Deadly Rumors

by Cheris Hodges

  “Are you ready for takeoff?” he asked as he crossed over to her. Zoe’s head snapped up and she smiled.

  “As I’ll ever be. I did talk to a friend of mine with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. He said I could go out on patrol with him.”

  “Oh, really?” Carver burned with jealousy. Who was this friend, and how friendly were they? It wasn’t as if he’d expected Zoe to be a nun, and he certainly hadn’t taken a vow of chastity after their night together. But something about the thought of another man touching what he’d deemed his made him angry.

  Zoe must have seen something on his face. “What?”

  “Huh?”

  “That look.”

  “What look?”

  “Like you want to punch something or somebody. Where did you go?”

  “Nowhere. Let’s get going. You think you have enough coffee?”

  “You can never have enough coffee.” She handed him a cup. “And for hotel coffee, this swill is pretty good.”

  “That’s a ringing endorsement. They should hire you as a spokeswoman.”

  She elbowed him in the side. “Whatever.” They laughed and headed to Zoe’s car. “How far is it to the airfield?”

  “I have the address. This is your neck of the woods, you should know where everything is.”

  “Sweetie, I’m from the Bronx. Get it right.”

  “Excuse me.”

  As they got into the car, Zoe tilted her head and looked at Carver. “Where are you from? I can’t believe I never asked you that.”

  “My family is originally from Washington State. I was about ten when we moved to Chicago. So, I claim Chicago mostly.”

  “Interesting. I just thought you were from DC.”

  “You judge me too harshly. Just because I work for the FBI, it doesn’t mean that I’m all about the District.”

  “But you are. The District. No one outside of the beltway says that.”

  “You said beltway; you’re just as dialed in as I am.”

  She shook her head as she started the car. “I have to know what’s going on around me. Your boy Smallwood tried to recruit me after I gave him my overview on Singletary and Natalie. I don’t know why you-all think I want to be—”

  “What did you tell Smallwood?” Carver tried to keep his voice even, but things were starting to make sense. Zoe must have some explosive information if Joe was going to all this trouble to eliminate her.

  “The truth. Why do you keep asking me about what me and Smallwood talked about?”

  He knew he could’ve and should’ve told her the truth right then. But he couldn’t. “Just curious.”

  “I’m not buying it. You’re still investigating Singletary, and you want to know what I know. Why didn’t you just ask?”

  “Because I didn’t want to cross the line, nor did I want to get cursed out.”

  “Is that so? I mean, trying to sleep with me every five minutes is okay, but asking for my help to stop a sex trafficker is wrong?”

  Carver fell silent as she drove. He hadn’t asked her about her knowledge of Singletary because he hadn’t wanted to slip up and tell her that she was in danger. But with Singletary on the loose and Smallwood dead, he didn’t know how much longer he could keep the ruse going.

  “Hello?”

  “We can go over notes on the plane,” he said.

  “Why is he so hard to stop?”

  “Because he’s like a ghost. And since most of what he does is online, by the time we catch up with him or the girls he’s trafficking, we can’t prove anything. It’s frustrating as hell.”

  “Natalie was ready to spill her guts for a deal when she got arrested. What happened with that? I imagine that she’s suffering in prison. Not that she doesn’t deserve to suffer.”

  “How did she get her hooks into your twin without you stopping it?”

  “Zach doesn’t listen to me.” Zoe laughed. “But he made a much better choice of a wife this time. Chante is brilliant, beautiful, and not a pimp.”

  “You ran a background check on her, didn’t you?”

  “As if I had a choice not to, after the last Mrs. Harrington.”

  “Do you and Chante get along?”

  Zoe shrugged. “I haven’t spent a lot of time with them since the wedding, but she makes my brother happy and I’m excited for them.”

  “That’s good. I wish I had a better relationship with . . .” Carver stopped talking as his cell phone chimed, indicating that he had a text message.

