Cornered

by Turner, Linda; Weaver, Ingrid; Miller, Julie

  This was Sloan, so it was all right to feel the thrill that followed his touch. Erika moistened her lips and ever so slightly leaned into his hand. He’d mentioned stalling. That must be another message. Of course, he’d want her to stall because he knew this interrogation was a farce. He was doing it for Leavish’s benefit.

  But these words were meant just for Sloan. She was giving him a message of her own. For all she knew, there wouldn’t be another chance. “I tried to stall Sloan. He wanted to get married more than I did. I’m not the domestic type, but he wanted it all: the house with the yard, the kids and the dog. He liked kids. He would have been a great father. He practically raised his sisters.”

  “Poor guy’s lucky he drowned.”

  “I’ve taken good care of Rufus. That’s Sloan’s dog. We get along great now, but he howled for the first week after the funeral. He almost got us evicted. When Sloan’s buddies from the precinct heard about it, they paid a visit to my landlord. They made his unpaid parking tickets disappear, and he changed his mind about Rufus.”

  Max moved around the crate she was sitting on and spoke from behind her. “Come on, Red. Try to focus.”

  She shuddered when she realized how close he stood. He was only a deep breath away. “I’ve visited Sloan’s family a lot since the funeral,” she said. “They took some getting used to. I never had a large family around when I was growing up. After my parents died it was just my uncle and me.”

  She felt a light brush on her back between her shoulder blades, as if Max had picked up a lock of her hair. The gesture was familiar. Sloan had liked to rub her hair between his fingers, especially when they were in bed. He would often tickle her neck with the ends.

  “That’s why I didn’t want to get married.” She spoke more quickly, seized with an urgency to get the rest of it out. “Not because I didn’t love Sloan but because I was afraid of the whole family thing. I’ve been independent most of my life, and I wasn’t sure I could handle total commitment.”

  “Geez, Red. You’re putting us to sleep.”

  “But that changed after Sloan died. Taking care of his dog and spending so much time with Sloan’s relatives made me realize he’d been right. I was overanalyzing everything. There was nothing to be afraid of after all.” Her words wound down as she marveled at how simple it sounded now. Too bad it had taken her a year to figure out. “Wherever Sloan is, I hope he knows that.”

  “He’s fish food, baby. Fast forward a bit here. Get to the part where you went for a stroll in the rain with your camera.”

  She paused, drawing in the scent of Old Spice. “I was working.”

  “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Why were you working?”

  “Because I’m good at my job.”

  “So am I,” Max said. “Maybe you should keep that in mind and stop trying to jerk me around.”

  “And what exactly is your job, Mr. Tanner?”

  “Nuh-uh, Red. I’m the one who asks the questions. You already know everything about me that you need to.”

  Something soft tickled the side of her neck. It was one of her curls.

  She blinked back a wave of tears at the caress. Sloan, my love, I can’t keep this up much longer. I need to touch you.

  The thread of voices she’d been hearing in the background strengthened. Footsteps approached rapidly. “Hey, Leavish,” someone called. “Is Tanner around?”

  “He’s in here, Floyd.”

  Max squeezed her shoulder. “Stay put,” he ordered. His voice had dropped to a low rasp, exactly the way Sloan sounded when he was worried. “Or I’ll tape your feet together and tie you to this crate. Understand?”

  She nodded.

  He brushed past her, his strides long and sure as he stepped through the doorway and into the corridor.

  Erika inhaled slowly through her nose. This man had to be Sloan. He was letting her know in subtle ways, but the messages were there. She wasn’t imagining them.

  On the other hand, everything he had said and done was also consistent with the character of Max Tanner.

  What if she had finally cracked from the stress? Her heart had cried wolf so many times, how could she be sure she wasn’t deluding herself again?

  “Mr. Tanner, Abrams found her car.”

  “Where?” Max asked.

  “A few blocks over. It was parked in front of a warehouse.”

