Spy Now, Pay Later

by Diane Henders

  I hugged him. “I’d bet your memory against a computer program any day.”

  “What video?” Spider demanded.

  “Sharkf… um, Barnett sent me some footage from the surveillance video at John’s house last night,” I explained. “Remember how I said John kicked me out of the house in a big hurry? That woman came to his door shortly afterward. I’d say there’s a pretty good chance she’s Dawn White, and the message on his answering machine must have been a coded message from her, telling him she was coming.”

  I resolutely ignored my own double entendre. Judging by their body language, she probably had been coming last night. Repeatedly.

  Spider’s face was a study in consternation as he avoided my gaze. “Oh… um… sorry…” He scuffed a toe at the carpet.

  Comprehension dawned. “Don’t worry, Spider, it’s okay. I’m not upset. John and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”

  “But you…” He pressed his lips together, his cheeks turning crimson.

  I held in a sigh. Life would have been so much easier if he hadn’t read my mind at the precise moment I was reliving the memory of red-hot sex with Kane.

  “It’s okay,” I repeated. “Not a big deal.” I extracted my scrap of paper, thankful for a reprieve from the awkwardness. “I got a secret message from Stemp tonight.”

  “What? When?” Hellhound’s eyes narrowed with comprehension. “Oh. That’s what you meant by bookkeepin’ clients. Ya couldn’t tell me because a’ the bug.”

  “No, actually I had no idea he was going to contact me.” I conveniently omitted the classified details and showed the message to both of them instead. “What do you make of this?”

  “He has the weapon and everything’s okay,” Spider translated easily. “That last sentence, though…” His brow furrowed. “Um… let me run those numbers through the system…” He spun his chair around again to clatter away at his keyboard.

  After a few minutes, he swung back again. “Nothing. Let me see it again.” He appropriated the paper and frowned at it.

  “I thought it might be a parking stall somewhere,” I said. “You know, like assigned parking in stall D12HRS, and maybe he left something in the stall for us to find…”

  “I dunno, darlin’.” Hellhound objected. “Stemp’s smart. If he can’t call in to Dermott, he musta gone to a lotta trouble for this, so he’d make sure his message made sense to ya.”

  Weariness overcame me and I sagged against Hellhound’s warm bulk. “Well, it doesn’t. He has a lot more faith in my abilities than he should. I’m just an idiot civilian bookkeeper…” I trailed off as a thought struck me. “Wait a minute.” I clamped my eyes shut, trying to regain the vision of the glowing white letters on my screen. “Damn, I wish I had your photographic memory!”

  Hellhound tucked an arm around me, stroking a gentle hand over my hair. “Just relax, darlin’. Don’t try to force it.”

  I pressed my forehead against his shoulder, inhaling his comforting leather scent and letting my mind clear. No one spoke, and I breathed slowly into the silence.

  That last sentence…

  My eyes popped open. “Maybe it wasn’t a number. Let me rewrite that…” Spider handed me a pen and I wrote the sentence again exactly as I remembered it, including spaces and upper and lowercase: “Stall D 12 hrs.”

  “Well, shit.” Hellhound grinned. “Yeah, that changes it a bit. ‘Stall Dermott twelve hours’. Good job, darlin’.”

  “That’s it! That makes perfect sense!” I planted a big smacking kiss on his lips. “You’re brilliant!”

  He shuffled his feet, smiling. “Hey, I’m just a dumb ugly biker, remember? I just read what ya wrote.”

  “Biker, yeah, I’ll give you that. Dumb and ugly, not a chance.”

  He laughed. “Thanks, darlin’. You’re good for my ego even if my bathroom mirror tells me you’re lyin’.”

  My tension ebbed away leaving leaden fatigue in its place, and I leaned against Hellhound again. “Thanks for calling tonight, Spider. I’m glad John’s safe.” I stifled a yawn. “Let’s all get some sleep. Maybe by tomorrow morning your magic program will tell us who that woman is, and that’ll give us a better idea what John and Stemp are planning. And maybe that’ll help stall Dermott and Holt.”

  Spider nodded, his face clearing. “Okay. I’ve widened the geographic radius for the facial recognition’s search, so it’s crunching through all the available data collected since last night. Maybe we’ll find Stemp, too.”

