I laughed at myself under my breath. I really had turned into a third rate Nancy Drew.
The pair in front of me finished their conversation. He opened the back door and pulled something out of the SUV while she went around the front of the car and climbed in behind the wheel.
Torn, I couldn't decide who to follow, but since he seemed the most suspicious, I picked him. Plus I was kind of worried she might recognize me if she saw me. Stealth and stalking were not topics covered at my community college.
The man took the bag he'd picked up from the car and slung it over his shoulder. He glanced around and then turned towards an alley that ran beneath the underpass, around the side of a large warehouse.
Once he'd been gone a few minutes, I got out of the car, shoved my phone into my pocket, and followed him.
As I approached the building I scanned the street, cars, other structures and windows for movement and saw nothing. The coast was as clear as it was going to get. I walked up to the large concrete warehouse and noted it was much newer and apparently in use. I could hear machinery and voices coming from inside.
Pretty sure that would be the least stealthy drug operation ever, I sighed as I got to the corner where the man had disappeared. I was in the process of peeking around the building to check when a land landed on my shoulder and I jumped, stifling a scream.
I turned, prepared to fight or run or cry or collapse. Instead I froze, speechless.
Sam stood there glaring at me like I was a disobedient child. "Fancy meeting you here," he drawled.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Following you, Carly. I'm not sure if you know this, but this is very much not part of my house."
"Hilarious," I hissed at him. "Why did you follow me? How did you know?"
"I had a hunch. I assume the reason you're here has something to do with what you and Anna really did yesterday."
I chewed on my lower lip, trying to figure out what to say.
"Don't bother." He held up a hand. "Let's just go."
"Fine. This was stupid anyway. It's obviously the wrong place."
"Wrong place?" He leaned back against the wall, keeping one hand near his hip where I knew his gun was hidden beneath the light jacket he wore, and his eyes on the street around us.
"Yeah, I saw the woman from that place, the other warehouse. She was talking to some shady looking guy and when she left I followed him over here. But this is just a regular place."
"Why do you think that? Did you go inside?"
"No, but listen. You can hear people working. The street is full of cars, and not abandoned ones either."
"Well damn," he said, shaking his head.
"What?"
"That's not bad detective work."
"Oh. Thanks. But anyway, I was wrong so we can go now."
"First tell me about this guy you saw. What did he look like?"
I shrugged. "Can't tell you much. He was wearing a hat and sunglasses. But he was tall and big, kind of your size. Black t-shirt and pants; didn't see his shoes."
Sam's face looked pinched for a moment, but then smoothed out. "Anything else noteworthy about him? A limp? Scars?"
"Not that I could see."
"Okay. Not much to go on. Now, you go back to the car and I'll be there in a minute to follow you home."
"In a minute? Where are you going?"
"To check the place out a little."
"But I thought…what about my good detective work?"
"It was good, but you're not a pro at this. I am."
I rolled my eyes. The confidence I'd found so attractive at first was starting to piss me off. "So what do you see that I don't?"
"The perfect cover."
"Huh?"
"If you want to hide illegal activities, coming and going, vehicles and such, you don't do it somewhere quiet and remote. You hide in plain sight."
I nodded, understanding. "Like in or near a busy warehouse."
"Exactly."
"Great. So let's go look."
"No." Sam put his hand on my arm. "I look. You go get in the car and lock the doors."
"No way. I found this place and I'm going with you."
He frowned and looked at me. "If I refuse you'll just follow me, won't you?"
"Yup."
"Fine." He sighed. "But stay behind me and if I tell you to run, do it. Okay?"
"Okay." My heart started beating faster in a combination of fear and excitement. "Let's do this. Are there hand signals or something I should know?"
Sam chuckled and shook his head. "You're gonna be the death of me, baby. I swear."
It was the first time he'd called me baby all day and it made me smile.
We rounded the corner silently and Sam led us past two sets of doors. Through tinted windows, I could see people milling around.
Further down there was an alcove with a door and a set of stairs leading down to a lower level. It was fairly unassuming, and I might have been fooled by the bits of trash at the bottom of the steps and the faded "Fire Exit" sign, but the set of three small cameras mounted to cover the immediate area gave it away. They were small enough that someone walking past would likely miss them.
Sam put his hand on my belly to keep me from crossing into range, but I'd already stopped. Looking to my right, I recognized the view. It had been shown on one of the screens in the control room. I gasped.
"What is it?" Sam whispered.
"I've seen this place before. And I'm pretty sure we found what I was looking for."
"How do you know?"
"I…it's kind of a long story."
"Okay. Let's go back to the car and you can tell me. I don't like being out here in the open like this."
I agreed and we went back to Anna's car and got in. I explained about my trip to the other warehouse and I could tell Sam wanted to yell at me, but knew there wasn't time.
Once I finished talking, he asked, "Is that everything now? The whole truth?"
"Yes. I swear."
"Okay. We'll have a chat about you trying to get yourself killed later. For now, I need you to drive back to my place and stay put. Really this time."
I looked down at my hands, fingers twisting nervously in my lap. "Fine. Where are you going?"
