by Mimi Barbour
Cory, wearing a stunned look, nodded. “I can’t even go away for a few days without things going crazy around here.” A softness filled his face that was reserved for very few of his employees. “Can’t wait to meet your girl, John.”
Kai’s snort caught everyone’s attention. “Gotcha!” He jabbed his finger at the screen in front of him. “Here’s the broad. And you’re right, Cory. She’s dressed in her maid’s outfit. Christ, this kidnapping had to have been premeditated with every move planned. She knew exactly which room to go to. See here. She came out of the elevator and straight to this door.”
Cory came to look over Kai’s shoulders. “She’s one diabolical bitch.”
Aurora said, “The maid did warn us that our friend Jane had dead eyes.”
Kai added, “And a gun!”
Cory sighed dramatically. “Christ Almighty. Let’s hope this is where we’ll find Jeff’s father.”
Two minutes later, Kai snapped his fingers in satisfaction. “Jim Waters just showed up. Look here, he’s got the satchel and she’s letting him in.”
Once satisfied that they had the location, Cory told the other two. “Half an hour ago, Lisa overpowered Sam and took control but I’ve warned her to stay put because I didn’t want Jeff running around his hotel in a mad chase to find his father. He might have destroyed everything we’ve got going for us. Now that we know where Jim is, I’ll give her the go-ahead to take out Troy also. Ham you want to go in there for back-up?”
Ham gave a thumbs-up and left the room.
Aurora smiled. “I wondered how long it would take her to break loose. Guess she spent the night exactly the way she intended.”
Kai laughed. “You sly little brat. Don’t tell me you listened in?”
Her smile left him wondering. “Would I do something so sneaky?”
Both men replied at once.
“Yes!”
Chapter Forty-Five
Lisa heard Troy moving around in the adjoining room and wondered how long it would take before he came to check on his brother. She knew her boss had given the order to stand-down for a good reason and didn’t doubt it was because he wanted to keep Jeff out of the picture until they had the operation under control. Which, as far as Lisa could figure out, meant they hadn’t found Jeff’s father yet. She didn’t pass any of her misgivings on to Jeff who had taken this time to wash and do some slow stretches to try and regain his muscle strength. While the man did bends and other yoga-style moves, she all but drooled her appreciation. His compact body, slim waist with hips that fed into buns to satisfy any lustful woman’s gaze, pleased her greatly. If there wasn’t a kidnapper on the other side of the door who would be making a move soon, she’d like nothing better than to crawl into the turned-down bed nearby and show him her approval.
“You’re staring.”
“Uh huh and I’m liking what I see. Very much!”
“You keep talking that way and we’ll need to use that bed.”
“Aha! Two great minds.”
“Oh lady, you do tempt me.”
“Ditto.” Lisa grinned her approval until he headed in her direction with a promise in his eyes, resolution firmly in place. “No. Stop.” She laughingly held up her hand. “We can’t. Cory will be calling us any minute. Or Troy could be—”
His kiss shut her up and she loved every minute of the quiet. Her growing need to inspect his hard body had to be forced under control. Seeing as how neither could use their hands all night, they’d been obliged to either kiss or talk. And talk they had. She knew more about his thoughts and dreams than any other man she’d ever met. Likewise, she shared her innermost fears with him, until finally the heat and the quiet had lulled them to sleep. Now, it seemed, he had naughty intentions to make up for the lost time. His soft mouth began to roam over the mounds of her breasts that the bra on her costume did more to enthrall than to hide. He licked his way inside while she hung on. The ferocious tide of desire lifted her to a place she’d only travelled twice, the place in his arms that promised rapture and complete fulfilment.
While his lips destroyed what little resistance she had, Jeff’s hands travelled over her back and thighs, stroking every inch with care. He skimmed inside her costume bottom and moaned when his fingers discovered the wet juices produced every time she touched him. He clenched her buttocks in each hand and lifted her until she wrapped her legs around his waist. Then he drove his hardness between her opened limbs.
