by Jenna Kernan
“Maybe we can make my case, break the back of the gang and make sure your father doesn’t ever hurt your family again.”
Ty’s smug smile was back and he lolled back in his seat. “Great. How, exactly, do we do that?”
Now it was her turn to press a hand to her forehead. “I don’t know. But we need to do all of it.”
Ty stood and retrieved the dinner plates. “I helped Faras take power and in exchange he’s left me out of the worst of the gang activities. But now that he’s facing another power struggle, all that has changed.” He carried the dishes to the sink and she cleared the rest of the table.
Beth knew Ty was smart, and his understanding of how things worked here was far better than hers. Informants provided information. But Beth had a real desire to include Ty in strategic planning.
“I think you could be more than an informant,” she said, picking up a dish towel to dry the dishes he set in the strainer.
He quirked an eyebrow, mildly interested. “That so?”
“You have every reason to be suspicious. But you know as well as I do that if we remove Faras, whoever is challenging him will take over and things will soon be right back where they started.”
“Chino Aria. He’s the most likely challenger. Very territorial around Faras, but he’s got some things going on that I’m not sure Faras condoned.”
“What exactly?”
“I heard something from one of the newer recruits, Randy Tasa.”
“The kid on the bike,” said Beth.
Ty lowered his hands and turned to face her. “How do you know about him?”
“You were under surveillance. I saw you hassle him outside the roadhouse the night we met.”
Ty shook the water and suds off his hands and shut off the tap. “Hassling? That what you saw?”
She felt the same doubt as when she had watched the interaction. It had occurred to her vaguely that Ty might be running him off.
“Randy is a smart kid with no father and a big sister already in the gang. He’s got potential. Faras sees it and so do I. But Faras sees another member of the posse and I see a rabbit that might just escape the snare. I just gave him a shove in the right direction.”
“They recruit kids that young?”
Randy was only fourteen.
“They do, but the interesting thing is that Faras didn’t know Randy was working for him. Chino had him out there selling weed and Faras didn’t know.”
“So?” asked Beth.
“Faras used to know everything. Maybe the surrogate ring is taking all his attention or maybe Chino is working something on the side.”
Beth leaned a hip against the counter and folded her arms beneath her breasts. “What do you think?”
“Chino is preparing a takeover. I’m sure.”
“Because of one kid?”
Ty angled his head to the side and then righted it. The gesture reminded her of a shrug.
“If you are right we could work those two against each other,” she said.
And just like that, they were talking strategy. Beth set up scenarios and Ty poked holes in them. They moved to the sofa, sat facing each other, each with a leg tucked up on the cushions. Beth scrawled notes on a pad on each member of the gang. Ty provided so much intelligence, it would have taken FBI months to get even close to this kind of inside information.
He also told her exactly why he had helped Faras recover Kacey Doka and the reason he’d done it.
“So you made a deal with Faras and so he reported to the Russians that the baby delivered by Zella Colelay had died?”
“Yes.”
“Because Jake and his wife had decided to adopt that baby?”
“Zella escaped capture and delivered a baby. The Russians still wanted it because somewhere out there is a couple waiting for their biological offspring.”
“Do the parents know? Do they understand where their surrogates come from?” asked Beth.
“I doubt it. But I don’t know. All I know is that Faras found out that Zella’s baby had arrived and sent two of the posse after her. I was watching Jake and when I saw that the ones that were after the infant were members of the Wolf Posse I knew they wouldn’t stop, ever, unless I went to Faras.”
“What did he say?”
“He agreed to report the infant deceased.”
Beth was impressed. Ty had gotten Faras to give false information to his contacts.
Ty did not look smug over his coup. Instead he looked worried as he continued. “But Faras doesn’t give something for nothing. He wanted my word that I’d start driving again. Up until then I just repaired the cars. Kept them moving faster than the competition and the authorities.”
“Driving?”
“Pick-ups, escapes, deliveries.”
“And he called and told you to pick up your younger brother’s girlfriend, Kacey Doka.”
“Exactly. I couldn’t refuse without endangering Jake’s baby.”
“You could have come to the police.”
Ty gave a mirthless laugh. “Right.”
“Instead, you collected Kacey from in front of the clinic and drove her to her captors.”
“Only after I called Colt and reported the drop location.”
“Again, you could have called the police.”
“Yes. And then I’d be dead. Kacey would be recaptured and Jake’s new baby would be back with the Russians.”
“You don’t have very much confidence in us.”
“We called the police on my father again and again. He went in and came back like a boomerang.”
She understood his point. Without May’s willingness to press charges, there was little to be done.
“You can’t protect us,” said Ty. “You guys come in after a crime is committed. I was trying to keep the crimes from happening.”
“You were trying to protect your family.”
Ty looked away and she knew that she understood. He’d defended his brother’s baby. He had told Colt where the drop was. And in telling her, he had just given Beth the information that could destroy him. She could use it to ensure his compliance, and she knew that she never would.
“You kept them all safe, Ty. But you have to let us help you or it won’t stop. Sooner or later you’ll fail or they’ll figure out what you did.”
