Assignment: Code of Love [Hawt Men In and Out of Uniform 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)
Page 23
“Yup, fifty-fifty shot you’d have gotten off for it. Best you didn’t. Besides brain matter is a bitch to get out of anything porous. Add to it heat from the sun.” Michael made a face and shook his head. “We’d have had to tear up the parking lot to get rid of that stench.”
Giving his friend a look, Elliott rolled his eyes. “Really, you’re worried about the stink?”
“Yeah! Can you imagine the impression that smell would have on our potential clients? Not good, brother, not good at all.”
Snorting at that, Elliott rolled his shoulders with wince. “Any word on the other two? Phyllis and our mystery guy I mean?”
“Nada,” he was told. “The hotel room was empty when the cops went to check it out. Hell it was more than empty, it had been scrubbed fucking clean. Drains, grout, the rug all professionally tended to. Not even a speck of DNA evidence that another human being has been in there given what the police techs were saying. They have never seen a room that clean.”
“Interesting,” he mumbled. No way would Phyllis have those types of connections. Which meant the mystery guy did. That led Elliott to wonder just who the guy was. To have connections with a professional cleaner of that caliber usually meant one of the agencies or black ops. Not something he particularly wanted to hear about.
“I got the cops to get the footage from the hotel security cameras for the last couple of weeks. Thankfully the hotel had a new system just installed so their security people haven’t completely figured it all out yet, and hadn’t wiped the drives like they normally do at the end of the week. I have it all back at the office for when you get in. We’ll have to get you to go through it all looking for Phyllis, and maybe we can finally get a look at the guy.”
Elliott didn’t think that would happen. Not with what they were already learning about the guy so far, but stranger things had happened. Maybe they would get lucky. Be nice to wrap it all up for Clara’s sake. And Olivia’s as well given she was still stuck with Jacobs who seemed to just piss her the fuck off. Of course that was a two-way street.
He’d seen the interaction between them when Jacobs had brought her round the hospital to see Clara. Both acted annoyed by the other. What had been particularly interesting was how they behaved when the other person and when they assumed no one else was watching them. Not that he’d be saying anything, not right away at least. But he had a gut feeling there was a history there, and not one that either party was sharing.
“Anyway, get back to your woman. We have everything else being dealt with. Take care of her, and when you’re ready come back to the office.”
Elliott pulled his attention away from Clara and looked at his boss. “I’ll pick up the recordings when we take her home. I can work on it while I’m there with her, and it’ll give me something to do so I’m close to her, but hopefully not driving her insane. If she’s up to it I’ll get her to help out as well. Maybe it’ll keep her in bed for the time she needs to heal.”
Michael nodded slowly. “Good plan. Why don’t I drop them off instead? Give me a shout when you’re taking her home, and I’ll bring them over with a meal as well so you three don’t need to worry about cooking the first night home.”
Shaking his friend’s hand, Elliott agreed to that. They spoke on a couple other little matters, and then he left Michael in the hall and went back to Clara’s room. Slipping inside he had to smile when he found her laughing hysterically at Yoshi’s antics. She would be fine, in time, and they would all get through the rough patches he knew were coming.
Stopping at her bedside, he leaned in to kiss her when she turned her face up to him. “I love you, Clara Smith,” he whispered. “You are damn well marrying me before you end up scaring me to death, you hear?”
* * * *
Clara had been laughing at something that Craig had said when Elliott walked in. She looked up at him and smiled, but when he leaned in and kissed her and told her that she was going to marry him she was stunned. “Are you asking? With a real ring this time?” She panted breathlessly, something that had nothing to do with her injuries and everything to do with the fact that one of the men she loved more than life itself stood there and proclaimed that she was going to marry him.
“Damn straight I’m asking,” he said. Tugging on the chain she knew held his dog tags, and the old aluminum ring, he drew it out of his shirt. And she saw it. Sparkling new, with a diamond in the shape of a heart, was the ring of her dreams. One she’d told him about when they were kids and she was going on and on about her perfect man, wedding, and of course the ring.
He pulled the chain off over his head, unhooked the ends, and pulled the ring off carefully. After he put the chain back over his head, he even went down on a knee to look up at her. “Will you marry me, Clara Smith?” he asked softly.
Clara looked at the ring and licked her lips. She nodded, tears rolling from her eyes, and whispered, “Yes, yes I will marry you,” she told him with a smile. “Always.” These two men were everything to her. She loved them both and that had her looking toward Craig now to see what his thoughts were on Elliott popping the question.
Craig was grinning at her. “About flipping time, you two, geez! He’s had that thing burning a hole in his pocket, not literally, obviously, since a week after he reconnected with you. Made me go shopping with him for it.” Craig shook his head. “I still feel so sorry for that saleswoman.”
Elliott gave a snorting laugh. “She deserved nothing less for the attitude she gave. Long story, we’ll tell you about it another time,” he told her when she stared at him in anticipation. Elliott looked to Craig then and cleared his throat. Then he started doing a little head jerk in her direction.
“Oh, shit, right.” Grinning at her, Craig began patting himself down with a frown. “Hold on, it’s in one of these pockets,” he muttered as he continued to go over the cargo pants he wore. Finally he must have found the right one since he flashed her a triumphant smirk and pulled out a little velvet bag. That he promptly held out to her. “I’m a little less traditional about this stuff,” he said.
Clara took the bag from Craig and grinned. “Okay.” She opened the bag and pulled out the ring. She smiled up at Elliott and then Craig and slid the ring onto her finger. The way that it fit perfectly against the ring that Elliott had just given her wasn’t lost on her. “Craig, it’s perfect.” She looked at the dual ring now and sighed. “It’s perfect. Just like the two of you,” she told him.
“I don’t think that I could be happier if I tried,” she admitted to her men.
The two of them shared a look and a grin. “Oh, we’re pretty sure you could, but we’ll keep our lips sealed on that for now,” Craig told her. Leaning in he kissed her gently before sitting back on the edge of the bed. “For the moment you need to get better so we can get you home where we can truly coddle you like we want.”
“If the damn doctors would only let me out,” she muttered. When the men began to laugh she gave them both narrowed looks, which only made them laugh harder.
* * * *
Olivia shook as she read the information that had been left for her inside of her home. She wiped at her tears and then did something she never once in all her life thought she would ever do again.
Picking up the business card which had Lee’s name and phone number on it, she dialed with a shaky hand. When he answered with a gruff, what, she said, “Lee.” There was a pause. “Lee, I need you.”
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in the mid-seventies Honor has always had a love for the written word. Whether she is reading a book from another author or writing a story of her own, she is always letting her mind expand and delve into possibilities. It all started off as scribbles for her, then a phase of poetry before she found her true calling in the erotic paranormal genre where her imagination is only limit.
Since beginning her journey as a published author in 2011 Honor says she has learned a great deal about herse
lf and writing. She believes that it’s a never-ending journey, the mind always wanting to learn and to grow. With that comes a better skill and smoothness to her writing she’s discovered and begun to enjoy more with each story she creates.
Thankfully, as she puts it, she has a job that gives her plenty of opportunity to write whatever comes to mind with very few interruptions. Her biggest supporters are, as always, her family. Her two children and her husband are continuously providing her with laughter and joy, making the time she takes to write a little bit easier. Without them and their support she knows she wouldn’t be half the author she is today.
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