by Dana Volney
Even busting the Huntingtons hadn’t convinced Waters to give her back the task force. He wanted an analysis on the money. She didn’t have time for an inquiry; she knew in her gut this was her shot. Her boss also wanted a status report on Monday morning of how the FBI could still go after Redburn, and then he’d make a decision. In other words, he didn’t care if they lost precious weekend time. Well, she did. What she was doing was right. And she was never going to say no to her instincts again. If she’d listened last year, Robert might still be alive.
“If you cut the surveillance feed, won’t that be suspicious?”
“That’s why I’m looping the cameras. They won’t see us. And ... done. We’re safe.”
Safe probably wasn’t the word she’d use. They were definitely exposed. If they got caught, she’d be left with no good options.
Eddie returned his laptop to his bag and crossed the street. She hurried to catch up again. Why was she lagging behind? Excitement should be coursing through her veins about now, but no. Somewhere she’d starting caring about what happened to Eddie, worrying she’d put him in harm’s way. While he was capable of taking care of himself in more ways than one, he couldn’t shield himself from problems he didn’t know about. Problems she had caused. It was a good thing he was outside the bureau. At least he couldn’t get fired.
The front door was locked, and Eddie started to head around to the back when she reached for his arm to stop him and instead collided with his hand. His fingers clasped around hers; she yanked her hand away at the unexpected intimate contact in the dark.
“I got this.” She took two bobby pins from her ponytail, ones she kept on her at all times for instances such as this, and picked the lock.
“Another lesson from Robert?”
A small smile spread on her lips.
The door squeaked in the still of the darkness, and she held her breath. Eddie would’ve seen if anyone was still around when he switched the cameras, but she was still on high alert.
Eddie clapped his hands and opened his arms wide as he spun around, a giant grin filling half his face. Apparently he was convinced they were alone.
“Not too shabby.” He reached into a small front pocket of his bag. “Put these in rooms that look used. I’m going to see if there’s an office around.”
She wrapped her hands around the little disks in his palm, the skin-on-skin contact spreading tingles in her belly.
She whirled on her heels and pocketed the bugs, looking for the first door she could go into. Now was not the time for tingles. Especially toward someone she had no future with.
The first room was bare save for a couple boxes in the corner. She tapped one of them with her foot. Empty. Same with the others. The next room over in the dank, unkempt warehouse held a table. She stepped closer as a glimmer from the tiny morsel of light from the streetlight caught something on the metal table. She crossed her arms over her chest. Blood. The table, with its two chairs on either side, had seen better days. The top was marred with dents on either side. Fists, she would imagine. Very unhappy fists of rage. The bigger dents were probably from heads cracking on the hard surface.
She reached into the pocket of her jeans, removed one of Eddie’s devices, and placed it under the lip of the table. They’d probably want to hear what went on in this room. The cold metal startled her, and she quickly removed her hand and took a step back. She glanced over the area again, the stains, the dank stench. The place where the bad guys punished poor, unfortunate souls. Had Robert died in this room?
Beat to death.
Bile rose from her belly and burned her throat.
Oh, God. She pictured Redburn’s vile henchmen sitting at the table with Robert across from them, trying to talk his way out of dying, struck repeatedly for not being able to pay, blood running down his face, and the bastards laughing. A tear trailed down her cheek. There was so much she needed answers to. So much she needed to let go, but her heart wouldn’t. She couldn’t move on until she gave his memory peace.
A sob escaped. She hung her head and tried to block the flood consuming her.
Life is too short. All you have is the present. Make the most of today. Short messages she’d heard all her life. They were corny, not comforting ... and true. Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. Hell, the next hour wasn’t a sure bet either.
The question was: what was she going to do with it?
Live every moment to the fullest. But what would that look like?
She froze. Her breath stopped, but her grief didn’t care. It was still in full swing. She hadn’t heard footsteps, but the air changed and Eddie’s ocean scent floated around her.
He didn’t say a word, and she didn’t turn around to acknowledge him and let him see her running mascara.
She felt his arm around her, pulling her in, and she went. She leaned into his embrace, pressing her cheek against his heart, thankful for the hard edges of his body that softened for her. His other arm wrapped around her, and she didn’t try to stop the tears that were still pouring out of her eyes. She hadn’t cried for Robert. Not ever. Not until now.
Eddie didn’t speak soothing words, he just held her. Tight. And it was perfect. She pulled her arms apart and slid them around his waist, laying her palms flat on his back. The simple hug gave her so much relief. It had been way too long since she’d been embraced, touched, loved.
He kissed the hairline on her forehead and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. Her legs were weak, and she was pretty sure she was only standing because he was holding her up.
There was no real familiarity between them, and she had no right to ask him to hold her like this, ask him to soothe the demons that rose from deep inside her. She didn’t know if it was Eddie or the catharsis from mourning her brother with tears, but the weight of his death lifted a little. She wasn’t alone. She had help in her battle. Help from a man who lived life to the fullest. Such a nice smile that touched her deep down in the places of her soul she thought would be dimmed forever.