  Agent Covington’s body was just found in a creek in Damascus. Looks as if dogs attacked her. Waiting on official word from the coroner.

  Carver shoved his phone back in his pocket, wondering if he’d been wrong about Wendy. He pulled his phone out and texted Sarah back.

  Think we were wrong about her? Maybe she wasn’t working with Singletary.

  She responded immediately.

  We were right. Something went wrong with her and Singletary, obviously. He left Richmond and we’ve lost sight of him.

  “Shit,” he mumbled as he shoved his phone back in his pocket.

  “What’s wrong?” Zoe asked.

  “Information about a case I’m working. My fugitive is in the wind.”

  “If you need to get back to work, I can handle this case alone.”

  He shook his head. “I’m where I need to be. When it’s time for me to get him, I’ll be ready.”

  “All right, G-man. And I guess you can’t talk about the case, right? Maybe I can help.”

  Carver smirked. If only she knew. “You know I can’t talk about my case.”

  “Didn’t hurt to try and pry.”

  “I see that you’re really good at your job. No wonder people open up to you.”

  “And I’m cute, too. You don’t know how many cases I’ve solved for people because some man or woman thought I was cute.”

  Carver gave her a slow once-over. “Yeah, I can believe that. You’re like Wonder Woman without the lasso. But you can tie me up anytime if you want me to tell you the truth.”

  She sucked her teeth as she pulled into the private landing strip. “You always take things too far.”

  “When it comes to you, yes I do.”

  Zoe knew getting on this flight with Carver was going to be pure torture. She knew that they needed to focus on the Dolan case, but how could she, when all she could think about was lying in his arms? Zoe knew Carver wanted her as much as she wanted him. And the more she tried to deny it, the more her desire grew. Maybe talking about sex trafficking would get her mind off of sexual pleasure.

  Joseph was pissed and tired of people failing him. Wendy was an especially huge disappointment. She’d had access to Zoe Harrington and couldn’t get the job done. Then she’d had the nerve to make demands of him. Who did she think she was? Didn’t matter now because she wasn’t a problem anymore. Although that did leave him with a gaping hole in his surveillance of Zoe Harrington. Now he would have to go to New York and find out how to hurt her the most.

  Thanks to Wendy, he knew she still lived in the Bronx. And thanks to his snitch inside the NYPD, he knew Zoe had plenty of enemies in the department, including her former partner. He should’ve known that people didn’t like that bitch. Zoe was the kind of woman who got in the way and didn’t learn her lesson. Much like all of the women in his life. Joseph grew up watching his mother use men for everything. He never knew his father, because she had a revolving door of men in and out of their home. He thought that was how men and women interacted. Until she met Clark Simmons. That man had changed everything in the eyes of ten-year-old Joseph. Clark would slap his mother when she got loud with him, would force her to cook his dinner—even after she’d brought takeout home for dinner. And Clark taught him the game when he was older.

  “Never trust a woman, not even ya mama,” he’d said to a fifteen-year-old Joseph. “They’re always plotting and you have to stay one step ahead of these bitches.”

  Clark had been like a father figure to J
oseph, and when his mother shot Clark, he knew that everything Clark taught him was right. These bitches couldn’t be trusted.

  Zoe Harrington was the last bitch he needed to get out of his way, and this time, he wouldn’t put his trust in a woman to handle this job.

  Singletary hated taking the train, but getting to New York undetected was his mission, and Amtrak was the way to go. There wasn’t as much security at the train stations as there was at an airport. And he’d been able to get one of his men to purchase his ticket. All he had to do was keep his head down and not get caught. Since he had several warrants for his arrest, a beat cop looking to make a name for himself would love to slap handcuffs on him.

  Joe didn’t look anything like the man on the FBI Most Wanted poster anymore. His thick beard gave him a trendy look, and no one gave him a passing glance.

  Zoe kicked her shoes off and smiled. “This is definitely the way to fly.” The plush carpet of the jet made her feel as if she’d stuck her feet in a cotton pool. Leaning back in the chair, she smiled.

