Sweet Reward-Last 9

by Christy Reece

  Apparently sarcasm, like everything else, made no impression on the man’s rawhide-tough exterior. He just stood there with that brooding expression.

  Fine. She was too tired to argue anyway. She held up the gun she had in her hand. “I have this, a sophisticated security system, and five dogs who are friendly only as long as I’m around. What else do you think I need?”

  “Maybe a little caution before you go running into danger again? What the hell would have happened if I hadn’t been in that alley with you?”

  Too startled to even pretend she wasn’t insulted, she said, “Excuse me, but are you under the impression that you saved my life?”

  “Maybe not saved it, but the bastard would have shot you if I hadn’t been there to scare him off.”

  She opened her mouth, ready to rattle off her unique talents and training, and then snapped it shut. Hell, she had nothing to prove to anyone. Not even this condescending and infuriating, albeit gorgeous, imbecile.

  She allowed herself one simple statement: “I know how to handle myself.”

  His disbelieving snort was an ignorable irritant. She pressed her thumbprint onto the door lock to open it. Immediately the security alarm dinged. Since her dog walker came each day, Mia usually set the alarm only at night. After the close call tonight, she would change that routine.

  Mia went to the wall and punched in the code, then turned to greet her furry companions. They once again came at her as if it had been days since they’d seen her, instead of a few hours. She dropped to her knees and hugged each one a little tighter than normal, taking comfort from their unconditional love. The man behind her stood at the door, no doubt thinking her silly once again.

  As the fuming woman in front of him greeted her animals, Jared scanned the area. He saw nothing out of the way, and the animals weren’t acting nervous—a good sign that there were no intruders. He’d pissed her off, but better she be angry than dead. The woman appeared to have absolutely no self-preservation instincts.

  As if sensing her anger at him, the dogs, which had been friendly only hours before, stood and stared at him, looking decidedly unfriendly.

  “It’s okay, guys,” she said to the group of fur at her feet. “He’s an ass, but he’s harmless.”

  Hmm. Two insults in one. Impressive.

  “I’m going to make some tea.”

  Jared headed to the living room, where he’d sat and waited before. This time, instead of waiting, something prompted him to go into the kitchen. There he found Mia standing at the sink, her hands covering her face as she quietly cried.

  He told himself tears didn’t move him. Death was part of life, and if she was too tender to handle the loss of an informant, she sure as hell didn’t need to be in this kind of business. She’d learned a painful but valuable lesson tonight. He told himself to go back to the living room while she finished her cry. This kind of thing was a private matter. He needed to let her grieve in peace. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do to help her.

  So why the hell was he walking toward her, putting his hand on her shoulder, and whispering, “Mia?”

  Instead of being embarrassed to be caught crying or telling him to get the hell away from her, she did something totally unexpected. She turned and threw herself into his arms. Hell, women did not cry in his arms. Whenever he held a woman, it was for one purpose and never had anything to do with comfort. Jared Livingston was no comforter.

  Figuring that she was clueless about that, too, Jared pulled her closer and held her as she sobbed against his chest. He was good at pretense and had played various roles most of his adult life. Surely he could pretend for a few minutes that he was the kind of guy who could offer a woman something besides sex or protection.

  She felt delicate in his arms and smelled like some kind of exotic spice he couldn’t identify. Despite his intent to offer her only comfort, arousal surged thick and hard. Jared closed his eyes and ground his teeth. Hell, if she felt the erection pressing against her, she’d realize exactly what kind of man he was. And stupid as it seemed, that bothered him.

  Doing the difficult thing, Jared dropped his arms and pulled away. When she looked up at him, he lost his breath. No one should look that beautiful after a meltdown. Dark brown eyes, drenched with tears, gleamed up at him, full pink lips trembled, and her slightly pointed chin, wet from tears, quivered. He needed every bit of his steely self-control to take two steps back. If he didn’t, he’d be crossing a line he’d never crossed before.

