Deep Into The Night (Hartz Island Series)

by Loy, Tracie Ingersoll

  “Someone’s awake,” he said.

  Cassie laughed. “I could say the same thing about you.”

  Rocking his pelvis into her, he groaned and she gasped. “Yes you could.” Between slow drugging kisses he murmured, “We have all morning.” He pulled off the flannel shirt she wore and gazed at her breasts.

  She smiled shyly. “They’re not…Hollywood big.”

  He traced her nipples with his tongue. “They’re beautiful.”

  He took each breast in his mouth and sucked gently, tantalizing the tip. The louder she moaned, the more he explored. Like a falcon teasing his prey, he took his time. Not until she was ready did he let his control go. Afterwards, she lay in his arms. His hand rested in the moistness between her legs, and she smiled, contented and drowsy.

  The ringing of Jack’s cellphone woke them. With her eyes closed, she listened to the one-sided conversation and when he finished she asked, “What time is it?”

  “It’s nine. That was Ray Carlson. We need to get up to the island. Stuff is happening.”

  Cassie groaned and rolled onto her stomach. Jack threw off his covers and headed into the bathroom.

  “Come on, Cass. Let’s go. Duty calls.”

  Laying there in a warm drowsy state, Cassie had a few expletives to attach to duty calls. She smiled, thinking about Jack all hot and big inside her. It was like she couldn’t get enough of him. Couldn’t duty just wait a little while longer?

  “I’m going to make us breakfast,” he shouted from the shower.

  She did not stir out of the bed until he came through dressed before heading to the kitchen.

  Cassie was not surprised to find Jack on the phone when she walked into the kitchen. He sat at the counter with a large yellow pad, jotting down notes. When she walked by, he patted her butt, which caught her by surprise, so she stopped and backed up so he could pat it again. Cassie glanced at his yellow pad, but nothing made sense. They were just a bunch of arrows, lines, and letters. His version of shorthand. When he finished, Jack ripped off the top page and handed Cassie the yellow pad.

  “While I fix breakfast, will you take notes? Also, make a list of things you want to take from here up to the island, like the laptop.”

  What hadn’t made sense before, sort of did now. Jack had a list of equipment he wanted to bring. They finished eating, and Cassie made her list. It was short: clothes and laptop.

  Jack’s phone continued to ring while they packed up. Between phone calls, they’d decided what to take and what to leave behind. Katerina’s dress now hung in Jack’s closet with her shoes next to his. Everything else that she owned fit into one of Jack’s suitcases.

  They stood at the back of the Tahoe while Jack rearranged things. The sounds of an approaching car echoed through the garage.

  “Oh, great,” Cassie muttered.

  Jack grinned.

  The silver BMW pulled into its designated spot. Out popped Misty in tight workout clothes that emphasized her enormous chest. She took her time, making sure Jack saw it all.

  “You know those aren’t real, don’t you?” Cassie asked under her breath.

  Jack laughed. “Haven’t you heard, more than a mouthful is too much?” He turned back around and loaded up their things.

  “Right. That’s what you all say. Men are such liars.”

  “Hey, not all of us.”

  Misty stopped in front of them and waited for Jack to turn around. Cassie swore her gaze settled on Jack’s crotch. “So…going somewhere…Jack?” she asked.

  Cassie glanced at Jack, who grinned. He seemed to find these encounters humorous. She found them annoying. With the very large rock still on her left hand, she brought it up and rested it on her cheek and smiled, wiggling her ring finger. Oh, yeah, Misty saw it.

  “Well, that’s quite a paper weight. Who would have ever thought?” She marched off.

  “What the hell was that about?” asked Jack. He looked at her. “Do you know?”

  “Maybe.” Cassie flipped her hand up and wiggled her finger.

  “I don’t get women. Why did you do that?”

  “She’s annoying. Look at her. That’s the look Hollywood wanted, and I didn’t have it. Not even the boobs. I guess I’m just jealous.”

  Jack sat down on the back of the SUV and pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her. “Why?” He brushed her hair away and kissed her. “There’s always going to be a Misty out there.” He kissed her again, his lips warm and tender. “But you…hell, Cass, you make me hot.” His hands took her face, and he stared into her eyes. “And you’re going to have to trust me.”

  The surprise about how he felt left her speechless. He lifted his brows and waited for her to nod.

  “Good, let’s get going.”

  When they exited the garage, Jack’s phone dinged several times. “Do you mind?” he asked.

  She didn’t. More than anything, she wanted to think about their morning, which she did while he zipped along the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Cassie was blown away by what Jack had admitted. But what if he was wrong? What if she never made him hot again? The insecurity battle roared in her brain. Tears welled in her eyes, but she brushed them away. Jack reached over, squeezed her thigh, and let his hand rest on her knee.

  He parked at the rear entrance of his office building and turned to Cassie. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Something is wrong. Does it have to do with the fact that I was on the phone?”

  “No. It’s something stupid, that’s all.”

  “I’ve heard a lot of stupid things in my life. We’re not getting out of the truck until you tell me.” He hit the lock button.

