by Carolina Mac
The Coven
You Forgot to say Goodbye
Payback
Rags to Rage
The Corner Office
Race
Coma
No Defense
Full Circle
Stick a Needle in Your Eye
The Blackmore Agency Series:
Double Down
Splitting Aces
Dead Man’s Hand
Drawing Dead
Under the Gun
Rivered
The Turn
Final Table
Cat
Dog
Vigilance
Mystere
Hole in the Heart
Dead Eye
Backwater
Paradise Park Series:
Paradise Park
Return to Paradise
Paradise Sparks
Alone in Paradise
Together in Paradise
Prisoner in Paradise
STICK A NEEDLE IN YOUR EYE
Quantrall: Book Fourteen
Carolina Mac
CHAPTER ONE
Monday, July 6th.
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
“TOO SLOW, Dec. I’m taking too fuckin long to heal. If I have to sit on my ass for another week, I’m gonna lose it.” Blaine groaned as he wiggled and squirmed around, trying to sit comfortably on a hard chair at the kitchen table.
Carm noticed Blaine struggling as she cleared up the breakfast dishes. The massive Victorian kitchen smelled of bacon and fried sausages. She wrinkled her nose and flicked on the copper fan over the stove. Carm fetched a pillow from the front parlor and tucked it in between the bandage on Blaine’s back and the rungs on the back of the wooden chair.
Blaine reached back and patted her hand. “Gracias, mi Corazon.”
“You already lost it,” said Farrell. He crossed from the eating area to the granite island in the center of the room and refilled his coffee mug. “You bitch and complain every fuckin day about not working, but you are working. You’re in the office researching everything we need while you’re supposed to be resting on the sofa with the remote in your grubby little hand. And instead of letting yourself heal, you’ve got your finger in every pie. You phone me at least ten times a day to see where I am and what the team’s doing. What the hell else do you want?”
“I want to go out of the fuckin house,” Blaine fumed. “That’s what I want.”
Declan chuckled. “Not happening, lad.” Declan O’Conner was the curly headed Irish medic on loan from Coulter-Ross ranch.
“When’s my next appointment with the doc?” asked Blaine.
“Wednesday,” said Declan. “Let’s talk about this on Thursday or Friday after he’s looked at the wound again. And even if he’s pleased with your progress, he won’t let you go back to work full time. He’s going to make you ease into it. I’d put money on it.”
Farrell pointed at the mug he’d just set in front of his foster brother. “Drink your coffee, grumpy. The boys will be here in ten and I’d be so fuckin grateful if you acted like you were sane.”
Blaine tossed his long black hair with a snarl and gave Farrell a rude hand signal. He grabbed up his pen and viciously scratched a number one at the top of his yellow pad.
Ten minutes later, almost to the minute, the dogs barked, and the Agency crew reported for work.
Lily, Blaine’s personal assistant took up her post at the end of the table, her yellow pad in front of her ready to hear what the boss wanted her to work on. Lily came to work early every morning looking like she’d just stepped out of a magazine. Perfect blonde hair, and clothes and makeup a model would kill for. Lil was a black belt and a licensed PI, but she mostly stayed by Blaine’s side doing his bidding. More so now that he was injured.
Carlos sat next to Lily and Blaine hadn’t noticed until Farrell pointed it out to him, that Carlos and Lily were tight. They knew the rules—no screwing around—but how would he find out if they kept it out of the office? Another fucking thing to worry about.
“What have we got going on today, boss?” asked Travis. The big blond ex-marine had been fired numerous times, but his skills always got him hired back when Blaine needed him.
“Wrapping up all the loose ends from last week,” said Blaine, “then Cat’s coming at nine to open up a whole new can of worms.”
Fletcher and Luke came in with Jesse and filled the empty seats. “What kind of worms are we talking, boss?” asked Luke.
“I’ll let her tell you,” said Blaine. “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”
Jesse shook his head. “Don’t like the sounds of that, partner. Some of Catherine’s ideas are good in theory, but not easy to implement.”
Blaine shrugged, winced at the pain the movement caused, and swore not to do it again. The pain in his back almost finished him every time he fuckin moved. “We’ve got nothing going on this week. We’re in between, so we’ll listen to what the Governor has to say and take it from there.”
FARRELL opened the wrought iron gate that separated the compound from the street at ten to nine to let the limo flying the Lone Star flag through. He stood on the porch and waited while Special Agent Roderick opened the door for the Governor and gave her a hand out of the black beast. Then the black SUV parked behind the limo and her personal security team, headed by Special Agent Gene Wyman, fell into step a little behind her and followed her onto the porch.
She hugged Farrell and asked, “How is he?”
Farrell shook his head. “Testy as a bear in a trap. Don’t get too close to him.”
The Governor smiled. “I’ll keep my distance.”
Farrell held the dogs at bay as Governor Catherine Campbell, dressed in a white linen suit crossed through the foyer into the kitchen. She made a bee-line for Blaine, leaned down and hugged him gently from behind.
“You doing better?” she asked.
“I’d like to think so,” he growled, “appointment on Wednesday.”
“Take it easy, sweetie,” said the Governor, “and give your body time to heal. You almost died, so stop pushing so hard. Give yourself a break.”
Farrell nodded his head. “He ain’t a good listener.”
Blaine shot back, “But you are?”
Farrell grinned. “I’ll get you a coffee, Cat.”
