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rush into a relationship with the first man you saw. You waited. You
want them. Those two men in there aren’t interchangeable for anyone
who would put a ring on your finger, or you would have been dating
all this time.”
“Maybe they just showed up at the right time.” She’d needed a
while to get over what happened to her in DC. Hell, she wasn’t sure
she would ever get over it, but last night had proven that at least she
was ready to get physical again.
“Don’t fight this,” Wolf said with a sigh as though he knew his
words would go unheeded. “You’re only going to cause more trouble
for all three of you. Now, I came out for a reason.”
“Other than to scare the crap out of me?”
He grinned. “That was a bonus.” His face lost its jovial
expression. “The feds took over the Movie Motel last night. Men in
suits rented out every room Gene had.”
Laura felt a cold chill cross her skin. “Did Gene get them
talking?”
Gene liked to talk to everyone who came to his place. The Movie
Motel was the largest inn in town.
“They followed Rafe and Cam out here. According to one of the
lead men, your boys were well aware that the team, as they called it,
was on their way. I take it they didn’t bother to mention that they
were bringing all their friends out here?”
She tightened her grip on the coffee mug. There was only one real
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reason to bring the whole crew out here. She was pretty damn sure de
Sade wasn’t working here in Colorado.
“Did they tell Gene if there had been a threat made against me
personally?” It would explain a lot.
“No,” Wolf replied. “But they did ask for directions out to your
place. Gene had never heard of you. Strange.”
She couldn’t help a little snort. The feds were going to find Bliss a
bit hard to manage until she’d gotten the word out that she was
cooperating.
Was she cooperating?
Damn it. She couldn’t think straight. All she could think about
was the fact that Rafe and Cam had lied to her. Again.
The sweet feeling she’d had looking at them together dissipated,
replaced with a hole in the pit of her stomach.
“The minute my momma heard the news that the feds had
descended, she and Mel took to the shelter. She’s sending out radio
messages that anyone in town who wants protection from the coming
invasion should come out to Mel’s place. On the plus side, she made
pecan pie. I love pecan pie.”
Laura turned to Wolf. Her current dilemma was going to have
consequences for everyone in town. Just as she had the thought, a
Bronco with the logo for the Bliss County Sheriff’s Department rolled
into her driveway. Logan Green slid out of his vehicle looking a bit
cranky, but then he was always cranky these days. Laura was pretty
sure what he was here about. If she let them, the feds would have
everyone in town on edge.
“I’m sorry about it. I don’t know how long they’re going to be
here. Maybe if I go to DC with them, things can go back to normal,”
Laura said as she walked across the small room to throw open the
door for Logan.
Whatever they wanted to do, they could do in DC. She didn’t have
to upend the whole town.
“Don’t you even think about that,” Wolf said, getting up. His face
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was set in hard lines. “You are not leaving this town. We can’t protect
you if you’re off in DC.”
Logan jogged up the steps, pulling the aviators off his face. “Wolf
is right. I read that file this morning. You nearly got killed in DC. No place is safe anymore, but at least here you know everyone will watch
out for you.”
Laura opened the screen door and allowed Logan in. His big
frame filled the doorway. In the last several months he’d gone from
lanky boy to muscular man. He’d put away his precious comic books
and now spent a lot of time in the gym. And at bars, if the rumors
were true.
“Are you here to bring me in?” Laura asked the deputy.
Logan settled his hat on his head. “It’s not like that. Nate’s got a
whole bunch of men in his office who want to talk to you. He
wouldn’t tell them where you live. He sent me out to see if you want
to talk or if you would prefer to join Mel and Cassidy. No one is
going to look for you there. You could hole up for a week or two, and
this should blow over.”
“It’s not so bad,” Wolf offered. “Mel’s made that place quite
comfortable.”
“I am not going to hole up in a shelter and hope they go away,”
Laura said with a long sigh.
She’d dreaded this moment. It was so much worse because, once
again, Rafe and Cam were involved in her utter humiliation. “It was
really far too much to think I could hide forever. I’ll go talk to them.
Who’s the agent in charge?”
“A man named Joseph Stone.”
Wolf suddenly held up his right hand, making a fist.
“Is he going to punch someone?” Laura asked.
Wolf shushed her and started to move around the table. His voice
was low. “Someone’s outside. They’re moving slow and quiet, but
they’re not used to rural terrain. He’s making a bunch of noise, and he
doesn’t even realize it.”
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Logan’s face had gone stony, and he had his gun in hand. “I
thought I was being followed. Damn. Back of the cabin?”