“I know that. I was certain they’d figure it out after Kacey’s escape. But Faras didn’t hear what I did there to help her get clear of them, and the one survivor is in custody.”
“Sequestered. He is out of general population for as long as it takes to close this case.”
“What does that look like to you? A closed case?”
“We get the remaining girls back and shut down the operation, not just up here but all over the southwest. We make a case against Leonard Usov and possibly tie him to Kostya Kuznetsov in Atlanta.”
“Who?”
“Usov runs all human trafficking operations here. He reports to the Kuznetsov crime family, and Kostya is their head.”
“That’s a big case.”
“We have Betty Mills as a witness. The health care administrator made the calls to Faras. She’s a treasure trove of information, but her attorney is smart. He wants some concessions to ensure her full cooperation. Once she’s on board, we arrest Faras and every other member of the posse involved. Your tribal police has been outnumbered over two to one by this gang. Not anymore. Once I have evidence, I get resources and we end this.”
“We?” he asked.
“Yes, we.” She took his hand and squeezed. The gesture was intended to demonstrate they were a team. Instead, something happened. Her breath caught at the tingling awareness that blossomed over her skin. Their eyes met and hunger surged as powerful as a waterfall. The hairs on her neck lifted and her skin puckered. His breathing accelerated, maki
ng his nostrils flare.
“Ty?”
He was inching closer, his gaze now on her mouth.
Beth could have stopped him. She knew that just a word, a gesture, and Ty would retreat. But she said nothing because in her heart she wanted this. Her soul yearned for the connection and her body ached with need.
His mouth melted to hers, touching off a series of tantalizing shocks that rippled over her skin and settled low in her belly. She did not know why her body sang at his touch. It had been this way since she first laid eyes on him. Back then she had thought him a trickster. A man with two faces who showed her exactly what she wanted to see. She thought she knew the truth of him. She thought a man as uncomplicated as Ty could be summed up in the contents of a manila folder.
He couldn’t be. Ty was so much more.
His fingers grazed her neck, caressed her cheek and threaded into her hair. He tipped her back, trapping her between the sofa headrest and his hungry mouth. She reached for him with greedy fingers, dragging her nails up the skin of his back beneath his T-shirt. When she reached his shoulder blades, she tugged him against her. They fell together to the sofa, Ty on top. The weight of his chest against her torso was sweet torture. His hips pressed to hers and she raked her hands back down the long muscles beside his spine until she gripped him by the seat and rocked him forward.
Her tongue delved, dancing with his inner rhythmic thrusting that electrified her senses. She was surprised that it was Ty who halted their kiss. He lifted himself up on his forearms to peer down at her. He cast her a look of surprise and concern. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“I’m through with thinking for a while,” she replied.
“Bad things happen when you stop thinking.”
“And great things.”
His smile was devilish. His dark eyes glittered. She brushed back the hair that fell forward over his forehead, her fingers gliding over the satin strand before tucking it behind his ear.
“I want to sleep with you, Ty.”
“Have you thought about the consequences?”
“I’m on birth control and I have a feeling you have condoms close at hand.”
“That’s not the consequences I was talking about. As far as the Bureau is concerned, I’m your informant and you’re undercover. I appreciate you wanting to appear to be my new girl, but I don’t want you regretting this or getting into trouble because of something we do here.”
“Break in professional ethics.”
“Yup.”
“Ty, it occurs to me that you don’t often get what you want. You put your family’s needs ahead of your own needs and even ahead of your own safety. You’re a man who takes risks. I admire that.”
“Tell me that if your boss finds out about this, you won’t get fired.”
She said nothing. At the very least she would receive a reprimand. Ty pulled away, sitting beside her hip on the sofa. She drew her legs from behind him and sat next to him a little too close.
“Only way they find out is if I tell them or you tell them,” she said as he turned to meet her gaze and stared a long while. Then he stood and offered his hand.
Chapter Sixteen
She wasn’t sure exactly how she got to the bedroom. All she knew for certain was that she had hopped out of her boots, dragged off her socks and shed her slacks, all while kissing Ty. She had removed her personal weapon and holster, which had been clipped to her belt, before stepping from her slacks. Hemi had risen from her dog bed to follow them and Ty had issued a command to stay that had sent his dog back to the living room. Then Ty had carried her, half-dressed, to his bed. She had set her holstered weapon and badge on his bedside table beside her handcuffs. Then she had torn his shirt over his head as he slipped her panties over her thighs.
The danger and the need mingled within her. She knew it was a misstep and that the consequences could be enormous. But some part of her didn’t care. Having Ty was worth it all. When he stretched her out on his bed, they were naked. Nothing shielded her from the luscious slide of his heated flesh on hers. His rough calloused hands stroked her, each touch feeding her desire.
“I need you,” he said.
She lifted her feet to the bed and splayed her thighs. Ty’s eyes widened and his expression turned hungry. His mouth descended to her earlobe, sucking and nipping her sensitive flesh as he descended from her neck to the blade of her collarbone and below.
