Armored Attraction

by Janie Crouch

  “And did you find out anything interesting?” Sheriff McBrien asked, coming to stand behind the seat next to Webb but not sitting.

  Webb stared at Liam, but Liam didn’t try to communicate anything. McBrien was too close, and too astute, for that. Liam willed the younger man to make the right decision and not say anything to McBrien about their hushed conversation a few moments ago.

  “No, nothing particularly interesting,” Webb muttered after a moment.

  Liam forced himself not to breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Mostly, I brought him in because of his past record,” Webb continued.

  The sheriff’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Did Mr. Goetz say anything about his current occupation?”

  Liam sat straighter in his seat.

  Damn.

  McBrien knew. McBrien was the one who had checked deeper into his record. And here he was, early on a weekend morning, checking on the situation personally rather than reading the report later.

  Webb wasn’t behind the trafficking ring. McBrien was.

  “I probably shouldn’t call you ‘mister,’ right, Goetz?” McBrien said, watching him closely. “You probably prefer the title ‘agent,’ since you work for Omega Sector.”

  “What?” Webb fairly spewed. “That wasn’t in his record.”

  “Yeah, you have to dig a little deeper to find it. But it’s there,” McBrien said.

  Liam met Webb’s eyes.

  That, he tried to communicate to the other man. That is an example of what I meant when I asked about things that bothered you around here.

  All he could do was hope Webb would see it for himself.

  Liam shrugged. “I’m not here on any official business. So, no, I didn’t mention it.”

  “Were you going to keep letting Webb treat you like a suspect? How long were you planning to keep the fact that you’re law enforcement from him?”

  Liam knew he had to tread carefully. He didn’t have a good reason to keep his occupation a secret from Webb. Under normal circumstances he would’ve made it known immediately. Professional courtesy.

  “Like I said, my reason for being here was completely nonprofessional.” Liam winked at them. “I think that Officer Atwood who came to the hotel on Tuesday can attest to that.”

  McBrien didn’t look convinced.

  “Look, I haven’t really mentioned to Vanessa that I’m law enforcement. I don’t know how that’s going to go over, so I’d like to keep it quiet from her and tried to keep it quiet from your assistant sheriff here.” Liam shifted his weight in his chair. “Webb was questioning me about that teenage kid. I don’t know anything, just like Vanessa didn’t know anything. I just thought I would keep my Omega tie out of it. Easier for everyone.”

  He turned to Webb. “Besides, sometimes mentioning you’re a federal agent makes some people nervous. Not that Webb here had anything to be nervous about. He was just doing his job. A routine follow-up with me, given my tie with Vanessa.”

  McBrien looked over at Webb. “Is that right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Liam smiled. “See? No harm, no foul. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to wrap this up. I’ve got a place a hell of a lot more interesting to be than this room.” He winked at the two men. “I’ll be staying at Vanessa Epperson’s apartment if you need me. That’s where Webb picked me up.”

  Liam stood. He’d done all he could do. He just hoped McBrien bought it.

  “Well, I apologize for my mistake,” Webb said. “I hope there are no hard feelings.”

  Liam stuck his hand out to shake the younger man’s. “You were just doing your job.” He squeezed Webb’s hand just slightly. “I hope you’ll keep doing your job.”

  Get the message, kid.

  Webb nodded. Liam hoped he understood.

  McBrien was largely silent during the exchange. Liam wasn’t able to read him. Was he suspicious?

  As they exited the room McBrien slapped Liam on the back. “Well, I may not be sure exactly what happened here this morning, but I am very glad to see you found yourself on the right side of the law. Happy to have you as one of the good guys, Goetz.”

  He stuck his hand out. Liam forced himself to shake it, although all he really wanted to do was to crush the man up against the wall and force him to tell where the girls were being held.

  Liam had no doubt McBrien was behind this. He wanted to knock the smug look out of the other man’s eyes and beat him until he fell to the floor.

  “It’s good to be one of the good guys, McBrien,” he said instead.

  Liam forced himself not to say anything further. Nothing sarcastic. Nothing that would give McBrien a hint that they were on to him. They walked the few steps to the lobby. Vanessa was there on the opposite side, looking in the other direction. She wasn’t supposed to be here, but he was damn sure glad she was. Her presence gave added credibility to his lover story.

  “But to be honest, I couldn’t care less about good guys or bad guys,” Liam murmured to the other men, gesturing to and all but leering at Vanessa. “I just care about that.”

  McBrien smirked. Webb pursed his lips in disapproval. Good, hopefully Liam wasn’t wrong about the younger man and Webb would start really looking at what was going on around him. Liam had done all he could do to suggest there was a problem.

  He knew both men were watching as he left them in the hallway and walked over to Vanessa. She was startled when she saw him, and stopped her worried shifting of her weight back and forth on her feet.

  “I know I’m not supposed to be here—”

  Liam kissed her.

  He kissed her to stop her from accidentally saying anything that might go against his story. He kissed her to seal the story that he and Vanessa were lovers. He kissed her because...hell, for his entire life he’d never been in the same room as Vanessa and not wanted to kiss her.

