Three Times as Deadly

by Erin Wade

  Alex yawned again. “Sounds good. I don’t think I can keep my eyes open much longer.”

  We showered then tumbled into bed. Clutching each other, we fell into an exhausted sleep.

  A slight noise awoke me. I held my breath and listened. Alex was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.

  I pretended to be asleep when she slipped back into bed and snuggled into my side. “Sloan?” she whispered into my ear as she ran her soft feet up and down my legs.

  I fought to keep an even rhythm to my breathing. I loved it when Alex awakened me.

  “Sloan, baby.” Her warm breath sent a tremor through my body. She giggled as she entangled her legs with mine, undulating against my body.

  “Wake up and play with me,” she whispered.

  “What do you want to play?” I mumbled.

  “Suspect and interrogator,” she said, raking my arm with her nails. “You know . . . when you’re interrogating me and have to get rough to extract the answers you need from me.”

  “How rough?”

  “As rough as you want.” Her voice was deep and sexy.

  “I might need my whip,” I said, only half-teasing.

  “Your imagination is so much better than that.” She kissed my nipple.

  “You have no idea.” I moaned as I rolled her over onto her back and rose above her. “No idea at all.”

  ##

  Chapter 33

  I roused from a satiated sleep and snuggled closer to Alex. I moaned as I moved to work out the soreness. Somewhere during our lovemaking, our roles had switched, and she’d become the interrogator. My mind kept replaying the intensity of our early-morning passion.

  The hotel room was frigid, and I knew a cold front had made its way into New York. As I snuggled into the warmth of my wife and dozed, memories of the two of us filled my dreams.

  I was stumbling down a long hallway, my arm draped over a shapely blonde. We were laughing as she was telling me what she had planned for us. I fumbled for my key and finally managed to unlock the door to my dorm room. She shoved me inside, pushing my back against the door as it swung open and banged against the wall.

  “We have to make love in your room tonight,” she said. “My roommate is entertaining her boyfriend in my room.”

  “Mm hmm,” I hummed as she kissed me. I opened my eyes and realized someone had turned on the lamp on the nightstand beside the extra bed in my room. My eyes went from the lamp to the face of the most gorgeous creature I had ever seen.

  Her lips twitched as she tried not to laugh at me and my date. Her eyes danced, and she tilted her beautiful head to the side. I forgot about the woman kissing me.

  “Hey, don’t die on me,” my date growled as she slid her hand inside my jeans. “I’ve waited all day for this.”

  “Uh . . . um, we have company.”

  “What the hell?” My date turned to stare at my new roommate. “Don’t think for a minute you’re going to share a room with her.” She glared at me, daring me to defy her.

  “I’ll call you,” I mumbled as I shoved her into the hallway and locked the door behind her.

  “Hey,” I showed off my vocabulary as my roommate’s face lit up, showcasing the cutest dimples I had ever seen in my life.”

  “You must be Sloan Cartwright,” she said in a voice that dripped pure sex appeal.

  I stood there, staring like a fool. I was certain the heat generated by the woman on the bed had melted my vocal cords.

  She shrugged as if she were accustomed to dealing with idiots. “I’m Alexandra Roland,” she said, “your new roommate.”

  My mouth snapped shut of its own accord. I swallowed hard and ran my tongue between my lips, trying to find a bit of moisture in my mouth that suddenly felt as if someone had stuffed it with cotton.

  “Since that bed was unmade, I assumed this one was mine.” A smile teased her lips. It was clear she knew how she was affecting me. I prayed she was a lesbian, but nothing about her indicated she was.

  Her long black hair curled around her shoulders, and perfectly arched brows raised in anticipation that I would confirm her assumptions. She raised her hand and touched her lips with a professionally manicured forefinger as if deciding whether I was mentally deficient or a mute.

  “Bed? Sure. That one is fine, or you can sleep with me. Er . . . uh, I mean you can have the other bed. You can have anything you want.”

