THE DEFENDER

by Adrienne Giordano

  “And you want sex.”

  He grinned. “There is that.”

  “Except something is on your mind. I can tell.”

  “Aside from your brother being kidnapped and that I licked every inch of your body this afternoon, which scares the hell out of me because I’ve never done that before.”

  “Licked a woman’s body?” she cracked.

  “Jokes? Really?”

  She stepped closer, ran her hands up his chest and settled them on his shoulders. “You’re thinking too much.”

  “I’ve got a few things on my mind. One of which is trying not to blow this case because I’ve gotten emotional about the stubborn defense attorney.” He slid his arms around her waist. “I hate defense attorneys.”

  “I know you do. I’m sorry.”

  He needed to ask her if he could trust her. Once again make her say it. To remind her she’d promised.

  Except she inched closer, pressed her breasts against him and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck. I’m dead. Whether the fatigue had softened him, he didn’t know, but there was definitely one place that had stayed hard. And that place knew exactly where it wanted to be. And it wasn’t discussing whether or not he could trust Penny.

  Who needed trust?

  “Will you stay with me tonight?”

  “Can’t.”

  She stuck out her bottom lip and he laughed. “Another marshal will be here in an hour. How will it look if I walk out of here tomorrow morning?”

  “Didn’t think of that. I hate babysitters. It’s stifling.”

  He leaned down, dropped a kiss on her pouty lips. Too cute. “I know. And I’m sorry. It’ll be over soon.”

  “Russell?”

  “What?”

  “I think I love you.”

  The words came at him, moving slow, then a muffled roar echoed in his head. Blood rush. His vision blurred and he blinked a couple of times. Hang on here.

  What was she doing? She loved him? That statement might make him the luckiest man alive, but chances were this sudden lovefest was a reaction to the nightmare of the past few days. Penny needed a safe place to land and it looked as if Russ was it. He couldn’t blame her, either. With the mess surrounding her, he’d run for cover, too.

  “Penny—”

  She pressed two fingers over his lips. “Don’t say anything. Whatever this is or isn’t, we don’t need to talk about it. I need my brother back. Once that happens, we’ll talk. Right now, I want you to take me to bed and remind me of why life is good. Will you do that for me?”

  Uh, yeah. At least, his body said yes. The brain—the one that counted here—said no. Sex right now would only feed this illusion that she loved him. And no doubt it was an illusion. He’d seen this hundreds of times throughout his career. When life sucked, people imagined themselves in love.

  Penny tugged lightly on his shirt and he stared down into her big blue eyes, ran his fingers over her perfect cheekbone and his chest broke open. She did that to him. Every time he looked at her, touched her, it filled emptiness.

  Eventually, she’d figure out she didn’t love him. Not the way she thought she did. Not the way he wanted her to.

  Eventually.

  She tugged his shirt again, inched closer and rested her head against his chest. I’m sunk. At this moment, selfish creep that he was, he’d let her believe it.

  Done deal. No more thinking required. He grinned. “Well, if you insist. There might be a few places I missed licking this afternoon.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  After an intolerably long night, Penny sat at her desk, scrolling through emails, wanting nothing more than communication from Jenna or Colin Heath. Anything that would make the loss of sleep last night worthwhile. Of course, Russ had done a fine job of distracting her for a bit. At least until the other marshal showed up and they couldn’t come up with a decent excuse for Russ to be lingering. Other than her simply wanting him there.

  And, of course, she’d told him she loved him. Stupid girl. By now, with all the cases she’d worked, she should know emotions were trouble after traumatic situations.

  You should know better.

  Time for that later. Once Zac came home and Heath was behind bars. Then she and Russ could figure out what exactly they were doing with each other.

  Assuming he was still speaking to her. If the idea she had brewing worked, Russell Voight would despise her. Part of her hoped he’d understand the desperation involved, but with his stubbornness, he’d see an end run to Heath as a betrayal.

  She couldn’t blame him. She’d given her word she’d cooperate, which she’d done.

