by Dawn Ryder
Boys? Yeah, there was a room for that sort of thing, too.
Carl lifted his hand, flagging Eric over to him as he sat in a small meeting area while members of Congress tip-toed down the hallways to seek out their different interests.
“Did you find her?” Carl asked.
“Soon.” Eric responded. “Servant scuttled her. She doesn’t know enough to keep her head down. It’s a matter of time until we catch sight of her.”
Carl nodded but it was clear his mind was drifting to other things. Eric made sure the guy he joined in a private room never got a look at Carl’s face. It was part of the job, making sure Carl’s reputation stayed crisp and clean.
Jenna Henson fell into that category as well. Eric would deal with her, to make sure she’d never surface with a claim against Kirkland or Carl.
And of course there was the money. Honestly, that was what it all boiled down to. Carl wouldn’t get very far without funding. They needed Kirkland because he’d inherited an empire that was cash rich. Dirty dealings paid best.
Jenna Henson wouldn’t be the first person to disappear over control of a fortune.
CHAPTER SIX
Hotel room was an understatement.
Jenna followed her GPS and ended up at a resort. There were towering palm trees along the well-groomed paths that led to the reception desk. She enjoyed the balmy breeze and the way it rustled the leaves of the trees.
“Welcome Ms. Sherlock, we have a sky suite waiting for you. We already have an account open for any incidentals. Just put everything on your room.”
Anything with the word suite used to describe it sounded amazing. She wasn’t disappointed either. She took the elevator to the thirty-sixth floor and followed the signs down the hallway to a door. It actually had a door bell and her key card opened it.
Inside, the lights came up as she entered. Softly illuminating creamy tile flooring and a sitting area with a plush set of sofas. The small kitchen area sported a complimentary basket of treats for midnight munchies and a tablet with a menu displayed for room service.
The bedroom was separate with a bathroom that came complete with a huge Jacuzzi tub.
Even Dare would have fit in it.
Stop thinking about him.
Yeah right. She took her canvas bag into the bathroom and stripped down. Everything was polished and immaculately clean. Music was just a tap of her fingertip away, and there was even a selection of spa-quality bath essentials for her to make use of.
Boy, she could get spoiled fast.
But a ping of loneliness went through her. All the luxuries in the world didn’t make up for the fact that she couldn’t count on Sam calling her up and launching into a venting session over his latest brush with the out-of-touch-with-reality clientele his business dealings brought to his storefront.
And Paul wouldn’t be along with a slant-eyed look at his husband while uncorking a bottle of wine to toast another event well done.
A touch on another tablet closed all the curtains and set the air-conditioner humming. Jenna crawled into bed, grateful for the training session with Kagan because she was tired enough to fall asleep.
Tomorrow, she’d get busy laying down the foundation of her new life.
There was nowhere to go but forward.
* * *
“Take backup.”
Dare felt his fingers tightening around his phone. “I can handle it.”
“If you’re telling me you’re going to make contact with a resettled witness and blow her cover to sherds, you’re taking a team to document,” Kagan laid out his opinion.
“She’s already back in contact with Kirkland,” Dare explained. “That’s three coincidences. Two too many.”
Kagan was quiet for a moment. “Take the team. Keep her in sight. This case is bigger than any of us realize.”
Dare dropped his phone as Kagan ended the call. Greer and Zane were leaning in the doorway, watching him. Neither agent looked like he was planning on budging.
“You win,” Dare grunted. “Kagan says the team goes with me.”
“Like I said,” Greer muttered. “You’re compromised. No way I’m letting you near that girl without eyes on your back.”
“I will perform my duties,” Dare insisted. His tone came across a little too dangerous though. Vitus caught him by the back of the neck and steered him through a doorway into a small bedroom.
“I don’t need a lecture,” Dare warned him.
“I’m more of a kick to the ass sort of man,” Vitus responded as he braced his feet wide and faced off with Dare. “But in this case, I’ve been in your shoes.”
Dare shook his head. “No, you haven’t. You thought your wife rejected you because you weren’t good enough. Jenna is a criminal who duped me.”
“You don’t have that evidence yet,” Vitus argued.
Dare snorted. “And you damned well know we have to act on our hunches because the cases we run don’t give us the sort of openings that allow for sitting still when we come across something that hints at evidence.”
Vitus nodded. “Agreed. Which is why you need the team. You’re going in, and it’s clear you’re very distracted by the target. It’s also clear that’s our best advantage to use to bring her in and gather the evidence we need.”
Dare knew it. He’d been on teams that backed up agents who used the same ploy.
“Don’t be a dick…”
Jenna’s words rose from his memory like ice water. They cooled his temper, but that only pissed him off for another reason.
He didn’t need to go soft.
Not when the facts were stacking up against her being the innocent she portrayed. There was no way he’d buy the fact that she just happened to be at Kirkland’s concert because she’d decided to get on with her life.
The connection was too strong.
In his world, things like that didn’t just happen.
She wasn’t innocent.
