by Honor James
Lifting her hand, he kissed her knuckles gently. “Of course I’m going to stay close.” He searched her face and made the decision then and there. “I’m going to call one of the guys, and have them pick up our grocery list. Did you want anything else from the store besides the celery? Some ginger ale maybe, it might help. Or anything you’re craving even.”
“Thank you.” He could see the relief in her eyes. “Ginger ale and some pixie sticks as well. That way when I start to work to find this asshole I will have lots of sugar.” He could see the spark of anger there in her eyes as well as the fear. “We will find him, right?” There was that damn uncertainty again that made his chest clench in pain for her.
“Of course we’ll find him. He may not want to be found, but we’ll find him. Timmons got the program up and running at the office which was good. The fact we had a starting point was even better, though the chosen method of getting that starting point is something we really should discuss when you’re back on your feet again. He did bring back his tablet, so you should be able to see the progress of the program, and see where Parker went after he zapped the two of you in that alley.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She let out a breath and leaned back once more, grabbing a cracker and starting to munch on it before taking a bite of the soup that he had brought in for her.
“Try not to worry too much,” he advised. He knew it was stupid to say it, but he said it anyway. “We will find him, we will stop him, and we’ll end whatever reign of terror he’s out to see fulfilled. We may not know his plans, but we do know one key player in it all. Two technically if you count unidentified voice guy from the hotel room. We take those two out of play it will hamper him. The only problem is, we need to figure out when the best time to take them out of play is. Too soon and we fuck ourselves over. Too late and everything will have progressed too far to stop.”
“Good point. I think that once we know where everyone is that will be the best time to strike. Be aware of where all players are and then take them down at the knees.” He hadn’t known her to be so bloodthirsty, but he could understand why she felt the way that she did.
“Kind of the plan, yeah. Sort of.” Shifting, he looked over to Timmons. The man seemed to be resting easily for once since the incident. Likely feeling better knowing they were somewhere he personally felt safe. “Eat your soup. Tomorrow is soon enough to think about chopping people off at the knees.”
“Okay, I trust you on that.” He watched her as she ate, worried for her but noting that she was relaxing more as long as she was touching both himself and Timmons. “Do you need to call someone to bring our food to us?”
“I will when I take the dishes back out to the kitchen. Gives you a few more minutes to contemplate what else you might want me to get them to pick up. Eat,” he said again. Lifting his own mug, he sipped at the hot broth but kept watch on her over the rim.
* * * *
Clara felt remarkably better an hour later. She was now sitting up on a chair in their bedroom with Elliott’s tablet in her hands. She was going through the light cams in the area. No, not exactly legal but she was at her wits’ end because she couldn’t find this guy. “I’m going to have to tap into ATM cameras as well I think,” she told Craig when she heard him walk in. “I can’t find this asshole anywhere, and it’s really driving me nuts.”
“Do whatever is necessary. Timmons would have ensured nothing could be traced back to him, or the agency, before he started using the city vid feeds. As long as you’re working from his program you’re protected. But be careful, too. He’ll kick me where it hurts if you get yourself in trouble on my watch. Even though I don’t understand any of this. Hell, I can work my DVR and figure that makes me a genius.”
That had her laughing but she did nod. “Don’t worry. I won’t get caught. None of you knew that I had hacked into your video feeds on missions, the military didn’t catch me, and no other agency has caught me along the way so I will do whatever I need in order to remain safe, I promise.” It did warm her heart, though, that Craig worried about her as much as he did.
“Yeah, well, don’t mention that to anyone else either. Some of the guys are a little more by the book than Timmons is. Especially Michael. He would blow a royal fit if he ever knew about you following along remotely to what we were doing. Even if it was because you were watching out for Timmons. And the military would likely throw you in stocks, in a dank, dark hole for the rest of time as well. They do not have a sense of humor,” Craig said. “I have Bradley picking up our groceries. He should be here in about a half hour. So I’m going to hop in the shower real quick, and then I should be out long before he arrives with your monstrous list of sugar products.”
“Sounds good.” She grinned then and nodded. “Wait until I have the pop rocks in my mouth and give you a blow job, you are going to love it.” She had added pop rocks as a last minute addition to the grocery list when Craig asked her once more if she wanted anything. “Now go. Get yourself clean because if I go with you we will still be in there when Bradley shows up.”
“I know what pop rocks are, and no way in hell are you getting near my dick with those in your mouth. Don’t go giving me the big, pleading, adorable eyes. No,” he said in a firm tone. Would have been even better if his lips hadn’t been twitching, or his eyes dancing with amusement. “Behave yourself, woman.” Shaking his head he went to the bathroom, shut, and even locked the door.
She was laughing and shook her head. “Party pooper,” she muttered with a smile. “He will come around,” she said with a smirk and then stopped. “Holy shit.” She zoomed in on the image and jumped up from her seat.
Clara ran to the bathroom and said, “I found him. Not only did I find him but I found a car he was getting in.” She was all but dancing with joy. “With a woman driving!”
“Track the car, we need to know where the hell he ended up,” Craig called to her. “And keep your voice down or you’ll wake up Timmons.”
