Codename: Romeo (20 page)

“What’s the difference?”

“I know I have a lot of agents backing me up. So I don’t worry. But I’m afraid I will make a mistake. I’m not used to covert work.”

“Oh, please, the way you used to torment NSB agents in the past? I’d say you’ll do fine. I can attest to your skills.”

“Am I a torment to you?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?”

“Well, you’re no piece of cake yourself, Agent Sanders.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said proudly. “Okay, here’s your receiver.”

He handed her the small device that looked like a hearing aid. She put it into her delicate ear. “Do I have to wear the hat? It makes me look like a geek.”

“Yes you do. And a coat. It’s cold out there. You’ll look like everyone else who’s crazy enough to go out on a day like today.” He would prefer to keep her inside, enjoying a warm fire and hot sex. “Are you ready?”

“Not yet.”

“What do you need?”

“A kiss for good luck?” He didn’t believe in luck, but he would take all the help he could get.

* * * *

Victoria stood by the fountain in the center of the town square. Her breath rose in a white cloud every time she exhaled. Puddles of water formed on the icy surface as the morning sun struggled to bring the temperature above freezing. Holiday shoppers visited the boutiques that framed the courtyard. Despite repeated instructions, she had to remind herself not to look around.

Face it, Victoria. You lied. You are scared.
Last night, discoveries of a sensual nature kept her mind off the meeting. Now, the dream was over and cold reality set in. Although she knew Erik, Steven, and several of the agency’s finest were stationed in the stores that lined the courtyard, she couldn’t see anyone.

“If you hear me, button your coat.” The tiny receiver in her ear transmitted Erik’s voice. She smiled and buttoned her wool jacket. Obviously he could see her, clearly enough to worry that she might catch a chill. No chance there, she thought. Her heart pounded, sending hot blood coursing through her veins.

She glanced at her watch. Five more minutes. Had Becker decided not to show? Or was he already there, watching her? Her stomach clenched into a tight knot. If she didn’t calm herself, she would throw up.

Silent Night blared over a loud speaker perched on top of a light post. A sidewalk Santa complete with bell, ambled towards her.

“Don’t leave,” Erik said as she started to move. “Wait until he passes.”

“Ho, ho, ho,” Santa greeted her, clanging the bell. He held a collection bucket out for her. She searched her pocket for loose change and came up with two quarters. With a smile, she donated the coins.

“Now, put the disc in the bucket.” Despite the continuous bell ringing, she heard the contempt in Santa’s voice.

“What?”

“Let’s go. You’ve caused me enough trouble already.”

She couldn’t see much of his face through the white beard and mustache. His cold, dark eyes, however, reflected his less than jovial mood.

Breathe
, she ordered herself.

She fumbled through her purse for the plastic case that held the disc. The infernal clanging gave her a headache. Could Erik hear anything above the racket?

The man grunted. “What’s the hold up?”

They needed to make an exchange otherwise Becker could claim he knew nothing about the contents on the disc. She grabbed hold of his arm to stop the bell’s deafening noise.

“Where’s my money?” She tried for cool and unruffled, but her voice cracked over the lump in her throat. Do not look around. She had trouble remembering all her instructions with her heart beating at the speed of sound.

He dropped a small box wrapped in red paper on the fountain ledge, waited for her to deposit the disc in the bucket, and walked away, ringing his brass bell. She reached for the package and shoved it in her pocket. Praying her trembling legs would hold, she strode away in the opposite direction from Santa.

* * * *

“Damn,” Erik grumbled and yanked the headphones off. He should have figured that Becker would wear a disguise, but Santa? A lot of small children would be disillusioned today. He charged out of the antique shop.

“What happened?” DeMarco asked.

“The exchange was made.” He radioed the other agents. “Pick up Santa the minute he leaves the courtyard. I have to stick with Tori in case she’s followed.”

“Where is she?”

Erik scanned the open area and caught sight of her as she was about to turn the corner. “She’s heading for the van.” He started across the lawn when he noticed a man following behind her, his hand reaching inside his bomber jacket. “Shit! I need backup, fast.”

