Текст книги "Tall, Dark and Deadly"

Автор книги: Lisa Renee Jones

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Текущая страница: 38 (всего у книги 40 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Luke didn’t breathe again until he and Julie were out of the car at the ferry station. He took her hand and led her to the main building. He could feel relief shifting inside him, turning into something darker that had been beneath the surface since the moment he’d found Julie on the ferry.

“What happened back there with Arel?” she asked the instant they were inside the building. “I felt so in the dark while we were there and it was killing me not to be able to ask.”

“He’s going to give me a chance to prove myself.”

“When? How?”

“I’ll get a message like I did for the party.” He didn’t say anything else, fighting the rising storm inside him. She could have died. She shouldn’t have even been here to be at risk.

He glanced at the schedule board for the boats and then the clock and by pure luck they had a few minutes to make the next ferry. He wanted the hell off of this stinking island and he didn’t ever want to return, but would probably have to.

“Let’s go.” He pulled her along with him.

“Luke?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? You could have been killed back there.”

“But I wasn’t.”

“And Jesse better thank the good Lord above for that.”

“It’s not his fault, Luke. He’s a great guy. I used that against him and I hated doing it, but I had to do this.”

He ground his teeth, biting back some choice words about Jesse. “This isn’t the time or the place,” he said, and made sure she couldn’t argue, he ducked a shoulder between bodies and inched them into the center of the herd boarding the boat.

Finally, they cleared the ramp and were on the boat, the cold wind gusting around them, and people spread out all directions, trying to find their perfect travel location. Luke made a beeline for the warmer cabins.

Julie grabbed his arm, halting their progress. “Luke–”

“Not here,” he said, still holding her hand. “Not now, when I’m this close to the edge. You won’t like what I have to say.”

She inhaled, pink spreading over her cheeks, her hair lifting off her neck in the wind. “Don’t blame Jesse for this. I tricked him.”

“Yeah well, he’s supposed to be better than that,” he said. “If he’s smart he’s already headed to the unemployment line.”

“This is insane. You’re blaming him for something I did.”

“I’m making him take responsibility for something that could have gotten you killed, and if you think Royce would feel differently if this was Lauren, you’re wrong.”

“If you wouldn’t have tried to make this decision for me, and ran off playing super hero, determined to get yourself killed then I wouldn’t have done this at all. I did the right thing, and I was trying to save innocent lives. And you. I was trying to save you.”

“I don’t need you to save me.”

“I don’t need you to save me either.”

“Yeah, well tough. You don’t get to make that decision.” A flash of that female guard searching her ripped through him. “I told you. If I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you to some cave to protect you, I’ll do it.” He knew he was being dominant, even an ass, but the things that could have gone wrong back there were eating him alive.

“You have no right to do that. This is my life and my choice.”

He felt those words like a knife shredding his heart. “Right. Your life, and my role is just bodyguard and good time buddy. I guess we’re moving up. I used to only be the good time buddy.”

She sucked in air and shook her head. “No. That’s not true. You took what I said wrong.”

His cell phone buzzed with a text. “Blake is on the boat. He wants us to come to him in case we’re being watched.”

“I guess this fight doesn’t help our cover either. You were right. This isn’t the place for this.” Without another word, she turned and started walking. The conversation was over. Maybe they were over.

***

Ten minutes later, Luke stood on one side of the cabin with Blake, while Julie stood on the other, staring out of the sealed window.

Blake listened while Luke filled him in on the night’s events before he glanced at Julie, “I thought I was the one so good at pissing off women. You’re the cool, calm, diplomat that never gets rattled.”

Luke massaged the ball of tension in his neck. “I guess you’re rubbing off on me, because I’m excelling at pissing her off.”

“Love hurts so good.”

That got Luke’s attention. “Who said anything about love?”

“You didn’t have to. It’s been the white elephant in the room for months every time you two cross paths. I’m just glad you both finally decided to stop avoiding it so we all can.”

