor who didn’t much appreciate it. Before Reese could duly chastise him, Cash charged another dog, only to run out of leash and nearly choke himself. He sniffed every blade of grass, refusing to go, until Alice-something-or-other suddenly returned. Then Cash chose to stare her in the eyes while doing his business.
Great.
Reese figured what the hell, and he stared at her, too.
Even with Cash involved in something so…un-smile-worthy, she smiled at him.
Reese, she
ignored, or at least, she tried to.
Screw that. “New dog,” Reese said to her.
“He cried all day while you were gone.” Direct and to the point.
Great. Why waste time with pleasantries? “Sorry about that. He’ll settle down.” I hope.
She nodded and continued on. Reese saw that she carried a bag of jelly beans. Was that why she’d gone out? Just to get jelly beans? Huh.
Cash finished up and bounded after her, and wonder of wonders, she stopped and knelt down to pet him.
Good dog, Reese thought. “He disturbed you?”
“I felt bad for him. He needs attention. He’s still a puppy.”
“Yeah, see, the thing is, I sort of found him. Or rather, he found me. I wasn’t really planning on having a dog, but—”
“It was kind of you to take him in.” She seated her narrow rump on a concrete step and good old Cash practically crawled into her lap.
And, her smile soft and amused, she let him.
Who knew a dog had so many uses? Alice looked very peaceful while loving on his dog. Her average brown hair fell forward, half hiding her average face. She didn’t seem concerned with getting her beige slacks dirty or getting dog hair on her green tank.
She set aside her purse and the candy and put all that extreme focus on his dog.
So how did a stray accomplish what Reese couldn’t, in such a short time?
Determined to find out, Reese started to sit beside her, but his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, saw it was Logan and groaned.
Alice glanced at him.
He handed her the leash. “You mind? Just for a sec.” Without waiting for her reply, he turned his back on her, took a few steps away, and answered the call.
“Make it fast,” Reese said. He didn’t want to be too rude to the neighbor lady, now that Cash had finally managed to break the ice.
“He plans to break in to my place tonight.”
For the sake of privacy, Reese took a few more steps away, dismissing the dog and Alice-something-or-other. Undercover operations were kept tightly compartmentalized to avoid security leaks. No way in hell did he want a civilian listening in. “Rowdy Yates?”
“None other.”
Unexpected. “You know this, how?”
A pause, and then Logan said, “Overheard her talking on the phone with him.”
“She talked with him in front of you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then how—”
“I listened through the wall. With an audio device.”
Damn it. Reese looked up at the blazing sun, now in shades of red, pink and purple. Lately, the nights hadn’t been much cooler than the days. “I’m betting you didn’t have a search warrant for that?”
“No.”
So he couldn’t mention it. It couldn’t come up, ever. Again…great. “You tell the lieutenant?”
“Not yet. Only you.”
At least there was that. “Let’s keep it that way.”
“She expects me to keep her apprised.”
Yeah, Lieutenant Peterson liked to stay in the loop on everything. She remained inflexible in her efforts toward a clean sweep of the force, and grumbling from the ranks hadn’t swayed her off that course.
Reese was just as determined to keep her in the dark on this. “I’ll take care of it then.” In his own way, in his own time, with everyone’s best interests at heart. Logan wouldn’t like that, but that’s how it had to be.
There was more at play than his need for justice and revenge.
“I’m short on time anyway, so that works.”
Reese glanced back at his neighbor. She stood now, walking Cash over to a shady spot in the grass. “If I’m on surveillance, then I can just happen to catch Rowdy breaking in.” For Alice, Cash followed along politely.
Stupid dog. He shook his head and smiled.
He hoped Alice watched her step, because he hadn’t yet had a chance to clean up any messes.
“That’s how I figured it,” Logan said. “No one needs to know I overheard the details.”
Reese checked his watch. He felt the neighbor watching him with curiosity. Not the best time to finally show interest, honey.
“Might take me an hour or more to get there.” He had his own team on hold, ready to go at the drop of a dime. They were loyal to him, not to the lieutenant, and not to Logan.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I don’t have an exact time,” Logan said, “but I have to be at her place soon, so it won’t be until then.”
“Put it on hold for as long as you can. Maybe be out on the balcony or something. Even after I get there, I’ll need time to set up. You can do that?”
“No problem.”
Could it be true? Could Logan have really caught up with the elusive Yates? Wondering at what cost, Reese asked, “What about the sister?”
