Pawn

by Carla Cassidy

  Then he was gone. Lynn remained at the table, staring at the door. He was gone from the apartment and now she needed to make him gone from her heart.

  At this time tomorrow night she'd be in her own bed in her own apartment. She'd done what had been requested of her and had lived to tell the tale. She should be feeling euphoric, but all she felt was a weary sadness.

  IT SEEMED THAT NICK did all his important thinking while driving in the car in the middle of the night and this time was no different.

  When he'd heard the sounds of those guards talking so close to Lynn, his heart had stopped beating. The ensuing silence had tormented him as nothing ever had.

  At first he'd thought she was just upset and wasn't talking to him, but the silence stretched endlessly and in his heart he knew Lynn was far too much of a professional to allow her anger with him to keep her still.

  He'd battled with himself, his orders playing and replaying in his head. Don't interfere. Don't get involved. If she falls, she falls alone.

  But ultimately he couldn't let that happen. Thank God she'd gotten out. Thank God she was safe and could go back to the life she'd been building before he and a bunch of other men had interrupted it.

  There were so many things he'd wanted to say to her once they had gotten back to her apartment safe and sound. More explanations, more apologies, more attempts to make things right. But, he'd decided just to leave it alone. He loved her enough to let her go, to let her get on with her life without him.

  He should have never told her he'd take her to the airport this evening. He should have said his goodbye this morning. As it was, he was just prolonging the agony.

  Weariness weighed heavily on his shoulders as he drove into his driveway and got out of the car. He checked the street to make sure nobody was watching him. He hoped that if Jimmy or one of the other guys had driven by they would assume he'd been with Lynn, his mistress, while his wife slept, unaware of his infidelity.

  He saw nothing to cause him concern and quickly inserted his key into the lock and opened the door. "Is everything all right?" The female voice came at him out of the darkness from the direction of the sofa.

  "Jesus, you scared me half to death," he replied. He closed the door and locked it behind him. "Yeah, everything is all right now."

  "I was worried. You've never been this late before."

  Neither of them moved to turn on a light, not wanting to let anyone in the neighborhood know they were up and about. Still, he could easily envision her despite the darkness of the room.

  Colette Branson-Barnes was a fairly attractive blond thirty-year-old, although she wasn't Nick's type at all. He preferred chestnut hair and green-gold eyes to a cool, blue-eyed blonde.

  When the bureau had first approached him with the marriage scheme, he'd been reluctant. First and foremost because he'd always believed marriage was sacred and belonged to two people who loved each other.

  The other concern he had was the possibility that Colette Branson would expect him to sleep with her. He didn't know the woman and worried about how it would be to live with somebody, sleep in the same bed as somebody.

  Thankfully, there were no sparks, not even a hint of sexual desire between them and in the three months he'd been married to her he'd come to admire and respect her and regarded her as a friend.

  "We had a few problems, but everything is okay now." He sank into the chair that faced the sofa and released a sigh. "She goes home tomorrow. That particular assignment is at an end so I won't be making any more night trips away from here."

  "Is she still angry with you?"

  "Probably. I'm taking her to the airport at four-thirty."

  "Is that wise?" He knew she wasn't talking about his personal relationship with Lynn, but rather the assignment he was working here with her.

  "I don't know. I don't know what's wise and what isn't anymore. I just want to take her to the airport. If any of the guys here question me about anything, I'll tell them I packed her off and decided it was time to seriously commit to my marriage."

  He pressed two fingers against the center of his forehead where the beginnings of a headache threatened to erupt. "You should go back to bed."

  "I'll just have to get up in another hour or so," she replied.

  They were silent for a long moment, partners in a game with the potential for deadly consequences. "What are you going to do, Nick, when this is all over?"

  "I don't know. I haven't thought about it much. What about you? You know you won't be able to stay here in town when this all goes down."

  Colette had been born and raised in Raymore. She'd been the one who had initially contacted the FBI about the drug operation taking place in the town. Her help had been priceless in showing the authorities what was going on here.

  However, by being a good, law-abiding citizen, she'd effectively turned her back on friends and family and when all of them were in jail cells, she'd be free, but her personal sacrifice would have been enormous.

  It was possible that for the rest of her life she'd be hunted by the friends and family of the men she was helping to put away. Still, she was aware of the risks and had decided to help anyway.

  "They've promised me a new identity, a life far away from Raymore, Florida. I'll start fresh and make something good out of what hasn't been such a terrific life so far."

  Nick dropped his hand from his forehead. "Why'd you do it, Colette? Why did you make that call to the bureau?" In all the time they had spent together in the past three months he'd never asked her what had prompted her to come forward.

  She released a sigh. "My mother was an alcoholic for as long as I can remember. But, even though she drank too much, for the most part she functioned. Then four years ago she changed vices when she discovered meth and everything went to hell. It's an evil, awful drug. Did you know that it's supposed to be more addictive than heroin?"

  "Yeah, I've heard that," he replied.