  “I told you I was going to keep you riding in style,” Carver said.

  “You’re making it really hard for my next client.”

  “That’s a good thing. Now I’m totally unforgettable.”

  You already were. She smiled and took a sip of her ice-cold juice. “Whatever happened to those transcripts?”

  “Good question. I have to check and see what the holdup is in the field office. There’s been some upheaval this week.”

  “All right.”

  Carver crossed over to Zoe and sat on the arm of her seat. “More juice?”

  “No, thank you. I’m actually going to have an adult beverage. Maybe it will put me to sleep.” Zoe took a deep breath, and when her nostrils filled with the scent of Carver’s essence she was nearly ready to strip out of her clothes. She rose to her feet so fast, she nearly knocked him over.

  “Where’s the fire?”

  “I just need to stretch.” Zoe raised her arms over her head, causing her shirt to rise. Carver ran his fingers across her exposed skin and Zoe shivered.

  “Stop,” she whispered.

  “Zoe, let’s stop acting like this isn’t what we both want. I need you so bad that it hurts.”

  She sighed, “I want you, too.” Carver lifted her shirt over her head. He ran his fingers across her skin and she quivered with desire. Then he unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her hips. Carver smiled when he saw she didn’t have any underwear on.

  “Nice.”

  She reached out to him and unbuttoned his shirt. “Carver,” she moaned as she ran her fingers across his tattoo.

  “Zoe, you’re so beautiful.” He leaned in and captured her lips in a hungry kiss. Their tongues danced a slow and sensuous tango. Zoe’s body heated like a campfire as his hands stroked her hips, then slipped between her thighs. Still kissing her, he skillfully toyed with her throbbing bud. She squirmed underneath his touch, her yearning for him becoming nearly unbearable.

  “Carver!”

  “Yes, baby. I want you to come for me.”

  “Carver.” Zoe’s legs quivered as her passion poured down like warm honey. When he removed his finger and licked her wetness, Zoe moaned in anticipation.

  “You’re so sweet. I need another taste.” He planted her on the leather sofa near the windows. Then Carver spread her legs apart and dove into her wetness. He licked, sucked, and nibbled at her throbbing bud until she screamed his name as she came over and over again.

  “Need. You. In. Me!”

  Carver seemed to ignore her request as he continued to nibble, lick, and suck her pearl as if it were the most delectable piece of candy ever made. Zoe’s knees quivered and shook as if she were on the San Andreas Fault in the middle of an earthquake.

  Peeling his mouth from her, Carver licked his lips. “Delicious.”

  “You have to stop torturing me,” she moaned.

  “What if I don’t want to?”

  “Then I have some torture of my own,” she replied as she reached out and stroked his hardness. Carver’s moans filled the cabin.

  “Don’t stop, Zoe,” he groaned as her hand moved up and down his shaft fast, then slow, then fast again.

  As much as she wanted to guide him directly to her wet spot, she wanted to give him some of the pleasurable torture he’d given her as well. Easing down his body, she brought her lips to the tip of his penis and licked him slow. Carver gasped as she took the length of him deep down her throat. He fell backward onto the floor and Zoe climbed on top of him. Allowing her tongue to be her guide, she toured his body. She swirled her tongue around his nipples, licked each pack of his abs, and then she licked his hardness again. Carver could barely contain his climax as she ran her tongue up and down his erection.

  “Stop, stop!” he cried as he pulled back from her. “I get the point.”

  “Now, get a condom!”

  Carver crossed the cabin and reached into his overnight bag and pulled out a condom. He rolled the sheath in place and returned to Zoe. She rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “This is what you wanted.” She wrapped her leg around his waist, giving him direct access to her sensitive spot. Carver thrust deep inside her and Zoe matched him stroke for stroke. Their deep, guttural groans filled the quiet cabin, and as she felt the wave of an orgasm attack her system, she slowed down—wanting to savor the moment with Carver.

