The silence was so thick that at first she thought she’d lost him. She checked the connection and it was still good. “Have you heard about any zeroes that might pertain to the CRT system? I—”
“I’ll get back to you,” he said, and hung up.
Ashley stared at her cell. God, the guy was rude, suspicious. Annoying. Secretive. She knew what Parker was thinking. A zero like that would be worth millions on the black market, and as he wasn’t convinced she wasn’t some mole the communists had planted long ago, he wasn’t about to give her that kind of information. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at her screen. She’d hit a wall and she was exhausted. She shoved her laptop into its case and pulled on her jacket. Parker had probably just diverted half his team to work on the FinCEN system. He had contracts with many of the government branches and a flaw in one was a potential flaw in them all.
Fine. Let him work through the night. She needed her sleep anyway.
She slipped into her winter jacket. Purposely relaxed her jaw and stretched her neck to the side. By morning he’d hopefully tell her if it was possible for a hacker to get a name and address from FinCEN. That’s why he got paid the big bucks and she was on a government salary.
She headed out. The overhead lights were turned out in the bullpen and there was no one around. She adjusted her laptop bag over one shoulder and made sure her sidearm was within easy reach of her dominant hand. Outside, the cold air made her breath fog and she shivered. She headed toward the hotel, keeping a sharp eye on her surroundings. Up ahead she noticed a man turn right. The man looked a lot like Lucas Randall.
Her pulse raced a little faster. What was he doing?
She got to the side road where he’d turned off and looked down the narrow street. He glanced backwards as if making sure no one was following him. It was Lucas. He didn’t see her and she didn’t call out to get his attention.
There were viable reasons for an FBI agent to be creeping around the streets of Boston at night, most of them none of her business. A terrible thought entered her brain, something she didn’t want to consider, and yet, now the idea had entered her head she couldn’t shake it off. What if Lucas was feeding the fugitives information?
Mallory and Alex both trusted the guy—more than they trusted her. But Mallory also said he was hiding something, and she should know given their shared history. He’d miraculously survived an explosion that had brought down an entire block. He’d been privy to SSA Sloan’s confidences. He’d denied knowing Susan Thomas’s name but that didn’t mean he was telling the truth. Had he been threatened? Compromised? Bribed?
Ashley waited for him to dip around the corner, hesitated for a few moments and then reluctantly followed.
Her attraction to him was inconvenient and distracting, and betraying the FBI to these monsters would kill that attraction stone dead. But she didn’t want it to be true. She didn’t want to be such a lousy judge of character that she’d fallen for a guy who was rotten at the core. She didn’t want to be attracted to a man who cashed in on the trafficking of innocents.
Her mouth went dry as she cautiously hugged the shadows. She needed to know for sure that he hadn’t sold out; she needed to know for certain that his idea of service was rooted in idealism and duty, not corruption and lies. She needed to know.
* * *
Lucas’s evasion skills had been honed in the mean streets of Afghanistan, fighting in an arena where friend looked exactly the same as foe. It wasn’t even the faint sound of footsteps that triggered the feeling of danger, it was that sixth sense that told him he was being hunted. He darted down the nearest alley, removing his SIG from its holster as he moved. Ever since the explosion he’d been paranoid about inadvertently leading someone to Becca. He moved quickly but silently, cutting through a narrow alley to another street. Sure enough, the muted footsteps tracked his movements.
He headed toward the hotel and then doubled back, sprinting, and coming up behind the lone figure who’d been shadowing him.
A woman. Five ten. One fifty.
He snagged a wrist and twisted it high behind her back and pushed her against the brick wall. She cried out in a voice he immediately recognized and countered with a strong back kick which, had it connected, would have taken out his crown jewels.
He twisted away and she struck a glancing blow off his thigh.
“Ashley?” He loosened his grip and spun her around.
“Lucas! What the hell? You scared the crap out of me.” She swallowed loudly, but wouldn’t quite meet his gaze. A distant streetlight cast her face in gold. Alex’s warning came back to him in a flash.
He pocketed his SIG and held her against the wall with one wrist pinned above her head. He took her other hand and added it to the first, cuffing both her wrists with his much larger hand. He was well aware that as a federal agent she could do him a lot of damage. Defensive tactics training at Quantico was akin to gladiator school, where only the strong and vicious survived.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“If this is your idea of how to chat up women, no wonder you don’t date much.” She tried to joke but he wasn’t buying it. The pulse at the base of her throat was beating out a military tattoo. The strain in her voice belonged to fear.
“Why are you following me?” he asked insistently.
Her jaw clenched and her expression turned mutinous. “I left work and saw you acting suspiciously so I decided to see what you were up to.”
“Up to?” He frowned at her. He wasn’t about to reveal that the ATF agent guarding Becca had called to say the girl was asking for him. He wasn’t even going to think about going to the hospital now.
“Why?” He tightened his grip and tried to ignore the feel of her body brushing against his.
“To see where you were going,” she bit out. “To see if you met anyone.”
“Why is that any of your business?” Then the implications sank in. “You thought I was passing on information about this investigation? Betraying the people I work with, betraying my oath of service?”