  She sighed. “It’s…silly.”

  He pulled her to face him. “Tell me.”

  She dropped her eyes from his gaze. “What if…I…never make you hot again.” She shrugged. “Like tonight…or let’s say next week?”

  “Ah, Christ. That’s what you’re worried about?”

  “I told you it was stupid.”

  He shook his head, laughing a low throaty laugh. “Here I thought it had to do with my job and being on the phone. Honey, unless someone shoots off my balls, I will find you hot tonight.” Jack hit the unlock button and looked at her. “And next week. Do you have any questions?”

  She smiled and shook her head.

  “Good, I’m glad we got that solved. Get Heather’s things.”

  Cassie grabbed the bag from under her feet and hopped out, joining Jack. He swiped his key card for the back entrance. Holding her free hand, they made their way down a long corridor to his area. The room that had been filled with agents last night was quiet this morning.

  Jack pulled out a chair for her next to his desk. “Hopefully, this paperwork won’t take long.”

  His tone was apologetic, which Cassie found interesting. Someone must have given him grief in the past about work and the phone.

  “Not a problem. I’m fast on the keyboard if you want to dictate to me.”

  “Great. Let’s put Heather’s things together first.”

  Cassie pulled out the wig and the borrowed clutch purse.

  “Keep the wig just in case we need it.”

  She set it aside but handed Jack the borrowed clutch purse. He opened it, grinned, and showed her. Speechless, she stared at the wad of money. Unnerved by last night, Cassie had forgotten about the roulette winnings.

  He counted it all out and whistled. “A thousand bucks. You were hot.” Her eyes met his.

  “I had no idea.”

  He laughed. “I know, Mrs. Sokolov. Which reminds me.” He pointed to the ring.

  Cassie admired the huge setting one more time, then slipped it off and handed it to him. “Do we get to keep that money?” />
  “My guess is no. I do know this: you need to be paid for last night. Figure out what the government owes you as a professional actress. I’ll submit it with the report.” He handed her a form to fill out.

  As a card holding member of the Screen Actors Guild, Cassie knew the basic scale rates and calculated time, minus the time she and Jack were in the hotel room, and submitted to him. In less than an hour, they’d finished up Jack’s report, dropped off paperwork at various desks, and headed out to where Jack had parked. Cassie followed him into a large warehouse area that held an enormous assortment of equipment from inflatable boats to specialized clothing.

  “What are we getting?” she asked, turning and looking around.

  “Everything we need for surveillance on land and water.” Jack pointed to the clothing section. “Pick out whatever you need to stay warm and dry and also for Montana.” He handed her a duffel bag. Her eyes widened. “Just in case you want to help.”

  With everything loaded into the Tahoe, they were ready to head north on I-5. Jack turned his phone to silent and put it in the cup holder.

  “You don’t have to do that,” said Cassie. She thought it was sweet that he did.

  “I know, but I want to.”

  The traffic was light heading north out of the city. The light rain cast a dull gray hue onto their surroundings. “Hang on.” Jack swerved to the right and made a fast exit at Northgate.

  “Why are we stopping?”

  “I promised you a replacement coat. You said you wanted to go to Nordstrom, so here we are.” He parked just outside their front door.

  She smiled. “Nice.”

  “How fast can you shop?”

  She laughed. “I’ll show you. I have to warn you though; I haven’t been inside a Nordstrom store for a long time, so you might have to drag me past certain sections, like shoes.”

  Once inside the store, Jack led the way to the directory and pointed at women’s lingerie and smiled. She laughed. “You don’t strike me as a shopper guy.”

  “Trust me. I’ve done my time.” He reached for her hand, and they went up the escalator.

  “Does this have anything to do with that corner of clothes in the closet?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Did you date her long?” Cassie watched his reaction.

  His mouth turned down. “Long enough.”

  Quickly, she scanned through the coats and pulled out three to try on. She modeled each one.

  “They all look good. Pick your favorite.”

  Which she did. On the way to the register, Jack stopped by the table of leather gloves and picked out a pair of deep burgundy and black ones.

  “They go with your coat.”

  Cassie tried them on, and smiled, admiring the supple leather. “Which one?”

  “Both.”

  “Really?”

  When they exited the store, she looped her arm through his, and they dashed through the rain to the truck. He opened her door and grabbed her bags, tossing them in the back. She waited for him to climb in and shut the door.

  “Thank you very much. You didn’t have to do this.”

  “I know, but I wanted to. You didn’t have to do last night either. I mean…being Russian. By the way, I’ve always liked leather. With or without clothing.”

  She did a double take. This was a facet of Jack Wyatt she never expected. Wordlessly she stared at him.

  “What?” He grinned. “You don’t have any fantasies?”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  "Yeah, guys are pretty visual. Don’t you have nice leather boots, too?”

  From her reaction to his question, Jack had embarrassed Cassie. Her face had flushed. Why was that? He put the truck in gear and headed out of the parking lot. Back on the interstate, he glanced at her. Whatever she was thinking about had her smiling—probably not for long with his questions.