  “Sorry about that.” Her soft voice was thick with tears.

  “He was your friend.” He knew the words sounded cold and mechanical, but that’s who he was, how he operated. She needed to understand that.

  Instead of looking disappointed by his hollow, empty words, she pulled her trembling lips into a smile. “Thank you. Yes, he was a friend.”

  For some stupid reason, he wanted to say more—something substantial that had meaning. He wanted her to feel better. His eyes locked with hers; seconds passed as something profound clicked between them. He didn’t understand it, had never experienced anything like it. Without will or purpose, his legs moved forward again, his arms reached for her—

  The shrill ring of a cellphone broke the moment. Jared breathed out a low sigh and stepped out of the way of temptation. What the hell had he been about to do? He was apparently more tired than he’d thought.

  Shaking herself from the odd, mesmerizing spell Jared Livingston’s eyes had cast on her, Mia pulled the phone from her pocket. “This is Mia.”

  “Mia, you okay?”

  She smiled at the concern in the warm male voice. “I’m fine. Guess you heard about everything.”

  “Yeah. Just now. You should’ve called me.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you. I knew it was your night off.”

  “You know you could never bother me.”

  “Do you guys have any suspects yet?”

  “No, but we’ll find him, I promise. The report said another man was with you.”

  Mia looked up to see Jared pouring steaming water into the mugs she’d set out. She liked that he was doing that. She liked too many things about him, which was ridiculous, since there were so many things about him that pissed her off.

  “Yes, a friend who’s in the business.”

  “I’m assuming you were meeting Spunky for information.”

  “Yes … someone didn’t want me to get it.”

  “What was it for?”

  “The abduction case—the Hempstead baby. I thought it might be related to another case.”

  “Guess you haven’t heard the news. They found the baby.”

  “Seriously? Where? Is he okay?”

  “Yeah. Family got a ransom call; money was delivered, and the baby was found. Don’t know who did the deed, though.”

  Then that case had nothing to do with hers, after all. “But why kill Spunky? Something doesn’t make sense.”

  “What about other cases you worked with him on? Could it be one of them?”

  That was a possibility; he’d been her main informant and had helped her on several recent cases. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and felt no better. Exhaustion and grief had frazzled her mind. “Let me think this through. Can we talk tomorrow?”

  He dropped his voice to a softer, more intimate tone: “How about I take you to dinner?”

  An instant before saying yes, Mia stopped herself. Todd was one of several friends she had at the police department, but he’d made it clear that he’d like a different relationship. Mia liked him immensely, but she felt absolutely no attraction toward him. Saying yes to dinner would be leading him on. She had been used before; it wasn’t pleasant.

  “I can’t, but thanks. How about I come to the station around eleven? Maybe we could grab a cup of coffee.”

  His responding sigh was heavy with disappointment. “Okay, I’ll clear some time for you around eleven.”

  “Thanks, Todd.”

  Mia closed her cellphon
e, more than aware that she’d hurt her friend but unable to do anything about it. She turned to find Jared holding a mug of tea for her.

  Smiling her gratitude, she took the tea and swallowed a sip. Sugar exploded on her tongue.

  “Put in a little extra sugar. You’ve had a few shocks tonight.”

  “Just had another one. That was a friend of mine. He’s a detective at the Fifteenth Precinct. The Hempsteads’ baby was found alive after a ransom drop.”

  His eyes narrowed in thought. “Were you working with your informant on any other cases?”

  “He’d recently given me some information on an abduction for hire. I rescued the girl, but the police are still looking for the suspect.”

  “You think this was payback?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Let’s sit down and see if we can figure this out.”

  Mia knew she had some choices to make. And though part of her didn’t want to say the words, she knew they had to be said. “With the ransom demand, it’s apparent that this has nothing to do with your case. Tell Noah I’m sorry to have involved LCR.”

