by Opal Carew
“We’ve got a day or two at best before Mad Dog gets here.”
“Is this Mad Dog is the one you warned me about before,” Liliana interjected.
He shot a glance at her and then Caterina, who stood there, hugging her arms around herself, clearly in defensive mode.
“Yes, this is the man I warned you about. He’s quite dangerous. If we can’t settle this thing with Edwards soon we’ll need to decide what to do.”
“I’ll turn myself over to the authorities,” Caterina jumped in, looking back and forth between him and Liliana. “If the police have me – “
Mick rose and laid a finger on her lips. “There’s no place you’ll be safe so long as Mad Dog is around.”
Caterina eased her hand into his, once again shaking his core with her simple touch. She raised her chin and cocked her head at a thoughtful angle. “I’m not worried about my safety. I’m worried about your family. They shouldn’t be at risk because of me.”
He was about to answer, but Liliana beat him to it. “The Carreras stick together, Cat.”
“We don’t leave anyone behind,” he added. His family was as tight as any military unit in which he had ever served. He knew they would band together to protect each other and in this case, to protect her.
Caterina embraced his sister in a hug and then leaned into him, encircling his waist with her arms, the gesture more telling than it should have been. As she did so, he met Liliana’s gaze over Caterina’s shoulder.
Liliana’s concerned gaze. His sister was clearly worried about the logic and possible risk of what he was doing.
He awkwardly returned Caterina’s embrace and she stepped away and whirled to face Liliana. Apparently seeing that his sister was aware something had happened, she said, “We had sex. Just sex. No commitments. No promises.”
Post announcement, Caterina fled the room, leaving him to avoid Liliana’s sisterly stare down as he sat before his laptop to start formulating a plan.
Liliana stalked right to the edge of his desk and jammed her hands onto her ample hips. “Miguel de la Guadeloupe Roberto Carrera,” she began, but he raised his hand in the air to cut off a tirade that sounded too much like his mother.
“It won’t happen again.”
“It should not have happened in the first place,” she chided. “She’s vulnerable. You’re ... a bad boy. Dangerous. Women eat that up.”
Didn’t he know it only he refused to acknowledge that it could be different with Caterina. How could it be different considering the playing field where they were starting their little game?
“It won’t happen again,” he repeated, hoping to foreclose any further discussion.
It worked. With an annoyed huff, his sister stomped out of the room.
He turned to the laptop and considered calling Franklin to see if he had found out anything else. Given Franklin’s usual mode of operation, however, he knew his old friend would have phoned if he had any additional information to offer.
He didn’t even know if Mad Dog would reach out to Franklin, but suspected that when he did, it would be to flush out confirmation of something Mad Dog already suspected – like the address on the envelope.
Late as it was, he had to forewarn his friend about Mad Dog.
He dialed him and when Franklin answered, he quickly provided him with an update on Mad Dog’s break-in as well as the details on the Wardwell-Gates Genengineering merger.
Franklin emitted a low whistle and said, “No wonder he has the three of us after Shaw. That’s a lot of money to lose if the merger goes south.”
“It’s the kind of money people kill for which is why he probably had Wells eliminated.”
There was hesitation on the line before his friend said, “You think Edwards did it and not Shaw?”
“I’d put my money on it not being Shaw, wherever she is.”
No sense admitting he knew just where Caterina was. That would only complicate things further if Mad Dog went after Franklin.
“I made some progress with the families of those two patients. They think their loved ones died from medical complications relating to their illnesses. I’ll keep on digging around, but if it’s getting too hot I have to pull out of this.”
“I understand. You’ve got other obligations more important than this assignment. I’m five-by-five with that,” Mick offered, wanting to be square with his friend on what he expected.
“I’ll be back at you if anything comes up.”
Franklin hung up and Mick went back to work on the Internet, trying to gauge just how long it might take for Mad Dog to connect the bit of address on the envelope to their current location.
Less than an hour later he had his answer.
Not very long. Not more than a day or two.
Combined with information from one of the investigative services or a personal visit to the area, the security of this safe house would be compromised in no time. His family, with the exception of Roberta who was doing a tour of duty in Iraq, would be vulnerable.
Liliana was already aware, but he would remind her in the morning. He would talk to his parents and brother as well. Possibly suggest that they all take a vacation together somewhere for at least a week.
In the meantime, he picked up the phone and dialed Ramon to ask his cousin to see if he could arrange for some additional drive-bys of the restaurant and his family’s home nearby. Even though he suspected Liliana wouldn’t like it, he mentioned her problems with her ex-fiancé as well, eliciting a promise from Ramon that a discreet call would be placed to hospital security.
Mick needed to keep his family safe.
And he needed to reaffirm to Caterina that he intended to keep her safe as well.
Chapter 30
Sweet music reached Mick’s ears as he neared the closed door and he assumed she had the stereo turned up to help soothe her.