“Tell me again why I can’t take your clothes off and make love to you properly and you’d better be convincing.”
She bit his earlobe and whispered, “Because I’m a cop and what you’re doing to me, all this teasing, is a crime.”
“So arrest me.”
“Okay.” Lisa chuckled, loving his playful mood. She angled herself to come even closer in contact with his body and shivered with delight when he all but buckled. “Stick ‘em up.”
“You’re a witch.” Jeff fondled her hips and stopped when his hands touched the trim on her costume. “And just so you know, I’m going to design a room in our house full of blue feathered pillows.”
“So you like my costume?” she all but purred.
“Hell, girl!” Cory yelled in her ear. “Turn off that mic or better still, turn off that horny guy you’ve got there with you. Time to go back to work!”
Chapter Forty-Six
Lisa stationed Jeff against the wall behind the door. She slid her gun in the back of her costume. When Troy first set eyes on her, she wanted her hands free and no sign of a weapon in case he acted sensible. Then she slowly unlocked the door and opened it.
At that moment, Troy stepped from his room and met her in the open area. Shocked, not at all sensible, he reached for his gun as soon as he saw her but she was quicker. “Don’t,” she warned. One word, but it covered everything.
He hesitated, looked behind her and lowered his hand. “You’re not going to shoot me.” He pointed at Lisa’s gun. “A dancing girl, you probably don’t even know how to use it.” The sneer on his face made her see red.
“You could be right about that but since I’m a detective with the Las Vegas police department, I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Right, a cop! Haw!”
The stupid asshole still didn’t believe. She just smiled and kept her gun steady as she approached, until only a few feet separated them.
“How did you get Sam’s gun? What, he pass out while he was boinking you?”
What a sicko! She felt her smile slip away. “Not Sam’s gun. Mine. Lay yours on the floor Troy, step back slowly and put your hands on your head.”
She watched his eyes and knew exactly when he decided to make his move. He swung his weapon up, but Lisa kicked it from his hand before he could aim it her way. Then he charged. She was off kilter from her kick and she spun away then let him run past her, right into Jeff’s eager hands. The joy she saw on Jeff’s face when he grabbed the bastard made her glad she’d set this up. Knowing if someone had tortured her the way this prick had with her lover, she’d want a few moments for payback.
He punched the fucker once, and then again. “I’ve wanted to do this to you since I was a little kid, Stokes.”
Lisa heard the lock open on the main door and went to meet up with Ham, who held out a pair of handcuffs. He grinned when he saw Jeff supporting a half-conscious Troy. Captive, with his arms behind him, Troy Stokes didn’t look like such a big-shot now. “New cop on the block?” Ham pointed to Jeff.
Jeff answered before Lisa could and the words he used made everything perfect in her world. “Nah! I’ll leave the police work to the professionals like you and my lady here. This was just a bit of long-overdue revenge.”
Ham nodded and said. “Bring him along. Where’s the other slimeball?”
“He’s packaged up in the closet and going nowhere.”
“You tied him up? Justified retaliation, my pet. Good for you.” She knew Ham was enjoying the irony of the situation. She stared at him until he caug
ht her meaning and gave his head a shake. She knew then that Jeff’s father was still not safe.
Ham walked toward the other room. “I’ll just go and get Sam and we’ll keep them both with us. Can’t trust that someone else involved in the case won’t come along and free these two scumbags. We’re still not sure how many there are.”
Lisa followed Ham into the bedroom and while he loosened the ankle bonds on Sam, she went to the bathroom and returned wearing a man’s shirt. One she smoothed down with a gentle hand.
“You cold?” Ham asked, wearing a facetious grin.
“No, I just don’t want to attract any more attention than we’ll already be drawing. Where’s Aurora and Kai?”
“They’re fixing to make an arrest in room six-seventeen. Cory thought we might want to gather there and see this thing finished.” He heaved Sam to his feet and pulled off the face tape. “Come on, you piece of shit. You have the right to remain silent….”
