by Desiree Holt
And then it happened, bursting up like a fire out of control. They detonated together, with the explosive force of a volcano, heat searing every inch of his body as he emptied himself into the thin latex shield. Bodies shuddering together, they rode the force, both hearts beating so hard he didn’t know which was which.
At last, he fell forward, catching his weight on his forearms, dragging air into his deprived body. He looked at Athena, her eyes still unfocused, face flushed with pleasure, and wondered what the hell had just happened here. He couldn’t recall the last time, if ever, an orgasm destroyed his body the way this one had. What was it about this woman that affected him this way?
He bowed his head and dropped a row of kisses along her jawline, another unusual act for him. He never mixed sex with affection. Couldn’t afford to. Yet with Athena Madero, both his body and brain seemed to be running wild.
Sighing gently, she reached up and threaded slim fingers through his damp hair. “Yes.”
He stared at her. “Yes? Yes what?”
“It hits me the same way.”
He cleared his throat. He needed to take charge of this situation and get back on track.
“Athena,” he began.
She touched her fingertips to his lips. “I know. It’s okay. We need to focus.”
It stunned him again that he didn’t even have to tell her what the problem was, didn’t have to make any excuses.
He gave a strangled cry. “Where exactly did you come from?”
She smiled. “I think Bostic’s den.” She pushed at him. “We need to sleep, Grey, and get back to our project.”
He paused, studying her eyes. “I wish I could promise it won’t happen again, but you seem to kick my self-control in the ass.”
“It’s okay. Think of it as a stress reliever.”
He laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He disposed of the condom in the bathroom then crawled into bed with her, spooning her against him. Another oddity. He never slept with women after sex. But, with her, it just seemed so right. For the first time since everything had gotten so fucked up and Lucky was killed, he actually relaxed. In a moment, he heard the slow even rhythm of Athena’s breathing, and the sound soothed him to sleep.
Chapter Seven
“It’s about pinpointing the dates of the shipment and Bostic’s communications immediately preceding them.”
Athena looked at him over her coffee mug. “You got all that from the information you, uh, borrowed?”
He grinned. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
“So, you’re focusing on the one particular shipment, the one where you all got caught in the firefight.”
He nodded. “I want the details so I can trace back and see just how it went down and who leaked the information.”
“I meant to ask you.” She set her mug on the table and picked up a piece of toast. “How in hell did you copy that stuff so fast? I know you didn’t spend a lot of time in his study.”
He set his mug down, walked to his enormous workstation desk, and picked up a small square box. He carried it back to the kitchen table and placed it in front of her.
“High-powered thumb drive duplicator.” He lifted it, hefting it easily in his palm. “Small, lightweight, efficient. Copies a thousand times faster than your average duplicator.”
She took it from him, turning it over and over in her hands. “Exactly where does one get something like this? I know you can buy your everyday ones online.” She looked up at him. “I don’t think you can get this at Amazon.” She gave him a half-smile. “I know, I know. If you told me where you got it, you’d have to kill me.”
He laughed, a rusty sound that let her know how seldom he did it.
“You’re catching on.”
“But how did you know he’d have everything on thumb drives?”
Grey refilled his mug and sat down at the table again. “Process of elimination.” He took a sip of the hot liquid, set the mug down, and held up one hand. Then he folded one finger down.
“Something in writing, maybe in a ledger, would be too dangerous to leave around, even in a well-protected safe. Too many eyes could see it.”
She nodded, watching him.
He folded down a second finger. “Ditto a laptop, even a password protected one. And if you have to grab it and run, it’s a lot more cumbersome.” Another finger. “Three. Computer disks. Not as large as a laptop, but not as easily concealed as thumb drives. Those little babies are easy to grab and go. The ones Bostic has hold one terabyte of data so he can keep everything on there.”
Athena studied the little gizmo again before looking back at Grey. “Isn’t it dangerous for him to keep this information around, though? What if it falls into the wrong hands?” She grinned. “Like ours!”
He winked at her then pointed at the worktable again. “Got that covered, too.”
“That’s what you were doing when I, uh, woke up. Deciphering the data.”
He nodded.
“And what did you find?”
The skin on his face tautened, deep lines carving grooves beside his mouth, and a muscle twitched in his cheek. “That bastard is even worse than I thought. He’s been doing this for fifteen years.” He slammed his fist on the table, making their mugs jump. “Fifteen fucking years, Athena. I get sick thinking of how many of our people have been killed with guns he paid for.”
A chill slithered down her spine. “I can’t believe he hasn’t been caught by now. How does he get away with it?”
“What did you tell me about the cops being paid off? He does the same thing with politicians and whoever else has a palm that needs greasing.” His mouth curved downward as if he’d tasted something bad. “Even some of the very high up military. I’d like to kill all those fucking bastards.”
She didn’t know what to say. She could tell him she knew how he felt, but did she really? People—his good friend—had been killed because of the damn senator’s need for the almighty dollar.
