Deceptions (5 page)

“To jump into bed with me?” Mac asked as he pulled the car into the garage. He'd moved to that home on the edge of the city just a few weeks before. He'd felt closed in, and he'd wanted a new place.

“Right.” Her voice was sharp. “I wasn't offering to jump into bed with you.”

He killed the engine. “Pity.”

“Mac—”

“You're here for your protection.” They'd get to the jumping in bed and heat-of-the-moment part again later. “In case you missed it, someone is gunning for you.”

“It's rather hard to miss.”

Yes, it was. “I've got top-of-the-line security here. Cameras on the outside and inside. No one will get within twenty feet of the place without me knowing about it. You'll be safe here, and after everything that has happened, don't you want a safe place to crash?”
Crash with me, baby. I won't let you down.

Her shoulders sagged a bit. “Yes.”

“Good. Then let's get inside.” The garage door had already closed behind them. He hurried around the vehicle and opened her door. “You'll be safe here,” he told her once more. “Count on that.”

His hand lifted, and he brushed against the soot on her cheek. Would he ever forget seeing her in that room, surrounded by fire? Hell, no, he wouldn't. He hadn't thought they'd get to that window, not in time.

“You can shower, if you want.” Because they both smelled like ashes and fire. “You're welcome to use the master bath.” He led the way inside, making sure to set his alarm system. He'd installed that system himself, modeling it after the security he and his family had set up at the McGuire ranch.

“You keep doing so much for me.” She stopped in his den, looking fragile and lovely and making him want so many things that he shouldn't, not then. “How am I supposed to pay you back?”

“I thought we covered this,” he told her gruffly. “We'll deal with payback later.”

“Why?” It was a stark question. “Why me? Why did you decide to get involved in my life this way?” She laughed, but it was a ragged sound, not the sweet melody he'd heard before in the library, when she was doing her story times with the kids. “Do you just have some big desire to help lost causes?”

His gaze flickered at that, and Mac moved closer to her. She was about a head shorter than he was, and her body was so much smaller. He'd have to use care with her, always. “You're not a lost cause.”

She smiled. “You don't know that for sure. You don't know—”

“You think I don't?”

Surprise flashed on her face.

“You think that I didn't investigate you, right away? Baby, I work for a security company. Our business is discovering secrets. You were tangled up in a murder. Did you think I'd really walk into all of that blind?”

He saw the tremble that shook her.

“I made it my business to know, all right? I pulled up all the police records. I went through all the old news stories. I learned as much as I could about Nate's death...and your involvement.”

She took a step back. “And you still want to help me?”

“You were a victim back then. I believe that. You were—”

“I wasn't always a victim. And I sure wasn't always the good girl.” She looked away from him. “Do you know how many times I was in juvie back then? Bouncing around, going back and forth. I was pretty much on my own at sixteen, and trouble was something I was very good at finding.”

“Until Nate died.”

Her lips quivered, then she pressed them together. “Everything changed after that. I became someone new.”

“No more finding trouble?”

“No more danger. No more risks. No more walks on the wild side. I couldn't be that person anymore.” Her voice seemed hollow. “It was hard enough to just keep going, every single day, knowing that Nate was dead and it was my fault.”

Her fault? “It wasn't—”

“I was in the cabin with him. We heard a noise that night, a car coming toward us.” Her arms wrapped around her stomach. “We'd broken in to that cabin. Two crazy kids. We thought it was abandoned. That we'd be safe there. We just...” Her gaze fell to the floor. “We didn't have much in the way of families. My mom cut out when I was a kid, and my dad passed away. Nate—he never talked about his family. Never. It was cold that night, and we were just looking for some shelter.” A tear trickled down her cheek, cutting through the ash there. “A shelter from the storm.”

He waited, hating the pain that he could feel gathering around her.

“We'd made it to Colorado, but we weren't prepared for the snow storm that hit. We broke into that cabin because there wasn't a choice. We thought we'd die if we stayed outside.”

But Nate
had
died.

