Harlequin Intrigue June 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: To Honor and To ProtectCorneredUntraceable

by Debra

  He could also see most of the valley, including the police car parked right where the tracker said Kreider’s vehicle would be. A car and a building. This had possibilities.

  The whole time Cam kept sneaking peeks at Julia to check on that ankle. He doubted her reporting about being fine was accurate. She had a tight rein on her anxiety and was tamping down the pain.

  Another thing to admire in the woman. As if he needed more in addition to her strength, that impressive face, those intense eyes and a mouth that drove him mad.

  Julia lowered the binoculars and handed them back to him. “Are they in there?”

  He took another turn scanning the area. “Don’t know, since we missed seeing the car get here.”

  She let her arm fall against the ground. Not hard to do, as they were down on their stomachs, dropped low and out of sight. “Is that a statement about how I slow you down?”

  “About the rain, actually.” It no longer came down in sheets, but the downpour had slowed their progress. Now the air carried a mist.

  He was soaked to the skin because he’d insisted she wear his raincoat. The jacket dwarfed her, but she did look pretty cute with the wet hair and oversize hood. Even now she kept pushing it back off her head to get a better view.

  Of what? was the question. There were no humans around. No sign of Kreider or his men. No guns. Nothing out here to see.

  They’d basically followed a ring around the outskirts of the shipyard. The construction trailer in one spot. The storage shed in the next. There were garages and other outbuildings, all outlining the far edges of the property line. Not that anyone could see a line through the trees and overgrown grass.

  “Kreider should be in there, but why? It’s the middle of the day.” Cam meant to keep the analysis to himself, but he voiced the words.

  “I guess calling out for him is a bad idea.” She patted her hands against the wet ground, ignoring water running over her palms.

  “It’s tempting.”

  She glanced up and the hood fell back. “Since the rain died down, we could sit here and watch the car and the shed. Basically, wait.”

  Not really his style. Cam hated stakeouts and did much better with action than hanging around. “I want the man outside and Ray next to him. That would let us wrap this up, or at least start asking the right questions. If those two are in some drug-running operation, we need to know.”

  “Your office can’t use some fancy satellite or something with infrared to detect bodies inside?”

  “That’s not as easy as it sounds.” Cam liked how she thought. Go big. He had an idea on that score. “But we can flush him out.”

  A familiar wariness washed over her. “How?”

  “Explosion.” He used his hands to highlight the word. “Boom.”

  Her gaze wandered over his face as her frown deepened. “Are you serious?”

  “Most of the time, yes.” Off the job, no. On the job, pretty much always, which was why being with her had him floundering. He joked, she gave him a hard time...they had lose-your-mind sex. Not his usual assignment.

  “Let me get this straight.” She wiped her hair out of her eyes. “You’re going to blow up that building with people in it.”

  Probably a bit of an overstatement, but he liked the sound of it. Unfortunately, Holt would say no. “A small explosion next to the car. Set it on fire, that sort of thing.”

  “You don’t have anything a bit more subtle? Maybe a rocket launcher.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “I don’t really do subtle.” But he would kill for a rocket launcher right about now.

  “I’m starting to get that.”

  “The goal is to figure out how many men Kreider has and where they are. We blow something up and get their attention.” The more Cam spelled it out, the more he liked it. “Holt and Shane can round up bodies from there. Then we can finally start asking questions, which is what we were sent here to do in the first place.”

  “Your team is around?” The jacket rustled as she looked behind her.

  “Close by.”

  “And you’re going to bring everyone running.”

  Now she was getting it. “That’s the point.”

  “Including the people who want you dead.”

  “That’s why I want to see their faces. I can’t fight what I can’t see, and there is someone above Ray. I’m sure of it.” Made sense to Cam, but from the he’s-lost-his-mind stare she was sending him, he figured that might only run one way.

  Rather than run through the details, he got up to his knees and reached for the bag. The rip of the zipper echoed around them as he drew it down and the soft rain began to fall again. He typed one word into his watch to communicate with Holt: diversion.

  The response came back in a second: no fireworks.

  Cam pretended he didn’t see that. He wanted big but went small. He pulled out an explosive device. It resembled a stick of dynamite but wasn’t. It consisted of an internal chamber housing the chemical substance and wires. He could use a trigger from a good distance away. There would be a crash and fire. Enough to bring anyone hiding out running, which was the point.

  “If you trip with that thing, will you blow up?” She sounded more intrigued than concerned.

  He wasn’t sure how to take that. “I have to set it off, so no.”

  “I still want to go on record as doubting this plan.”

  He put the pieces together and lifted the device into his arms. “If we flush the right people out, we can end this right now and we can sleep in a warm bed tonight.”

  He left out the word together, but it was implied. From her smile he thought she got that.

  She gestured toward the car. “Then what are you waiting for?”

  “I thought so.” Cam took off then. He slid down the hill on the side of his foot, winding through the trees and dropping to his stomach when there was nothing to block a direct line to seeing him. He could almost hear Holt swearing from a half mile away.

