Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes Book 1) (19 page)

Frantically searching for Duke, I
treaded water with my arms and legs while I spun in circles,
looking for the man who’d quite literally just saved my
life.

“Duke!” I screamed out, swimming in a
circle. I could hear sirens up near the cliff but ignored
them.

“Where are you?” I yelled again, tears
threatening to join the beads of water already assaulting my face.
My chest tightened and I choked back a sob, refusing to believe
Duke wasn’t going to pop up out of the water at any minute
now.

Had he been shot? Maybe he was passed
out and sinking to the bottom. I panicked even more.

Pulling in a big lungful of air, I
held it as I ducked into the water and squinted my eyes in the
dark, watery murk. I spun around in a circle until something pale
caught my eye. Looking down, I could see something moving fast
toward me.

Duke!

His eyes were open wide and he was
shooting up toward the surface. I too made my way up to the
sunlight, gasping as I broke the surface. Duke joined me a few
seconds later, breathing in hard as water trailed down his hair,
face, and shoulders.

“Duke!” I cried, grabbing his hand,
pulling him weightlessly toward more shallow water. He gave no
resistance, just let me drag him until we could both
stand.

He ripped off his wet and torn T-shirt
and tossed it into the water. Then, wrapping both hands around me,
he smoothed back my sopping wet hair. “Angel. You saved me,” he
said, water dripping from his beard and lips.

I mimicked the gesture,
smoothing back his dark hair from his face and flicked my eyes
between his. “No, Royal. You saved
me
.”

“Tsk,
tsk
. Nobody says the R word.” He smirked
and pushed a finger over my lips. Suddenly his smirk was gone,
replaced by a somber expression. His finger stayed on my lip for a
minute, then trailed down my chin as he leaned down to kiss me. It
was hard, desperate, and full of so much passion, I thought I might
pass out.

When he broke it, he pulled a dripping
wet hand out of the water and put it on my face. “I’m so glad
you’re okay.”

I nodded, my teeth taking my bottom
lip hostage. “I’m glad you’re okay, too.”

Duke looked up at the cliff we’d just
jumped from and I followed his stare. There was nobody
there.

He looked back to me and kissed me
again, pressing his hard, wet, cold body against mine. Not that I
minded. When we broke apart again, I said, “Isn’t this breaking
some kind of rules? Crossing some sort of professional
line?”

He ran a finger across my forehead,
down my cheek, and down to my bottom lip. Staring into my eyes, he
said, “Sweetheart, we’ve already crossed so many lines, we’re
tripping over them.”

I smiled at that. Not just because we
were rule-breakers, but because Duke didn’t care. I didn’t care. We
knew our feelings and attraction to each other didn’t obey rules
like professional conduct and agent-victim protocol. We had gone
from two entities to a united one. As we held each other tight, the
roaring sound of the waterfalls crashing behind us, I smiled up at
Duke. He was so beautiful, so strong, so courageous. Yet, in these
past eight days I had managed to see the entire spectrum of
emotions and sides he had. Vulnerable, strong, weak, overpowering,
sexual, protective. And not one of them turned me off. I loved
everything he had put out and more.

Yes, I loved Royal Wayne “Duke”
Hawthorne. I had fallen in love with him some time during that long
cabin stay we’d had. I wasn’t going to deny it or question it.
There was no way this wasn’t pure, unadulterated love I felt for
him – and judging by the way he looked at me, he loved me, too. I
knew this because the look he gave me whenever he stared into my
eyes was how I pictured my own staring back at him.

Chapter 23

Duke

We waded our way to the rocky shore
and began looking for a way back up to the cliff.

“What are we gonna do?” Rayanne asked
me, my hand clasped in hers, fear dancing in her eyes. Her body
began to shiver from the cold.

“There was another agent in the car
where Morris had been. Surely he saw what happened and has called
for backup,” I answered. The question had been on my mind, too. I
could hear sirens getting closer.

She nodded and we looked around. I
spotted a small path that started on the rocky shore and began
wounding its way up. “There,” I pointed, beginning to shiver
myself.

I led her over to it, and we began
climbing up. Her hand gripped mine tightly, and I made sure I had a
good grip on her. I wasn’t letting her go.

Once we reached the top, there were
police cars and people everywhere. Most of them were just pulling
up. Two dudes in ties ran over to us as soon as we were spotted. I
saw one yell for help and a paramedic near a waiting ambulance
grabbed something out of the back of his rig.

“Hawthorne?” one of the guys said to
me. “We’re so glad you’re ok. We were just about to send divers
down there.”

“Well you’ll need them to fish out the
car,” I said dryly.

A paramedic came up with two blankets
and wrapped one around each of us. I had to let go of her hand in
order for him to do it, but I didn’t like it. I glared at
him.

“Thank you,” Rayanne said, her teeth
chattering.

“I’m Special Agent Cade O’Neill, and
this is Agent Michael Diaz,” the guy who’d spoken first said, then
pointed to his partner.

I nodded and said, “Did you get the
suspect? She can I.D. him?” I pointed to Rayanne.

His eyebrows knit together. “Not yet,
but agent Morris’s partner, Adkins, can I.D. him, too.”

“His name is Shane Watson,” Rayanne
said between chattering teeth.

O’Neill nodded at her.

“How is Morris?” I asked, suddenly
feeling sick at the thought that he could have died.

“Head injury, they life-flighted him
to Richmond.”

I nodded sadly. “Keep me posted,
okay?”

