Typical primal male. Shelter, then food. “Look in the freezer.”
He glanced at her over his shoulder, lifting one eyebrow as if doubting her wisdom, but opened the bottom drawer of the fridge. It was packed with frozen food. “Ah. The jackpot. How’d you know?”
“Makes sense. You say your friend isn’t interested in comfort, just keeping things secure. He’s not going to have someone stock the fridge with perishable items, too risky. The more people know this safe house’s location, the more likely it will lose its security feature. But he’d want to be sure he could feed his protectees a meal when they arrived. Ergo, a fully loaded freezer.”
That got her one of Luke’s patented grins, only this time there was a heat in his eyes she’d seen only once before—the moment before he kissed her today. “You have the sexiest brain I’ve ever come across.”
She blinked. Then laughed. “What?”
He shut the freezer, picked up the bags and sauntered by her, adding a wink to his grin. “You heard me, sweetheart. I find the way you think very sexy.”
He found her sexy. He found her brain sexy. At his words a heated flush started at her toes and spread like a summer fire. The man could change moods faster than a level four hurricane and dang if that didn’t make him the most infuriating, intriguing and charming man with whom she’d ever had to work.
“Oh, hell, no,” Luke said, stopping in the doorway leading off the great room.
“What’s the problem?” she asked, coming up behind him and peering into the bedroom.
“Castello is such a dead man.”
“Why? You can have this bedroom and I’ll take the other.”
“You can’t.” He dropped her bag inside the room, the pulled out his cell phone.
“Why not?” she asked with a sinking feeling, already suspecting what his answer would be.
“Because my good friend picked the worst time to decide to pull a joke. He gave us a safe house with one bedroom and one bed.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
A knock sounded on the door.
Luke had just finished leaving a you’re-a-dead-man message on Castello’s phone. He palmed his gun from beneath his coat and motioned Abby to move away from the door, out of the line of fire. She nodded as she pulled her bag into the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her pull out her service weapon and move to where she had a line of sight to the door.
Standing to one side, he peeked through the peephole. A young man in a T-shirt, denim jacket and jeans stood on the stoop.
“Can I help you?” Luke asked through the door.
“Castello sent me,” the young man said, holding up a set of car keys.
Luke slipped his gun in the back of his jeans and opened the door. “And you are?”
“Kirkpatrick,” he said, handing Luke the keys and slowly sizing him up from top-to-bottom.
“Thanks, Kirkpatrick.”
“It’s Kirk F. Patrick,” he said, eyes narrowed as if he’d heard every joke about his name and wasn’t in the mood for another. “Black Caddy parked two doors down. Bulletproof, with tinted windows. Return it in one piece when the case is done.” The kid started to leave, then paused and gave him another head-to-toe assessment. “Fill the tank, too.”
Pocketing the keys, Luke closed the door. He pulled his weapon out of the back of his jeans and slipped it into his shoulder holster once more. Ever since they’d discovered Jeffers had a tail today, he’d remained armed. He turned to see Abby putting her own gun back in her bag, her back to him, shoulders shaking. “You found that funny?”
She looked over her shoulder at him, green eyes twinkling with humor and her smile a hundred-watt stunner. “Come on. His name is Kirk Patrick. His parents had a very warped sense of humor.”
He closed the space between them in three quick steps, stopping an arm’s length from her. “No, his name is Kirk F. Patrick.”
That sent her into more silent laughter. He couldn’t help grinning. It was the most relaxed he’d seen her since they’d been reunited. It was sexy as hell and he had to fight hard not to reach out and pull her into his arms.
“What do you think the F stands for? Fredrick?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure with that name, his old man probably had something more inventive.”
“Fabian? Forrest?”
“I’m thinking more like Fuckyou.”
A bark of laughter escaped her, followed by more silent shaking of her shoulders. Finally, she stopped and grinned at him once more. “Kirk Fuckyou Patrick. I can see that working for him. He certainly took his job for your friend seriously. How did he know to deliver the car to you so fast?”
And with that reminder of the serious situation they were in the humor drained from them both.
“Castello likes to use local talent when he wants to keep someone off the grid. I imagine Kirk F. Patrick maintains both this place and the car for a monthly fee and is at Castello’s beck and call. My guess? Frank bailed the kid out of some trouble and saw potential in him. Knowing the Marshal, he’s putting the kid through school, too.” Moving away from the temptation of Abby’s body, Luke headed for the table where he’d left his tablet. He glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. “Nine o’clock. I’d say anyone in the vicinity of the coordinates for that cell phone have probably gone home for the night.”
“We’d best change then,” she said, walking towards the bedroom.
He grabbed her by the wrist as she passed him.
“What?” she asked, those eyes big with questions and her pulse throbbing hard beneath his fingers.
“You sure I can’t talk you into staying safely here while I check this out?”
She shook her head. “Can’t get out of it that easy, Edgars. Like it or not, I’m all the backup you have.”
