Betrayed: Days of the Rogue (23 page)

The man grunted. “So he’s not
suspicious.”

“No. Not yet, but I think you
should reconsider the plan. Wait until he’s out of the area or
chose a different target.”

“No, fate has put everything in
place which means the gods have decreed we must use this
opportunity to act. You said Masterson is there, correct?”

Annette held back a sigh. The mumbo
jumbo about the gods didn’t impress her but she kept that opinion
to herself. “Yes, I double checked the other day; I said we were
updating a potential treatment plan for when he’s finally brought
in. No one questioned it.”

“Good. I’ll contact you again in a
few weeks when we have more potential targets lined up. We’ll
correlate our data then.” The man hung up without another word.

Annette slowly replaced the
receiver. She had no idea of the name of the individual she’d been
talking to. Secrecy was tantamount with this particular group and
she understood why, but it was unnerving speaking to unknown
entities. Her contact could be anyone, perhaps even a person she
passed in the hall each day, but she’d never know it. In fact,
someone from the organization could be watching her every move. A
shiver passed over her at the idea of being spied on, but she
compressed her lips and shook off the feeling. Always looking over
one’s shoulder was a pointless way to spend one’s life.

Flicking a glance at the calendar,
she checked if there were any more urgent matters to deal with.
Things were rather quiet lately, and she was finally getting caught
up on the backlog of paperwork that always seemed to plague her.
She grimaced at the cute fairy pictures that graced the top of the
planner. Dr. McRae had given it to her for Christmas so she felt
obligated to use it, but really the man had no taste.

The calendar was empty. Good, she
liked things tidy with no half-finished projects lying about. She’d
just make a quick phone call to Dee, her other buyer, and see if
she could sell some information to anyone else. Then she’d see
about re-stocking the pharmacy. It wouldn’t do for any of the staff
to question why the supply of certain benzodiazepine drugs was
running low.

Chapter 20

“Aly, you really should have called
first.” Eve paced the length of Rafe’s living room wondering how
she was going to deal with the unexpected arrival of her friend in
Grassy Hills. First it was Caro and now, probably due to Caro
raving about the ‘hunky men,’ Aly was here. Well, technically not
here; she was at the edge of town waiting for directions.

Eve flicked a glance towards Rafe’s
bedroom door. What would he say to an overnight guest? Yet, what
other option was there? Spending the night at her own cabin, with
that wolf on the loose, wasn’t appealing in the least.

“Eve?” Aly’s voice sounded in her
ear. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to give directions to the
place.”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about
something.”

“If you’re worried that I’m here to
poach on your men—”

“No! I know you wouldn’t do that,
not that they’re
my
men, of course.”

“Sure, Eve. Whatever you say.” Eve
could almost see Aly rolling her eyes in disbelief. “Now tell me
how to get there.”

With a sigh, she did so and then
ended the call. Nibbling on her lip, she stared at Rafe’s door
again. It was firmly shut. He wouldn’t mind
that
much, would
he? Well, there was only one way to find out.

Walking over to his bedroom, she
raised her hand to knock just as the door swung open.

“Eve?”

Rafe stared at her raised hand, and
she self-consciously lowered it to her side. “Did you need
something?” He stepped into the hallway and shut his bedroom door
behind him. The move brought him into her personal space and
immediately she could feel her heart start to pound. There was a
pull between them, something that urged her to lean forward and
close the small gap that separated them. She inhaled and his scent
filled her lungs befuddling her brain.

Giving her head a tiny shake to
clear her mind, she stepped back. “My friend, Aly, just
called…”

He raised a brow when she
paused.

“She’s stopping by for visit.
An…er…overnight visit.” Eve winced. “I hope you don’t mind. If
she’d called ahead of time I would have told her ‘no,’ but since
she’s already here…”

“Apparently she subscribes to the
theory of acting first and asking for forgiveness after the
fact.”

Eve made a face but nodded. “That
about sums it up.”

Rafe sighed. “I guess there’s not
much to be done about it then.”

“I’m sorry. I realize you’re
already doing me a big favour by allowing me to stay here and—”

“It’s all right.” He reached out
and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m sure I can suffer through
one night of two women in my house.”