“Too late,” a grumpy voice said behind her from the bed. When she turned she saw Elliott pushing up to an elbow with his other hand to his head. “You two are obnoxiously loud,” he said.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to be.” She was already tracing the car’s license plate. “Why is it too late?” she asked Elliott as she moved in closer to him, letting him lean against her. “What do you know that I don’t?”
“He said to keep it down before you woke me, thus it’s too late if I’m already awake. Geez, woman, I’m the one that took the full brunt of that jolt. I should be the one with the scrambled brains not you,” he said.
“Oh, I thought you meant that it would be too late to track the car.” She felt sick that she had woken him up. “I’m so sorry that I woke you up. I really am. I was just so excited that we might actually have this asshat soon.”
He waved his hand at her. “It’s fine. Come here and show me what you have, love. Besides, I really need a cuddle from you right now.” Shifting around, he got the pillows stacked up against the headboard and put his back to them so he was in a reclined position.
She climbed up into the bed with him and then passed him the tablet. She moved so that she could curl into him and sighed. “I feel better already.” He had taken the brunt of the shock and hated it. “How are you feeling, though?”
“Better now that I can see you’re looking less pasty and on the edge of throwing up. I feel achy, and still have a bit of a headache. Starving, too. I would kill for a big ass steak right about now with a side of fries, and gravy. Other than that, I’ll live.” He gave her a kiss on her lips before turning his attention to the tablet to view what she’d found so far.
“How about a nice bowl of soup? I can go and get that while you look over where I’m at with backtracking these people?” She did feel much better, but that shouldn’t affect how he was feeling and had her asking, “Why would my feeling better make you feel better?”
“Because I worry about you,” he said. “If I’m not getting a s
teak then yes, a bowl of soup would be okay. As long as you bring me some of the cheesy crackers on the second shelf of the pantry cupboard.”
“That I can do. While you are doing that will you shoot off a snapshot of the woman to your babies that are running facial recognition? That way it can start to try to find her as well as him.” She was ever so hopeful at least. “I will be back in ten minutes. Tops.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a smile. “Anything else you want me to do? Knit you some socks maybe? Though my knitting skills are definitely subpar, but I’d give it a shot if that was on your wish list.”
“Nope, just lay there and look sexy. I think that you can do that.” She winked at him and then moved away from his side and headed for the kitchen. She was happy. Finally they had a lead to find this guy and then they would be able to get on with their lives, together.
While she was heating up Elliott’s soup she heard Craig come out of the shower, and then the two men’s voices talking. Elliott let out a laugh, quickly followed by a groan, and a bunch of cursing while Craig chuckled. “No pop rocks for him either,” Craig called out from the bedroom.
“You are both party poopers,” Clara told them as she walked back in with the soup and crackers as well as water for Elliott. “I still say that you would both love it. My mouth wrapped around your cock while the pop rocks sizzle and pop in my mouth. It wouldn’t hurt you and you know it.”
“Until you get one of the big ones that explodes in your mouth, and around a guy’s most sensitive piece of equipment, not including his balls of course,” Elliott said. He was frowning at the tablet, and doing something on it. “Yeah, doc, my girl had this fantastic idea involving pop rocks, her mouth, and my cock. So you can fix it right?” he said in a nasally tone. He shot her a look and shook his head. “Do you know how long it takes to live that sort of thing down with a bunch of guys like the ones we work with? I love you, Clara. I trust you more than any other person. But given recent events I’ll pass on that particular treat. Thank you though.”
“Darn, okay. Well you do have valid points but that just means that I will have to up my game the next time that I’m giving one of you head while the other fucks me.” Yes, she was definitely feeling much better since she was thinking about sex. “Have you found anything else?” she asked Elliott when she saw him going to town on the tablet he held.
“Yup, your girl took Parker to a parking garage. Five minutes after she went in with him, she left alone. Or at least appears to be alone. I have the program tracking her while I’m combing through really crappy resolution video feed in the structure. Thankfully they at least have a few cameras. There she is, went up to the fourth level and then pulled behind a fucking pillar. Of course you did,” he muttered. “Pulls away and the passenger seat is empty. Shit, looking for another angle now. Oh, is that for me?” he asked his full attention on her suddenly.
“Yes, this is for you,” she said and frowned. “Try the elevators. See if they have video feeds in them. Sometimes there are hidden cameras inside and outside of them, ones that people wouldn’t know about. There should be a wireless connection if so.”
He gave her a look that clearly said, “Duh.” Rolling his eyes he took the cup of soup from her. “This is not my first rodeo you know, sweetheart. Just because I’m cranky, achy, and have a headache to rival my last hangover doesn’t mean I can’t do this shit in my sleep. Course given how I currently feel I’d likely be more efficient if I was asleep. Do we have any aspirin left?”
“Yes, I will go and get you aspirin while you start to eat. Don’t take the pills without food in your belly,” she told him with a frown. “Craig, please make him eat?” She wanted to get him on her side, needed him to help her ensure that Elliott took care of himself.
“He’ll eat. Let him get slightly distracted and he’ll start doing it automatically.” He slipped an arm around her, pulling her in close to his side. “See, he’s already doing it now that his focus is back on the tablet again. Get him the aspirin, though, I can’t believe he hasn’t asked for some before this actually.”