“When we heard the car...the footsteps coming... Nate told me to hide. He said he'd deal with things. I just— I was eighteen. I panicked. I didn't want someone calling the cops on us, so I hid.” She swallowed. “But... I think the guy knew Nate. I heard them talking. It wasn't some cabin owner. It was a guy who'd followed Nate out there.”

He'd read that account in the police files, but he didn't interrupt. He wanted to hear the full story, from her. It was important—it showed that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to trust him.
I hope the hell so.

“I was going out there to join them when I heard Nate scream.” She rocked a bit, rolling back on her heels. “Nate yelled for me to run and then—then there was an explosion. A gun blast. A blast and then...silence.”

He wanted to pull her into his arms.

“I screamed when I heard the gunshot.” She confessed this in a whisper. “I screamed for Nate, but he didn't answer, and I could hear footsteps, coming toward me.” Her gaze lifted to his. “I knew the shooter was coming to kill me, too.”

“But he didn't.”

“I ran out the back door. It was so cold out there. So cold. The snow was coming down, and I didn't have on a coat. I was there, shaking and trying to figure out what to do.” She exhaled. “There was firewood near the back door. I could hear him coming behind me. I—I just reacted. I grabbed the wood and I hit him, as hard as I could. The gun blasted again. I guess it went off when he fell. He hit the ground. I—I grabbed the gun and I ran back inside.”

He had to touch her. His hand lifted and skimmed down her arm. “You stayed alive.”

“I locked the back door. Dragged a chair over and angled it under the door so he couldn't get it open. Then I did the same thing with the front door.” Her words were coming faster. “Nate was on the floor. So much blood was around him. He was still and just—dead. I touched his throat, and there wasn't a pulse. The last thing he ever did was warn me to run.”

He pulled her against his chest. “He cared about you. He wanted you safe.”
I can understand that.

“I ran back inside because I knew I'd die in the cold. I had to stay in that cabin, but the killer
knew
I was trapped in there
.
He—he busted one of the windows. I heard the glass shatter. That's when I ran into the closet. I put my back against the wall in there, and I aimed the gun.” She was so stiff in his arms. “I was hiding, but if he'd found me, I
would
have shot him.”

And she'd stayed in that closet, all night long. Trapped in the cabin with the body of her dead boyfriend. What the hell kind of nightmare must that have been for an eighteen-year-old?

“But I guess...” Elizabeth murmured. “I guess you knew all that, huh?”

He'd known the cold, hard facts. That Elizabeth and her boyfriend had taken shelter in what they thought was an empty cabin. That an unknown assailant had shot Nate. That Elizabeth had been found the next day, still in that closet. Still holding the gun.

She'd been the suspect at first. But there had been no gun powder residue on her fingers. Then they'd found the killer's blood outside, on the wood that Elizabeth had hit him with. They had the killer's DNA, but not him.

For years, he'd eluded police.

“I knew,” Mac said softly. But it wasn't the same. Hearing her pain and her fear just gutted him.

She pushed against his chest and he backed away, though he really wanted to just keep right on holding her. “Maybe one day, I'll get you to bare your soul to me,” she said.

He'd do it in an instant, for her.

She glanced to the right. “But for now, I think I'll take that shower.” She headed for the door, her steps slow.

“Elizabeth!”

She stilled.

“You're not the only one with demons. Trust me on that.”

She gave that ragged laugh that tore at him. “My demons won't leave me alone. They're trying to kill me.” She looked back at him. “Kill
us.”

“Not going to happen.”

Her lips curved. “There you go, thinking you're some kind of superhero again.”

No, not a superhero. Just a man desperate to keep her safe.

A few moments later the bathroom door closed behind her. He headed to his desk. He called Sullivan, keeping an eye on the hallway just in case Elizabeth came back. His brother answered on the second ring. “We've got a big damn problem,” Mac told him.

* * *

E
LIZABETH
S
NOW
WASN
'
T
at home. Melinda Chafer glared at the dark house. Elizabeth and Mac had both vanished from the fire scene, and she'd figured they'd gone to this place.

Guess I figured wrong on that one.

She'd tried calling the number Mac had given her before, but no one had answered there, either. She didn't know if Mac was deliberately avoiding her or if something sinister might have happened.