“And now it’s like a head-on collision on a crash and burn mission.”

“Three words. Make up sex.”

“Three words. Too pissed off. I’m trying to save her life and she’s trying to get killed.” But it was more than that. So much more. Blake studied him for several long moments.

“You do know she was trying to save yours too, right?”

“It’s not about her willingness to put her life on the line. I get what she did. I get that she cares about other people getting hurt because of her.”

“But you don’t think she cares about you?”

“It’s not about caring.” It was about how he’d felt when she told him he had no right to protect her, and not even really about the words spoken in anger. He got that she was pissed. He got that he was being overbearing and couldn’t seem to help himself. But those words she’d shouted had hit a nerve and underlined his concern that she simply couldn’t let him into her life.

Luke’s cell rang and he pulled it from his belt and frowned at Royce’s number, before answering with, “Why are you calling me from your honeymoon?” he asked, his eyes locking with Blake’s in question. Blake shook his head, telling Luke he hadn’t called him.

“What the hell is going on there?” Royce asked.

“Not a damn thing you should be concerned about. Go make love to your wife and leave me the hell alone.”

“No go, brother. I’m halfway home already in an airport. Jesse called me and yes, he told me everything, and yes, he’s packing his things. I didn’t want him to until we could all talk, but he’s insisting.”

“You won’t hear me argue his departure,” Luke said. “And as for what’s happening, since you’re already on our way home, I’ll be damn happy to have you here. Blake and I need backup we trust.”

“Oh hell,” he grumbled. “Just a second.” Luke heard him talking to Lauren before he returned. “Our flight was cancelled. We won’t be there until tomorrow around noon. Don’t go getting killed on me or I’ll dig you up and make your afterlife hell.” He hung up.

“He’s coming home,” Blake said before Luke could say anything.

“He is and as much as I hate interrupting him, we need him.”

The ferry sounded a warning as they approached the dock. “I’ve already told Murphy I’d update him when we get to land. We don’t need anyone from the task force anywhere near our place unless it’s absolutely necessary. We’ll be watched.”

Julie headed their way and Blake pushed off the wall. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds on your own.” He sauntered forward and Julie stepped to Luke’s side and held up his keys. “I stole your truck. It’s in the parking lot.”

He pocketed the keys. “We’ll take a cab. I’d hate to spoil a night of surviving danger to get blown up in my own truck.”

“I don’t really want to get blown up in your truck either. I guess that’s one thing we still agree on.”

“Let’s get off the boat,” he said instead of what he really wanted to say, which was that they agreed on a lot of things, but he just wasn’t sure they agreed on where they were going together. When she’d told him she needed him, he’d thought they did. Now, he wasn’t so sure.

***

Julie slid into the cab and Luke joined her. Any relief she felt over escaping for the night alive was replaced with turmoil over Luke and Jesse.

He slid in beside her. “Jesse called Royce and he and Lauren are already in an airport on the way back.”

“Oh no,” she said, reaching for her purse to pull out her phone. “I have to stop them.”

“Too late,” he said. “They’re stranded at their first stop. Their flight was cancelled. They’ll be in tomorrow.”

Julie felt the crush of reality. She’d dragged Luke into this mess. Destroyed Jesse’s career and now her best friend’s honeymoon. And there was nothing she could do to fix it.

By the time they’d completed the ride in complete silence, Julie wanted to burst through the cab door when they stopped. She needed to think. She needed to do something to make everything right. Escape was impossible. She was at Luke’s apartment, and standing outside his door while he unlocked it, she tried to figure out what to say or do.

He shoved open the door and let her enter before coming in and going straight to the kitchen. She stood there, trying to decide what to do. Never before in her life had a man made her feel the way Luke did.

She followed him, still without a plan. He was leaning against the counter doing absolutely nothing. She leaned on the doorframe. “I don’t know what to say.”

“And therein lies the problem. I know exactly what I want to say, and where I want this to go. You don’t.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then tell me.”