  “That’d be great,” I agreed as I turned to stumble up the stairs, my eyes half-closed.

  Thank God Kane and Stemp were all right. Now if I could just convince Sharkface not to kill me tomorrow, everything would be dandy…

  Chapter 37

  My eyes kept closing during the short drive to the hotel. When the motion of the SUV stopped, Hellhound’s soft rasp roused me from a semi-doze.

  “Come on, darlin’, let’s get ya to bed.” He slid out of the vehicle and came around to collect me from the passenger side. Shepherded by his arm around my shoulders, I stumbled into the hotel and up the stairs to his room. When he opened the door, the bed beckoned like the Promised Land and I sleepwalked over to fall onto it.

  He chuckled. “Here, lemme take your boots off an’ ya can crawl right in.” He began to unlace my boots, but I sat up and linked my arms around his neck to kiss him.

  “I’m not planning on crawling in alone.” I shucked off my boots and lay back, pulling him on top of me.

  He propped himself on his elbows, his smile softened by the mellow lamplight. “You’re wiped out, darlin’. Let’s leave the mattress dancin’ for mornin’.”

  “I’m not that tired.” I pulled him down to me. “And I’ve permanently renounced deferred pleasure. You know what they say; ‘life is short and nothing is certain, so eat dessert first’.”

  “Tell ya what, darlin’.” He lowered his lips to mine and I sighed in sheer bliss when he kissed me slowly. My knotted muscles softened in the rising heat while his mouth explored mine with his usual leisurely finesse. A brush of his tongue sent a sizzle down my spine, and a little moan escaped me when he deepened the kiss.

  His lips traced whiskery pleasure over my jaw and neck while his hand migrated down to curve around my ass. “How ‘bout if I eat dessert first,” he rumbled in my ear. “An’ if you’re still conscious when I’m done, we’ll see about the main course.”

  His kiss claimed me again and a hot shiver shook me when his hand slipped under my sweatshirt to unfasten my bra. His palm coasted lightly over my breast, the whisper of sensation making me arch to meet it. I tugged at his T-shirt as he paved a trail of tingling whisker-kisses over my throat.

  “Take your clothes off,” I whispered. “I want you naked.”

  “The feelin’s mutual, darlin’.” Hellhound rolled off me to stand beside the bed and peel off his T-shirt.

  I skimmed out of my top, emerging from my sweatshirt just in time to see him drop his jeans. “Nice,” I breathed. “Now that’s what I call a main course.”

  He grinned. “I still want dessert first.”

  Holding his gaze, I slowly undid the button of my jeans. He licked his lips, his eyes igniting as I slid the zipper down.

  “Mmmm.” He knelt onto the bed astride me. “Lemme help ya with that.”

  I arched to rub against him as he shimmied my jeans over my hips and he let out a raspy half-groan-half-purr, his eyelids drooping in the lazy smile that promised mind-altering pleasure to come. He eased the denim down, his hands hot on my skin as he moved lower in the bed.

  Suddenly the slow caress stopped. “Aw, shit, Aydan, what happened?”

  I propped myself up on my elbows to see him frowning at my blackened knee.

  “Oh, I just banged it. No big deal.”

  His fingertips floated over the bruise. “It sure as hell looks like a big deal. Any other sore spots I should know about?”

  “No. Well… actually my hip and my elbow are a l
ittle bruised, too.” I sat up to kiss him. “But you can make them all better.”

  He gave me that lazy smile again. “Then I better get started on my mission a’ mercy.” He dropped my jeans and thong over the side of the bed and moved up to kiss me again, easing me unhurriedly onto the pillows.

  I wrapped my arms around him, reveling in the feel of his hard bulky body against mine. “God, Arnie, you feel so good. It’s been too long…”

  “Two months. ‘Way too fuckin’ long,” he mumbled against my neck. “Lemme see if I can make it up to ya…”

  He nibbled his way over my collarbone, his beard and moustache igniting sparks of desire that flared into a conflagration when he cupped my breast, his magic fingertips teasing my nipple. I gasped when his mouth moved down to take over from his fingers, hot suction awakening the deep ache of need.

  His hand traced the line of my ribcage before gliding over my hip and down my belly as if drawn by the liquid heat pooling below. His touch wrenched a moan from me, my body bowing upward under the combined pleasure from his mouth and fingers.