She jerked against his grasp, sending waves of lust shimmering through his body. He ignored the lust.
“Fine. Yes,” she snapped. “Someone could be passing on vital information, enabling the scumbags to keep one step ahead of us. You survived the explosion, they survived the explosion. You saw their faces but can’t identify them. You are in a position to discover the name of the informant who reported seeing Mia taken into the brothel. You keep disappearing—”
He stared in disbelief. “What motive would I have?”
She tried to shrug, which just succeeded in pushing her breasts against his chest and short-circuiting his brain. The fact she was suspicious of him made him rethink his suspicions of her.
“They might have threatened your family.”
“My family knows the risks associated with my job and theirs. They take precautions.”
“Money?” she stated, but she looked less sure of herself now.
“I have money.”
“Lots of money,” she reiterated.
He leaned down so he could whisper in her ear without anyone overhearing. “My grandfather was a West Virginian coal baron. I have more money than I can spend in three lifetimes. But even if I didn’t have a dime, I would never sell out my colleagues. Never.” He regarded her with disgust.
Uncertainty flashed in her eyes. Then the stubbornness returned. “Then why were you acting so suspiciously?”
“You mean making sure I wasn’t followed back to my hotel? The only adult in this whole fiasco who got a good look at the fugitives’ faces?”
Her expression faltered, and her eyes went wide. “Shit. You’re right. I’m sorry I leapt to conclusions.”
She shivered beneath him. Was she cold? She didn’t look cold. From the warm skin of her wrists and fast beat of her pulse she didn’t feel cold.
“You didn’t have to jump me,” she whispered.
His blood heated. The feel of her bo
dy so close to his meant he very much wanted to jump her despite the fact they were in a dingy alley. “I heard someone following me and decided to see who it was.”
“I need to work on my surveillance skills, but I’m not sorry I followed you.” That spark of awareness flashed between them. The attraction they’d both been trying hard to ignore. “Part of me hoped you were dirty so I wouldn’t keep remembering that kiss.”
He looked into those exotically tilted eyes and became aware that he still held Ashley Chen’s arms stretched over her head and his body was pressed firmly against hers. The contrast between the hotness of her gaze and the coldness of the brick wall behind her, made him want to press even closer.
Her breath was choppy. Anger and suspicion had morphed into physical awareness and passionate desire.
Yesterday, she’d kissed him. It was only fair to return the favor.
He dipped his head, captured her lips, and she opened her mouth with a groan. It was like diving into sin and temptation. Heat and pleasure flared between them and made the frigidity of the night, the damp dirtiness of the alley, and the grim reality of the case, all disappear.
Her body rose to meet his and he dove deeper, tangling his tongue with hers, feeling the fervor of her response. He didn’t let go of her wrists, but his other hand tugged her silky shirt out of her pants so he could reach inside and cup those perfect breasts.
Lace scraped his palm and made him instantly rock hard. He found her nipple through the material, rolled the velvet nub against the scratchy lace and held her up when her knees gave out. He slipped his thigh between hers, then released her mouth and undid the buttons of her shirt with one hand, holding her gaze, still not letting go of her wrists. There was something forbidden about this. Something powerful about having this woman at his mercy.
She shivered as the night air touched her skin, but she didn’t protest. Her eyes glittered with want. When the buttons were undone he spread the material wide and his mouth went dry. Black lingerie offered her breasts up to his gaze. He dragged down the lacy edge to expose one cherry tip.
“Not much going on in the chest department, I’m afraid.” Her voice held an edge of apology.
How could someone who looked like her have even a sliver of insecurity about her own beauty?
His eyes shot to hers. “You’re kidding, right?” He bent down to take her nipple in his mouth and felt her knees buckle again. He let go of her wrists and hitched her up.
She wrapped her long legs around his waist.
“Hold on tight,” he ordered.
He feasted on her pretty breasts, showing her exactly what she did to him. Her fingers sank into his hair and tugged him away. Her lips found his, wet and wild. He pinned her against the wall and rubbed his erection against her center. She groaned, the sound a vibration that passed between them like a caress.
This was crazy. They should not be doing this, but after the hell of the last few days he wanted to experience something that had nothing to do with death or depravity.
He lowered her feet to the ground and undid the button on her pants. Eased down her zipper. He watched her eyes the entire time, but saw no objection. They were in a public place and if they got caught they’d both get fired. He slid one finger inside her and she squeezed him, gasping with pleasure. He added another, sliding them in and out, finding the spot that had her eyes closing and her arms shaking as she held on to him.
“I want to be inside you so badly, Ash.”
She made a sound that was a cross between a plea and a groan.
“But I don’t have a condom.”
“I don’t either.” Frustration strangled her voice.
He’d have given everything he had to slide inside her regardless of good sense, but he wasn’t ruled by lust. He took her hand, and held it over her head again, and added the other so she was once again pinned to the wall, shirt unbuttoned, half undressed. She shivered as she looked at him, eyes huge and luminous as he very slowly, very deliberately ran the tip of his finger over her lips, throat, collarbone. Over the turgid peak of one nipple, then down her lean rib cage. He circled her soft navel before following the smooth skin all the way back down to her black lace panties. She gasped as he curled two fingers inside her.