Laura’s heart rate sped up. The whole world suddenly seemed far
too quiet. Every little noise felt like a threat.
“You protect her,” Wolf said, his voice a mere whisper.
“You don’t have a gun.” Logan pushed her none too gently to the
nearest corner and placed his big body in front of hers.
“Since when does a SEAL need a gun?” Wolf asked.
He opened the screen door and disappeared. As far as Laura could
tell, he didn’t make a sound.
She stood there feeling like an idiot for hiding behind Logan, but
she didn’t have a gun, and she was out of shape. Bliss had made her
feel secure. She’d stopped practicing judo and given up on lifting
weights. It was so much nicer to sit with her friends at Stella’s and
have pie and think about summer. Laura blinked back tears. She’d
gotten too used to Bliss. She’d forgotten how crappy the world could
be, but now it was crashing in on her.
Suddenly, the door to her bedroom opened and Cam stepped out, a
gun in his hand. He wore his boxer shorts and nothing else.
“Put it down,” Cam growled at Logan. The Glock in his hands
was perfectly aimed at the deputy’s head.
“You put it down, motherfucker. I don’t see a badge on your
chest.” Logan didn’t move an inch to put down his gun, and Laura
could feel the tension tighten in the room. “I’m giving you to the
count of three before I blow your fucking head off. You understand
me?”
“Logan, please, he’s not here to hurt
me.” Laura needed to diffuse
the situation.
“I don’t give a damn,” Logan replied. “He’s threatening an officer
of the law. I don’t have to take that.”
Laura looked to Cam, hoping he would be the reasonable one.
“Cam, please.”
Cam’s gun didn’t waver. “Not on your life, baby. Someone is
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moving around outside. Rafe is taking care of it. I’m taking care of
you.”
“Everyone can stand down.” Rafe showed up in the doorway. He
had put on some pants, but he was barefoot and bare-chested. He
pushed someone through the doorway. All Laura could see was a
man’s dark suit and his head covered in one of her pillowcases. Rafe
had a gun to the back of the man’s head, and Wolf followed after
them.
“He didn’t need a gun, either,” Wolf said with a smirk on his face.
“It was actually pretty cool. I was edging around the house to catch
this guy when the fed here managed to get out that little window of
yours, jump him, take the asshole’s gun, and get a damn bag over his
head. Are you sure you’re not Special Forces?”
Rafe tightened his grip on the pillowcase. Logan finally stood
down, but Laura could feel the tension pouring off of him.
“Can you vouch for these guys, Wolf? This one pulled a gun on
me.” Logan practically snarled the words.
The man Rafe was holding had his hands up, and he seemed to be
trying to shout something through the case on his head.
“They’re law enforcement, Logan,” Wolf explained. “The sheriff
should have warned you they were in town.”
Logan holstered his weapon. “He didn’t warn me that they would
come at me with guns and their dicks hanging out.”
Cam looked down and readjusted his shorts. “I’m sorry about the
hard-on. It’s the adrenaline. I’ll put on some pants as soon as we
figure out if we need to bury this asshole.”
Rafe gave his partner a stern glare. “We’re not burying anyone.
We’ll take him into custody.”
Wolf pointed to Cam. “I like that one, Laura. He’s the one you
should keep. Sorry. I’m really good at burying bodies. I was looking
forward to it.”
“No one’s burying anyone. Cam, get the hood, and let’s see what
we caught.” Rafe forced his prisoner into the kitchen chair and took a
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step back.
Cam pulled the hood off, and the man suddenly had two guns
pointed at his head, and he had a pair of her socks stuffed halfway
down his throat.
“Well, if it isn’t Brad,” Cam said, shaking his head. “I should
have guessed you would show up like a jealous girlfriend.”
Rafe lowered his gun. “Brad? What the fuck?” He pulled the gag
out of the man’s mouth.
Laura studied the newcomer. She hadn’t met him before, but she
knew a fed when she saw one. He wore the uniform, dark suit—not
too expensive, not too cheap—comfortable loafers, white shirt, and
bland tie. He was built, but there was something about his face that
reminded Laura of a weasel.
“You nearly killed me, asshole.” Brad spit the words out along
with no small amount of phlegm.
“What the hell were you doing sneaking around like that?” Rafe
asked. The guns had all been lowered. The tension notched down.
“I was trying to figure out where our target was,” Brad replied.
“No one around here seemed willing to help. The whole damn town
seems intent on interfering with a federal investigation.”
“He followed me from the station house. I remember you,” Logan
said. “You were the jerk who wanted us to haul in an innocent citizen.
He argued with Nate that we should put out an APB and treat Laura
like a criminal.”