  "It destroyed her. She died two years ago and when I found out what was happening here, that meth was being made and distributed by members of my own family, I knew I had to do something to stop them."

  "What you did was brave," he said.

  "Maybe. I just know I'm ready to get it over with. I'm ready to get on with my life."

  Nick nodded in the darkness, hoping they both got out of this alive so they could get on with their lives. He hoped like hell that Colette got her happy life in a new town.

  As for his own future, he refused to think about it.

  Chapter 15

  Despite the late and dangerous night, Lynn awakened just after dawn. She tried to go back to sleep but instead found herself thinking over the events of the night before.

  If it hadn't been for Nick running interference, she wouldn't have awakened on the sofa bed in the apartment this morning. She would have awakened in a jail cell.

  He'd gone against orders, broken the rules to help her. He'd put not only his career but his life on the line for her. She'd never forget that. She'd never forget him.

  Faith had mentioned Nick being her unfinished business and that had been true. There had never been a definitive end to their relationship a year ago. Lynn felt that definitive end now.

  She finally got up and padded into the bathroom for a quick shower. As she stood beneath the tepid spray, she thought of how close she had come to death the night before.

  Too close. There were so many things she had yet to experience. She was still at the beginning of her journey through life and was grateful that journey hadn't ended in a bomb blast or with a bullet in the back.

  Today she was going home. She'd done her job and nobody owned her anymore. Hopefully Blake would keep his promise that this was the end of it, that her record would be wiped clean and nobody would ever have anything to hang over her head again.

  She dried off, dressed, then grabbed a can of diet soda from the fridge, punched on the small television then sat at the kitchen table.

  As she drank her soda she
watched an early-morning local news program. There had been an overnight shooting in a park, an armed robbery at a convenience store and a tragic car accident that had claimed the life of three people.

  There was another tropical depression churning toward the Florida coast and was expected to hit sometime in the next five days as a category two hurricane. She'd be long gone by then.

  "Some excitement last night at Stingray Wharf," the perky blond reporter announced. Lynn quickly leaned over and turned up the volume. "An intruder apparently breached security to get into the holding yard sometime early this morning but managed to escape. Our sources at the police department tell us that it was a college prank and the intruder was a young woman who sneaked into the yard on a dare. No arrests were made. And now, Kelly, let's talk about football."

  Lynn turned the volume back down. She was surprised that it had made the local news, but certainly not surprised that the incident had been written off as nothing more than a silly prank.

  She had no doubt that at some point during the wee morning hours men had moved in to neutralize the bomb she'd found. There would be no news about that. There would be no news of how vulnerable the ports were or how so many of them couldn't afford the equipment that would keep them secure.

  Turning off the television, she switched her attention to her laptop. She had a job to do before she left here today. She was going to build Tiny his Web page advertising his church.

  Keeping busy would help the hours pass and hopefully keep her thoughts from Nick. She didn't want to think about him anymore. Even if he wasn't married they wanted different things, needed different things from life.

  She would tell him goodbye at the airport then she would never, ever think of him again. She was going back to a full life in Phoenix, a life filled with friends, and her work for Oracle and her Web design business. Things would be just fine when she got home.

  The first thing she did was download her e-mail, her heart beating just a little bit faster as she saw a familiar e-mail address.

  She opened the message to see the familiar spiderweb design across the top right corner.

  Spider bites are dangerous to tender Athena flesh.

  Lynn sat back in her chair, chewed on her bottom lip and stared at the message. There was no way to view it as anything other than a threat. Just as the last one had been, this one was signed A.

  Who was A and what did he or she have against the Athena women? Were the threats nothing more than e-mails, or would they escalate into something more dangerous? When she got back to Phoenix she had to contact Kim Valenti and find out who else might know that Lynn was working on the Spider files.

  She forwarded the new e-mail to Delphi, then turned her attention to building a Web page for Tiny's church. As always work was a panacea for all that ailed her.

  She lost herself in choosing colors and designs, then linking the page to others that would assure a good amount of traffic. By ten o'clock she had the page done. She left her place and knocked on Tiny's door.

  "Who is it?" His deep voice boomed through the wooden door.

  "Tiny, it's me. Lynn."

  He opened the door, his broad face clad in a smile. "Hey, girl. Come on in."

  She stepped just inside the door and looked around curiously. If Tiny was involved in anything illegal, he either wasn't making any money at it or chose not to spend the money on furnishings.

  The apartment was sparsely furnished and spotlessly clean. A beige sofa was set against one wall and a small television rested on an entertainment center. The walls were bare except for a large picture of Jesus and there was a Bible in the center of the coffee table.

  "Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to come over to my place and see your new Web site."

  "Really?" His eyes lit up. "Sure. Just let me lock up." He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and together they left his apartment and went next door to hers.

  "It's nothing fancy," she warned as she sat in front of the laptop. "Just a basic advertisement. If you'll give me the church's phone number I can include it on the site." She pulled up the page as Tiny peered at it over her shoulder.

