“She did what?” Brantley asked for clarification.
Ace rubbed his chin, processing.
“This is your fault,” Brantley said.
“That was my thought exactly,” Ace added. “Either you worked her up to the point she can’t go to bed tonight without sex or she’s afraid of Juraz. Which is it?”
Casey smirked. “That’s eating at you, isn’t it?”
“Damn straight it is,” Ace replied, reaching in the cooler for a beer. He smiled to himself. Actually, it didn’t bother him in the least. He’d had time to think about Abby and Casey. If anything, their little rendezvous only confirmed things for him.
It wouldn’t be long now. Soon, they’d all have the opportunity to enjoy Abby.
“Since we apparently have the night off, can I have one of those?” Casey asked.
“No,” Ace replied. “You’ve had enough to sip on for one day.”
Casey licked his upper lip. “That’s all right. Hog your beer. I don’t give a damn. If I had it to do over again, I’d drop down on my knees for her on a crowded street.”
“Shit, Casey,” Brantley said. “Do you have a death wish?”
Ace clenched his fists. “If any of you land in bed with Abby without me there to watch…”
“Don’t you mean supervise?” Casey asked. “God, you’re such a perv.”
“I’d talk,” Ace said. “Licking her pussy where anyone could come in and catch you?”
Brantley waved his finger toward Casey. “Ace has a point. You’re the one who told Juraz you were her brother. What if he’d walked in and caught the two of you?”
“I guess he’d quickly figure out I wasn’t who I said I was.”
“Either that or he would’ve been sick enough to kill you,” Brantley pointed out.
“I’m not apologizing,” Casey said. “She was like a dream.”
“I bet,” Ace said, sitting down again. He propped his elbow on the cooler to ensure Casey didn’t sneak a beer.
“You don’t have to guard your beverages.”
Ace sniffed. “You didn’t share Abby. I’m not sharing the alcohol.”
Casey yawned. “I don’t care anyhow. I’m headed back to Abby’s to tuck her in for the night.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Ace hurried to his feet. “You need to stay away from her until she has a chance to come to terms with this assignment.”
“Don’t you mean until you can get in between her legs first?” Casey asked, hitting the nail on the head.
“That, too,” Ace replied, winking. A long time ago, he’d accepted the fact the others were as taken by Abby as he was. He’d always known if anything happened between them, he’d have to share her.
“You’re ridiculous about this, Ace,” Casey told him.
“Maybe.”
“We all wait until this mission is over,” Brantley informed them. “Then we’ll all pursue her.”
“I’ll agree to that,” Ace said.
Casey snickered. “Sure you will. Is that what you call wanting to fuck her lights out?”
“I never said that,” Ace said, keeping his head down as he studied the rim of his beer bottle.
“Shit, Ace,” Casey said. “Look at you. You’ve got it so bad for her. You’re like a brooding brute ready to pounce on anyone who even speaks to her.”
“That must’ve been some kind of conversation you were having with her earlier today,” Ace pointed out, revisiting the image of Casey’s head between Abby’s parted thighs.
Casey waggled his tongue. “She’s in awe of the language I speak. Trust me.”
Ace growled. “This is fucking ridiculous. Don’t you have anything else better to do tonight?”
“He was supposed to be watching Abby.”
“I stayed with her until Juraz’s guys picked him up in a limousine. Porter and Fowler are with her now.”
Ace rubbed his chin. “Say Juraz left with his men?”
Casey nodded. “Oh yeah. He has a sweet ride, too—a Hummer limo with a banner running down the side, advertising the grand opening for his resort.”
“Did anyone get out?”
“Not that I saw, why?”
Ace rose. “Juraz has his sights set on Abby. He’s very protective of his subs, obsessive even.”
“Oh sure, that’s what I gathered, too,” Casey said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “Particularly while I was viewing the photos of the two dead ones he decided to dispose of after he found a replacement.”