  But mostly he’d kissed her because he hadn’t been able to this morning, after her news about all she’d lost—all they’d lost—eight years ago. He couldn’t change the past, and didn’t know what the future held, but right now he could kiss her.

  He broke off the kiss a moment before it would’ve become uncomfortable for everyone.

  “Thanks for coming to check on me,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers. “I’m free to go.”

  But would he ever be free to leave Vanessa again? Liam had no idea.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “You weren’t supposed to be here,” Liam murmured to her as they walked across the parking lot together.

  “I made Joe bring me,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what they were going to accuse you of, and I didn’t want to leave you at Webb’s mercy.”

  They made it to the car. Liam greeted Joe and they both got in the back. “Webb is not our guy.”

  “Really?” Vanessa stared at him. “What about all his questions and having a video clip that can’t possibly be Karine?”

  “I think he’s being used to do someone else’s dirty work. Webb’s beginning to realize it, too.”

  “If the assistant sheriff isn’t your guy, who do you think is?” Joe asked from the front seat.

  Liam looked over at Vanessa. “Sheriff McBrien.”

  The sheriff. Vanessa could feel herself blanch. She and Liam had known the man most of their lives, although for Liam, not in a good way.

  “What? Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Webb may be a jerk with a political agenda, but he’s not the one behind this. Webb can tell something is off about this entire investigation. He doesn’t know what it is, but he knows something’s not right.”

  “But McBrien?”

  Marcus McBrien was an elected official, for heaven’s sake. Knowing that someone you’d known for years was capable of such crimes aga
inst girls was sickening on multiple levels. To think about how long it could’ve been going on, right under everyone’s noses...?

  Almost unbearable.

  “I started thinking it wasn’t Webb as soon as he brought me in for questioning and didn’t know I was Omega. It wouldn’t take much extra work to get that information. Someone who has something to hide—especially something as big as a trafficking ring with a missing girl—would check me out more thoroughly.”

  “And the sheriff was that person,” Joe confirmed for him.

  “Yep. And McBrien was determined not to leave Webb alone with me once he figured out I was Omega.”

  Vanessa didn’t necessarily consider herself a violent person, but if McBrien was here right now she would pound him into the ground with a baseball bat. And wouldn’t lose a moment’s sleep over it.

  After she found out where he was keeping the girls, of course.

  “You certain?” Joe asked from the driver’s seat. “Should we pull Derek off tailing Webb and put him on McBrien?”

  “Yeah.” Liam nodded. “Webb isn’t our guy. I may never be besties with him, but he’s just trying to do his job.”

  Joe snickered at bestie and took out his phone to text. “I’ll let Derek know, then take you guys back to Vanessa’s place.” He made eye contact with Vanessa through the rearview mirror. “That good?”

  Vanessa smiled. “Yeah.”

  “She wasn’t supposed to be here at all,” Liam told Joe. “Good job on that.”

  “Hey.” Joe started the car then held both hands up. “Don’t look at me. She was coming here with or without me. Unless you wanted me to sit on her, the best I could do was tag along.”

  “Couldn’t you use your super powers?” Liam asked. “I don’t think sitting on her would be necessary.”

  Vanessa imagined no red-blooded woman would consider having someone with the charm and good looks of Joe sitting on her a bad thing, although she didn’t mention that to Liam.

  “Super powers?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” Liam smiled as Joe drove out of the sheriff’s office parking lot. “Joe is a hostage negotiator for Omega. He can pretty much talk anybody into doing anything. It’s his super power—charming the pants off everyone.”

  Vanessa had been so worried about Liam and what was happening at the sheriff’s office that she hadn’t paid much attention to Joe beyond a cursory appreciation of his good looks. Now she really studied him.

  “Normally, I just try to charm the pants off women,” Joe muttered. “Guys, I prefer, leave their clothes on.”

  “Oh, my gosh, you’re Joe Matarazzo.” Realization dawned and she saw him wince in the rearview mirror at the recognition. “I think our families were both in Vail or Aspen a couple years at the same time. All the girls were gaga over you.”

  Of course, the Matarazzo family had made the Epperson family wealth look like chump change. They were wealthy with a capital W. Like, trace-their-family-back-to-the-Mayflower prestigious.

  Joe was one of the Matarazzo sons and very much a playboy.

  “So you work for Omega Sector?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine anyone bearing the Matarazzo name would ever need a job.

  “Yeah, I found a skill set I was good at or, as jackass over here calls it, my ‘super powers.’” Their eyes met again in the rearview mirror. “Not that it helped me keep you at your place.”

  Joe looked over at Liam. “And you better shut up. I’ve got some secrets on you I’m sure you don’t want shared, speaking of pants being off.”

  Vanessa studied scenery out the window at that. She knew Liam had had a life since they’d last seen each other. She’d even had a couple of relationships of her own since he’d left, however briefly. But she did not want to think about Liam with other women. Evidently, a number of other women.