  Until they lost Zac.

  She flicked the computer mouse away and sat back. Two hundred emails waited for her while she obsessed over her plan, one that might not even be put into action if she couldn’t get a message to Heath. All this worrying wouldn’t help. She simply had to move forward, wait for Heath to contact her and hope to whatever force might actually be on her side that the FBI found her brother.

  Alive.

  Jenna swung in the door wearing a short floral skirt and halter top that shouted “I’m in shape and can kick butt.” Probably not the most appropriate office attire, but Penny had settled that in her mind long ago. As long as Jenna kept the information flowing, there’d be no friction regarding her clothing choices.

  She dropped a file on the desk and lowered herself into one of the guest chairs. “How much do you love me?”

  “I love you a lot. Maybe more than I did yesterday.”

  “Excellent answer.” She flipped open the file. “Found you a guy who found you a guy who found you a guy.”

  “Three guys?”

  “Maybe four. I lost track. I’ve been at this all night and you’ll stroke out when you see what it cost me, but you said no limit.” Jenna dug a cell phone from her giant Louis Vuitton tote. “When this phone rings. Answer it.”

  Penny stared at it. “Who will it be?”

  “If I’m any good at my job, which we both know I am, it should be our boy Colin. Or at least someone close to him. You give him whatever message you want and my work here is done.”

  Found him. Maybe the obsessing paid off. Penny sat forward and reached for the phone. “When will he call?”

  “Not sure. I told my contact you wanted to speak with him privately.” She gestured to the phone. “On that phone. Where no one else—the FBI included— could possibly know about the call.”

  “Whose phone is this?”

  “Mine. Disposable. I gave them the number.”

  “Okay.”

  Jenna smacked her hands against the arms of the chair. “Anything else?”

  “No. I’m good. And thank you. This is excellent work.”

  Jenna didn’t know it, but Penny would make sure there was a fat bump in her next paycheck. The woman may have just saved Zac’s life.

  * * *

  RUSS STEPPED THROUGH the main door of Welberg Prison in Southeast Michigan and met the stale, antiseptic odor of a building that hadn’t seen fresh air in thirty years. As an FBI agent, the smell of prisons wasn’t foreign, but he never did get used to that caged-in feeling. Even if he wasn’t the one caged.

  After a three-hour drive made worse by morning traffic, his damned day was already out of control and not helping his mood. For a guy who liked a certain amount of chaos in his world, the current level had shot to the red zone. Heath, Zac, Penny. They were all one huge fireball rolling toward a dry forest owned by special agent Russell Voight.

  Total mess.

  After signing in and checking his weapon, an armed guard led Russ to a small conference room used by attorneys and other law-enforcement officers when they needed to interview witnesses. Or, in this case, convicted felons.
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  Russ noted the smack of his dress shoes against the cement floor, but didn’t look down. As a general rule, he kept his head high—no sign of weakness or fear—when visiting a prison. Even if the bare white walls and the sense of isolation scared the hell out of him.

  The guard deposited Russ, closed and locked the door behind him and hightailed it to retrieve Russ’s interviewee. Jamming his hands into his pockets, Russ surveyed the room. More scrubbed white walls. Plenty of that around here. In the middle of the room, a metal table sat bolted to the floor so no daredevil convict could use it as a weapon. Along with the table came two plastic chairs that, if upended, would most likely break before they did any damage. No muss, no fuss.

  He remained standing, refusing to sit until the prisoner was cuffed to the table. Another self-imposed rule. Sitting would allow the prisoner to loom over him, to assume the power role, when he entered the room. Russ never gave away power.

  Never.

  In his head, he reviewed his questions. Simon Caldwell had been convicted of murdering Elizabeth Brooks’s husband. At the time, Caldwell had been employed by Colin Heath and by all accounts the two had been close. What that relationship was now, Russ didn’t know, but he was about to lay out a carrot that Caldwell would be a fool to ignore.