And he was going to have to get the evidence to prove it.
* * *
“You sure about this?” Thais Sinclair asked.
Kagan turned to look at her. “I’m sure Carl Davis is very good at making sure he has other people take the fall for his dealings.”
Thais nodded.
“If we want something significant to stick, we’re going to have to up the level of our game.” Kagan delivered his plan in a soft voice. “Servant can’t know I’m manipulating the situation. The girl was already collateral damage. My choice is to take advantage of the opportunity or watch Kirkland slip through the net and keep going.”
Thais knew the tone. It was the one her section leader used when he was laying out his action plans. The detachment was admirable, if you could adopt the same level of insensitivity.
She’d been raised on it. People looked at her slim figure and thought she had tough mental discipline.
The truth though, was she was sick to her stomach most of the time. Turned off by the way people applied values to one another. So very blind to what was most important in life.
“You normally don’t have such tender skin, Sinclair,” Kagan observed.
Thais offered Kagan a smile. A very practiced one. It didn’t fool Kagan. His eyes narrowed, which was quite an extreme reaction from her cool-as-a-glacier section leader.
“I can be what you expect of me,” she muttered.
Kagan studied her for a moment. “Just don’t be foolish enough to forget you have a brain under all that pretty wrapping.”
Thais offered him a rare look past the mask she wore so often. Kagan locked gazes with her as she let her eyes snap at his. She watched the way he absorbed it.
“Is there a reason you object to this mission beyond the fact that the suspect is a female?” Kagan asked.
“Yes.” Thais didn’t elaborate. She turned and moved toward a doorway.
Her life wasn’t one that had much room for soft feelings. She might think it a shame to see Dare tossing aside his chance at happiness, b
ut it was his choice to make.
And she had made hers, so she’d be the agent Kagan expected her to be. She understood Dare because she’d made the same choice. Her badge was her family.
* * *
It was strange to spend someone else’s money.
Okay, it was also really surreal to not have to worry about a budget. Jenna was free-floating through her life, without things like a mortgage or monthly payments to chain her.
Part of that was majorly cool.
She woke up sometime before noon, eager to enjoy the resort. She flipped through a local-sights book that was on the coffee table and settled on a couple. Room service came through with flying colors, delivering a meal that had her licking her fingers. But the surrealness continued as the waiter refused the cash tip she tried to give him, claiming it was already included in the bill.
Well, you’ve paid in blood for it so … enjoy …
She grabbed her purse and set off to explore the grounds. The sun was sparkling off the palm trees again, music filtering through the landscaping from cleverly disguised speakers. There were several pools for the resort guests. A flash of her key card gained her accesses to a private suite. There were large coolers of cucumber water and waiters in blue polo shirts offering her words of welcome.
She moved toward a waterfall, pulling out her new cell phone to captures some pictures.
Making memories …
It was a challenge she embraced, jumping into a tour van at the last second because she’d stumbled on it. The guide happily sold her a ticket before she climbed into the backseat.
* * *
“Window of opportunity is open,” Dare informed his team through a tiny microphone hanging from his earpiece. “Get the suite wired.”
“Copy,” Greer muttered from where he was hanging out in a housekeeping closet on the thirty-sixth floor.
They’d have it done in a smooth action that the team had performed a hundred times. Behind him, Zane was already hacked into the security feed from the hotel.
“Any sign of Kirkland?”
“You’ll know when I see him,” Zane replied.
“You have the van, Greer?” Dare asked.
“Please,” Greer’s voice came across the airwaves. “It’s a tour van. I’ll hand you my badge myself if I lose it.”
“Don’t get complacent,” Dare advised. “Kirkland is a master at making sure he doesn’t leave any dirt clinging to him.”
“Right,” Greer replied before he went silent.
Dare didn’t care for the silence.
Because you’ve got too much time to think.
Right. And notice how much he’d enjoyed seeing Jenna again.
She was smiling …
The sight should have filled him with determination. Instead he caught the unmistakable sensation of dread.
Fuck. He didn’t want to be the one to nail her.
That was the rock-bottom truth. His temper stirred because he had too much evidence pointing toward her. There was no way he could dismiss it.
So he’d do his job and maybe it would serve as a damn hard lesson on just why getting involved with a witness was a cardinal sin.
* * *
The resort had a casino, which meant the place was swarming with people by the time Jenna returned. There were smartly suited men with dressed-to-kill women on their arms. The bars were in full operation as the sound of the gaming machines filtered into the lobby. People were happily drunk on excitement and eager to enjoy the night.
The gaming floor was too crowded for her taste. She walked around the edges until she found an alcove where there was a Scotch and shots bar. It was brass and polished wood from floor to ceiling, the barkeep wearing cufflinks and a vintage vest. The smaller space suited her mood, making her feel less like she was drowning in the open ocean without a soul in sight.