Brantley looked up at the stars. “He kills them so they can’t go out and betray him when he’s done with them. When he’s finished, he doesn’t want them, but he doesn’t want anyone else to have them. That’s why we need to ask the shadows to pick up Juraz’s sub in Chicago. She’ll be dead by the end of the week if we don’t move her to a safe house.”
“The shadows?” Ace asked, arching a brow. “What the fuck is that?”
Brantley thinned his lips.
Ace released a heavy breath. “Never mind. The leadership position makes you privy to information none of the rest of us need.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Brantley said, standing.
Porter and Fowler approached. “I’m glad we don’t need backup. What the hell are you doing out here? Having a hoedown?” Fowler asked.
“Where’s Abby?” Brantley asked, an alarming expression marking his face.
“We thought she was with you,” Porter replied.
Ace swallowed tightly. Shit. She was alone, and the five of them were sitting there making small talk. He scrambled to his feet. “Somebody is gonna have to get it together here. We can’t leave her unattended, not even for a second. Work up a plan and set it in motion, Brantley. We’ll all follow your orders. Figure out a schedule.” He picked up his cooler and threw the soft pack over his shoulder. “I’m damn pissed about this. One of us should be with Abby, or looking out for her, at all times.”
Porter grunted. “If you’re so damned pissed, then what are you doing out here drinking? Why weren’t you up at the house watching her?”
“Casey was supposed to have her back. Hell, he’s the one who jumped at the opportunity to arrange his convenient accommodations.”
Porter frowned. “Ace, you would’ve done the same thing. He didn’t have much of a choice.”
“What are you explaining here? Are we talking about how Casey told Juraz he was family, or are we making excuses for him because he couldn’t keep his tongue out of her pussy?” He laughed. “I just need clarification at some point, so I can better understand.”
“You’re something else,” Porter said, snickering. “You’re a self-righteous asshole when you want to be. You know that?” A beat later, he called after him, “On your way back to Abby’s place, you ask yourself the right questions. If you’d been in Casey’s shoes, what would you have done?”
Hell. Ace didn’t have to ask himself shit. He knew what he would’ve done. He would’ve fucked her.
* * * *
Her place was too quiet. Juraz had left an hour or so ago, and she’d fully expected company after he departed. Instead, she’d been left alone. The privacy was actually nice. She took the opportunity to rummage through the house so she wouldn’t appear at a loss again in the event she needed to fix supper or simply locate a washrag.
She assumed the guys were over at the main house watching her every move. They hadn’t bothered her, and she’d yet to call and check in. Staring at the grandfather clock, she suddenly became alarmed. Maybe something was wrong.
She should’ve heard from someone by now.
Grabbing a semiautomatic from her luggage, she hurried toward the front door. Something was definitely not quite right.
This wasn’t like Brantley. It damn sure wasn’t like Ace. She never bothered peeking outside before she swung open the door and exited the house. That was her first mistake.
There was a huge possibility that it might be her last.
Chapter Twelve
> This was a fucking nightmare. When she came to, Abby was seated in the middle of a room with her arms tied behind her back. Her ankles were secured, and a rag was stuffed in her mouth.
“Hello, lover,” Kit Reeves said, patting her cheek. “How’ve you been?”
He was still as handsome as he’d been when she’d first met him in college. They’d later joined the Underground Unit together, but he never made it through the first cuts. Apparently he hadn’t lost his knack for getting under her skin in about a minute flat.
She grunted behind the cloth covering her lips.
“Good, darling.” He winked. “I’m glad to hear it.”
She moaned and fought against her restraints.
He bent an ear. “What’s that? I can’t hear you. Can you speak up?”
Abby strained to mumble something he might understand. Maybe he’d remove the interference so she could give his arrogant ass a piece of her mind!
He turned toward the man next to him. Judson Dalton. Fucking great! She’d trained with Judson. Last she’d heard, he didn’t make it through the Unit’s rigorous solo field test. What the hell was he doing there with Kit? And what did they want with her?