“Back in two shakes,” Clara whispered and slipped away before Craig could reply. With the bottle of aspirin in her hands she passed off two to Elliott and held the tablet while he took them. She then passed the device back to him and asked, “So, what have you found?”
“Nothing yet, there’s a shadow, though,” he said. Grabbing her hand he tugged her down toward him and kissed her softly. “I’m sorry I got snippy with you, sweetheart. I’m an ass when I’m in pain. Ask Yoshi, I’m sure he’ll gladly tell you all the woes of having to deal with me when I’m not myself.”
“You weren’t snippy, love.” She rubbed her nose against his and kissed him once more. “Now, eat, babe,” she told him with a grin and pulled back from him. “So you see a shadow? Where?” She took the tablet from him and waited for him to tell her what he had seen.
Shifting a little, he pointed to the spot. “Right here. If you play it forward at quarter speed you’ll see it on the first camera for a few seconds, and then switch to the east camera where you’ll see it moving closer to another pillar. It seems to pause for about a minute, and then I can’t pick it up again anywhere.”
“So he knows where the cameras are,” she said with her lower lip caught with her teeth. She shifted slightly and then moved away from him with the tablet with her. “What if.” She moved into another program and started to go through the businesses in the area and grinned. “Perfect.” She pulled up the video Wi-Fi for the adult toy store across the street from the parking complex. “Lookie what we found.” It wasn’t a good image, but she gave another angle to look at the shadow as it moved. “There you are, you tricky bastard.” She passed it back to Elliott. “There, found him. Now we just need to keep an eye on him. He left by jumping one of the lower level walls.” The half walls were easy to jump, which was why she tried to find another camera angle from outside of the parking complex.
“She really is smarter than you,” Craig said with clear amusement in his voice. “I think Michael should hire her and stick you back out in the field. Besides she’s prettier and smells better, too.”
Elliott gave him the finger with the hand holding the mug of soup as he kept running through the video feed. He stopped it suddenly. “There, he got into that vehicle.” He handed her the tablet. “Pull up the enhancement program to get a clear shot of the plate, then start the trace on him. Please,” he added with a smile for her.”
“You got it, love.” She began to do as Elliott asked her to do and moved back to his side on the bed. “I would be very happy to work alongside Elliott, but I would never replace him. He’s far too valuable and you darn tootin’ well know it.”
“He’s okay I suppose,” Craig muttered. He was grinning at her, though, so she knew he was just messing with Elliott.
“The outpouring of love in this room is absolutely staggering,” Elliott said. Finishing his soup, he set the mug aside and grabbed the box of crackers. Leaning back against the pillows again, he munched on them while she let the program run to enhance the image he had captured of the back end of the vehicle.
“I know that car,” she muttered with a cock of her head and shrugged. “Oh well, it’s one of those cars that’s everywhere. Maybe that’s it.” It was a cheap American car that lined the roads nowadays and she knew it. “So”—she moved so that she could lay her head on Elliott’s shoulder—“have the aspirin started to work yet?”
“Not even a little,” he said. She could feel him press his lips to her hair and then inhale. “Takes a bit of time,” he murmured. Slipping an arm around her, he gave her a hug and offered the box of crackers.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never been shocked by a Taser before and I never want to do it again. I can’t even imagine how you are feeling if I was as horrid feeling as I was. I’m sorry that you were hurt because of me.” She was the one who had talked him into going into the alley and taking her against the wall. Now she felt
like hell for doing it. “I promise I won’t do it again,” she assured him.
“Sure you will,” he said. Pulling back, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s who you are, and I love it. You know what you want, and go for it. Though let’s avoid alleys for a while if you don’t mind. Maybe keep our sexual activities inside and behind closed doors for a time if you don’t mind. Might be safer for us both at least until this jackass is no longer out there trying to fuck with us, and you.”
“I think that is a very good idea.” Besides, being behind doors would mean that they would be able to all three make love at once. “I get to have both of you all to myself when we are behind the doors as well. I happen to really love it when the three of us all get together and come together.”
“Good,” he said. He gave her another squeeze. “Since that particular option isn’t on the table currently, let’s work on finding this asshole for the moment. Once he’s out of our lives then we can really get down to the good stuff. Oh, hey look at that, we have a plate. Throw that in the program and let’s see where he went.”
She did as instructed and also looked to Craig. “Will you grab my tablet? I want to run the plates on both cars while his tablet is searching.” She didn’t want to overwhelm his programs and she was perfectly able to get into the DMV without issue and knew it.
“Will do,” he said and left the bedroom. He came back a couple minutes later right when the buzzer sounded. “Here you are. That should be Bradley, I’ll go let him in. Did you want any of your sugar supply once I unearth it from hopefully the healthy food he also brought with him?”
“Yes, a bag of the pixie sticks please. Oh, and the pop rocks and a bottle of water for me.” That way she could also get started on checking into her website and the river project that she had been keeping an eye on as well. While she was enjoying her time with her men then, she had not watched over the project in question.
“Copy that,” he said and left the bedroom once more.
