She nods, and while we’re making our way to the restrooms, I notice her pull herself together and by the time we reach our destination, I’ve lost her.
28
Joshua
Two Months Later
Joshua
February the first and all I can think about is getting back to work, at least that’s what I try to tell myself. In reality, I don’t want to go back. As a young boy I always dreamed about being a tough FBI agent. I’m both tough and an agent, but my heart isn’t in it anymore, not as much as it once was. I’m good at my job, but since I was shot in the leg the day I returned to work after the Christmas holidays, I’ve been rethinking what I actually want to do with the rest of my life.
I can wait until I’m fighting fit without the hindrance of a limp, and I can go back and work under Mallory’s command, or I can leave. Leaving the bureau after the years I’ve dedicated to becoming an agent doesn’t seem realistic, and I am leaning toward asking for advance training to become part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. I’m not even sure if there are any openings for a rookie or even if I have the option of applying.
Part of my way of thinking is Mallory. I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind before we had gone under cover, and I certainly can’t get her out now. I want her with me as the woman in my life, but while I’m under her command that won’t ever happen. I’m even beginning to lose hope that it ever will. She only came to see me once when I was in the hospital and I’d been asleep. My nurse had told me though—about the chestnut haired woman who’d stayed with me during my first night in the hospital. Apparently she’d snuck in once everyone else had cleared out. She’d been caught with tears on her face while she’d clung to my hand. The nurse had made sure I knew every detail of her stay with me. That had given me hope, but over a month later and no word from her. Her secretary had been doing the follow up calls to check on how I am.
The woman was frustrating. She actually had my body frustrated to all hell. Just remembering that night in the club did things to me. Sometimes, I’d wake in the middle of the night so hard that I could pound nails, and the only relief I’ve gotten has been from my own fist. I’ve never been so fucking horny before and I don’t like it. It’s just an inconvenience.
As to who shot me, no one knows although we all think it has something to do with the hunter going after the couples from the club. He hasn’t been caught yet, and the leads have dried up. He basically stopped the night Mallory and I visited the club. Nothing. No bodies, or one word from him. I think he was the one to shoot me in broad daylight while I was off the clock, jogging in the park. No one saw anything. Or heard anything. I have to admit that I hadn’t either. One minute I’d been jogging and the next I was on the ground with my leg feeling as though it was on fire. It had taken me a moment or two to realize that I’d actually been shot. I’m not usually so distracted and may have noticed someone out of the ordinary, but my mind had been focused on the brief encounter I’d had with Mallory. I’d been running to try and get rid of my thoughts and feelings toward her.
Before the club, I thought I’d kept my growing attraction to my boss hidden, and I had at work, but one or two of my cousins had noticed there was something on my mind. I’d spilled to Olivia over Christmas, and although it had helped briefly, I was now avoiding Olivia while I recuperated at home. It wasn’t that hard to do with Olivia being out of town with Geary. I didn’t want to talk about Mallory and I knew my cousin wouldn’t be able to keep herself from enquiring.
Sighing heavily, I glance around the garden of my home, the one I grew up in. Over the years Mom and Dad have taken time and care over the grass and shrubs because they wanted it well tended for us to play safely on, and any grandchildren they may have. It’s huge and pretty, which is why they also have a landscaping company come out once a month.
A flutter of bright pink catches my eye and turning, I smile, happy to see my cousin Rachel coming toward me. She glows with happiness and a twinge of pain reaches inside of me, more so when I catch the way her husband, Alexander, looks at her. They’re both so damn happy and with the baby on the way, they have it all. I think I’m allowed to feel sorry for myself when Rachel sits besides me, her hand immediately going to rest on her protruding belly.
“Why are you looking so gloomy?” She asks. “You were all smiles a moment ago.”
I wrap an arm around her. “My leg is getting back to normal, so don’t worry.” I kiss her forehead. “I got lost in thought.” I briefly meet Alexander’s gaze and notice the frown in his. “Seriously guys, I really am okay.” I squeeze Rachel closer. “How is mama doing?”