I need to find them, now.
She pulled out her phone. But this time, she called the PD. She'd get Mac's home address and try his place. She'd explain about the tangled mess that was happening with the killer and her bank account and then she'd—

A rustle sounded behind her. Melinda whirled around.

She didn't get to scream. A hard hand slapped over her face, and something sharp jabbed into her neck. She tried to claw out, tried to kick—

But her body already felt weighted down. Far too sluggish.

She was falling—
and someone was catching her.

“After our little talk,” he murmured, “I realized that I just couldn't count on you to be an ally. Pity. You're about to see what happens to my enemies.”

She had to get her gun. She had to fight...

“You should've just been a team player.”

She couldn't go out like this.

She wouldn't.

Chapter Five

He knows everything.

Mac knew about her run-ins with the law. About her family—a mother who had just wanted to throw her away. He knew she'd looked for trouble, wherever she could find it.

But that stopped with Nate. He cared about me. I cared about him. We were going to change everything. Together.

Then Nate had been taken away. And she'd been left in that cabin with his ghost.

“Elizabeth?”

She jerked when Mac rapped on the door.

“Elizabeth, are you okay?”

She pulled his robe around her body, holding the lapels a bit tighter, and then her left hand reached for the doorknob. When she opened the door, steam from her shower drifted in the air. “Sorry. I didn't mean to stay in the shower so long.” And that was such a lie. She'd been hiding from him.

His hair was wet—he must have used another shower—and he was just wearing a pair of low-slung jeans. His muscled chest rippled, and yes, she couldn't help but notice that hard strength. She'd known he was powerful, but seeing him that way...

Keep your control in place.

She already felt far too ragged around the edges. Emotionally exposed and coming off an adrenaline crash. Oh, that did not make a good combination. Pain filled her, and she wanted that pain to stop.

The girl she'd been would have known exactly how to escape from pain.

By doing something wild.

Only she wasn't that girl anymore. She'd decided that girl had died with Nate. Someone new had taken her place. Someone who didn't take risks. Someone who tried to always play things safe.

She'd gotten her GED. She'd gone to college. Worked day and night, scraping by to pay her tuition. She hadn't dated much, and only men who were
safe.
Men who didn't make her feel so out of control. Men who didn't push her for more than she wanted to give.

She saved her adventures for her books. Books were her haven. When the rest of the world made no sense, she turned to them. She'd always done that, even before Nate. Tried to get lost in other worlds because they made the one she actually lived in fade away.

The perfect escape.

Elizabeth cleared her throat. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“Just checking in with Sullivan.” He backed up so that she could slide past him. Their bodies brushed, and she felt that sharp pull between them. The awareness that was always close when he was near her. “He's going to monitor the arson investigation at Steve Yeldon's place and let us know what's happening.”

“So...Sullivan knows everything about my past, too?” Shame burned through her again. She hated to have her past so exposed. A life that she'd wanted to forget. And she had forgotten...

Why had this started again?

“He knows.” Soft. Grim.

They were in his bedroom. His bed—a massive beast with a big, sturdy-looking headboard—was just a few feet away. The wild girl she'd been couldn't help but think of Mac in that bed, with her.

The woman who was trying to keep her control...she edged away from the bed. “Sullivan scares me.”

“Sully scares a lot of people.”

That wasn't exactly reassuring.

“Don't worry,” he added, “you don't have anything to fear from him. Sully is on our side.”

His robe slid over her legs. She wasn't wearing anything beneath that robe, and she knew he realized it. Her clothes had been covered with ash, and she'd wanted to wash them before wearing the items again.

She just hadn't thought about the whole being-nearly-naked-with-Mac bit. “Most people are scared of you, too,” Elizabeth blurted. She knew that was true. She'd gotten a few not-so-subtle warnings from her coworkers after the first time she'd met Mac. “They think you're a dangerous man.”

“I am.” He shrugged. “But that's good for you. That means I can take care of the creep out there.”

“Not if he comes at you with a gun.” The way Nate had been killed. “Or with another bomb. It doesn't matter how tough you are then. You can't fight that.”