Her heart pounded against her chest. Had they switched sides after the Unit didn’t want them? What was this about? Why were they reentering her life now?
“Good to see you again, Abby,” Judson said, winking. “I’ve missed you, doll.”
“Technically, you haven’t,” Kit remarked. “In the last five years, she hasn’t been out of our sights for longer than a minute.”
“True,” Judson agreed, grabbing a cigar from his shirt pocket.
She immediately glared at the cigar.
“Oh that’s right. How silly of me. You never liked to kiss a man with tobacco on his breath.” He tossed the cigar and stalked her. “And I know you’re gonna wanna kiss me when I tell you how we just saved your gorgeous butt from being kidnapped.”
She grunted again, wiggled around on the chair, and finally gave up when she saw her effort was doing nothing more than igniting the sheer delight in their eyes.
“Pour her a drink, Kit,” Judson said, reaching behind her head to release the gag. “She’ll probably need one.”
* * * *
Brantley paced in front of the monitors. Fowler continued to zoom in and out on various frames, frantically searching the images as they tried to locate their missing agent.
Ace rushed them. “I can’t find any sign of a struggle. Do either of you know what weapons she packed in her luggage?”
Brantley shook his head.
“This mission is going to hell,” Ace grumbled.
“Don’t,” Brantley warned. “I took over days before we arrived here. I see where I’ve let this team down. I wasn’t prepared.”
“I didn’t say that,” Ace said.
Casey and Porter entered the room.
“Anything?” Brantley asked.
“Not yet,” Porter replied.
“I ought to kill you myself,” Ace said, pointing at Casey. “You should’ve stayed with her until you were sure Fowler and Porter had her.”
“I thought—”
“We aren’t paid for you to think!” Ace screamed accusingly. He immediately focused on Brantley. “And you…you’d better get your game plan together and do it fast. That’s why you’re in the position you’re in now. You’re supposed to lead this team. I’m not blaming you, but damn it, someone needs to take charge. We’re depending on you to do that.”
Brantley scanned the monitors. “There must be something here. That property is covered with cameras and surveillance. Unless Juraz and his men broke in here and erased the tapes, there’s something there. Find it, damn it!”
Fowler swiveled around in the office chair. “I will. But I won’t do it any quicker if you don’t take a seat and shut the hell up.”
“I’m your commanding leader now,” Brantley reminded him.
“And you’re also my friend,” Fowler pointed out. “And right now, there’s no way I’ll be able to locate Abby unless you give me a few moments of peace so I can do my job. I’ve got to find out why the cameras appear to have been shut down while Abby disappeared.”
“Check her house again,” Brantley said, turning to Porter and Casey.
Brantley’s cell rang, and he retrieved the device from one of the computer desks. Casey and Porter stalled before they exited the room, hopeful expressions marking their faces.
“Unknown caller.” A beat later, Brantley said, “Hello.”
“I believe we have something that belongs to you.”
Brantley put the phone down and hit the speaker option.
“Go ahead,” Brantley said.
“She stands about five feet six inches, has silken blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a charming personality. She’s a quiet and shy little thing right now. I can’t encourage her to say the first word.”
“That ain’t Abby,” Fowler said under his breath.
About that time, muffled sounds filled the line. Abby sounded as if she’d been deliberately silenced and was trying to scream bloody hell in spite of her predicament.
“Abby!” Casey exclaimed.
“She’s sort of tied up at the moment,” the voice said.
“What do you want?” Brantley asked.
“What I didn’t want was to come out of the shadows. You get me?”
Brantley gulped. He locked gazes with Ace and visibly saw Ace’s shoulders relax. He’d said too much to Ace earlier, and now Ace wouldn’t let it slide. If he hadn’t already put two and two together, he would now. There were others on their team, someone out there covering their backs when they needed additional support.
“Hello?”
“I’m here,” Brantley assured him. “What seems to be the problem?”
“Get me off the damn speakerphone and we’ll talk about it.”