Lisa left him to get on with it and met up with Jeff who’d gotten both of them a cold bottle of water from the mini fridge. He passed hers over and asked, “Do you know what’s happening?”
“Only that we’re to take these two over to where the others are making an arrest.” She walked toward Troy, issuing the same words as Ham had spoken just moments before to Sam. “You have the right to remain silent, asshole….”
Chapter Forty-Seven
They all met at the end of the hallway on the sixth floor, the hotel owner, five cops and two prisoners. Lisa watched as Cory automatically took lead. He stared first at Troy whose head hung weakly as if his backbone had been sucked out. Then he pointed his finger at Sam. “We need one of you to get your aunt to open the door. Who wants me to put in a good word for you when it comes time to write up the charges? On our say-so, if a prisoner has been seen to aid law enforcement in carrying out an arrest, the court can grant leniency. On the other hand, we can dig up all kinds of charges to add to your file. Resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer in her line of duty, kidnapping a federal officer which carries with it a….”
Sam yelled. “What the hell? We never kidnapped a cop.”
Cory pointed to Lisa. “Meet Detective Lisa Jordan, dumbass.”
Sam turned to see her nod and he broke. First, he shuffled and then stared at her with his lackluster eyes. She had no pity for him but Jim Waters needed all the help he could get and so she interrupted.
“Sam,” she said softly. “Why don’t you come clean and tell us about your mother? We both know that woman in there isn’t Jane Ward, don’t we? She’s your mother, Carol Stokes, and she needs you to stop her. Whatever she plans to do with Mr. Waters is going to get you all in even more hot water than you’re facing now and trust me, you’re in plenty.”
Jeff started toward Sam at the revelation, fury in his expression and punishment in the hands that reached for the prisoner. Kai grabbed him from behind and held him back from his evident intention of ripping the face off the cowering criminal.
Then his brother used his old methods to control. “Sam, shut the fuck up. Don’t fall for her bullshit. She’s playing you.”
Sam threw a look of such hatred at his brother that Lisa got out of his face. “Yeah? So what else is new? You and mom have been playing me all my life. Maybe it’s time I got something out of being your gopher. I don’t want to spend the rest of my fucking life behind bars.”
Troy tried breaking free from Ham who held him easily. “They won’t press charges, you stupid prick. We have the evidence to stop them from turning this into a three-ring circus, I’ve told you that over and over.”
Lisa found this by-play very interesting. She broke into the silence and aimed a finger at Troy’s chest. “You dumb fuckwit! You can stand there knowing you’re guilty of blackmail, kidnapping and extortion including violence and the unlawful use of firearms and still think you’ll walk away free? Are you really that stupid?”
Troy glared at her, hate radiating like waves of heat off a Nevada highway. His lips closed and formed a sneer she wanted to slap. Instead, she smiled real pretty-like and turned to Sam. “Your brother’s an ass.”
Sam dropped his head and shook it back and forth. A sigh broke loose that almost made Lisa feel sorry for the poor bastard but not quite. They still had to get Jeff’s father out of that room safely and there was no more time for theatrics.
“Look Sam, this is Lieutenant Cory Ashton. If you agree to get your mom to open the door so there’s no violence, we’ll keep our promise. Won’t we boss?”
His voice hard and full of authority, Cory agreed, “Yes, you have my word.”
Sam’s indecision appeared clearly in his expression. Lisa knew she’d pushed all she could without doing more harm than good. Knowing her partner’s powers of persuasion, she sent Aurora the look that said, ‘it’s your turn’.
Picking up just as Lisa knew she would, Aurora made a scoffing sound deep in her throat and stepped up beside Sam. “I wouldn’t do a thing to help that piece of shit brother of yours, Sam. He’s a loser who’s only cared about one thing in his sorry life, his own ass. On the other hand, I met your dad earlier. You know, when I talked about what was happening here at Cascades, about your family’s plan of revenge, he never showed any emotion whatsoever… not until I spoke your name. I’ve never seen such a look of regret on a father’s face. Ever. He broke then cried like a baby.”