  The rational side of her knew this had to be the last time she gave in to lust. She had an itch and Carver scratched it. Now, it was done. Right?

  “Carver!” she exclaimed, unable to hold back her orgasm any longer.

  “Let me come with you, baby!”

  They both exploded and fell backward on the leather sofa as the aftershocks of their climax rippled through their bodies. Zoe leaned her head on his chest and sighed. Carver pushed her sweat-dampened hair off her forehead.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, Carver. I’m fine.” She pressed her hand against his chest and propped herself up. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, do you think we can get back to business now?”

  Chapter 19

  Two hours after making love to Zoe, Carver was hungry for more. But looking at her sleeping figure, he still couldn’t get what she’d said out of his mind. Can we get back to business now?

  What the hell did she mean by that? Glancing at her, he hoped she didn’t think that what they shared was a one-time thing. There was no way that he could let her go again.

  She was beautiful when she slept. This was probably the only time he’d ever seen Zoe relax. She looked like an angel, and it took everything in him not to stroke her cheek and kiss her. Somehow, he was going to have to make her understand this wild-goose chase once Singletary was in custody. How would she feel about it? he wondered.

  At least she will be alive, mad or not.

  Joe headed for the boarding area of the train and pulled out his cell phone to Google Lewis, Zoe’s former partner.

  “Damn,” he muttered as news links about the officer and Zoe popped up. “She is a traitor. That guy was her partner. These bitches have no loyalty.” He took his seat on the back of the train. Leaning back, he closed his eyes, satisfied that his partnership with this ex-cop would give him just what he needed to snuff Zoe Harrington out. She would learn the lesson of a lifetime. He couldn’t wait.

  The train ride was uneventful and Joe loved that. Arriving in New York, he headed for the Bronx so that he could check out Zoe’s office and house. If he had to kill her himself, he would catch her by surprise. He was surprised that she was so easy to find. Then again, it made sense for her to be so visible. She was a private investigator and people needed to find her so she could be nosy and get into their personal business.

  “Perfect job for that bitch,” he said as he looked at her office building. Joe smiled as he took note of the yellow tape around her office. He wasn’t surprised that she had enemies. A woman like that dese
rved everything that came her way. Too bad they hadn’t gotten the job done and killed that bitch. Maybe Wendy had been doing her job and Zoe Harrington was just like a cat with nine lives. This was going to end now. A woman walked by Zoe’s office, and Joe reached out to touch her shoulder.

  “Excuse me, beautiful.”

  “Yes?”

  “Have you seen Zoe Harrington? The PI?”

  She shook her head. “Not since the explosion. This place has been a ghost town. A lot of the businesses are closed until the investigation into the explosion is over. A lady died in there. It was so sad.”

  “Oh, man. I really needed her to work a case for me. You have any idea how to reach her?”

  She shook her head and pointed to a number in the window. “Maybe you can call her.”

  He smiled at her, thinking that she’d catch a pretty penny in his squad. But that’s not why he was here. He had to find Zoe. Needed to make her hurt. Then an idea hit him like a lightning bolt. If he wanted to flush her out of hiding, then he had to attack something that was important to her. Family.

  Zachary Harrington.

  Zoe woke up with a start, her hand on her chest. It took about thirty seconds for her to realize that she was in an airplane. Then she locked eyes with Carver.

  “Hello, sleeping beauty.”

  “Guess I was a lot more tired than I thought,” she said.

  “What woke you up? You looked as if you were having a nightmare.”

  Sitting up, Zoe stretched her arms above her head. “It was nothing.” She didn’t like telling people that she had dreams about her twin and it usually meant trouble. Zoe didn’t understand what the dream meant. Zach was sinking in a pit of mud, and as she reached for him, she couldn’t grip his hand.

  “Are you sure everything is all right?”

  “Yeah.” She rose to her feet and crossed over to the bar and poured herself a glass of cranberry juice.

  Carver walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Can we talk about earlier?”