  “What kind of warehouse?”

  “It was full of kitchen stuff. There was a button factory beside it.”

  “Do you know if he got rid of the car, Floyd?”

  “He dumped it off the pier, Mr. Tanner. This was inside. He said you’d want to hear it.”

  “Thanks. How are the repairs to the winch coming along?”

  “It’s up and running. We’ll be finished loading in ten minutes.”

  “Good work.”

  Erika strained to listen, but she could detect only one set of footsteps retreating down the corridor. Max still wasn’t alone. She heard a soft whirring sound from the doorway, followed by a click. She tilted her head, trying to picture what the noise could be from.

  “November seventeenth, 12:35 a.m.”

  It was her voice.

  “Have observed no activity in the area for the past hour. Possibly due to the weather.”

  Oh, no. She had forgotten about the tape recorder. She had dropped it on the floor of the car when she’d first seen Sloan.

  “Advise client to install better lighting over the door beside the loading dock. What he’s got now wouldn’t discourage thieves, it would only annoy them. Recommend client hire Adeel to install video surveillance at all entrances. Note to self: call Adeel to negotiate possible finder’s fee if client follows recommendation to buy equipment from him. Second note to self: pick up dog food on way home—”

  The recording clicked off. She angled her head back and saw the tips of Max’s cowboy boots just inside the doorway.

  “Well, Leavish,” He crossed one ankle over the other, as if he leaned a shoulder on the doorframe. “It appears our conversation with Red is over.”

  “Let me explain,” she said.

  “If you were expecting a reward from Homeland Security, you wouldn’t be thinking up ways to milk your client. You weren’t looking for us, baby, you were staking out that warehouse where Abrams found your car.”

  This was Sloan, she told herself. He wasn’t going to hurt her. “What difference does it make whether I was looking for you or not? I found you.”

  “No one knows you’re here.”

  “Wrong. The authorities know.”

  Max laughed again. The harsh sound grated on her nerves. It was so wrong, so unlike Sloan. “Too late, sweet cheeks,” he drawled. “It was a gutsy bet, but your bluff just got called. Game’s over.”

  “Wait. Give me some more time to—”

  “Time isn’t going to change anything.”

  The words were familiar. They were some of the last Sloan had said to her.

  Time isn’t going to change how I feel about you.

  “Take the recorder to Wates, Leavish,” Max continued. “Tell him I’ll meet him on the bridge.”

  “I’ll wait for you to finish up first, Mr. Tanner. He ordered me to stay with you.”

  Finish up? Erika’s pulse kicked with a spurt of adrenaline that had nothing to do with recognition. Wates would expect Max to kill her. Once they were underway, they would dispose of her remains along with Dick’s. Oh, God. If she’d made a mistake…

  No. She was going to trust her heart. She clasped her hands and leaned forward. “All right. I admit it. I lied. But please, don’t hurt me. I don’t want to die. I’ll do anything you say.”

  “Anything?” Max asked.

  She rocked to her feet. “Yes.” She walked toward his voice. “Tell me what you want.”

  “Whoa, Red. You’re getting me all excited.”

  This was Sloan. And this was the best way to give him an excuse to be alone with her without blowing his cover. She s
topped walking and bent her elbows to bring her joined hands to her blouse buttons. “You said you liked redheads.”

  “Baby, as tempting as this is, I’ve got business to take care of.”

  She caught the flash of her engagement ring from beneath her blindfold. Her tears made the stone sparkle as if it had a life of its own. She undid the first button. “I’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive.”

  Max grunted and pushed away from the door frame. “On the other hand,” he said, “you’re giving me some good reasons to stay.”

  What I’m asking for is a reason to stay.

  Another echo from that final night. Erika’s fingers trembled as she opened three more buttons and pulled the edges of her blouse apart. “I’ll give you as many reasons as you can handle for as long as you want. You’ve already seen what I have to offer. You can have it all. You decide.”