DeMarco followed his gaze. “I’ll cut them off on the side street.”

Tension seeped into every pore of his body. If anything happened to Victoria, he wouldn’t be held responsible for his actions. He sprinted to the last shop at the corner, removed his gun and edged around the building onto the main road. She was about twenty yards ahead, with Becker’s associate closing in.

Beads of nervous perspiration rolled down his back despite the cool temperature. When she crossed in front of an alley, the stalker raised one hand to her shoulder and yanked her back. She let out a shriek then stumbled into the alley and out of his field of vision.

Pushing people out of his way, Erik dashed down the street. He turned into the alley as the man shoved her into the wall.

“You stupid bitch. Don’t move,” the man snarled.

Never one to follow instructions, Victoria did the direct opposite. Lucky for her and for Erik. The assailant struggled to subdue her, and he didn’t hear Erik’s approach. However, he didn’t mistake the cold steel barrel pressing against his neck.

“Get your goddamn hands off her.”

The man turned her loose abruptly, and she tumbled to the ground. Erik slammed the lousy bastard into the wall and yanked the gun from inside his jacket. His heart pounded.

“Are you okay, Tori?”

She nodded slowly, but he noticed her rubbing her wrist. He wanted to help her, but he couldn’t chance releasing the slime ball. She struggled to her feet. Her skin was a pasty white, and she trembled with fear.

“Go find Daniels or your brother.”

She shook her head as if she didn’t comprehend the words.

“Tori?”

Her brown eyes, glistening with moisture and wide with fear, met his gaze.

“I need your brother.”

“I’m here,” DeMarco said. He rounded the corner, slightly out of breath. “Are you okay, Tori?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I am now.” She brushed the dirt from her coat, wincing as the motion bent her wrist.

While Erik held the suspect, DeMarco slapped a pair of cuffs on the man, who unleashed a stream of obscenities and threats.

“You have the right to remain silent. Use it,” Erik warned.

Once DeMarco had the situation under control, Erik tucked his gun back into its holster and stepped over to Victoria. He took her hand and gently massaged her wrist. “Can you move it?”

“Yes.”

Relief washed over him. If anything serious had happened to her, he would have inflicted severe damage on the cowardly scumbag. “It’s probably not broken then, but you better have an x-ray just in case.”

She nodded then threw herself into his arms. Her body shook as he held her close.

The rest of the backup arrived. A small commotion ensued. The suspect was read his rights and led away for booking. Victoria seemed oblivious to the activity, remaining cradled in his arms. Any effort to extricate himself met with stubborn resistance. He would just have to deal with the nasty glares directed at him from her brother.

“It’s over, Tori. We have Becker and his pal.” Erik pressed a kiss against her temple. He stroked the soft layers of hair, soothing the fears away until she relaxed against him. Reining in his fury with the suspect took a lot longer. Slowly, the tension ebbed from her body. She loosened her vice-grip and began massaging the muscles on his back. A low moan vibrated against his ear. She knew how to take him from cold and angry to hot and aroused in seconds. He could use that kind of talent whenever he finished up a case….

Don’t go there, Sanders.
He couldn’t ask that of her. He wouldn’t.

DeMarco cleared his throat to make his presence known. “You better go to the station and take care of the paperwork. I’ll take my sister to the hospital and then take her home.”

She gazed up at Erik and shook her head. She didn’t want to leave him any more than he wanted to leave her. However, he could hardly disobey an order from a superior, who also happened to be her brother. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“There’s no need,” DeMarco said. “Her part in the case is over.”

Victoria met her brother’s obstinate gaze with one of her own. The last of her fear evaporated, and sheer determination set in. “If my part in the case is over, then who I meet up with later is none of your business.”

He stared, slack jawed, at his sister. The bureau chief might be able to issue orders to the agents, but Victoria obviously wouldn’t allow him to dictate to her. “Could I have a moment alone with Tori?”

A battle of wills had begun, and Erik didn’t doubt for a second who would win this time. He shrugged and left the two of them to fight it out before he got caught in the crossfire.