The feel of his hand softly
brushing her face had Eve’s eyes growing heavy, and she had to
force herself not to lean into his touch. Instead, she focussed on
practicalities. “She’ll be here in half an hour. There’s only a
single bed in my room but I was thinking if you have a sleeping
bag…?”

Rafe drew his hand away. He didn’t
seem too upset by the fact that his house was about to be invaded
by one of her friends. “I do and yes, you can borrow it. And the
sofa by the fireplace pulls out into a bed if one of you wants to
use it.”

“Thanks.”

He gave a nod. “I have some work to
do outside. I’ll try to stay out of your way.”

“There’s no need. This is your
home.” Eve protested. “Besides…” She gave a small laugh, the imp in
her pushing to the fore. “Aly wants to ‘check you out’ and see if
Caro’s description of you is accurate.”

He blinked, for a split second his
face showing his surprise before he managed to hide the fact.
“Indeed. Then I most definitely will be trying to stay out of the
way.” And with that he left.

Eve shook her head wondering how he
was going to react when Aly went ‘hunting’ for him. Her friend
would consider his avoidance suspicious in the extreme. Yep, the
next twenty-four hours could prove to be very…interesting.

Rafe got his wish for most the
night. Even though the two women had seen each other recently, they
still had lots to talk about and it wasn’t until supper time that
Aly started to question where he was.

“I thought Caro said you lived with
the guy?” Aly sat on the floor near the fireplace, a slice of pizza
in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

“I’m staying with him. That’s not
the same as living with him.” Eve took a bite of her pizza slice,
enjoying the chewy, cheesy concoction the two of them had made.

“And it’s all because of some crazy
wolf, you say?”

“That’s right. It’s been hanging
around my place, chased my car…” She shuddered at the memory.

“It could be rabid. Have you
contacted Wildlife Control?”

“Rafe has. They’re supposed to be
coming soon to check out the situation.”

Aly frowned. “It seems to me—”

“Ladies.” Rafe entered the room and
Aly stopped mid-sentence, her mouth slightly ajar.

Framed by the doorway, Rafe looked
more impressive than usual. The breadth of his shoulders nearly
filled the opening and his worn jeans showcased his long legs.

“Rafe, this is my friend, Aly.” Eve
shot looks between the two of them barely holding back a grin at
Aly’s shell-shocked appearance. To give her friend her due, she
recovered quickly enough.

Rising to her feet, Aly extended
her hand. “I’m pleased to meet you and I’d like to thank you for
taking such good care of my friend.” Aly made no effort to hide the
fact that she was giving him a thorough looking over, and was quite
pleased with what she was seeing. And, to Eve’s surprise, Rafe
showed no sign of being offended.

“My pleasure.” Rafe gave a crooked
grin, his gaze sweeping over Aly from head to foot and back again.
Eve felt a twinge of jealousy both at his obvious appreciation of
her friend’s good looks and the fact that he seemed so charming and
at ease. He never acted that way when it was just the two of them.
She held back a scowl knowing she had no right to be jealous. She
and Rafe had shared one night together. Hell, not even a night.
More like an hour. A one night stand in the foyer. ‘Stand’ being
the operative word; they hadn’t even made it to the bedroom!

“Thanks for the offer, Aly. As
delightful as it would be to spend some time with you, I have some
paperwork I need to finish. I’ll leave you ladies to your enjoy
movie.”

Eve blinked in surprise as Rafe
headed towards his room. What offer? She must have missed part of
the conversation. Trying not to show her confusion she looked at
Aly.

“He seems really nice. I can see
why you’d want to keep him to yourself.” Aly nodded her approval
and began to rummage through the stack of movies she had beside
her. “What’s he like in bed?”

“Aly!” Eve felt her face heat
up.

“Ha! I knew it!” Aly grinned. “Not
that I blame you in the least. He’s an excellent example of the Y
chromosome at its best.” She took a drink of her wine and leaned
back against the sofa, a smug expression on her face. “Mission
accomplished. Caro owes me twenty bucks.”

“What? You had a bet with her about
me and Rafe?”