The Governor sat down at the end of the table and placed her leather briefcase in front of her.
Misty floated into the kitchen at that moment looking amazing in a long flowing dress that shimmered when she moved. “Morning to all,” she said in her soft Louisiana drawl. She filled the kettle for tea, then stood behind Blaine and stroked his shiny black hair. Her presence calmed him like it always did.
The Governor thanked Farrell for the coffee, took a sip and began her pitch. “We have a problem.”
“We?” asked Blaine. “You mean, you have a problem, don’t you Cat?”
The Governor shot him a look. “Farrell said you were testy.”
“I should shoot Farrell in the back and see if he wins Miss Congeniality,” said Blaine.
The boys chuckled and pointed at Farrell.
“Let’s talk about Houston,” said Cat, getting back on track.
“I’ve seen the numbers,” said Blaine, “and yeah, they could use some help.”
The Governor pushed her mop of red hair back from her face and put on a pair of glasses before she opened her briefcase. She took out a handful of printed pages and spread them on the table. “These are the latest stats. People are being robbed on the streets and killed in the process. The rape numbers are up and most other categories too.
Blaine shook his head. “I know what the numbers are, Cat, and the Houston media is on a call-for-action campaign scaring the shit out of everybody who lives in the city.”
“Well, the citizens are taking action,” said Cat. “They’re calling the Mayor, the Chief of Police, their Congressman, and on and on. Penny is going bonkers with calls from Houston and all the surrounding bur
bs. She’s getting hundreds a day since this media thing started. Houston wants the Violent Crime Squad.”
“Wants?” Blaine screwed up his face and hollered. “I don’t believe that for a second. Houston PD won’t welcome interference. It’s the same anywhere. They might need us, but they don’t fuckin want us.”
“Jesus, sweetie, have you got pills you should be taking?”
Farrell grinned and kept quiet.
“Are they hounding Calhoun?” asked Blaine. “It’s a wonder he hasn’t called me.”
“He called me,” said Catherine. “He won’t call you. You are officially off duty on medical leave.”
“Have you made a commitment to them, Catherine?” asked Jesse, the voice of reason. “Or did you come to us first?”
“Umm… I told one of the TV stations that I was working on a plan with the VCS and I’d have an announcement shortly.”
Jesse peered at her without a smile. “You’re saying you committed us already, then?”
“Not formally, but I thought you’d want to help Houston.”
Jesse nodded. “We’re state-wide, so of course we’ll try to get their situation under control.”
“Mostly drugs,” said Farrell. “Drugs drive crime, and Houston has some bad areas, just like every other big city.”
Blaine nodded to Lily and she picked up her pen. “We’ll need to talk to homicide—Jesse and Luke take that one. Carlos and Fletch will work with the gang squad, and Farrell and Travis will see what the narcs have going on. Pull the most recent cases in those three areas and have them sent to me. Lil can coordinate the data and the two of us will work through it and see what shakes out. Since I can’t help you guys personally in Houston, I’ll have to help you from here.”
To Lil: “Make appointments for the boys and get them started. They’ll need three hotel rooms, and three vehicles—one of them will have to be the surveillance unit.”
“Farrell, call Mary and tell her I want to see her, today if possible.”
Catherine sipped her coffee and smiled. Once Blaine was in motion, nothing could stop him. “You’ve been thinking about this already?”
“A little.”
AFTER the Governor left, Blaine sent the boys home to pack. He gave them an hour to get what they needed and return to the Agency. “By the time y’all get back, Lil might have a destination for y’all.”
Jesse lingered behind and refilled his mug. “Don’t know about leaving Jamie alone at Quantrall.”
“You’ve hardly said a word about her, Jesse, since you took her home from the hospital. How’s she doing?”
“Not good. She’s in pain and she’s not adjusting well to the wheelchair.”
“Is she sleeping on the main floor?”
Jesse nodded. “Paulie and Wendy helped me, and we converted Momma’s sunroom at the back of the house into a bedroom for her.”
“Maybe she’d be better off in a rehab hospital,” said Blaine. “Less worry for you and your brothers.”
“She probably would be, but I have to take responsibility for what happened to her. It was my fault she got shot and almost died.”
Blaine shook his head. “I’m not buying that it was your fault. You handled the situation the way you thought it should be handled and because a crazy gunny shot her—you cannot shoulder the blame.”
“I’ll go home and talk to her before I leave for Houston. She likes the nurse I hired. That’s a plus, if there is one.”
“Jamie has always been pretty easy going and agreeable,” said Blaine.
“Nope. Not anymore. Might be the pain. And it might be the adjustment. Knowing she’ll never walk again could be doing a huge number on her head.”
Blaine raised a black eyebrow. “But you’re committed?”
“Jesus, Blacky, I have to be. We were planning a future and talking about moving in together. Now that’s she’s in a wheelchair do I say I changed my mind and turn my back on her?”
“No, you’d never do that.”
“It’s just that…” Jesse stood up and picked up his keys.
“What? You looked stressed.”
“She doesn’t relate to Charity in any way, and I was hoping she would. I think that bothers me the most.”
“Does Charity like Jamie?”
Jesse shook his head. “Nope. I think Charity can tell somehow the way Jamie feels and she pulls away from her. Has since day one.”
“I’m sorry things are so tough at home for you, partner. I want you to be happy.”