“This isn’t a typical situation, Abby. You’re personally involved in this case. Your emotions aren’t particularly neutral. I may not have time to let you process them if things go bad or we find—”
“Like I said earlier,” she said before he could finish. “Then you’ll need me to preserve as many images of the crime scene as possible. We’re wasting time arguing.”
She attempted to pull her wrist free of his grip and he let her go. She was right. There was little he could do to change whatever they were about to discover. Abby wasn’t a child or even an untrained civilian. Her special skills might come in handy and help them retrieve information later on. He just wished he had another choice for backup.
Swallowing the urge to growl out his frustration, he followed her into the bedroom and snagged his small duffle from the floor. “Make sure everything you wear is dark, black is preferable.”
“Even my bra and underwear?” she asked, wiggling her brows.
“Jeez.” He choked out a startled cough.
She took the advantage of his stunned thoughts to shove him out of the room and close the door in his face.
For a moment he stared at the door, the image of her long, lean body clad in nothing but sexy black lace filling his brain, which of course had his cock thinking happy thoughts that had nothing to do with their clandestine mission tonight. The last thing he needed was the distraction of Abby’s underwear in his head.
Get a grip, Edgars. A woman’s life, as well as Abby’s safety, depended on him keeping focused.
Shoving the lusty thoughts into the back of his mind, he went to pull up the street map surrounding the area pinpointed as Brianna’s cell phone’s last signal on his tablet. With a few well-placed codes, he also brought up the traffic cams in that area. The largest building looked to be a car repair company and two one-story warehouses. Nothing seemed to be moving in the area, except for the occasional car driving down the street.
“What is that?” Abby said from right behind him.
He resisted the urge to look at her once more. “Traffic cams in the area where we’re going. I’m checking to be sure we’re not walking into a trap of some sort.”
“Do you have
clearance to access that kind of surveillance?” she asked, sliding into the chair next to him and pulling her hair up into a ponytail once more.
“Not exactly.” He glanced her way. For once she’d listened to his advice, wearing the black sweater, jeans and dark grey hoodie they’d bought earlier in the day. He would not think about her bra and panties.
“What do you mean, not exactly?” She slipped her glasses on once more and peered over the top of them at him, like a librarian wondering why he was making too much noise in her library.
“I can gain access without going through the usual routes or gaining clearance.” Without waiting to see her reaction, he focused on watching the screen, then typed in more code to run the tapes backward.
“So, you hacked in?” Abby said, no real censure in her voice. She leaned in closer, studying the images as they rolled in reverse. “What are you looking for exactly?”
To see if they’ve carried your friend’s corpse out of the building. “Not sure really. Just thought we might notice something suspicious.”
“Like someone carrying out a rolled up rug with Brianna’s body inside?”
Damn. Abby had one quick mind. And he had to wonder how much compartmentalizing of this she could do before she broke down. “That would certainly be suspicious, but I was thinking more like cars coming and going repetitively or anything that stands out.”
“Like a high-end sedan pulling in among the two older junkers?” she said, pointing at the computer screen.
He paused the program’s reverse mode and played it forward again just as the sedan pulled into the parking lot near the car repair building. It drove around, disappearing in back. Luke pushed a timer on his computer and they continued to watch the video. Thirty minutes later the car pulled out. Nothing else entered or left for another hour. Then a large white van pulled in and disappeared behind one of the buildings. Another half hour passed and the truck left again. Finally four men exited the warehouse, climbed into the junkers and drove off in the same direction as the van.
“Can you get a close-up of the van?” Abby asked, a slight catch in her voice.
“I can try, but I doubt you can see inside it,” he said, his fingers flying over the keyboard to enhance the feed and zero in on the van.
“I know. It probably has tinted windows, but maybe we can get the plate or some other detail.”
Luke pulled up another video with a new angle of the van as it pulled out of the lot. “The resolution is too low. All we’re getting is a grainy picture when it’s enlarged.”
“Crap.” Abby slouched back in her chair, one hand wrapped around her middle, the other fisted just below her lips. “You know they probably moved Brianna in that van.”
“No. I don’t know that and neither do you.”
“Logic dictates it, Luke. We waited too long.”
* * * * *
As they drove through the empty streets into the old warehouse area, Abigail stared out into the near darkness, the sporadic streetlights the only things illuminating their way. Despite what she’d said to Luke earlier about being his backup and doing her job no matter what they discovered inside the warehouse, her stomach twisted at the idea of finding Brianna’s body in the place.
Could she do this? Could she pull back from the horror of seeing the nearest thing she had to a sister cold and lifeless long enough to take mental snapshots of everything inside the building?
If it helps catch whoever is behind this? Yes.
Luke’s hand settled on hers. The warmth of it surprised and comforted her, as if he knew she was faking the bravado she’d used earlier. But he hadn’t left her behind. For that reason alone, she’d do her best, no matter what they found, to help him solve this puzzle.
“When we get there, I’ll go first. You stay right behind me, okay?” he said, squeezing her hand.