But when he entered, Caterina was in the far corner of the room, eyes closed, playing his younger brother’s old beat-up cello. Clearly lost in the music as she played, her body swaying and shifting as her fingers and bow arm stroked emotion from the strings and wood.
Trying to ease the tension created earlier in the night, he lightheartedly said, “Never sounded that good when Tony played.”
Caterina stopped mid-stroke, opened her eyes, and shot him a puzzled look.
“Tony?”
“My younger brother Antonio. He stopped playing when he got to high school. Didn’t think the girls would find it sexy that he was in the orchestra.”
That comment dragged a fleeting smile to her lips. “I suppose he became a jock instead.”
Mick chuckled and shook his head. “Lettered in lacrosse and was All-State in football, but he has a geek’s heart. He’s working and going to school part time to get a bioengineering degree.”
* * *
Caterina nodded and set aside the cello, carefully leaning it on the chair as she rose and slipped into bed.
She didn’t look at him again as he stood at the foot of the bed. She couldn’t without revealing the turmoil she was experiencing about her emotions toward him. Emotions she had poured into her music as she played, releasing them into the music until balance had returned.
Of course Mick’s entry had dashed her equilibrium once again. As she sat there, distressed about him and the threat to his family, she sensed the change coming over her and watched as the hand lying on the sheet before her assumed the pale blue color of the linens.
No way, she thought, focusing on that transformation and forcing it away by sheer willpower.
“Cat,” he said, the tones of his voice uncertain and apologetic as walked to the side of the bed.
“It’s okay, Mick. I totally understand,” not that she did, only it wasn’t his fault that she was confused.
He said nothing else. She sensed his continued presence by her side; heard the slight groan of the wood frame on the chair by the bed as he sat down, and the swoosh, fabric sliding against fabric, maybe when he cove
red himself.
Covered all that wonderful muscle.
She forced that thought from her mind, but nature abhorred a vacuum. Her mind was soon filled with other images of the assorted small scars on his body, the shocking white of the tape on his stitched up forearm, and the bruises he had earned on this latest assignment. An assignment intended to deal with her existence.
One hundred million dollars on her head.
Quite a reward for someone to resist and yet she had no hesitation about Mick’s earlier promise to protect her.
After resting her head on the pillow, silent for long moments, she said his name, not sure if he had already fallen asleep.
“Hmm?” he answered sleepily, although she knew just how quickly he became alert.
“You’re not the hard ass you try to be. There’s a big soft spot inside that you hide.”
No response followed. Before she could question if he had heard her, the swoosh of fabric came again. The bed dipped her toward the center and over the corner of her shoulder she caught a glimpse of him as he eased himself next to her. Too quickly for her to protest, his front was pressed to her back and he had thrown his arm across her waist.
“Go to sleep, Cat.”
Easier said than done, she thought. The press of his body against hers reminded her of the passion they had shared earlier, but closed her eyes anyway and told herself it was something that couldn’t be repeated.
She could risk her life to get to the truth of what had happened to her. Risking her heart was far more dangerous.
* * *
Mick lay awake long after the cadence of her breathing announced that she had finally fallen asleep.
He couldn’t rest. His mind was too busy working out all the possible permutations of what might happen once Mad Dog figured out where they might be.
He had already set some of the gears into motion. Franklin. His cousin Ramon and his police force. Hospital security.
When he thought about the way Mad Dog had tossed his place in Philly, it tore at his gut that he might do the same here.
This was his safe house in more ways than one.
No matter what mission he had been on, from his time in the Army to his life as a hired gun, this place had always been his escape from it all. This home had always been where he could go for comfort and peace.
This mission had threatened that, in more ways than he wanted to consider.
He could take Caterina and run. Find a different place to hide.
Or he could take a stand.
Force Mad Dog to bring the fight to him because the only way he would allow his old nemesis to trash this home and hurt his family was if he was dead.
“Mick?” she asked and turned to face him.
He caressed the satiny skin of her cheek. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You haven’t slept yet, have you?”
He shook his head and rubbed his thumb along the elegant ridge of her cheekbone. “Too much to think about.”
“This Mad Dog guy has you really worried? It’s about more than this assignment, though, isn’t it?” Caterina covered his hand with hers, stroking it tenderly. The pressure of her hand light, but disturbing nevertheless.
He met her gaze in the dark of the night. The deep blue of hers was interrupted here and there by bits of blue-green glow. A testament to how little time he had to set things right. Something he hadn’t been able to do that the last time Mad Dog had been involved in his life.
“Three years ago, Franklin, Mad Dog, and me were on a private security detail down in Miami. Should have been an easy gig. Keep an eye on the wife and nine year-old son of some bigwig politico who had been receiving death threats.” He sighed deeply and looked away as he recalled that day, but Caterina would not allow his avoidance.