His expression was stony, his words cold. She told herself it was because she’d hurt him. Told herself to get past it, but he didn’t seem receptive. In fact, he seemed like he’d already made up his mind that he was done. “I hate that I pulled you into this.”

“Wrong answer,” he said, and pushed off the counter to open the fridge. He grabbed a beer and twisted the top. “I’ll be downstairs in the offices if you need me.”

“It’s two in the morning,” she said, glancing at the time on the microwave.

“I’m not tired.” He sauntered toward her and stopped in front of her, waiting for her to move. He was so close she could reach out and touch him. She wanted to, oh how she wanted to, but she didn’t. She told herself to do it, to touch him and to hug him and to tell him how much he meant to her. She opened her mouth to say it, but somehow she didn’t. She backed up and let him pass. She let him walk out of the apartment.

Julie stood there, barely able to breathe, thinking of how it had felt when she thought he’d let her walk away that day they’d gone to lunch. She rushed for the door and stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Luke and Blake talking. She let her head drop to the door. Now was not the time for confessions and she knew it. She had to wait until he got back.

But an hour later, she lay in the bed waiting and he didn’t come back. Then another hour later. And yet another.

Chapter Twenty-Four

There was darkness, so much darkness, and she was cold. Her bones were brittle and her body ached. She stretched and tried to move, only she was trapped. She tried to roll over but she hit a wall. Panic rose inside her and she started to kick and punch until her knuckles ached and she could feel the blood oozing from them, and a wave of heat suffocated her. She screamed as flames surrounded her, as the fire burned the ice in her veins...

“Julie, honey, wake up! Julie!”

Julie blinked awake. “Lauren?” She pushed to a sitting position. “What happened?” Her gaze lifted to find Luke at the end of the bed, staring at her with an unreadable look.

“You were screaming bloody murder in your sleep.”

“Nightmare again?” Luke asked softly.

She nodded. “Yes. About Elizabeth.” Cici jumped on the bed and smacked Julie in the face with her tail.

“That’ll wake you up,” Lauren laughed.

“She’s got all kinds of evil ways to wake a person up,” Julie said, running her hand down Cici’s back and noting the 9 a.m. time on the clock. “I thought you weren’t coming in until lunchtime?”

“We went standby and got in earlier.”

“I hate that you left your honeymoon like this.”

“I hate that you didn’t call us sooner.”

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Luke said.

“Luke,” Julie said quickly.

He glanced back at her, arching a brow.

“I had something else to tell you last night, but Blake showed up.”

He stared at her for a long, intense few moments, before he said, “I’m not going far. Not yet.”

Not yet. There was an underlying meaning to that answer, she was certain. There was still hope. He left the room and Lauren lowered her voice, “Yowza, what was that?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

***

Julie and Lauren talked for a good hour before Julie showered and pulled on a pair of black sweats and a red t-shirt Lauren had brought her. Sooner or later she had to go shopping – that was, if she lived through this mess.

Feeling ridiculously nervous about seeing Luke, she opened the bedroom door to find Luke, Royce, Blake, and Lauren sitting in the living room. Lauren stood up from the couch she shared with Royce and held a finger to her lips.

Julie stopped at the edge of the room, across from the leather chair Luke occupied and knew this call had to be Arel. After a few seconds, he ended the call. “It’s not good. Arel wants me to deliver a certain piece of art by tonight.”

“That’s impossible,” Blake said in disbelief.

“Tonight?” Royce asked.

“The impossibility seems to be the point. It’s that or he gave me another option.”

“The journal,” Julie said, remembering what Luke had said when her apartment had been trashed about not underestimating Arel.

“So basically,” Royce said. “He wants the journal.”

“You can’t give the journal to him,” Julie said. “It’s part of the proof you need to take down the cartel.”

“We’ll just have to copy it before we give it to him,” Blake said. “He has to know that.”

“And he probably knows that might not even be admissible in court,” Lauren said, putting her criminal law degree to work, “and certainly it would leave room for speculation about tampering with documents.”

