by Desiree Holt
“My— Oh!” She pulled it out of her slacks pocket. “I’d forgotten I stuffed it in there when my car died and Charlie came along.”
The tracker zinged loud and clear when Charlie ran it over the phone.
“Let’s do this.” He took the phone apart and removed the SIM card then dropped it on the floor and ground it beneath the heel of his boot. “Just in case,” he told Alix. It sends a signal to a cell tower, and we’re not taking any chances.”
“Neither was Bonner,” Hank told them. He’d picked up the two halves of the cell phone Charlie had put on the table. “Check this out.”
Alix moved closer, squinting at where he was pointing. At first, she didn’t see a thing. Then when Charlie pointed, she saw a tiny dot that, at first, could have been something pasted into the case itself. She felt sick to her stomach. And worse by the minute when Hank went to a closet and brought out some clothes for her.
“You think he bugged my clothes?” Oh, god.
“Probably,” Hank told her. “We’re not taking any chances. I’m sorry about this, but we really don’t have any choice. As soon as you leave, I have to take all your stuff upstairs and dump it into a tub full of water. That’s the only thing that interrupts a signal.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. It infuriated her that Lee had gone through her things with such meticulous care and embedded trackers in everything she wore. The man had to be insane. How had she not seen this?
He picked up a cell, dialed a number, and walked away, speaking softly. When he ended the call, he walked back to where Alix was standing.
What now, she thought.
“These are for you.” Hank piled the clothes in her hands. “Closest I could figure to your size. I’ve got two of my men coming soon. They’ll take your stuff and scatter it all over the county. Bonner will have a hell of a time tracking you after that. Hank, as soon as she’s changed, get her out of the county to that house we use. And don’t let her be seen in the car. Just in case.”
Scant minutes later, Alix had changed into worn jeans and a black T-shirt, tucked her hair into a baseball cap, and accepted the plastic baggie from Hank with her cash in it.
“The rest of the stuff could have minuscule bugs embedded,” he explained. “You won’t need the money, but just in case. Okay, you two. Get going. Charlie, let me know when you get there and settle in.”
*****
If Lee had been raging mad before, now he was like a maniac. He’d left everyone out on the patio with after-dinner drinks and come into his den to call Frank again. He was past impatient with the lack of progress in the search for his erstwhile wife.
“What do you mean, there’s still no trace of her? I used the most expensive, high-tech tracking devices. You should be able to find her in the middle of New York City. God damnit, Frank, what the fuck is going on?”
“Getting mad and swearing at me isn’t going to solve your problem, Lee.” Frank’s voice was calm, low-pitched.
That infuriated Lee even more.
“I need you to find her.” He ground his teeth, hoping he didn’t have a stroke over this. “We have two shipments ready to move, plus a pick-up. She saw stuff at this house that was none of her business. If she tells someone, we’ll be in worse trouble than we already are.”
“Do your business partners know?”
“Are you kidding? They’d cut off my balls. She’s a damn fucking loose end running around with the image she saw on the television screen probably burned into her brain. God only knows who she’ll try to tell about it. I can’t trust the situation, not with the leak that’s popped up and put the whole fucking operation in jeopardy. I need her found, killed, and buried where no one will find her.”
“I hear you.” Frank’s voice was flat, almost toneless.
“Well, hear this. Jorge still has a crew around here. They just finished a cleanup job for him. I can get them moving in fifteen minutes.”
“I don’t need them,” Frank objected.
Lee knew when he was irritating the man, but right now, it could not be helped. He was about to add another wrinkle he was pretty damn sure Frank would like even less.
“Then check around there some more. I promise you she hasn’t been swallowed up by the Crazy Mountains. She’ll have to show up somewhere, eventually, and you’ll be able to pick up her signal again.”
“Even if for some reason she’s dumped everything including her cell phone?”
“Even if.” He still had one tiny trick up his sleeve that he’d use in case everything else failed. The problem was it only worked sporadically. Maybe he could do something about it from his end.
“Okay, but you hold off on those idiots of Jorge’s.”
“Call me back again in thirty,” was all Lee said.
Lee punched the button to end the conversation, tempted to throw the damn phone across the room. Instead, he shoved it back into his pocket and took time in the den to pour himself a stiff bourbon. He needed to have Alix found and dealt with right now. The feds were trying to drop the hammer on him, and she was an unknown quantity.
He never should have hooked up with that woman in the first place, no matter how much pressure Jorge brought to bear. The smartest thing he’d done was not file the marriage certificate. As far as he was aware, the only outside contact she had was with one friend in Houston. When she disappeared, no one would be able to trace her.
Frank better find that bitch and quick. The longer she was out there, knowing God knows what, the worse his situation became. Everything was going wrong. He’d give Frank one last chance to find her. Then he was turning Jorge’s men loose.
Chapter Four
Alix tried to calculate how far from Eagle Rock they were, but she wasn’t very good at that, especially since in the three months she’d been living here she really hadn’t learned a lot about the area. She only knew she’d been riding for a long time in the back seat of an SUV, covered by a thick blanket.