She cradled his jaw and urged him to face her. “What happened?”
Chapter 31
“We had a protocol if we were threatened. Call the police and head to the nearest secure location. Easy enough to do,” Mick explained.
The tension radiated from Mick’s body. It was what had woken her from a sound sleep. Beneath her thumb, the vibrating anger in his body communicated his upset. She ran her thumb across the hard line of his lips and urged him to continue with a soft, “It should have been easy, but Mad Dog wasn’t on board with that, was he?”
He shook his head and against her face, his hand trembled. “We picked up a tail going over the McArthur Causeway on the way to the politico’s home on Star Island. Mad Dog was driving. He could have kept on going to the police station in Miami Beach. Instead he pulled into the entrance for Star Island.”
A shudder snaked across his body and he closed his eyes as he continued the story. “A guard came out to see what was up. The car behind us opened fire, killing him. Our car was armored, so we were safe for the moment.”
Another more violent tremor traveled through his body.
“It got worse,” she said and gently stroked his face once again, trying to soothe him.
His eyes snapped open, pupils contracted from his distress. “Franklin tried to grab the wheel to get Mad Dog to move forward past the gate, but Mad Dog threw open his door, got out, and returned fire.”
Mick sucked in a breath, and then expelled it roughly. “We had no choice but to defend ourselves. In the fire storm that followed, one of the bullets ricocheted off the door killing the nine-year old.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said and embraced him.
* * *
Mick was stiff in her arms at first, but gradually the tension left his body and he relaxed. He slipped his arms around her and brought her close until every inch of their bodies touched.
She was soft. Warm. Too warm.
“You’ve got a fever again,” he whispered by the shell of her ear.
“It comes and goes,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug.
She was trying to be strong.
No, correct that. She was strong and he admired that strength. Understood she was more woman than he had ever encountered.
Rubbing his face against the curls of her hair, it roused the smells of summer. Hints of pine from the woods they had traipsed through earlier. Chlorine from the pool.
In another time, the odors of home down the shore.
“We’ll make you better, Cat. Trust me.”
She laid her hand flat against his chest. “I do trust you, Mick. Like I said, you’ve got a soft spot.”
He had a soft spot all right. It was a soft spot in his head to maybe think that somehow this would all turn out right.
He couldn’t afford such softness because it might lead to a misstep, but he also couldn’t harden his heart against her. Against the concern she was showing for him and his family. A concern he had never experienced with any of the other women who had spent a minute or two in his life.
Despite that, he forced some command in his voice, trying to create distance between them. “Go to sleep, Cat. There’s a lot to be done tomorrow.”
“Good night, Mick,” she said, but remained close. Her body was pressed to his, the beat of her heart strong. The out-of-sync cadence merging with his until the beat became one.
A dangerous one, he thought for the barest of seconds before he allowed sleep to claim him.
* * *
Forewarned was forearmed, Liliana thought, cautious as she exited her car in the hospital parking lot the next morning. She was early for rounds much as she had been on several other occasions, needing to see Carmen Rojas and have her friend take another look at Caterina’s blood.
She was walking toward the entrance to the hospital when Harrison exited the building. He sported a white bandage across his nose and two black eyes.
She had done this to him and despite the many times he had hurt her, Liliana took no joy in seeing his injuries. If anything, she feared such a visible testament to his failure would only create more problems for her.
He hadn’t seen her and for a moment she considered going
back to her car to wait until he had left, but then decided she’d had enough of being afraid of him.
Raising her head and straightening her spine, she walked toward the hospital entrance and Harrison.
He noticed her then and came straight toward her.
“What do you want?” she asked as she stopped a good distance away from him, wanting to be beyond his arm’s reach.
He looked around, clearly wanting to make sure that no one would witness their exchange. Then he took a step toward her and whispered, “You got away last night, but don’t think it’ll be so easy the next time.”
She thought about the bullies in the world and the one thing they all had in common. They were inherently cowards when someone stood up to them.
“There isn’t going to be a next time, because if you even come within one foot of me again, I’m going to take the tape of what happened last night to the police and then the hospital board. Understood?”
His face paled, making the dark bruising beneath his eyes even more stark.
“You wouldn’t do that. What would people think about you?”
A month ago or even a week ago, the shame associated with people discovering how he had hurt her might have actually made her reconsider her threat. Even the fear of how it might hurt her career at the hospital no longer held sway with her.
With a harsh laugh, she said, “They would think that I was smart enough to get away from you.”
She shoved past him, intent on starting her rounds.
Hopeful that Harrison finally got the message that she would no longer serve as his punching bag.
Once she was within the hospital, Liliana headed straight toward the lower levels that housed the labs and other non-patient areas.
Like always, Carmen was at her station in the pathology lab, making Liliana wonder if her friend ever left her spot. As she entered, Carmen shot her a bright smile.