  He considered her for several seconds. Those silver eyes did something to her blood pressure, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. But what she knew for certain was that Jared Livingston couldn’t be a permanent part of her life. Not only did he live thousands of miles away, she had grave doubts that her heart could handle him. Her life was all about taking chances, but that didn’t include falling for a guy this dangerous or unattainable.

  “You’re right that the two cases aren’t related, but we need to talk this out. You were almost killed tonight.”

  “No, I wasn’t. I was shot at—big difference. I’ve been shot at before, and I’m sure it’ll happen again.”

  “Then let’s figure out who did it this time.”

  She knew where this was going. Jared, unimpressed with her competence, thought he needed to stay and help her out on this case. She was torn between gratitude for his caring and irritation that he had misjudged her so completely.

  “I’ve got people working on this. You need to get back to your case.”

  Again those eyes seared her; Mia could feel every bone in her body melting. How long had it been since she’d been this attracted to a man? Years. Her disastrous engagement had made her ultra wary. “Once burned, twice shy” had become her mantra. And this man had a more dangerous edge than most. She’d definitely be setting herself up for more than she could handle. Best to say goodbye now.

  She walked past him, out of the kitchen, and headed to the front door. Get it over with, clean and quick.

  “Mia.”

  She turned and saw hesitation and something else in his expression. That something had her heart pounding. She quickly pulled the door open before she could change her mind. “Have a good flight home. I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.”

  Jared wasn’t used to indecision, especially about something like this. The woman obviously wanted him gone. Being unwanted wasn’t a new thing for him, so why was it so difficult to walk out the door?

  What else could he do? She had refused his help. But the thought of something happening to this lovely, energetic, obviously naïve young woman clawed at him.

  In seconds, his mind threw out and then rejected different things he could do to help her. She had friends, many in law enforcement, who could probably do a lot more for her than he could. Still, he had to say, “I could stay a few more days, help you out.”

  A tender expression appeared on her face. “Thank you, but no.” And then she did something that totally floored him. Standing on her toes, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Behind that gruff, tough exterior, you’re a very sweet man, Jared Livingston.”

  Hell, she was even more clueless than he’d thought. Giving her a grim nod, he walked out the door. Some people just couldn’t be helped.

  five

  One month later

  LCR headquarters

  Jared paced back and forth across the length of McCall’s office. Double jackhammers of frustration and hopelessness pounded inside him. Every single day had brought either no news or bad news. Today’s news might be the worst of all. “So how many more abductions do we think there have been?”

  “Five in the last two years—at least that we know of. Whoever’s doing this has been very selective. The abductions have just enough in common to look related, but the locations are all over the world, and the leads either dead-end or have nothing in common with one another.”

  “And we still have no idea where the children are being taken … or for what purpose.”

  “Not yet.” McCall eyed Jared speculatively. “How’s Lara holding up?”

  Disgust audible in his sigh, Jared dropped down into a chair in front of McCall’s desk. “Not good.” And that was an understatement. She had taken a leave from her job and called him almost every day with either possible sightings or near-hysterical rants about how if he was as good as he claimed to be, her daughter would have been found by now. Though grief could make people say things they normally wouldn’t, he couldn’t help but agree with her assessment. If he was so damn good, just why the hell couldn’t he find these children?

  “I have a person coming in today with some new intel,” Noah said.

  Good. The more people on the case, the better their chances of success. There were already four operatives on it; one more would be a welcome addition. And new information? Hell, yeah.

  “What kind of intel?”

  “She’ll be here in about twenty minutes and can update us both. I only heard the sketchiest details a few days ago. She—”

  Before McCall could finish the sentence, his intercom buzzed and Angela Delvecchio, LCR’s receptionist, announced, “Noah, she’s on her way up.”

  A small smile played around McCall’s mouth as he stood. “She has a tendency to be early and impatient.”

  Less than a minute later, the door flew open.