She sniffled into his shirt. Great, she’d become a blubbering idiot around him. Her cheeks and ears heated. And now her snot was on his shirt. Real professional. Not to mention uber sexy.
She needed to tell Eddie the truth. Tell him that he wasn’t helping on an FBI sanctioned mission and his brother wasn’t in danger of going away for life.
Her grip didn’t lessen, she wasn’t ready to leave his arms yet, but her neck craned back so she could see him better. His beautiful green eyes fixed on her, and heat pinged south and shot up through her chest. She couldn’t hide.
“I ...” She stopped. She didn’t know what to say. Her gaze flicked to his lips. If she rose to her tiptoes, she could kiss him. Fall into him and forget her present—live in a new moment.
Professionals didn’t try to make a move on the person they tricked into helping them.
“You don’t have to say anything.”
Ah damn, the sincerity in his voice, the slant of his eyes ... she pursed her lips to keep from pressing them against his. He wasn’t judging her. He wasn’t joking. He was simply offering to help her.
Sweet man.
“The pain gets better. It never goes away ... it just gets better.” Hurt flitted across his face; he wasn’t untouched by this world, either.
She propelled herself up on her tiptoes and grazed her lips over his, a gratitude kiss only, but the moment her lips touched his soft skin, her resolve fled. She moved her lips back over his, not sure what to expect. His lips parted, his body froze for a moment, and then he kissed her back, moving his hand up her back and to her neck, messing his fingers in her hair.
She breathed him in, needing more. He brushed his tongue into her mouth, and pleasure rolled down between her shoulder blades. Eddie woke something inside her, a flame hidden deep, craving the oxygen he provided.
A groan passed through his lips as she dug her nails into his back. His lips claimed hers again, harder.
Hot intensity sizzled below her surface, s
creaming out for more. This wasn’t right. Not here. Not at the site where her brother may have taken his last breath.
Reluctantly, she lowered her palms to Eddie’s hips. She inched her head away from his gorgeous face, kissing him one last time before opening her eyes to their reality. She grazed her thumb over the transferred lip gloss that now shined his lips as he appraised her. Hopefully, he decided she wasn’t crazy or wishy-washy.
The words to apologize for kissing him escaped her, an excuse to give for her rash behavior out of her grasp, so instead she smiled and stepped back from his grasp completely, not letting her physical longing show.
“I planted a bug in here, the other room was empty. That’s all I got to.” She couldn’t meet his watchful stare. He was assessing her. She’d not noticed how perceptive of his surroundings he was until tonight, with the shadows and camera and strategy.
“I already checked the rest. Placed them all over since we’re here.” His arms were by his side, but he was tense, ready to reach for her again.
“Did you find an office?” She wiped under her eyes and cheeks and then rubbed her palms on her thighs.
“Yeah, but no hardware they left behind that we could tap into. Ears get us one step closer though.”
She nodded. One step closer. He hadn’t specified the size of the step because that would be too precise, and what they were doing was anything but. They were throwing stones in the pond and hoping a distant ripple would bring down an entire dam. The undercover counterfeit idea was good, but she didn’t have a great feeling about it. The cover, the story, Redburn’s needs, something was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Not yet anyway. And she wouldn’t be able to, not with Eddie and his lips and his strong arms and his kind eyes occupying her mind.
She needed her focus back.
“I can see the doubt in your eyes. We’re going to get him.” His hands flinched for her, then stopped. “He’s going down.” His voice lacked his normal cockiness, but was heartfelt.
Giving into her fears and playing devil’s advocate sounded pretty good right about now. After all, she had been in the middle of a pity party when he’d interrupted her and then allowed her to kiss him silly.
“People have tried. For years.” She hugged her arms to her chest and walked out into the main area of the dilapidated building. She couldn’t stand being in that room one moment longer.
“But we haven’t.” He followed one step behind her.
We. They were a team. A team that didn’t know the whole truth. “This has consumed me for the past year. He insulates himself from any actual crime.”
“This time, we won’t let him.”
She tilted her chin up to him, took a deep breath, and prepared to rip off the Band-Aid “I—I wasn’t ...” Her gaze flicked to the room where they’d just kissed.
“I know.” He took a step closer; her elbow almost touched his arms. His eyes were a darker shade of green in the dim room.
He knew?
“The kiss? It’s no biggie.” He cupped the back of his neck, but his gaze never strayed. “Just one of those things.”
Perfect. The kiss that had just literally made her weak in the knees was no big deal to him. Well, now she had to know what constituted a kiss that did mean something to him.
“Right.” She bit out the word before she remembered not to care. Like she’d ever be needy enough to kiss him again. Apparently it was no biggie. She twirled on her heels, ready to get the hell out of dodge.
There was nothing like making an ass out of yourself to get you back on track.
Chapter Eight
Eddie took a deep breath in as the sun brightened his eyelids. Ah, his neck. And back. And, what the hell—why was he sleeping sitting up? He opened one eye to the attack on his senses. They’d fallen asleep in his truck on their stakeout last night. A crack up job if ever he’d seen. He’d never fallen asleep on the job before. Hannah was snuggled under his arm, her eyes still closed, giving her face an angelic, soft look he liked a little too much. At least the coast was clear; nobody was standing around eyeballing them, and no cars were parked on the block with people just sitting in the front seat. They hadn’t been spotted yet. He raised his free left hand and wiped drool from the side of his lip then snuck a peek at the time.