* * * *

Steven folded his arms across his chest and cocked one eyebrow in question. “I thought you said nothing was going on between you two. You know that’s a direct violation of policy.”

She let out a bitter laugh. Her brother was going to lecture her on policy? “And I know, better than anyone, the agency violates the rules whenever it suits them.”

“I’ll have to put it on his record.”

“And if he decides to fight it, are you going to have them drag me in for an internal investigation? Do you really want your colleagues to question me about my sex life? Especially now that the case is over? The rules no longer apply.”

“Yes, they do. Agents are not supposed to take advantage of their position, even after a case ends.”

She leaned against the brick walls. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but he’s not taking advantage of the situation, I am. I’m not your baby sister anymore. I’m going into this with my eyes open.”

He closed his fingers over her arm. “You’re going to wind up hurt. Do you think he’s going to give up his career for you?” His look of pity grated on her nerves.

“I wouldn’t ask him to. He’d be miserable inside of one month, and then I would end up hurt.”

“I don’t think you understand.”

“Steven. You’re forty-five. Are you going tell to me you never had a relationship when both of you knew it had no future?”

“It’s different for you. You’re not that kind of woman.”

She laughed at his narrow-minded, Neanderthal views. They could land a probe on Mars, but they couldn’t get her brother out of the fifties when it came to her. “I hate to shatter your illusion, brother, but it isn’t different for me. So if I’m hurt when he leaves, then I chose to take the risk because it was worth it.”

“I don’t approve.”

She exhaled a sigh. He still thought of her as a fragile child in need of protection. She might possess what he called a “computer mind” but the rest of her was wholly human with the same emotions and desires as any woman her age. Erik fulfilled those desires and touched her emotions. She would not give up a chance for those memories just to shield herself from heartache.

“I don’t need your approval. Just promise you won’t use your position in the agency to interfere in his career.”

“Tori. Do you know what kinds of cases he works on? How he earned his codename?”

“Of course I do. Which is why I’m asking you to promise me.” She wouldn’t put it past her brother to have Erik reassigned to a safer position.

For a long moment he remained silent, staring as if he didn’t know what to make of her. “Well, if I don’t you’ll only make my life hell.”

She smiled. “You’ve got that right.”

“Let’s go get that wrist checked out.” He raised a hopeful grin. “They might put you in a cast, and all your plans will be for nothing.”

Hooking her arm through his, she walked with him towards his car. “If you believe that, then you don’t know me at all. As a physicist I have made a life’s career out of solving complex logistical problems. Do you really think a little plaster cast would interfere with—”

“Stop!” His expression reflected a hint of shock and embarrassment. “This is a side of you I don’t want to know. I may not be able to tell you how to live your life, but you are still my baby sister.”

* * * *

Erik filed an abridged report and drove back to Wakeburn in the early afternoon. Once he returned to Boston, he would have plenty of free time to add the pertinent details. He waited on the front stoop for Victoria’s return. Although he had a key, he remained in the cold outdoors. Easier than dealing with the memories inside, he thought. If he were smart, he’d pack his bag and get out ASAP. Then again, he wasn’t the genius in this relationship. Perhaps the resident intellect would tell him to leave.

She arrived home fifteen minutes later. Her warm smile welcomed him.

“How did it go at the hospital?” he asked.

She raised her arm to show him the ace bandage wrapped around her wrist. “Sprained.”

“That’s good.”

Her eyebrow lifted in a perplexed arch. “Now you sound like my brother.”

“What do you mean?”

“He wanted the doctor to put me in a body cast.”

He chuckled. “I only meant it could have been worse. What was your brother thinking?”

She grinned mischievously. “Something to do with his naïve little sister and the big bad wolf in a leather jacket. I guess he figured I’d be out of commission.” As if a plaster cast would stop her, or him, for that matter. She could probably calculate six different ways to work around any minor inconvenience. Damn. He would miss her.

She opened the front door. “I guess you’re glad the whole thing is over.”

He’d never been less pleased to close a case in his career. With Becker in custody, Victoria’s worries were over. For that, he was thankful. “You’ll finally have your house back to yourself.”