Rachel offers a whimsical sigh. “I’m so excited to meet our son or daughter.”
“She’s extremely impatient,” Alexander adds with a small smile.
“I can’t help it. Once the sickness stopped the excitement started to hit me and hasn’t left. I’m scared about the birth but I’m trying not to worry about it. Alex will be with me every step so I know I’ll be fine. I just wish I wasn’t such a wimp with pain.”
“It can’t be that bad if women do it over and over again,” I comment and find Rachel glaring at me.
“How painful do you think it’s going to be for me to push a baby out of my vagina?” She shudders. “Alexander is going to see it too! All stretched and bleeding, where he normally—”
I quickly cover her mouth with my hand and grimace. “I do not need a visual of what you both get up to. Jeez, I’m your cousin.”
Alexander’s eyes light with amusement. “You need to get laid.”
“What names have you chosen?” I change the subject.
“I see what you’re doing,” Alexander laughs. “I think it’s about time you brought a girl home.”
“What are we, thirteen?”
Rachel shoves me in the side. “If you were thirteen then your mom wouldn’t have let you bring a girl home. I seem to recall her once saying that you have too much of your dad in you to be allowed around women until you were twenty-one and working.” She chuckles. “At the time I had no idea what she meant, until I got older and realized what a charmer Uncle Michael is with your mom.”
“I’m not interested okay,” I admit. “Leave it at that please.”
Rachel turns slightly and stares. “Oh, um, okay.” She pats my hand and reaches for Alexander. “Help me up, will you? Aunt Lily promised homemade cream buns.”
“Where those for you?” I reply, rubbing my belly. “My mom is damn good in the kitchen.”
Rachel narrows her eyes. “If you’ve eaten my cream buns there will be trouble, Joshua McKenzie.”
Alexander laughs. “She’s very possessive of her food lately.” He raises a brow at his wife as if daring her to contradict him.
“You two can have your fun, but I’m hungry.” Rachel gets hauled out of the chair by her husband and pads inside.
Alexander hesitates. “How are you really doing Josh?”
My first thought is to say what I always do, that I’m okay. This time I don’t. “I’m not sure whether I am or not. While on medical leave, it’s the first time in years when I’ve really had time to think and relax. Usually I’m home for a day or two here and there, but this is actually nice.”
“If you need to talk or want to hang out, give me a call.”
“I will.”
Alexander disappears and I let out a sigh, wondering what the hell is wrong with me. But that’s not entirely true. I want Mallory and I don’t know how to get her.
29
Mallory
A headache from hell is currently playing havoc with my concentration, and to top it all off, the hunter is back. I hate that name but it’s the one given to the hunter who is going around murdering couples. It doesn’t matter whether they’re married or dating, the hunter doesn’t care. As long as the woman is older than the man then they’re fair game to him. He’s been quiet for a couple of months, which is why I currently have one of our analysts trying to find anyone who
has spent the past two months in prison. It would explain his absence, and sudden return.
“I want you and McKenzie back undercover,” Ritter, my boss demands in anger as he strides into my office without knocking.
I rub at my temples willing my head to clear so I can think about this case without the image of Joshua and I the last time we went undercover. We both crossed a line, and it should never have happened. All my life I’ve been professional in my work, until Joshua McKenzie walked into my office. I’d actually blushed. I never blush. The man could talk the venom from a rattlesnake with his charm and good looks. I don’t think he realizes, which makes it all the sweeter.
“Jenkins! Are you listening to me?” Ritter tosses a file onto my desk when I lift my face to acknowledge him. “You’re not well?” He says softly.
“Migraine,” I mumble. “Give me an hour for the meds to start working and I’ll read through this file.”