  She laughed out loud, and it was like the gates of heaven had opened and filled the night with music. I stood at the foot of her bed, gaping at her. More than anything else in the world, I wanted to touch her face, to make sure she was real.

  She tilted her head and smiled. “Can you recommend a place I might go for dinner tonight?”

  “Dinner?” I mumbled.

  “Food,” she said. “Something to eat. I’ve been traveling all day, and I’m starving.”

  “I . . . I just need to go to the . . . .” I kept my eyes on her as I sidestepped my way into the bathroom and closed the door.

  I mentally slapped myself for acting like a cretin. I looked at my face in the mirror and was surprised to find myself grinning from ear to ear. God, she must think I’m an imbecile.

  I brushed my teeth as my heart rate slowed. I ran a brush through my long blonde hair, touched up my makeup, and sprayed on some perfume.

  As I reached for the doorknob, I realized my hand was shaking. I chastised myself for behaving like a Cro-Magnon man. I’d lost count of the women I’d dated. Never had one of them made me lose my cool like Alexandra Roland.

  I emerged from the bathroom to find her standing at the door of our room. “Are you taking me to dinner?” she asked.

  I nodded and followed her down the hallway.

  I’ve followed her ever since. The thought was bouncing around in my head as I awoke. I pulled her tighter against me and buried my face in her luxurious raven hair. The scent of her made my heart beat faster. “I love you, Alexandra Roland Cartwright,” I whispered in her ear.

  “Mm,” she cooed. “I love you too, baby.”

  She snuggled into me and sighed. “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

  “I’m beginning to remember more about us. I remember the first day we met.”

  She giggled. “Yes, that was when I found out how articulate you were.”

  “It took me a week to carry on a coherent conversation with you,” I said, chuckling at the memory. “You were just so damn gorgeous. I felt as if I should lay an offering at your feet every time I spoke to you.”

  “Yeah, and then you discovered I wanted you as much as you wanted me.” Alex moved her lips against my skin as she spoke. A thrill shot through me.

  “That did even the playing field a little,” I admitted.

  “Do you remember our first time?” she asked.

  I searched my mind for the memory and drew a blank. “Not yet.”

  “I’m not going to tell you about it,” she said as she kissed my breast. “I want you to discover it.”

  “How long did you make me wait?” I had to ask.

  “Oh, at least seven minutes.” she snuggled closer.

  “Now you’re just toying with me.” I hugged her tighter. “I know it took me that long to stop gawking at you.”

  We lay for a long time just holding each other.

  “I bet it snowed last night,” I informed her. “Are you ready to face the day?”

  “As much as I’d rather lie in your warm arms all day,” she said, “I know you have work to do. Can I have breakfast before we jump into the world of secret agents and killers?”

  I repeated the first full sentence I had spoken to her so long ago: “You can have anything you want.”

  ##

  Chapter 34

  The safe house was in a brownstone in Queens. Surveilling a multistory brownstone in New York was quite different from spying on a ranch in Texas.

  I knew our safe house or apartment was on the third floor, facing the street. I drove past the brow
nstone twice, looking for a place where we could conceal our car but still have a clear view of the apartments.

  I parked down the block and pulled the binoculars from my duffle bag. Everything looked peaceful. I called Ross.

  “Are you alone?” I blurted out before he could speak into the phone.

  “No, honey. It isn’t safe for you to call me,” Ross said. “Don’t call me again.”

  I cursed as I ended the call.

  “What’s wrong?” Alarm covered Alex’s lovely face.

  “He told me not to call him again. That means they’re trying to set a trap to catch me.”

  A black town car stopped in front of the brownstone housing the safe house. I pulled the binoculars to my eyes and watched as Amarosia and her father, Governor Makin, got out of the vehicle.

  I gasped. “What are they doing here?” They looked around before walking up the steps leading into the apartment building. The town car drove away.