  Especially when she should’ve been the only woman in his life all this time. Would have been if they could’ve put their pride aside and fought for their relationship.

  She should’ve tried harder to track him down. He should’ve come back and at least demanded to talk to her face to face.

  They both should’ve handled it all so much differently.

  Vanessa had never been too much of a romantic. Now, after years of being a social worker, she was even less so.

  Eight years was a long time. The attraction was very definitely still there, but that wasn’t enough. She was glad he now knew about the miscarriage, about what her parents had done—albeit to try to protect her—but ultimately that didn’t change anything.

  Vanessa looked at her hand that was linked with Liam’s on his knee. They hadn’t been able to figure out how to fight for their relationship when they were young and stupid and so in love with each other that it was tangible. How could they fight for it now when they were both so much more wary and wise?

  And did they even want to fight for it?

  Vanessa pushed all the questions out of her mind as they pulled up to her apartment complex. All that mattered right now was the safety of those girls. Whatever happened with Liam would happen. Vanessa wasn’t going to worry about it now.

  Joe—Joe Matarazzo, for heaven’s sake—opened her door for her when they parked. It was still hard to believe the infamous playboy was now in law enforcement. He was one guy who would never be able to work undercover.

  “I was just kidding about Liam with my comment,” Joe said softly. “Just talking trash like team members do.”

  “Thanks.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “But I think we both know there was quite a bit of truth to that jest.”

  “Just give him a chance,” Joe said, his volume trailing off as they walked to the front of the car near Liam.

  She glanced at both men. “The most important thing right now is to find those girls.”

  Joe nodded. “I’m heading back to Derek at the sheriff’s office. If we need to follow McBrien, it will have to be a two-car job.”

  Liam nodded. “I’ll use the laptop to see if any of McBrien’s known associates sets off any alarms in the Omega system. I’m sure he probably keeps himself pretty clean, though.”

  “Derek and I will do the same from the car.”

  “We’re going to need to move fast if we get any information. I’m not sure if McBrien bought my excuse for being here, although I think he did.”

  “What excuse was that?” she asked.

  Liam turned fully toward her. “You.”

  Oh.

  With Liam looking at her that way, every thought she’d just had about their relationship not working out vanished. With just one look she was completely enthralled with him again. She forced herself to look away.

  Focus on the girls.

  “We’re ready for either a water or a land siege.” Joe’s words interrupted her thoughts. “We can get a full SWAT team in from Norfolk if you want, but I doubt there’s any way McBrien wouldn’t hear about that.”

  “And immediately kill all the girls,” Liam finished for him. “No, we’re going to have to handle this on our own.”

  Joe nodded. “That’s how I prefer it anyway.”

  Vanessa looked back and forth between the two men. “You mean you guys are going to go onto the boat to get the girls?”

  Liam cocked his head to the side and gave her that cocky smile she both loved and hated. “Hostage rescue. It’s what I do, baby. Joe and Derek do the same thing, although Joe usually does a lot of talking with the perps beforehand.”

  Joe rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I sit around and chat with them. But if there’s any way of getting hostages out without using force in most situations, I try that. But not in this case. If we can get these girls out without being harmed, I don’t give a damn whether those bastards are hurt in the process or not.”

  Liam looked at Vaness
a. “If we can find out where the boat is, we can take it by stealth, or by more brutal means if necessary, as long as the girls won’t be harmed. Or if they’ve moved to land, we’re equipped for that, too.”

  Liam could handle himself. Even when they were younger, he’d had an awareness, a mental toughness that had gone way beyond someone of his teenage years. It had been one of the things that had drawn her to him.

  But she still didn’t like the thought of him risking his life. No amount of mental toughness could stop a bullet. The risks here were very real.

  Liam took her hand. “Let’s get some rest. You need a chance to regroup.”

  Vanessa nodded. Between talking about the miscarriage, Liam being taken in for questioning and thinking about the danger he’d be in trying to get the girls out, she felt as if her world was flying apart in a hundred different directions.

  “Keep us posted,” he told Joe as the man got back into his car.

  * * *

  LIAM CHECKED HER apartment again before he would let her inside. The thought of eating crossed her mind, but she pushed it away. She just wanted to sleep. She barely remembered making it to her bed and falling on it. But when she woke up the sun was much lower in the sky and she could smell...bacon?

  Her shoes were off and she’d been covered up, obviously by Liam. She made her way out of bed and into the kitchen. She found Liam there making breakfast food with ease.

  “You cook?” The Liam she had known years ago couldn’t boil water. He’d never had to worry about cooking with his grandmother around. Vanessa made her way over to the table and sat.

  He turned and smiled. “I do all right with breakfast.”

  “Breakfast is your specialty, huh?” She tried to keep her tone light but could tell it fell short. Joe’s insinuation about Liam’s sexual exploits came back to mind.

  Liam looked over at her, jaw set. “I won’t lie to you. There have been women since I left the Outer Banks.”

  “How many?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Never mind. I really don’t want to know.”