  “Ah, darlin’,” he rasped, his lips sending quivers through my body as they trailed down my stomach. He flicked the tip of his tongue into my belly button in a teasing promise and I whimpered anticipation, my body already tightening under the languid stroking of his hand.

  He moved lower in the bed, drawing my knee up to nibble tingling kisses across the sensitive skin of my inner thigh. My breath stopped, every nerve hyperaware as he drew closer…

  The first touch of his tongue exploded sensation through me, my hips bucking under his mouth and fingers. My world faded to nothing but his exquisite touch while he played my body like the masterful musician he was. Whimpers leaked from my throat, quickening into rising moans while the hot tension wound tighter, then tighter still.

  Tremors vibrated my body, my breath catching as time slowed.

  Stopped for a measureless moment…

  Shattered into blinding ecstasy, my body rocking on wave after wave of glorious sensation, my cries soaring heedlessly to the ceiling.

  As I lay panting in the ebbing ripples of bliss, Hellhound stretched out beside me. His arms gathered me in, cuddling me close to brush kisses on my cheeks and closed eyelids.

  “Relax. Go to sleep, darlin’,” he murmured.

  I wrapped trembling arms around him, trying to pull him on top of me, and he stroked the hair back from my sweat-damp forehead. “It’s okay, Aydan, just relax. Ya don’t hafta…”

  “Please…” Barely able to form the words, I clutched at him. “Now… want you… inside…” I wrapped my hand around the delicious hardness of his erection, fondling and urging.

  He rumbled gratification and kissed me before rolling over to delve into his jeans pocket. The crinkling sound of a condom wrapper made me whimper with desire.

  A moment later his weight pressed me to the bed. When he slid into me the glorious sensation drew a strangled cry from my throat. “God, Arnie! Yes…”

  I locked my legs behind his back while he rocked into a perfect rhythm. Long, steady strokes rewound my tension so fast the explosion of orgasm took me by surprise, my body spasming around him, my fingers digging into his powerful shoulders.

  He slowed to almost nothing, pulsing gently while he propped himself on his hands to smile down at me with his sleepy-eyed grin.

  “More,” I gasped.

  Still propped on his hands, he began to move again, gradually increasing his tempo and power. Each delicious stroke pumped more pleasure into my body, the sensation spiralling into dizzying need, my hips rising to meet him again and again while little cries escaped me.

  “Love… watchin’ ya…” His voice was hoarse and breathless, his arms steel-hard under my clutching fingers. “Come for me now, darlin’…”

  “Harder…” The word wrenched from my throat. “Arnie oh God!”

  I tumbled into blind ecstasy, swept higher with each powerful thrust. A few moments later his raw-throated groan underscored my cries, his body stiffening above me before he collapsed onto his elbows, pulling me tight against him. Locked together, we rode the storm of orgasm, our gasps and groans entwining like our bodies.

  “Hey, darlin’.” Hellhound’s soft rasp roused me and I burrowed deeper into the pillow, clinging to the blissful oblivion of sleep.

  “Hey, Aydan, time to wake up.” A warm hand stroked slowly down my back. “I let ya sleep as long as I could, but ya gotta wake up now.”

  I groaned and mumbled into the pillow. “Not waking up unless I get an orgasm. No; three.”

  His chuckle vibrated the nape of my neck before his lips and whiskers traced tingling kisses down my backbone. “Hell, darlin’, three’s barely a good start. An’ I’m happy to oblige, but you’re gonna be late for work if I do.”

  “Fuck work.”

  A moment later my sleepy brain dragged itself into action and I jerked up to squint at the bedside clock. “Shit!” I scrubbed both hands over my face and blinked myself fully awake. “Yeah, today would be a bad day to skip work. Thanks, Arnie. And thanks for giving me a really, really good sleep.” I kissed his smile and hauled myself out of bed to stumble in the direction of the bathroom. “But I want a rain check on those orgasms.”

  “Ya got it, darlin’.”

  In the shower, my mind darted from one thought to the next while I rapidly soaped and shampooed. Would Kane or Stemp make contact today? If they didn’t, was Spider’s video enough to convince Holt and Dermott that Kane was working undercover, or would they say it proved he’d gone rogue and redouble their efforts to apprehend him?