"I need to call this in and get a team over here."
"You're going in?"
"Not yet. We'll start with surveillance. Damn, Carly. Your reckless behavior might have just busted this case wide open."
I smiled weakly. "Maybe I should apply to the police academy."
He shook his head, but a smiled tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Let's just start with you going home, okay?"
"Fine."
He kissed me softly on the forehead. "I'll check in with you as soon as I can."
"Okay. Sam," I said as he started to leave the car.
"Yeah?" He turned his wide, handsome face to me and my heart swelled.
"Be careful."
"Always am. Except when it comes to beautiful girls."
I grinned as he got out and walked down the block away from the warehouse. In his black jacket and pants he could have been anyone, just a big anonymous man not unlike the one I'd seen earlier, but in ways I wasn't ready to admit to myself, he wasn't just any man. He was one who infuriated and excited me, comforted and terrified me. Amidst all this insanity, I was falling for Sam, and falling hard.
That thought was scarier in a way than being kidnapped, and I pushed it to the back of my mind. Heading back towards Sam's house, I dialed Anna's phone number. When it started ringing I remembered I didn't have my cordless headset and the last thing I needed was to get a ticket for talking on a cell phone while driving. Peering into the rearview mirror, I saw a car coming around a corner behind me. It was a black sedan with dark tinted windows, much like the one I'd seen outside my office, and like the one I'd been abducted in.
"Shit," I said under my breath. I hung up the phone and sped up a little. Instead of heading straight across the
city, I took random turns, and the mysterious car followed me every time. I wound my way north and east, sliding into heavier traffic.
For a few minutes I thought I'd lost the other car, but it soon reappeared. Figuring I'd be safest off the road, I pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. I gathered my things and was deciding whether or not to call Sam when someone knocked on the window.
With a gasp, I looked up to see a tall, thin man standing over me. He was pretty much unremarkable except for a large scar that ran down the side of his neck and disappeared into the collar of his blue button-down shirt. It was way too quick, I thought, for the other car to have caught up to me, so I didn't know what he wanted.
I opened the window a crack and said, "Yes? Can I help you?"
"No, Ms. Chase. I'm here to help you."
My blood ran cold and I tried to shove the keys back in the ignition to get the hell out of there but my hands were shaking so hard I dropped them into the footwell.
"Relax, Ms. Chase. I'm not going to hurt you. Just sit there and listen."
"Why do you keep saying my name?"
"So you realize I do know who you are. I know where you live and where you work. Or worked, as it seems your former employer has closed his business."
"What do you want from me?"
"I'll get to that in a minute. First, please place your phone on the passenger seat along with your purse."
I shoved them over, my eyes scanning the lot around us for potential help. There was a woman with a stroller wrestling bags into the back of her car. A pair of teenagers laughing and shoving each other by the front door of the store. No one was paying any attention to me and the man. And none of them seemed inclined to help even if they knew something was wrong. I was on my own.
"Excellent," the man said. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned down closer to the gap in the window. "I told you some of the things we know about you. Here are a few more. We know about the cop you're staying with." He paused for a second. "Detective Samuel Rollins, Junior. Badge number two-one-seven-nine. Assigned to the seventeenth district."
"Okay, okay. I got it."
He smiled, a wide grin that made me want to curl up in a ball and hide. "Good. We know you and Detective Rollins were instrumental in the arrest of Mitchell Douglas, your former employer I mentioned before.
"What we don't know is how long you and Detective Rollins have been involved in this undercover scheme, or how much evidence of our work you have turned over." He shook his head when I was about to argue. "Fortunately for you, those details are unimportant right now. Any evidence you collected will be destroyed or misplaced."
I thought about the phone Sam had said went missing. Obviously it was no accident.
"Here's the part you really want to pay attention for, Ms. Chase. Anyone else you tell will be handled similarly. Destroyed or misplaced."
My head swam and I started to hyperventilate. Anna knew. She knew everything. "Please, I-"
"Wait, I'm not quite finished. I imagine you're wondering why I'm telling you this. Why you yourself are not going to be destroyed or misplaced. All of your shenanigans have caught the attention of way too many law enforcement agencies.
"Consider it a gift from us to you. Your life. In return, you will be quiet about what you know. No more interviews with the cops. No talking to the press. No blabbing in court.
"You forget everything you know about our activities and we forget you exist. Violate this agreement and there will be consequences. Serious consequences." He cocked his head to the side and smiled again. "Now I'm going to leave. You will sit here for ten minutes and then go wherever you were headed before. No one will know about this conversation. Understand?"
I nodded, throat too dry to speak."
"Wonderful. Goodbye, Ms. Chase."
Chapter Fourteen
By the time I was composed enough to drive, the time the strange man had given me was long past. Terrified to use my phone, I drove to the giant mall nearby and parked in the middle of a mass of cars.
I stumbled inside, feeling conspicuous in the bright cheeriness of things. I made my way downstairs and sat on a bench by the food court. People streamed by, lugging bags and dragging cranky children behind them. It was all so normal.