“It’s less damning to Arel than it is to the judge and Dragonfly,” Luke said. “This is the kiss of death for them.”

“How does Arel know about the journal?” Lauren asked.

“Maybe they tortured Elizabeth before they killed her,” Luke said. “Maybe they tapped the sister’s phone. There are too many possibilities. We need me inside this operation to take down Arel. We have to give him the journal.”

“Agreed,” Royce said.

“Agreed,” Blake added. “So how does this go down?”

“I’ll get a call and instructions,” Luke said. ”

“Of course,” Royce said. “Giving us no time to plan.”

“I’ll call Hendrix and Murphy and round up the rest of our team for a planning session,” Blake said, pushing to his feet.

“It should be a simple drop, shouldn’t it?” Lauren asked. “It’s what he wants.”

“We don’t ever assume anything is simple or as it seems.”

***

An hour later, Luke and his brothers had Murphy and Hendrix on speakerphone, trying to get a grip on just how many people they needed to be involved tonight.

“I don’t mean to be the Grim Reaper,” Blake said, “but this could all be about the journal, not about trust. They get it and take Luke out. We need to be ready for this.”

Luke had already thought of that. “It’s a strong possibility.”

“Which makes my immediate concern is that we’re headed back to the island and that means moving out now,” Blake said. “We need a team there yesterday.”

“It could be in the city,” Murphy said. “Arel does the unexpected.”

“We have to be ready for both,” Hendrix said.

““That will mean splitting up, which will leave Luke with less support,” Royce said. “I don’t like it.”

“But not splitting up,” Hendrix countered, “could mean he ends up with no support.”

“I’m staying with Luke,” Blake said and he glanced at Luke. “Jesse knows the city like his own stink, man. We need him and we need manpower.”

Luke considered a moment, fighting personal feelings to focus on the reality of a grim situation. “Fine. Call him.”

“I’ll stay here too,” Hendrix said. “I know this city pretty damn well myself. Murphy should go. One of us needs to be at both locations since we’re accountable to the task force.”

Royce eyed Murphy. “You, me, and my man Kyle, on the island?”

Murphy nodded. “Works for me. We still keeping the rest of the task force out of this?”

“Until we know who Dragonfly is,” Luke said. “Yes.”

“I say Luke wears a wire,” Blake said.

Luke shook his head. “They’ll pat me down. I’ll have to try and record with my cell phone.”

A general mumbling of approval filled the room.

“This call could come at any moment,” Luke said. “So we need to get this rolling now.”

Murphy ran a hand over his hair. “I just hope this really is a test. If Luke is in Arel’s circle after this, then maybe we really can get answers about our missing agent and shut him down.” He eyed Luke. “So don’t go getting killed, how about it?”

Luke didn’t plan on dying and he knew that meant keeping his head clear. If he went to his apartment, if he let himself get worked up over Julie, he wouldn’t.

***

Julie spent the afternoon with Lauren, who offered her a much-needed distraction by way of honeymoon stories and pictures, especially since Luke hadn’t so much as called her.

They were sitting at Luke’s kitchen table, where Julie had her laptop open, trying to do a bit of work, when Lauren’s cell rang. Julie listened to her talk to Royce, and watched how her friend glowed just talking to her new husband.

Lauren ended the call. “They’re still working on preparation. I’m going to head out to stay with Royce on the island later.”

“Okay,” Julie said, rising to her feet and refilling her coffee cup, trying not to think about how badly she wanted to see Luke and talk to him.

“You want to talk about Luke?”

“Not yet,” she said. “But eventually.”

“That’s closer to talking about him than we’ve ever gotten, so I’m pretty pleased with that answer. You normally shut me down when Luke comes up. Just know that I’m here when you need me.”

“I know,” Julie said. “And thank you.”