  "Wow, would you look at that. I like the colors. The red and gold look real nice. I don't know how to thank you, Lynn."

  "No thanks are necessary," she replied. She didn't tell him she'd used Web space provided to her from her own Internet account. "If you want to write down a phone number as a contact, I'll put it in and you'll be all set."

  "You sure got to this fast," Tiny said as he scribbled a phone number on a scrap of paper from his wallet.

  "Yeah, well that's the other thing I wanted to tell you." She got up from in front of the computer. "I'm leaving here today."

  "Leaving?" He looked at her in surprise.

  "Some friends called me last night and offered me a place to stay with them in the Southwest. I've decided to take them up on their offer and I'm leaving this afternoon." She couldn't very well tell him the truth.

  "I hate to see you go, but I'm glad to see you get out of this neighborhood," he said. "These friends, they're good people?"

  "Very good," she replied. "I'll be okay there, Tiny. They'll take good care of me."

  "Good." His keen eyes gazed at her for a long moment. "You know, I'm not sure I believe all your stories about what you're doing here and your dead rich daddy, but I won't ask you questions because I see a goodness that shines from you, Lynn."

  On impulse, Lynn reached out and hugged the big man. He smelled of male sweat and cheap cologne. She stepped back from him. "You'll tell Stella goodbye for me?"

  "Sure. You need a ride to the airport or anything?"

  "No, I've got it covered. A friend is taking me, butthanks for the offer." A friend—that's the way she had to think of Nick. Nothing more than a friend.

  Tiny smiled. "Stella's going to miss you. She won't have anyone to pick on."

  Lynn laughed. "Stella's all right. Maybe someday she'll be able to leave this neighborhood and find a different kind of life."

  "I'm working on it. That's part of my mission here." He offered her another smile as he headed toward the door. "Well, I'm sure you've got things to do before you catch that flight. It was nice knowing you, Lynn."

  "Likewise."

  She locked the door after he left and spent the rest of the afternoon packing, then working on the Spider files. She had no more success in cracking the code that had been used and was eager to get home where she had other programs loaded on her desktop computer that might be more successful.

  At four o'clock she dressed in a pair of navy slacks and a long-sleeved red blouse, mindful that the planes were often cool.

  She stood at the window and looked out on the streets below. She wasn't sorry to say goodbye to the view outside her window. In fact, as she waited for Nick to arrive she was struck with an intense homesickness for cactus and roadrunners instead of palm trees and gulls.

  She even had a touch of homesickness for Leo, who might ask her for sex on a daily basis but never managed to touch her heart. She had a sneaking suspicion that if she ever told Leo yes, he'd totally freak out. She was safe for him to flirt with because he knew she'd never say yes.

  When she saw Nick's car pull up in front of the apartment building she didn't move from the window but rather watched him get out. The sun glistened in his dark hair and her heart clenched with the grief of what would never be. No matter how much she hated it, he would always own a little piece of her heart.

  She was still standing at the window when he knocked on the door. "Come in," she called and turned to face him as he entered the apartment. "All set," she said with a forced lightness. She wanted to get this over with, wanted the goodbye to be finished without fanfare or drama.

  "Is this it?" He gestured to the suitcase and briefcase that was on the floor next to the door.

  "That's it."

  He picked up the suitcase as she walked over and grabbed the briefcase. She kept her gaze averted from him as she di
d a final sweep of the room to make sure she'd left nothing behind.

  It wasn't until they were on the elevator that he spoke to her again. "Lynn, I just want to tell you again that I'm sorry for hurting you. That was never my intention."

  She finally met his gaze and in his eyes she saw the depths of his remorse. It seemed important that she let him off the hook, that they part ways with no regrets, no bitterness or baggage between them.

  "It's okay. Last night you saved my life. I'd say you more than made up for everything else."

  He flashed her a tentative smile. "I have no doubt that you would have managed to get out of the situation last night without my help. You're an amazing woman, Lynnette White."

  Although she didn't argue with him she knew differently. If he hadn't shown up when he had and provided the gun cover that he had, she would have been caught or shot.

  "It would have never worked anyway," she said. "You and me."

  The elevator came to a halt, but he didn't move to exit. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean that it's best this way, that you and I were really never meant to be. We want different things from life. I want normal. I want the picket fence and the kids. I don't want danger and undercover work and worry. Let's leave it at that, okay?"

  He hesitated a moment then nodded and stepped out of the elevator.

  "We made the news this morning," she said.

  "Yeah, I saw the reports." He offered her a small smile, one that didn't touch the depths of his dark brown eyes. "Those crazy college students, they're always pulling some stunt or another."

  They stepped outside into the afternoon sunshine to find Tiny and Stella standing just outside the building. "I came to tell you goodbye," Stella said to Lynn. "Tiny told me you were leaving this afternoon."

  "I'm on my way to the airport now," Lynn replied.

  She smiled at Stella, who was clad in a respectable, but worn-looking blue sundress.

  Stella's gaze flickered over Nick. "That your man?"