He kissed the side of her mouth, wanting to see her face when she tipped over the edge. He cupped his palm over her mound, used his thigh to press his hand deeper inside her.
“Oh, God. I should w-warn you.” Her breath was choppy and her voice shook. “I’m l-loud.”
“Loud?” He scraped his teeth over her ear lobe.
“When I come. I’m really lou—”
He swallowed her scream, dragging out her orgasm until she collapsed limply against him. And he had to hold himself very still, controlling his breathing while his heart rate slowed and blood diverted to other parts of his body.
Then he gently put her back together, pulling up her zipper, buttoning her pants, blouse. He gave up trying to tuck in her shirt, but straightened her jacket and coat, pulled them together to help combat the sudden chill in the air. He kept his eyes locked on hers the entire time before backing away a step.
She frowned. “But you didn’t—”
“It doesn’t matter.” The need to come was still pounding through his bloodstream, but his brain was back in control.
She watched him for a long time, trying to read him in the darkness. “We shouldn’t have done that. It was a mistake.”
“It was what we both needed.” He touched her cheek. “I’m not going to tell anyone. I’d actually like to do it again one day. Maybe properly, in a bed with no time limit.”
Her eyes were huge and he laughed at her surprise.
“I like you, Ashley, or haven’t you figured that out yet?”
Fear entered her gaze and she turned her cheek away from his touch. “Please don’t.”
“Please don’t what?” he asked. “Like you? You think I kiss every woman I come across in the street?”
Ashley sent him a disdainful glare. “If either of us had had a condom you’d have gotten your reward for that kiss, and you know it.”
He was so close he could still smell traces of her arousal and it twisted his good sense. “I had my reward, sweetheart. Watching you lose it isn’t something I’m going to forget anytime soon.”
Her cheeks darkened, but her eyes took on a frosty glare.
“Maybe it’s your warm and fuzzy personality that makes me like you so much.” He was hoping for a smile but her expression had closed up.
“Don’t be naive, Lucas. You don’t have to like someone to fuck them,” she snapped.
Her attempt to push him away didn’t surprise him, but it did make him angry. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have to like you to fuck you, but God help me, I do.” He leaned closer. “And after feeling you come all over my fingers I really want to fuck you. So keep that in mind next time you follow me down a back alley at midnight.”
She looked a little shell-shocked at his warning and he’d been less than his usual gentlemanly self. She jerked out of his hold and pushed away from the wall as if she’d just become aware of her surroundings.
“I’ll walk you back to the hotel.”
She shook her head in refusal. “Forget it. I can look after myself.” Then she strode off without a backward glance. He tailed her from a discreet distance and wondered why the hell he was attracted to such a difficult woman. He followed her brisk, angry footsteps down the road and smiled grimly. Whatever the reason, he’d put up with a lot more just to taste that mouth again.
Chapter Nine
Ashley’s mood had been lousy since last night, when she’d been ready to let Lucas Randall screw her against a brick wall. Despite the embarrassing encounter her attraction to the man was growing rather than diminishing. He’d been so fucking noble about the whole thing. The fact they’d both endangered their careers for that fleeting moment of passion, horrified her.
And thrilled her.
W
hich appalled her.
Her life was so staid. So self-contained. So boring.
It had to be.
This unexpected connection to Lucas Randall had sideswiped her and stolen her usually impenetrable good sense. Her life wasn’t a game. She’d given into her selfish desires once before and people had died. She couldn’t go through that again. She wouldn’t survive a second time.
She tapped her pen on her pad of paper and forced herself to take a slow breath. There was no reason to think her enemies were still looking for her. They believed she died years ago. It was just this case that made her antsy.
She stifled a yawn as her sleepless night caught up with her. Alex Parker wasn’t returning her calls about the possibility of someone penetrating FinCEN’s online security. ASAC Frazer was making noises about pulling her and Mallory off the case, and time was running out. The last thing she needed after working so hard was a letter of censure in her file. She hadn’t even finished her probation with the BAU yet.
Mallory made a noise from across the table.
“What?” Ashley asked, happy to be distracted from her whirling thoughts. As much as she tried not to like the other woman it was proving impossible in close quarters.
Mallory looked up from her laptop. “I asked Alex to look into the tipoff to the hotline about the fugitives being seen near the port.”
The authorities had just about completed the search of Conley Terminal. It wasn’t looking hopeful. “And…?”
“It came from a burner cell in Chinatown.”
Ashley considered the implications. “It’s not totally implausible. Someone might have needed privacy to make the call and didn’t want their identity known for fear of reprisal—I mean, look what happened to Susan Thomas.” The image of the woman’s brutalized body flashed through her mind. Ashley had seen more violent death before her seventeenth birthday than most people saw in a hundred lifetimes, but that murder had been particularly grisly. She knew from experience that the only thing that dulled the horror was time.
Cold Secrets (Cold Justice Book 7) Page 12