  All Caldwell needed to do was (a) help Russ locate Heath and (b) testify against the man. In exchange his sentence would be reduced to the minimum and he’d walk away from prison with another forty years of life ahead of him.

  Or he could stay in prison for those forty years.

  His call.

  Russ hoped he’d make the smart choice. Then again, the fact that the guy was incarcerated didn’t bode well for smart choices.

  A loud buzz sounded from outside the room. Here we go. Russ rolled his shoulders, dragged his hands from his pockets and let them hang at his sides while he waited for Caldwell to enter.

  The guard unlocked the door and opened it for the shackled prisoner. Caldwell’s head had been shaved and he wore navy prison scrubs. On his feet were white canvas slip-ons. Not exactly a fashion statement, but in prison it was as good as they got. Caldwell’s pale skin stretched over a long, thin face and indicated the sallow look of someone who hadn’t seen sunlight in months. His build wasn’t big, but he had a height advantage of a couple of inches.

  Still, Russ wasn’t the one trussed like an animal.

  “Chains stay on,” the guard said as Caldwell took the chair by the wall.

  The guard cuffed the prisoner to a hook on the table, then left. Once the door closed, Russ took the seat across from Caldwell.

  Caldwell smirked. As if sitting in a cell was more interesting than meeting with the FBI. People.

  “I’m special agent Russ Voight. FBI. I’m here regarding Colin Heath.”

  He shrugged. “I’m popular today.”

  What now?

  Wanting to engage his target in a casual manner, Russ relaxed his shoulders and kept his hands on his thighs. “Heath’s been busy.”

  “I wouldn’t know. But the broad who was here earlier was a lot better looking than you.”

  Russ’s stomach dropped, but he didn’t move. Instead, he focused on keeping his facial features and body language neutral. No weakness anywhere.

  But if the “broad” was a petite blonde, Penny Hennings was in for one hell of a battle with him. After all the yapping he’d done about being able to trust her, she’d better not have sold him out. Professionally, it would be a disaster for him. Emotionally? He couldn’t go there. Not when he’d spent all that damned time ignoring his own warnings about getting involved with the sassy defense lawyer.

  “What broad?”

  Caldwell stared out the miniscule window, where a slash of morning sunshine shone against the glass. “Jenna someone. She’s an investigator from some law firm downtown.”

  The investigator. The one Russ had said he didn’t want to know about. Suddenly, he wanted to know everything. “And she was here this morning?”

  “Yep. Wanted to get in touch with Heath, figured I knew where to find him.”

  Russ thought about it. He and Penny had agreed she could put her investigator on the case. Maybe she hadn’t violated their agreement. Which would prolong her life.

  “And do you?”

  He shrugged. “I gave her some names. People who might know.” He glanced out the window again. “Nice day out?”

  Have I got a deal for you. “Best of the month. And one you’ll miss because you’re in here. I can change that.”

  Caldwell sat back, made a move to lift his shackled hands and gave up. Bingo. Russ rested his arms on the table. “Tell me where to find Heath, testify against him and you walk out of here after serving the minimum. I can make it happen.”

  “You want to flip me?”

  “Or you can spend the rest of your life in this stink hole.”

  “Why’s everyone so interested in Heath?”

  “Outside of his total lack of respect for the law?”

  Caldwell bellowed a laugh. One of those deep, gut-busting ones, and Russ wanted to pop him. Under the table, he tapped his foot. Five times. Enough to get rid of a little energy.

  Tough spot here. Russ typically shared no information, but part of a good negotiation was the give-and-take. He’d give a little, maybe get a lot. “He may be facing a kidnapping charge. Not to mention murder, obstruction and anything else I can nail him with.”

  “The Brooks woman?”

  No chance, ace. “What did you tell the investigator this morning?”

  “Nothing. She wanted names. I gave her names.”

  “What’d you get out of it?”

  “I got to stare at a beautiful woman in a low-cut shirt a few extra minutes. You’d be surprised how that motivates a man.”