It was almost six in the morning with nothing to show besides knowing why Hannah really had her sights set on Redburn. And wasn’t that a hard pill to swallow. He’d wanted to gather her in his arms, press his lips to her temple, and let her know she wasn’t alone for longer than what she’d allowed last night. She could talk to him about anything; he’d be there. No platitudes on life getting better, how her wounds would heal over time. That shit didn’t mean much. But he had wanted to say that Robert’s fate wasn’t her fault. There were so many forces in this world that you couldn’t account for all of them, and thinking one detail would’ve changed everything was naïve. At least he told himself that.
If he’d seen the insurgents a second sooner, his buddies wouldn’t have died in that desert. If he’d been a little faster on the trigger, he could’ve saved one or all three of their lives. But he hadn’t and they hadn’t lived, and if he thought about it too long, there were hundreds of scenarios that could prove he could’ve done more. Been more. Just like with Amelia.
Next time he would. Next time he’d not make such a boneheaded mistake. He’d be more. Given where Hannah’s head was at, he was going to have to be vigilant. Revenge was a dangerous game that could make a person careless and risky, and now he was playing with her.
She snuggled against his weight, her hand splaying on his ribs. Waking up to Hannah wasn’t so bad, not bad at all. The kiss she’d laid on him last night was sexy as hell, and he wanted a repeat. So bad. But that had been regret in her eyes, and like any gentlemen, he’d let her brush it off.
He resisted kissing her temple now but was too weak not to take a drag of her sweet scent. He could catch a little more shut-eye with her by his side, and it wouldn’t hurt anything. As he was about to put his arm around her shoulders and lean into her, he felt her tense, her hand no longer curving around his body but rigid. She moved back from him and looked up, her gaze still sleepy and her forehead wrinkled in question.
“Good morning, Cup-o-Gold.”
Her eyes closed for a second before she braced herself on the arm closest to him and sat up, taking her warmth with her, and leaving him with the cold reality of another day. Warmth he didn’t want to leave. He ran his palms down his face, then reached for the keys hanging out of the ignition.
“Oh, come on. Now you’re just making up names.”
“Nope. It’s a delicious chocolate cup filled with almonds and coconut. We better get cleaned up and regroup.” What he didn’t say was that he also had a lead to run down on Leo’s case, raw footage outside of a corner market a block from Marty’s place.
“Wait.” She sat forward, and he followed her gaze, not turning his key.
An SUV pulled up, and three men emerged, none of whom he recognized.
“They work for Redburn. I’ve seen their faces in files.”
How many hours had she poured over files and records, trying to get something concrete on Redburn or anyone associated with him? A lot of sleepless nights, that’s what. You need a break, Chiclet. You had to admire her though, going through the law and not satisfying her need for revenge off the books. He might not rely on the law if something happened to Leo at the hands of criminals. And they weren’t even as close as she and Robert.
“This could be the authentication.” Eddie yawned and shook off the last wave of sleep.
A second set of vehicles approached, flashier and much more expensive. Three men exited the red sedan, wearing suits over their bulky physiques that no doubt hid weapon power. The second car, of the same make and color, sprung three men, two bulky Caucasians and one svelte Asian.
The bodyguards flanked the boss on their way into the warehouse.
Eddie grabbed his l
aptop and turned up the volume of the bugs they’d planted last night.
Leo’s case would have to wait.
“Let’s see the merch.” A male with a Mandarin accent spoke first.
“Two bills. We need to move on the offer quickly.” He detected a vague New York accent from the Redburn man.
“Perfection takes time. Isn’t that why you hire the best?” The man in charge was a cocky dickhead.
“Just get it done.”
Silence while the man did whatever verification he was brought in to do. Eddie exchanged a knowing glance with Hannah. This audio wasn’t going to convict anyone on its own, but it would possibly nudge one of the perps to testify on the state’s behalf. All for the greater good. And Hannah’s peace of mind.
“What is this?” A sneer came through the microphone.
Eddie sat up in his seat. Something was wrong.
“Money. What does it look like?” New Yorker had no idea what was going on.
“It’s a great forge, but there’s something hidden in the middle.”
Hannah furrowed her brow at him, and Eddie shrugged back. He hadn’t tampered with the bills from the Huntingtons. Maybe one of their bugs had been found.
More damn silence. He turned up the volume on his end; there was a faint noise he couldn’t put his finger on. He started to isolate the added frequency on a specific channel. Beeping. Then long, steady beeps became quicker.
Oh shit!
The entire truck rattled, vibrations jangling his chest. The crackling of exploding glass and debris from the fireball whooshed over them. He dived over Hannah in the seat, covering her as best he could with his body. Flames shot out where windows used to be in the building as Eddie peeked his head over the dashboard. Secondary explosions made him duck his head again. Probably a gas line or something that had also caught fire.