  A woman in her late twenties glided into the room. Dark, mink-brown hair caressed her shoulders, creamy magnolia skin gleamed as though there were a light beneath the surface, dark brown, intelligent eyes glinted with life, and her full, mobile mouth curved up into a delighted smile the moment she spotted McCall.

  Shit. This was a distraction he hadn’t needed.

  Jared glared at McCall, who strode around the desk to greet Mia Ryker. His head reeling, Jared barely registered that she threw her arms around McCall with an exuberant “It’s so good to see you again.”

  McCall returned the hug and then smiled down at her like an affectionate uncle. “You, too.”

  “Livingston, I believe you know Mia.”

  Though he knew it was the polite and gentlemanly thing to stand, Jared had let go of those kinds of societal niceties long ago. He gave a silent, grim nod of acknowledgment. Anything he said now would start an argument. He’d wait until he had his boss alone to ask him what the hell he was thinking. Mia Ryker … working on this case? McCall said she had new information, but they’d determined that her case and this one weren’t related. Was this another wild goose chase, like when he’d gone to Chicago?

  She looked the same as she had a month ago. Beautiful and as delicate as air. Energy practically pulsated from her small frame; he’d never seen anyone so vibrantly alive.

  The bright smile remained on her face as her gaze met his, but he saw the challenging glint in her eyes. She knew his thoughts. Yeah, well, he hadn’t exactly made his opinion of her abilities a secret.

  When he’d returned from Chicago, McCall had asked him very little about Mia or her case. Jared had reported that the case wasn’t related to theirs, and his boss had accepted it. However, he’d also mentioned that Mia’s life could well be in danger and that she seemed to have no concept of that danger. McCall hadn’t acted surprised, but the hell of it was, he hadn’t acted concerned, either.

  Jared had worked hard not to think about her and had, for the most part, succeeded. Sure, h
e’d scanned the Internet for news on her informant’s death and about her case, but that was professional curiosity and nothing more. He had been slightly involved in those cases, so it made sense for him to keep up with what was going on. And what he had found was a whole lot of nothing. Spunky’s murderer was still at large, and as far as Jared knew, the child Mia was looking for still hadn’t been found.

  As if she wasn’t completely aware of his disapproval, Mia scooted a chair alongside Jared’s and sat down. Then, leaning closer, she patted his arm affectionately. “It’s really good to see you again, too.”

  Jared ground his teeth until his jaw ached. She was teasing him—something no one had done in years. And the hand on his arm? Incidental touches were not his thing. This woman seemed to be all about touching and feeling. His body’s reaction to that light touch was a normal occurrence. When a beautiful woman touches a man, there’s bound to be a reaction. Biology 101.

  Without acknowledging her words or her touch, he turned back to McCall. “So what’s this new information?”

  “Mia, you gave me the skeletal details, but they sounded promising. Tell us what you have.”

  As her smile vanished, an expression of extreme seriousness turned her features from lively and attractive to beautiful. A simultaneous kick in his gut and another surge of arousal hit Jared. Hell, she stops smiling and I get a hard-on?

  She glanced over at Jared. “Remember the man with the limp?”

  “You mean the one who almost killed you?” Jared asked.

  As if he hadn’t spoken, she continued: “I didn’t think he had anything to do with your case; now I believe he does.”

  “How so?” McCall asked.

  “He was found dead a couple of weeks ago. Gunshot wound to his head, along with some substantial damage to his body. My theory is that he was killed because he kidnapped a high-profile child—the Hempsteads’ baby—instead of the usual low-risk victim.”

  “Any proof of that?” Jared asked.

  “Not yet.” When she leaned forward, he could practically feel the vibrating intensity in her slender frame. “Think about it, though. The day after it breaks on the news that a wealthy couple’s child had been taken, there’s a ransom demand and the baby is found. On that same day, the man with a limp tortures and kills Spunky to get to me, because I’m investigating the other missing baby. And then that same man is found dead.”