Brantley snatched the phone off the desk and took a walk down the hall. “All right. Talk to me.”
“You left her unattended, asshole.”
“Who is this?” Brantley asked.
“Kit.” A beat later, he said, “Juraz’s men were all over the place, snooping around for about a half hour while you and the boys sat by the water and drank the devil’s juice.”
“What’d they find?”
“Well, they didn’t pick up what they wanted most. We made sure of that. Oh, and tell your boy he won’t find the images he needs. We wiped ’em clean.”
“What about Juraz’s men?”
“You’ll see them. I left a disc in your room. It’s on your bedside table.”
“And Abby?”
“I haven’t decided how I’ll handle her yet,” Kit replied. “Suffice it to say, she’s still trying to process how Judson and I could be working together. Poor little thing isn’t sure what she’ll do with the two of us.”
Brantley clutched the phone and waited for the dig that was certain to come.
“After your boy got her all worked up earlier today, maybe she’s ready to play. What’d you think?”
“Put her on the phone.”
“Hell, Brantley. She’s fine.”
“I want to talk to her.”
“No can do,” Kit sang. “Now listen. Donovan and the Underground authority put you in charge. You get your shit together, and we’ll return her safely. Until then, she’s out of sight and out of mind. You get me?”
“We need her here.”
“Last I heard, you were trying to pull her off the mission.”
“We changed our mind.”
“We?”
“Never mind.”
“Oh no,” Kit drawled. “We didn’t do anything. Sloane Remington changed your mind for you because he didn’t want his own sex kitten giving up her cream to Juraz. You didn’t do shit. In fact, you were trying to hand the decision-making process over to Ace, hoping he’d make the call for you. Grow some balls, Brantley. If you don’t, this mission will blow up in your
face.”
“I’ve got this,” Brantley assured him.
“Not yet you don’t,” Kit said. “But when you do, give me a buzz. You know how to reach me.”
“Hang on there a minute,” Brantley said. “You’re still under my command. The shadows are supposed to take orders from the commanding leader like everyone else.”
“Then command,” Kit taunted him.
“I want Abby back here now.”
“Can’t do it until she’s safe,” Kit said. “Anything else?”
Brantley cleared his throat. “What orders did Juraz’s men have?”
“The only one a man wants to hear when he’s looking at something this pretty,” Kit said.
“Which was?”
“Retrieve.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I think it’s time you told me about those shadows,” Ace said, catching Brantley before he reentered the open den they’d made into their main command center.
Brantley pointed toward the stairs. “Meet me in the kitchen. I need to fetch a disc and give it to Fowler.”
“All right,” Ace agreed, brooding. As he walked down to the main level, his heart was troubled, burdened. He should’ve taken it upon himself to be there for Abby. He knew what she was facing. He’d seen the fear in her eyes, and he’d done nothing.
What kind of man acknowledged he possessed strong feelings for a woman but didn’t go out of his way to protect her? He kicked out a wooden chair scooted under the long, country-style kitchen table.
Taking a seat, he buried his face in his hands. Numerous images rolled through his head. The first day they’d met, the first time he’d seen her in a swimsuit—quite possibly the finest hour of his life—and the last time they’d been on a stakeout. Good God, he was instantly rigid thinking about that moment.
He could almost smell her arousal then. He still remembered the way her body melded to his as he looped his arm around her waist in that small, dark closet. He’d stressed the importance of staying together, of remaining as still as humanly possible.
Those blue eyes had been his damning when she’d looked over his shoulder and said, “What ’cha got in those pants, Ace? A sniper rifle?”
He mashed down on his cock in an effort to resituate his dick. Damn her for getting him aroused by past memories. No. Damn him for not doing something to feed the hunger, sate his growing appetite. Maybe if he owned a pair of balls, she wouldn’t be in hiding now.
Acres, Natalie - Cowboy Boots and Unsettled Debts [Cowboy Boots 3] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 10