  “Something’s wrong,” I said. “Honey, I’m going inside. Drive to the end of the block and then turn around and drive back. Stop in front of the brownstone and wait for me. If things go sideways, drive away. Don’t wait for me. I’ll catch up with you at our motel.”

  As always, Alex nodded and followed my instructions. I watched until she reached the end of the block, touched my gun for assurance, and sprinted across the street and up the steps.

  It was deathly quiet inside the brownstone foyer. I ignored the elevator and took the stairs two at a time. I opened the stairwell door a crack and watched as Makin knocked on Ross’s door.

  “Ross, please let me in,” Amarosia said, a sense of urgency in her voice. “I’m in danger.”

  Ross opened his door. A loud blast sent my friend flying backward. The unmistakable smell of gunpowder filled the hallway as Amarosia’s father dragged her to the elevator. He held a gun in one hand and her wrist in the other.

  I waited until the elevator door opened and Amarosia and her father were inside then I stepped into the hallway.

  I didn’t hesitate. I placed a clean shot in Makin’s forehead. He had murdered my partner. The man lurched forward, preventing the elevator door from closing. The elevator dinged incessantly as the doors kept trying to close, but bounced back when they encountered the body lying across the threshold.

  I trained my gun on Amarosia. Her horrified eyes locked with mine and tears ran down her cheeks. “Sloan, please, don’t,” she begged. “It’s me, Amy. Please remember me?”

  A movement to my right pulled my attention away from Amy. Ross staggered to the door. “Sloan, are you okay?”

  “You’re the one that just took a bullet,” I blurted as I caught him by the shoulders.

  “I am fine,” he grimaced, “bullet-proof vest.” He turned his eyes toward the elevator. “Amy.”

  The noise rising from the stairwell sounded like a herd of elephants was headed toward us.

  “Come on,” I gasped as I pulled Amarosia’s father from the elevator. Ross followed me into the car, and I pushed the down button as the stairwell door opened.

  “Was he dead?” Ross asked.

  “Very,” I nodded.

  We ran from the brownstone as Alex skidded to a stop in front of the apartments. I had a firm grip on Amy’s arm and dragged her into the back seat with me while Ross jumped into the front passenger’s seat. Alex floor boarded the accelerator, and we sped away from the scene of the shooting.

  “What the hell is going on?” I asked as I surveyed Amy’s face. She threw her arms around my neck and tried to kiss me. A growl from our driver stopped her overtures to me.

  “What is she doing here?” Amy demanded as she glared at the back of Alex’s head.

  “I am more interested in what you’re doing here,” I gripped her wrist tightly. “Why did you try to kill Ross?”

  “It wasn’t her,” Ross gasped. “It was Makin. God, Sloan everything is in an uproar.”

  “How did Makin know where the safe house was?” I scowled at Amy.

  “I didn’t tell him, Sloan,” Amy’s eyes filled with tears. “You know I would never do anything to hurt you or Ross.”

  “She is our fourth,” Ross frowned. “You, Leigh, Amy and I make up our team.”

  “But, Makin,” I frowned. “I thought he was your father. “

  “I have been deep undercover for years,” Amy explained. “Makin was my lover—the sacrifice I made for our country.”

  “What country is that?” I glared at her.

  “The United States, of course,” Amy frowned. “Don’t be so high and mighty, Sloan Cartwright. All you need do is pretend to be a reporter. I must pretend to be a heterosexual. Do you have any idea how awful it is to have some man crawl all over you while you pretend to like it when you want to puke?”

  Her question made my stomach twist. Her sacrifices were much greater than mine.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, trying to make some sense of what was happening. I recalled that Leigh had denied any knowledge of Amy.

  “Obviously our cover has been blown,” I thought out loud. “Who outed us? If half of Africa knows we are treasury agents, we are sitting ducks for the ivory and horn poachers.”

  “I don’t think they know we are treasury agents,” Amy said. “They believe you stumbled onto their smuggling and poaching operations during your work on the documentary.”

  “I am sure our cover as reporters is still intact,” Ross added.