They came together in a rush of need and madness. He laced his fingers through hers and trapped her hands beside her head. Ty gazed down at her with dark soulful eyes, his expression one of pleasure marred by pain. She watched him move as she felt the velvety glide of his body connecting with hers. Perfection, she thought. Just as she’d known it would be.
And then the whirlwind of sensation took her. She gasped and lifted herself at the pleasure arcing her spine. His mouth found hers and he followed her a moment later. He held her as the bliss rolled through her. The pleasure was bone-deep and raw. She closed her eyes, knowing that this was the man she had always dreamed of and he had appeared in her life in the worst form imaginable. She knew there would be regret and that this relationship was doomed from the start. But she had started it and she was not sorry. Time enough for regrets tomorrow. Tonight she would hold him in her arms and pretend that she could keep this man who had so unexpectedly crept into her heart.
Ty fell beside her on the mattress, panting. He rolled to his side and gathered her close as the sweat glistened on their spent bodies. Gradually, their breathing came back to normal and their skin dried. She snuggled close, trying to escape the chilly air that disturbed her doze. Tendrils of cold air wafted through his bedroom from the open window beside the bedside table. Beth shivered. Ty roused enough to draw her closer.
She fought the cold, not the cold of the room but the one creeping back inside her. This time with Ty was right—so right and so good. It made her wonder what they could be like together and how they could make that happen. But to have him she’d have to give up her dream or take him from his family. It was impossible, but her mind would not give up and continued to throw what-ifs at her as her heart ached with need.
Ty peered at her.
“Cold?” he asked, his voice lethargic and deep.
“Mmm,” she murmured, and inclined her head.
He tugged the bedding from beneath them and slipped them under the blankets. They nestled together, her forehead on his cheek, his arm about her shoulder, her hand over his heart.
He toyed with her curly hair, winding a strand around his index finger.
“Beth, I know the scent of your hair—” he inhaled “—is orchids and I know the soft feel of your body.” He stroked his palm up her ribs. “But you haven’t told me anything about yourself except the bullet points of your resume.”
She stiffened and his hand slipped away.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, feeling the walls rising around her.
“Everything.”
She said nothing as she struggled against the need to unlock her past to him. It wasn’t professional, so why did she have to fight to keep silent?
“Anything,” he whispered.
The silence stretched and the tension in her mounted.
He nuzzled her head with his cheek. “You were wearing a rodeo buckle the night I first saw you. Was that yours or part of your cover?”
She could not help smiling at the memories. “Both. I used to ride when I was a teenager. My mother allowed me to compete because horses are so closely tied to our culture.”
“You must have been good.”
Back then barrel racing was an acceptable risk. One that her mother allowed, and there were few enough of those. Beth was not even permitted to ride in a friend’s car in high school. The smothering sensation returned to her. “That buckle was for barrel racing at our annual rodeo.�
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Her answer must have encouraged him because he asked another more personal question. “Did you grow up on the reservation up there in Oklahoma?”
“I lived there when I was young. Registered member. They dropped the blood quota a while ago, so if your parent is a member, you’re eligible. My dad didn’t like Oklahoma because it’s so cold and rural on the rez. He missed Miami. But my mom’s family was there.” She stopped talking because she already felt she’d said too much.
Ty lifted himself up on an elbow to stare at her. “He was?”
“My father is from the Caribbean. So I’m brown, but not the same sort of brown as most of the kids there.” She tugged at a tight curl in emphasis.
“So you felt different.”
“Yeah. The kids were okay. The rez was okay, too, but...” She threw up a hand. “It made my dad unhappy to be there. It was like he couldn’t wait to get back to the army and away from us.”
“You blame your mom for that?” he asked.
“She could have gone with him instead of making a life without him there.”
“What did she do there on the rez?”
“She’s a neurosurgeon.”
Ty’s eyebrows lifted; he was clearly impressed. “Really?”
She nodded. “Anyway, they met when he was stationed there and they might have loved each other but not enough for him to stay or her to go.” She hated talking about this next part and counseled herself not to cry. “My dad was an army ranger, but he died when I was thirteen.”
“KIA?” asked Ty, meaning “killed in action.”
“No. Traffic accident. He was riding his motorcycle and was hit by the driver of a pickup truck who never saw him. The impact threw him from the bike and he was hit again by a car traveling in the opposite direction. He died of his injuries at the scene.” She got the whole thing out and only then did her throat close up. She made an involuntary high whining sound.
Ty gathered her in his arms.
“I’m so sorry, Beth.” He held her and rubbed her back as she struggled with her tears. “I’m surprised you ride.”
“He used to take me with him on his bike. After he died I missed it. Riding is like being with him. My mom flipped when she found out, of course. She always called people who ride bikes ‘organ donors.’ Then my dad died and he actually was one. She doesn’t say that anymore. When I came home with my first bike, a Suzuki, she ordered me to sell it. But I wouldn’t. My act of defiance, I suppose. I was so mad at her after Dad died. It was like she caused it. I know that sounds crazy. I know it’s not fair or even rational, but it’s how I felt. If we’d gone with him, he wouldn’t have been on that bike in Oklahoma. Anyway, I’m glad I kept riding, because I love my bike.”