  The moment spun out. Voices drifted in the distance. A low hum of machinery rumbled through the floor. She could hear harsh breathing and her own heartbeat and Sloan’s voice in her memory.

  Did he realize what she’d said? Had the way they had parted haunted Sloan as much as it had haunted her?

  Or had she just bared her soul—and her body—to a complete stranger?

  “Get out of here, Leavish,” Max said.

  “Mr. Tanner—”

  “Sweet cheeks just asked me to dance.” There was a slithering click that sounded like his switchblade. “And I like it rough.”

  Erika fought to keep her whimper inside. Sloan was putting on an act. A very convincing act. There was no reason to be scared.

  But the ground was coming up fast and the parachute hadn’t opened.

  The light went out. The door to the room slammed shut.

  She hadn’t been able to see much beneath the blindfold to begin with, but this sudden, total blackness that enveloped her was terrifying. She had never felt so completely defenseless in her life. She extended her arms, her fingers touching nothing but shadows. “Sloan,” she whispered.

  Boots thudded across the floor to where she stood. Cold steel pressed against the back of her hand. “Scream,” Max muttered.

  Her breath caught on a sob. “Sloan?”

  “Damn it, Riki, scream. Leavish is listening.”

  He didn’t have to tell her again. She parted her lips and let loose with everything that had been building inside for a year. The regret, the guilt, the anger and the grief. She emptied her lungs, pouring out the emotions that words alone could never express.

  She screamed just as she had when she’d jumped from that plane, the last time she’d taken a leap of faith.

  Max slit the tape that bound her wrists and dropped his knife to the floor.

  Then he caught Erika’s face in his hands and ended her scream with a kiss.

  Chapter 6

  It was hot fudge, dark and rich and honest, sizzling through her senses with a power that left her breathless. It was too intense to be pleasurable. It burned, it stung. It tore away what was left of her reason and sent her soaring to a realm of pure sensation.

  Erika’s legs buckled. She clutched his shoulders. Sloan slid one hand behind her waist and clamped his other hand at the nape of her neck, holding her mouth to his as he turned in a circle, whirling her in a dizzying, jubilant dance.

  Yes, he was Sloan. He was here, he was real. His breath warmed her cheek, his taste filled her mouth. Sloan!

  They sank to their knees together on the floor. With her body sealed to his, she touched her fingertips to his jaw and felt the square corners. She followed the lines that bracketed his lips and skimmed her thumbs upward to the bridge of his bold, hawk nose. There was the bump where he’d broken it as a kid, that wonderful, one-of-a-kind bump.

  He splayed his hand over her back, crushing her breasts to his chest so hard she gasped. He swept his tongue over her lips in a sweet, wet demand that she answered with a moan and a tilt of her head.

  No one could kiss like Sloan. There was no halfway with him, and he was throwing himself into this one full-throttle. It was making her giddy. After a year of denial, she was drunk on the joy that careened through her soul.

  Sloan, her lover, her other half. He was real and alive and kissing her.

  She traced his features greedily, seeing his beloved face in her mind. She stroked his eyebrows, pushed back the lock of hair that fell over his forehead and felt the smooth line of scar tissue that curved along his left temple. That was a souvenir from a perp who had swung a bottle at him. She ran her little finger around the curve of his right ear and felt the tiny raised bump in the lobe where he’d had it pierced for a cover.

  She wasn’t looking for proof—she already had more than she needed—yet any doubts that might have been lurking on the edges of her mind were shattered the instant she touched his cheeks.

  They were wet.

  Erika grabbed her blindfold and yanked it off. She scarcely registered the pain at the strands of hair that got ripped out along with it. She flung the cloth into the blackness and returned her hands to Sloan’s face. Something broke loose deep inside her heart as she wiped the tracks of his tears with her fingertips.

  How was it possible to love this man more?