  “What about you, Amy?” A concerned look crossed his face as he addressed the dark beauty sitting beside me.

  “The agency will have to pull me in,” she looked down at her hands that were now folded primly in her lap.

  “I can’t go back to the governor’s palace without Makin. They will sell me to the highest bidder or his successor. His protection kept me safe from the other jackals.”

  Ross and I nodded. Amy was right.

  “Where’s Leigh?” I asked.

  “She’s at headquarters,” Ross replied. “We need to let her know that we are all in New York.”

  “Not yet,” I said. “Alex, take us back to the motel. We need a plan.”

  ##

  I walked onto the small motel balcony to get some fresh air. We had dissected our situation ad nauseam. Everything hinged on the videos I had taken. Most of my memory had returned except for what I had done with the videos and my own recollection of why Alex had divorced me.

  Strong arms slid around me as Alex pressed her soft breasts against my back. She rested her cheek between my shoulder blades. “I love you,” she whispered.

  I placed my hands over hers and reveled in the feel of her against me. “What are we going to do?” Alex asked.

  “With all three agents in one room, our situation is three times as deadly,” I repeated the words the nurse Sadie had used to describe having three wives. It all seemed so long ago.

  “Whoever is after us could take out all of us in one fell swoop. I think you, Ross and Amy should go into the agency and let them protect you.”

  “Like they protected Ross,” Alex bit into my back. “If you hadn’t been there, Ross would be dead.”

  “Ouch, that hurt,” I whined.

  “But you liked it, didn’t you?” Alex purred.

  “Too much,” I laughed as she nibbled at my shoulder blade.

  “Please, stop torturing me,” I begged. “The four of us are going to be together, sleeping in one room for a while.

  Alex moaned and bit me harder then giggled at my gasp of pain.

  “We should join the others,” she said in a pouty voice.

  ##

  Chapter 35

  It took us a week of scouring the newspaper, but we finally found a listing for a two-bedroom apartment for lease.

  Alex and I met with the landlord and made the arrangements to rent the ground-floor apartment. He practically salivated as he gave us the tour of the place. Honestly, we would have rented a tent to get out of the one-roo
m motel suite. Three beautiful women and a man in one room is not the ideal situation. I felt sorry for Ross. One of the many nice things about being a woman is that it isn’t so obvious when we become aroused.

  The new living situation was better for Alex and me, as we had a private bedroom. Amy took the second bedroom, and Ross, always the gentleman, insisted on sleeping on the sofa.

  ##

  We took turns showering, and then Ross and I began reconstructing our year in Africa, hoping it would jog my memory.

  Nothing worked.

  “I do have a question.” I looked from Amy to Ross. “Why did both Leigh and Amy show up at the hospital claiming to be my wife?”

  “The agency sent Leigh to get you,” Ross said. “They were afraid the African mafia would abduct you.”

  “Makin insisted I bring you to the governor’s palace,” Amy added. “He had no idea both of us were with the US Treasury Department. He only knew that you had videoed him exchanging funds and rhino horns with one of your US senators.

  “If that information got out, it would cause them a great deal of trouble, possibly even prison time for the senator.”

  “I decided the easiest way to have you released into my care was to claim I was your wife,” Amy explained. “Then Alex showed up.”

  “Ross, why did you call Alex?” I watched his eyes as I asked the question.

  Ross shook his head. “I didn’t call Alex,” he said, scowling at me.

  “Yes, you did,” Alex insisted.

  “I . . . I promise you, I didn’t,” Ross said.

  “You had Sloan’s cell phone. You called me from it.” Alex’s forehead furrowed as she tried to recall the sound of the voice on the phone.

  “Are you certain it was me?” Ross asked. “I was hurt too. I managed to crawl into a clump of bushes before the human jackals descended on Sloan.

  “They stripped her of everything, her cell phone included. They took her watch, boots, camera, wedding ring—although I don’t know why she still wore it.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at Alex. “After the sorry way you dumped her.”