Yes. Hiding under a blanket, wearing someone else’s clothes.
Both Hank and Charlie had insisted on it. They were past dusk already, with night about to lower its window shade, so spotting her in the vehicle wouldn’t be that easy. But, it was possible, hence the blanket. When she felt the vehicle slow down and make a turn then heard the distinct sound of a garage door being raised, she wanted to sing the “Hallelujah” chorus. They stopped, the engine shut off, and in a second, the back door opened and Charlie tapped her leg.
“We’re here. Come on, you can stretch your legs now.”
Stretch was right.
She followed Charlie into a tiny mudroom where he punched a code into the panel on the wall, nodding with satisfaction when the lights flashed, indicating it was armed.
“I turned it off with a remote so it wouldn’t screech when I opened the garage door and also send the wrong signals back to the office where it’s monitored. “
She followed him out of the mudroom into a kitchen that, despite the fact no one was actually living here, appeared enticing and cozy. The appliances all seemed new, wallpaper with a pattern of vegetables accented one wall, and a cozy table for two fit nicely into a little nook.
“The lights are on,” she commented. “Did someone come over here and do that?”
Charlie shook his head. “They’re on a timer. You probably figured we use this off and on for people we need to keep out of harm’s way. If it’s dark and vacant for stretches of time, it invites curiosity and questions we don’t need.”
“Smart.”
“Let me show you the rest of the house and the room you’ll use. Come on.”
Whether he did it on purpose or automatically without realizing it, Charlie took her hand as he showed her the layout. The surface of his palm was slightly roughened and warm, sending tendrils of heat shooting up her arm. There was something so solid about his presence, so reassuring, so…masculine.
No, no, no. Not masculine. Don’t let your hormones take over your brain ag
ain.
But while hiding in the back seat of the SUV on the way over here, she had come to the realization that both men she’d committed a relationship to were badly flawed. She’d just shut her mind to it. The worst part was realizing they both had the same characteristics—successful men who loved showing her off to people and showering her with gifts but had little interest in her as a person. And, in both cases, the sex that had started off as spectacular morphed into sophisticated routine.
She almost laughed at that. Sophisticated-routine sex? Well, yeah. They were very good at it but not emotionally engaged. She was stunned to realize that. With Lee, she should have seen it a lot sooner, but he’d been so good for her ego she’d turned a blind eye to everything. That was on her.
So, don’t go getting the hots for your bodyguard. He’s in a business that probably leaves even less room for a woman.
Except he’d told her that Hank, the head of Brotherhood Protectors, was married and lived in that big house with his wife. She wondered how many of the others were also married or in a committed relationship.
She needed to turn off her brain. This was the last thing she should be thinking about.
“Alix?”
Charlie’s deep voice cut into her thoughts and brought her back to the present.
“Yes?”
“Did I lose you somewhere along the way here?” His words were edged with a tinge of humor.
“Oh, sorry.” She blinked herself back to reality. “I’m still having trouble processing all of this. If anyone had told me I’d marry—scratch that, allowed myself to be swept off my feet by—a man under investigation by the feds for what Lee is doing, I’d have had them committed. Maybe I’m the one who should be committed.”
He had turned to face her now. “Don’t beat yourself up about this. A man who does what Lee Bonner does, and does it so well, knows exactly how to play people.”
“Thanks. I don’t know if that helps much, but I’ll remember it.” A shiver raced over her.
“You’re cold. Your hands are like ice.” He took her hand he was holding in both of his and rubbed it. “Come on. Let’s warm you up a little.”
What did it say for the kind of person she was that the first thing that came to her mind was the two of them naked on a bed? Or that her nipples were suddenly hard peaks and between her legs a pulse throbbed with an insistent beat.
Great, Alix. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Haven’t learned a thing, have you?
But even as little as she knew him, Charlie Zero did not seem to be anything like her previous disasters. Why hadn’t she met him before her life fell into the toilet? Not that she figured he’d want anything to do with her. She was just a… A what? Client? But she wasn’t paying them anything. A charity case? She had cash with her. She could give all of it to them.
“Your head’s gonna break if you don’t stop banging it against an invisible wall.” Charlie squeezed her hand as he drew her back into the kitchen. “Sit at the table for a few minutes, while I throw something together to ease that tension that’s wrapped around you like baling wire. Then we’ll talk more about this situation. Sit down. Right there.”
He guided her to one of the chairs in the little nook then busied himself at the counter and the sink. She sat, still wrecked over everything that had happened. Everything she’d found out tonight. If not for Charlie’s calming presence, she night have lost it altogether. Had only hours passed since her breakdown on the highway? It seemed as if she’d known him forever.
He didn’t patronize her or treat her with casual diffidence. And she’d bet every cent of the rolled-up bills in her jeans that he’d make Barry and Lee look like amateurs in bed.
Wait. What?
How on earth could she be thinking about sex in this situation? Although, she had heard that in situations of extreme tension, sexual desire was ramped up. Well, she needed to put a lid on it here. For god’s sake, she’d only known the man a handful of hours. Was she crazy?
“Alix?”