  Cam crawled the last few feet. Pebbles crunched under his knees and something sharp dug into his thigh. The wet ground helped muffle the sound, but he couldn’t go in using pure stealth. Not with an explosive device in his hands.

  He had neared the front tire when the door banged open. Not knowing if he was made or just unlucky, he tucked the bomb against his chest and rolled under the car. Footsteps thumped around him. He heard the car door open and calculated how fast he’d have to move not to get crushed under the tires.

  But the engine never turned over. One of the guy’s legs stayed outside the car as if he was leaning in to grab something. Singing while he did it. Then he stepped back out and slammed the door.

  Cam held his breath until he heard the building door shut again. He exhaled, trying to slow the sprint of his heartbeat. Let his head fall against the cool ground for a second. Then he thought about Julia on that hill and started moving again.

  He shimmied back out and set up the device. Placed it close to the tire on the far side of the building. The explosion should blow the car and rock the house. Bring the singer and whoever else was in there running.

  Two wires and he hooked it up and, ready to go, got to his feet. His palms stayed on the ground as he looked around for the best place to hide. He had just pushed up when he heard it. The pump of a rifle.

  “Stand up nice and slow. Hands on your head.” The man laughed as he talked.

  “You are not supposed to be here, but unfortunately for you, you are,” another one said.

  Cam ignored the comment about his hands and turned around. One of the men looked familiar. Cam thought he remembered him from the ferry. The other, no. Neither was Ray and neither looked to be in charge.

  He tucked the detonator in his hand, hiding it. He had to get out of the blast radius. If he didn’t, he had to buy time for Holt and Shane to move in close enough to fire. But even with them on the scene, it might be too late. These two men were smart enough to put the car in front of them and the buildi
ng behind. It was a good plan until the vehicle blew up, and that was about to happen.

  Cam tried some guy talk while he put a map together in his mind. “Just out for a walk, boys.”

  “Nice try. We know who you are.” The bigger one pointed to Cam with the end of his gun. “People are looking for you.”

  “Where’s the woman?” the other one asked.

  Confirmation. They were with Ray. Cam didn’t know who else they were with, but he made that connection.

  Cam shook his head. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “There.” The guy pointed to the hill.

  Cam almost hated to follow his gaze, but there she was, on the top of the hill. Standing. Was she waving her arms?

  Anger rushed over him and he almost missed the opportunity Julia handed him. With the men’s attention switched, Cam moved. He took a few lunging steps, then dived over a bush. His finger hit the button as he flew.

  A crack sounded behind him and then a wall of heat smashed into his body. He fell to his stomach with his arms crossed over his head and listened as the world exploded into chaos behind him. Yelling and the crackle of fire. One explosion followed another, and chunks of car rained down around him.

  He didn’t know how much time had passed until the thunder of noise died down. When he lifted his head again, Julia hovered over him with fear shining in her eyes.

  “Cameron?”

  “I’m okay.” He had no idea if that was true, but he rolled over and didn’t spy blood, and all his limbs were there, so he took that as a good sign.

  “We’re going to talk about that stunt later,” Holt said from somewhere above him. “Lucky for you Shane caught the one guy who was thrown before he could get up and run.”

  Cam assumed that meant there were just the two. “And the other?”

  “Gone, as in dead.” Holt looked down at Julia where she sat slumped over on her knees. “You go with Cam.”

  She shook her head but didn’t say anything. The lack of response fueled Cam. This was not a woman who stayed quiet. He struggled first to his elbows as the adrenaline gave way to aches and pains. Then he sat up.

  “You created a diversion.” She’d risked her own safety, and the idea of that had him reeling. He was half furious and half drowning in his attraction to her.

  She picked at something on the ground. “They were on a beer run.”

  “What?”

  “The guy took beer out of the car, got as far as the porch, then turned again.” She let out a ragged exhale. “I guess he sensed you were there.”

  “And you rescued me.” The idea held him in awe. He was not in the habit of needing someone to ride in and save him.

  She shrugged. “It was my turn.”

  He heard Holt moving around and looked his way. The place looked like a war zone. A flipped-over car and a fire raging up the side of the shed. One body on the ground and fire and debris everywhere.

  Cam cleared his throat. “You get to pick where we go next.”

  She touched his sleeve. “Sandy’s house.”

  That was not really what he had expected. “Really?”

  “You smell.”

  * * *

  RAY LOWERED HIS BINOCULARS.

  The shed, the entire area was on fire. He had another man down and one caught. He’d almost gotten off a shot and taken the runner out, but then more men appeared. Good thing the guard didn’t know anything. He was stationed out here, checking the boundaries. He hadn’t even done a good job of that. Too busy drinking, apparently.

  No, like every other man on the job, this one couldn’t be traced back to the boss. Ray doubted the guy they caught could say much about him, either. But he could answer some questions, and that moved up the timeline to take the Corcoran Team out.

  At least he had the information he needed. Corcoran didn’t send one man to grab a witness. At least three wandered around out there, making his life difficult. Ray could dispose of three. While he was at it, he’d eliminate the woman, too.

  The boss was not going to like this. Then again, the boss wasn’t going to be the boss for much longer, so Ray didn’t care. It was all a time game now, and the countdown had started.