The barkeep served up her drink in a cut crystal glass. The aroma tickled her nose before she took the first taste. The seventeen-year-old liquor burned a path down her throat and warmed her stomach. She closed her eyes while she took a second sip, savoring the experience. It was heady and sharp, and the warmth was spreading through her body by the third taste.
But she opened her eyes and blinked.
Dare Servant was leaning against the pillar facing her.
Jenna looked at the Scotch suspiciously. But then the tingle she’d felt on the back of her neck returned.
Dare Servant wasn’t the sort of man who had coincidences happen in his life.
His voice touched off a memory of him that rippled all the way down her spine to her toes. He was just as devil dark as always, his gaze sharp enough to cut away everything until it felt like he was looking into her soul.
Wait … she’d been trying to think about something important.
He moved forward and plucked the glass from her frozen fingers. Lifting it to his lips, he took a taste of the liquor. “You like things that bite you, Jenna.”
He dropped into the vintage-looking chair next to her and fixed her with his midnight black eyes. “Want me to leave?”
He was settled in place right next to her. Not across the table.
Of course not, it’s Dare Servant. He’s pushing on your comfort zone …
A tingle of awareness went across her skin. Gooseflesh rose up as she felt the unmistakable sensation of her nipples puckering.
Shit … she really didn’t want to think …
“No answer?” He took another hit from the glass before offering it to her.
“Maybe I’m trying to decide if I should look the gift horse in the mouth.” Maybe she was showing all her cards, but she just couldn’t help it. Seeing him was like a cold drink of water after crossing a dessert.
His lips twitched, giving her a glimpse at that grin he didn’t allow to break up his professional mask very often.
“That works for me. Let’s not over-think the situation.” A second later, he’d captured her hand, reaching up to stroke the inside of her wrist before closing his fingers around hers.
She jumped. Jerking her hand away as she stood up, unable to sit still.
He was a live wire …
The burly barkeep looked her way, one of his eyebrows rising up in question. She shook her head and pulled her key card out of her purse for him to swipe and add the tab to her room.
Dare was watching her.
It rattled her.
When she turned around, he was contemplating her, and there was no mistaking the anger in his eyes. He slowly stood, the measured pace only doubling just how powerful he was. He moved closer, making her tip her head back to maintain eye contact.
“So was I just a perk of the moment, Jenna?”
His tone was sharp, slicing into her. “What? No…” She shook her head. “But how are you here? It doesn’t make sense. You’re the one who said no contact … The word you used was scuttle…”
He caught her wrist and pulled her around his body, taking her right outside the little alcove bar.
“It’s a surprise for me, too. I left you on the other side of the country,” he muttered.
His tone was husky, and he was far too close for her to keep her wits. He pressed her right up against the same pillar. “I should have walked away before you saw me.”
She hated the way that made her feel.
Like she’d do anything to keep it from happening.
But the impulse wasn’t interested in how pitiful her feelings were.
Dare stroked her cheek, the motion sparking off a memory that made her heart accelerate.
“I couldn’t seem to make myself do it, baby.”
He was so close his breath was teasing her lips. Everything inside her was tightening, anticipation making her senses ultra-keen.
He smelled so much better than she recalled. It felt like they weren’t close enough. She needed to touch him, felt like she’d go insane if he didn’t kiss her. Things like reasons and conversation didn’t seem to matter a bit. He was there, and
she was on a fast track to melting into a puddle at his feet.
But at least she caught the flicker of need in his eyes, too. It was hard and promised her no mercy.
Which suited her perfectly.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” he muttered.
He backed away from her. She shuddered, her cheeks flushing when she realized they were in a lobby, for Christ’s sake.
“Too many cameras,” he continued.
“Right,” she muttered.
The word “scuttled” floated above her impulses. Casinos had a ton of cameras. Dare had her wrist again, pulling her into step beside him as he headed around the gaming floor. He pulled her into the elevator.
“What floor?”
“Thirty-six,” she answered.
He punched the button and the doors slid closed. There was a jerk as the car started being pulled up.
“But how…” she began.
“Too far,” he muttered before he pulled her against him, cutting off her question with a kiss.
His kiss.
It was hard and demanding, just the way she remembered.
Only a hundred times more intense. She melted. It was that simple. He was everything she yearned for. It truly was a need. As essential as water and food, she felt the hunger rise up from where she’d locked it away. Driving her forward, reaching for him as he pulled her mouth open with his thumb on her chin.
The kiss was raw.
He took her mouth, pushing so completely into her space, she lost track of where he began and she ended. The car jerked, the doors sliding open. He groaned and pulled her through the hallway.
Dare reached into her purse and pulled the key card out of the slot where she’d stuck it in. For just a moment, she was jerked out of the hold passion had on her by the way he intimidated the hell out of her. This guy just operated on a different level.
Which was one of the things she found so irresistible about him.
It gave her a major buzz …
Not because she liked being dominated.
Don’t lie …
Dare turned her into the sky suite and pushed her up against the wall as the door was still closing. He framed the sides of her face, his big hands covering her cheeks and sending a shiver down her back.