“I also dropped a couple of bugs in his den,” Grey went on. “I figure he’s got three places where he feels he can talk safely—his den, his office, and his car. I don’t expect to get much from his den during the day unless something out of the ordinary happens. I have no way to bug his car, but I’d sure like to get ears in his office. I spent a couple of days on a cleaning crew at his building but never had the chance to plant anything.”
“I thought you’d decided nothing of importance went on there because it wasn’t as secure as his house.” She frowned. “Did you change your mind?”
“This is just a precaution. Just backup.”
“Why didn’t you plant the bugs yourself when you were there?” she asked. “How come you didn’t find an opportunity?”
“I think because I was new on the crew, eyes were on me all the time. I couldn’t even sneak five seconds.” He gave a short laugh. “Someone should hire those guys. They have eyes in the back of their heads.”
Athena stared at him, a hard look, trying to come to a decision. Finally, she said, “I can get it done”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was apparent from his reaction he hadn’t expected her statement. “Yeah? Exactly how do you plan to accomplish that?”
“There’s a woman on the cleaning crew I did a big favor for. She said if I ever needed help, all I had to do was ask.” She snorted a laugh, remembering her last conversation with Alma. “I’m sure this isn’t what she had in mind.”
“Did you hear what I said about too many eyes watching?” he demanded.
“But you said yourself you were a new face,” she pointed out. “My contact has been doing this for so long she’s almost a fixture.”
“I guess I have to trust your judgment on this, hard as it is for me. Would she even know how to do it?” He sounded skeptical. “And wouldn’t she think it was too big a risk to take?”
“The favor I did her is enough to cover the risk.” Of that, she was confident. “Just give me the bu
gs, and I’ll tell her what to do.”
He frowned. “I just hate bringing someone in I know nothing about. This was supposed to be a solo op until you came along. The more people who know about this, the greater the chance of failure and exposure. I’m just not sure about—”
Athena held up a hand. “I’ll vouch for her, and I’ll keep on top of it.”
He gave a short laugh. “That’s dandy. I hardly even know you.”
For a moment, anger flashed through her. Then she realized he was right, so why should he feel comfortable with a stranger she brought in?
“I promise you it’ll be fine,” she assured him. She had saved Murella’s ass big time. The woman wouldn’t dare screw her over. “Grey, I’m aware of the nature of this, personally as well as professionally.”
He blew out a breath. “Okay. But I want to meet with her and tell her exactly what to do.”
“No problem. I’ll get in touch with her.”
“Use a burner phone,” Grey cautioned.
Athena almost laughed. Did he think she was born under a cabbage leaf? “No, I thought I’d take out an ad in the paper. I’m not stupid, Grey.”
At least he had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. “I’m just not used to trusting people. Not anymore.”
She took care not to mention they’d trusted each other plenty when they got naked but figured she’d keep her mouth shut.
“By the way,” he said, “where is this infamous notebook of yours where you’ve been keeping track of Bostic? Isn’t it kind of dangerous to leave around? What if someone breaks into your…wherever you live?”
“I misspoke,” she told him. “It’s not a real notebook. I kept a file on my laptop. But when this happened the other night, I copied it all to a thumb drive and stuck it in a safe deposit box.”
A corner of his mouth tipped up in an almost grin. “Smart lady.”
His praise warmed her, for whatever reason. “Thank you.” She waited, but when he didn’t say anything else, she asked, “So, what happens next? What do we do with the information we’ve got?”
He sighed and picked up his coffee mug. Took a long swallow. “That’s the big question. I can take the proof to someone, but who would that be? Who has the power to bring the hammer down on this guy? We need someone who won’t sell us out first.” He shook his head. “I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with someone.”
“What about your commanding officer?” she suggested. “You said he was plenty pissed off about losing men because of this.”
Grey shook his head. “He hasn’t got the power. The people who do would squash him like a bug to protect their own asses.”
They were silent for long moments, each with their own thoughts. It occurred to her he’d been so focused on getting the information, the proof he so desperately wanted, he hadn’t figured out what to do with it. She had a suggestion—another suggestion—that had popped into her mind while he was explaining how he’d copied the thumb drives so fast. She just didn’t know if he’d let her bring two people into this circle she’d already breached.
Well, never up, never in, as they said on the golf course.
“Grey, I might have a suggestion, if you don’t mind my bringing it up.”
He stared at her. “You know someone who can help us with this?”
She liked the word us and wondered if he’d even realized he’d used it.
“I do. You can judge for yourself if he’s the right person, but if I’m hearing correctly, right now we’ve got no one.”
He nodded, the muscles in his face taut with tension.
“Planning a mission is my strength, not the contacts to use the information.” He rubbed his neck. “I thought of going to a reporter, but how do I get one I can trust? One who won’t sell me out for whatever reason? So, you think you have a contact who’s just what we need?”
Again she liked his use of the word we. “Maybe. Possibly. I’m not totally sure, but I think so.”