  “I want to go over last night. Tell me everything you know about Butkovsky and his relationship with Koslov.” He listened while she detailed everything she knew, which wasn’t a lot.

  “What about the artwork and the artist?” A touchy subject, he knew, by the arms folded across her chest and the stern expression on her face. He listened and sorted through the emotional reactions to get to the facts.

  “When did the first piece of artwork show up at the house?” Jack was trying to put together a timeline.

  “About a year ago. It was a painting. Then a statue and another painting.”

  “When?”

  “The Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I finished up late, shooting an extra two days. When I got back to the house, Sergei had been drinking heavily. I made some stupid comment like, ‘I wouldn’t waste my money on that stuff.’ He got in my face, spitting out Russian. I could tell by the sneer on his face he was calling me some pretty awful things. I tried to blow it off as the vodka, but it wasn’t.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “The paintings and the statues came in and went out. Almost like a revolving door. None of it made sense to me.”

  “When did the violence start?”

  “About a month or so after the New Year’s Eve party that Sergei insisted we host. Butkovsky and Sashay were there.”

  He phrased his next question carefully. “So when was it you realized Koslov had another girlfriend?”

  “That’s the worst part, Jack,” she said softly, “I didn’t. I honestly didn’t.”

  He sucked in his breath and concentrated on remaining calm.

  “He said I repulsed him with my body, claiming I was so ugly and nothing but a cold piece of meat, he couldn’t get a hard-on. He said there wasn’t enough Viagra in the world to do the job.” Her voice choked.

  Now he was beyond pissed. “Fuckin’ asshole.”

  “What did you just say?”

  “You heard me.” Jack tried not to use the F-word in front of women, but occasionally it slipped out. “I hope he never comes near me.” He was glad she didn’t ask why. They drove along in silence for a bit. Christ, that shithead had really pulled a number on her. “And for the record,” he paused to make sure he had her attention, “you make me hard all the time.”

  Cassie laughed. “Seriously?”

  “Yep. Seriously.”

  “I think you’re horny.”

  “That too.”

  Smiling big, she reached over and patted his thigh. He grinned and held her hand. “So what are you thinking about the artwork? Because I know you are.”

  “Sergei regarded that stuff like if it were gold, so maybe they were in his world. What if the paintings and statues were used for smuggling stuff in? Statues would be easy, but I don’t know how you could do it with paintings.”

  “I don’t either.”

  Just north of Everett, the light rain turned to mist and stayed that way. Often, the sun could be shining up in the islands but it would be raining in Seattle. He’d hoped this would be the case today. Somewhere in the conversation, Cassie had closed her eyes and fallen asleep. Jack plugged in his phone and got caught up with messages. He called Kip and then Ray. One of them would get back to him on where to meet up. Jack had suggested Eagle’s Nest Lodge because of its privacy.

  Jack exited off I-5 at Mt. Vernon, taking the back roads to Route 20, which took them into Anacortes. Cassie stirred when he stopped at the store.

  “Where are we?” she mumbled, keeping her eyes closed.

  “The Safeway in Anacortes.”

  “Already?” She sat up and looked around. “At least it quit raining.” The sun poked through a thin layer of clouds.

  “You’ve been asleep for over an hour.” Jack handed her the ferry schedule. “Double check me. We can take a ferry to Friday Harbor and wait there and then to Hartz, or wait here for a coupl
e of hours.”

  Cassie studied the schedule.

  “What do you want to do?” he asked.

  “Friday Harbor and then Hartz.”

  “We have enough time to run in and get basic supplies.”

  When they entered the store, Jack went one way with a basket and Cassie went the other. They met up at the cash register. Cassie frowned at Jack’s choices. He scowled at hers. Between the two of them, they had a nice mix.

  “The only thing good in your basket is wine,” he remarked, walking back to the truck with her.

  “No offense, but one of these days, you will have a heart attack.”

  “Good. Then you can give me CPR and mouth-to-mouth.”

  Jack pulled into the holding area for Friday Harbor. From the looks of the waiting vehicles, the ferry would be pretty full. With time to spare, Cassie hopped out of the truck and wandered down by the loading ramp while Jack listened to his messages. She loved watching the sea gulls. Her father always made a point of stopping to get fries so he could toss them to the gulls. The gulls would circle around, dive in for a fry, and head out. It reminded her of planes coming in for a landing.

  The ferry had emptied and now started to load for Friday Harbor. Cassie headed back. Since they were in the last lane to the rear, she walked between the vehicles. When she crossed over in front of a white van, the driver started its engine. She glanced up and smiled. The driver and the passenger glared down at her, their eyes dark and insolent. Somehow, her frozen smile stayed on her face.

  She yanked open the Tahoe door and nearly threw herself in, gasping.

  “What?”

  Unable to speak, she kept pointing.

  “Calm down and breathe.”

  Finally, she said, “Follow that van.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Jack started the Tahoe and followed the line on to the ferry. “What did you see?”

  “A white van with two men inside that looked like the guys from the other night.”