The door to the apartment opened and shut. Luke appeared in the doorway and Lauren got up. “I need to go unpack.” She hugged Julie. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Julie and Luke stared at each other. The door opened and closed again. They were alone. “I had to go last night. I didn’t want to lose you. Luke, I–” She set her cup down and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. He didn’t hold her, didn’t touch her, but she wasn’t going to back down. “I don’t want to lose you. Don’t shut me out because you think I meant something I didn’t. I’m not used to feeling like this. You’re not just some ‘bedroom buddy’. I don’t know how to prove that–”

He kissed her, oh god how he kissed her. Hot, passionate, deliciously possessive. She lifted to her toes, trying to get more of him, trying to show him how much she needed him.

He tore his mouth from hers, tangled his hand in her hair and stared down at her. “I’m going to protect you at all costs.”

“I know.”

“You won’t always like it.”

“I know that, too, but you have to accept I’ll do the same for you.”

He kissed her again and lifted her to the counter, sliding her legs apart to press his hips between them, bringing his mouth just above hers, before his lips curved. “I’m not your bedroom buddy?”

She smiled at the term ‘bedroom buddy’ he’d pulled from some random hat. “Sure you don’t want to reconsider that?”

The door opened and closed and Blake called out, “Luke!”

Luke pressed his forehead to Julie’s. “Leave it to my brother to have crap timing.”

Blake walked into the kitchen. “Oh hey, you two. Glad to see you made up.” He sat down at the table. “I got the map of the city to review with you, Luke.”

Luke made an exasperated sound. “We’ll continue this later,” he said to Julie and set her on the ground.

“Anyone else hungry?”

Luke gave her a look that said ‘yes.’ He was hungry for her. And for the first time ever, a lustful look in a man’s eyes made her heart skip a beat.

***

It was nearly eleven o’clock and Julie paced the small space in front of Luke’s fireplace while he and Blake watched. Luke patted his chair. “Will you please come sit down? You’re wearing a hole in the floor.”

Blake motioned to the television. “ESPN is on. You love sports.”

“When are they going to call?” she asked.

“They’ll call,” Luke said and his cell phone rang. “See?”

Blake stood up and crossed his arms in front of his chest, ready for action. Luke punched the button and listened and then hung up.

“Well?” the entire room asked at once.

“Subway car number nine at midnight.”

“Shit,” Blake blurted and started to pace in the very same area Julie had just been doing the same. “Shit, shit, shit, shit.” He dialed Royce and gave him the news. He ended the call and gave them a quick update. “Hendrix and Jesse are on his way up from the street. I’m going to meet them at the side door so he won’t be seen. I’m sure you both know this, but the tunnels will make surveillance impossible. We need to talk this out.”

Julie’s eyes met Luke’s. “How bad is this setup?”

“No cell phone reception,” he said. “And once I’m on the train, I’m on my own.”

Julie held up the train schedule she’d been studying. “That train is an express to Queens. That means no stops for at least fifteen minutes.”

“But you can take a gun, right? They can’t check you closely in the middle of the subway.”

“Unless they’ve found a way around that.”

“We’re here,” Blake said, hurrying back into the room with Hendrix by his side.

“That train is an express to Queens,” Jesse said.

“We just figured that out,” Luke said.

“So someone needs to be on the train when it arrives. Someone they won’t recognize.”

“They don’t know me,” Hendrix said, sitting down on the couch. “I’ll do it. I’ll head there now.”

“I’ll go with him,” Jesse chimed in.

“I’ll tail Luke in case they try to get to him before he gets to the subway,” Blake said and glanced at Luke. “I’ll go get a uniform of guns and knives on, and meet you in the garage in five minutes?”

Luke gave a nod. “That works.” His attention went to Julie and when Blake exited the apartment, she darted towards him and hugged him.

“I have a really bad feeling about this,” she said. “Don’t you dare get killed, you hear me?”

“Sweetheart,” he said, softly. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.”

“You better.” And once again, she found herself thinking that she’d only just found Luke again. She couldn’t lose him.