“I guess that will have to do.” He relaxes back into the chair opposite my desk. “This bastard needs stopping, Mallory,” he adds, thoughtful. “I know it’s awkward for two agents to act as a couple.”
I stare at him wondering where exactly he’s going with this, when he continues, “Especially a rookie and his boss, but I’m sure you’ll both manage.” He smiles and I’m incredulous at the casual way in which he’s putting this to me.
An unfamiliar foreboding settles into my belly, and I ask, “What haven’t you said?”
“There is a couples retreat in the mountains of Vermont.” He smiles. “My secretary has booked you and McKenzie on it. So Jason Mack and Marie Jennings are going to be checking in two days from now.”
“Are you forgetting that McKenzie is currently on medical leave? I can’t ask him to come back without authorization from his doctor.”
Ritter shakes his head. “He won’t be in the office.”
“But, he’ll be in the field with his life on the line, along with mine.”
“Are you worried about him being able to back you up?”
Was she?
“No. He’s supposed to be resting and doing physical therapy so he can get back on active duty again. We can’t—”
“We can, and you will. Call him and tell him the hunter has struck again. He’ll be asking to come back considering he thinks the bastard is the one that shot him.”
Knowing that I’m not going to get out of this, I sigh and acknowledge defeat. “Good,” Ritter says. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
It irritates me that my boss doesn’t think I want to catch this guy as much as him. I personally believe the asshole should be strung up to the ceiling by his balls, but unfortunately that won’t happen.
“How long is the retreat? And please tell me we don’t have to ‘find ourselves’ or some other spiritual thing while we’re there.”
Ritter laughs. “Not that I’m aware of. It’s in the middle of the mountains in a nice secluded spot. The team thinks it would be the ideal place for him to go and find new prey because it’s owned by the same man who runs the club.” He pauses. “It’s all in the file. You both won’t be alone there. We have two other undercover couples booked in and their details are also in the file. Everything you need to know. Reservation number, two credit cards for different banks. One in your name, and one in McKenzie’s. They work and are to be used for expenses incurred during the operation.” He stands. “Read the file when your headache passes, and then call McKenzie. My guess is that the hunter has already seen you both together, so make sure you don’t go anywhere alone and stay vigilant.”
“What about additional backup?”
“You’ll be issued with a satellite phone as there is no cell reception up there. And I mean none. Not even one bar. The team from this office will be twenty minutes away in town, appearing as friends on vacation.” Reaching my door, he turns his head. “Call me once you’ve spoken to McKenzie.” He slams the door, the glass shaking. He’s the only person to do that.
Taking five minutes, I rest my head in my arms on my desk and close my eyes. After a few seconds the sledgehammer stops and I sigh in relief. It won’t take long before the meds kick in and I can fully focus on the case. I need to focus on the case instead of the man with whom I’m going to be spending a week in close quarters. I’ve tried to shut him out since the night we both acted unprofessionally, but so far, he’s still a frequently reoccurring thought.
The way he looked at me, as though I’m someone special, it still makes my belly quiver. The man makes my knees weak. In the deep of night I still feel him inside of me: hard and pulsing. He’s a large man and seeing him hard and glistening with my release, before he’d come on me, was incredible, and dirty, and forbidden. I wanted more. Before he’d been shot, I’d seen the same want in his gaze, and it had been so hard for me to resist him. I had though. I didn’t know what else to do.
My feelings for him are all tangled up. When he’d been shot, my first instinct had been to go to the hospital to be there for him. I’d gone eventually and spent all night with him, not that he’s aware of that. I’d told myself that it was guilt, because he’d been under my supervision. That wasn’t the reason though. I’d been unable to stay away and had needed to be there with him.
“Ugh.” Groaning to myself isn’t going to make anything go away or turn back the clock…but, I’m not sure I would turn back the clock if I could. The brief sexual encounter I’d had with Joshua had been the most erotic of my life. It was the things of dreams.
I need to work and take my mind off of him.
