Cold Wicked Lies

by Toni Anderson

  Suddenly he pulled away.

  “Christ. Sorry. I wasn’t trying to manhandle you I just—”

  Charlotte placed a hand on his chest, and he immediately stilled. “Novak. I understand why you grabbed me. Thank you for saving me from a nasty fall.”

  Novak nodded slowly.

  She could feel his heart matching the frantic beat of hers beneath her palm. “Why do I make you so nervous all of a sudden?”

  His expression grew incredulous. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Denial.

  “Hmm.” She stared at him a moment longer, but the sound of footsteps approaching on the lower level had her moving away from him, careful to watch her step this time. She continued to walk through the structure because she knew he’d want to explore every inch, and this might be his best opportunity.

  She wanted more information. “I thought we were starting to like and admire one another, but I can see now you are actually only tolerating my company.”

  “What? That’s bullshit. I like and admire you just fine.”

  Charlotte felt a twinge of guilt for deliberately mislabeling his emotions, but he was a straight up guy who wouldn’t tolerate lies or inaccuracies.

  “I don’t scare you?”

  “Scare me?” He looked as if she’d told him she planned to pluck his soul from his body with a toothpick. “Why would you scare me?”

  She decided to soothe his agitation with a simple, “I’m glad.”

  So why was he nervous? Did he worry she was going to throw herself at him and cause a scene if he rejected her? Anger stirred. Well, she hadn’t been the one sporting the screaming erection that morning. No, that had been all him.

  That had been all him…

  They walked around the rest of the structure with Novak pointing out a couple of possible inaccuracies to the techs as she turned over her and Novak’s interactions during the last few days. She was pretty sure he was attracted to her but obviously didn’t want to act on it. Or maybe he was worried about her reaction. After all, they were working together in a high intensity case, and if she objected to his advances—should he make any—then the rest of this incident would prove mortifying.

  Same if he rejected her…

  Not that she planned on acting on any of this craziness that had started to buzz between the two of them. It was probably a simple by-product of forced proximity.

  He helped her down the ladder, and the fact he seemed worried about her even though she was perfectly capable of managing something as simple as a ladder stirred warm feelings inside her. But what if she’d misread everything, and he was working super hard at being polite and keeping everything professional between them?

  What if he’d realized she was starting to lust after him…?

  Mortifying.

  He walked to another part of the hangar where two men were welding a smaller door inset into a massive steel structure that represented the entrance to the compound.

  “You’re not seriously contemplating going in the front door, are you?” she exclaimed.

  Novak shrugged. “They certainly wouldn’t expect it.”

  “Because it would take too long.”

  “Not if we got someone on the inside.”

  “Or persuaded one of the people already there to do it for us,” she added. That could be the negotiator’s job.

  “That would be the perfect win-win scenario for me, followed by everyone filing out with their hands in the air and weapons left behind.”

  They headed back to the Suburban.

  “There are babies in there, Novak,” she said quietly.

  He kept his eyes on the ground. “I know.”

  Silence strummed between them. The breeze had a cutting edge, and the dense gray of the clouds suggested Mother Nature was finally about to switch gears and deliver on her promises. A storm was forecast for tomorrow.

  They climbed into their seats and buckled up. Charlotte was sure it was going to be another hair-raising trip back to the Command Center.

  Novak slid on his sunglasses, turned the key, but the vehicle sat idling.

  She looked at him to see what was up.

  He grinned. “So, you like and admire me, huh?”

  She smacked his arm, and he let out a belly laugh. Then he put the Chevy in drive and peeled across the tarmac.

  Her other hand clenched around the edge of the seat. “Do you always drive like you’re in a bank heist or are you trying to impress me?”

  “Is it working?”

  “No!”

  Novak eased up on the gas. He flicked off the flashing lights and turned onto the main highway. “You’re no fun.”

  She shook her head.

  “Any other mention of the man Bob Jones reported seeing in the parking lot?” he asked, getting back to the case where they were both more comfortable.

  Charlotte checked her cell. “No. McKenzie is having someone go over all the interview statements again. I wish we’d known about that potential lead yesterday morning before we went to the campsite.”

  “We can re-interview and canvass the area for information, but I don’t see him as a potential killer. I mean, he went out of his way to identify himself to law enforcement and then sent the officer up the same path to where his victim lay,” said Novak.

  “Killers have been known to do worse. I meant to check if there had been any other murdered women in the area or if Brenna showed any similarities nationally,” she said.

  “You think this death has links to a serial killer?”

  “I know it isn’t likely, but we can’t assume anything, especially when our chief suspect is holed up in an impenetrable fortress.”

  “Nothing is impenetrable with enough time and enough explosive,” Novak said quietly.

  Charlotte shivered. “Seems weird that he threatened to blow the lot. Harrison obviously loves his son. If he bombs the place surely that’ll kill him too?”

  But they both knew of many instances where men decided they’d rather murder their children than lose control of their fate.

  “Hey, what happened to Bob Jones’s vehicle?” Charlotte didn’t remember hearing anything about it.

  “I expect someone from the US Fish & Wildlife Service drove it back to their office.”