  Chapter Twelve

  Julia regretted her decision within an hour of getting to Sandy’s house. She’d made him promise before they ever stepped on the property not to call the police. But that didn’t mean Sandy greeted them with a smile. He grumbled and took verbal shots at Cam.

  With Cam in the shower, she knew it was her turn. Still, she tried to avoid the moment by hiding in the kitchen. She leaned down with her elbows on the marble counter and paged through the news stories she’d called up on Sandy’s laptop. She had one empty bottle of water next to her and was most of the way through a second. Once she had a hot meal she’d feel better.

  But she had to live through the interrogation first.

  “You can do better.” Sandy set his coffee mug down with a hard clunk as he slid onto the bar stool across from her.

  Julia didn’t pretend to be confused or dance around the topic. “He’s not a killer.”

  Cam was a lot of things. Lethal, determined, caring, stubborn and a heck of a kisser. He could be difficult and demanding, but she knew to her soul he was not a killer. Not in the sense Sandy meant.

  But Sandy wouldn’t let the subject go. “You’re telling me he hasn’t killed anyone since you’ve been together?”

  “Not exactly.” She couldn’t really avoid the details. The news was all over the island. There was talk of instituting some form of martial law and keeping people in their houses until the police could search. Ferry service had stopped for all but essential services, and word was that more law-enforcement officials would be pouring in soon.

  None of that was good news for Cam or his team. As outsiders they’d be tagged as perpetrators. And Cam hadn’t exactly been subtle in fighting his way through the island. Add in a potential drug runner working somewhere on the island and disaster loomed.

  “That’s it. I’ve waited long enough.” Sandy slipped his cell out of his back pocket.

  “No!” She lunged over the stove top and reached for the phone.

  “This is the best option. You need to trust me on this.” He pulled it back just in time and glared at her. “What is wrong with you?”

  She wondered the same thing. That phone came out and a furious fire roared to life in her brain. Instinctively she knew she had to protect Cam at all costs. “You promised.”

  “That was a mistake.”

  This couldn’t happen. She’d grab Cam and run if needed, but she didn’t want it to come down to that. Sandy would see that as her picking Cam over him. He was that type of man. A very black-and-white thinker, he put a high price on loyalty.

  “I trust you, and if you...” She didn’t want to threaten, and she’d walked right to the edge. “You need to trust me back.”

  “I have a problem with him, not you,” Sandy yelled as he pointed toward the hall.

  The water had shut off and she waited for Cam to come running. When he didn’t she filled in the piece that still didn’t make any sense to her. “He’s with me.”

  Sandy’s mouth opened, then snapped shut again. He stuttered and shook his head—things that were very un-Sandy-like. “Oh, Julia.”

  Pity. Great. She hated that tone and the sad-eyed expression. He’d been shooting it her way for years. “Please don’t look at me like that.”

  “At the very least agree that when he heads out, you’ll stay behind with me. Behind locked gates and doors.” He wrapped his fingers around the edge of the counter and leaned in. “That man is dangerous.”

  As far as she was concerned, he had it backward. “Right now this island is dangerous.”

  “Because of him.” Sandy’s knuckles turned white.

  “He has put his body in front of mine and risked his own neck to save mine. He’s played decoy and lured attackers away from me.” She could keep listing but ticke
d off the highlights on her fingers instead. “Does that sound like a guy who will hurt me?”

  Sandy leaned back on the bar stool. “Why is he on Calapan?”

  She wanted to ignore the question or at least dodge it. But Sandy deserved more than a shove off. “He came here to interview a witness. Apparently there’s some intel—”

  “Intel?”

  “—that someone is running drugs, serious drugs, off Calapan.”

  Finishing the sentence was easier than admitting she sounded like a television show. After a few days Cam had her sounding like him, and that wasn’t necessarily a good thing, since she barely understood what he was talking about sometimes.

  “How did an interview turn into a shoot-out?” Sandy asked.

  She grabbed her water bottle because she needed something to occupy her hands. “Rudy was the witness and someone killed him.”

  “You keep ignoring how your man is at the center of all this.”

  She let the phrase your man slide by. She didn’t hate it. Being linked to Cam didn’t scare her or upset her.

  “Someone in power is at the top of this. There’s a man on the island pretending to be a police officer.” She peeled down the corner of the label and heard a rip.

  Sandy never broke eye contact with her. “You know that to be true?”

  “Yes.” Only because Cam and his team had told her, but she would not get knocked off track. The need to test Cam’s trust kicked hard inside her, but she pushed it back. He didn’t have anything to prove and she had to keep remembering that. “Is it possible Chief Kreider is involved?”

  Sandy sighed at her. “I know you don’t like him.”

  “He has connections and knows the island.” She tore the label in half.

  “You’re taking on your boyfriend’s paranoia.”

  “She’s smarter than I am.” Cam stepped up right behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

  She noticed how he didn’t correct Sandy about who he was to her. Like that, all the anxiety curling into a ball in her stomach disappeared in a flash. His voice had the power to do that to her.