“That's why we have to find the joker before there's another attack.”

Yes, they did.

“But right now you should get some sleep. Take the bed,” he told her gruffly. “And I'll—”

Oh, no. That wasn't happening. “It's your bed, you take it. I can go sleep on the couch.”

He sighed. “I can sleep in here with you. We can both share the bed, or I'll take the couch. You're not sleeping on that lumpy piece of crap.”

The bed was big enough to share. Only there was one problem with that plan. “I want you.”

She saw his eyes change. Saw the green darken. Saw his nostrils flare. “You shouldn't say things like that.”

Well, if he was going to know all of her secrets... “I want you,” Elizabeth told him again. “That's why I've been turning down your dinner invitations. Why I didn't want to go out for a drink with you.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “You know that doesn't make sense, right? If you want someone, then you—”

“You make me want to let all of my control go and just feel.” He'd be an incredible lover; she had no doubt about that. All that hot intensity that was so very Mac...all of that intensity directed at her. Elizabeth swallowed. “I haven't let go of my control in a very long time. I haven't... I haven't let myself care about anyone.” Not since Nate.

His eyes narrowed as he slowly stalked closer to her. “That doesn't seem like a good way to live.” Then his hand lifted, and his callused fingertips brushed over her cheek. “Not a good way to live at all. That seems empty. Cold.” Mac shook his head. “You don't strike me as being cold in any way.”

She sure didn't feel cold right then. Elizabeth was burning up—just from his touch. “It hurts too much when you let go,” she whispered. “Because when the world falls to pieces around you, there's only pain left.”

His hand slid down and curled under her chin. “I won't let the world fall apart.”

He was temptation. Big and strong and sexy. Right in front of her. Fear was a shadow in her mind. Death stalked her once again. She'd tried to escape, but the past wouldn't stop.

“I want you,” Mac said. His words were deep and dark, and they sank right through her, pushing that shadow of fear back. “I want you to go crazy with me. I want you to forget everything but me.” His thumb brushed sensually across her lower lip.

Her breath came a little faster. She found herself leaning toward him, even though she shouldn't. All of her careful rules couldn't go away in one night. She'd played it safe for so long...

Her tongue slid out and licked the edge of his thumb. It was an accident, wasn't it?

His pupils expanded. “Baby, you're playing a dangerous game. Because
my
control can only last so long.” His hand slid away from her chin, and he leaned forward. “Don't push too far.” His lips closed over hers. And it was just a kiss, so she let go. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. She opened her mouth. She kissed him with hunger and need and the passion that was mounting inside her.

One kiss. A kiss before she crashed into bed. A kiss to help push away the last of her fear. Her control would hold. One kiss.

Her heart drummed faster. Her nails sank into his shoulders.

One kiss.

He lifted her up. Mac held her easily, and her legs curled around his waist.

One kiss.

His tongue slid over her bottom lip then thrust inside her mouth. His hips pushed against her, and she could feel the hot, hard length of his arousal pressing against her.

One. Kiss.

She wanted so much more.

He backed her up, not near the bed, but against the wall. Her back hit and she kept kissing him. Now was the time to break away. Now was the time to stop.

So why was she arching against him? Why was she loving the hard feel of his muscled chest against her? Why was she biting his lower lip and moaning?

“You are driving me insane,” Mac gritted out. “You think I didn't see this fire in you? I did...from the very first. And I knew I had to have it. Have you.” He kissed a hot path down her neck, and her head tipped back against the wall.

It would feel so good to let go with him. To give in to her desire.

Their
desire.

“I've dreamed about you.” His voice was even rougher. “Thought about having you in this bedroom, in my bed...”

His head lifted. Their eyes held.

“Tell me to pull back,” he ordered, his voice a rough and sexy growl. “Because I can't, if you don't.”

Her hands were still wrapped around him. She knew the choice was hers. The moment hers. She could let go. Or she could hold on to her control.

What will happen tomorrow? In the cold light of day? It won't be the same then.

Softly, she said, “Pull back.”

He nodded grimly.