“A rousing endorsement if I ever heard one.” He twisted his lips in a wry smile. “And forgive me, but I can’t imagine you get too many people engaging in the sale of massive amounts of illegal arms processing through the Tampa Police Department.”
She gave him a humorless laugh. “You’d be right about that. But, I do know someone….”
She stopped, wondering if she should tell him what she was thinking.
“Well?” The word had a sharp sound to it, edged with impatience. “Are you going to tell me, or am I supposed to guess?”
“Oh. Sorry.” She rubbed her hand over her face then leaned forward on her elbows, watching him. “I used to date a special agent with Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms here in Tampa. I’m pretty sure he’s still here.”
“Dated a guy,” he repeated slowly.
“Uh-huh.” She could see all the thoughts chasing themselves across his face. Surprise. Suspicion. And something else. Surely not jealous. They’d known each other less than twenty-four hours, even if they had just about fucked their brains out. Even if they had made a connection neither of them wanted to acknowledge.
“What exactly does ‘dated a guy’ mean?”
She sighed. “It means a friend introduced us, he asked me out, and we…dated. It never went anywhere for a lot of reasons.”
He waited for her to continue.
She sighed again. “He was all wrapped up in a case about a drug cartel and really wasn’t looking for anything more than a night of fun once in a while.” She shook her head. “Jesus, Grey. Don’t try to tell me you’re celibate. Your nose will grow and fall off, along with other parts of your body.”
He nodded. “Okay. You think he’s the right person to contact?”
“Well, he’s the only person I know in the ATF. And he’s with a pretty big division. He’s been there a while, so I’m sure he’s no novice.”
She could almost see him chewing it over in his mind, restraining himself from asking the questions she was sure jumped right up into his brain. Instead, he asked, “Is he trustworthy? When was the last time you talked to him?”
Athena thought for a moment. “About six months ago, give or take. Grey, he’s a really good guy. A straight shooter. He’d know what to do with this stuff.”
More silence. More chewing over. Finally, he gave her a hard, penetrating look. “Tell me all about him. Everything. And, Athena, I mean everything.”
She swallowed a laugh. How funny that this man she was sure formed no relationships and had little more than casual sex should be struggling with jealousy. And after the brief time they’d been together. “Really everything, Grey?”
He scowled at her. “Okay, everything I need to know.”
So, she told him everything she knew about the man, how they’d met, the cases he worked on, the fact that he never shared information with her until everything was wrapped up.
“He’s trustworthy, I swear to you,” she assured him. “I wouldn’t have brought him up otherwise.”
Grey rubbed his neck. “Our little circle is getting bigger than I like. I hadn’t planned on bringing anyone else into it. Of course, I hadn’t planned on bringing you into it, either. Having you involved is affecting things enough already. The more people who have the information, the greater the chance it gets all fucked up.”
Athena resisted the urge to smack him. “Having me involved hasn’t screwed anything up. I thought we had an understanding here.”
A muscle twitched in his jaw, and she could see him wrestling with her words.
“It seems this won’t work as a solo operation, so I’m going to trust you not to bring in anyone who could fuck it up. Can you still get in touch with your friend?” He leaned toward her, his eyes darkened to the color of coal. “Athena, I want someone who can verify every bit of this information and nail Bostic without hanging us out to dry while he does it.”
“So do I. Do you think I would even mention him if I thought that would happen?” She tamped down her anger, underst
anding the tension gripping him and the reason for his fear. Hadn’t someone his superiors trusted already betrayed him and his team?
“What’s his name?”
“Adam Wahlberg. Ask me anything you want to know about him. I’m happy to tell you.”
If Athena thought she knew what a grueling cross examination was, Grey Holden disabused her of that notion. His voice was even, uninflected, never harsh, but he went after her with laser-like precision. By the time he’d finished, she realized how much she knew about Adam Wahlberg…and how little.
She sighed. “Maybe contacting him isn’t the best idea,” she conceded.
“To the contrary.” His words surprised her. “It isn’t so much what I found out as what I didn’t.”
“Excuse me?” She lifted an eyebrow.
“No red flags,” he explained. “Nothing to make me suspicious of him. So, if you’re willing, let’s go get some burner phones, and you can make your contacts.”
Athena couldn’t help the little thrill of excitement that ran through her. When she walked out of the police station the other night, she’d hardly expected to end up in a super-secret mission to get the goods on a man who had been a plague on the human race for as long as she’d known about him.
“I’m sure he’ll be shocked to hear from me,” she pointed out.
Grey couldn’t help smiling. “Just pull out your charming personality, and I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear from you.” Then he sobered. “But not too charming.”
Damn! Is he actually jealous? Had the sex been that potent?
Face it, Athena. It was a lot more than just sex.
Chapter Eight
Grey had Athena hold the cell so he could also hear the conversation when she called Adam Wahlberg. From the sound of his voice, he could tell the man was shocked to hear from her after all this time, and even more stunned when he realized the call wasn’t a social one.