Trying to breathe so I could talk, I called Sam's cell phone.
"Carly, what's up? We're almost done here."
"Sam, I need you to come meet me right now."
"What? I'm on my way home. Won't be more than an hour or so."
"No. Please, listen to me. I'm at the Cheshire Mall by the food court. You have to come get me."
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. But please hurry."
"On my way." He didn't say goodbye and before he hung up I heard him cursing.
I made a point of not checking the time to see how long it took him to arrive, but I estimated somewhere between five and ten years.
He strode over and I stood to greet him, but never got a chance.
"You're okay."
"Yes."
"Great. Then what the fuck is your problem?" he hissed.
"What?"
"Do you want to die? How hard is it for you to follow directions?"
"Sam, I-"
"Don't talk. I'm so furious with you. Tell me, why are you here? Felt like doing a little shopping? Have a craving for an overpriced smoothie?"
My face went red with fury. "Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me like this?"
"I'm the fucking dumbass who's trying to help you. But every five minutes, you're messing it all up for no good reason."
"That's bullshit," I said and then lowered my voice. We were already getting some looks from the shopper around us; I didn't want this to turn into a shouting match, even if he did deserve it. "I'm the one who found the warehouse and I'm the one in real trouble here. I'm not one of your subordinates, Detective. You can't order me around."
"I can and I will until you get your head back on straight and start being sensible."
"You don't know anything about the state of my head, Sam. And you barely know me."
He sneered. "I know enough. I know you're trying to get yourself hurt."
"I am not. I'm trying to get out of this mess I got us both into."
"And I'm telling you, for the hundredth time, to let me handle it."
"I can't!"
"Why? Because you just love this shit?"
"No. Of course not." My fingers curled into fists at my side.
"Then why? Because your ex screwed you up so much you can't trust a man anymore? Running into one abusive asshole doesn't mean the rest of us are the same."
The retort I'd been planning to toss at him froze in my throat at the implication of his words. "What? How do you know anything about my ex?"
"I'm a cop, Carly. When all of this started, I looked into you."
"You…" I blinked away tears of rage and betrayal. "You had no right."
"Yes, I did. I am trying my hardest to help you."
"Then stop. If this is what it means to be helped by you, I don't want it. Since you started 'helping' I've been kidnapped, interrogated and threatened. Not doing such a great job, Detective. I'm better off on my own."
"Don't be stupid." He reached out a hand to touch my arm and I slapped it away.
"Fuck you, Sam." I glared at him for a second and then turned on my heel and walked away, shaking.
Digging into my past without my consent wasn't the worst thing a man had ever done to me by far. But I had learned from that experience and no matter how much I liked him, I wouldn't be with someone who would violate my trust. Never again.
I could hear Sam's footsteps behind me, but he didn't say anything else. When I got outside, I climbed in the car and left without looking at him at all.
Choking back sobs, my encounter with the threatening strangers was almost forgotten. All of the fear of the past few days descended on me and I couldn't do anything but drive, concentrating on the road, pus
hing everything else out of my mind as much as I could. It was a defense mechanism, I knew. And unhealthy in the long run, but I needed it all to go away, if just for a little while.
Without thinking about it consciously, I'd driven to the south side of the city. When I noticed, I smiled. I couldn't go back to my apartment, but I could go somewhere else that felt like home. I found a space a few blocks away and practically ran down to the pizza place.
When I opened the door, the familiar sweet and sharp smells covered me in a blanket of nostalgia. The place was busy with late lunch customers and I had to shove my way through the crowd to get to the counter.
I hadn't so much as opened my mouth before Angelo, owner of the pizza place and my old boss, bellowed across the shop. "Carly Chase, light of my life!"
I grinned broadly and genuinely. It was good to be home. "Don't let your wife hear you talking like that."
He let out a hoot of laughter and swept across the shop to come and hug me. He was an adorably round man, short and well-padded in his mid-section. For the first year I worked there, I thought he was a real old-fashioned south side Italian, but one night after a few too many glasses of wine with the customers, he admitted the truth.
"Angelo" was actually Andrew. He was born and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta and came north to find his fortune after his mother died. He'd used all his savings to buy the pizza place and kept the name. Over the years, he stopped correcting people when they assumed he was Angelo. And then after his new bride gave him one of those silly fat chef figurines, he grew out his mustache, started eating a second dessert every night, and assumed the whole look.
He thought I'd be annoyed at his real history, but it charmed me. There was something appealing about remaking yourself, becoming something new, something better. Especially after having my shameful past thrown in my face, the idea was even more attractive.
So, back in the present, I hugged Angelo tight.
He stepped back and kissed me on both cheeks before frowning at me. "My darling, you're too skinny. Come sit down in the back. Let me feed you before you waste away to nothing."
It's silly, but that was the other thing about Angelo. Anyone under two-hundred-fifty pounds was emaciated to him. As a chubby high school student, it had been worth a lot more than the free pizza and tiny wage that working there got me.
The Alpha's Touch Boxed Set (14 Book Bundle) Page 32