She started, realizing he was talking to her and she’d zoned out again. She couldn’t imagine what he thought of her.
“I’m sorry. You must think I’m some kind of space cadet.”
“Not at all. I think you’re pretty damn strong not to have fallen apart after the past few hours. Here. Hot tea.” He set a mug on the table in front of her. “With a little something added. Dr. Zero’s best tranquilizer.”
She wrapped her hands around the mug, letting its heat seep into her suddenly chilled body. When she lifted it and took a sip, she felt the kick from the slug of bourbon he’d laced it with. The heat felt good, spreading through her body, and the alcohol began to smooth her jittery nerves.
“Dr. Zero practices good medicine,” she joked.
“So my patients tell me.”
He smiled, and she noted how it transformed his face, softening the harsh lines. His hazel eyes now had a touch of amber, and the scruff on his cheeks and jaw enhanced the sensuous fullness of his lips. She studied him as she sipped the hot, spiked tea, feeling her nerves ease off just a bit and wondering how those lips would feel pressed to hers. Would he—
For god’s sake, Alix. Get your mind out of the bedroom.
“How’s that?” he asked. “Doing its job?”
She nodded. “You make a mean cup of tea. Thank you.”
“It’s not every day a woman finds out her husband is into the dirtiest of businesses, is under federal investigation, and isn’t even her husband. I think you’re doing remarkably well.”
“Thank you. I keep thinking I’m in an alternate time zone and I’ll wake up to discover this is all someone’s bad idea of a trick.”
“Would be nice,” he agreed. “Okay, here’s the drill. We’re basically holed up in here until we get the all clear from Hank. There’s plenty of food, television in the bedrooms and living room, books if you want to read.”
“You must use this place a lot to be so well prepared.”
“Here are the rules,” Hank continued, as if she hadn’t spoken. “The blinds stay closed so no daylight. Sorry. You don’t go near the windows. If the doorbell rings or someone knocks, I take care of it. I don’t expect anyone to approach the house, but we’ll have plenty of warning from the sensors embedded in the ground.”
Again, the danger of her situation smacked her in the face. She pushed her anxiety down and concentrated on doing her best to stay calm.
“Understood.”
“There’s plenty of clothes in the bedroom you’ll be using. All brand new. We replace whatever gets used out of here. You should help yourself since I don’t think you want to be wearing what you’ve got on for a week.”
Clothes. Good.
“You said a week. Is that how long Hank thinks this will take?”
“At the max. With what they already have, and with Brotherhood Protectors handling the off-the-books stuff, he’s confidant you won’t have to be locked up here with me any longer than that.”
She set her mug down. “I will say, if I have to be locked up with anyone, you make a great bodyguard.”
He shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
“Do I remember you saying you were in the SEALs with Hank?”
He nodded. “He got out before I did. Personal business.”
“Oh. I hope he was able to take care of it. Can you tell me what happened?”
“You can ask Hank. It’s his story.”
Alix felt as if he’d slapped her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to pry. I was just—”
“It’s okay. Listen. I don’t know about you, but I need to feed the beast or you’ll have a starving bodyguard, and those aren’t any good. I make a mean grilled cheese sandwich, and I can open a can of soup faster than anyone around.”
She had to smile at that. She wasn’t the least bit hungry, but she also knew she needed to keep up her strength. Charlie didn’t need to guard a body wasting away.
“That sounds good. Can I help?”
“I’m good for now. Thanks.”
They ate in silence, but not an uncomfortable one, focusing on their food. The sandwich was good as promised, and before she realized it, she had finished both it and the soup.
“Good job.” Charlie cleared the dishes. “This is not a criticism but an observation. You look beat. You should lie down, even if you can’t sleep.”
She realized in surprise she actually was fatigued. Whoever said stress wears you out knew what they were talking about.
“I think I’ll do that. If you can just tell me which room is mine?”
He took her hand and tugged her from the chair as if she’d never spoken. She gave a mental shrug and allowed him to tow her down the hallway. She was fast learning that when Charlie Zero made up his mind, it never got unmade.
There were three bedrooms, all at the back of the house. The one Charlie showed her seemed to be the largest of the three.
“I don’t really need all this room,” she protested. “You should take the biggest one.”
“Can’t. House rules. Come on so I can show you stuff.”
He flipped a light switch as he walked her into the largest of the bedrooms. The bedside lamps came on, casting a warm glow over the queen-sized bed with its Texas quilt, the nightstands, and the dresser on which sat a large flat-screen television. He opened and closed drawers, showing her the clothes contained there, then opened the closet door to show her there were more.
The bathroom was also stocked with whatever a guest would need, no matter if the “guest” was male or female. Alix had to admit she was impressed with their efficiency and attention to detail.
Charlie pointed out the books on the nightstand and the remote for the television.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said. “I think I’ll sit out on the back patio for a while. Let people see the owners are at home.”
But Alix knew he would also be keeping a steady eye out for anyone venturing onto the property or showing an undue interest in it.
“I think I’ll just get into bed,” she told him. “I’m not in the mood for television, but I might try to read for a while.”