  “Let’s drop by and see if we can swab any contact DNA from it. Jones said the guy tapped his window.”

  “UNSUB might have been wearing gloves,” Novak pointed out.

  “And he might not have.” Charlotte understood Novak wanted to check on his men, but there were no new developments. They would have heard if there had been. “We go past the office.”

  “Of course, we do.”

  “I have an evidence kit in my bag.”

  “Of course, you do.”

  His dry response made her laugh. She watched his hands clench around the steering wheel and felt an unexpected wave of lust.

  “May as well make the most of our escape. I doubt it’ll happen again any time soon,” she said, concentrating on anything except the attraction she was feeling.

  “You’ll be able to go back to working with the negotiators tomorrow evening.”

  She couldn’t read his reaction to that, although she knew he was eager to get back to his team.

  “Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “You won’t have to put up with my spur of the moment suggestions any longer.” She focused her sense of despondency on their lack of progress in the case and not on the fact that she couldn’t figure out where she stood with him on a personal level. “Since negotiators haven’t been able to effectively communicate with these people, the others haven’t exactly needed my skills. Maybe we will be reduced to shouting via the bullhorn tomorrow like McKenzie originally suggested.”

  Novak shot her a long look, but his eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses. “Well, if anyone can make friends over a bullhorn, it’ll be you, SSA Blood.”

  “Aw. Did you give me a compliment?”

  “Don’t
get used to it.” But the way his lip twitched suggested otherwise, and she hated the fact that it filled her with joy.

  * * *

  They made it to the US Fish and Wildlife Service office minutes before it was set to shut down for the weekend. Charlotte went to grab them both coffee and a sandwich. They’d somehow missed lunch again, and Novak was ready to gnaw off his own arm.

  He headed in the front door and received a gimlet stare from the receptionist who clearly was on her way out. “FBI Supervisory Special Agent Payne Novak.” He held up his creds. “Can I talk to whoever is in charge?”

  The woman placed her jacket back on the chair and headed over to where two men were standing discussing something in the open-plan space behind her.

  “This fella here’s from the FBI. He wants to talk to the boss.”

  A tall, lanky man with thinning hair and a ready smile came over and lifted up the counter. “Come on through. What can we do for you?”

  Novak showed his creds again. “I’m part of the team working on the Eagle Mountain incident. My colleague and I are hoping to get access to Bob Jones’s vehicle.”

  The man braced his hands on his hips. “It’s out in the parking lot. We drove it back Thursday morning. I can’t tell you how grateful we are to you guys for getting him out of there. I hope they give the guy who rescued him a medal. Makes me sick to realize Bob was lying there suffering all that time.”

  “FBI is real grateful Bob was found alive too.” Novak nodded firmly, grateful Charlotte wasn’t around to try to out him.

  Novak followed the guy to his office where he grabbed a bunch of keys off a hook near the door.

  “Can I ask what it’s regarding?” the FWO asked.

  Novak grimaced. It was a long shot. “We visited Jones in the hospital. He gave us a possible lead on a potential suspect or witness who we want to identify and interview.”

  The man moved to the window and widened the white venetian blinds to peer outside. “This ‘we’ happen to be you and a pretty blonde?”

  Novak moved around the desk to see Charlotte scoping out the vehicles in the lot. “Yep. She’s with me.”

  And he liked that. He thought he’d be desperate to shake the other SSA by now, but in reality, the fact their seventy-two hours were up tomorrow evening filled him with a hollowness he hadn’t expected and didn’t like.

  “It’s the third truck along. How long is it gonna take?” The man glanced up at the large clock on the wall. “I’d hoped to go visit Bob myself before heading home for dinner with the family.”

  “Not long. We don’t even need to look inside. Just want to swab the outside.” Novak handed the keys back. “You don’t need to hang around. We can take it from here.”

  “Appreciate that.” The FWO grabbed his jacket. “I’ll let you out the back as Doreen has probably already locked the front door.” He lowered his voice. “And around here we don’t like to upset Doreen.”

  Novak followed the man through the office and out the back door into the rear parking lot. Charlotte stood talking to the other wildlife officer Novak had seen when he’d first come inside. He didn’t miss the way the guy was pulling in his stomach and puffing out his chest.

  “That’s Duane. He’s a bit of a lady’s man. Unlike Bob who tends to keep to himself and hasn’t dated since his wife left him a couple years ago.”

  When Charlotte handed the eager-looking officer her card, Novak wasn’t sure if it was for professional reasons or personal. Did she date? Did she have a boyfriend? Before he hadn’t cared. Now he wanted to know everything about her and that irritated him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Novak said good night to the FWO chief and headed over to where Charlotte had peeled herself away from her admirer. Novak supplied a narrow-eyed stare when the guy looked as if he was about to approach Charlotte again.

  “You’re doing it again,” Charlotte muttered.

  “What?”

  “Intimidating people.”

  “Sorry.” He smiled, but it was cold and razor thin. “Did I interrupt something?”

  He headed to the third truck along as Charlotte sucked in an angry breath. It was a white Ford with the Fish and Wildlife shield on both front doors.