  I pushed my face into the hot spray. And today was my deadline. How could I stall Sharkface? Would I even be alive this time tomorrow?

  Grimacing, I turned off that thought along with the water.

  An unworthy idea crept into my mind while I was towelling off.

  I could just say screw it all. Take Hellhound back to bed for a long hot round of morning sex, and then get in my car and drive away from all this. Vanish just like Stemp.

  Kane didn’t need me. I certainly wasn’t going to contribute anything useful as an agent, and they didn’t need me for decryptions anymore. Sooner or later they’d gather the evidence they needed to convict Parr, and I only had to evade Fuzzy Bunny’s minions long enough for that to happen.

  I could cut off my hair and dye it some nondescript colour; go vanish in some big city. I’d miss my friends, but it wouldn’t be forever…

  I sighed. But then the Department would think I’d gone rogue, so I’d have to evade them, too. And it would break my heart to leave my farm. My beautiful garage and my beloved cars. My garden…

  Anger straightened my spine. Dammit, those bastards weren’t going to take my dreams. And I owed Sharkface some major payback.

  When I emerged from the bathroom, Hellhound jerked a thumb at my waist pouch. “Your phone’s been ringin’.”

  I hurried over to extract it. When I accessed my messages, Sharkface’s unwelcome voice greeted me. “Today’s the day, sweet-ass. Call me. Or else.”

  I flopped onto the bed, yanking the pillow over my face with a groan.

  The corner of the pillow lifted to reveal Hellhound’s worried face hovering above me. “Aydan? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Just my daily threat from Sharkface.” I groaned my way upright and made a face at my phone. “Might as well get this over with. Maybe I can stall him.”

  I punched in the number and waited.

  After a couple of rings, he answered. “What have you got for me, sweet-ass?”

  “I have a picture of George Harrison,” I lied. “And I’m tracking down Kane and the bottle. I know where he was last night. I just need a little more time.”

  “You’re out of time.” His threatening tone shifted into fake warmth. “But you know what? I like you, sweet-ass. So if you deliver that picture to me by noon today, I’ll put in a good word for you with Mr. Parr. See if he’ll give you an extension to f
ind the bottle.”

  I swallowed my instinctive scoff and adopted a scared, hopeful tone. “Would you really? Thank you! Where should I meet you?”

  “Nose Hill Park, in the 14th Street parking lot.”

  “Um, that’s in Calgary…”

  “Oh, you’re a bright one, sweet-ass. Be there.” He hung up.

  “Asshole,” I muttered.

  Hellhound eyed me with concern. “What, darlin’?”

  “He expects me to drive down to Calgary and meet him in a godforsaken parking lot. How stupid does he think I am?”

  “I’m guessin’ he thinks you’re desperate,” Hellhound growled. “An’ I’m guessin’ he ain’t plannin’ for ya to leave afterwards.”

  “Maybe.” I flopped back on the bed again. “But likely Parr wants to keep me around a little longer and this is his way of throwing some fear into me without appearing to back down. I doubt if he’ll burn any bridges until he has the weapon.”

  “Ya wanna take a chance on that?”

  I sighed. “Not really. But I don’t have a choice.”

  “Tell me where an’ when you’re meetin’ him.”

  “Holt can back me up, so don’t worry. I don’t want you involved-”

  “Too late, darlin’.” He rose to loom over me, his jaw jutting with characteristic stubbornness. “I’m already involved. Ya can tell me where an’ when or I can follow ya for the rest a’ the mornin’, but either way I’m gonna be there. An’ it’ll be a helluva lot safer for all of us if ya tell me now so I can get in position before ya get there.”

  I studied his widely-planted legs and crossed arms with a mixture of gratitude and frustration. Gratitude won, and I rose to hug him. “Thanks. Noon in the 14th Street parking lot at Nose Hill Park. Just stay out of sight and if anything goes wrong, call Dermott. And if anything changes I’ll let you know.”

  His arms closed around me. “Thanks, darlin’.” He stared into middle distance for a moment. “I been in that parkin’ lot. Rollin’ terrain an’ some trees, so I’ll set up on the west side where I got a clear sight line.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “See how much easier it is when ya just plan me into your missions to start with?”