“Not a bet, really. More of a
challenge as to my detective skills. Caro told me it would take me
all night to worm any information out of you, but I knew with the
way you blush it would be too easy.”

Eve buried her face in her hands
and shook her head. What was that old saying? With friends like
this, who needs enemies?

Despite the ‘bet’ the evening was a
success and after finishing the bottle of wine and watching a chick
flick, she and Aly had called it a night. Aly was using the bed and
Eve was on an air mattress, snuggly zipped into Rafe’s sleeping
bag. It smelled of him and she buried her nose in the fabric
inhaling deeply and thinking about the man sleeping on the other
side of the wall.

If Aly hadn’t arrived for a visit,
would she be spending the night by herself? Or would she and Rafe
have hooked up again? For all that he said he wasn’t interested in
a relationship, there was something between them. The question was,
would they have been able to deny the attraction if it had just
been the two of them in the house?

Eve spent some time considering the
fact, weaving a fantasy of how they might have spent the evening
each trying to deny the need burning within, finding reasons to
brush against each other until finally…

“Snrrrrk!”

A loud noise from the bed jerked
Eve out of the pleasant doze she’d drifted into. Aly was snoring.
Grumbling under her breath, Eve levered herself up on her elbow and
glared at her friend. Damn. She’d forgotten Aly snored loud enough
to wake the dead!

Knowing there was no point in
trying to get any rest with buzz-saw Aly only feet away, Eve
grabbed a pillow and left the room. Rafe had said the sofa turned
into a bed. Or perhaps she’d just curl up on top of it.

Padding down the hallway, she
curled her toes against the cold wooden floor. Moonlight streamed
in the window bathing the room in bright light and creating dark
shadows. Even though it wasn’t her own home, she felt comfortable
moving about in the semi-darkness. Finding her way to the sofa, she
sat down and arranged her pillow before tugging the afghan from the
back. Wrapping it around herself, she closed her eyes and tried to
rest.

“Snrrrrk!” Aly’s snores drifted
down the hallway.

Eve sighed and rearranged her
position, the sofa squeaking softly beneath her.

“Snrrrrk!”

Eve held her hands over her ears.
How could she have forgotten this? Another snore had her cursing
Caro. The woman had probably sent Aly here for this specific
purpose. Her agent had a sick and twisted sense of humour at
times.

“Eve?” Rafe spoke beside her and
Eve jumped. She hadn’t even heard him approach with all the noise
Aly was making!

She sat up and looked at him. He
had a bathrobe wrapped around him, tied at the waist but revealing
an interesting glimpse of his chest. “Sorry, Rafe. Is Aly keeping
you awake, too?”

He grimaced as another snore echoed
through the house. “I wasn’t asleep, but if I had been, she
certainly would have woken me up. Does she do that all the
time?”

“Only if she’s been drinking.” Eve
stared at the empty wine bottle that still sat on the nearby coffee
table. It was Aly’s favourite and, except for Eve’s one glass, the
other woman had drank all of it. And hadn’t Aly said earlier that
Caro had sent it along? Yep, this had definitely been on
purpose.

He snorted and sat down on the sofa
beside her. The cushions dipped and she slid closer to him. “A
poster child for sobriety, that’s what she is.”

Eve giggled. “She’s a happy drunk.
Just a noisy sleeper.” A shiver washed over her and she tucked the
afghan over her bare feet.

Rafe slung his arm around her
shoulders and pulled her closer. “Come here. You’re cold.”

Almost immediately, heat from his
body began to warm her and she relaxed against him. “Thanks for
letting her stay. And sorry for the noise.”

“One night isn’t a big
problem.”

With her face resting against him,
she could feel his voice rumbling in his chest. It was a deep and
comforting sound. She gave a contented sigh only to break into a
fit of giggles when Aly snored again. Rafe joined in with a deep
chuckle. A happy feeling of rightness filled her.

“Where did you and Aly meet?” Rafe
propped his chin on top of her head.

“At an exercise class. She was
prepping to enter a security training course and I was trying to
lose weight before a friend’s wedding.”

“Security?”

“Uh-huh. She was planning on being
a police officer. Actually, she is one now.”