  His chest rumbled with a groan that tingled through her breasts and down to her thighs. He spoke against her lips, his voice barely above a whisper. “Riki, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “What about your head?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “What’s wrong with your feet? You winced when I touched your heels.”

  She smiled. Oh, yes. This was Sloan. “My boots are too tight, that’s all.”

  “What the hell were you doing snooping around here anyway? Of all the reckless stunts…” He plunged his hand into her hair, brought it to his face and inhaled hard. “It damn near killed me when I saw what the jerks had done to you.”

  “It was a bit of a shock to see you, too.”

  “I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you. I’ll get you out of this. I promise.”

  She didn’t want to stop and think how he would be able to keep that promise. The odds hadn’t improved by much. Now they were two instead of only one against a ship full of armed men. This time with Sloan might be all that she would get.

  Still, it was more than she’d ever dreamed of having, and she would savor every second of it. “I love you, Sloan. Whatever happens to us, I want you to know that.”

  “And you, my precious Riki, are the love of my life.” He cupped her buttocks, dragging her up to straddle his lap as he sat back on his heels. “You are also one brave, clever, magnificent woman.”

  “I meant everything I said tonight, Sloan. About the ring, about us.”

  He buried his face against her neck. His silent laugh puffed across her skin. “That was a hell of a way you decided to tell me. Do you have any idea how close I came to blowing my cover?”

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure everything out.”

  “Hey, you held it together great once you caught on. The way you let me know you knew was downright brilliant.”

  “Not that. I meant I’m sorry I didn’t figure things out about us before that last fight.”

  “No, Erika, it was my fault. I was an idiot for leaving like I did.” He moved his hands over her back to her shoulders and down her arms, kneading and stroking, as if he needed to reassure himself as much as she did that this was really happening. “It was only supposed to last two weeks.”

  Her skirt bunched at her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his hips. She had to get closer. She would crawl inside him if she could. “Two weeks?”

  “The case. Two weeks tops. I had no idea I was going to get in this deep. It was because of the accident.”

  “You mean you didn’t fake falling off your boat?”

  “No, I didn’t fake that. It happened exactly as everyone said. All of it. That’s when things got complicated.”

  “But ho
w did you survive?”

  “It would take too long to explain now. We don’t have much time.”

  “But—”

  “I always planned to come back to you, Riki. I never thought I’d be gone this long.” He nuzzled aside her hair and kissed his way to her ear. “I missed you so much, I thought I’d go crazy.”

  “Crazy?” She choked on a bubble of pure mirth. “You’re not the only one. You have no idea what I went through.”

  His breath tickled her neck. “Actually, I do. You chased me at least five times.”

  “What?”

  “Once in Central Park. Twice at Penn Station.”

  “You were there? Really there?”

  “I shouldn’t have been, but I couldn’t go on without seeing you, even if it was only from a distance. After the close call in the subway, I got better at keeping out of sight.”

  “You…” She hiccupped as a laugh turned into a sob. “I thought I was losing my mind.”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “Couldn’t you have said something?”

  “I was tempted, but it was for your own good. I know how persistent you are.” He nipped her earlobe. “And you had the nerve to call me stubborn.”

  “Don’t forget overprotective.”

  He looped his arms around her back. “I did everything in my power to take care of you, Riki, but you didn’t make it easy. Thank God you quit drinking.”

  “How did you know about that?”

  “I drove you to Jersey that night last July when you got wasted at the Cherry.”

  She pulled her head back. She couldn’t see him, but she could swear she heard his mouth move into his lopsided grin. “Wait. You mean you left me on the side of the turnpike? I’d thought I’d driven there drunk.”

  “You had passed out before you started your car. I wanted to shock you into taking better care of yourself.”

  She smacked his chest. “Damn it, Sloan. That scared me half to death.”

  “That was the idea.”

  “All those times I saw you, I thought I was seeing your ghost.”

  “Do you still think I’m a ghost?”