The man named Brad’s face twisted. “She can’t be too innocent.
She’s done a hell of a lot to cover her tracks. I’ve found innocent
women don’t walk away from their lives and go off the grid. Innocent
women don’t get the locals to cover for them. This whole damn town
has made sure no one can find this bitch.”
Rafe’s fist came out and made sharp contact with Brad’s nose.
Laura stepped aside the minute she saw Rafe draw back. Rafe knew
how to punch. Brad’s head snapped back, and his nose crunched, a
splatter of blood flying out.
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“You broke my nose,” Brad said, though it sounded more like
“nobe” instead of nose.
“I’ll break more than that if you refer to her that way again,” Rafe
said.
“I’ll do worse than break your nose,” Cam threatened.
“I’m your partner,” Brad said, holding his nose.
So the asshole was Rafe’s new partner. That was interesting news.
Cam was staring at him like he couldn’t stand the man. Laura walked
into her kitchen and wet a kitchen towel. She grabbed some ice and
wrapped it up before she handed it to Brad.
He put it to his nose. “You need to think about why we’re here,
man. The whole team is holed up at that shithole sheriff’s office
waiting around with their dicks in their hands because you won’t
answer your damn phone.”
The words kicked Laura squarely in the gut. So Rafe had known
they were coming. Well, she’d pretty much figured that out. Hearing
it hurt, though.
“The team was supposed to wait for us to call back,” Rafe said.
He was looking at Brad. His eyes seemed to be avoiding hers.
“We have some new information. I’m not talking about it here,”
Brad said, his mouth setting in mulish lines. “Now, maybe you can do
your job, partner, and bring this…lovely woman in where we can talk
to her.”
“That’s up to Laura,” Logan said.
“What new information?” Cam asked.
“Rafe didn’t share that news with you?” Brad asked, smirking.
“Joe called and talked to him yesterday. I guess he decided to
withhold that little nugget. I would have done the same. Rafe is a
Bureau man in the end. Now you need to step back, Mr. Private
Investigator, and let the real men take over.”
Cam’s face flushed. Laura knew that look. Asshole
McSmartypants was about to get a fistful of Cam. She’d really had
enough testosterone for the morning.
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“I’ll ride with you, Logan.” Laura walked past Cam. “You should
get dressed. Both of you. Wolf, can you give my boss a call and
explain why I’m not going to be at work?”
He nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll find someone to take your shift.
Everyone is going to want to help out. You be sure to take care of her,
Logan. Call me if you and Nate need some backup.”
Brad stood up. He still held the icepack to his nose. “You are not
going to interfere with an official investigation.”
Cam moved into Laura’s space. “You’re not going anywhere
without me.”
“Everyone stop,” Rafe ordered. Even dressed in nothing but his
can ride with us. We’ll get dressed and get to the station house. We
will sort this out.”
Laura nodded. It wouldn’t do any good to argue with him. It was
far better to let him believe that she would be reasonable. Of course,
she was being reasonable. Last night she’d been an idiot, thinking that
they could try again.
Rafe tried to lean over and kiss her, but Laura pulled away.
Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll talk about that, too, bella.”
Cam stared at her for a moment before they both walked back into
the bedroom to get dressed.
Laura grabbed her purse the minute the door closed behind them.
“I’m ready, Logan.”
“Hey,” Brad said before Wolf put a hand on his shoulder.
“I would keep my mouth shut, G-Man. I wouldn’t want my fist to
slip and take you out.”
Brad sat his ass back down.
“I promise, I’m going to be a good little girl and talk to the SAC,”
Laura said. Apparently the special agent in charge was her old boss,
Joseph Stone.
She stared at her cabin as Logan pulled away. She wondered how
long it would be before she could sleep there without feeling their
arms around her.
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* * * *
Cam heard the car pull away and cursed as he zipped up his slacks
from the night before. He shoved the feminine curtains aside and
watched the deputy’s Bronco pull out of the drive and fly down the
road. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew the deputy wasn’t alone in that car.
Laura was gone, and it was Rafe’s fault.
“You knew the unit was coming in?” Cam finished getting
dressed in a hurry, his hands closing buttons in angry, impatient
motions. Rafe had known all along, and he hadn’t bothered to tell
him.
“No, damn it. I got a call from Joe yesterday, but you can’t get
decent cell service here. All I knew was that there was some new
information. I didn’t know that he was coming here.”
Cam sat down on the bed he’d shared with Laura last night. Rafe
had been there, too, but Cam didn’t really want to think about that
right now. “You told me we were coming out here to talk to her, to
make sure she was safe.”