  “What is wrong with you?” She caught up to him real fast.

  “Wrong with me?” He lowered his glasses as he checked out the driver-side window. Then he turned on the flashlight on his cell and angled it over the glass. “Nothing is wrong with me. I’m doing my job.”

  “So am I.”

  “Looked more like you were busy collecting the phone numbers of potential admirers.” Shit. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

  She hissed out a breath. “Dammit, Payne Novak, I swear to god if we weren’t in a public place, I would smack you around the head.”

  “Tut, tut. Violence isn’t always the answer, Charlotte.” He pointed to the window while she silently raged. “There’s a smudge or two here that might be from human contact.”

  He tried to ignore the elusive scent of her. Whatever it was that drew him in and made him want to lean even closer and inhale.

  She shoved him out of the way, and he was reminded he’d pissed her off again, big time.

  But this was good. This was better than falling deeper and harder for the woman. He’d lied earlier when he’d told her she didn’t scare him. She scared the ever-loving crap out of him, but not how she probably meant. He wasn’t good with women. Not after being married to a woman who’d vowed to love him and then left him within a year, as if their wedding vows had been nothing more than a children’s dress up party.

  Also, the idea of starting something with a colleague that could explode all over his life was not a good idea. He needed to back away from the grenade, not jump on it.

  Charlotte peered closer without touching the vehicle. “I don’t see any distinguishable prints, not even a partial.”

  Novak grunted.

  “It could belong to anyone and will only prove useful if we find the same DNA on Brenna’s body, and the DNA is uploaded into some database. Even then, it’s not proof, simply information.”

  “I understand the process,” he said tersely. Jesus. She treated him like a such a moron sometimes. Just because he hadn’t enjoyed being a field agent didn’t mean he hadn’t been good at it.

  Charlotte’s lips tightened as she took photographs with her cell, then pulled two small vials from her pockets and stroked the tip of the sterile swab over the surface of a grease smudge before sealing it in a sterile container which she labeled with a Sharpie that she also had in her bag. Then she repeated the process with another smear. She capped that sample and put them both into her pocket.

  She wagged the pen at him and moved closer. “You know, it’s exhausting trying to keep up with your moods.”

  “My moods?”

  “Hot one minute. Cold the next.”

  “Then don’t bother trying.” His voice was low and terse. He sounded mean. Good. He removed his sunglasses and gave her his flattest stare.

  Charlotte rolled her eyes. “For some reason I keep giving you the benefit of the doubt, that you’re not actually an ass. That you actually do like and respect me like you said back at the base.”

  Novak opened his mouth to respond, but she never gave him a chance to speak.

  “But you’re grumpy every time I talk to some guy—” She cut herself off and stared at him with eyes that kept growing bigger.

  He folded his arms over his chest. “What?”

  She held his stare, and he wished he had the strength to sever the connection.

  “You’re jealous,” she said.

  “Ha.” He walked around her waving a hand in defeat as he strode back to the Suburban. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Ridiculous?”

  “Nonsensical. I’m not jealous. You’re delusional.”

  He got in the cab, and she opened the passenger door. “Not delusional. Spot on. Oh my god. I’ve seen more than a few sig
ns. Like when I talk to or about Truman, you scowl.”

  “That’s my resting bitch face.” He grabbed the coffee she’d purchased and left in the cup holder and took a slug.

  “We’ve already established you’re attracted to me.”

  The coffee spurted out. Oh god. She was talking about his hard-on that morning. He almost choked and grabbed a tissue to clean up the mess.

  “You’re an attractive woman. I’m not blind.” He wasn’t gonna blush because of an autonomic biological reaction. Fuck.

  She strapped herself in and reached for her own cup as he went to pick up his sandwich. Their hands brushed. Both froze.

  She didn’t move her hand away, and he couldn’t remove his. The connection felt both ephemeral and fragile and like something he wasn’t equipped to deal with, was not trained for. He wanted to turn his fingers over and interlink them with hers. All the anger and embarrassment drained out of him. But the frustration built. Frustration that he wasn’t the sort of guy a woman like Charlotte Blood would want.

  “I’m not good with women, Charlotte.”

  “You make us sound like a subspecies,” she said quietly.

  “No. If anything, that’s how you think of me. Like some Neanderthal with more muscles than brain cells.”

  She remained silent, which was a confirmation.

  “It hurt, actually.” God, next he was gonna be admitting he didn’t like being judged by his looks alone and start freaking bawling. Like a fucking baby.

  “I’m sorry. I was wrong,” she said softly.

  Emotions welled up inside him. Gratitude for her saying that, envy that she could forgive so easily. Guilt that she was more honest than he would ever be because she was right. He was jealous as fuck. He was a selfish, jealous asshole, and he would die before he admitted any of it.

  He forced himself not to stroke the silky skin on the back of her hand.

  He wasn’t good with women. He had his reasons. Not just an ex-wife who hadn’t given a shit about him.

  He forced himself to finish reaching for his sandwich and to move away from her warmth. He took another swig of coffee hoping to dislodge the rock stuck halfway down his gullet. Finally, he spoke. “You asked me earlier why I joined the FBI.”