She looked over to see him glancing from the road back to her, concern in his eyes and his lips set in a thin line. “Just like in training. Close enough to breathe down your neck.”
The reminder of how he’d followed her into a building search once during their days in Georgia, got her a quick lift at the corners of his lips and a wink. “That’s right, just like back in training.”
He squeezed her hand again before releasing it to grip the steering wheel once more. The sudden loss of his touch pushed an ache into her chest and she stared at his profile for a few blocks. For the first time in her life she wanted to beg him to hold her hand, to keep telling her she wasn’t alone. She wanted to clutch him like a lifeline in the coming storm, but she knew she couldn’t. For so long she’d been on her own, no one to really depend on but herself. Even her friendship with Brianna had its limits. As a child she’d learned that lesson.
You can’t let anyone in too close, because everyone you love dies.
Forcing herself to put away any weak urges to clutch Luke’s hand once more, she looked out the window once more at the passing terrain, trying to see if anyone was moving about in the dark jungle of abandoned buildings and old cars. Nothing moved. She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing.
“We’re here,” Luke said, breaking the silence as he slowed to turn into the empty lot.
Abigail sat a little straighter in the leather seat and concentrated on the buildings in front of them. The car repair building sat to the left and she had to lean forward to see around Luke and get a good look, her mind snapping its picture and filing it away. Then she stared at the long flat building in front of them, cataloguing every feature and every shadow.
Luke drove around behind the flat-topped building to the third building. Before they’d left the safe house, he’d mapped out the camera angles and found a blind spot to park the caddy, saying he didn’t want anyone’s surveillance cameras identifying the car or them when they got out. Abigail was pretty damn sure whatever program he used to control both city surveillance and private security cameras weren’t available to the average citizen or the average Treasury agent, either. Once again she had to wonder exactly how much of Luke’s skills were known by their employers.
“You ready?” he asked, putting the car in park in the shadows away from the few lights on the periphery of the lot and cutting the headlights.
She couldn’t see his features too clearly in the moonless night, but she heard the concern in his voice. “Yes. Let’s get this over with.”
They exited the car at the same time, quietly closing the doors so not to alert anyone possibly still on the premises. They headed to the back of the last building—the one they believed the sedan and the van had both parked behind. If Brianna were anywhere in the area, Luke and Abigail had determined it would be here.
At the door, Luke paused and held up his hand for her to wait. She turned her back to him to watch their perimeter while he picked the lock on the door. When he had it open, he touched her shoulder in a signal to follow him inside. Slipping into the building, literally on Luke’s six, she closed the door without making even a click. They stood inside a kind of vestibule, another door leading into the main part of the warehouse. It was nearly pitch black, except for the bits of light from the lights out in the parking lot.
Luke tested the knob and the door opened with a low creak.
They froze.
Nothing moved inside the room. No sound of someone hiding or coming to check out the noise. Luke clicked on his flashlight, holding it just under his gun and Abigail did the same.
Luke went through the door and scanned to his right, motioning her to remain where she was, then headed to his right. Holding the door, she leaned through and shone her light in the same direction. Another door stood open a few feet away. A huge window beside it. Luke leaned in to see what was inside. Abigail could make out a desk that looked to be littered with pizza boxes, beer bottles and soda cans.
He shook his head to indicate no one was in there and motioned her to come out.
“Stay with me,” he whispered the reminder again, leading the way inside.
Like she was going to wander off by herself in the creepy darkness?
One step behind him and to his right, she followed him into the warehouse, their flashlight beams arching slowly back and forth, top to bottom, casting eerie shadows in the cavernous space. Her skin itched, like something brushed across it and she half expected someone in a zombie costume to jump out at them like at a Halloween scare house she’d once visited. Still, nothing moved.
The building might be void of living souls except for hers and Luke’s, but it wasn’t empty. While Luke kept scanning the periphery, Abigail let her light focus on the center of the room where a table sat and an overturned chair lay a few feet away. Ropes were scattered about and beneath the chair, while something dark coated the floor.
“Luke?”
“Yeah, I see it, Abby,” he said, not losing focus on checking the building for any danger. “Let’s make sure your friend or any bad guys aren’t here first, then we’ll check it out.”
“Right,” she said, continuing to follow him into the depths of the building. She scanned her light along the back wall. “There’s another door back there.”
They made their way to it, where Luke once again tested the knob. This one was locked. As before, Abigail kept lookout as he picked the lock, but when she made to follow him inside, he stopped her.
“Stay out here, Abby.”
“Why?” She looked beyond him to see three crates in the center of the room and nothing else. Then the stench hit her. “God, what is that?”
“My best guess is charred flesh and decomposing corpses,” he said, blocking her from entering. “You stay out here, catalogue everything you see.”
“But what if it’s Brie—”
Luke laid a hand on her shoulder. “Damn it, Abby. I can eventually let this image fade, but not you. You don’t need this memory permanently in your head.”
He was protecting her.
VANISHED, A Romantic Suspense Novel (Edgars Family Novel) Page 11