Dismay suffused the pockmarked face of a man who plainly still felt love for his father. He bent slightly at the waist as if he’d taken a punch in the stomach, then he shuffled his feet as if the pain had radiated to the bottom of his souls. “I’ll help you.” Those were the only words he said. The only ones he needed to say.
Ham tightened his hold on Troy’s arms to stop him from spilling his venom and spoiling the moment. He force-marched him to where the uniforms had arrived and waited to assist in the arrest.
Lisa, reached into the hidden recess under her costume’s feathers, where she’d replaced the knife she’d taken from Sam after restraining him. She cut the bonds loose on his arms. “Okay, Sam. Here’s what you’ll do. Just go to the door and let her see you through the peephole, so she’s not suspicious. Tell her you have information she needs to hear so she’ll open the door. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
The rest of the team stood on either side as Sam knocked. “Let me in, Mom. I need to see you about something.”
Carol Stokes, cool and assured, questioned through the door. “What’s your problem, Sam? I told you to stick with the plan.”
“Something happened you need to know about. Mom, open the door, I’m attracting attention.”
Click!
Chapter Forty-Eight
As the officers poured into the room behind Sam, Lisa noticed Jim Waters spring upright. He hadn’t been restrained and for that she felt relief.
Carol, gun in hand, cunningly backed away from the open door and stood near the window being framed by the blue sky and the unsurprising bright day. Her weapon, pointing at Jim, halted their advance. “Don’t move, Jim. I swear I’ll shoot if you take another step.”
Jim lifted his hands in surrender and stayed where he was.
Jeff tried to break loose to get to his dad, but Kai once again restrained him and whispered something that stopped his forward momentum. Instead, they moved to the left. Aurora, gun in her hand, stepped to the right, while Cory now holding Sam’s arm, kept his gun out of sight behind Sam’s back. Lisa stood closer to the woman than anyone. She held her own gun by her side, unthreateningly.
Carol eyed her and then glanced to her son. “What have you done, Sam?” Carol’s voice held disgust.
“They know everything, Mom. It’s over. We lost.”
When he heard these words, Jim started to move toward Jeff. Sadness etched through the lines in a face that looked as if it had aged ten years.
Carol barked her threat. “Jim, don’t give me a reason to do what Ben should have done years ago.”
&n
bsp; Jeff’s bewilderment caught at Lisa’s heartstrings. He broke from Kai and stepped closer to his father. “Dad, what’s she saying?”
“She has evidence, son. Evidence that could disgrace me. Evidence I thought had been lost years ago.”
Carol interjected, her words aimed at Jeff. “I’ll sell you the evidence like I wanted to do in the first place. Only he stopped me,” she said, gesturing toward Jim with her gun. “Jim said we needed to get the money from you, Jeffie, because he had none left. See, your father committed those crimes he accused Ben of years ago. They almost lost the company because he’d invested money he had no right to use. Money he stole from his own company and almost bankrupted it. Then he talked Ben into gambling to win back a good portion so they could keep the board of directors from finding out. The sorry son-of-a-bitch framed my Ben into taking the fall. I found the proof in Ben’s papers when we moved him into the home a few years ago.”
Jeff’s face blanched. “You… you want me to believe that my father is to blame for you kidnapping me and Detective Jordan, never mind blackmailing me and my father? That this is all his fault?”
Carol look stunned when Jeff introduced Lisa but her face hardened instantly. “I only wanted what he owed us. He took everything from our family. Forced us to leave the only world we knew and make our way in obscurity, to live like destitute nobodies. From Ben, he took self-respect. From me, he took my painting talent because it’s impossible to create beauty from where only lies and poverty and… and ugliness exists.” She spat these words toward Jim and then switched her gaze to Jeff. “To make things worse, Ben took sick and his heart gave out, more’n likely broken by your father’s treachery.”
“Or his own drunken habits.” Jeff’s shoulders straightened as he stood tall. “Sam told me about your precious Ben’s problems with alcohol.”