  Not really. Not after he’d been lusting after Penny. When it came to his baser needs, Russ had no problem understanding the effect of a beautiful woman.

  “Besides,” Caldwell continued, “she said she had a message for Heath. How she expected me to deliver it, who knows?”

  “What message?”

  “All she said was her boss had a deal for him. One he couldn’t refuse.”

  Knew it. What the hell was Penny up to? Still, information from a prisoner had to be vetted. For all he knew, this deal Penny wanted to make could be nonsense. A ploy to find Heath.

  “Plenty of deals to be had today,” Russ said. “Give me the names you gave to Jenna-the-beautiful, answer my questions regarding Heath and testify when I lock him up, and you walk out of here ahead of schedule. Way ahead. Are you in or out?”

  “Dude, if I talk to you, it won’t matter when I’m released—I’ll be dead anyway. Heath won’t let me live to testify. Look what happened to Sam Brooks.”

  Russ had anticipated this. “We’ll get you moved to a safer facility.”

  “And what? Isolation? Being by myself all day? Bad enough I’m in the joint, never mind not having anyone to talk to. I’ll go out of my mind. No deal. Not unless I walk out of here today and go into witness protection.”

  Russ was good, but not that good. Still, he wasn’t ready to give up. “Let me see what I can do.”

  Again, Caldwell smirked. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  * * *

  BY NINE-THIRTY Penny had nearly lost her mind. Two hundred emails cleared. Not bad. Of course, she’d arrived at the office at six-thirty in hopes that Heath would call early with instructions on Zac. Heck, she’d hoped her instincts were right about him calling her office instead of the house. Now she wanted a call from him not only regarding Zac, but to possibly make a side deal with him via Jenna.

  Slowly, she’d begun to figure him out. He wanted to keep her on edge, which meant calling different phones. Her best guess was the office line wo
uld be next in the rotation.

  Three hours she’d been waiting and no call. Not even on her cell. What if he’d called the house?

  No. She’d be aware. The feds were monitoring that phone as well as the office phone. All areas covered. She’d just have to wait. Maybe return some calls while she did.

  She reached for the handset just as the cell phone Jenna had given her rang. Blocked number. Him.

  Penny held her breath, stared at her closed office door. Brent was right outside. She could bring him into this, but then she’d never know if her plan would have worked. And Zac’s life was the priority. The phone rang. Relax. She hit the button. “Hello?”

  “Good morning, lovely Penny. I heard you were looking for me. Wanted a private chat.”

  She sure did. “Correct.”

  “And the FBI is not listening?”

  “No. If I had them listening I wouldn’t have spent a small fortune simply to get a message to you.”

  A vision of Russ smiling at her flashed in her mind. He won’t be smiling after this. After this, he’d never smile at her again.

  “Go ahead,” Heath said.

  She gripped the phone tighter, pictured Zac’s face instead of Russ’s. “I want my brother back. I think we can compromise. I won’t turn Elizabeth Brooks over to you. I might as well kill her myself, because surely that’s a death sentence. However, I will make sure she is not available to testify for the FBI. She will never again be an issue for you. I guarantee she will disappear. Vanish.”

  Silence drifted across the phone line.

  “She’s agreed to this?” he finally asked.

  A fierce energy whipped into Penny, made her stomach churn. She stood, paced behind her desk and shook out her free hand. “All she wants is her child safe. If we guarantee that, she’ll live with it.”

  “And you’ll do this how?”

  He’s mine. Her stomach settled as all that whipping energy spurred her mind to action. “Not your concern. There is a catch, though. I will keep any evidence she has. And believe me when I say she’s given me a boatload on you. If anything happens to Elizabeth or Sam, every scrap of that evidence gets handed over to the FBI. That’s the deal. Elizabeth and her son disappear, Zac is released and you go about your life as a free man. As much as it kills me, I’ll let you walk away if it’ll save my brother, Elizabeth and Sam. But the evidence stays with me. Anything goes wrong, it all gets turned over.”