Logan’s silence worried him more than anything.
Just to piss him off, Reese said, “Want me to have her cuffed, too?”
“Don’t touch her.”
Well, well, well. That sentiment was clear enough. “She’s going to be hurt, Logan. No way around it.”
“You think I don’t already know that?”
If only Logan had let it go. But he hadn’t—maybe because he didn’t realize just how persuasive Morton Andrews could be. “I take it she doesn’t yet know what motivates you?”
Logan laughed without humor. “No.”
It seemed believable to Reese that Logan no longer knew his motives, either. “Well, don’t worry about it. She won’t be your problem after tonight.” Or would she? By the day, it seemed problems were adding up. Reese would have to deal with them before it all got insurmountable.
After an exaggerated silence, Reese prompted him. “Logan?”
“This is totally fucked, but…I like her.”
Oh, hell. “Come again?”
“I like her, damn it. She’s…not what I expected.”
No, she wouldn’t be. Alice gave Reese a look of impatience. He shrugged at her. “How’s that?”
“She’s nice, Reese. An innocent stuck in the middle of this mess.”
“Yeah, her situation is pretty tough. Can’t be helped, though, right? Not with her brother still around.”
“It’s more than her being nice.”
Reese looked up at the sky but found no inspiration, so he just waited.
Logan said, “I’m interested in her.”
That bald statement gave him pause. “As in helping her through this, you mean? Making amends after you get Rowdy? Because you feel bad for disrupting her life—”
“As a woman, damn it.”
“Bullshit.” His raised voice drew Alice’s sharpened attention. Again Reese turned his back on her.
“I don’t believe it.” Guilt, okay, he got that. Logan was one of the most honorable men he knew. It’s why he was so resolved to bring his friend’s murderers to justice. But… “I’ve seen the pictures of her, remember. She’s not your type.” He’d scoured the photos at Logan’s request and saw that she was plain at best, damn near dumpy at worst.
Sounding defensive, Logan said, “She’s smart. And sweet.”
“So is my new dog, but that doesn’t mean—”
Logan all but snarled, “Fuck off, Reese.” And then more quietly, “You don’t know her.”
He squeezed the phone and kept his tone low. “And you think you do? Jesus man, you’re undercover. Any relationship you think you have with her is a fucking sham.”
Ice filled Logan’s voice. “Get here as soon as you can. I’ll stall her for an hour or so. Later.”
After Logan disconnected the call, Reese dropped his phone into his pocket and turned back to Alice and Cash.
They sat beneath the only tree in the lot, trying to hog the sliver of shade. Ready to get on his way, Reese strode across the grass to stand over her.
As usual, she paid him no mind.
“You like my dog.
”
“He’s beautiful.”
“Busy tonight?”
She blanched. Literally. Looking up at him with big dark eyes and something that felt remarkably like fear, Alice-something-or-other tried to speak, but nothing came out.
“Jesus.” Reese knelt down in front of her. “I wasn’t going to proposition you. I just need someone to look after Cash.”
After a pregnant silence, color rushed back into her face. “Oh. You mean your dog?”
“Yeah. I have a…an emergency. Gotta go back out and it might take a while, so I was thinking—”
“Yes,” she blurted. Pushing back and away from him, she scrambled up to her feet. “Yes, I’ll watch him for you.”
Odd. To the point of being weird. “Great.” Slowly, Reese regained his own feet. “He’s not entirely housebroken yet, so… You want to watch him at my place instead of yours?”
“Mine.”
What a relief—and yet, still annoying. “Then I’ll go get the stuff I just bought for him.” He walked away from her, and he didn’t care if it was rude or not. The dog, damn him, didn’t give a shit now that he had Alice-something-or-other fawning all over him.
Reese used his cell to organize the stakeout while bounding up the steps to his apartment. He took time to clean up Cash’s mess and change into jeans and a black T-shirt before heading back out front in under ten minutes. He handed a bag of Cash’s new belongings, including food, a chew toy and a blanket, to Alice—who still stood out in the yard.
He thanked her, gave the dog a pat and the admonishment to be good—yeah, right—and got on his way. No matter how tonight rolled out, it was going to end up an apocalyptic mess. He felt it deep in his bones. Things were about to implode—for good or bad, he didn’t yet know. Logan was getting in a little too deep. Maybe he was discovering things better left undiscovered.
Reese would have to keep an eye on him.
And while he was on it, he’d keep an eye on Pepper Yates, too.