Slowly raising my head, the jackhammer has slowed to more of a soft drumming noise. That, I can handle. I glare at the file on my desk that Ritter left as though it’s a coiled snake ready to bite. I know this is my job, but for once I don’t want to open the file in front of me, which is ridiculous.
A knock on my office door draws my gaze and seeing Stephanie, one of the analysts in the unit, I indicate for her to enter and offer a small smile. “Did you find anything?” I’d asked Stephanie to search for people who had been in prison during the two-month absence of killings.
“Three people.” She sighs and drops into the opposite chair. “Two female and one male. The male is currently locked back up in the State of Texas for aggregated assault, and has been there for two weeks, so he’s off the list. The first female, forty-five year old, Monica Rinaldi, has moved States to live with her daughter. She was in jail for assault. According to witness statements, Rinaldi’s daughter was in the midst of a disagreement and things got rough. The mother’s got involved and Rinaldi attacked the other woman.” Jennifer sighs. “In my opinion the other mother gave as good as she got and they both should have been charged, or not at all.”
“What else?”
“Aurora Caine, eighteen. She was arrested on drug charges. Within two days of release, she was arrested again and this time she was given a two year sentence.” Jennifer snaps her files closed. “I also expanded the search parameters, and no luck.”
“Damn! It was an idea. I wish we knew why he had a break and now he’s back.” I frown. “When was the information posted about the couples retreat at the club?”
“I can find out?” Jennifer dips her head and her fingers as they flutter over her tablet keyboard, make me dizzy. “Seven days ago.” She chews her lip. “That was on the clubs website though, maybe it was posted in the club a couple of days ago.”
“So you think maybe the hunter doesn’t follow them on social media, but just goes to the club?”
“We’re presuming he goes to the club.” Her eyes light up. “He could always watch from a distance.” She shrugs when I raise a brow. “There’s a hotel across from the front entrance of the club. I bet my lunch that it’s one of those that take cash with no questions asked kinda places.” She pauses. “Hmm, I think I remember reading a report from Carlos and Bennett. They checked the hotel out. The manager apparently was more interested in the TV than what was going on across the way.”
“Yes, McKenzie and I checked it out when we went to the club. Took the manager seven minutes to move from the back office to see who was at the window.” Clearing my throat, I add, “Can you brief the team about what you found out, and in the meanwhile, I’m going to read this file the boss dropped on my desk.”
“I thought I saw him leaving.” Jennifer’s eyes drift toward the file.
I laugh. “He wants me and McKenzie undercover again, but this time we’re going on a couples retreat.” Even saying it out loud makes me blush as I feel it creeping up my neck.
“I wouldn’t mind going on a couples retreat with Josh,” she whispers, and quickly clears her throat when she realizes I’m not finding her funny. “I’ll go and, um, brief the team.”
“Thank you.”
After taking a few moments to enjoy the silence, I open the file and read about the retreat, and the agents who are also posing as couples. Something tells me these next few weeks aren’t going to be as easy as I’d like.
30
Joshua
My leg hurts like a bitch and it’s my own damn fault for pushing myself when it needs more time to heal. I’ve never been one for sitting around idle and, if I’m honest, it’s driving me crazy being stuck at my family home. My parents mean well and I love them, but I’m too old to be underfoot all the time. Not to mention the fact that my parents still act as newlyweds after over thirty years of marriage. I’m really happy they still love each other, but they’re my parents and it makes me wince.
Limping around the curve of the driveway, I spot an unfamiliar car and I groan wondering who Mom has invited over to meet me. There have been a few single friends of my mothers who have been around the house a few times. I thought Mom had gotten the message that I’m not interested. I’d love to be able to sneak in through my bedroom window via climbing up the porch to the roof. I don’t always know my limitations, but right now, I’d probably end up back in the hospital. Only way inside today is going to be through a door.
McKenzie Cousins Box Set Three: Books Seven, Eight, Nine Page 13