We were led to the back of the
ambulance where I reluctantly let the paramedics do their jobs,
taking our temperature, blood pressure, and checking us over. My
eyes did not leave Rayanne for one minute. I knew my time with her
was limited since they hadn’t caught Shane and his cronies yet. I
was trying to memorize her face, even though I knew I had already
done that the first time I’d laid eyes on her.

She looked over at me, an intensity in
her eyes I had never seen except when we’d been in that bedroom,
and I suppressed a shudder. I could tell she was having the same
thoughts I was.

When we were cleared by the paramedics
and given medical scrubs to change into, agent O’Neill said, “We
need to take her, Hawthorne.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell
me where.” It wasn’t a question because I already knew the
answer.

He shook his head of salt-and-pepper
hair, his gray eyes and crow’s feet around them crinkling in
sympathy. “Sorry, man, you know I can’t. And honestly, I don’t even
know yet.”

“Who’s her new agent?” I
asked.

He pointed at his partner, who was
leaned up against their white government ride, texting. I sized him
up. Dark, shiny black hair cut in a modern style, olive skin,
square jaw, young. Good-looking, good dresser. I tried to beat down
my insecurity, because the guy was just doing his fucking job and
he probably didn’t want to deal with it. But it was only temporary,
I knew, and hoped they would just lock her up somewhere safe, like
headquarters, until the trial.

I nodded my thanks at O’Neill and went
to the car where Rayanne was about to get in. “Can I have a
minute?” I asked Diaz.

“Sure, man. But we leave in
two.”

My jaw pulsed but I said nothing. I
watched him walk a safe distance away, then turned and looked at
her. She was staring up at me with unshed tears glimmering in her
topaz eyes. “Don’t cry. The trial’s almost here. Diaz will keep you
safe.” I stopped and shook my head. “Safer than I managed to,
obviously.”

A single tear escaped and traveled
down her pale cheek. “Don’t do that, Duke. I already told you I
don’t blame you.”

“I will see you in a few days, I
promise. I’ll be at the trial. I’m not gonna miss it.”

That seemed to make her a little
happy. “Thank you.”

I didn’t know what else to say.
Against everything, I leaned down and wrapped my arms around her,
trying to warm her up. She was still so cold and shivering, and
pang of guilt shot through me. When we broke apart, I used my thumb
to wipe away another tear. “I’m sorry.”

Diaz returned and interrupted us. He
opened the passenger side door and instructed Rayanne to get in. As
she rounded the car, I said, “Hey.”

She stopped and looked at
me.

“I’m sorry about your books,” I said,
trying to smile.

She grinned sadly. “Those can easily
be replaced, Duke.”

I got the feeling there was a double
meaning there, but I was too fucked up in the head with what was
going on to realize she meant me. I knew I had a long drive ahead
of me, and would have plenty of time to think it over.

Agent O’Neill had the exciting chore
of being in charge of driving me back to Florida. It wasn't as if I
could drive another government vehicle, rent a car, or fly in a
plane without ID. I was truly fucked.

He had tried making small-talk during
the 12 hour car ride. He’d told me that they were going to have the
car fished out of the river, but doubted anything would be
salvageable. My guns, my wallet, my FBI badge, clothing, Rayanne’s
stuff… it was all shit by now, I’m sure. And I was sure I’d catch
another disciplinary detail for wrecking one of the FBI’s precious
drug-dealer seized cars.

Not that I gave a shit.

I wondered if she was okay. I wondered
if Diaz was taking good care of her. I wondered where he had taken
her. I wondered if he was eye-fucking her, wanted her. Gritting my
teeth together, I had to let it go.

“Can I use your phone, man?” I asked
O’Neill.

He nodded and pulled his smartphone
from the pocket of his shirt. “Sure.”

I swiped the screen and dialed my
brother. He answered on the third ring.

“Detective Oliver,” he said, obviously
not knowing who was calling.

“Hey, brother,” I said, a small smile
on my lips on hearing a familiar voice.

“Duke!” he exclaimed. I could hear the
smile in his voice. “How are you?”

I sighed and slid my free hand down my
beard, wishing I had some chew. “I’ve been better, but I’m alive.
It’s been a freakshow up here, man.”

“Wow, really? Can you tell me about
it?”

I glanced at O’Neill and pulled the
phone from my ear. “Hey, my brother’s Tampa PD. Can I give him the
details from today?”

He shot me a worried look then put his
eyes back on the road. “If he’s PD and you trust him, I suppose.
But keep in mind it’s still an active investigation.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, man. You’re not gonna believe
this shit.”

I started at the beginning, the cabin,
the boring days, then to Agent Morris being assaulted, then our
exhilarating dive off the cliff and then Rayanne being taken away
by Diaz. What I left out was all the personal shit Rayanne and I
had gone through. Not only was I not sure I was ready to tell Mason
that, I most certainly didn’t need O’Neill hearing it. He’d get his
tighty-whiteys in a twist and probably drop a memo on me. No
fuckin’ thanks.

“Wow, that’s some crazy shit, man,” my
brother said. “But I get the feeling you’re leaving something
out.”

I chuckled, but there was no humor in
it. “Of course I am.”

“Well, what is it?” he asked, and I
could just picture his dark eyebrows dipping together in concern on
his too-pretty face.

“You know I can’t tell you that,
dude.”

Thankfully, my brother knew me better
than anyone and let it drop. So I simply said, “I’ll be back in
town late tonight. I got a fuck-load of paperwork to do tomorrow,
but when I get off work, I’ll meet you at Murphy’s and if you get
me drunk enough, I might spill.”