Her legs lowered to the floor as she slipped down. His hands flew out and flattened against the wall on either side of her body. “Give me a second.” The rough sound of his voice rolled over her.

She didn't speak. Didn't move. Didn't—

“I know you're not ready,” he growled, “for what I want from you.”

She wasn't sure just what all he did want. And what all she had left to give.

“But you will be,” Mac said, his eyes glittering as he looked at her. “We won't be able to keep this contained much longer.”

This. Their attraction. The pure incineration they felt when they touched.

“Sooner or later, we'll come together. And it will be damn incredible.” He pushed away from the wall.
From me.
“You take the bed. I'll go for another shower.” He headed for the door and muttered, “A very cold one this time.”

She watched him leave. Her whole body was tense and far too sensitive. Her nipples thrust against the front of his robe. Her skin felt too hot. And a cold shower...it sure seemed like a good idea to her, too.

Did Mac think he was the only one who had fantasies? If so, he was very much mistaken. He'd been starring in her dreams for a while now. Ever since she'd looked up and seen him standing on the other side of that library counter.

* * *

M
ELINDA
'
S
EYES
CRACKED
OPEN
. Her head was pounding, and her mouth was as dry as a desert. She couldn't see anything, just total darkness. But at least she was alive.

That means I have a chance.

Her hands were bound behind her. Thick, rough hemp rope cut into her wrists. Her ankles were tied to the legs of a chair. The perp had sure secured her well.

Where was he? And could she get loose before he came back?

A door opened then, squeaking on its hinges, and light flooded into the room. She squinted against that light and tried to see his face. She hadn't seen him before, not clearly. Not before the guy had jabbed a needle into her.

“Hello, Detective Chafer,” he said. He was standing in front of the light, and she still couldn't clearly see his face. Then he stepped forward, shut the door, and darkness filled the space once again.

She didn't like that darkness. In her experience, monsters always hid in the dark. They did their very worst work in the dark. Most of the murders, most of the beatings...they were always under the cover of darkness.

She drew in a deep breath and tried to prepare for whatever was coming. She'd been shot before. She'd been hurt in the line of duty, and she'd survived. She wasn't going to go out without a fight. “Who are you?” Her voice showed no fear. She
wouldn't
show fear.

“My name doesn't matter so much. It's the job that I do...that matters.”

The floor creaked beneath his feet, and she knew he was coming closer. “Just what kind of job is it that you have?” A
job...
she didn't like that. It implied he was some sort of hired gun, and that type of criminal was a whole different beast.

“I'm a fixer. I make problems go away.” He touched her shoulder. “I'm very good at my job.”

She understood then that she was one of his problems. Damn him. “Is that why Yeldon is dead? Someone called you in to eliminate him?”

“He was a problem,” he said softly. “The guy never should have been involved. Some people just can't let the past go.”

“And the woman, Elizabeth Snow?”

“I didn't think she knew anything. She was never supposed to be a target. But Yeldon...he made me realize that she was just holding on to secrets. My employer became very concerned about that.”

So she was talking to the errand boy. The real threat was the employer. Just who the hell was that?

“I've got many interesting skills,” he murmured. “I'm good with guns, bombs, knives...”

Melinda did
not
like where this was going.

“I can show you just how good I am.” He paused. “You really should have just taken that money as a token of appreciation. You could have looked the other way, and you wouldn't have been involved at all.”

“That's not who I am.”

“It's who your lover was.”

That burned. She hadn't known that her ex had been a dirty cop. But she'd still been painted with the same brush at the PD—guilty by association. That was why her promotion hadn't come through. Why she'd suddenly been given the short end of the stick when it came to the caseloads.

“Things would have been easier for you if you'd just played ball,” he said, sighing. “Too bad.”

She stiffened her body. Melinda tried to prepare for whatever was going to come. “I was never so good at team sports.”

He laughed. “You think you're going to get away, don't you? That something is going to miraculously happen. You're the smart cop. You'll manage to distract me, you'll get out...” He leaned close, and his breath whispered over her cheek. “But that won't happen. You aren't the first cop I've killed. You won't be the last. I told you, I'm a professional. I'm the Fixer.”